Why did we design Cleanse & Build™? Cleanse & Build™ was designed after two years of clinical observation working with patients suffering from... Toxic overload of the Liver and Blood Persistent Infections High Ammonia levels of the Blood Low Growth Hormone release Poor Musculature and Poor Muscle/Fat balance

by Ronald G. Sturtz, B.A., M.S.

The following is a collection of the most recent recommendations provided to LIDTKE by medical doctors experienced in the treatment of chronic fatigue, immune deficiency and chronic infections.  The following is given for informational purposes only, and we have no connection to any company whose product we mention.  This article is periodically updated as new information becomes available.  If you wish to contribute your experience or research, please feel free to write or send an email to customersupport@biochemicals.com.

Boosting Body Temperature

Too often, when you are suffering from chronic infection, your metabolic rate and energy are low.  The first goal, then, may be to speed up your metabolic rate and raise your energy level with pro-oxidants, especially the Omega-3 fatty acids.

Typically, the shorter the fatty-acid chain, and the more unsaturated the fatty acid, the better it is for speeding up metabolic rate.  For this reason, Omega-3 oils are better for producing energy than the highly-saturated animal fats found in meat or dairy products.  Knowledgeable doctors believe that raising your temperature slightly, and naturally, by avoiding the heavy saturated fats can help clear infections.

Although the fatty acids found in most vegetable oils tend to be unsaturated, they are known to contain high levels of Omega-6 fatty acids and to produce prostaglandins that may aggravate itching, pain, inflammation, and possibly depression.  For this reason, Omega-3 oils may be a much better source of energy than the common cooking oils:  safflower, canola, corn, sunflower or soy oils.

Some individuals can reduce carbohydrate consumption by increasing the more beneficial oils in their diet.  This is important because Candida thrives on carbohydrates, so reducing carbohydrates in the diet is usually desirable.  Carbohydrates are high in practically any food that is starchy or sweet.  Some of the low-carb sweeteners may feed intestinal fungi or bacteria, as well, even when they do not nourish you!

Americans are widely reported to be low in magnesium, and magnesium is one of many nutrients that can help raise your metabolic rate.  Magnesium is part of the ATP molecule, the primary storehouse of energy in your cells, but it is only effective if it gets to the right place in your cells: inside your mitochondria.  Magnesium is a good example of just how poorly many minerals perform when they are manufactured improperly.  The fact is you probably will not notice much benefit if your magnesium is poorly absorbed due to wrong chelation techniques in the manufacturing process.   

The unfortunate standard in the nutrition industry is to take a scoop of a mineral, such as magnesium oxide, and a scoop of some “chelating” agent and simply mix them together.  This may be a cheap way, but this is NOT the legitimate way to chelate a mineral, and consumers today need to be Sherlock Holmes in order to identify improperly made products.  You can read labels, but labels seldom tell more than a small piece of the story.

If properly made, magnesium comes in a number of bioavailable forms, including the orotate, taurinate, glycinate, malate, and citrate.  Magnesium orotate became well-known in the 1980’s when a German physician, Hans Neiper, M.D., reported case studies where magnesium orotate reversed the build-up of plaque in the arteries of his patients.  Presumably other good forms of magnesium would work as well.  Getting magnesium into the cells has always been a problem due to its cathartic (laxative) effect, but the strongly-chelated forms of magnesium seem to help minimize this problem.

Magnesium is also known as a mild natural remedy for headache sufferers.  400 mg of magnesium daily can give relief, but will not give the quick, powerful relief of prescription pain-killers.  Unfortunately, many of the pharmaceutical remedies create a rebound effect that drives you into a vicious, downward cycle.

Even non-prescription drugs such as caffeine can have this effect, as described by David Buchholz, M.D., in Heal Your Headache.  Such drugs may provide temporary relief by artificially constricting blood vessels in your head, but sometime during the next day or two these blood vessels rebound and expand, causing as much or more pain than before.  This drives you to stay on the drug or look for stronger ones.

Magnesium supplements are not for everyone, however, and it should be noted that magnesium may be contraindicated if you are one of those individuals who suffer from high oxalate levels in your blood, as discussed below.

Another mineral known for its benefit to candida sufferers is molybdenum.  Specifically, molybdenum is critical to your enzymatic reduction of aldehydes.  In Beating Chronic Illness, Stephen Cooter, Ph.D., explains how aldehydes are a toxic byproduct of metabolism, and acet-aldehyde is a toxic byproduct of yeast metabolism when the yeast in your body process sugar.

Luckily, there is an enzyme, aldehyde oxidase, to come to the rescue, but this enzyme requires molybdenum to function properly.  A few hundred micrograms, mcg, per day is usually enough to boost this enzyme and help reduce toxic aldehyde symptoms.  One key indication that you suffer from toxic aldehyde levels is a bad reaction to perfumes… since perfumes are frequently made from aldehyde-containing chemicals and can overload your system if you already have high levels due to a yeast infection.

After making these changes, if itching or allergies continues to be a problem, reducing the number of foods in the diet that contain oxalic acid may also help.  These foods include berries, beer, beans (including soybeans and peanuts), citrus, coffee, tomatoes, and many of the stronger-tasting leafy greens, such as celery.  The Vulvar Pain Foundation and researchers such as Clive Solomons, Ph.D., believe a low-oxalate diet combined with supplements of calcium citrate, not magnesium citrate, can help.  Your body produces its own oxalic acid during the energy-creation cycle, and some individuals, especially those who produce kidney stones (mostly composed of calcium oxalate), may suffer chronic pain and itching around the urinary tract. 

Calcium citrate helps bind oxalic acid in your G.I. tract, thereby preventing absorption, but it probably does not reduce your body’s own production of oxalic acid.  I have not seen research, but supplements of vitamin K (10mg capsules are available from Life Extension Foundation) may someday be proven beneficial, since they are reported to reduce kidney stones.

Oxalic acid is a fairly strong organic acid, known even in the time of ancient Rome, that is coming to be associated with a broad range of debilitating conditions, such as Fibromyalgia Syndrome (FMS), yeast overgrowth, and chronic fatigue.  Interestingly, research using radioactive tracers demonstrates that ascorbic acid (vitamin C) may be a primary precursor of oxalic acid.  Perhaps there is a good reason, after all, why humans do not produce their own vitamin C and why some individuals respond poorly to more than 2 gm of vitamin C per day.  That oxalic acid is toxic is proven by the sad fact that it was often a chemical of choice in the 1800’s by victims of suicide.

Finally, both oxalic acid and tartaric acid were found to be the major reason for pain caused by the stinging hairs of the nettle.  Tartaric acid, as described by Nicola McFadzean, N.D., “… is another fungal/yeast metabolite, having two main effects.  Firstly, tartaric acid is a muscle toxin and can cause muscle damage.  Secondly, tartaric acid closely resembles malic acid, which is involved in the Kreb’s cycle (the energy production cycle of the cell).  High levels of tartaric acid inhibit the production of malic acid.  Subsequently, less energy is produced within the cell.  This is why many people with FMS suffer from brain fog and hypoglycemia, and why many do well with  malic acid supplementation [italics added].”

Next, in a further effort to stoke your cellular furnaces and produce increased energy, you may want to reduce slightly your consumption of antioxidants.  Antioxidants, such as vitamin E, tend to slow your metabolic rate.  As pointed out by Bruce Ames, Ph.D., a researcher at UC Berkeley, antioxidants are fine for protecting cellular components, but most antioxidants also tend to interfere with the normal oxidative processes that give you energy and warm your body.  Coenzyme Q10 appears be one of the few exceptions that actually boosts energy metabolism.  For this reason and others, Dr. Ames is a long-standing proponent of coenzyme Q10 supplements, as well as Acetyl L-Carnitine, 1gm – 2gm per day.

Later, when your body begins to clear itself of infection, you may wish to re-introduce small amounts of antioxidants to your diet.  100 iu of vitamin E, for example, may be more than enough for someone prone to chronic infection.   

Oil of Oregano (North American Herb & Spice) administered both topically and internally is beneficial for many types of infections.  However, not all brands of oregano oil are alike, and some contain unhealthy levels of thymol, which should not be taken internally.  On the other hand, long-term use of strong antibiotics, either natural or pharmaceutical, is likely to kill off both friendly and unfriendly G.I. tract bacteria.  Of course, your body naturally does this anyway, to a degree.  When partically-digested food leaves your stomach, a flux of stomach acid pours into your intestine that has a significant sanitizing effect.  Jonathan Wright, M.D., is a great fan of Hydrochloric acid (HCl) supplements, and maintenance of stomach-acid levels may actually lead to over-all improved health for the reason above.

Homeopathic Cuprum Metallicum tablets (the Latin name for copper), 3x, from Standard Homeopathic, 800-624-9659, may help to clear away certain types of parasites.  Any source of copper, though, should not be taken in too-high a dose or for too long without making sure to replenish your body’s manganese and/or zinc levels, since these three minerals compete, and too-much of one can flush the others from your system.

A short course of the esterified form of vitamin A (vitamin A acetate, Twin Labs) or longer-term use of vitamin-A containing cod-liver oil (Nordic Naturals) or a blend of natural carotenes can also be of great help.  There is evidence that the esterified (acetate) and water-soluble forms (carotenes) of vitamin A are less toxic in higher doses than the common fat-soluble form, but all the fat-soluble vitamins should be included in the diet:  A, D, E, and K, in order to avoid provoking a deficiency of the missing vitamin.

Sources of protein are always a point of contention, and people tend to gravitate toward one source or another at different stages of life.  Betaine-HCl-Pepsin tablets (Solgar) and other digestive enzymes often allow us to expand our food choices and reduce the likelihood of autoimmune disorders that may be the result of protein intolerance.  Caution should be exercised and directions should be followed, though, because excess acidity in your system may ultimately cause the leaching of calcium from your bones and teeth and the leaching of glutamine from your muscles … eventually leading to osteoporosis, tooth decay, and muscle wastage.

As a source of protein, larger ocean fish, such as tuna, tend to accumulate mercury.  Mercury is a serious problem in the environment, as are all heavy metals, and it is not clear how thoroughly and completely intravenous (IV) or synthetic oral-chelating agents work to force its removal.  Among other symptoms, including severe neurological disorders, mercury is believed to interfere with immune function.  There are many oral-chelating formulas on the market that are hard to evaluate.  An unconfirmed report suggests that homeopathic Mercurius Vivus, 30x, tablets, may be beneficial, particularly when a hair mineral analysis indicates elevated mercury levels.

Many of the heavy-metal chelating agents that are used for the removal of toxic metals are sulfur-containing molecules, and some of the synthetic chelating agents themselves seem to produce adverse effects.  Calcium disodium EDTA may be an exception, and it has long been promoted by one of the top authorities in the field, Garry Gordon, M.D., but it only has a weak attraction for mercury.

More recently, Dr. David G. Williams, author of Alternatives (1-800-219-8591), wrote about the work of Dr. Yoshiaki Omura, who discovered the heavy-metal removing properties of the herb, cilantro (coriander).  To quote Dr. Williams, “Dr. Omura treated several patients for an eye infection called trachoma (granular conjunctivitis), which is caused by the micro-organism Chlamydia trachomatis.  Following the standard treatment, Dr. Omura found that the patients’ symptoms would initially clear up, only to recur within a few months.  He experienced similar difficulties in treating viral-related problems like Herpes simplex types I & II and Cytomegalovirus infections.”

“After taking a closer look, Dr. Omura found these organisms seemed to hide  and flourish in areas of the body where there were concentrations of heavy metals like mercury, lead, and aluminum.  Somehow the organisms were able to use the toxic metals to protect themselves from the medicine.  While he was testing for these toxic metals, Dr. Omura discovered that the leaves of the coriander plant (cilantro) could accelerate the excretion of mercury, lead, and aluminum from the body.”

“This came about accidently when he noticed that mercury levels in urine increased after an individual consumed Vietnamese soup.  The healthy soup contained coriander, or, as it is better known in this country, cilantro.  And when cilantro was used concurrently with natural antiviral or antibiotic agents and/or omega-3 fatty acids, the infections could be eliminated for good.”

It has become common knowledge that mercury is used in so-called “silver” tooth fillings, and there is no shortage of stories of long-standing illnesses being alleviated following the removal of silver fillings.  Less-well-known are the benefits experienced by removal of root-canal treated teeth.  Once a tooth dies, bacteria apparently take up residence in the microtubles of the tooth and become a focal point of chronic, sub-acute infection.  Such infections may not show up on an x-ray, making diagnosis difficult.  I can state first-hand that chronic headaches have responded very favorably to extraction of root-canal teeth.

A dentist in Phoenix, AZ, told me that he used to have a very-well known professional golfer as a patient.  I won’t use his name, but he often appeared on television.  This golfer had the crown of a root-canal tooth break off and came in for a replacement.  He wanted to look good on television, and he wanted a beautiful white crown.  The dentist, however, showed him how blackened the root of his tooth had become and alerted the golfer to the fact that it was infected.  The dentist extracted the tooth and forgot about it.  About two weeks later, the professional golfer returned and thanked the dentist, saying that he was able to cancel his scheduled sinus surgery because his chronic sinus infection cleared up once the root-canal tooth was removed.

My personal recipe for a cilantro pesto that is a meal in itself and follows Dr. Omura’s suggestion is to take a Cuisinart Mini-Prep Processor (less than $50) and toss in an entire bunch of chopped cilantro, a few cloves of garlic, some olive oil, some Nordic-Naturals lemon-flavored cod liver oil (almost no taste, but good for the omega-3’s recommended by Dr. Williams and Dr. Omura), some unrefined French sea salt (Le Tresor), some shelled hempseed (Nutiva), along with half a diced lemon, and maybe some avocado and/or Italian green-olive paté.  Blend until you have a smooth consistency.  I will usually throw in some odds and ends, too, such as fresh dill and All-Purpose Seasoning (Simply Organic) and a couple of spoons of apple-cider vinegar (Bragg), and it always turns out fine.  Adjust the amounts of the ingredients to suit your own taste.  It’s simple.

Immune Strength

One of the key players in your response to nearly every infectious disease is the macrophage.  Macrophages are white blood cells that hunt down and destroy infectious agents such as bacteria, viruses, fungi, and other parasites.  A potent weapon of this key player is nitric oxide.  The nitric oxide that your macrophages produce is the same nitric oxide that you hear about on the news that is a dangerous air pollutant.  When used under the tight control of your macrophages, though, nitric oxide is one of your best allies against infectious predators.

How do you increase nitric oxide?  The only natural source in your diet is the amino acid, L-Arginine. As a boost to your immune system, L-Arginine is often beneficial when given in fairly large doses, one gram to as much as several grams per day.  Marc Brackin, Ph.D., believes that L-Arginine and a closely related compound, OKG, are also among the best liver detoxifiers available.

Both L-Arginine and OKG activate your body’s urea cycle, which helps to clear excess ammonia from your blood.  The urea cycle is important because excess ammonia, which is neurotoxic, may cause irritability, bad moods, and worse.  Individuals with neurodegenerative disease, such as Lou Gehrig’s Disease (ALS), also seem to suffer from high ammonia levels.  It is still unclear, but it may nevertheless be the case that the neurodegenerative disease is secondary to (caused by) the liver dysfunction that pours ammonia and other toxins into the blood.

The progressive and fatal disease known as Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) was monitored, analyzed and chronicled by Donald M. Byrne, probably the longest-surviving victim of ALS in history, who lived over 38 years as a quadraplegic while trying to help others and write a book presenting his theories.  His only form of communication for many years was a language he invented himself, using small movements of his facial muscles, the only motor control he had left.

Although a number of theories purport to explain ALS, autopsies of victims typically show excessively high concentrations of glutamic acid in the brain.  As documented in his book, Excitotoxins, Russell Blaylock, M.D., classifies glutamic acid, and its salts, as excitotoxins that are very destructive to the brain when not tightly controlled by the protective mechanisms in neurons.  As Don Byrne wrote, glutamic acid performs a useful function in the brain so long as it can be converted back to a benign form, such as the neuroinhibitor, GABA, before reaching toxic levels.

Once again we see the importance of magnesium, acetyl-L-carnitine and coenzyme Q10.  Dr. Blaylock states, “If we go back to what we learned about the glutamate receptor mechanism in chapter 3, we see that magnesium plays a vital role in protecting the neuron from the lethal effects of excitotoxins.”  Further, as explained by Dr. Ames, "’excitatory’" amino acids, such as glutamate, are often toxic to neurons and have been implicated in a large number of neurological diseases, including Parkinson's and Alzheimer's diseases.”

“However, several nutrients -- mostly antioxidants -- protect against neural toxicity.  Among them are ALCAR [acetyl L-carnitine], glutathione and oxidized glutathione, vitamin B3, and CoQ10.  These substances prevent the depletion of ATP, a situation that makes neurons susceptible to the damaging effects of excitatory amino acids.”

The above research seems to point to an easily-followed supplement program, both for helping liver function and protecting neurons.  As noted, L-Arginine and OKG are excellent ammonia scavengers.  Candidiasis patients, in particular, tend to produce large amounts of ammonia, so cleaning it from the bloodstream and liver is important.  It should be noted that not all OKG is the same, though.  Almost all OKG sold in the United States is of the wrong 1-to-1 ratio, which is much too acidic.  The preferred ratio that has been established in European research is 2-to-1… that is 2 parts of L-Ornithine to 1 part of Alphaketoglutarate, the more expensive form.

This ratio is important because excess acidity can also increase ammonia in the blood, as mentioned earlier.  As acidity increases, your body leaches L-glutamine from your muscles and calcium from your bones and teeth.  The L-glutamine is then broken down to produce ammonia, which is highly alkaline, and both the ammonia and calcium are used to neutralize the excess acidity.

Unfortunately, research has found that acidity tends to increase with age, which may help to explain the prevalence of muscle wastage, loss of teeth, and osteoporosis among our older population.  If you are overly-acid, clearly it would be better to obtain L-glutamine and calcium from supplements or your diet than from your body’s reserves.  It should be noted that both L-glutamine and calcium are vitally important for a variety of functions, not just acid neutralization. 

The other side of the acid/alkaline coin is that too much alkalinity makes a favorable environment for candida and bacterial growth, so, not everyone does well with an alkaline diet.  Sometimes just taking a few Betaine-HCl (hydrochloric acid) tablets will reduce candida symptoms. 

In regard to brain chemicals, it is well documented in the medical literature that low serotonin in the brain leads to carbohydrate craving, and with low serotonin levels being nearly epidemic in our society (judging by the use everywhere of Prozac and other SSRI’s) the craving for pies, cakes, cookies, chocolate, ice cream, bread and pizza seems to be a real problem that leads to candida and other chronic diseases.

Nutrients that elevate serotonin levels may, therefore, be beneficial.  Nature’s method of producing serotonin is to take the essential amino acid, L-tryptophan, and convert it to 5-hydroxytryptophan, which, in turn, is converted to serotonin.  Broad-spectrum multivitamin and mineral supplements may provide factors that help enzymes in the brain to catalyze these conversions.  Unfortunately, serotonin does not pass through the blood-brain barrier; hence, serotonin must be made in the brain from either of its two precursors, L-tryptophan or 5-HTP.

When selecting carbohydrates, it should be noted that “natural” carbohydrates, such as honey or fruit, are generally not much better than the refined kinds, when it comes to aggravating candida.  Although rice is a source of complex carbohydrate that is often recommended as a replacement for either potatoes (nightshades) or gluten-containing grains (wheat, rye, oats, barley, spelt, kamut), some individuals react poorly to any type of grain. 

The nightshade family (including potatoes, tomatoes, eggplant, peppers and tobacco) is widely reported to aggravate arthritic conditions, and Celiac Disease (intolerance to gluten) is perhaps one of the most under-diagnosed diseases today, especially given the almost universal promotion of grains by health authorities.  Norman Childers, Ph.D., in his book, Arthritis, has done an extraordinary job of compiling data implicating nightshades in a host of diseases.  Agricultural studies show that the toxic chemical, solanin, is common to nightshades.  Solanin probably evolved in the nightshade family as a toxic defence against predators, including humans.

This may surprise fans of organic produce, but some strains of vegetables that are specially bred for organic farming are higher in these natural toxins than conventional strains.  The reason they do not need to be sprayed with pesticides is that they already have natural pesticides inside.  In such cases, you are merely trading a man-made poison for a plant-made poison.  I am reminded of an acquaintance who started an organic tomatoe patch in his backyard.  Soon after, he began consuming lots of tomatoes and began having arthritic pains.  Not knowing the cause, he began taking a glucosamine supplement for his newly-developing arthritis and, rather than getting better, came down with a yeast infection - caused by the glucosamine - to add to the arthritis.

Research in Japan demonstrates that glucosamine may feed yeast (candida) infections.  Therefore, nutritional supplements for arthritis should be checked for this ingredient.  Not only is glucosamine incorporated directly into the cell wall of yeast, thereby aggravating the yeast overgrowth and infection, but glucosamine may hydrolyze into sugar in the stomach, thereby feeding the yeast even when no other carbohydrates are consumed.  Research in the United States further shows that glucosamine may contribute to insulin resistance in diabetics or those who are at risk for diabetes.  The glucosamine manufactured by your body follows a much different path than glucosamine taken orally.

Candidiasis and other chronic-infection patients tend to have trouble with the biochemical process known as phosphorylation.  Many of the vitamins found in supplements are not in their enzymatic form and cannot be used by the body until they are phosphorylated.  For this reason, vitamins found in their natural, enzymatic form may be preferred.  P5P (Pyridoxal 5-phosphate), for example, is the natural, enzymatic form of vitamin B6 and may be helpful during chronic infections.  Candidiasis patients, in particular, as reported by William Crook, M.D., in The Yeast Connection, have low vitamin B6 levels.  As theorized by Dr. Brackin, the usual, chemical form of vitamin B6 (Pyridoxine HCl) that is found in supplements may actually do more harm than good during these chronic infections by interfering with cellular vitamin B6 receptors.

There are many good books with dietary guidelines for Candidiasis and Chronic Fatigue patients.  Frequent suggestions include minimizing all of the following:  simple carbohydrates, fermented products such as vinegar and alcohol, Omega-6 fatty acids, gluten-containing or yeast-leavened grains, vegetables of the nightshade family, and fruits.

• • •