Here's a list that I will expand on later.
On Page 108 of the IBD remission diet, I suggest that readers may want to try a product called
Primal Defense after they've been completely healed for 3-5 months. I learned of this product from
numerous readers who wrote in to let me know how well it's worked for them. Since I couldn't try the
product myself (I've been pregnant or breastfeeding for four years and counting,) I questioned numerous
respected naturopaths, microbiology professors and gastroenterologists for their opinion on the product
and all said it looked fine.
However, since meeting the founder and president of Natren Inc. (top quality pro-biotic manufacturer,)
Natasha Trenev, I must change my opinion of bacterial soil organisms. Natasha is a world renowned expert
on microorganisms and maintains one of the largest research libraries on that topic in the world. She has
sent me an entire CD ROM of articles, research and clinical data and other scientific studies, (most done
outside of North America,) outlining why it is not safe to consume bacterial soil organisms (like those
contained in Primal Defense and numerous other products.)
To summarize the research briefly, soil organisms (SO) are spore formers, so they make make good
competitors for yeast, fungus and other pathogens. This is why so many people taking soil organisms
will initially experience very favorable results. However these spores are are extremely difficult to
kill, surviving sterilants, disinfectants, acceleration forces, heat, pressure, radiation and many
antibiotics. Strong antibiotics -- like Vancomycin -- can suppress certain spores. Spores are so persistent
in the intestines that another round of germination may occur after the the drug is stopped. Soil organisms
can also adapt loose genetic material and incorporate it into their cellular structure - the ramifications
of which are yet unknown. Various soil organisms can also produce harmful peptides, affecting hemoglobin in
the blood. It's important to keep in mind that virtually all antibiotic drugs were were initially developed
from soil organisms and as antibiotics become more potent, they cause more damage to the host, not just in
the immediate gut environment, but systematically as well.
In the EU (European Union) the use of soil organisms in animal feed is being stringently controlled and
questioned at this time. There are simply too many questions and unknowns to sanction the use of soil organisms
for human consumption and one can certainly cannot qualify them as safe at this time.
I'm very sorry for any confusion this may have caused you. To be honest, this is the very first time I've
recommended a product that I've not tried and tested exclusively myself -- I admit I was swayed by so many
good recommendations from readers. Rest assured that I will not do so again!
My sincerest apologies,
Jini Patel Thompson
July 2003
