Garlic as Antibiotic & Diets

Somedays I dink around on the US National Library of Medicine National Institutes of Health. I don't always read about cancer stuff, though. Yesterday I found a cool study showing the synergistic effects of honey and garlic in treating common bacteria like Staph, E. coli, and Salmonella. I was researching treatments for my persistent lung infection (remember that fever I was so excited about?). Anyway, I love finding fun new ways to treat myself, or take care of myself. A few weeks ago my lungs started burning - no sore throat though. And the more I did, the worse it got. I tried running out the sickness (not my brightest idea), and waiting it out. I thought about getting antibiotics, but I haven't taken them since high school. Pharma-antibiotics are amazing, and necessary, but I still like to avoid them at all cost because of the fact that they kill all the good bacteria in your gut, and your gut is not only important for digestion, but it's responsible for 70% of your immune system. I don't want to kill all my good bacteria, so I like to use whole food antibiotics like garlic. I probably sound crazy, but there is actual proof that the allicin and DAS in garlic (most effective when minced and set out for 10-15 minutes) is antibiotic. There's a pretty cool excerpt below, demonstrating some of the proof. There is a link at the bottom to read the study in its entirety. If you head to http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov you can find much more (add words like "garlic", "xdiallyl sulfide", "allicin", "antimicrobial", etc.). Anyway, I started dosing heavily with garlic, two minced cloves every two hours, along with the juice of a head of garlic, 6 lemons, and 8-10 inches of ginger, and low and behold the infection is going away. My cough is almost gone, and I feel much better. Some people don't believe that foods can really make that much of a difference in health, and sometimes I believe them, but that garlic is seriously amazing. I wish food didn't matter, but it does. I would much rather have been eating two cookies every two hours but I can guarantee that there's no antimicrobial benefits from the deserts I like to eat.

Background 

In Ethiopia, people use A. mellipodae honey and garlic mixture to treat different types of diseases such as cold, cough, asthma, diarrhea and respiratory infections. But still there is no any scientific report about the synergic effect of any type of honey and garlic extract. People use A. mellipodaehoney and garlic in various combinations, there is no any scientific report about the synergic effect of these substances. Therefore, there is a need to investigate synergic antimicrobial effect of A. mellipodae honey and garlic mixture.

Research frontiers 

This finding strongly supports the claim of the local community to use the combination of A. mellipodae honey and garlic for the treatment of different pathogenic bacterial infections. So, garlic in combination with A. mellipodae honey can serve as alternative natural antimicrobial drug for the treatment of pathogenic bacterial infections. Further in vivo study is recommended to come up with a comprehensive conclusion.

Related reports 

There are different reports on the separate issues of antimicrobial effects on honey and garlic. However, a report on the synergistic effect of honey and garlic is scarce. This finding fills this research gap and may help base information for further in vivo research.

Innovations and breakthroughs 

The finding of the study paves a way to consider and acknowledge the traditional knowledge for the treatment of infectious diseases using natural resources like honey and garlic.

Applications 

Garlic in combination with A. mellipodae honey can be used as antimicrobial agent to different pathogenic bacteria. As recommended by the author it needs further validation and then it would be important for the community as it is routinely used as food.

Peer review 

This is a very good finding in which the author investigated the synergistic antimicrobial activity of mixture of garlic extract and A. mellipodae honey against pathogenic bacteria. The results are interesting that garlic in combination with A. mellipodae honey can serve as alternative natural antimicrobial drug for the treatment of pathogenic bacterial infections. - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3757282/

The other fun study I found talks about the effects of diet and neurological and non-neurological diseases. It was co-authored by Seyfriend (remember him, the professor from Boston College - the ketogenic diet for cancer guy?). Check this out.....it's exactly my hypothesis, even though it wasn't specifically regarding cancer.

Abstract

Background

Diet therapies including calorie restriction, ketogenic diets, and fish-oil supplementation have been used to improve health and to treat a variety of neurological and non-neurological diseases.

Methods

We investigated the effects of three diets on circulating plasma metabolites (glucose and β-hydroxybutyrate), hormones (insulin and adiponectin), and lipids over a 32-day period in C57BL/6J mice. The diets evaluated included a standard rodent diet (SD), a ketogenic diet (KD), and a standard rodent diet supplemented with fish-oil (FO). Each diet was administered in either unrestricted (UR) or restricted (R) amounts to reduce body weight by 20%.

Results

The KD-UR increased body weight and glucose levels and promoted a hyperlipidemic profile [the unrestricted ketogenic diet lead to increased sugar and fat in the blood, along with weight gain], whereas the FO-UR decreased body weight and glucose levels and promoted a normolipidemic profile, compared to the SD-UR. When administered in restricted amounts, all three diets produced a similar plasma metabolite profile, which included decreased glucose levels and a normolipidemic profile. Linear regression analysis showed that circulating glucose most strongly predicted body weight and triglyceride levels, whereas calorie intake moderately predicted glucose levels and strongly predicted ketone body levels.

Conclusions

These results suggest that biomarkers of health can be improved when diets are consumed in restricted amounts, regardless of macronutrient composition. - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4047269/

Okay so, do you see my contradiction here? At first I say that food does matter because it can kill pathogens, then I kinda say that as long as you're calorically restricting, macronutrients don't really matter when it comes to health. You pull up different studies and you'll get contradictory messages - or at least you could argue different interpretations of the second study. But are they mutually exclusive, these two reports? Absolutely not. They can both be true. One is talking about natural chemical properties in food killing bad bacteria, and the other is talking about how an unrestricted diet high in fish oil, although high fat, normalizes body fat and lipid profiles, promotes weight loss, and lowers circulating blood glucose, unlike UR-SD and UR-KD. Or, if you want to eat a Standard (American) Diet, or a Ketogenic Diet, you'd better restrict your calories by 20% if you don't want to have negative health effects. Macronutrients DO matter, but at least you have options. 

This is what I do when I'm bored. Obviously I should go munch on more garlic so I can reenter society. (I have voluntarily quarantined myself.) One more day and I'll try running again - better do it outside though because I probably reek like a big fat garlic clove.

Roasted Chicken Recipe

I've been nesting these past few days, cooking up a storm and ferociously cleaning. It's no surprise, really, the sun has been poking out lately and the sun is rising at 6:00 am - for me, the amount of sunlight during the day is directly related to energy levels :) The good thing about Seattle, is that we see the sun and immediately get to doing something. The sun is like an 'on' button. It's also driving me crazy, causing a deep itch to plant my dahlia tubers - I won't, I know it's waaaay too soon, but man, this is a serious challenge in patience.

I have another fun recipe, it's my take on a roasted chicken. It's crazy easy, too. Only five ingredients.

I need to mention, although I don't state it each time (although I probably should) we only purchase grass fed free range organic meat (everything - beef, chicken, lamb, etc.), buying from farms/butchers that we know of and trust. We can't control every piece of meat that we put in our mouths, like eating at a friend's house or something, but as for our household, I figure the price is worth the value. Animals are naturally supposed to eat grass, not corn. Animals that eat grass are much higher in omega-3 fats instead of the corn fed which are high in omega-6. It's just a personal preference, not only for the nutritional properties, but also for humane reasons. I've mentioned this before, but I want to eat happy, healthy animals that have had fun in the fields before they came to my kitchen. Maybe it's morbid, but I like to think that it's supportive to their lifestyle. As far as livestock, those guys are the lucky ones. I guess I didn't really need to mention the whole thing, but if it makes even one person consider a switch, I'd be pretty excited. :)

So, onto the recipe......

Jess's Lemon Garlic Pesto Roasted Chicken

Ingredients:
1 whole chicken
1 large lemon
3 tbsp fresh ground dried garlic (pure is best - no salt)
2 tbsp fresh ground pepper
4 tbsp pesto

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Remove the innards of the chicken. (Some people cook them up for their dog. I didn't. I didn't want to risk any 'accidents' if you know what I mean.) Rinse the whole chicken, and cut any loose hanging skin around the hole (I don't know what to call that area). Cut the lemon in half. Mix the garlic powder and ground pepper in a small dish.

2. Place the two halves of the lemon inside the, um, 'cavity'? I wanted to say bum, but cavity is probably more appropriate ;)

3. Take a tablespoon of pesto and spread it under the skin of one breast, then do the same thing to the other breast. Use the remaining two tablespoons of pesto and spread it all over the chicken (top, and legs - don't get too low on the sides or it will just drip off while cooking).

4. Shake/sprinkle/spread the garlic and pepper seasoning all over the chicken. Cover the chicken with aluminum, making a tent so that the two don't touch. I move the oven rack down one wrung, so it's just below the middle, then place the little bird into the heated oven. Cook it covered in the 375 degree heat for 80 minutes. Then remove the aluminum foil and put the chicken back in the oven for 20 more minutes - that makes the skin crunchy.

5. Eat. Yummy!!!

I'm not great at cleaning the meat off of bones, but for the first time I don't have to feel bad about it because I'm making my own broth with the bones and drippings. We'll see how it goes :) I'm excited to have a homemade broth to keep in the freezer for an easy dinner in a pinch - just toss in some veggies at the last minute. My own broth? Who am I turning into? An adult? Jeez.

One more thing. You might notice that I didn't include any butter, olive oil, or salt. I promise, you won't even notice. If you have fresh ground garlic (We're lucky because we have a huge organic bulk section at PCC.), the flavor is so delicious and flavorful, you won't miss the salt.

90-95% Of Cancer Rooted In Lifestyle/Environment

Almost Merry Christmas! Kind of, I'm two days early. It feels like Christmas (even though we don't have a tree). It's a combination of the smells outside (it's sooooo cold), and the lack of traffic outside our living room window. This is the first Christmas that Danny and I have had, just the two of us. I'm excited! It's not going to be the homemade cinnamon rolls that my mom always makes, but a green drink in pajamas will still be fun.

I finished the 4-4-4 last night and I'm so grateful. It was starting to make my stomach upset and the right side of my body was tingly. The tingles are good, that means it's working. My digestive system is still a little bit off, so I went for comfort food this morning. My old favorite toast with Dave's Good Seed Sprouted Bread, an egg (free range of course with no gross hormones in the chicken or its food) doused in tumeric, with a massive clove of garlic chopped on top. It is the first time I've had an egg in two months.

The toast still isn't sitting well, but I'm sure it'll even itself out. I'm going to wash it down with some broccoli tea and see what happens.

On a different note, thank you to everyone who donated to Matt's Movember quest. Thank you to those who've donated to the Islander's Bank account in Friday Harbor. Thank you for those of you who have already bought from the hopeforjess site on Etsy. Danny and I have been talking, constantly, about how fortunate we are. The money that you've donated has given us such a relief. We are still getting medical bills from 2010. Isn't that crazy?!?!? My goal is to continue to get healthier and healthier, treating my body with respect and kindness. I'm excited for this MRI because I believe my brain will look better than it did in October.

I believe I can beat this, and my confidence isn't based in hope alone, it's research backed. Dan and I were recently sent a thread from a cancer post, which included several research studies. Below is an excerpt which I found encouraging (to read the full post and access the research studies please click here):

Cancer is a Preventable Disease that Requires Major Lifestyle Changes
Abstract. This year, more than 1 million Americans and more than 10 million people worldwide are expected to be diagnosed with cancer, a disease commonly believed to be preventable. Only 5-10% of all cancer cases can be attributed to genetic defects, whereas the remaining 90-95% have their roots in the environment and lifestyle. The lifestyle factors include cigarette smoking, diet (fried foods, red meat), alcohol, sun exposure, environmental pollutants, infections, stress, obesity, and physical inactivity. The evidence indicates that of all cancer-related deaths, almost 25-30% are due to tobacco, as many as 30-35% are linked to diet, about 15-20% are due to infections, and the remaining percentage are due to other factors like radiation, stress, physical inactivity, environmental pollutants etc. Therefore, cancer prevention requires smoking cessation, increased ingestion of fruits and vegetables, moderate use of alcohol, caloric restriction, exercise, avoidance of direct exposure to sunlight, minimal meat consumption, use of whole grains, use of vaccinations, and regular check-ups. In this review we present evidence that inflammation is the link between the agents/factors that cause cancer and the agents that prevent it. In addition, we provide evidence that cancer is a preventable disease that requires major lifestyle changes. A more detailed discussion of dietary agents that can block inflammation and thereby provide chemopreventative effects is presented in the following section. Most carcinogens that are ingested, such as nitrates, nitrosamines, pesticides, and dioxins, come from food or food additives or from cooking.

If 90-95% of cancers are rooted in environment and lifestyle, shouldn't we be able to reverse most them? I still believe that my cell phone was to blame for my brain tumor. I think it was the radiation. Lots of people think I'm misguided, but I don't care. They don't do the research, and most people don't know to check WHO is doing the research. Most of the studies stating that cell phones are safe have been funded either directly or indirectly by the major companies that profit from them. Anyway, enough of my rant. Back to the cancer.

My body isn't going to right itself, I need to build up the Natural Killer cells, they're the little warriors of your immune system that go out and clean up tumor cells and viruses. It's been proven in studies that people with cancer have a depleted amount of NK cells. So, just by eating "clean" food will not, alone, fix my problem. This cancer is a whole body disease, it can not be eradicated with food alone. I need to build up my immune system, and cultivate my NK cells. With supplements you can increase your NK cells, and often after a period of supplementation, your body starts to create more on its own. I just need to train my body, and give it a jump start of sorts. Anyway, I think I'm getting to technical in all of this - sorry. I tend to get really excited about this stuff.

I want so badly to fix this cancer and help others. I don't mind doing the leg work. It would be my ultimate dream to get to the point where there is no detectable cancer in my body and then help others achieve the same outcome. That would be the ultimate. I can not imagine how wonderful that would feel, to replicate the success. But, first things first, I have to start with me.

Evolution Of My Brain Tumor Diet

Jessica C, my tumor fighting friend, shared information about an amazing scientist and doctor. It gives me hope and a better direction. This whole tumor fight is a constant evolution and I'm grateful for people like Dr Servan-Schreiber. I wish I could hug him for everything he has done for people like me - unfortunately, he passed away just last month.

The Story of Dr. David Servan-Schreiber:

At age 31, Dr. Servan-Schreiber was an ambitious physician and neuroscience researcher who reveled in discovery and glittering science projects. He was a founding member of the U.S. branch of Doctors Without Borders and a rising star in neuropsychiatry. When a volunteer for a brain scan experiment failed to show up, he slid into the scanner himself and discovered a tumor in his brain. Further tests revealed that he had brain cancer.

After conventional treatment, he asked his oncologist what he should change so that the cancer would not come back. His answer was perfectly stereotypical: "Go back to your usual way of life. It won't make much difference." So he continued living his life as he had before, eating a diet high in sugar and red meat, exercising little, and abandoning an earlier interest in meditation.

The cancer returned a few years later and he endured a second surgery, chemotherapy and radiotherapy. Dr. Servan-Schreiber then decided to use his medical and scientific training to explore and investigate how he could help his body to better prevent cancer. His discoveries led to the best selling book: Anticancer - A New Way of Life.

"Being a physician and scientist is no protection from getting cancer. But it allowed me to dig deeply into the medical and scientific literature in search of ways to live longer than the few years I was expected to survive."

"I spent months researching the healing powers of food before I fully grasped my own natural cancer-fighting potential. I met with a variety of researchers, scoured medical databases, and combed scientific publications. I traveled all over the world and consulted experts from nearly every continent."

"The first thing I learned is that we all carry cancer cells in us, even if only a few. But we also have natural defenses that usually prevent these cells from becoming an aggressive disease. These defenses include our immune system; the bodily functions that control inflammation; and foods that reduce the growth of blood vessels needed by tumors." 

"In my quest, I discovered that the list of anticancer foods is actually quite long. Some foods block natural bodily processes such as inflammation that fuels cancer growth. Others force cancer cells to die through a process that specialists call apoptosis. Still other foods assist the body in detoxifying cancer-causing toxins or protecting against free radicals. But most of them attack the disease on a variety of fronts. And they do it every day, three times a day, without provoking any side effects. To avoid the disease, it's essential to take advantage of this natural protection, and nurture it."


-Anticancer: A New Way Of Life
www.anticancerbook.com

If you click the above link it takes you to the website for the book. The diet and information is facinating and gives me so much hope! It's one thing to have hope just because you don't want to give up. That type of hope, I feel, is short lived and empty. I need hope through positive proven actions. By doing everything I can to eat a healthy well balanced diet full of foods from the allium and brassica families, I am increasing my body's ability to fight cancer. The book points out all kinds of cancer fighting foods that specifically help with brain tumors. I love this guy for what he has given me!!

Interestingly, according to the author from above, in petri dishes, garlic is shown to kill brain cancer cells. In order to activate the enzyme (allinase) that fights the cancer, you peel, then chop the garlic and let it sit for 15 minutes. Then you can either add it to both raw or cooked dishes. Who knows if the enzyme is going to cross my blood brain barrier to fight the brain tumor, but what the heck, it's worth a shot!

My new thing, after having read the articles, is garlic toast for breakfast. I take one slice of Dave's Killer Good Seed bread and toast it. I drizzle some olive, or flax oil, pile two large fresh chopped cloves of garlic across the top and spread bunches of broccoli sprouts onto the slice. Yum!! I stink for a few hours (although no one around me will admit it), but I feel powerful against the tumor by eating garlic. I literally visualize the tumor shrieking like the evil little yellow troublemakers on Despicable Me (the yellow guys would be the tumor cells).

I don't want to be all preachy about food, I'm just excited. You don't have to overdose on the garlic like yours truly. In fact, you don't have to do anything that I choose to do. That's the fun thing about personal choice.

Other than the garlic finding, I'm also excited to adjust my diet to include whole grains which should help keep my glucose levels stable and give my stomach more glue to keep my body fueled. My diet is ever evolving. I'm avoiding coffee these days, which is fine. I just want to avoid seizures at all cost. I had been doing a version of the Paleolithic diet (yep, Marlis you are totally right - and thank you for all the kind things you said. I have so much love for you and your family. I remember hearing about when you were going through your crazy medical ordeal, it was so scary and I didn't even know all of the ins and outs. I'm so glad to hear that you're doing better, but I imagine you're still not completely healed. Please hug your husband, I distinctly remember riding the bus with him, and an occasion when he dared Kaal to eat cat food, and someone bit a slug. Aaaah, childhood memories!), but I just don't think I can sustain the diet long term. I need to include whole grains. The low energy was tough, and that's why I hit the coffee too hard and the coffee bit back with seizures. Now, I just have some green tea and drink a bunch of ice water. I find it helps me with the low energy. That and getting enough exercise, like a walk each day. I'm trying to get a good walk or exercise in, it's not always easy, and sometimes I don't feel like it, but I always feel better after it's done. 

The evolution of the brain tumor diet. Always changing. The more I learn the more I include. Maybe I'll be able to avoid radiation by enhancing my immune system. That would be amazing! I reeeeaaaaalllllyyyy do not want to do radiation, but heck, no need to borrow trouble! :) As soon as the fear crosses my mind, it's already fleeting. Too beautiful of a day to think about such serious things! PS Thank you for the fresh garlic Larry - it is DELICIOUS!!

Larry said (hopefully he doesn't mind me sharing this), "If your tumor could be cured by love, it would already be gone." The interesting thing, though, is that Larry shared fresh garlic from his garden that I've been eating on my toast. So his love, could literally be curing me. How cool is that. Between the garlic from Larry and the broccoli sprouts from Susea, I have the ultimate breakfast tumor fighting team. Thank you guys!!