Showing posts with label supplements. Show all posts
Showing posts with label supplements. Show all posts

prevention of Clostridium difficile infection

micrograph of Clostridium difficile

Clostridium difficile infection is caused by antibiotics which kill off the ordinary good bacteria allowing the C. diff to flourish in the gut.

C. diff causes inflammation of the large intestine and CDAD (C. diff associated diarrhea); CDAD is caused by toxins that cause bloating, diarrhea and abdominal pain.

That doesn't sound so terrible, rather like the flu, except C. diff is really hard to get rid of. An infection can go on for months or years, preventing people from leaving the house. And as the ability to absorb nutirion is impeded. they can waste away and die.

So when I was in the ICU on two types of IV antibiotics and overheard the doctor ask my nurse if I had diarrhea, I knew why he was asking and was not a happy camper.

Image credit: Clostridium difficile 01 by CDC/Lois S. Wiggs [public domain], via Wikimedia Commons.

marshmallow root infusion

marshmallow root infusion

As a backwoods biochemist, I am interested in many alternative and natural treatments. However, I am also of the opinion that one should not be so open-minded that one's brains fall out.

So when I look at an herbal treatment, the first step is finding out what has been used for a long time, because there's generally some empirical evidence that it's useful. But the second step is hitting the research literature to find out what solid scientific evidence is behind it. And the final step is figuring out how to practically incorporate it in my life; e.g. adding turmeric to my juice daily.

Having done the herbal and scientific research, I am extremely convinced that marshmallow root (Althaea officinalis L.) is a very useful herb. I prepare a cold infusion to maximize it's utility, which is incredibly easy to do.

supplements for wusses

Vegetables by Martin Cathrae, on Flickr
Vegetables by Martin Cathrae, on Flickr

I am absolutely certain that the only right thing to do about nutrition is to get the vast majority of it from real, whole foods.

No one can be more convinced than an ex-biochemist who looks into nutrition 20 years after the first go-round; biochemistry knows today what it didn't know then, and thus doesn't know today what it will know twenty years from now.

In my highly-informed opinion (this being diametrically opposed to a humble opinion), half of our diet by volume should be non-starchy vegetables and low-sugar fruits, a quarter should be protein foods of primarily wild or pastured animal origin (meat, poultry, fish, eggs, raw dairy) and all of the above foods should be prepared and served with healthy fats (butter, lard, tallow, schmaltz, coconut oil and palm oils, olive and avocado oils). The remaining quarter of the diet can vary depending on individual needs and wants (starchy vegetables, sugary fruits, grains, nuts and seeds, legumes or just outright junk food to some degree since none of us are perfect).

Nevertheless, sometimes we've been malnourished long enough and become sick enough that we need a bit more help than food can provide. When you start looking at Weston Price's work, you realize the cultures he found so much healthier than ours achieved their health by having their mothers and grandmothers eat a healthy diet. Until we develop a flux capacitor, this method of achieving health is not available!

So depending on our health challenges, we may need some help beyond diet and that may means supplements...

Though I'd read about using dolomite in Nourishing Traditions, for some reason the idea of not swallowing piles of pills didn't really hit me until KerryAnn @ Cooking Traditional Foods discussed adding Concentrace to foods.

the ThreeLac experiment

 

 

WARNING: This post may be TMI for some. Sorry, but there's just no way to discuss GI issues without... well, discussing GI issues!

 

I started ThreeLac in January of 2012.