WEBVTT 00:00:01.000 --> 00:00:04.000 Well, welcome to this month's Ask Your Herb Doctor. 00:00:04.000 --> 00:00:06.000 My name's Andrew Murray. 00:00:06.000 --> 00:00:08.000 My name's Sarah Johannison Murray. 00:00:08.000 --> 00:00:11.000 For those of you who perhaps have never listened to our shows, 00:00:11.000 --> 00:00:15.000 which run every third Friday of the month from 7 till 8pm, 00:00:15.000 --> 00:00:18.000 we're both licensed medical herbalists who trained in England 00:00:18.000 --> 00:00:21.000 and graduated there with a degree in herbal medicine. 00:00:21.000 --> 00:00:26.000 We run a clinic in Garboville where we consult with clients about a wide range of conditions 00:00:26.000 --> 00:00:30.000 and we manufacture all our own certified organic herbal extracts, 00:00:30.000 --> 00:00:33.000 which are either grown on our CCUF certified herb farm 00:00:33.000 --> 00:00:38.000 or which are sourced from other USA certified organic suppliers. 00:00:38.000 --> 00:00:44.000 So you're listening to Ask Your Herb Doctor on KMUD Garboville 91.1 FM 00:00:44.000 --> 00:00:48.000 and from 7.30 until the end of the show at 8 o'clock, 00:00:48.000 --> 00:00:52.000 you're invited to call in with any questions either related or unrelated 00:00:52.000 --> 00:00:55.000 to this month's topic of bowel endotoxin. 00:00:55.000 --> 00:01:01.000 So, the number here if you live in the area is 923 3911 00:01:01.000 --> 00:01:09.000 or if you live outside the area, the toll free number is 1800 KMUD RAD 00:01:09.000 --> 00:01:14.000 and we can also be reached toll free on 1 888 WBM HERB 00:01:14.000 --> 00:01:19.000 for further questions during normal business hours Monday through Friday. 00:01:19.000 --> 00:01:25.000 So, this month we're again very pleased and fortunate to welcome Dr. Ray Peat back to this show 00:01:25.000 --> 00:01:30.000 and we'll be exploring the emerging revelation concerning endotoxemia 00:01:30.000 --> 00:01:36.000 and how unsaturated fats further burden our bodies in ways we could never imagine. 00:01:36.000 --> 00:01:39.000 So, welcome to tonight's show Dr. Peat. 00:01:39.000 --> 00:01:40.000 Thanks. 00:01:40.000 --> 00:01:45.000 Okay, perhaps for those people that are tuning in this evening, 00:01:45.000 --> 00:01:53.000 if you could outline what is endotoxin, how is it formed and how is it harmful to our health? 00:01:53.000 --> 00:01:59.000 I'm not sure that people really know what it's doing in the bacterium 00:01:59.000 --> 00:02:09.000 but it's been known since 1892, it was called endotoxin to distinguish it 00:02:09.000 --> 00:02:20.000 from the older known bacterial toxins that the bacteria in effect secrete to poison something in their environment 00:02:20.000 --> 00:02:29.000 and supposedly the endotoxin only comes out when the bacterium is broken apart 00:02:29.000 --> 00:02:35.000 but I think actually it leaks a little bit all the time. 00:02:35.000 --> 00:02:42.000 So, I wouldn't say that it's strictly an endotoxin like the textbooks used to say 00:02:42.000 --> 00:02:51.000 but it's somewhat of a structural protein but it's a medium to smallish molecule 00:02:51.000 --> 00:02:58.000 that can leak out in the process of growth and cell division and so on 00:02:58.000 --> 00:03:12.000 and its other name is lipopolysaccharide because its structure is a chain of sugar molecules with fatty acids attached 00:03:12.000 --> 00:03:26.000 and that gives it kind of a soap-like behavior that is part of why it's toxic so generally 00:03:26.000 --> 00:03:36.000 and they are so common in the environment that organisms have their basic defenses against them. 00:03:36.000 --> 00:03:44.000 One of our basic defenses is the high-density lipoprotein 00:03:44.000 --> 00:03:56.000 and they talk about it in terms of carrying cholesterol but I think really its historic main function 00:03:56.000 --> 00:04:04.000 is that it's our first defense against endotoxin once the endotoxin gets into the bloodstream 00:04:04.000 --> 00:04:15.000 but normally the intestine is a good barrier against absorbing the endotoxins 00:04:15.000 --> 00:04:22.000 and if some of it leaks through the wall of the intestine into the blood vessels 00:04:22.000 --> 00:04:28.000 and gets carried to the liver, the liver enzymes break it down 00:04:28.000 --> 00:04:35.000 and so it shouldn't normally reach the bloodstream in significant amounts 00:04:35.000 --> 00:04:47.000 but it's a matter of tens of milligrams that can circulate into the bloodstream every day. 00:04:47.000 --> 00:04:54.000 Do you know, as an aside, do you know if there is a value, a picogram or whatever value 00:04:54.000 --> 00:04:58.000 associated to a "acceptable level"? 00:04:58.000 --> 00:05:06.000 Yeah, it stimulates defense reactions and so it's kind of like a toughening up reaction 00:05:06.000 --> 00:05:09.000 to have a small amount of it. 00:05:09.000 --> 00:05:20.000 If you're born in a germ-free environment, your first exposure to bacteria is likely to be lethal 00:05:20.000 --> 00:05:25.000 but absorbing a little bit of the endotoxin toughens up the system. 00:05:25.000 --> 00:05:29.000 Okay, this would be, and again this is an aside, it's not something I was planning on going through with you 00:05:29.000 --> 00:05:37.000 but perhaps this harkens back to the, as you said, the kind of germ, yeah I'll say germ-ridden 00:05:37.000 --> 00:05:44.000 but the germ prevalent society maybe of a hundred years ago producing children that had better immune systems 00:05:44.000 --> 00:05:52.000 and did not have autism or any of the other syndromes maybe associated with the sterile environments of today. 00:05:52.000 --> 00:06:06.000 Yeah, I think the ups and downs when you try to be too sterile and then are exposed inevitably to germs 00:06:06.000 --> 00:06:11.000 the sudden shock is probably a lot more stressful. 00:06:11.000 --> 00:06:17.000 Right, okay, well getting back to endotoxins then and you mentioned lipopolysaccharide 00:06:17.000 --> 00:06:22.000 and some people will have heard of LPS or lipopolysaccharide. 00:06:22.000 --> 00:06:29.000 How is it harmful to our health if the bacteria, if I'm right in thinking that these bacteria 00:06:29.000 --> 00:06:38.000 are the main source of this endotoxin and we are exposed to varying amounts of it daily, 00:06:38.000 --> 00:06:41.000 how is it harmful to our health? 00:06:41.000 --> 00:06:52.000 It triggers a whole series of reactions and it seems to be a physical chemical process 00:06:52.000 --> 00:07:04.000 that sort of stirs up a cell to recognise a threat and set off a chain of reactions 00:07:04.000 --> 00:07:17.000 and it's the things that it sets into action that really cause the chronic accumulating damage, 00:07:17.000 --> 00:07:20.000 degenerative damage. 00:07:20.000 --> 00:07:31.000 It's one of the first things that does on exciting a cell is to cause the cell to take up calcium 00:07:31.000 --> 00:07:45.000 and to activate the synthesis of nitric oxide and the nitric oxide and the cell excitation 00:07:45.000 --> 00:07:57.000 that goes with absorbing calcium trigger other reactions and a small amount of endotoxin 00:07:57.000 --> 00:08:07.000 can stimulate the intestine to contract more but if the cells are getting overloaded with it 00:08:07.000 --> 00:08:15.000 that and possibly other irritants can cause cells to produce so much nitric oxide 00:08:15.000 --> 00:08:22.000 that the nitric oxide becomes a major metabolic disruptor 00:08:22.000 --> 00:08:28.000 and will cause the intestine to lose the ability to contract 00:08:28.000 --> 00:08:37.000 and it will poison the respiratory apparatus so that cells can't make energy to fight back 00:08:37.000 --> 00:08:47.000 and at that point with increased nitric oxide and reduced energy and taking up calcium 00:08:47.000 --> 00:08:52.000 the cells also take up water. 00:08:52.000 --> 00:08:58.000 And then they become basically non-functioning to a degree. 00:08:58.000 --> 00:09:05.000 Yeah, they're under stress and if the body can deliver enough energy to them quickly 00:09:05.000 --> 00:09:10.000 they can excrete the water and the calcium and turn off the nitric oxide 00:09:10.000 --> 00:09:17.000 and return to normal functioning but when they swell up 00:09:17.000 --> 00:09:26.000 another place that the textbooks give a very simplified mistaken idea of what is involved in 00:09:26.000 --> 00:09:35.000 bowel damage from endotoxin, they talk about the leakage between cells 00:09:35.000 --> 00:09:41.000 as if the cells lose the glue that holds them in contact with each other 00:09:41.000 --> 00:09:44.000 so holes open up between cells. 00:09:44.000 --> 00:09:54.000 That does happen but it isn't necessarily the worst way that the endotoxin gets into the cells 00:09:54.000 --> 00:09:56.000 and passes through the cells. 00:09:56.000 --> 00:10:03.000 The whole structure of the cell, the cytoplasm, as it takes up water 00:10:03.000 --> 00:10:14.000 instead of being fat-like and tending to exclude water and prefer to absorb fats 00:10:14.000 --> 00:10:23.000 the introduction of this sugar connected to a fat acts like a soap 00:10:23.000 --> 00:10:36.000 and makes the cell tend to admit not only more water but pretty much anything that is in its environment 00:10:36.000 --> 00:10:42.000 so the whole substance of the cell becomes kind of spongy and leaky. 00:10:42.000 --> 00:10:53.000 When this starts affecting the whole organism that kind of change occurs all through the body 00:10:53.000 --> 00:11:01.000 once the stuff has passed through the lining of the intestine and crosses across capillaries 00:11:01.000 --> 00:11:10.000 and gets into the bloodstream then the endotoxin starts doing the same thing 00:11:10.000 --> 00:11:15.000 to any cell it comes to and so it will leak out of capillaries 00:11:15.000 --> 00:11:21.000 no matter where it is in the bloodstream if the liver hasn't filtered it. 00:11:21.000 --> 00:11:29.000 So if it happens to reach the brain it will cause the brain capillaries to leak 00:11:29.000 --> 00:11:36.000 whatever is in the bloodstream so it can contribute to multiple sclerosis 00:11:36.000 --> 00:11:43.000 and the endotoxin leaking into the brain does the same thing 00:11:43.000 --> 00:11:51.000 it triggers the release of nitric oxide and a whole chain of chemical reactions 00:11:51.000 --> 00:11:59.000 that every organ has its particular way of responding to the endotoxin 00:11:59.000 --> 00:12:06.000 but there's a generality no matter what the organ 00:12:06.000 --> 00:12:15.000 there are basic defense reactions that will occur not only to endotoxin 00:12:15.000 --> 00:12:20.000 but to any radical threat to the survival of the cell 00:12:20.000 --> 00:12:27.000 so that x-rays and gamma rays will produce essentially the same kind of change 00:12:27.000 --> 00:12:33.000 in brain cells or bowel cells that endotoxin does 00:12:33.000 --> 00:12:41.000 and so if you're overexposed to x-rays for example you'll get constipated 00:12:41.000 --> 00:12:47.000 the same way that overexposure to endotoxin will cause constipation. 00:12:47.000 --> 00:12:52.000 Okay so there's a kind of saponification going on then? 00:12:52.000 --> 00:12:56.000 Yeah and opening up, loosening up of the cell structure 00:12:56.000 --> 00:13:07.000 so it becomes instead of like if you imagine a lump of gelatin dipped, soaked in oil 00:13:07.000 --> 00:13:13.000 it'll stay stable in the presence of water 00:13:13.000 --> 00:13:21.000 but if you mix a little bit of lecithin with it, it'll quickly start taking up water 00:13:21.000 --> 00:13:30.000 and then the whole thing is on the road to dissolving and breaking up. 00:13:30.000 --> 00:13:35.000 Okay, well perhaps this would lead me on to my next question for you 00:13:35.000 --> 00:13:42.000 which was that many of our listeners perhaps have heard the term "leaky gut" 00:13:42.000 --> 00:13:44.000 or "leaky gut syndrome" 00:13:44.000 --> 00:13:48.000 can you outline again, perhaps you've already done that in part 00:13:48.000 --> 00:13:51.000 but can you outline what causes a leaky gut then 00:13:51.000 --> 00:13:57.000 and how a leaky bowel wall may lead to this translocation of bacteria 00:13:57.000 --> 00:14:00.000 and/or endotoxin into the bloodstream? 00:14:00.000 --> 00:14:04.000 Yeah, endotoxin is always present in the intestine 00:14:04.000 --> 00:14:10.000 and it's always the first thing to defend against 00:14:10.000 --> 00:14:17.000 but many other stresses and toxins like radiation 00:14:17.000 --> 00:14:23.000 or heavy metals or estrogenic substances 00:14:23.000 --> 00:14:27.000 or too many polyunsaturated fatty acids and so on 00:14:27.000 --> 00:14:34.000 all of these things tend to loosen up or saponify the cell structure 00:14:34.000 --> 00:14:42.000 and cause the cell to take up water and let junk enter from the environment 00:14:42.000 --> 00:14:45.000 into the cell substance itself 00:14:45.000 --> 00:14:52.000 and getting into the cell substance then it can just as easily go out the other side of the cell 00:14:52.000 --> 00:14:56.000 into the underlying extracellular material 00:14:56.000 --> 00:15:02.000 and from there across the capillary cells and into the bloodstream 00:15:02.000 --> 00:15:09.000 and that is essentially what the leaky gut is 00:15:09.000 --> 00:15:15.000 it's leaky cell substance which involves leaky capillaries 00:15:15.000 --> 00:15:22.000 and ultimately it can cause leakiness of any tissue 00:15:22.000 --> 00:15:27.000 in the precancerous states 00:15:27.000 --> 00:15:34.000 for example you see substance leaking out of the characteristic cell 00:15:34.000 --> 00:15:40.000 and those indicate a tendency to develop cancer in that organ 00:15:40.000 --> 00:15:47.000 because that organ is most stressed and is leaking its substance 00:15:47.000 --> 00:15:55.000 for example the prostate specific antigen is just a normal prostate protein 00:15:55.000 --> 00:15:58.000 that leaks out because the cell is under stress 00:15:58.000 --> 00:16:03.000 and the same protein leaks out of breast cells when they're under stress 00:16:03.000 --> 00:16:09.000 and characteristic proteins leak out of any cell when it's under stress 00:16:09.000 --> 00:16:12.000 so it literally is the cell is falling apart 00:16:12.000 --> 00:16:14.000 it's breaking down, it's leaking 00:16:14.000 --> 00:16:20.000 and something as simple as vitamin E 00:16:20.000 --> 00:16:25.000 can tremendously strengthen the cell and help to hold it together 00:16:25.000 --> 00:16:29.000 so it doesn't leak its protein substance out into the environment 00:16:29.000 --> 00:16:32.000 and what would be the mechanism behind that? 00:16:32.000 --> 00:16:38.000 oh no one really knows but partly it's stopping the free radical damage 00:16:38.000 --> 00:16:42.000 that nitric oxide is producing 00:16:42.000 --> 00:16:51.000 and it helps to keep calcium from overloading the cell 00:16:51.000 --> 00:16:59.000 and keeps the water from associating too closely with the proteins 00:16:59.000 --> 00:17:04.000 and a lot of protective substances will do that 00:17:04.000 --> 00:17:10.000 the natural hormones progesterone and testosterone 00:17:10.000 --> 00:17:14.000 help to toughen up the cell and keep it from leaking 00:17:14.000 --> 00:17:23.000 the factors similar to vitamin E that are associated with energy production 00:17:23.000 --> 00:17:29.000 coenzyme Q10 and vitamin K 00:17:29.000 --> 00:17:34.000 are closely associated with vitamin E and energy production 00:17:34.000 --> 00:17:40.000 and they are extremely powerful at defending the respiratory apparatus 00:17:40.000 --> 00:17:43.000 from nitric oxide and endotoxin 00:17:43.000 --> 00:17:47.000 when you mentioned a few moments ago 00:17:47.000 --> 00:17:52.000 when you were talking about the influx of water into the cell 00:17:52.000 --> 00:17:55.000 and the cell not having sufficient energy 00:17:55.000 --> 00:18:00.000 would thyroid be a part to play in raising the energy of the cell? 00:18:00.000 --> 00:18:07.000 yeah the thyroid is essential for making the enzyme 00:18:07.000 --> 00:18:17.000 that essentially allows oxygen to absorb electrons out of the mitochondrial system 00:18:17.000 --> 00:18:23.000 the mitochondria takes up electrons from sugars and fats 00:18:23.000 --> 00:18:31.000 and it drives energy from those electrons as they are passed along to oxygen 00:18:31.000 --> 00:18:38.000 and thyroid is the essential factor for making that happen 00:18:38.000 --> 00:18:43.000 and there are other supporting factors 00:18:43.000 --> 00:18:46.000 a system called the uncoupling proteins 00:18:46.000 --> 00:18:54.000 that simply make the electrons run more quickly to be taken up by oxygen 00:18:54.000 --> 00:18:59.000 and what that does is produce carbon dioxide more quickly 00:18:59.000 --> 00:19:03.000 which turns off the formation of lactic acid 00:19:03.000 --> 00:19:09.000 and that turns off basically the nitric oxide forming system 00:19:09.000 --> 00:19:15.000 so if you can run the system fast enough with plenty of thyroid 00:19:15.000 --> 00:19:23.000 then you'll make the carbon dioxide and inhibit lactic acid formation 00:19:23.000 --> 00:19:30.000 and pretty well defend against producing nitric oxide 00:19:30.000 --> 00:19:36.000 and that gives you relative immunity to the lipopolysaccharide 00:19:36.000 --> 00:19:40.000 ok, is that what they call the electron transport chain? 00:19:40.000 --> 00:19:41.000 yeah 00:19:41.000 --> 00:19:43.000 the NADH and that other cycle 00:19:43.000 --> 00:19:47.000 yeah, the electrons pass from that down to oxygen 00:19:47.000 --> 00:19:50.000 but they can't do it without thyroid 00:19:50.000 --> 00:19:55.000 and the temperature is one of the factors 00:19:55.000 --> 00:19:59.000 when you run the electrons through the system 00:19:59.000 --> 00:20:04.000 you produce heat as well as carbon dioxide and ATP 00:20:04.000 --> 00:20:09.000 and keeping the temperature up is one of the things 00:20:09.000 --> 00:20:14.000 that helps to turn off the production of nitric oxide 00:20:14.000 --> 00:20:19.000 and other free radical destructive factors 00:20:19.000 --> 00:20:28.000 so all of these harmful x-rays, LPS from the bacteria in our intestines 00:20:28.000 --> 00:20:32.000 excess of estrogen that our own bodies can just be producing 00:20:32.000 --> 00:20:35.000 not necessarily from what we're taking as HRT 00:20:35.000 --> 00:20:38.000 or other forms of oral contraceptive pills 00:20:38.000 --> 00:20:41.000 but all of these things are essentially free radicals 00:20:41.000 --> 00:20:45.000 that are damaging our oxygen usage 00:20:45.000 --> 00:20:47.000 is that correct Dr. Peat? 00:20:47.000 --> 00:20:50.000 yeah, and not all free radicals are toxic 00:20:50.000 --> 00:20:57.000 but nitric oxide, the one that is so widely produced 00:20:57.000 --> 00:20:59.000 in response to stress 00:20:59.000 --> 00:21:03.000 it increases greatly with aging too 00:21:03.000 --> 00:21:09.000 just because aging involves the progressive stress reactions 00:21:09.000 --> 00:21:15.000 I remember the, I think they were called poppers 00:21:15.000 --> 00:21:19.000 weren't these chemicals or drugs of some kind 00:21:19.000 --> 00:21:22.000 that were nitric oxide based and were becoming 00:21:22.000 --> 00:21:25.000 and they were very damaging and that's probably why 00:21:25.000 --> 00:21:27.000 just explain the... 00:21:27.000 --> 00:21:31.000 yeah, nitroglycerin has been used as a drug 00:21:31.000 --> 00:21:34.000 to open the circulation to the heart 00:21:34.000 --> 00:21:40.000 and nitric oxide didn't really get much interest 00:21:40.000 --> 00:21:44.000 scientifically until Viagra came along 00:21:44.000 --> 00:21:49.000 and that's basically doing the same thing as nitroglycerin 00:21:49.000 --> 00:21:52.000 but it's extremely toxic 00:21:52.000 --> 00:22:02.000 it's just like eating toxins and getting irradiated 00:22:02.000 --> 00:22:05.000 and getting old ahead of time 00:22:05.000 --> 00:22:08.000 wow, quite a price to pay 00:22:08.000 --> 00:22:11.000 so it's just a very potent, powerful free radical 00:22:11.000 --> 00:22:15.000 that people don't really realize the damage that they're creating 00:22:15.000 --> 00:22:18.000 by depleting their bodies of oxygen 00:22:18.000 --> 00:22:24.000 yeah, and some free radicals can actually defend 00:22:24.000 --> 00:22:26.000 against the toxic free radicals 00:22:26.000 --> 00:22:32.000 when the thyroid and oxygen are working properly 00:22:32.000 --> 00:22:39.000 the electron transport chain involves lots of free radical activity 00:22:39.000 --> 00:22:43.000 but it is all productive and protective 00:22:43.000 --> 00:22:48.000 the faster you run oxygen through the mitochondrion 00:22:48.000 --> 00:22:51.000 under the influence of thyroid 00:22:51.000 --> 00:22:54.000 the less free radical damage you have 00:22:54.000 --> 00:22:57.000 to the structure of the cell and the mitochondrion 00:22:57.000 --> 00:23:00.000 ok, alright, well... 00:23:00.000 --> 00:23:09.000 if you are low thyroid or somehow lack oxygen acutely 00:23:09.000 --> 00:23:17.000 the electrons, instead of being safely passed through this chain of free radicals 00:23:17.000 --> 00:23:22.000 the free radicals wander off and attack the fats 00:23:22.000 --> 00:23:24.000 that make up the mitochondrion 00:23:24.000 --> 00:23:29.000 and then those fats become peroxides 00:23:29.000 --> 00:23:36.000 which are sort of a randomly destructive kind of free radical 00:23:36.000 --> 00:23:41.000 so these would be the polyunsaturated fats that you're talking about 00:23:41.000 --> 00:23:44.000 which, just for our listeners to clarify 00:23:44.000 --> 00:23:47.000 includes the common vegetable oils available 00:23:47.000 --> 00:23:52.000 like corn oil, sunflower seed oil, safflower seed oil, canola 00:23:52.000 --> 00:23:57.000 also includes fish oil, hemp seed oil, flax seed oil 00:23:57.000 --> 00:24:01.000 cotton seed oils and a lot of pre-processed packaged foods 00:24:01.000 --> 00:24:06.000 yeah, and all of those tend to accumulate in the tissues 00:24:06.000 --> 00:24:09.000 and when they are given acutely 00:24:09.000 --> 00:24:14.000 as an emulsion for example, they used to do it in hospitals to fatten people up 00:24:14.000 --> 00:24:20.000 now they do it to suppress their immune systems if they are transplanting a kidney 00:24:20.000 --> 00:24:24.000 they not only suppress immunity 00:24:24.000 --> 00:24:28.000 they create sort of an instantaneous diabetes 00:24:28.000 --> 00:24:32.000 and inability to respire and use sugar 00:24:32.000 --> 00:24:37.000 so it's like if we eat food that's fried in these oils 00:24:37.000 --> 00:24:41.000 then we're essentially ingesting a free radical 00:24:41.000 --> 00:24:44.000 well, very quickly, yeah 00:24:44.000 --> 00:24:51.000 an experiment I did illustrates how even at room temperature 00:24:51.000 --> 00:24:54.000 they spontaneously oxidize 00:24:54.000 --> 00:25:00.000 I took a rubber hose in a bottle of I think it was safflower oil 00:25:00.000 --> 00:25:04.000 and put the other end in a glass of water 00:25:04.000 --> 00:25:07.000 and just at room temperature 00:25:07.000 --> 00:25:15.000 over a few hours the bottle was in effect respiring 00:25:15.000 --> 00:25:21.000 it was sucking oxygen up and drawing water up into the tube 00:25:21.000 --> 00:25:28.000 and the oxygen was combining with the unsaturated fats 00:25:28.000 --> 00:25:31.000 and in the process forming lipid peroxides 00:25:31.000 --> 00:25:34.000 which are toxic free radicals 00:25:34.000 --> 00:25:39.000 and the situation is even worse in our body when it's at 98 and above degrees 00:25:39.000 --> 00:25:42.000 yeah, much faster at that temperature 00:25:42.000 --> 00:25:49.000 and we have catalytic amounts of iron and heavy metals 00:25:49.000 --> 00:25:52.000 moving around to accelerate the reaction 00:25:52.000 --> 00:25:58.000 well, ok, you're listening to Ask Your Ob Doctor on KMUD Galbraithville 91.1 FM 00:25:58.000 --> 00:26:02.000 we're very pleased to have Dr. Ray Peat join us again 00:26:02.000 --> 00:26:06.000 and this month's subject was the topic of bowel endotoxin 00:26:06.000 --> 00:26:09.000 so the number if you live in the area is 923 3911 00:26:09.000 --> 00:26:12.000 or the toll free number is 1800 KMUD 00:26:12.000 --> 00:26:15.000 so in 5 minutes or so we'll be opening up the number 00:26:15.000 --> 00:26:17.000 sorry, 1800 KMUD Rad 00:26:17.000 --> 00:26:19.000 beg your pardon 00:26:19.000 --> 00:26:23.000 ok, I had another question for you Dr. Peat 00:26:23.000 --> 00:26:26.000 I think just very briefly then perhaps if you want to outline again 00:26:26.000 --> 00:26:35.000 what free radicals are and what foods promote or prevent the formation 00:26:35.000 --> 00:26:38.000 free radicals and/or endotoxin 00:26:38.000 --> 00:26:52.000 yeah, since the polyunsaturated fats are the main material that causes sort of an explosion of free radicals 00:26:52.000 --> 00:26:58.000 once the process starts with endotoxin and nitric oxide 00:26:58.000 --> 00:27:08.000 simply minimizing those in the diet is a basic way to defend yourself 00:27:08.000 --> 00:27:13.000 there have been, for essentially 100 years 00:27:13.000 --> 00:27:17.000 there have been studies showing that a fat free diet 00:27:17.000 --> 00:27:21.000 if you give the required nutrients 00:27:21.000 --> 00:27:30.000 a fat free diet extends life span and reduces cancer and other degenerative diseases 00:27:30.000 --> 00:27:38.000 1927 study showed that there was no spontaneous cancer in rats on a fat free diet 00:27:38.000 --> 00:27:48.000 and that has been repeated thousands of times in different ways 00:27:48.000 --> 00:27:55.000 there are roughly 100 studies that show the tremendously beneficial effects 00:27:55.000 --> 00:28:03.000 of even a short term deficiency so called of the polyunsaturated fats 00:28:03.000 --> 00:28:14.000 when a rat is made deficient according to the way they define the deficiency 00:28:14.000 --> 00:28:20.000 they simply don't feed them any polyunsaturated fats but give them purified nutrients 00:28:20.000 --> 00:28:29.000 those animals can stand tremendous physical trauma that would kill a rat on a normal diet 00:28:29.000 --> 00:28:36.000 and they can be given cobra venom and survive where a normal rat doesn't 00:28:36.000 --> 00:28:45.000 toxins that would produce diabetes in normal rats doesn't hurt the so called deficient rats 00:28:45.000 --> 00:28:51.000 basically any kind of abuse that they can think of 00:28:51.000 --> 00:29:03.000 the fatty acid deficient rats are much much more able to tolerate and survive without harm 00:29:03.000 --> 00:29:13.000 so why are we so brainwashed in this day and age to the point that these fats are called essential fatty acids 00:29:13.000 --> 00:29:26.000 the people, the burrs who in 1929 through the 1930s were promoting that idea 00:29:26.000 --> 00:29:38.000 were working for one of the big fat businesses, lard and then vegetable shortening businesses 00:29:38.000 --> 00:29:46.000 and when independent researchers checked their claims in the 1940s 00:29:46.000 --> 00:29:52.000 they found that what they had done was simply produce a vitamin deficiency 00:29:52.000 --> 00:30:01.000 because when an animal is not eating the polyunsaturated fats which poison the thyroid function 00:30:01.000 --> 00:30:08.000 their metabolic rate is about 50% higher than the normal animals 00:30:08.000 --> 00:30:13.000 and if they feed them only a normal amount of vitamin and protein 00:30:13.000 --> 00:30:24.000 they become nutritionally deficient so these researchers at the University of Texas lab in the 1940s 00:30:24.000 --> 00:30:36.000 had been working on vitamin deficiencies and they recognized that the burrs had simply produced their vitamin B6 deficiency 00:30:36.000 --> 00:30:45.000 and so they gave a fatty acid deficient diet to rats and then gave them extra vitamin B6 00:30:45.000 --> 00:30:54.000 and it cured the syndrome so the whole issue was settled in 1946 00:30:54.000 --> 00:31:06.000 but in the 1950s the nutrition textbooks said that it's a controversial topic whether they're essential or not 00:31:06.000 --> 00:31:15.000 because people were still promoting the idea that we need lard or vegetable shortening 00:31:15.000 --> 00:31:27.000 and then the industry went through a big change when they discovered that 00:31:27.000 --> 00:31:34.000 first they had economized on food consumption by pigs and chickens 00:31:34.000 --> 00:31:41.000 by poisoning their thyroid gland with a chemical that turned out to cause cancer in humans 00:31:41.000 --> 00:31:48.000 and so they looked for another way to poison the animal's thyroid so it wouldn't eat so much but would get fat 00:31:48.000 --> 00:31:57.000 and what they found was that the polyunsaturated fats just as the burrs had demonstrated in 1932 00:31:57.000 --> 00:32:10.000 suppressed the metabolic rate and that was when the feeding pigs a diet of essentially pure corn and soy 00:32:10.000 --> 00:32:13.000 where the polyunsaturated fats took off. 00:32:13.000 --> 00:32:23.000 Before that they had fed them vegetable waste and whey industrial waste which was very good for the pigs 00:32:23.000 --> 00:32:27.000 but they ate a lot of it and didn't get fat. 00:32:27.000 --> 00:32:30.000 They weren't good for marketing. 00:32:30.000 --> 00:32:43.000 The agriculture industry found that they could tremendously increase return pounds of pig per pound of food consumed 00:32:43.000 --> 00:32:54.000 and since they were at that same time the paint industry discovered how to turn petroleum into paints and plastics 00:32:54.000 --> 00:32:58.000 so they didn't need linseed oil or safflower oil anymore 00:32:58.000 --> 00:33:08.000 and so there was this big industry, soy oil and so on, that wanted another market besides feeding pigs and chickens 00:33:08.000 --> 00:33:16.000 and so they convinced people to eat their production that they couldn't sell as paint. 00:33:16.000 --> 00:33:21.000 And the story continues into 2009. 00:33:21.000 --> 00:33:32.000 Then after 50 years the original data which was that the vegetable oils caused softening of the brain 00:33:32.000 --> 00:33:40.000 and infertility and cancer and so on, that was known in the early 1940s. 00:33:40.000 --> 00:33:50.000 Finally that became too public that the essential fatty acids known as linoleic acid mainly 00:33:50.000 --> 00:33:55.000 everyone was catching on that those were carcinogenic and caused heart disease. 00:33:55.000 --> 00:34:02.000 So about 20 or 30 years ago there was this gradual change of marketing 00:34:02.000 --> 00:34:10.000 as the fish industry was being pressured by the Environmental Protection Agency 00:34:10.000 --> 00:34:18.000 to stop throwing their waste skins and heads and so on in the bays or in the landfills 00:34:18.000 --> 00:34:22.000 because they were causing tremendous pollution. 00:34:22.000 --> 00:34:26.000 That was when fish oil came on the market. 00:34:26.000 --> 00:34:36.000 They were making fish protein out of the skin and the head to sell to Africa as a food supplement 00:34:36.000 --> 00:34:45.000 and the oil spoiled so fast they marketed it for human medical use. 00:34:45.000 --> 00:34:48.000 It's a lesson through history that wherever there's a waste product 00:34:48.000 --> 00:34:53.000 there's always an agency or an industry to turn it into a profitable product. 00:34:53.000 --> 00:35:04.000 Yeah, shrimp shells are now a medical product and I'm waiting for used tires to come out of the whole food. 00:35:04.000 --> 00:35:06.000 Rubber, it's good for you. 00:35:06.000 --> 00:35:11.000 Oh my gosh, I don't laugh, it'll probably happen but it'll happen so covertly 00:35:11.000 --> 00:35:14.000 that we won't know it for another 50 years. 00:35:14.000 --> 00:35:15.000 Oh my goodness. 00:35:15.000 --> 00:35:23.000 I want to go back briefly to the point that you mentioned about the endotoxin or lipopolysaccharide 00:35:23.000 --> 00:35:28.000 being broken down by the liver. 00:35:28.000 --> 00:35:32.000 So we know that the liver is a detoxification organ 00:35:32.000 --> 00:35:39.000 and I know that on several of our shows over the years we've kept on banging the message home 00:35:39.000 --> 00:35:43.000 that you need to look after your liver because it's the thing that looks after you very much 00:35:43.000 --> 00:35:51.000 in terms of metabolically deactivating some toxic metabolites and cleaning us, helping to stay clean. 00:35:51.000 --> 00:35:58.000 How do you view liver health or the improvement in liver health and how would you approach that? 00:35:58.000 --> 00:36:04.000 The liver has several ways to catch toxins 00:36:04.000 --> 00:36:19.000 but when it starts having to work too hard to detoxify things, the brain is our second most active detoxifying organ. 00:36:19.000 --> 00:36:28.000 It has very intense enzymes analogous to those that break down toxins in the liver 00:36:28.000 --> 00:36:40.000 but if the liver is spending too much energy detoxifying, it becomes unable to produce albumin. 00:36:40.000 --> 00:36:46.000 Albumin circulating in the blood is one of the layers of defense. 00:36:46.000 --> 00:37:01.000 When the stuff gets into the bloodstream, the high density lipoprotein made in the liver increases when we're being poisoned 00:37:01.000 --> 00:37:06.000 and so estrogen and alcohol increase the high density lipoprotein. 00:37:06.000 --> 00:37:10.000 And this is what the doctors are telling us is the good cholesterol. 00:37:10.000 --> 00:37:14.000 Well, it is good because it's a reaction to being poisoned. 00:37:14.000 --> 00:37:16.000 So it helps protect. 00:37:16.000 --> 00:37:19.000 When we're having a bowel problem. 00:37:19.000 --> 00:37:25.000 So if you have a low HDL, that may be not such a bad thing because it's indicating you don't have a high toxin load. 00:37:25.000 --> 00:37:27.000 Yeah, I think so. 00:37:27.000 --> 00:37:38.000 And the albumin circulating in the blood binds things preferentially fatty molecules 00:37:38.000 --> 00:37:47.000 and so between the albumin and the lipoproteins, our blood can hold a lot of stuff temporarily 00:37:47.000 --> 00:37:51.000 to give the liver a chance to catch up. 00:37:51.000 --> 00:37:53.000 As it repasses. 00:37:53.000 --> 00:37:54.000 Destroying them. 00:37:54.000 --> 00:37:55.000 Right, okay. 00:37:55.000 --> 00:38:02.000 Because I've heard of the albumin as being one of those factors obviously responsible for that colloidal osmotic pressure. 00:38:02.000 --> 00:38:15.000 Yeah, and when the liver is starting to be poisoned and estrogen and radiation can do the same thing as endotoxin, 00:38:15.000 --> 00:38:20.000 the ability to form albumin decreases. 00:38:20.000 --> 00:38:31.000 And so looking at the albumin in the blood test is one of the first indicators of a person's basic resistance. 00:38:31.000 --> 00:38:35.000 If it's high, their prognosis is usually good. 00:38:35.000 --> 00:38:46.000 And if it's down around 3, where the normal is 4.5, you're going to have to clean out the bowel. 00:38:46.000 --> 00:39:00.000 I've seen people in just a couple of weeks go from below 3, like 2.5, up to over 4 just by eating fiber and fruit juice. 00:39:00.000 --> 00:39:04.000 To reduce the absorption of the endotoxin. 00:39:04.000 --> 00:39:09.000 Do you figure the given reference range to be accurate? 00:39:09.000 --> 00:39:11.000 Well, yeah. 00:39:11.000 --> 00:39:18.000 The best prognosis is in the range of 40 to 50 or 4 to 5. 00:39:18.000 --> 00:39:28.000 And when it's below 4, they've put the normal lower and lower as people get thicker. 00:39:28.000 --> 00:39:33.000 15 or 20 years ago it was considered bad to be under 4. 00:39:33.000 --> 00:39:37.000 Now it's normal down to 3 point something. 00:39:37.000 --> 00:39:38.000 As we all get thicker. 00:39:38.000 --> 00:39:39.000 We have a caller on the line. 00:39:39.000 --> 00:39:41.000 We have a caller on the line for you, Dr. Peat. 00:39:41.000 --> 00:39:42.000 So, caller, you're on the air? 00:39:42.000 --> 00:39:45.000 Yes, Dr. Courtney, I have a question for Dr. Peat. 00:39:45.000 --> 00:39:47.000 But I'd first like to make a statement. 00:39:47.000 --> 00:39:53.000 I'm living proof that this man is saying his real God-sent truth. 00:39:53.000 --> 00:39:57.000 I have Crohn's and have had for probably about 20 years. 00:39:57.000 --> 00:39:59.000 I've been diagnosed for about 8 years. 00:39:59.000 --> 00:40:01.000 And I've had four major surgeries. 00:40:01.000 --> 00:40:05.000 I've had all but 12 of my intestines removed and have a double ostomy. 00:40:05.000 --> 00:40:11.000 And by change of diet, I no longer have any Crohn's symptoms whatsoever. 00:40:11.000 --> 00:40:14.000 And it's along the same lines that Dr. Peat is speaking about. 00:40:14.000 --> 00:40:21.000 My question is, Dr. Peat, do common doctors understand these things? 00:40:21.000 --> 00:40:28.000 And if they do, why don't they tell that to their families if they treat? 00:40:28.000 --> 00:40:30.000 Sorry, can I interrupt you for a second? 00:40:30.000 --> 00:40:32.000 Can you, caller, if you haven't already turned your radio off, 00:40:32.000 --> 00:40:33.000 can you please turn it off? 00:40:33.000 --> 00:40:36.000 We're having quite a lot of feedback here. 00:40:36.000 --> 00:40:38.000 Let it go away. 00:40:38.000 --> 00:40:44.000 The average doctor learns his high school courses very well. 00:40:44.000 --> 00:40:51.000 And then it happens that the medical school courses on the elementary canal 00:40:51.000 --> 00:40:57.000 and digestive physiology are really just a repeat of what the junior high 00:40:57.000 --> 00:41:00.000 and high school textbooks had in. 00:41:00.000 --> 00:41:06.000 So doctors get a very superficial picture of nutrition and digestion. 00:41:06.000 --> 00:41:07.000 I see. 00:41:07.000 --> 00:41:12.000 So possibly it is how I believe that they're just trained to be drug pushers 00:41:12.000 --> 00:41:15.000 at a lot of medical pharmaceutical companies. 00:41:15.000 --> 00:41:19.000 Yeah, I think that's their basic function. 00:41:19.000 --> 00:41:28.000 I've been running into more and more fairly famous gastroenterologists 00:41:28.000 --> 00:41:35.000 who are barely better than the junior high textbooks. 00:41:35.000 --> 00:41:41.000 Well, I thank you so much, sir, for all of your God-sent wisdom and knowledge. 00:41:41.000 --> 00:41:43.000 And I hope you have a long, long lived life, sir. 00:41:43.000 --> 00:41:44.000 Thank you. 00:41:44.000 --> 00:41:48.000 Okay, I think there's another caller on the line for you, Dr. Peat. 00:41:48.000 --> 00:41:49.000 And the lights are flashing. 00:41:49.000 --> 00:41:50.000 So go ahead, caller. 00:41:50.000 --> 00:41:51.000 Hello. 00:41:51.000 --> 00:41:56.000 I have a question, but I also wanted to mention that you had spoken last month 00:41:56.000 --> 00:42:02.000 about raised heartbeat as being preferable. 00:42:02.000 --> 00:42:04.000 And that was the first I heard of that. 00:42:04.000 --> 00:42:10.000 But since then I've heard of that in another radio show. 00:42:10.000 --> 00:42:17.000 So, Dr. Peat, can you explain to us why the standard heart rate we're taught in medical school 00:42:17.000 --> 00:42:20.000 is supposed to be between 70 and 80 beats per minute, and you've mentioned-- 00:42:20.000 --> 00:42:21.000 Or less. 00:42:21.000 --> 00:42:23.000 Or less, right, yeah, preferably less. 00:42:23.000 --> 00:42:25.000 Supposedly if you have an athletic heartbeat-- 00:42:25.000 --> 00:42:27.000 I've always told that low heart rate is healthy. 00:42:27.000 --> 00:42:31.000 Then you have a pulse around 60, and you're very healthy. 00:42:31.000 --> 00:42:32.000 You have a very healthy heart. 00:42:32.000 --> 00:42:38.000 So why do people feel better when they have a pulse above 80? 00:42:38.000 --> 00:42:46.000 Because the brain needs oxygen and sugar, 00:42:46.000 --> 00:42:57.000 and just to keep all of the systems warm and respiring actively, 00:42:57.000 --> 00:43:01.000 unless you have a very, very big heart, 00:43:01.000 --> 00:43:12.000 it usually takes around 80 or 90 beats per minute to pump enough oxygen and sugar around the tissues to keep them warm. 00:43:12.000 --> 00:43:25.000 And over the last 30 years, the normal temperature that doctors look for has decreased considerably. 00:43:25.000 --> 00:43:38.000 At the beginning of inventing thermometers, normal temperature was around 37 centigrade, 98.6 or so during the daytime Fahrenheit. 00:43:38.000 --> 00:43:46.000 And in recent years, the average temperature of Americans has decreased considerably, 00:43:46.000 --> 00:43:57.000 and that means that the heart rate can go slower, and the person feels that they're getting enough sugar and oxygen, 00:43:57.000 --> 00:44:02.000 but they don't really feel as good as they should. 00:44:02.000 --> 00:44:13.000 I've talked to a few people who had temporary episodes of hyperthyroidism where their heart rate went 125 for a couple of months, 00:44:13.000 --> 00:44:19.000 and they've reckoned consistently they say they never felt so good in their life. 00:44:19.000 --> 00:44:27.000 Obviously, just as an aside, since we started working with you, we've seen so many people with low temperatures, 00:44:27.000 --> 00:44:36.000 and it's always the rarity to find a person with the right temperature, and yeah, it's kind of few and far between, 00:44:36.000 --> 00:44:43.000 but they certainly do react or respond rather to the protocols that you've outlined. 00:44:43.000 --> 00:44:45.000 There's another caller on the line for you, Dr. Peat. 00:44:45.000 --> 00:44:49.000 Sorry, Corin, are you done asking questions? 00:44:49.000 --> 00:44:56.000 Because I know you wanted to ask a question about whether kelp and iodine-rich seaweeds are good for thyroid health, 00:44:56.000 --> 00:44:58.000 and I don't know if you're still on the line anymore. 00:44:58.000 --> 00:45:09.000 Well, I've got in my file, I think it's about 80 articles on the toxic effects of getting excess iodine, 00:45:09.000 --> 00:45:19.000 and thyroid cancer is increasing at a tremendous rate, and I think part of it is the polyunsaturated fats, 00:45:19.000 --> 00:45:26.000 but another part is a chronic, lifelong overdose of iodine. 00:45:26.000 --> 00:45:40.000 In various studies, taking more than twice the essential required minimum of iodine is enough to increase the rate of thyroiditis 00:45:40.000 --> 00:45:46.000 and increase antibody attacks on the thyroid and so on. 00:45:46.000 --> 00:45:54.000 So when you sent me 20 articles detailing the thyrotoxic effects of excess iodine from sea vegetables and other sources, 00:45:54.000 --> 00:45:59.000 that was just one-fifth of the articles you say you've seen that show this. 00:45:59.000 --> 00:46:00.000 Yeah. 00:46:00.000 --> 00:46:03.000 Right, okay, so we have another caller on the line. 00:46:03.000 --> 00:46:06.000 And there seems to be a little bit of feedback going on. 00:46:06.000 --> 00:46:10.000 I'm not sure if that can be managed in the studio or if that's external. 00:46:10.000 --> 00:46:12.000 Okay, caller, you're on. 00:46:12.000 --> 00:46:16.000 Hi, I had actually two questions at the same time. 00:46:16.000 --> 00:46:23.000 The first one was wondering if you could speak briefly about saturated fats and if they're beneficial or not. 00:46:23.000 --> 00:46:32.000 And then the other question was you mentioned staying away from the polyunsaturated fats 00:46:32.000 --> 00:46:40.000 and maybe vitamin E and the field studies that you've done that seem that you can do to help people with OCD. 00:46:40.000 --> 00:46:46.000 I was just wondering if anybody could help so you could do co-accessories for field studies. 00:46:46.000 --> 00:46:48.000 And I'll take questions after that. 00:46:48.000 --> 00:46:49.000 Thank you. 00:46:49.000 --> 00:46:50.000 Thank you. 00:46:50.000 --> 00:46:51.000 Could you repeat the question? 00:46:51.000 --> 00:46:52.000 I couldn't understand it. 00:46:52.000 --> 00:46:54.000 Okay, well, I could hear it. 00:46:54.000 --> 00:46:59.000 The caller was asking what are some protective things we can do. 00:46:59.000 --> 00:47:02.000 Dr. Peat, you've mentioned vitamin E. 00:47:02.000 --> 00:47:04.000 Oh, yes. 00:47:04.000 --> 00:47:05.000 Sorry. 00:47:05.000 --> 00:47:10.000 And also the co-enzyme Q10 and -- 00:47:10.000 --> 00:47:13.000 The lady wanted to know also about saturated fats. 00:47:13.000 --> 00:47:16.000 Yeah, the saturated fats are very protective, 00:47:16.000 --> 00:47:25.000 but you can make your own saturated fats if you eat enough sugar like fruits instead of bread. 00:47:25.000 --> 00:47:38.000 There are a couple of groups that are curing cirrhosis and hepatitis with giving more saturated fats 00:47:38.000 --> 00:47:42.000 and excluding the unsaturated entirely. 00:47:42.000 --> 00:47:46.000 So they are anti-inflammatory and therapeutic, 00:47:46.000 --> 00:47:56.000 but you don't necessarily have to eat the saturated fats because you can make them if you get enough sugar in the form of fruit. 00:47:56.000 --> 00:47:58.000 Okay. 00:47:58.000 --> 00:48:07.000 And so the other question was what other suggestions do you have to help reduce our bowel endotoxin load, 00:48:07.000 --> 00:48:10.000 our free radical load on our bodies? 00:48:10.000 --> 00:48:16.000 You've mentioned the CoQ10, the vitamin E, thyroid. 00:48:16.000 --> 00:48:28.000 Oh, anything that speeds transit through the intestine and aspirin or anything anti-inflammatory. 00:48:28.000 --> 00:48:35.000 The fruit juices contain some of the natural anti-inflammatory chemicals, 00:48:35.000 --> 00:48:44.000 but in a pinch it can help -- aspirin surprisingly can act as a laxative because it suppresses nitric oxide 00:48:44.000 --> 00:48:47.000 and defends against endotoxin. 00:48:47.000 --> 00:49:04.000 And the fibers that are protective and don't support bacterial growth are the basic way to stimulate quick passage through the intestine 00:49:04.000 --> 00:49:07.000 and minimizing endotoxin formation. 00:49:07.000 --> 00:49:16.000 Raw carrots and boiled bamboo shoots are very good fibers because they're germicidal 00:49:16.000 --> 00:49:23.000 as well as being able to bind the endotoxin and other toxins. 00:49:23.000 --> 00:49:27.000 So they not only help to kill these bacteria that are producing these harmful endotoxins, 00:49:27.000 --> 00:49:30.000 but they also absorb them so you can excrete them. 00:49:30.000 --> 00:49:31.000 Yeah. 00:49:31.000 --> 00:49:32.000 Excellent. 00:49:32.000 --> 00:49:37.000 And the other herb we wanted to mention -- oh, sorry, we do have another caller on the line. 00:49:37.000 --> 00:49:38.000 Yeah. 00:49:38.000 --> 00:49:40.000 We'll be right back with the herb. 00:49:40.000 --> 00:49:41.000 Go ahead, Carla. 00:49:41.000 --> 00:49:42.000 Thank you. 00:49:42.000 --> 00:49:43.000 Thank you, doctor. 00:49:43.000 --> 00:49:50.000 I've suffered from irritable bowel syndrome all my life or ever since I was a child. 00:49:50.000 --> 00:49:53.000 And then the last three years I became vegan. 00:49:53.000 --> 00:49:59.000 And then in the last couple, like three months, I took wheat out of my diet. 00:49:59.000 --> 00:50:05.000 And I used to have irritable bowel problems for at least once or twice a week, 00:50:05.000 --> 00:50:08.000 and I have noticed no problems. 00:50:08.000 --> 00:50:13.000 I mean, very few before I took the wheat out of my diet once I became vegan. 00:50:13.000 --> 00:50:16.000 But once I took the wheat out, I haven't had a problem. 00:50:16.000 --> 00:50:18.000 And I would like you to address that. 00:50:18.000 --> 00:50:23.000 And please, could you explain really what's happening with irritable bowel? 00:50:23.000 --> 00:50:27.000 Because, you know, they call it irritable bowel, but what is it really? 00:50:27.000 --> 00:50:29.000 Thank you. 00:50:29.000 --> 00:50:40.000 It basically is the inflamed bowel, and it can -- the same chemicals that can cause the usual paralysis 00:50:40.000 --> 00:50:45.000 that develops with aging and causes constipation, 00:50:45.000 --> 00:50:57.000 those same substances can shift over to causing intensified peristalsis leading to diarrhea. 00:50:57.000 --> 00:51:04.000 But it's all an inflammatory process that is triggered by irritants. 00:51:04.000 --> 00:51:12.000 And wheat and other seeds contain chemicals that the plants -- 00:51:12.000 --> 00:51:21.000 the two major problems with any kind of seed, especially certain grains like wheat, 00:51:21.000 --> 00:51:27.000 they contain their protein in a storage form, gluten, 00:51:27.000 --> 00:51:37.000 which happens to resemble a protein that our tissues make under the influence of estrogen or stress. 00:51:37.000 --> 00:51:45.000 And so if a person has some problem dealing with the control of estrogen, 00:51:45.000 --> 00:51:51.000 that predisposes them to react violently to the gluten 00:51:51.000 --> 00:52:01.000 because the same sequence of amino acids exists in our own estrogen response protein and the gluten protein. 00:52:01.000 --> 00:52:11.000 But besides the problem with the gluten, seeds all are -- they're the next generation of the plant, 00:52:11.000 --> 00:52:20.000 and so the plant puts its most intense toxins and defense substances into the seeds deliberately 00:52:20.000 --> 00:52:25.000 to interfere with grazing animals and such, 00:52:25.000 --> 00:52:32.000 so that you can take the enzymes that are needed to digest proteins, 00:52:32.000 --> 00:52:40.000 and the substance in the seed won't affect that type of enzyme in the plant, 00:52:40.000 --> 00:52:43.000 but it affects all animal enzymes. 00:52:43.000 --> 00:52:51.000 So they're specifically designed to interfere with animal metabolism. 00:52:51.000 --> 00:53:02.000 So the vegetarians forget how toxic the plants have to be 00:53:02.000 --> 00:53:07.000 because they don't have the ability to fight or to run, 00:53:07.000 --> 00:53:11.000 and so what they use is chemical defense. 00:53:11.000 --> 00:53:13.000 Chemical weapons. 00:53:13.000 --> 00:53:14.000 Okay. 00:53:14.000 --> 00:53:19.000 Well, Dr. Peat, I want to be a little bit selfish and cut off any more callers at this point. 00:53:19.000 --> 00:53:22.000 I know the lights are flashing, and do excuse me. 00:53:22.000 --> 00:53:25.000 I don't normally do this, but I do have one more specific question, 00:53:25.000 --> 00:53:29.000 which relates to bowel endotoxin and bowel functioning, 00:53:29.000 --> 00:53:33.000 and I know from a newsletter that you haven't finished. 00:53:33.000 --> 00:53:36.000 It's something I know you've begun, and I've managed to get a copy of it, 00:53:36.000 --> 00:53:40.000 that you're a pretty big exponent of cascara, 00:53:40.000 --> 00:53:46.000 and cascara is a Pacific Northwest native tree called a rhamnus persiana, 00:53:46.000 --> 00:53:50.000 and the Native Americans have used it for centuries as an effective laxative, 00:53:50.000 --> 00:53:57.000 and the main constituents are things like anthraquinones with glycosides of imodin 00:53:57.000 --> 00:54:00.000 and other alpha-alumodin. 00:54:00.000 --> 00:54:05.000 So what do you think of -- how do you view constipation as a cause of morbidity, 00:54:05.000 --> 00:54:08.000 and how do you view the action of cascara? 00:54:08.000 --> 00:54:16.000 Well, all of these responses to inflammation tend to become progressive 00:54:16.000 --> 00:54:21.000 and even lead to the death of some of the nerves in the intestine, 00:54:21.000 --> 00:54:33.000 and so it's better to use any substance such as a plant drug 00:54:33.000 --> 00:54:37.000 rather than suffer the consequences of inflammation, 00:54:37.000 --> 00:54:47.000 and it happens that cascara has structural analogies to many of our own substances. 00:54:47.000 --> 00:54:57.000 Vitamin K and coenzyme Q and progesterone have structural similarities to cascara, 00:54:57.000 --> 00:55:02.000 and so what it's doing is reinforcing our defense systems, 00:55:02.000 --> 00:55:15.000 and it's very unusual among drugs because it basically reinforces all of the good processes 00:55:15.000 --> 00:55:20.000 and doesn't support any of the inflammatory toxic processes. 00:55:20.000 --> 00:55:36.000 So it's anti-inflammatory, anti-carcinogenic, helps to reduce anxiety, for example, 00:55:36.000 --> 00:55:43.000 increases energy production the way thyroid and progesterone do. 00:55:43.000 --> 00:55:48.000 Everything that our own system does, it reinforces, 00:55:48.000 --> 00:55:57.000 and my newsletter is going to talk about the history of related substances. 00:55:57.000 --> 00:56:01.000 Early in the century when free radicals were discovered, 00:56:01.000 --> 00:56:06.000 a doctor in Michigan, W.F. Koch, 00:56:06.000 --> 00:56:14.000 began working out the implications for how to defend our cellular respiratory system 00:56:14.000 --> 00:56:18.000 from these toxins in the environment, 00:56:18.000 --> 00:56:23.000 and one of the substances he worked with was the anthraquinone. 00:56:23.000 --> 00:56:30.000 He went to Brazil and the famous Brazil wood, it's red because of the anthraquinone, 00:56:30.000 --> 00:56:37.000 but he explored all of the quinones that he could 00:56:37.000 --> 00:56:44.000 and found that they work with vitamin E, vitamin K, and coenzyme Q and thyroid 00:56:44.000 --> 00:56:48.000 to maintain and protect respiration. 00:56:48.000 --> 00:56:49.000 Excellent. 00:56:49.000 --> 00:56:53.000 Well, I'm going to have to cut you short too, I'm afraid, Dr. Peat, 00:56:53.000 --> 00:56:56.000 because it's 7.58 and a half. 00:56:56.000 --> 00:57:04.000 Dr. Ray Peat can be contacted via his website on www.raypeat.org. 00:57:04.000 --> 00:57:05.000 No, .com. 00:57:05.000 --> 00:57:09.000 Oops, sorry, it's changed to .com, so raypeat.com. 00:57:09.000 --> 00:57:12.000 For those of you who would like to consult further, 00:57:12.000 --> 00:57:17.000 we can be reached on 1-888-WBM-ERB, Monday through Friday. 00:57:17.000 --> 00:57:22.000 Thank you to all of you who listen regularly and those who tuned in this evening, 00:57:22.000 --> 00:57:26.000 and thank you very much again, Dr. Peat, I would love having you on the show. 00:57:26.000 --> 00:57:30.000 And I know from the wealth of people that phone up 00:57:30.000 --> 00:57:32.000 and the people that have tried to get on this evening, 00:57:32.000 --> 00:57:35.000 I'm sorry that we cut you short a little, 00:57:35.000 --> 00:57:40.000 but I know that you're very popular and I very much appreciate you just spread the good news. 00:57:40.000 --> 00:57:43.000 And we're hoping that Dr. Peat will come visit us in Humboldt County 00:57:43.000 --> 00:57:45.000 and do some more nutrition classes. 00:57:45.000 --> 00:57:46.000 That's right. 00:57:46.000 --> 00:57:49.000 So keep your ears open for that on a public service announcement. 00:57:49.000 --> 00:57:54.000 Look to the future, folks, and for those of you who have ears, let them hear. 00:57:54.000 --> 00:57:55.000 Good night. 00:57:55.000 --> 00:57:56.000 Thank you. Good night.