Marion Nestle
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 One reason the Cry9C protein is toxic to insects is that they cannot easily digest it—break it down—to its constituent amino acids; the structure of the protein survives the digestive processes more or less intact. The CryjiC protein also is relatively stable to heat, so cooking might not destroy its ability to cause allergic reactions. Furthermore, preliminary feeding studies showed that the Cry^C protein appeared intact in the blood of rats and provoked immune responses, meaning that rats could not digest it and destroy its allergenicity. No such studies had been conducted in humans, however. |
Jonny Bowden, M.A., C.N.S.
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 If calories are at reasonable levels at this point—which they probably will be because you'll be a lot less hungry and have a lot fewer cravings—you will lose weight. You will also improve your blood lipid profiles (lower triglycerides, higher HDL) and your insulin sensitivity. Not only will you get slimmer, but your risk for heart disease, diabetes, and hypertension will plummet.
Not a bad deal, right?
How a Low-Carb Diet Keeps You Healthy and Slim
We've talked about what sugar does to the body and why eliminating it is such a good idea. |
Healing Children's Attention & Behavior DisordersDr. Abram Hoffer, M.D., FRCP(C)
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| Pure protein, protein hydrolysates, and mixtures of amino acids will have the same destructive effect but they are too expensive so far and are generally not used as additives to the same degree.
A good example of what is wrong with our diet is the doughnut. This is made from white flour, fat, and sugar. It is a combination of everything which is undesirable in our diet. The fat and sugar contain no other nutrients and the white flour consumed by itself could not sustain life very long. |
| Protein hydrolysate contain large amounts of glutamate, aspartate, and sulfur amino acids. These are called excito-toxins. Young animals are particularly sensitive: a single feeding of glutamate to a young animal will destroy neurons. Glutamate is present in commercial soups which may contain up to 1,300 mg of free glutamate per 6 oz cup. A twenty pound baby eating one cup would get 130 mg per kg of body weight. The toxic dose for immature mice is 250-500 mg per kg. This is too small a margin of safety. |
Steven G. Pratt, M.D. and Kathy Matthews
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 It's true that beans (with the exception of soybeans, which are a complete protein) are missing two amino acids and are therefore not complete in the sense that these acids are necessary for the body to make use of the beans' protein. However, bean protein is completed by other common foods, such as nuts, dairy, and grains or even animal protein. In fact, many popular bean dishes—rice and beans, couscous and chickpeas, lentils and barley—capitalize on this combination. Many people used to believe that it was essential to eat beans and the complementary food at the same time. |
Gary Null, Ph.D.
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 The false idea promulgated by the meat industry that plant protein is incomplete and lacking some vital amino acids is a complete myth. Nature simply cannot make a soybean, potato, or grain of wheat without using all the same amino acids (the "building blocks" of protein) required by the metabolism of humans.
Vegetable proteins, eaten throughout the day in a well-balanced vegetarian diet, are each "complete" in their own way and will be metabolized quite completely, finding their way to the liver and other tissues where they will be used as needed. |
Phyllis A. Balch, CNC
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 Chlorella
Chlorella is a tiny single-celled water-grown green alga that contains the highest chlorophyll level per ounce of any plant, as well as protein (nearly 58 percent), carbohydrates, all of the B vitamins, vitamins C and E, amino acids (including all nine essential ones), enzymes, and rare trace minerals. It contains more vitamin B12 than liver, plus a sizable amount of beta-carotene. It is also high in the nucleic acids RNA and DNA. It is virtually a complete food. |
| It has the essential fatty acids gamma-linolenic acid (GLA), linoleic and arachidonic acids; is virtually the only vegetarian source of vitamin B12, which is (needed for healthy red blood cells; and contains significant amounts of iron, protein (60 to 70 percent), essential amino acids, the nucleic acids RNA and DNA, and chlorophyll. Spirulina is a naturally digestible food that helps to protect the immune system, reduce blood cholesterol levels, and boost the absorption of necessary minerals. |
C. P. Khare
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 The seeds gave amino acids in free state, asparatic and arginine being the major ones.
Conessine from the bark kills free living amoebae; it also kills Entamoeba histolytica in dysenteric stools of experimentally infected kittens. Conessine produces little effect on Trichomonas hominis but is lethal to the flagellate protozoon.
In a clinical study on 40 cases of amoebiasis and giardiasis, the efficacy of Kutaja in intestinal amoebiasis was 70 %. Good response was also observed in Entamoeba histolytica cyst-passers, when treated with Kutaja bark. |
| Active principles and pharmacology
The corm contains an active diastatic enzyme— amylase, betulinic acid, beta-sitosterol, stigmas-terol, beta-sitosterol palmitate, lupeol, triacontane and amino acids.
The corms are irritant due to presence of calcium oxalate. They are to be consumed after they are washed well and boiled in tamarind water or buttermilk. If not properly boiled, they produce an irritating sensation in the mouth.
Analysis of corms gave the following values: protein, 1.2, fat 0.1, fibre 0.8, carbohydrate, 18.4, starch 17.7, oxalic acid 1.3 and minerals 0.8 %; calcium, 50. |
| The drug contains steriods: delta-5-, delta-7- and delta-8-phytosterols (24-alkyl sterols), including clerosterol, isofucosterol, sitosterol, stigmasterol, cholesterol, isoavenas-terol, spinasterol; fatty oil; unusual amino acids, including cucurbitin and gamma-tocopherol.
Cucurbitin has been identified as (-)-3-amino-3-carboxy-pyrrolidine; the active principle responsible for the anthelmintic effect of the seed.
The concentration of cucurbitin in different samples of Cucurbita pepo ranged from 1.66 to 6.63 %, in Cucurbita maxima from 5.29 to 19.37 % and in Cucurbita moschata 3.98 to 8.44 %. |
Phyllis A. Balch, CNC
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| Classified by some as a legume rather than a cereal grass, alfalfa also contains eight essential amino acids that the body needs to build protein.
Barley Grass Juice
Barley grass juice, also known as green barley juice, is rich in vitamins C, Bj, B2, B3, B6, and C, as well as biotin, folate, and beta-carotene. It also contains a form of vitamin E called alpha-tocopherol succinate, which, in clinical trials, has demonstrated a significant ability to block the growth of cancer cells. |
Rex Adams
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 In a major breakthrough, male-pattern baldness has been almost 100 percent cured or stopped in cases tested with vitamin B-6 (biotin) and amino acids. The vitamin B-6 helps dissolve excess testosterone—the male hormone—on the scalp, and combines with amino acids to build up the hair roots.
Spectacular cures have been reported. Men losing nearly 500 hairs a day had fallout reduced to as little as 25 (45 a day is normal). One man reports his hairline restored as much as two inches in the front. All this happened in a matter of weeks!
Thousands Experience New Hair Growth! |
Phyllis A. Balch, CNC
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| Vegetable Juices
Rich in vitamins, minerals, live enzymes, amino acids, and phytochemicals, vegetable juices help to balance the body's metabolism and aid in weight loss. They also help damaged tissues to regenerate and heal. Certain individual vegetable juices also have specific healing properties, which we will look at in this section.
Beef Juice
Beet juice is among the most valuable healing juices available. Be sure to juice the tops also—they contain more nutrients than the beet. |
| Key nutrients in oranges include vitamin C, folate, vitamin Bj (thiamine), fiber, potassium, sodium, citric acid, fructose, glucose, sucrose, zinc, copper, iron, manganese, pantothenic acid, vitamin B6, vitamin E, phosphorus, magnesium, sulfur, calcium, vitamin B2 (riboflavin), vitamin B3 (niacin), and small amounts of lipids and amino acids. |
| If you have colon problems, add to the above list fresh or powdered wheatgrass, which is loaded with nutrients, including vitamins, minerals, amino acids, and chlorophyll and other phytonutrients. A fresh "green drink" made from any green, leafy vegetable is an excellent detoxifier. Chlorophyll, in the form of alfalfa, which is available in health food stores, helps the body to rid itself of toxins and is particularly good for arthritis. Another good detoxifier is garlic. |
Marion Nestle
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| Differences among species depend on the specific order of base sequences in their DNA and, therefore, in the sequence of amino acids in their proteins. When scientists extract genes from bacteria, they are taking segments of DNA that contain the same DNA bases that are already in plants—just arranged in a different sequence. The commonality of DNA bases among organisms is the main reason why many scientists are perplexed by public anxieties about genetic engineering; DNA is DNA—its base subunits are the same—no matter where it comes from or where it goes. |
Kathi Keville
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 Studies conducted in China showed that ginseng also increases your brain's utilization of amino acids, which is important because when you are under stress, your body uses more protein than usual. (Proteins are composed of amino acids.)
Another Chinese herb, shizandra, also has a regulating effect on the central nervous system. Studies show that this herb quickens responses and makes people more alert while actually stimulating the nervous system. A 1983 study conducted in China showed that shizandra relieves headaches, insomnia and dizziness and calms a racing heart. |
American Medical Publishing
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| The Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology (FASEB) recently conducted an exhaustive search of available data on amino acids and concluded that there was insufficient information to establish a safe intake level for any amino acids in dietary supplements, and that their safety should not be assumed. |
Gabriel Cousens, M.D.
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 Apes, considerably stronger than humans, live on a fruitarian diet that averages between 0.2 and 2.2 percent protein, equivalent to the protein concentration in human breast milk. These facts lead one to question: Just how much protein do we really need?
269
Excess Protein and Degenerative Disease
In terms of metabolic combustion, excess protein in the diet does not "burn cleanly." It has been associated with creating an over-acid system because of the accumulation of toxic protein metabolic wastes such as uric acids and purines in the tissues. |
Leo Galland
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 The greater the toxic stress, the greater the demand, because the body's stores of these amino acids are depleted in the detoxification process.
Perhaps the most important role for cysteine and methionine in detoxification lies in their conversion to glutathione, which is a complex of three amino acids (a tripeptide). Glutathione is both an essential detoxifier and an important antioxidant. Fasting depletes the body of glutathione, but a brief period of fasting followed by feasting actually elevates glutathione to a level higher than before the fast. |
Stephanie Beling
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 Fourteen of these amino acids can be manufactured in the body, but eight so-called "essential" amino acids must be obtained from food. Protein also provides energy, in the amount of four calories per gram.
Fat is a critical component of cell membranes and hormones and is essential to the process by which some nutrients are absorbed into the system. Fat also cushions organs and helps regulate the body temperature by insulating the body. Fat, too, yields energy: nine calories per gram, more than twice the caloric content of carbs and protein. |
John Croft
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 The shellfish extract could be the green-lipped mussel described in Chapter 3 because it contains the amino acids phenylalanine and tyrosine, plus the long-chain fatty acids, and a natural balanced content of minerals. The fish oil could be one with the suitable level of omega-3 fatty acids blended with squalene. Squalene is a marine hydrocarbon with excellent antioxidant activity to reduce free-radical damage and also good oxygen-carrying capacity to help maintain healthy brain cell metabolism. |
| The proteins we eat provide the amino acids needed for the production of our neurotransmitters, vital components of our neurons, which, among other things, perform the controlling functions for mental activities such as mood and anxiety. The fats we eat are vital for the production and maintenance of the cell membranes in the brain. About 60 percent of the brain is comprised of fat, and the composition of dietary fats that we provide for the body to biosynthesize or supply directly to the brain is very important. |
| The rich content of amino acids in marine sources such as shellfish makes a valuable contribution to the nutrient balance required for healthy mental function. For those unable to consume shellfish or appropriate dairy products regularly, a product that combines the functional derivatives of these can provide a useful alternative.
Aging, Mental Acuity, and Brain Health
At some time or another everyone suspects that mental acuity may be deteriorating, and I am sure that one of the feelings most common to all of us is that of memory failure. |
| In common with other amino acids, two forms of tyrosine exist (L and D, which are simple mirror images of each other). It is the L form that our bodies utilize and this is the form that is found in foods. L-tyrosine is classed as a nonessential amino acid. This simply means that it can be synthesized naturally in the body from another amino acid and therefore is not normally needed to be provided from the diet. However, some people have a deficiency in tyrosine due to the inability of their body to synthesize it from the precursor amino acid phenylalanine. |
| Interestingly, including plenty of fish in the diet will also provide the important protein source for the specific amino acids needed for our neurotransmitters.
It is not always a simple matter for some people to have a regular diet of fish, and in this case the fuels for the brain can be obtained in a convenient form as nutritional supplements. Capsules of high-quality fish oils, having a high ratio of docoso-hexaenoic acid (DHA) to eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA), will provide the fatty acids to help restore the omega-3 to omega-6 balance as well as brain cell membrane fluidity. |
Ann Blake Tracy, Ph.D.
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| The essential ingredients of calcium and phosphorus needed to break down proteins into amino acids becomes imbalanced. These amino acids are the essential building blocks of hormones and neurotransmitters. Without these building blocks, insulin begins to diminish causing hyperglycemia or diabetes.
Now why, when we are discussing brain function and chemical imbalances, are we discussing the pancreas and blood sugar levels? Because the brain is fueled by blood sugar and without proper blood sugar levels, the brain cannot function properly. |
Steven G. Pratt, M.D. and Kathy Matthews
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| Lysine is one of the two amino acids essential for carnitine synthesis, and carnitine is essential for efficient energy production in the mitochondria—the cellular energy factory.
Polyphenols occur at relatively high concentrations in legumes. High levels of these important phytonutrients are present in colored beans, e.g., black, yellow, beige, red. |
Jonathan V. Wright, M.D. and Alan R. Gaby, M.D.
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 We usually need to look at all of these areas in cases of chronic fatigue."
"Should I go have these done now?"
"Not quite yet. We still need to complete your personal health history and physical exam. Everyone's an individual, and your personal 'recovery path' may have other 'stops' along the way."
Almost a month later, Mrs. Kilcoyne was back. She opened a new file folder containing copies of her recent tests and recommendations. "I think I understand all this, but let's go over it anyway," she said. |
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