Valentine’s Day, Prebiotics and Heart Disease Prevention

What could be more appropriate than caring for the heart at Valentine's Day, both your own and the one that belongs to someone special. We now know so much about how this can be done. Let's talk about specifics:

CORONARY HEART DISEASE

If you already have Coronary Heart Disease, you know the imperatives that need to be followed:

• low fat diet
• weight control
• no smoking
• exercise, and
• less stress

However, cholesterol control remains an imperative as well. Medications such as the statins are a main stay for many people. We now know that certain supplements can also be helpful in controlling cholesterol. The FDA (Food and Drug Administration) has allowed a cholesterol claim for the supplement psyllium in a dose of 7 grams a day. Oat bran, like wise, will lower the cholesterol.

But is there a connection to cholesterol and the bacterial balance in our gut?

Perhaps. There is increasing evidence that there is a direct connection to Metabolic Syndrome, which has as one of its characteristicsatherogenic dyslipidemia. In other words, blood fat disorders that foster plaque buildups in artery walls such as high triglycerides, low HDL cholesterol and high LDL cholesterol.

WHAT IS METABOLIC SYNDROME?

Many people have this problem and prebiotics are a major and significant part of the treatment. This condition consists of the following:

• tendency toward or actual coronary heart disease
• overweight (excessive fat tissue in and around the abdomen)
• high blood pressure
• pre-diabetes or actual type 2 diabetes, and
• blood fat disorders

People with the metabolic syndrome are at an increased risk of coronary heart disease and other diseases related to plaque buildups in artery walls (e.g., stroke and peripheral vascular disease) and type 2 diabetes. The metabolic syndrome has become increasingly common in the United States. It’s estimated that over 50 million Americans have it.

A significant recent finding is that the bacterial makeup of the colon in people with metabolic syndrome is bad. There is a major shift from good to bad bacteria. This, in turn leads to inflammation and leakiness of the colon wall. This condition aggravates the metabolic syndrome.

Prebiotics are plant fibers of a very specific type that nourish the good bacteria in the colon. When these good bacteria thrive, they push out the bads ones and in so doing return the bowel wall to normal. Daily consumption of prebiotic rich food or a supplement can help correct this bacterial imbalance in those people with this condition.

HEALTHY HEART NORMALS

For those of us who do not have coronary heart disease or metabolic syndrome and want to keep it that way, a shift towards a more “plant-based diet” may be necessary. Meat, poultry and fish are great but they should get an equal part of the dinner plate and not the larger portion that we grew up on. Plant based foods provide nutrients to the good bacteria in the colon that are just not present in meats, poultry and fish. What is important to remember is that a significant portion of the plants that we ingest are those that contain the natural prebiotics, oligofructose and inulin. What is the takeaway from this article? Prebiotics need to become a regular part of your nutrition. Our Prebiotin supplements give you the assurance that your intestinal balance is strengthened in a very active way. And for added assistance with cholesterol control Prebiotin-Heart Health is available. This formula contains a healthy blend of both psyllium and oat bran as well as the very best prebiotic, oligofructose enriched inulin.

So this valentines day, stay heart healthy by increasing your ingestion of prebiotics.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20640165

http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=4756

Mucous-ugh. Mucous Layer in the Gut- Yahhh!

When the word mucous is read or heard in some ad, a negative image immediately comes to mind. A runny nose, throat phlegm, something sticky and yucky. But there is another meaning and role of mucous that occurs within our gut throughout our entire life.

Mucous is, indeed, a sticky material. Thank goodness for that! It is secreted by certain cells that line the bowel and it covers the entire surface of the intestine. It is especially thick in the lower intestine and colon where there are huge numbers of bacteria, a few of which are bad ones and are ready to invade the colon.This mucous lining is our first line of defense against certain bad bacteria bugs that reside in our gut.

The technical name for this barrier is the biofilm, a veritable film that covers the lining of the gut. There is a lot that can be done to increase the health of the mucous layer in the gut. Eating a diet high in fruits and vegetables is key. This type of diet promotes the growth of certain bacteria that make that this biofilm healthier. Many of these foods contain prebiotics. A prebiotic is certain type of food fiber that is especially effective in promoting a healthy mucous layer in the gut. These prebiotics can also be obtained as a supplement. One such supplement is Prebiotin which can be found at http://www.prebiotin.com.

I will comment more about this mucous layer or biofilm and how it is so important in Crohns Disease and the “leaky gut”. Stay tuned for further comments.

Prebiotic Comments & Questions from Friends & Family

We now get many such comments and questions from friends. Many are so worthwhile that I put them up here for every one to see.

ANTIBIOTICS, PROBIOTICS and PREBIOTICS

Q- Should I take probiotics and prebiotics when I take on oral antibiotic?

A- Yes, I think I would. A year ago I was uncertain. Now there is enough info getting into the medical literature and practice of medicine, that the potential benefit may outweigh the uncertainty. More to the specifics:

    

Probiotics

Select the ones that have the highest amounts of:

• Bifdo logum
  
• Bifido rhamnosus
  
• Strepto salivarious
  
• Saccharomyces boulardi
  

Use twice a day. (Sorry about the technical names. You can get a full essay at Probiotics)

Prebiotics

Our oligofructose enriched inulin prebiotic fiber supplement (Prebiotin) is the best. I would use2 grams twice a day

When the antibiotic course is concluded, I would use the above for at least 1 week and then continue Prebiotin indefinitely

FINGERNAILS and TOENAILS

Since I have personally been on Prebiotin, I have been quite surprised at the growth and strength of my nails. I have checked with my colleagues and they say the same thing. A person from California says "stronger fingernails". Finally, I have a long standing fungus infection in one toenail. which appears to be clearing.

I have no idea how this may occur or even if there is any effect with Prebiotin. We do know that when the bacteria factory within our colon is functioning optimally, that health benefits occur beyond the colon. Could our finger and toenails be one such benefit? It has not been proven yet, but it will be fun to wait and see.

PERIODONTAL DISEASE

A close friend of mine has been on Prebiotin for over a year. She reports that her periodontist has been amazed that the pockets around some of her teeth have been gradually closing. These pockets of of periodontal disease are caused by bad bacteria getting into these crevices. Could swallowed prebiotics in some manner stimulate "good" bacteria to grow at these sites and displace the bad ones? At this time we can only guess at this possibility since there is no reported research yet in the medical literature. However, since there is no downside to taking these naturally occuring fibers, I would say go for it! Let us know what happens.

ULCERATIVE COLITIS

An attorney friend of mine with ulcerative colitis has told me that since taking Prebiotin, he has been able to reduce his medication, he no longer has foul flatus smell and that he just feels better. How this happens is becoming clear to me. Hydrogen sulfide is the very smelly and nasty gas that is made by certain colon bacteria. Remarkably, almost all UC patients make this gas, so there is something special here. There is suspicion that this toxic gas actually promotes damage to the colon wall in some manner.

These bugs need a neutral enviornment to grow and produce this gas. The do not grow in acid conditions. Prebiotics and more specifically Prebiotin produce beneficial acid substances and so reduce the growth the growth of these bad bugs. We need further good research here, but were I still in practice I would place all my UC patients on Prebiotin along with their standard medical program. There is virtually no downside and, who knows, there may be a significant benefit.

• From Florida: "I love how Prebiotin has helped my daughter's ulcerative colitis".
  
• From Minnesota; "I was diagnosed with colitis.... my symptoms went away and have not returned"
  
• From North Carolina: "It helps my ulcerative colitis symptoms"

CROHNS DISEASE

Crohns disease starts with bad colon bacteria invading the wall of the lower small intestine and/or the colon. We now know who these nasty guys are. When prebiotics such as Prebiotin are taken, certain substances called short chain fatty acids are formed by the good bacteria. In additional to these substances being very good for the nutrition of the colon wall itself, they seem to change the makeup of the bacteria next to the colon wall. The good bacteria grow and the bad ones do not. 

Will this be a benefit for the Crohns patient? We will have to wait and see, but there are researchers who are cautiously optimistic. As with ulcerative colitis were I still in practice I would advise my Crohns patients to try adding these natural plant fibers to their medical program.

• A Prebiotin user from Pennsylvania says "not as many flare-ups of my Crohns".
  

We get many other positive comments, but I will save these for another day.

Frank Jackson MD

Crohn's Disease - Important New Information

There are bugs in your colon that are your friends. There are also some bugs that you do not want there. They seem to be the ones that cause inflammation problems for Crohns patients.

We gastroenterology physicians have always known that colon bacteria play a key role in Crohns Disease. No bugs, no inflammation. We now know a lot more about Crohns and how the different types of colon bacteria may effect the disease. This new information is a bit startling in as much as it finally may allow Crohns patients to more fully participate in their own well-being by managing their diet in a more scoience based manner. You are referred to my full essay Dietary Therapy for Crohns Disease.

The most important fact to understand is that you want to enhance the growth of good colon bacteria and retard that of the bad ones, the ones that are likely the injurious ones. 

How do you do that? Medical research is now giving us some answers. We now know that the beneficial bugs, primarily the Bifidobacter and Lactobacillus, thrive when we eat enough of foods that are rich in prebiotic fibers. (For my detailed description, go to Prebiotics.) 

Eating enough of these foods and taking a prebiotic supplement is likely an important part of therapy along with the recommendations of your physician. 

Let me outline 5 major important points for Crohns patients, points that are new and not yet widely known by patients.

1. Bad Bugs-Good Bugs. Crohns patients have a significant increase in the bad bacteria that adhere to the colon wall. This is where bacteria invade the intestine. Adequate prebiotic fibers can change this make up by reducing the bad actors and increasing the good ones, the ones that do not cause inflammation.
   
   
2. A Leaky Gut. We now know that CD people have abnormal spaces between the lining cells of the colon. This almost certainly is the place where these invading bugs enter the colon and small bowel. Prebiotics act to tighten up these spaces and, hopefully, preventing inflammation from occuring.
   
   
3. Spectacular Short Chain Fatty Acids. When the good bacteria, the Bifidos and Lactos, thrive, they generate short chain fatty acids (SCFA), a substance that helps nourish the colon's own cells. In addition it seems to act like a fire hose, significantly reducing inflammation.
   
   
4. Impressive Immune Boost. Prebiotic food fibers also increase certain immune substances within the bowel wall. This enhanced local immunity seems to be useful in further reducing inflammation.
   
   
5. Amazing Acidity. Increasing acidity within the colon reduces and even stops certain of the nasty bacteria in the bowel from growing, the ones we feel are part of the disease. You can not acidify the colon by eating acid foods like citrus fruit. You can do it by eating prebiotic containing foods or supplements. These, in turn, cause the production of SCFAs which are acid and seem to exert this good effect in the colon.
   

There is evidence in the medical literature to support the above.  Some is not as firmly established as we would wish, but most of it is going in the right direction. The fact that making major changes in the eating patterns of Crohns patients could significantly improve their disease is startling to those of us who have been reading the medical literature and who have treated so many of these patients in the past. 

Our Prebiotin product can provide a regular dose of prebiotics each day. 

In the past it seemed that diet was not particularly important and we usually recommended that patients just eat what agreed with them, whatever that was. Now we seem to be at a threshold where patients can become active participants in their own therapy. What a remarkable and welcomed fact that is!