Gut Biota Never Recover from Antibiotic Use: Loss Extends to Future Generations

Evidence shows the mass antibiotics experiment is devastating our children's health. It may be the reason so many struggle for breath and can't assimilate food properly.

by Heidi Stevenson

29 August 2011

Emerging research shows that the harmful effects of antibiotics go much further than the development of drug resistant diseases. The beneficial bacteria lost to antibiotics, along with disease-inducing bacteria, do not recover fully. Worse, flora lost by a mother is also lost to her babies. The missing beneficial gut bacteria are likely a major factor behind much of the chronic disease experienced today. The continuous use of antibiotics is resulting in each generation experiencing worse health than their parents.

Martin Blaser, the author of a report in the prestigious journalNature writes:

Antibiotics kill the bacteria we do want, as well as those we don't. These long-term changes to the beneficial bacteria within people's bodies may even increase our susceptibility to infections and disease.

Overuse of antibiotics could be fuelling the dramatic increase in conditions such as obesity, type 1 diabetes, inflammatory bowel disease, allergies and asthma, which have more than doubled in many populations.

Aside from the development of superbugs, we're now seeing clear documentation that the overall long term effects of antibiotics are devastatingly harmful to our health. Speaking to ABC News, Blaser said:

Antibiotics are miraculous. They've changed health and medicine over the last 70 years. But when doctors prescribe antibiotics, it is based on the belief that there are no long-term effects. We've seen evidence that suggests antibiotics may permanently change the beneficial bacteria that we're carrying. [Emphasis my own.]

Notice that term, permanent. Without considering the potential risks in the casual use of antibiotics, it now looks like conventional medicine is creating several pandemics of some of the worst chronic diseases known.

Mass Use of Antibiotics

By the time a child reaches age 18 in the industrialized world, the chances are he or she has been given 10-20 courses of antibiotics. That misuse continues into adulthood, and they're casually prescribed to pregnant women.

That's where the situation grows ever worse. Part of a normal childbirth is a baby's passage through the birth canal—where it's exposed to its first dose of beneficial bacteria. (This should give pause to anyone considering a caesarian birth that isn't absolutely necessary.)

When a mother's microbiota is deficient, her child is born to a deficiency. The evidence now appears to show that, once a probiotic deficiency exists, it is never recovered—and it's passed down the generations. Therefore, each generation is likely to suffer from poorer health than the parents enjoyed.

Costs of Antibiotic-Induced Chronic Conditions

Healthcare costs rise and rise in treating this chronic ill health. Consider the pandemic status of diabetes and asthma in children today. Those diseases were extremely rare 50 years ago, and now they're literally routine. Yet, the focus continues to be on treatment—which increasingly lines the pockets of Big Pharma and doctors.

The search for cause has practically been ignored, even in the face of rising rates of chronic illness. Instead, treatment is the touchstone. Ever more toxic methods of suppressing symptoms, while hiding adverse effects, are researched and pushed on conventional medicine's victims.

Two of the most critical functions in health are drastically compromised in enormous numbers of today's children. The ability to metabolize food and the ability to breathe are being stolen from this generation. Yet the treatment they're receiving for this poor health does nothing to make them well. It only masks the symptoms and makes their children even sicker!

On top of those losses, children suffer from allergies, their bodies' inability to distinguish between disease-inducing agents and harmless substances. They suffer from autoimmune disorders, their bodies' inability to distinguish between foreign substances and parts of their own bodies.

Has there ever been a generation of children whose inherent health has been so devastated by the very medical system that is supposedly responsible for their health?

Iatrogenic Disease

Iatrogenic disorders are health problems caused by medical errors. They are now officially the third-leading cause of death in the United States. But those numbers do not include early deaths from diabetes, asthma, allergies, chronic bowel disorders, or cancer—all of which have been documented as results of antibiotic use—nor are the miseries suffered by the people burdened with them reckoned in the iatrogenic toll.

If we were to add all those early deaths to the iatrogenesis numbers, as should be done, it would be obvious that conventional medicine is the greatest killer and thief of health the world has ever known. And apparently, one of the most significant causes of iatrogenic illness is antibiotics, that most common of treatments handed out like candy.

http://gaia-health.com/articles501/000520-gut-bacteria-antibiotic.shtml

Tumors love junk food

By WC Douglass MD

Sugar is food for tumors: The more you eat, the bigger they get. 

You'll get bigger too, of course -- but if there's anything worse than a swollen gut, it's a swollen tumor. 

Now, a new study confirms that a diet high in carbs is a cancer's best friend. 

Canadian researchers bred mice with both human and mouse tumors, then put them onto either a high-carb diet (like the one the feds say you should be eating), or a diet of just 15 percent carbs -- like the one I've been telling you to eat. 

All I can say is I hope you've been listening to me and not the feds: The mice with the most carbs gained more weight on the same number of calories, and their tumors grew like weeds. 

Next, the researchers bred mice predisposed to breast cancer and put them on the same choice of diets. And again, the cancers progressed faster on the carb-heavy diet, with nearly half of those mice getting the disease in their first year. 

Care to guess how many of the low-carb mice got cancer in that year? 

Remember, these are mice predisposed to the disease... yet NONE of them actually got it in that time! 

Overall, only 30 percent of the low-carb mice eventually developed cancer before they died versus a whopping 70 percent of mice on the high-carb diet. 

If that's not enough to get you to swear off sugar and bread for good, consider this: Only one of the high-carb mice reached the expected two-year lifespan, versus more than half of those in the low-carb group. 

I don't know why anyone would be stunned by this -- research as far back as the 1920s showed that tumor cells gobble up glucose like an SUV guzzles gas. 

But no one heeded the warning then... and they're certainly not heeding it now as Americans swallow more carbs and suffer more cancers than ever before. 

And with the feds still relentlessly pushing carbs on the American people, you can expect even more cancers in the coming years.

Food Inc.

Know where your food is coming from and vote for change through your food choices and with your wallet!

Chernobyl- like radiation found in Tokyo

Life with a newborn: Identifying food allergies

By Modern Alternative Mama

I hate to say it, but I have more knowledge on this topic than I ever wanted.... Primarily with my first two babies, although I've noted that Jacob is sensitive to food additives. It's not too bad because I basically can eat anything I make at home (no 'food groups' to avoid), but I do have to prepare everything myself!

These days, a lot of babies are allergic to foods, and these allergies or sensitivities show up within days to weeks of birth. It can happen in formula-fed babies (which can require trying several different types of formula, including special hydrolyzed formulas in severe cases), but it can also happen in breastfed babies. That's what my experience has been with -- allergies in breastfed babies.

Why Are Breastfed Babies Allergic?

Babies cannot be allergic to breastmilk itself. They can, however, be allergic to something that the mother is eating and passing along in her breastmilk.

This can happen when a mother's gut health is not optimal. What she eats doesn't get fully digested before some of it is absorbed through a leaky gut wall ("leaky" because there are places that aren't populated by the beneficial bacteria that should be there). These undigested proteins get into the breastmilk and get passed to the baby, whose system can't handle it. This leads to sensitizing the baby and causing allergies. The baby's gut is open at birth and remains that way until at least 18 weeks of age, which means any large proteins are absorbed immediately into the bloodstream (which causes the sensitizing and allergies).

Breastfeeding is still crucial, because breastmilk contains IgA, a substance that coats the intestines and helps them to mature and close properly. It also protects against allergies by preventing properly digested proteins in mother's milk from getting out of the gut. If formula is used instead because baby is reacting to mother's milk, then the IgA is lost and baby's gut is sensitized automatically by whatever baby is eating (usually milk or soy based formulas).

Signs of Allergies

There are many different signs of allergies. It depends on the baby and the severity of the reaction. For example, when my gut health wasn't optimal, I noted a lot more of these signs. Now that my gut health is pretty good, I note only a couple (and then only if I've eaten something I really shouldn't have anyway).

• Eczema (yes, it is a sign of allergies!)
• Fussiness/crying/screaming
• Gas (especially if it causes baby a lot of discomfort)
• Spitting up (a tiny bit is normal, a lot or if it causes discomfort is not)
• Projectile vomiting
• Diarrhea
• Difficulty nursing (baby pulls back, chokes, screams, arches back)
• Red ring around anus
• Diaper rash
• Failure to gain weight/slow weight gain
• Red, itchy palms
• Night waking/disturbed sleep

You may notice some or all of these. With Daniel I noted spitting up, gas, fussiness, difficulty nursing, red ring around the anus (irritated red, not pale pink, which is normal), and later diaper rash. Eczema was a major sign for Bekah, along with night waking, diaper rash, and diarrhea. Every baby is different, but these signs clearly say "something's not right."

Determining the Culprit

Unfortunately, it's not always easy to figure out what's causing the problem, especially if it's multiple things. Dairy, soy, and wheat are the top culprits and should always be suspected first. Corn and nuts are also major issues. However, it can be any number of foods. I've heard of pomegranates (that was an issue for Daniel), bell peppers, and all kinds of other obscure foods being a major problem, so if none of the main suspects seem to be the cause, try other things.

Foods can get into your milk from almost immediately to 12 - 18 hours after ingesting it. I know that foods usually get into my milk 5 - 6 hours after ingestion (with Daniel this was true). It clears your system 18 - 24 hours later.

For this reason, it's helpful to keep a food diary. Write down what you've eaten and also what baby's reaction is, if any. After a few days or a week, patterns should emerge -- when you eat certain food(s), baby reacts poorly. Eliminate these foods and you should see changes.

It's important to note that while the foods can clear your system in about 24 hours, resulting in improvement in baby's reactions, if you've been eating the regularly they won't clear your system completely for up to 2 months. Therefore, if you note some improvement but not complete reversal of symptoms, continue with the elimination diet.

Elimination diets aren't fun, but they are necessary for your baby's health. These reactions are also a huge indicator that your gut health isn't right, and that you probably have food sensitivities too. It's best if you don't eat them, for your own health.

Helping Food Allergies

Are you or your baby just destined to suffer from these food allergies forever, now that it's started? No!

Fortunately, you can move past these allergies. I have done it with two babies and now have a third that doesn't have any "regular" allergies (just the minor reactions to food additives...which really has just driven home the point that these are not actually foods and we should not eat them!).

Here's the best way to handle it (in my experience):

1. Keep breastfeeding -- Your baby needs that IgA to help his/her gut mature properly. Formula will hurt his/her gut when it is already sensitized.
2. Eliminate the offending food(s) -- Stop consuming the foods that are causing the reactions in order to prevent further damage
3. Begin GAPS -- This is a special diet that eliminates grains and dairy and focuses heavily on meats, stock, probiotic foods, and fats to heal and seal the gut lining. This diet is how we achieved healing from allergies, and we still go back to it frequently.
4. Delay solids -- Your baby shouldn't have solids until his/her gut is sealed properly through breastfeeding while you eat according to GAPS. This should be around 9 - 10 months (assuming you discover allergies in the first few months, not later in baby's life). First foods should be stock, fats, meat, and probiotic foods.
5. Shore up your gut health with GAPS -- Stay on GAPS until your gut health is better in order to prevent problems with future babies!

Food allergies in infants aren't fun. And it's not easy to handle. But you can do it, and still help everybody be as healthy as possible!