Vegas Buzz

Beware of Microscopic Monsters!

What you can’t see can hurt you!

Jon and Sue Collins and their four children ranging in age from 6 to 15 are a healthy small town Nebraska family. Grandma Collins, Jon’s widowed mother who shares their home, is also healthy at the age of 67. But suddenly last Summer something happened that brought sickness and suffering to the whole family. They all experienced a scourge of fever, severe stomach discomfort with abdominal cramps, seemingly endless watery diarrhea and almost total loss of appetite for food.

Family physician “Dr. Jack” was consulted. He ordered Grandma to the hospital immediately and wrote antibiotic prescriptions for the rest of the family. Fortunately all recovered and were pretty much back to normal a week later. And you may be sure it was a learning experience for the entire Collins family. Dr. Jack diagnosed the problem as an attack of villain bacteria known as salmonella enteritidis – more commonly known simply as salmonella. Speculation about the source settled on either contaminated eggs or chicken.

Salmonella bacteria are by no means the only villains. Hundreds of thousands of American families experience bacterial and viral assaults each year. The four major types of disease-causing infectious agents, generally called germs, are bacteria, viruses, fungi and protozoa. By far the most persistent and threatening to human health are bacteria and viruses. Let’s get acquainted with them, observing what they are, how they attack, how your immune system attempts to defend you from them, and how to prevent infection by them.

The World of Germs

It’s an invisible world literally full of ultra-tiny entities that fill every environment of your life, day and night, from your first breath on Planet Earth to your last. Although certain research scientists must create germ-free environments in order to conduct their experiments, most of us swim in a sea of germs – little villains that fill air, earth, food and water, seeking always their opportunity to attack our body and damage our health.

Bacteria are microscopic single-celled living organisms that get their nutrients from their environment. Their environment may be your food, your kitchen counter, your cutting board, your money, your door knob, your nose, your lungs or your intestinal tract. There are both good and bad bacteria. The good bacteria, such as those found in certain foods such as yogurt and kefir, reside in your intestinal tract. They are your friends because digestion could not occur without them. Without their faithful service you would die. In fact, they work hard for you, because within your intestinal tract they must at all times struggle for predominance over millions of destructive “bad” bacteria.

Some of the bad bacteria are those that cause tetanus, typhoid, pneumonia, septicemia (blood poisoning), strep throat and cholera. They are lurking opportunists that can enter your body from the air, from water, from contaminated food or through cuts and wounds. Some bacteria are more dangerous than others, and the result of exposure to them may be anything from no serious illness to death. They pose the greatest danger to people with weaker immune systems such as young children and the elderly.

Viruses are much smaller than bacteria – so tiny that over a million of them can occupy the head of a common pin. A virus is an ultra-tiny bit of DNA inside a protein coat. Its strategy is to penetrate a human cell, steal its machinery and energy, and multiply through that cell almost as if the host cell was a ready-made incubator. Viruses cover a broad spectrum in terms of their ability to inflict damage. For example, the “AIDS Virus” (HIV- Human Immunodeficiancy Virus), is a type of virus called a retrovirus, and it’s a death-dealing villain that is infecting an estimated 30 million Africans.

Various viruses cause common cold, chicken pox, hepatitis A and B, rabies, mumps, polio, measles, smallpox, influenza and some kinds of pneumonia. The viral villains can enter the body in a variety of ways – through the air from coughing, from food or water, from insect bites, needles, body fluids, etc. Some viruses, such as HIV, mutate (change) at such a rapid rate that scientists have experienced great difficulty in their attempt to find effective countermeasures against them.

How to Prevent Infection

Knowing how exploitive, pernicious, opportunistic and downright dangerous so many bacteria and viruses can be, it makes sense to take reasonable steps to protect yourself and your family from infection by them. Protective measures will largely free you from worry. Such caution will assure a safer, more healthful lifestyle for yourself, your family members, and friends. You’ll want to share freely with others concerning the crucial importance of Cleanliness, Separation of foods, proper Cooking and Refrigeration.

CLEANLINESS. Train yourself, and form a habit of life, to practice cleanliness at each step of the food handling and preparation process. Practice it when you go shopping for food, when you arrive back home, when storing the food, when preparing it for the table, and when saving leftovers. Keep antibacterial liquid soap close by your kitchen sink and use it liberally. Wash your hands, utensils and food preparation surfaces with hot soapy water before and after preparing food. Wash fruit and vegetable surfaces thoroughly.

Do not place uncooked chicken, turkey or any meat, eggs or seafood on your sideboard or on a cutting board, then use that same surface for other food preparation without first washing that very same area with hot, soapy anti-bacterial liquid soap. As an extra precaution, use a disinfectant cleaner or a mixture of bleach and water on food preparation surfaces – and hot anti-bacterial soapy water on all surfaces of your hands. That’s the way to defeat the tiny villains before they can launch their attack on your body.

SEPARATION. Always separate any food that might possibly be contaminated with germs from other foods that are ready to be eaten. If you have bought chicken or ground beef wrapped in plastic, remember that your hands could have picked up some bad germs even when removing the wrapped meat from your shopping bag in your kitchen. Some leakage could have occurred, and some of it could have been transferred to your hand or hands. Even if no leakage of juices had occurred, that package of meat might have been positioned tightly against another package that was leaking back there in the refrigerated display counter of that supermarket. Don’t take careless chances, because your family’s health and your own health is at stake! If there is the slightest chance that one food is contaminated, keep it separate from all other foods.

COOKING. Be sure to cook food – especially poultry and meats – through to an internal temperature that will assure the destruction of villain germs. Cook eggs until yolk and white are firm, and egg dishes to 160 degrees Fahrenheit. Use a food thermometer that will penetrate flesh foods to the depths in order to assure a safe temperature. Internal temperature of adequately cooked beef, pork and lamb must be 160 degrees Fahrenheit, and of chicken and turkey 165 degrees Fahrenheit. Cook fin fish to 145. This will assure that the terrible e-coli bacteria, which afflicts about 73,000 Americans annually and imposes scores of deaths, will be rendered harmless.

REFRIGERATION. Refrigerate or freeze perishables, prepared foods and leftovers within two hours. Make sure the refrigerator is set at no higher than 40 degrees Fahrenheit, and that your freezer unit is set at zero degrees Fahrenheit.

Summing it Up

These simple precautions would have spared the Jon and Sue Collins family all the pain, misery and cost of sickness and a lost week of life. Germ-caused diseases can be frightening, but there’s no reason to live in fear if you take the precautions that remove the reason for fear. To recap the crucial points, observe the following:

● Keep all food preparation surfaces clean with anti-bacterial liquid soap.

● Always keep foods that are most likely to be contaminated from other foods.

● Cook all flesh foods to adequate internal temperatures to assure safety.

● Refrigerate or freeze perishables and leftovers properly and promptly

Protect your family and yourself, share the principles of safe shopping, food preparation, cooking and refrigeration with others, and enjoy the good life.

Dr. H. Edward Rowe

Mister GreenGenes Nutrition Center

Green Valley, Nevada

702-450-2100

Germs and Your Immune System

Although your body is under attack by vicious predators day and night throughout your life, you are equipped with elaborate and normally effective defenses designed to fight off the villain germs. Your body’s defense capability is called your Immune System, and it is a functioning miracle. Let’s look at some of the main actors that comprise your immune system and see how they operate.

Your Phagocytes. Their name literally means “giant eaters.” They are faithful and valiant sentries that stand guard in your bloodstream and in all the tissues of your body. Produced in your bone marrow, they grow in size and wander out through your bloodstream. Always on the alert for invading villains who would impose illness on your body, they detect them, attack them, gobble up and destroy them. Thank God for your Phagocytes, also called your Macrophage Cells. They are your first line of defense.

Your T Cells. Referred to as T Lymphocytes, and also as White Blood Cells, they are processed through your thymus gland located at the base of your neck. With the help of your Macrophage Cells, they recognize the precise identity of invading villains by deciphering the combination of molecules on their surfaces. Having identified the invaders, they mobilize a massive counterattack. A sub-set of the T Cells is called the T Helper Cells. They send out a chemically-conveyed call for reinforcements. More Macrophages swarm to the battle and join the fight. The battle rages on with incredible fury.

Your Natural Killer Cells. These guys are a mysterious but powerful volunteer force. They seem to come out of nowhere and appear on the scene of battle ready for action. They are like highly effective “shock troops” rushing to the aid of your Macrophages and T Lymphocytes. Their welcome role is to help turn the tide of battle against the attackers.

Your B Cells and Antibodies. These amazing cells respond to the call to action, begin reproducing rapidly and differentiate into Plasma Cells, which produce counterattacking molecules called Antibodies. Your Antibodies are precisely programmed to recognize the invading bandits and to counterattack them in force. If your immune defenses are operating normally and effectively, the invaders will be overwhelmed and defeated. It is then the function of your Macrophages to clean up the litter of battle – the bits and pieces of the defeated enemy – and expel them from your bloodstream.

Your Memory Cells. After the invaders have been defeated, the defenders will remain in your bloodstream to guard your body against re-infection. The presence of these defenders, your body’s “National Guard,” is to remember the enemy who once invaded, and to smash him if he ever again pokes his nose through the doorway of your bloodstream. This explains why you don’t contract childhood diseases repeatedly. You have become immune to them.

Although your immune system is amazingly organized, superbly coordinated and highly effective, it can become overwhelmed so that you’ll become vulnerable to disease. Excessive prolonged stress, exposure to environmental toxins, lack of rest, family feuding and a shabby junk food diet can cripple your defenses. The villain germs will prevail and you’ll end up sick or, in more serious cases, dead. You’ll be very wise to take control of your precious life. Manage your body! Adopt healthy patterns and habits. Take immune-boosting natural foods and supplements, and enjoy a long, happy and fruitful life. Remember, you are worth it!

Dr. H. Edward Rowe

Mister GreenGenes Nutrition Center

Green Valley, Nevada

702-450-2100

The Human Digestive System

Understanding the basics

The digestive system is a series of connected organs and systems the purpose of which is to break down (“digest”) the food we eat. Food is made up of large, complex molecules which the digestive system breaks down into smaller, simple molecules that can be absorbed into the bloodstream. The simple molecules travel through the bloodstream to all of the body's cells, which use them for growth, repair, replacement and energy.

All humans and animals have a digestive system, a feature that distinguishes them from plants. Human beings must take in food in the form of organic matter, such as plants or animal flesh.

Digestion involves two phases

The two phases are mechanical and chemical.

In the mechanical phase, teeth or other structures physically break down large pieces of food into smaller pieces. In the chemical phase, digestive chemicals called enzymes break apart individual molecules of food to yield molecules that can be absorbed and distributed throughout the body for cell growth and repair. Digestive enzymes are produced and released by glands in the body and from the raw plants we eat.

The digestive system of most humans and animals consists mainly of a long, continuous tube called the alimentary canal, or digestive tract. This canal has a mouth at one end, through which food is taken in, and an anus at the other end, through which digestive wastes are excreted. Muscles in the walls of the alimentary canal move the food along. Most digestive organs are part of the alimentary canal. However, two accessory digestive organs, the liver and pancreas, are located outside the alimentary canal. These organs contribute to chemical digestion by releasing digestive juices into the canal through tubes called ducts.

Function of the Liver

The liver is responsible for the production of bile, which is stored in the gallbladder and released when required for the digestion of fats. The liver stores glucose in the form of glycogen, which is converted back to glucose again when needed for energy. It also plays an important role in the metabolism of protein and fats. It stores vitamins A, D, K, B12 and folate and synthesizes blood-clotting factors.

The liver also functions as a detoxifier, breaking down or transforming substances like ammonia, metabolic waste, drugs, alcohol and chemicals, so that they can be excreted. These may also be referred to as "xenobiotic" chemicals.

If we examine the liver under a microscope, we will see rows of liver cells separated by spaces which act like a filter or sieve, through which the blood stream flows. The liver filter is designed to remove toxic matter such as dead cells, microorganisms, chemicals, drugs and particulate debris from the blood stream.

The liver filter is called the sinusoidal system, and contains specialized cells known as Kupffer cells, which ingest and break down toxic matter. The liver filter can remove a wide range of microorganisms such as bacteria, fungi, viruses and parasites from the blood stream, which is highly desirable, as we certainly do not want these dangerous enemies building up in the blood stream and invading the deeper parts of the body.

Infections with parasites often come from the contaminated water supplies found in large cities, and indeed other dangerous organisms may find their way into your intestines and blood stream from these sources. This can cause chronic infections and poor health, so it is important to protect your liver from overload with these microorganisms.

To be safe, boil your water for at least 5 minutes, or drink only bottled water that has been filtered and sterilized. High loads of unhealthy microorganisms can also come from eating foods that are prepared in conditions of poor hygiene by persons who are carrying bacteria, viruses or parasites on their skin. Foods, especially meats that are not fresh or are preserved, also contain a higher bacterial load, which will overwork the liver filter if they are eaten regularly.

Recently it has become very fashionable for people to detoxify their bodies by various means, such as fasting or cleansing the bowels with fiber mixtures. Fasting can by its extreme nature, only be a temporary method of cleansing the body of waste products, and for many people it causes an excessively rapid release of toxins which can cause unpleasant, acute symptoms.

The liver filter, like any filter, needs to be cleansed regularly, and it is much easier and safer to do it every day. This is easily and pleasantly achieved by adopting a daily eating pattern that maintains the liver filter in a healthy, clean state.

Although it is important to keep the intestines moving regularly and to sweep their walls with high fiber and living foods, it is important to remember that the bowels are really a channel of elimination and not a cleansing organ per se. In other words, the bowels cannot cleanse, filter or remove toxic wastes from the blood stream.

The liver is located in the upper right-hand portion of the abdominal cavity, beneath the diaphragm and on top of the stomach, right kidney, and intestines. Shaped like a cone, the liver is a dark reddish-brown organ that weighs about three pounds.

There are two distinct sources that supply blood to the liver, including:

• Oxygenated blood flows in from the hepatic artery
• Nutrient-rich blood flows in from the hepatic portal vein

The liver holds about one pint (13 percent) of the body’s blood supply at any given moment.

The liver consists of two main lobes, both of which are made up of thousands of lobules. These lobules are connected to small ducts that connect with larger ducts to ultimately form the hepatic duct. The hepatic duct transports the bile produced by the liver cells to the gallbladder and duodenum (the first part of the small intestine).

More About the Liver

The liver is the largest internal organ of the human body. The liver, as part of the digestive system, performs more than 500 different functions, all of which are essential to life. Its amazing functions include helping the body to digest fats, storing reserves of nutrients, filtering poisons and wastes from the blood, synthesizing a variety of proteins, and regulating the levels of many chemicals found in the bloodstream.

The liver is unique among the body vital organs in that it can regenerate, or grow back, cells that have been destroyed by some short-term injury or disease. But if the liver is damaged repeatedly over a long period of time, it may undergo irreversible changes that permanently interfere with its ability to function properly.

The liver regulates most chemical levels in the blood and excretes a product called "bile," which helps carry away waste products from the liver. All the blood leaving the stomach and intestines passes through the liver. The liver processes this blood and breaks down the nutrients and drugs into forms that are easier to use by the rest of the body. More than 500 vital functions have been identified with the liver. Some of the better-known functions include the following:

• Production of bile, which carries away waste and break down fats in the small intestine during digestion.

• Production of certain proteins for blood plasma.

• Production of cholesterol and special proteins to help carry fats through the body.

• Conversion of excess glucose into glycogen for storage. (This glycogen can later be converted back to glucose for energy.)

• Regulation of blood levels of amino acids, which form the building blocks of proteins.

• Processing of hemoglobin for use of its iron content. (The liver stores iron.)

• Conversion of poisonous ammonia to urea. (Urea is one of the end products of protein metabolism that is excreted in the urine.)

• Clearing the blood of drugs and other poisonous substances.

• Regulating blood clotting.

• Resisting infections by producing immune factors and removing bacteria from the blood stream.

When the liver has broken down harmful substances, its by-products are excreted into the bile or blood. Bile by-products enter the intestine and ultimately leave the body in the feces. Blood by-products are filtered out by the kidneys, and leave the body in the form of urine.

Despite its many complex functions, the liver is relatively simple in structure. It consists of two main lobes, left and right, which overlap slightly. The right lobe has two smaller lobes attached to it, called the quadrate and caudate lobes.

Each lobe contains many thousands of units called lobules that are the building blocks of the liver. Lobules are six-sided structures, each about 1 mm (0.04 in) across. A tiny vein runs through the center of each lobule and eventually drains into the hepatic vein, which carries blood out of the liver.

Hundreds of cube-shaped liver cells, called hepatocytes, are arranged around the lobule's central vein in a radiating pattern. On the outside surface of each lobule are small veins, ducts, and arteries that carry fluids to and from the lobules. As the liver does its work, nutrients are collected, wastes are removed, and chemical substances are released into the body through these vessels.

Between 250 and 1000 milliliters of bile are produced each day. The most important constituents of bile are: water, bile salts, cholesterol, and phospholipids. Between meals, the bile is stored in the gallbladder, which contracts once or twice as food is taken. This causes the bile to enter the duodenum via the common bile duct. 80% to 90% of the bile acids are later reabsorbed by the small intestine and re-enter the liver via the bloodstream (portal system). Here they become available once more for transfer into the gallbladder (entero-hepatic circulation).

The bile acids possess a number of important metabolic functions:

a) Breakdown of fat

b) The transport of substances not soluble in water (e.g. cholesterol, the fat-soluble vitamins A, D, E, K),

c) The regulation of cholesterol metabolism,

d) Stimulation of intestinal movement,

e) Activation of the pancreatic fluid (lipase) in the intestine

f) Increasing the excretion of sodium and water from the large intestine. Bile also helps transport numerous substances,including those occurring naturally in the body, as well as those which do not. Bile pigments such as bilirubin, for example, waste products of the red blood corpuscles, are eliminated with the bile fluid. Bile also removes numerous drugs from the body.

Pear-shaped, the gallbladder measures ca. 8 cm by 3 cm and is located under the right lobe of the liver. It acts as a reservoir for the bile produced daily in the liver.

Rarely does anyone think about the liver, but it is a powerful organ and is easily improved if treated properly. Indeed the simplest and most effective way to cleanse the blood stream and thus take the load off the immune system is by improving liver function.

The Liver is a fundamental organ for attention by holistic practitioners who takes a naturopathic approach. The Liver is the center of all metabolic processes and its sluggishness is found to underlie the many disorders related to poor digestive function.

This is why so many treatments include remedial and nutritional liver herbs. The liver has been found to be the most stressed organ an the origin of the pathogenic causal chain in the majority of cases.

The Biliary System

The biliary system consists of the organs and ducts (bile ducts, gallbladder, and associated structures) that are involved in the production and transportation of bile.

Functions of the Biliary system

The biliary system’s main function includes the following:

• Drain waste products from the liver into the duodenum
• Help in digestion with the controlled release of bile

Bile is the greenish-yellow fluid (consisting of waste products, cholesterol, and bile salts) that is secreted by the liver cells to perform two primary functions, including:

• Carry away waste
• Break down fats during digestion

Bile salt is the actual component which helps break down and absorb fats. Bile, which is excreted from the body with the feces, is what gives feces its dark brown color.

The Pancreas

The pancreas is an elongated, tapered organ located across the back of the abdomen, behind the stomach. The right side of the organ (called the head) is the widest part of the organ and lies in the curve of the duodenum. The tapered left side extends slightly upward (called the body of the pancreas) and ends near the spleen (called the tail).

The pancreas is made up of two types of tissue:

• Exocrine tissue
  The exocrine tissue secretes digestive enzymes. These enzymes are secreted into a network of ducts that join the main pancreatic duct, which runs the length of the pancreas.

• Endocrine tissue

The endocrine tissue, which consists of the islets of Langerhan, secretes hormones into the bloodstream.

Functions of the Pancreas

The pancreas has digestive and hormonal functions:

• The enzymes secreted by the exocrine tissue in the pancreas help break down carbohydrates, fats, proteins, and acids in the duodenum. These enzymes travel down the pancreatic duct into the bile duct in an inactive form. When they enter the duodenum, they are activated. The exocrine tissue also secretes bicarbonate to neutralize stomach acid in the duodenum (the first section of the small intestine).

• The hormones secreted by the endocrine tissue in the pancreas are insulin and glucagen (which regulate the level of glucose in the blood), and somatostatin (which prevents the release of the other two hormones).

The Gallbladder

The gallbladder serves an important digestive function. It is required to emulsify fats.

What is Emulsification?

One can easily understand this concept when washing greasy dishes. It is nearly impossible to properly clean greasy dishes without soap, as the soap emulsifies the fat so that it can be removed.

Similarly, the gallbladder stores bile and bile acids, which emulsify the fat one eats so it can be properly transported through the intestine into the blood stream.

persons who have had their gallbladder removed will need to take some form of bile salts with every meal for the rest of their life if they wish to prevent a good percentage of the good fats they eat from being flushed down the toilet.

If one does not have enough fats in the diet, his or her entire physiology will be disrupted, especially the ability to make hormones and prostaglandins.

Function of the Gall Bladder

Because fat cannot be dissolved in water, a special system exists to provide for its digestion and its absorption through the intestinal wall. Bile is an essential factor in this process, since it contains substances that allow fats to be emulsified. It also stimulates the secretion of an enzyme concerned with the breakdown of fats.

Bile is secreted by the liver and stored in the gallbladder until needed. When fat is eaten, this stimulates the gallbladder to contract and bile flows down the cystic duct, into the common bile duct and through the papilla of Vater into the intestine.

As well as acting as a storage vessel, the gallbladder concentrates the bile within it by removing water through its wall. Thus, if the gallbladder is removed, although bile still flows into the intestine from the liver, fat digestion may be less efficient because the bile is not concentrated.

Enzymes and Health

Enzymes are proteins composed of amino acids, the basic building blocks of life, arranged in chains that spontaneously fold into three-dimensional structures. These three-dimensional structures confer specificity of function. Whereas all enzymes are proteins, not all proteins are enzymes.

Enzymes are involved in nearly all metabolic and physiological processes in the body. Thus, they are a key in the maintenance of a strong immune system, a robust cardiovascular tree, a healthy and intact central nervous system, and optimal hormonal balance in the body.

Over the next 20 years “enzyme therapy” will be the buzzword in nutrition. Enzymes will be the nutritional supplement of the future, and the way we strengthen our immune system. They are the essential biochemical units of all forms of life. They regulate everything that happens in our system. They coordinate every physical, mental, and emotional activity.

When enzyme activity slows in our body, so does our system's efficiency. Enzymes affect everything, and when enzyme activity stops, we stop. Your understanding of enzymes and enzyme therapy can have an impact on you and your family's quality of health.

The body produces its own supply of enzymes in requisite amounts, as and when they are needed. The enzymes, however, do get "used up" at rates faster than the body can replenish its supplies under a variety of conditions, such as consumption of "junk" foods or intake of medicines. In fact, with advancing years, the body loses its ability to produce sufficient amounts of enzymes to keep up the demands of the body imposed by metabolic attrition. This insufficiency is a root cause of susceptibility to chronic and age-related diseases.

Given that enzymes are required in all cells of the body to assist in chemical activity, they participate in a myriad of reactions that allow organs, tissues and glands to function optimally and thrive. If the body is imagined as an efficient chemical factory, it is the enzymes that fuel each and every reaction in that factory. As such, enzymes function as catalysts. That is, they make things work at a faster rate.

The reason enzymes are needed for bodily functions is that, in their absence, most of the physiological processes would either not take place, or would proceed at an excruciatingly slow speed. In other words, at normal body temperatures, it will be virtually impossible for the cells to perform their tasks speedily and efficiently. Enzymes initiate, maintain, accelerate, and terminate biochemical processes in the body to foster health and vitality.

Since various enzymes have unique structure, each enzyme is meant to carry out a specific task in your body. Any given enzyme is there to fulfill a definite function, and this specificity allows the body to strictly control the use of enzymes. Once activated, an enzyme will perform its specific function until it is "exhausted," or it is inhibited by another enzyme, in which case its activity is curtailed and/or stopped.

As researchers have found out after years of painstaking and laborious work, there is a good reason for this control: It prevents bodily processes from spinning out of control, which may be detrimental to health and well being.