THE ANSWER- to "Why is the Plane of Our Nation's Health in a Death Spiral?"

By Dogtor J.
©2001 DogtorJ.com


TABLE OF CONTENTS..........................................................................page


1. INTRODUCTION.................................................................... 1

2.0  BACKGROUND.......................................................................2
2.1 Why is a veterinarian writing this?.......................................................................................2

3.0 CELIAC DISEASE AS A MODEL.....................................................2
3.1 My brother's story.........................................................................3
3.2 "This is me!" ................................................................................4

4.0 HISTORICAL EVIDENCE..............................................................4
4.1 The History of Wheat................................................................. 4
4.1.1 The key ingredient of wheat.....................................................4
4.1.2 Common wheat is created........................................................4
4.1.3 The Dark Ages and the Plague....................................................4
4.1.4 "Coeliac" Disease and Natural selection......................................5
4.1.5 Black Americans- The newest celiacs?........................................5
4.1.6 Sickle Cell Disease- Now and Then..............................................5
4.2 The History of Milk.......................................................................6
4.2.1 The Big Mistake........................................................................6
4.2.2 The key ingredient of cow milk.....................................................7
4.2.3 The Dark Ages and Plague revisited.............................................7
4.3 Soy Protein- The Third Big Mistake.................................................7

5.0 MEDICAL EVIDENCE....................................................................8
5.1 How Gluten and Casein Harm the Intestine......................................8
5.2 Malabsorption and Maldigestion.....................................................9
5.3 Casomorphins and Gliadorphins.....................................................9
5.3.1 Autism and ADHD....................................................................10
5.3.2 Caffeine dependency................................................................11
5.3.3 Food addiction.........................................................................11
5.4 Low-carb Diets- The True Benefits................................................11
5.5 Lactose Intolerance- The Real Story.............................................12
5.6 Osteoporosis- A Natural Perspective............................................12

6.0 THE IMMUNE SYSTEM- Taking the Good with the Bad.......................14
6.1 How Perfect It Is.......................................................................14
6.2 How Imperfect Our Judgment Is............................................. ......14
6.2.1 The worst example....................................................................15
6.2.2 Similar mistakes.....................................................................16

7.0 CONCLUSIONS THROUGH ILLUSTRATIONS........................................15
7.1 The Definition of Pestilence...........................................................15
7.2 The Origin of Inhalant Allergies......................................................16
7.3 The Three Phases of Our Immunitys Life..........................................17

8.0 THE WORST OF THE WORST- A Veterinary Tale.................................17

9.0 THE PATHOGENESIS OF DISEASE..................................................19
9.1 Weve Been Set Up......................................................................19
9.2 Latent Viruses.............................................................................20
9.3 Viruses and Food Proteins- The Missing Link..................................21
9.4 Hydrogenated Oils- The Great Facilitators.......................................22
9.4.1 The origin of the heart attack.......................................................22
9.4.2 The origin of type 2 diabetes.......................................................22
9.5 Veterinary Illustrations.................................................................23

9.6 The Battle Begins.......................................................................24
9.6.1 The age of onset.......................................................................24
9.6.2 The progression of symptoms.....................................................25
9.6.3 The role of the fast-food industry.................................................25
9.6.4 My family tree explained............................................................26
9.6.5 New diseases vs. old immune systems.......................................26

10.0 A GLARING EXAMPLE.................................................................27
10.1 Multiple Sclerosis- The Ideal Model............................................27

11.0 THE PARALLEL UNIVERSE.........................................................28
11.1 Cow Milk- The Whos Who of Whats Bad.....................................28
11.1.1 Why you hurt.........................................................................28
11.1.2 Hormonal effects....................................................................29
11.2 Those Pesky Amino Acids........................................................ .29
11.2.1 Glutamate, Phenylalanine, and aspartate...................................29
11.3 Fibromyalgia- My Cure................................................................29
11.4 Rheumatoid Arthritis- Inflammation and Pain.................................29
11.5 Artificial Sweeteners and Other Neurotoxins.................................30
11.6 Epilepsy- Its Not Idiopathic Anymore!!........................................ 31
11.6.1 The veterinary cure..................................................................32
11.6.2 The human cure.....................................................................31

12.0 APPLIED KNOWLEDGE..............................................................32
12.1 Alzheimers, Parkinsons and ALS...............................................32
12.1.1 Parkinsons as the perfect example.........................................33

13.0 THE "TRUE" ROLE OF GENETICS...............................................33
13.1 Genetics Over-emphasized.........................................................33
13.1.1 Oh, no. Weve mapped the human genome.............................33
13.2 Where Do We Go From Here?......................................................34

14.0 CONCLUSION........................................................................34
14.1 The Simplicity of The Answer.....................................................34
14.2 The Forces Behind The Spiral....................................................34
14.3 Check Your Fork At The Door.......................................................34

15.0 ADDENDUM.............................................................................35

16.0 A FOOTNOTE.............................................................................36

INTRODUCTION

There has been a 40% increase in the rate of diabetes in this country over the past decade. There are one thousand new cases of multiple sclerosis diagnosed every week. One person an hour dies of melanoma. An incredible 44% of American deaths each year is attributable to one condition alone -atherosclerosis, the condition underlying strokes and heart attacks. A person dies of a stroke or heart attack every 3.5 seconds in this country. 15% of Americans over the age of 65 have Alzheimer's Disease but a staggering 50% over age 80 have this devastating condition. There are on average 135 new cases of Parkinson's Disease diagnosed every day and 40%of them will develop Alzheimer's Disease. Both of these horrible conditions are now occurring in younger victims, with 5-10% of Parkinson's Disease striking before age 40. Parkinson's Disease alone costs the average sufferer nearly $6,000 annually in medication while costing the nation an estimated $5.6 billion in Social Security payments, lost income, and nursing home expenditures. Over 2 million people suffer from rheumatoid arthritis, many of the cases occurring between 20 and 30 years of age and afflicting women twice as often as men. This painful and debilitating condition costs the American economy nearly $65 billion annually in lost wages and production. But the crowning blow to Americans is the word no one wants to speak...cancer. According to the American Cancer Society, over one million Americans get cancer each year. Approximately 33% of women and a phenomenal 50% of men will get some form of cancer at some point in their life. How could this be? How, in the age of modern technology and rapid infusion of scientific knowledge, could we still be in the Dark Ages of medicine when it comes to understanding the origins and pathophysiology of these diseases that plague us all? The Answer is right before us.


BACKGROUND

The doctor reading this has to be asking himself why a veterinarian feels that he is qualified to tackle such an issue when the scope of this topic is clearly out of his jurisdiction. The answer to that reasonable question is complex yet completely understandable. First of all, the disease processes that we are faced with personally and professionally are very similar. Dogs and cats suffer from most of the human conditions and many in more abundance. For example, the cancer rates of dogs exceed those of people. These pets are plagued with virtually all of the immune-mediated diseases that we experience, such as diabetes and lupus.

Secondly, my profession appears to have one distinct advantage over the medical industry. The fact is that veterinarians have a rather unique perspective on medicine these days in that we continue to see our patients from birth to death. Specialization in human medicine may have afforded better care for individual conditions but has the apparent downside of creating a lack of continuity that, in turn, prevents some health care professionals from seeing the big picture. To an observant veterinarian, patterns become readily apparent that oftentimes aid tremendously in the art of diagnosing our patients conditions without the obvious support of verbal confirmation by our patients. If only they could talk is the standard comment offered by our clients. Fortunately, by performing a thorough physical exam of all systems and by taking a thorough history, we can, with the aid of supportive diagnostics like blood work and radiographs, do an amazingly good job of diagnosing our patients without their consent. The patterns that we have observed in that patient or in our hospital during that week or month or even season give us that additional edge to perform our job more accurately (and with the least trauma to our patient and the lowest cost to our client.) All of these factors filter into the art of veterinary medicine. Because we do not have the insurance industry to fall back on, this skill is a necessity, not an option. Has the medical professional inadvertently lost some of their ability to perform this art as skillfully as in the past by focusing so keenly on the individual discipline or disease process? Has the "Pearl Harbor approach" to diagnostics subtracted from the physicians ability to reason his way into that diagnosis?

I want it clearly stated at this point that the purpose of this paper is not to lambaste the medical profession but rather to illuminate the true elements that have contributed to the downhill slide in human health. These factors have developed as a result of our advances as much as shortcomings. This may be an absurd statement to the intellectual in our midst, but can be understood by all upon completion of this treatise. The role physicians and veterinarians play emanates from their individual perception and understanding of what is presented and accepted as truth. Each of us has the responsibility as caregivers to seek out this truth and apply it to the best of our abilities. This is a collective as well as an individual effort, and is molded in part by our individual experiences. Herein lies the genesis of my motivation. What I have experienced and learned over the recent past has launched me toward a brave new world of medicine. My understanding and compassion have reached new and much needed heights.

It is clear that the best way for us to help someone is to "go through the fire" ourselves. Once accomplished, we have the empathy and understanding it takes to truly aid those in need. This is the crux of the matter and why I am writing this article. "It takes one to know one" is the childhood comeback. No truer words were spoken.


CELIAC DISEASE AS A MODEL

In April of 2000, I would have a life-altering condition dropped in to my lap. I found out that I had celiac disease, otherwise known as gluten intolerance. Gluten is a complex of proteins found in the cereal grains wheat, barley, and rye. An intolerance to these proteins leads to a myriad of allergic reactions and other immune-mediated responses causing a wide variety of symptoms. This diagnosis came about in an indirect fashion through my brother. He had been experiencing weight loss and severe abdominal pain for a few months and had made two or three trips to the emergency room for sharp, unrelenting discomfort. After a complete work up, including blood work, MRIs, barium series, colonoscopy, and more, his doctors were at an impasse. The only abnormal finding was an iron deficiency anemia. Little did they know that they held the key to the diagnosis in their hand.

Out of the blue came an Email from a friend of his concerning celiac disease. His friend was a medical researcher and Internet buff who came across this "disease" as a match for Rob's symptoms. My brother brought it in to his "doctor" brother to read one day in my veterinary hospital. When I read the pages from www.celiac.com, my mouth fell open and I said " Well, Rob. This is you all right. Trust me. When this many things fit, it is the answer. But, Rob! This is not just you, this is me! It describes my symptoms perfectly." And it did. My chronic fatigue, irritable bowel, insomnia, heartburn, allergy symptoms, and even my fibromyalgia were described on those pages. I immediately committed to going off foods with gluten as well as launching a full-scale investigation into this elusive condition.

Of course, Rob was definitively diagnosed through the available celiac screening blood tests and later by duodenal and jejunal biopsies. (Gastroenterologists familiar with celiac disease now suggest that 8-10 biopsies may be required rather than the customary 2-3 samples.) The "key" I mentioned, of course, was the iron deficiency anemia. It is the "red flag" for celiac disease, in retrospect. I was "diagnosed" by my dramatic response to the elimination of gluten and later by testing my son, who had suggestive signs at 10 years of age. My wife and daughter were negative on the blood screens. My father was clearly the primary source and again, in retrospect, had been a clinical celiac for years.

I launched into a study of gluten intolerance that would rival any research I had done in my academic study or career. This was partly motivated by my brother's condition
but really fueled by my rapid improvement from nearly all of the maladies that I had been suffering from since childhood. Within four days, my head cleared mentally from a fog that only the right amount of caffeine could do. I had felt depressed or fatigued since I was about thirty-five and was even treated for acute endogenous depression in that time. Four days off gluten and I felt better than I had in years. My diarrhea stopped, my ears bothered me less, my (severe) heartburn subsided, and I started to sleep better. It was miraculous. This really got my attention.

My study of gluten took me to places that I could not have imagined. My symptoms were just a small sampling of the less serious conditions associated with celiac disease. I found out that celiacs have a fifty times higher rate of colon cancer, intestinal lymphomas, and diabetes (particularly juvenile onset) than the general population. We had much higher rates of lupus, rheumatoid arthritis, thyroid diseases (both hypothyroidism and Grave's Disease), multiple sclerosis, Crohn's Disease, and much more. Finding this out really got my dander up and I was hooked on Internet research.

I had been off of all cereal grains (wheat, barley, rye, and oats) for six months when I read that at least 50% of celiacs were also casein intolerant, casein being a principle component of cow milk. It is gluten's evil twin. I immediately sensed that dairy was, in fact, a problem in me so I dropped all dairy products and started researching casein-related disorders. That is when the planets started to align. My shoulder, neck, back, and knee pain all went away and my insomnia disappeared. All that was left was a small remnant of my seasonal allergies. The study of dairy intolerance revealed relationships to all of the celiac-related conditions and more. The consensus of the latest medical opinion appeared to be that dairy protein, most notably casein, was behind diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis, multiple sclerosis, coronary artery disease, and lupus. It was everywhere I turned.


HISTORICAL EVIDENCE

"How could this be?" I asked. How could the staples of our diet be doing this to us? I researched the history of wheat and milk and came up with some vital answers. Wheat as we know it was created by man in the first millennium by blending a number of its ancestor strains together. Anyone can find the history of present day wheat in their encyclopedia. Between my son's World Book Encyclopedia CD for the computer and celiac websites, it didn't take long to gather all the specifics.

The ancestors of wheat grew wild in the Middle East for thousands of years B.C. and were most likely consumed in the form of seeds initially. Later, porridges were made. The next step in this food's evolution was likely to be a pancake, or flatbread, created by frying the porridge. During this period, our northern Germanic ancestors were in a transition from being hunter-gatherers to becoming farmers. The crop that motivated this major change in "careers" was their new obsession...wheat. They started to cross-pollinate and blend wheat varieties in an attempt to improve the quality of the primitive breads with which they had become dissatisfied. Little did they know that the component of wheat they were selecting for was gluten.

Gluten ("glue"-ten), as its name implies, is the substance in wheat that holds its offspring products together. It is the gluten in bread that gives it the resistance to tearing when peanut butter is applied, for example. Gluten is also used for stamps, envelope glues, and even industrial strength adhesives. It is simple to understand that our ancestors desired breads that did not crumble as easily and were able to hold the shapes that they preferred. Increasing the gluten level provided the solution. In fact, they were so successful at this process that wheat became their primary crop. It was largely wheat that motivated the Germanics to migrate all over Europe, all the while searching for more fertile land to grow their creation. They moved north and became the Scandinavian countries, moved west and conquered the United Kingdom, and went south and wiped out the Roman Empire. Those in Scandinavia became the Vikings who took turns invading the northern parts of the United Kingdom, sailing into the Mediterranean, and then crossing the Atlantic to Newfoundland. Whether we realize it or not, most Caucasians are Germans. The Angles and Saxons were Germanic tribes, not natives of England.

It is believed that common wheat, as we know it, was created in about 400 A.D. This wheat took the gluten level to a new high, suddenly increasing this protein complex to a "toxic" level. This led to the onset of true "coeliac disease", striking our northern Germanic ancestors shortly after its creation and killing large numbers of them. They died of dysentery and immunosuppression, particularly children. I found it incredibly interesting that the Dark Ages followed immediately after the creation of this new wheat. During this 500-year period, Europe plunged into its worst period in history, suffering from stagnation of learning and artistic growth as well as severe medical problems.

It was in the early 500's that the first pandemic of plague occurred. It swept through the Mediterranean region for the first time since 1000 B.C. The question I had was where does a plague go for 1500 years? Why are there cycles of these horrible pestilences? The conclusion at which I arrived was one of the first clues in my search for the answer. Diseases are likely to occur once we become susceptible to them. This seems elementary, but it is really deeper than what comes to mind on first inspection. Later on, it would make sense that many of the infectious organisms we are faced with only become a problem when our immune systems are too weak to fight them off. Even today, we know this is true, with a good example being West Nile virus. In the young and healthy, it causes minor flu-like symptoms. In the immune suppressed or elderly, it can be fatal.

Could it be that the plague was present in the environment for those previous 1500 years only to raise its ugly head when our ancestors did something to weaken their immune systems? Could the creation of common wheat have been that catalyst? The answers to these questions would come later when the effect of gluten on our present day immune systems was better understood.

Since that time in the midpoint of the first millennium, man has "genetically engineered" wheat to have incredibly high levels of gluten. This started innocently enough as the blending of different strains of their new creation. This has continued over time and has ultimately led to present day wheat. Canadian "hard" wheat for example now has in excess of 55% gluten content. This is in stark contrast to the original ancestor of wheat, which had approximately 5% gluten. The proof of this lies in the texture of our newer breads. I can remember the days when spreading peanut butter on a piece of bread required almost surgical skills. Now, with the addition of wheat gluten to the bread mix that is made from gluten-rich wheat, we have a product from which one could almost make a trampoline. These are seriously tough breads. If the gluten killed our ancestors, what must it be doing to us now?

Natural selection took place among the Europeans in those days leaving the most intolerant behind. Those that survived were more tolerant, but the process of increasing wheat's gluten content continued. So, there was a parallel situation of our becoming more tolerant through continues natural selection while we were gradually raising the level of the substance of which we were intolerant. This is one aspect of the "spiral".

In my research, I quickly found that Black Americans had a much higher rate of immune-related disorders than Caucasians. In fact, their incidence rates of diabetes, lupus, rheumatoid, and coronary artery disease were very similar to those of celiacs. Suddenly, history and medicine were melded together again. It didn't take long to realize that wheat (and cow milk) were especially unnatural for African Americans once I examined the diet of their ancestors. In Africa, the cereal grains consumed are all of the wheat-substitutes that are safe for celiacs- sorghum and millet. Remembering that wheat, as we know it was an Anglo-Saxon creation, a short trip to the history books again told a depressing tale.

In about 1500 A.D., the slave trade was getting into high gear. The exportation of these people from their homeland to remote locations such as the Mediterranean and North America would be their downfall in more ways than one. I read that approximately 40% of the slaves never made it to their destinations, most of which died of dysentery. It suddenly dawned on me that they were the newest batch of celiacs. They had never before had wheat but it was thrust on them suddenly during transport in the form of their bread and water rations. When I then viewed their current dilemma with immune diseases, it all made sense. They had never had a chance to pass gently through a more gradual process of natural selection like the Caucasian. They hit it head on and in the much more recent past.

This idea would drive me to the medical books in search of data on the diseases from which Black Americans suffer most. The list above was confirmed, but there was a rather unique skeleton in their medical closet...Sickle Cell Disease. There existed a strange dichotomy in this incredibly sad and devastating condition. In their homeland, the Sickle cell gene protected them against malaria. When the red blood cell became inoculated with the malaria organism, it folded making it an unacceptable vehicle for that infectious agent. The Sickle cell gene was a good thing and without it, victims would suffer and die from malaria. So when did it become a bad thing? It turned against its host when there was an abrupt change in the immune status, most likely. In the chaotic atmosphere created by the new foods, the immune system became over-reactive to these sickle cells causing them to adhere to the walls of the blood vessels that carried them leading to clots and organ damage. Similar syndromes occur with other hemolytic anemias as the red blood cells become coated with "foreign" proteins, resulting in their destruction by the immune system.

This paper will specifically deal with the pathomechanisms of immune-mediated diseases, but suffice it to say here that Sickle Cell Disease has a clear immune component. The disease process as described in the medical texts is a complex syndrome of chronic red blood cell damage, growth retardation and deformities, gastrointestinal problems, secondary infections, vascular damage, pain syndromes, neurological deficits, and more. It is truly a who's who of what can go wrong, and this from a gene that used to save lives in Africa and the Mediterranean. How in the world could this happen?

Certainly genetics play a role and this horrifying condition can be avoided in many cases through testing and selective reproduction. But the threat is ever-present and the complex disease process just doesnt make sense...until now. When I read the description of Sickle Cell Disease in the Merck Manual, I immediately called my brother. We had been brainstorming for weeks as the medical revelations were unfolding. I had been sitting on my bed, performing my new favorite exercise- opening the Merck Manual with my eyes closed and pointing to a page. I would then try to explain the disease or condition on that page through the eyes of food intolerance. One of the first to be dissected was Sickle Cell.

I read the description to him- the pain, the blood problems, the growth abnormalities, the gastrointestinal disturbances, etc. and asked him what it sounded like. He just nervously laughed and said My gosh, its celiac disease isn't it? I agreed that the two shared an incredible number of signs. When I went over the whole protection versus death idea, we both agreed that the difference was in the immune component brought on by food intolerance. Being the obsessive compulsive that I am, I launched into a brief but manic search for information on the condition over the Internet, and then began relaying what I had found. I was still young and foolish in those days, believing that my Emails would reach the hands of someone important and that I would actually affect a difference. I sent Internet letters to Oprah, Montel, and the Sickle Cell foundations explaining my findings and suspicions. No response was disappointing at first but understandable. These were busy people with thousands of Emails to sort through. They must get millions of letters form well wishers with great ideas for shows or topics. Little did I know that it would be six months of in-house research and a whole lot more study to come up with enough data and insights to write a paper with some real meat in it to send to them in hard copy form.

Wheat had an amazing history and clearly played a major role in shaping the medical conditions that would follow. But, the same thing happened with dairy products. Before 1500 A.D., the principle sources of milk and its derivatives were sheep and goats. Even the ancient Greeks and Romans demonstrated their understanding of the true value of these animals by elevating them to the heavens. The sheep was honored for it's wool and milk and given the astrological name Aries. Capricorn, the goat, was valued for its milk. In fact, part of the name given to this honored creature meant "foster milk". The ox, Taurus, was deified for his work in the fields. It wasn't until much later that man veered from his natural course and chose to mass-produce cow milk.

In fact, it wasn't until the middle of the second millennium that this took place. Somewhere between 1300 and 1500 A.D., our ancestors decided to go into the dairy industry using cows. A decisive factor had to be the usual motivation for most that we do as humans, supply and demand. The corollary to this is ignorance and greed. Suddenly, there was a demand for greater and greater quantities of milk and the cows larger udder was a tempting source. The rest is history.

The main problem with this seemingly logical yet devastatingly ignorant decision was that there was a vast difference between cow milk and that of its predecessors. The protein, fat, mineral, and vitamin content as well as the pH buffering qualities were all different. Some of these differences were subtle; others would be the difference between tolerance and intolerance. Goats milk was much more digestible, forming smaller curds and being lower in the indigestible components such as lactose. However, the most vital difference would not be discovered until the days of immunology and quantitative analysis arrived.

Now we know that the biggest difference between cow and goat milk is the absence or low quantity of one protein fraction, alpha S-1 casein. Understanding of this dairy protein not only serves to explain the lower allergy rate to goat milk, but also sends us in the right direction on our search for the culprit behind other immune-mediated food issues. Casein makes up 80% of the protein in cow milk. In bovine milk, 75% of the casein is alpha casein. In goat milk, the majority is beta casein. The dominant component of the alpha casein in cow milk is the alpha S-1 casein, the culprit we just identified as being responsible for most immune reactions, including milk allergies. There are other differences in protein concentrations, including those lactalbumins in the whey portion, but we will focus later on casein as it relates to the induction of villous damage in the small bowel.

The milk history lesson doesn't end here. The reader is directed to remember the possible relationship between the advent of common wheat and the start of then Dark ages because history repeats itself. The first pandemic of plague occurred shortly after wheat's creation. The second pandemic of plague, by far the worst of the three, immediately followed the introduction of cow milk. This was a phenomenal coincidence to me. This devastating epidemic known as the Black Death started in Europe in approximately 1300 A.D. and killed one fourth of its population. The pandemic occurred in 1400 and spread across Europe into Asia wiping out nearly 40 million people. Just as the dairy industry was getting into full swing in 1600 in England, its true land of origin, the Great (bubonic) Plague of London occurred, killing another 100,000 people. The third and last pandemic occurred in the mid 1800s in China, causing over 20 million deaths over a 75-year period. Had milk and wheat finally reached their land?

Are these historical coincidences? Celiac disease is a historical fact and occurred in those that finally developed wheat into a toxic grain. The ultimate immuno-suppressive effects of food allergies and intolerances are well known and will be covered in greater detail later in this treatise. The potentially devastating effects of an incompetent immune system would have to include increased vulnerability to infectious diseases. Therefore, the timing of these plagues could easily be interpreted as evidence of the horribly deleterious effects off these novel proteins on an unsuspecting population of susceptible people.

Therefore, it should be clear to the reader that man took two very important steps backward when it came to maintaining his health. The development of wheat as we know it was potentially catastrophic in scope only to be eclipsed by the change in horses from sheep and goats to cows as a milk source. Between the two, man was on a collision course with immunological disaster. But we're not finished yet. Humans seem to make a major nutritional blunder once a millennium and the newest "winner" is soy protein.

All one has to do ask, "If soy is so good for us, why have we waited 3000 years to make it a major protein source?" We have known about soy since the Chou Dynasty in 1100 B.C. It was first developed as a crop to place nitrogen back into the soil. Soy was planted about every 3-4 crops for this purpose. Granted, the Asian cultures began consuming this mixed blessing very early on, but they learned quickly the safe and proper way in which to do it. They knew from experience that soy had "antinutrients" and other potentially harmful components, such as threateningly-high levels of estrogen. The manner in which they ate soy was then very well thought out. In the hands of unknowing Americans, the old "if some is good, a lot must be better" mentality takes over. Suddenly, soy protein is showing up in school lunch burgers, meal-replacing drinks, and breakfast cereals aimed at the female market. Without the basic knowledge of the potential harmful effects of soy protein, we are steaming toward disaster.

At this point, a distinction needs to be made between the different nutritional components of the soy plant. As the reader may have noticed, the term soy protein has been used most frequently in reference to the harmful effects of this plant. This protein portion will be the focus of discussion as it relates to the serious effects it has on the immune system and central nervous system. The other "nutritional" component of the soy plant is the isoflavone. This term refers to the phytochemical portion, that part which is primarily composed of the phytoestrogens ("plant-estrogens"). Although the health benefits of plant estrogen supplementation in people are debatable, the protein portion is not, in my opinion.

The two portions arise from distinctly different parts of the plant. The protein comes from the legume seed itself, whereas the phytoestrogen comes primarily from the leafy part of the seedling. It is, therefore, easy to separate the two and reap the (potentially) beneficial effects of soy without subjecting ourselves to the harmful effects of the protein.

The ill effects of soy protein are everywhere you turn, starting as a primary allergen in children and adults. It is number four on the FDA's list of childhood food allergens. This should be a serious warning right away. I discovered it on my own, however. Two weeks of soy milk in place of dairy had my stomach in an absolute knot. I have interviewed numerous clients who attested to these nauseating effects. As we will discuss later, the gastrointestinal effects are only the beginning. Serious immune-stimulating actions as well as pain-inducing effects are common among soy consumers.

Asians then and now eat soy in a specified manner. They would consume only small quantities at the beginning of a meal, eating less than two teaspoons a day. They would then quickly follow this up with a meal rich in animal protein, such as seafood or poultry (and now beef). The protein from animal sources helped to block the antinutrients of soy, such as the trypsin inhibitors. This practice probably also aided in the reduction of the amount of estrogens absorbed.

The estrogen levels of soy are incredible and there is an abundance of statistical data that supports the idea that they have changed the pace of our children's sexual maturation. In studying the age at which the first menstrual cycle occurred in the Japanese before and after WWII, researchers linked the decline from 15.5 years to 12 years to milk consumption. They found that prior to WWII, the Japanese consumed an average of 5.5 pounds of dairy products per person per year. After that war, thanks to American influence, their dairy consumption rose dramatically over the next ten years to 250 pounds per person annually. Over that time, the age of their little girls' first menses dropped to twelve years of age. That was milk talking.

In this country, the this age for our children has continued to drop, with a shocking 19% of our little girls having their first cycle by age eight. That's right...eight! This is the effect of soy formulas being given as a substitute for the cow milk based varieties. Why did we do that? We ignorantly reached for the soy substitute because of the incredibly high incidence of cow milk allergies in our infants. The problem is that soy protein, once again, is the fourth most common childhood allergen, according to the FDA. Why is that? As we will cover later, it is because our body doesn't want this food in us...at all. Allergies are a distinct warning sign. My next paper, in fact, will be entitled Warning Shots, or "How you should have known what you have now was coming based on what you had before." We should now be able to see this one coming from miles and miles away.

But, are we done yet? Are there any other foods that fit into this category of glycoproteins that can be doing us harm? The bad news is that even corn and rice can be significant players in the generation of allergies and related disorders. This should not be a surprise, really, in that they are related botanically to the aforementioned grains in that they are all in the same grass family. Corn is not really a vegetable as most would think but rather it is a grain. The wheat, barley, corn, and rice are really the seeds of the parent plant that we have chosen to consume. So, all of these food sources are related botanically (same grass family) and biochemically (glycoproteins in structure) which should take away that element of surprise when one finds that they react negatively to a number or even all proteins.

This is especially true for our pets. The bad news is that once the animal protein is removed from pet foods, we are left with wheat, barley, corn, soy, and rice, none of which would naturally find their way into the stomachs of our pets. These foods are all man-raised crops that are unavailable to the natural animal.

But how bad can corn be for a human or an animal? The paper will discuss the role of corn in allergies, asthma, and immune-mediated diseases, but recent history gives us a clue as to importance of this protein. Remember those fast food chain taco shells not long ago and the story about the genetically engineered corn that had leaked into our food supply? This was another tip of the iceberg type of story. The stated health risk was allergic reactions. Well, allergic reactions are nothing to sneer at, but immune-mediated disease activation as in the case of asthma, rheumatoid arthritis, Crohn's disease, and others is another level of health risk. The latter conditions better explain the urgency of our governmental agencies to remove these foods as soon as possible, spending millions of dollars recalling hundreds of brands of foods containing corn in the process.

More bad news for our pets...they get the genetically engineered corn in their diets. Animal feed is the main outlet for this genetically altered form of corn. Therefore, we have a situation in which an animal that would never naturally eat a particular food (corn) is getting a form of that food that is too powerful for man. Should it then be a surprise that dogs and cats have some problems with corn?

What about rice? Well, the good news is that these trouble foods are on a spectrum of trouble-making. By that I mean that some are clearly worse than others in both incidence and effect in most cases. Wheat is clearly the number one problem grain in man and animals. Oats are clearly the least allergenic of the grain proteins. The others, like rice, are in between. But rice is not a non-allergenic food as some would have you believe. In fact, it is the number one food allergen in Asia, with a staggering 10% of Japanese who have any significant allergy symptoms being allergic to rice. Rice allergies usually show up later in life (adulthood) and are the least common of the grain allergies in pets.

Once again, the reader has to be asking how this could be. The fact is that it was our ancestors who chose to cultivate and develop a taste for these foods. We have just reached a point in our culinary habits where we feel that we cant exist without one of these glycoproteins on our plate. If one was served a meal with (only) a meat, a vegetable, and a fruit, we would cry out for the bread, the corn, the rice, or our salvation...the potato.

Yes, there is a silver lining around what most readers would call this dark cloud and it is called the potato. The fact is that practically no one is allergic to potatoes, one of the best indicators of its safety. The only exception is those uncommon individuals who are allergic to latex, as there is a cross-reaction between true rubber and potato protein in some cases. Otherwise, food allergies involving potatoes are unheard of in people and pets. So, if we must consume a food that is both a carbohydrate and a protein all-in-one, then the potato is your guy. Yes, it has a bad reputation for providing "all of that sugar", but that is a small price to pay for a food that is so perfect otherwise. It is truly non-allergenic (being the only carbohydrate mentioned thus far that is not in the grass family) and a good source of protein and vitamin C. The potato is really only a problem for those who are trying hard to lose weight or already have diabetes. Otherwise, it is good source of protein and carbohydrate, as long as it is not deep-fat fried in hydrogenated oils or covered in dairy products. We must start using our heads.

Yes, our history of eating is not something that many have delved into but it is rich in answers. If the answers we are looking for to vital questions keep alluding us, then we are clearly looking in the wrong places. I disliked the study of history as much as the next person, maybe even more so. If it wasn't about science and the living, I didn't want any part of it. But there is a very important saying concerning there being nothing new under the sun. This implies that the understanding of history is absolutely crucial to solving today's tough problems, including those in medicine.



MEDICAL EVIDENCE

The pathophysiology of intestinal damage from these dietary antigens is well described in both medical and consumer literature. It should be no surprise that the main problem is brought about by incomplete digestion. Because man invited these problem nutrients as described above, then it should easy to understand that we are not naturally equipped with the enzymes to tend to these new foods. This maldigestion results in the incomplete breakdown of these foods resulting in a number major digestive dilemmas, including abnormal protein components and polypeptide chains being available in the small intestine.

One of the most serious effects of this incomplete digestion is actually the simplest to understand. As previously mentioned, the gluten from wheat and the casein from cow milk are used by industry in the production of adhesives, some of which are actually water proof. If one were to put gluten or casein in the Internet search engine of their computer, they would find numerous sites concerning the adhesive properties of these two dietary proteins. The concern should then be raised as to what this glue does once it is applied to the intestinal tract, particularly the first stretch of the small intestine known as the duodenum. In review, it is this J-shaped portion of the intestinal tract that is responsible for the absorption of most vitamins and minerals, including calcium, iron, B complex, and vitamin C. It doesn't take much of an imagination to see where this road is leading.

The reader is asked to imagine their stomach after the consumption of two or three slices of pizza. This is one of my favorite examples...a wheat plate covered with cheese...loaded with both forms of glue. The stomach spends a good amount of time working on this meal. In fact, both wheat and dairy cause the stomach to empty much more slowly than normal foods, forcing it to spend extra time attempting to digest these two foods. The dairy proponents want to use this side effect of dairy to their (and our) advantage to induce premature fullness and resultant weight loss. They suggest that overweight individuals each a portion of dairy before meals to reduce appetite...and it works. Why? Because the dairy products go directly to the brain and shut off the hunger center and also slow the stomach and intestinal motility to induce a sense of fullness. Why would they do that? Because your body is telling you...no, screaming at you...that it doesn't want these foods in it. Stop eating this stuff is what your brain is saying.

But, it is too late. The pizza is already in the system and has to be dealt with one way or another. So, the "glue" slowly oozes out of the stomach and into the duodenum. It then comes in contact with the delicate, finger-like projections in the intestine known as villi. These villi increase the effective absorption area of the gut tremendously and are essential in proper digestion. They are an incredibly efficient system as long as they are unharmed. They get damaged through a number of mechanisms, including viral and parasitic infections. In our illustration, however, they simply get covered with glue. Does this really happen? Yes, it does. Evidence can be found in daily medical recommendations such as taking certain drugs on an empty stomach or avoiding dairy products with others. We are also advised to stay on clear fluids for viral infections such as intestinal flu. Clear fluids means no milk, basically.

However, the problems have just begun once the coating has been applied. In the best case scenario, which happens to everyone every time we eat these foods, other nutrients such as vitamins and minerals have a much harder time being absorbed by the duodenum. The calcium in the dairy products will have a very hard time making its way into the bloodstream if the villi are effectively masked with this adhesive. This is actually part of the medical explanation for how dairy products contribute to osteoporosis rather than combat it. It is an epidemiological fact that the countries that drink the most milk have the highest rates of osteoporosis. The casein ("glue") in the milk actually blocks the absorption of the calcium in the milk. It is that simple. Once the reader understands phase two, a better understanding of this is acquired.

What is phase two? As mentioned, at best these foods have a coating action that reduces absorption. At worst, our immune system mounts an assault on this foreign material coating the villi. This is when things get serious. In celiac disease and casein intolerance, this is exactly what happens. The adherence of this protein rich substance in combination with the immune response to its presence leads to significant damage to those villi. This is what is known as villous atrophy. Once this atrophy occurs, a vicious cycle is set into motion. The incomplete break down of gluten and casein, which yielded the adhesive, also produces other protein fractions that the body's defenses don't recognize and antibodies are formed to those proteins. The immune response does further damage to the gut wall and the pathology of celiac disease is created. The villous atrophy is what characterizes this condition when biopsies are taken by the attending gastroenterologist.

Once again, in celiac disease, gluten is the culprit. Gluten is comprised of two components, glutelins and prolamines, the latter being the most troublesome protein portion. Gliadin is the real problem among the prolamines and it is gliadin that is found in most of the immune complexes of the major diseases we will cover. It is antibodies to gliadin that are the principal diagnostic aid in celiac disease. At 69%, gliadin makes up the majority of the prolamine portion of wheat.

The immune response to gluten and casein is insidious yet devastating. Villous atrophy of the duodenum and jejunum results from a complex of immune responses directed at gliadin and alpha casein primarily. The resultant increase in gut permeability allows unnatural polypeptides to enter the blood stream in an abnormal fashion, entering the infant both prematurely and in biological forms that were unintended. These various polypeptides have both direct and indirect effects that are harmful in a myriad of ways.

Some polypeptides appear to be purely antigenic and elicit an immune response. These are at the root of what we refer to as allergies to wheat and milk. These are mediated by the typical IgE antibodies, which are directed at proteins considered to be foreign by the immune system. The results are the usual allergic reactions associated with food and inhalant allergies that are IgE antibody and mast cell mediated. Hives, nasal congestion, bronchoconstriction, gastrointestinal disturbances, and the like are the symptoms. The other more subtle response is the formation of IgA, IgG, and IgM antibodies. These antibodies are the primary players in the generation of immune-mediated food intolerances such as those to casein and gluten.

In the past, medical texts have stated that the pathological effect of immune-mediated disorders is better understood than the formation of the autoantibodies themselves. The mechanism underlying the generation of antibodies that ultimately attack the host tissue is typically described as not well understood but those same antibodies are often used as diagnostic aids in the diagnosis and monitoring of the immune-related conditions. However, once food intolerance is better understood, a plausible explanation for origin of these mysterious elements becomes apparent.

The damage to the duodenum and jejunum leads to a number of significant problems. Villous damage results in a malabsorption syndrome reducing the absorption of many vital nutrients, vitamins and minerals. These include calcium, vitamin C, iron, iodine, B complex, fat-soluble vitamins including K, and trace minerals such as zinc and manganese. Now, I will not bore the reader with all of the conditions that could result from these deficiencies but one can imagine the ramifications of such a problem. The most common nutritional deficiency in the world is iron deficiency. The biggest nutritional fear among the aging in this country is osteoporosis. The most common endocrine (hormone-related) condition in people and dogs is hypothyroidism. Now, what is the link between these three conditions? All of the principle nutrients involved...iron, calcium, and iodine...are absorbed by the duodenum. How well can a duodenum coated with "glue" or one that has undergone true villous atrophy absorb these vital nutrients? And these are just three of many. When one truly understands the role of vitamins and minerals in our day to day...no, second by second...lives, then the medical problems we face become less of a mystery. Mental and physical retardation, bleeding tendencies, thyroid abnormalities, immune deficiencies, vision problems, skeletal abnormalities, and the like are all possibilities, especially when chronicity is introduced as a factor.

The main diagnostic challenge has been the subclinical nature of these conditions. Physicians have been trained to look for the obvious clinical signs of gastrointestinal disturbances, which are woefully absent in the vast majority of cases. Only 25% or less of celiac sufferers are actually having chronic diarrhea, the hallmark of classic malabsorption syndromes. This is the crux of the diagnostic dilemma. Most celiacs are covert victims of this horribly under-diagnosed condition. Once that is understood, and then the world of possibilities becomes open for viewing.

The second aspect of this small bowel disaster is what is commonly referred to as the leaky gut syndrome. The lack of complete digestion coupled with the loss of normal villi allows dietary proteins and antigens to enter the system in forms and numbers that would not normally occur. This is the malabsorption syndromes evil sibling. Proteins that are antigenic elicit the appropriate immune response, resulting in food allergies while other dietary polypeptides enter in unusual conformations that have their own detrimental effects.

The subsequent clinical findings are then easily understood. It is not uncommon for celiacs to have multiple food allergies. I have interviewed victims of ten, fifteen, even twenty different food allergies. How these develop is now very clear and my advice to the afflicted is to learn about celiac disease as well as the other forms of food intolerance. As will be covered, dairy, soy, and other food items are capable of similar harm. The food allergies themselves cause a myriad of annoying symptoms, but these are just the tip of the iceberg.

One of the most devastating yet fascinating aspects of the leaky gut is found in the creation and absorption of the unique proteins that severely affect the development of the central nervous system. These are the casomorphins and gliadorphins. As their name implies, these morphine-like compounds are derivatives of casein and gliadin, resulting from the incomplete digestion of their parent foods. As previously described, the combination of maldigestion and malabsorption leads to the entry of these odd polypeptides that have a complex effect on the brain, particularly that of a developing individual.

The first effect is that of the predictable restraints such compounds would have on cognitive function. This is in fact what happens in autism, for example. The casomorphins and gliadorphins have the effect of heroin or morphine, sedating the victim and leading to the odd, repetitive, oftentimes self-injurious behavior observed in this horrible condition. This syndrome is well described by recent research and should be arrested with removal of the offending food sources. The problem with this expectation lies in the hidden sources of these dietary precursors. Dairy and cereal grain proteins are now in the vast majority of foods given to children and their restriction seems nearly impossible without absolutely heroic efforts. However, these Herculean trials have been met by many a mother with astounding results. Those parents of children with autism, ADHD, bipolar disease, and various learning disabilities that have implemented this concept are reaping the benefits of their labor. Their testimonies are plentiful on the Internet. Diagnosis of these conditions may be as simple as a urinalysis in the future, as these compounds are excreted and detectable in urine of the affected individual.

Although these sedating compounds have been clearly linked to serious conditions such as autism, they have everyday implications in virtually all of our lives. They are at the root of an extremely common problem called caffeine dependency. Have you ever wondered why we must consume three cups of coffee with breakfast, two or three glasses of iced tea or cola with lunch, and more of the same with dinner? The clear answer is that we need it to function. Why is that? The simple answer is that the food is putting us to sleep. Many people are under the misconception that it is normal to get sleepy after eating. Now, I would have to admit there is a physiologic basis for rest after a meal, but this phenomenon has been greatly exaggerated. I can clearly track the progression of my profound fatigue following meals, beginning in my mid-30s.

My wife was beginning to think I was a narcoleptic. I would come home late most days and eat dinner around 7:00 or 8:00. I would then sit down to watch my favorite 9:00 PM show, like NYPD Blue. Keep in mind that I waited all week for this show. My wife was not the only one who had reason for concern when literally I passed out 15-20 minutes into the show. I would wake up a couple of hours later and wander off to bed in a fog. The casomorphins and gliadorphins had hit their stride.

I began sharing this story with clients in the exam room and the food-related drug addicts started crawling out the woodwork. What surprised me a little was the wide age range at which this symptom began. I somehow figured that my age of onset of about 35 would be the earliest, with the majority coming on board well after that time. Although many of my food intolerant clients were over 50, the numbers of affected clients between 20 and 30 would shock me. I would later learn of the rising incidence of many of the immune-mediated diseases in this age group.

One of the most outstanding examples of post-meal sleepiness was a 34-year old woman. I was covering food-related symptoms with her when I described my fatigue following eating wheat or milk products. Her head went into her hands as I described the scenario. I had clearly struck a nerve. She said, I have something to tell you. I asked her what was on her mind, as she was clearly hesitant in continuing with her information. After a near retraction, she said, Ok, Ill tell you. I have rear-ended four people in the last six months or so. After controlling myself, I asked her why and how that pertained to the subject. She told me that she got so sleepy at times that she dozed off at the wheel. I could see the lights coming on in her house as she recounted the accidents. She said, with an awakening, that it was always in the afternoon, after lunch, and three of the times occurred in the drive-through of the bank. She became so groggy that her foot would slip off the brake pedal and she would roll into the next car. The fourth happened at a red light.

When I asked her about her lunch menu, it became very clear to both of us where the problem originated. Her favorite lunch was pasta, and she said I can hardly get half way through a serving without looking for a bed. The other lunch fare was the usual sandwiches and fast food. Her favorite snack was cheese. What a classic situation. When she then described her irritable bowel, chronic fatigue, shoulder pain, difficulty with sleep, and possible fibromyalgia, I had her pegged.

The next malady associated with these narcotic polypeptides affects all age groups. It is called food addiction. As in illicit drug use, the individual becomes addicted to these morphine-like proteins. This leads to a vicious cycle of cravings and consumption that results in a conglomerate of conditions. Obesity, eating disorders, depression, and their sequels are natural consequences. It is no coincidence that that foods most often volunteered and incriminated in food addictions are dairy and carbohydrates, cheese being the prime example. I have had more clients offer cheese as their down fall then any other food item. I had a client who was nearly 300 pounds who stated that if she did not get some cheese within a few hours of a large meal, she felt that she would die. Her demeanor upon this confession spoke volumes. The casomorphins were alive and well in this individual.

The carbohydrates have their own addicts. To arrive at this destination one can take many paths. Just as in dairy, the cereal grain-based carbohydrates have a drug, but in their case it is the gliadorphin. The actions are similar and no less compelling. Desserts are no longer an option in most opinions, nor are bread with meals and convenience foods like hamburgers and pizza. These have become staples in their own right and their exclusion is unthinkable. Once on this path, the victim cannot find the way home, falling into the same potholes as the milk addict.

However, there has been a champion of sorts for the carb addict in the form of an enlightened doctor. His sugar-busters diet has helped countless of these wayward beings by educating them in the errors of their ways. Although, from my perspective, he is doing the right thing for the wrong reason, the results are potentially the same. By outlawing sugar, the diet effectively eliminates the wheat-based foods that are the true culprits. The exclusion of the sugar found in cookies, cakes, doughnuts- all of the treats and desserts we have come to know and love- effectively takes a huge source of gluten and its derivatives out of the equation. Is this the real reason why these converts feel better? Is the removal of the gliadorphins the real explanation as to why they experience improvements in their energy, concentration, and even sleep patterns? Sugar certainly has its own faults but the emphasis on its contribution to the pathogenesis of mental and physical health has been overstated. It is like yeast, in that regard. Aren't those that are told to eliminate yeast really meant to avoid the foods containing the yeast?

One of the problems I have observed is that many our medical doctors don't understand these "nutritional" aspects of medicine and thereby don't relate to the true value of such diets. A case in point being a client of mine who is a well-known judge who suffers from type I diabetes. I was explaining the need for eliminating cereal grains and dairy from the diet of his Doberman, when he volunteered to me that he had initiated Dr. Adkins' diet in an attempt to lower his cholesterol. He had read about the health benefits of this low-carbohydrate diet and had decided to give it a try. Within a couple of months, he was feeling better and went in for routine lab work. His doctor asked him what he had done because his cholesterol and triglyceride levels had returned to normal. My client told him about the diet and the doctors response was Whatever, judge. Whatever works for you, Id keep doing it cause it seems to be working.

When my client told me this story, I got both angry and depressed. My client had just taken one of the most important steps he could take toward wellness and his doctor didn't have a clue as to the vital nature of what he had done. It seemed odd that his veterinarian could explain why his cholesterol and triglycerides had plummeted and he felt so much better on this diet, yet his doctor simply blew it off. I reinforced the diet for my client, educated him as to the woes of cereal grains as well as dairy products in him and his dog, and sent him on his way with a handout loaded with Internet sites to help him understand just what he had done to improve the quality of his life.

The sad fact is that both dairy and glutenous cereal grains are a problem in most of the susceptible individuals. One food group may be more of an issue than the other, but usually it is both. Now, the educated can see why. Neither category is completely digestible, yet they comprise the bulk of our diet. The average American consumes 40% of the daily calories in the form of dairy products. Wheat alone makes up another 20%. A grand total of 60% of our calories are comprised of those foods that are unnatural and damaging. The spiral really starts to take shape here.

When I explain the origins of wheat and how man turned this benign grain into a toxic entity, people see the err of our ways and seem to accept the bad news with a half-hearted resolution to check into it and cut back on the amounts consumed. Most of my clients have been primed for this concept by a popular diet that restricts carbohydrates. That will be covered later. But, when you mention dairy, the atmosphere becomes cold as ice and the defenses go up. But drinking milk is so natural and does a body good and all that they would say in their defense. But being the ruthless prosecutor that I am, I would respond Natural? What is natural about drinking milk other than the fact that we have been doing it all of our lives?

The fact is that man is the only species that drinks milk after they are weaned. Many of my clients have volunteered that fact once the subject was broached. But that is only part of the story. We are certainly the only species to drink the milk of another animal. To compound matters, look at the animal we chose to nurse: a huge beast that never moves. He is one of the most lethargic of earths mammals. The fact is that the composition of their milk fits their nursing period and their weight at adulthood. The universal truth is that all mammals nurse their young until they triple their birth weight. This ranges from three weeks in the guinea pig to three years in the elephant. Every other mammal is pretty much somewhere in between.

This concept helps to explain the condition of lactose intolerance. In the animal kingdom, mammals become universally lactose intolerant. They no longer drink milk in the post-weaning period so they don't require the enzyme to digest it. But that's only part of the story when applied to humans. Most people in my exam room are shocked to hear that most human beings are lactose intolerant. Nearly 100% of Chinese, Japanese, and other Asian nations are lactose intolerant. When was the last time you ate a Chinese buffet and saw any dairy on display? I would ask to illustrate the point. But the Asians are in good company. Practically all Hispanics, Native Americans, and Black Americans are lactose intolerant. Only the white Anglo-Saxon, Northern Germanic mutt is better at digesting this milk sugar. This group is about 60-75% lactose intolerant, except for a few rogue populations in Europe.

Dr. Frank Oski explained it best. He was the Chief of Pediatrics and Chief of Medicine at John Hopkins University at the pinnacle of his career. During this time, he saw the evils of dairy protein and wrote the book Don't Drink Your Milk, which was published in 1986. In this book before its time, he calls those that are lactose tolerant mutants. He explains the natural phenomenon of lactose intolerance as one that occurs in all mammals. Those uncommon populations that tolerate milk somehow developed the ability to produce lactase beyond the customary weaning time and have passed that ability on down through the years. The other explanation for the discrepancy among races is that the white Americans ancestors have been drinking milk for a much longer time than Native, Hispanic, and Black Americans and have thereby had the greatest chance to adapt. By adaptation, we would mean natural selection, like that which occurred in wheat. Those who were most intolerant of milk died or were unable to reproduce long ago, leaving the more tolerant to populate the earth. Both explanations are valid and are probably correct. The fact is that we are amazingly adaptable, but that doesn't make the unnatural foods any better for us.

Once on the subject of lactose intolerance, I explain to my clients that lactose is just an indicator, not really the principle culprit in milk-related disorders. Lactose is a sugar that causes some problems, but the serious problems are linked to the dairy proteins. I tell them to think of lactose as the periscope that tells you that there is a nuclear submarine under the surface about to blow you away. This is good, accurate visual. The prime example is type I diabetes. Remember those lactose intolerance figures? That 40% increase in diabetes over the last ten years has hit those populations- the Hispanics, Native American Indian, and Black American the hardest. Why is that? It is not the lactose, of course, but the fact that they are the most intolerant of the proteins as well. Lactose is just the indicator.

So, anyone can now see the folly in the use of lactose-free milks or digestive aids in order to keep consuming cow milk. Can't you? Unfortunately, many don't. I use a veterinary analogy here to illustrate the point. There are manufacturers of antifreeze for your car's radiator that put a bittering agent in their product to help discourage pets from drinking this deadly poison. Without the bitter taste, dogs and cats will drink the ethylene glycol compound because of its inherent sweet, sugary taste. Now think of lactose as that bitter agent, put into milk to warn you off of this potentially harmful food source. If we extract the lactose, then we can drink the milk, sometimes to death. We will cover in detail other similar substances in milk that should be ample warning.

It should be evident that the only dairy we need is mother's milk. "But what about my calcium?" is the universal response. Dr. Oski to the rescue again. Get it where all the other mammals get theirs from- the vegetation they eat. I can hear my son now saying, "Tell them about the elephants, Dad." I have a great poster in my exam room with nearly all the mammals on it, from lemurs to giraffes. I usually turn to picture at this point in the lecture, and say "See that elephant over there? He nursed until he tripled his birth weight, until about 3 years old. At that point, he was still knee high to his mother and look what he becomes. He has bones bigger around than my body and where does he get his calcium? From the dead grass on the Serengeti. Have you seen what these guys eat on the Animal Planet?" Point well made I would like to think.

But, the idea that we must have dairy to survive is deeply ingrained in our culture. Most of my clients react strongly to the idea that milk products could be eliminated without harm. The ad campaigns and medical misinformation have literally brainwashed us into this dairy-dependent state. The startling thing is that there is every reason at this point to believe that milk consumption contributes significantly to osteoporosis rather than prevents it. What? my clients would exclaim at this point, as if I were a true heretic. The fact is there is a phenomenal amount of epidemiological and medical evidence that this is exactly the case. All one has to do is study the incidence of osteoporosis worldwide and the truth leaps out of the statistics. The countries that drink the least amount of milk have the least amount of osteoporosis. The United States has the highest level of osteoporosis. According to the National Osteoporosis Foundation, 28 million Americans are at major risk to developing this condition, 80% of which are women. Eight million women and two million men actually have osteoporosis, with millions more suffering from low bone density. One in eight men and a staggering one in two women over age 50 will suffer from an osteoporosis-related fracture. In stark contrast, the countries with the least milk consumption, like Cambodia, Laos, and Viet Nam have never heard of a hip fracture in their 100 year old people. How is that possible?

There are two basic medical explanations for these findings. The first relates to the damage that casein does to the villi of the duodenum and jejunum, as previously described. Remembering that calcium is one of the main minerals that are malabsorbed in both wheat and milk intolerance, it is easy to follow that as more milk is consumed, more damage is done and less calcium is absorbed. This is so simple it makes me crazy! Now if that is not enough, then we can turn to a physiologic explanation involving calcium movement in and out of bone. If a person managed to get extra much calcium into their blood stream via supplementation with vitamin D3, then the body must deal it with in order to keep the blood level of calcium at its normal (and critical) level. This is accomplished by storing it in bones. What most lay people don't understand is that many of the cells of our body have a limited life span or a limited number of times that these cells can perform a given function. In the case of the osteoclasts and ostoblasts of bone, the latter is the case. These two cells are responsible for the transport of calcium in and out of bone. After their limited number of functional repetitions, they die. So, it follows that if these cells are asked to perform their function too often or too many times, the bones will actually weaken. This is, in fact, what happens. Too much calcium actually weakens your bones. Go back to that elephant in the Serengeti.