The point of this post is to explore the importance of
living probiotic supplementation for chronic illness of the gut.
I've been waiting to make this post to allow time to pass for more confirmation of effects. Insufficient time has passed to make confident claims. Nevertheless, I want to post this story while the original impetus is still visceral in my mind.
Those who've been tracking my health saga may remember that I did a 10 day water only fasting in late August and dropped from roughly 72 kg (from peak in 2014 of 85 kg) to likely well below 60 kgs. I didn't weigh myself at the end of the fasting because I was too damn weak to go out to my gym. I don't own a scale. Wednesday was my first back in the gym since fasting. I had gained weight back to 65 kg and by Saturday 67 kg.
Before the fasting (perhaps it was early August), because I felt my vision was starting to decline faster, I had tested at an optometrist at the mall requiring a +1 corrective lens to attain 20/20. And my uncorrected vision was in the range of 20/40. It had gone from uncorrected 20/20 in 2010 to needing a +0.75 lens in 2013.
On Saturday I proceed to an ophthalmologist because I needed a medical certificate in order to obtain a renewal of my driver's license. Pressure in my good eye was normal at 13, but my visual acuity had declined precipitously in less than 2 months to 20/70 and needing a +1.75 lens to attain 20/25. I could no longer attain 20/20 with any lens.
I was stoically dejected as I proceeded from the doctor for 1 kilometer sidewalk stroll to the mall where I could buy a can of tuna before I would head to the gym. I realized I was losing the battle against Multiple Sclerosis and
I was going blind. In less than 2 months my vision had declined from 20/40 to 20/70. I could be nearly blind in a few more months.
Also on Sat while waiting 2 hours for the ophthalmologist, I was having the usual effect of pain in my mid-abdomen about where my small intestine is located (also where the traverse colon of the large intestine comes across), the yellow discoloration of the skin in that area, and that pain at the back of the head which is the sign of chronic fatigue and debilitation oncoming. When I feel that it is so depressing because I know I'll soon be a zombie. The feeling is horrible and can't really be appreciated how horrible it is until you experience it. I guess imagine like you have a knife in your stomach, and another in the back of your head, and someone drained all your energy and you want to collapse.
I became so much more depressed than usual because I accepted a reality that after all the superman, Herculean effort I had given to try to cure this (e.g. not eating for 10 days, and doing 4 kms daily running in total exhaustion and pain, i.e. beyond the point of collapse ... essentially pulling energy from the bowels of nothingness to the point of blackout literally)... that all of it was for naught.
It was dawning of me that my life was a failure. As I was walking, I just felt like this was the end. There was no more hope. Nothing more that could be done. There was still the potential fecal transplant, but I was weary. My running had declined to 8+ min mile pace. The fasting had eaten away my muscles and I couldn't even bench press my body weight. A broken man, and a broken life.
Not muchNothing to hope for. Nearly bankrupt, unable to work, unable to be cured. Would need to start preparing for how to live out the decline in body function with minimal expenses, so thoughts of living in a bamboo house (with all the mosquitos for tumultuous nights of insomnia) without electricity, etc..
The metrics were telling me the truth that I was denying. Multiple Sclerosis was progressing. Although I had less welts on the skin since the fasting and more careful diet, I was declining precipitously on the metrics that matter and don't lie to self (vision, athletics, amount of productive hours worked per day).
In the grocery store (at a mall I don't normally shop in because it is downtown and far from my rental house), I first grabbed an unripe banana. Then I saw brown eggs and a sign that said, "free range, 100% antibiotic free guaranteed", so I grabbed an egg. And then I saw these tiny salted, uncooked dried fresh fish in a cellophane bag, so I grabbed that. I was looking for some kind of fermented food with good bacteria. I think perhaps the salted dried fish do have beneficial bacteria, but difficult to find documentation of that. Then I saw goat feta cheese, so I grabbed that. I was also reading the various labels on the yogurts and the
Yakult probiotic drink. For many years I had avoided the Yakult because it looked like a local product to me and I had tried it once and it was so laden with sugar. But being in this desperate state-of-mind, I didn't care. And I read the labels more carefully. I noted the
L-casei culture in the Yakult was from Japan and it was a Japanese licensed product. I read each tiny bottle had 8 billion bacteria and the Yogurts had only 1.25 billion per cup plus the Yogurt had beef gelatin in it. Clearly the Yakult was more designed to be a probiotic. Also it was glucose sugar, not fructose. So I grabbed 5 of the 80ml bottles. I got my local can of tuna chunks in water. Checked out and proceeded to the parking lot on a hot tropical day.
There I sat on the curb in the parking lot. Dejected. Feeling no more hope. Not even wanting to think about my life, ramifications, etc.. Just really down mood. Feeling like a broken man.
I ate the raw egg yoke. Very orange color because from a native chicken. I ate everything I bought except only a portion of the goat cheese.
I walked over to the gym about another 1 km away.
I didn't expect much from the workout. Just was going to do a little bit or what ever I could. At first didn't feel really good, but as I was working out I felt some vigor and power. And ended powering through a descent workout with some good power on the arm curls.
Then I noticed my stomach wasn't hurting and the head wasn't aching and I didn't feel as if the chronic fatigue and debilitation was oncoming.
Also I noticed on Saturday evening that finally my Komucha tea was brewed correctly with a nice colored baby SCOBY on top and the very tart taste which indicates it made it all the way to being a probiotic.
So Saturday, Sunday, and so far today on Monday, every time I feel that pain coming on in my gut (with the concomitant M.S. effects in the back of the head), I drink large quantities of either the Yakult or the Kombucha tea, along with eating fresh tuna (not from can) either fried or raw in kinilaw style, also white rice and sweet potato. Also I finished the goat feta cheese on Sunday.
So far what I noticed is that every time the pain and deleterious effects on my head are muted upon doing that. Also I noticed my vision improved, as well my overall feeling. My energy has been good, while also I've slept so much the past 2 days. Not the sleeping due to chronic fatigue where you don't really sleep but toss and turn and wake up exhausted, but the sleeping like a baby sort of sleeping.
Also over the past 2.5 days, my urination has been much less and less violent urges to pee, i.e. normal. And over the past weeks since the fasting my defecation had become very infrequent even though eating, perhaps only twice a week. The past two mornings I have defecated 3x each (total of 7x in past 2.5 days).
My sense is that my body is in repair mode but it is too early to know if this is true or yet another false hope and hope driven confirmation bias.
Any way, if after some days or weeks this is confirmed to be a cure for my condition, this would point to probiotics and correction of the gut microflora as the cure that was eluding me and makes me just shake my head in disillusionment at all the other homeopathetic treatments I've tried:
- collodial silver
- ultra high dose vitamin D3
- massive doses of AHCC
- EGCG (from green tea)
- high dose coenzymated B complex (B Healthy brand)
- fasting
- ketogenic diet
- all vegetable diet
- guyabano diet
I'd like to also take Kefir because it appears to be a more complete
living probiotic:
http://commonsensehome.com/water-kefir-versus-kombucha/http://kellythekitchenkop.com/5-reasons-why-homemade-kefir-soda-pop-is-better-than-kombucha-tea/http://gutcritters.com/saccharomyces-boulardii/http://gutcritters.com/crohns-disease-and-the-yeast-connection/http://www.benefitsofkefir.com/#Kefir_vs_Yogurthttp://www.thehealthyhomeeconomist.com/water-kefir-versus-milk-kefir/Why couldn't my doctor who handled my hospitalization for acute peptic ulcer and the massive doses of antibiotics over 14 days and then the followups where I was so fatigued and unhealthy, why couldn't he have advised me to drink Yakult? A very simple thing he could have done in May 2012 that may have prevented me from losing 3 years of my life to needless suffering and teeth gritting, hardcore struggle.
About your M.S., I will have a reply in the Economic Totalitarianism thread... in one word why the hell are you (we) not drinking Yakult! (well it was here all time in front of my face in every grocery store here and I ignored it for 3 years because it looked like a local product to me and was so sweet and I thought it was nonsense). Something significant happened to me yesterday. I will explain...
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9881885https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22132181https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21143526https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17944834https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12562457https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lactobacillus_caseiLactobacillus casei is a species of genus Lactobacillus found in the human intestine and mouth. This particular species of Lactobacillus is documented to have a wide pH and temperature range, and complements the growth of L. acidophilus, a producer of the enzyme amylase (a carbohydrate-digesting enzyme).
http://www.yakultusa.com/#faqIs Yakult a yogurt drink?
No. Yakult is a fermented dairy drink that contains probiotic cultures rather than yogurt cultures. The main difference between yogurt and probiotic cultures is that probiotics must have scientifically proven health benefits while yogurts do not. Another point of distinction is the type of cultures; probiotics are typically various species and strains of lactobacilli or bifidobacteria, while yogurt starter cultures are specifically Lactobacillus bulgaricus and Streptococcus thermophilus, according to the National Yogurt Association.
In the USA, at best
you pay $3 for the Yakult we pay 90 cents for in the Philippines. I am
in Yakult paradise.
The Yakult factory in the Philippines is run to international standards:
http://jotan23.blogspot.com/2014/06/new-yakult-variant-why-drink-yakult.html
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9881885The effect of consumption of milk fermented by Lactobacillus casei strain Shirota on the intestinal microflora and immune parameters in humans.
OBJECTIVE: To determine the effect of consumption of milk fermented by Lactobacillus casei strain Shirota (L. casei Shirota) on the composition and metabolic activities of the intestinal microflora, and immune parameters in humans.
SUBJECTS: Twenty healthy male subjects aged 40-65 years were selected.
DESIGN: A placebo-controlled trial was performed in which 10 subjects were randomly assigned to a control and 10 to a treatment group. During the first and last two weeks of the 8-week study the subjects received a strictly controlled diet without fermented products. The same controlled diet was given during the intermediate 4-week test period but then the treatment group received three times daily 100 ml of fermented milk containing 10(9) CFU L. casei Shirota/ml, whereas the same amount of unfermented milk was given to the subjects in the control group.
RESULTS: In comparison to the control group, the consumption of L. casei Shirota-fermented milk resulted in an increase of the Lactobacillus count in the faeces in which the administered L. casei Shirota was predominant at the level of 10(7) CFU/g wet faeces. This was associated with a significant increase in Bifidobacterium counts (P < 0.05). Some shifts in the other bacterial species were found, such as a decreased number of Clostridium; however the differences were not statistically different between the treatment and the control groups. The beta-glucuronidase and beta-glucosidase activities per 10(10) bacteria decreased significantly (P < 0.05) at the second week of the 4-week test period with the consumption of L. casei Shirota-fermented milk. Furthermore, the consumption of the fermented milk product resulted in a slight but significant increase in the moisture content of the faecal samples (P < 0.05). No treatment effects were observed for any of the immune parameters measured (including natural killer (NK) cell activity, phagocytosis and cytokine production).
CONCLUSIONS: The results suggest that consumption of L. casei Shirota-fermented milk is able to modulate the composition and metabolic activity of the intestinal flora and indicate that L. casei Shirota-fermented milk does not influence the immune system of healthy immunocompetent males.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21143526Lactobacillus casei prevents impaired barrier function in intestinal epithelial cells.
The exact effect of probiotics on epithelial barrier function is not well understood. The aims of this study were to evaluate cytokine-induced epithelial barrier dysfunction in intestinal epithelial cells (IECs) and to study the role of probiotics in the prevention of epithelial barrier dysfunction. Caco-2 cells grown on transwell chambers were stimulated with tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α or interferon (IFN)-γ basolaterally. Probiotic, Lactobacillus casei, was added 1 h before cytokine stimulation. MAPK inhibitors were added 15 min before L. casei stimulation. The electrical resistance and paracellular permeability of Caco-2 monolayers were measured. Distribution of zonula occludens (ZO)-1 protein was assessed by immunofluorescence, and Western blot analyses for ZO-1, p-Akt, and toll-like receptor (TLR) 2 were performed. Both TNF-α and IFN-γ stimulation on Caco-2 cells decreased transepithelial resistance (TER), increased epithelial permeability, and decreased ZO-1 expression of Caco-2 cells. In contrast, pretreatment of L. casei reversed the cytokine-induced dysfunction of TER, epithelial permeability, and ZO-1 expression. Reversal of cytokine-induced dysfunction of TER and intestinal permeability by L. casei was abrogated with MAPK inhibitor treatment. Lactobacillus casei stimulation on Caco-2 cells increased TLR2 and p-Akt expression. Probiotic, L. casei, prevents cytokine-induced epithelial barrier dysfunctions in IECs.
Note there is also a Danone yogurt product in the West that has added L. casei:
http://www.actimel.co.uk/fabulous-flavours/original/
If this is the same as Kefir then I have cultivated mine in the past. Dropped it because I was not 100% sure it was paleo compliant and don't have much time for new research atm.
In the future I plan to do 2 experiments, one with eggs and the other with kefir again to see if I have any strange reactions.
But now I can't focus on experimenting with my protocols because I try to build my AI engine in R for trading. I hate programming...
See my links above which apparently indicate the milk Kefir is more probiotically diverse than Kombucha, but Kombucha has some acids that are not present in Kefir.
Paleo compliant seems like a nonsense concept. I don't think there was ever a stage where mankind was only eating one set of foods universally.
Rather my current thinking is that we have autoimmune disease and likely caused by gut dysbiosys. Strengthening our gut microflora should be priority number #1. We will continue to have inflammation that correlates with foods for as long as our gut microflora is not healthy.
I'd prefer free range, native chicken eggs with no antibiotics nor grains supplemented. But I think that is a less of a priority than intaking living probiotics and not eating bacon laden with sodium nitrate and from grain fed, antibiotic laden, high omega-6 fat pigs. I would prioritize whole foods and wild foods over non-foods and factory foods, such as coffee.
