November 3, 2001
AntibioticsGREETINGS AND SALUTATIONS from Arnold's Way!
It was a sunny day in May
The rain would not stop
Laughter among the trees
A small boy hurt his knee
The dynasty of madness shows its wings
A little hurt causes no pain
This newsletter begins in confusion, for this week's topic is a written, spoken,
and almost national outcry for this county's salvation. So not by choice,
but by curiosity, I am drawn to this week's topic of antibiotics.
As a subject I had to increase my references to almost 30 books and
magazines. That's because there was really no in-depth information on
antibiotics regarding what it's made from and the effectiveness (both short term
and long term). Why use it? Why shouldn't we use it? On that
note we begin our research.
Alternative Medicine had a few sentences on antibiotics. They were short,
but their statements caught me off guard. "Viruses do not respond to
antibiotics, thus viral infections or diseases do not respond to
antibiotics." My first reaction was to wonder what the hell I was
doing reading and writing about something that a medical journal informs us is
not working. If antibiotics don't work in people with viral infections,
why are they in such demand?
There is a vast jungle of information that can lead one to many conclusions.
Antibiotics are defined as "any of a variety of natural or synthetic
substances that inhibit the growth of or destroy microorganisms." I
assume that is referring to the toxic waste inside our bodies, which the
antibiotics, through its magical force, will somehow be directed to and destroy
it on the spot. That's what antibiotics do, isn't it? They have
genetic make-up and ability to destroy these microorganisms. How, I do not
know or understand.
According to Alternative Medicine viral and bacterial infections are one in the
same. My next question is what is a virus? Is it one or is it many
(like thousands, millions, or trillions) that the antibiotic has to find in our
body, which is composed of 75 trillion cells that all look alike. Sounds almost
impossible, but by definition a virus is "a minute infectious agent
consisting of a nucleic acid core, either RNA or DNA, with a protein shell,
which is made of multi-layered with fats." My amazed reaction after
reading this was best summed up as, "Wow." How is this
antibiotic pill ever going to destroy and capture this virus? That
question was answered in the as I read further in Alternative Medicine.
"It is this protein shell (capsid) that is very difficult for many drugs to
penetrate."
In the Food Revolution by John Robbins (a must buy) there is clearer insight
into why antibiotics have very little effect. Dr. Frederick J. Angulo from
the Center for Disease Control and Prevention stated, "Public health is
united in the conclusion. There is no controversy about where antibiotic
resistance in food borne pathogens comes from. It is due to the heavy use
of antibiotics in livestock."
As a layman, not a doctor, I am totally confused. If the antibiotics are
not effective against infectious diseases such as pneumonia, tuberculosis,
meningitis, typhoid fever, and dysentery, then why were they ever used in the
first place? Furthermore, if at one time they were effective, what caused
them to be ineffective today? That, my friends, is the question. It
's a heebee jeebee world out there in the medical field. What works today
many not work tomorrow. Are we being replaced by chemicals? In Food
Revolution there is fact after fact describing why this occurs. For
example, "The amount of antibiotics used by hospitals in the United States
today is 100 times greater that it was 35 years ago."
When someone does get sick, is it an accident or the body's intelligence? There
are two distinct possibilities. If one chooses the medical path, the
dominant choice and only option today is still an antibiotic. But what
happened in the last 35 years that would make us so resistant to this
drug?
Once again, in Food Revolution we see that 3 million pounds of antibiotics are
administered to people in the US annually to treat diseases, and 24.6 million
pounds of antibiotics are administered to livestock in the US annually for
purposes other than treating disease. The questions remain. Why?
What would happen to us if they stopped using antibiotics? What would
happen to livestock if they stopped giving them antibiotics?
In 1999 a study in the New England Journal of Medicine reported that,
"Infections in humans by antibiotic-resistance bacteria has increased
nearly eightfold between 1992-1997." To demonstrate more clearly the
dangers of antibiotics in treating livestock, we read that the following nations
have banned the routine feeding of antibiotics to livestock: United Kingdom,
Netherlands, Sweden, Denmark, Canada, Germany, etc. In the United States,
the meat and dairy industry have successfully prevented any laws from being
introduced to prevent antibiotic usage. In Denmark where antibiotics have
been discontinued other than for treating disease, there has been no decline of
their animals' health and no decline of producers' income. Moreover, by
stopping the use of antibiotics, "The prevalence of antibiotic resistant
bacteria in chicken was reduced from 82-12% after three years."
The words come softly through the lips of the knowing. Death begets death.
The farmers have no choice by to strive to create the most profits that they can
while the consumers have no choice but to search for the best buy for their
money. Somewhere within these two fixed parallel thought processes lives
the chicken where they brought forth into this world to feed us. So the
farmers, states David Wolfe in the Sunfood Diet, "have their animals
injected with, sprayed with, and fed antibiotics, artificial hormones and
chemicals of all kinds. These toxins are still present in the flesh when
the animals are slaughtered; they are passed directly into the body of the flesh
consumer."
So we looked at the effect of overuse of antibiotics in animal treatment. We
repeat Alternative Medicine's statement that "viruses do not respond to
antibiotics." We think about John Robbins who states, "The
surest way to protect ourselves and our loved ones will be to move away from
dependence on animal products." We say to ourselves, if not them then
what? Have our thought processes gone so far from the truth that we don't
see the truth? We, or I, remember reading World Medicine by Tom Monte who
stated, "More times than not, however, the immune system destroys the virus
and the virus producing cells before we become aware that we are
infected." The same is true of cancer cells.
So on this note we begin to research how our own immune system is our best
defense, our personalized, natural antibiotics. We explore how we were
genetically designed from the beginning of time to be free of disease from birth
to death. We see that any outside interference is a hindrance rather than
helpful. Andrew Weil stated, "Your immune system is your interface
with the environment. If it is healthy and doing its job right, you can
interact with germs and not get infections, with allergens and not have an
allergic reaction, and with carcinogens and not get cancer. A healthy
immune system is the corner stone of good general health."
When our immune system is working properly, it is a lean, mean, fighting machine
composed of many divisions including monocytes, neutrophils, macrophages, T.
lymphocytes, helper lymphocytes, and antibodies. All parts of the immune
system, all parts of the team, your team, my team, are doing their job all the
time, the best they can for your/our ultimate good. They do it forever,
with no mistakes, ever, not even one. According to Albert E. Carter,
author of The Cancer Answer, "The immune system is one of nature's most
remarkable creations, a complex network of billions of highly specialized cells
as well as a staggering array of potent hormones." I am reading this
page in Cancer Answer, and I want to repeat word for word what each special cell
does.
Phagocytes/macrophage: They are consumers of all dead cells and any foreign
matter.
T-4 cells: These are the battlefield generals. They are the organizers.
They communicate with other cells, telling them what to do where to go, and how
to react to the invading pathogen.
Killer Cells: They are called to action by a special chemical response,
which is designed to destroy virally infected cells by attacking their cell
membrane.
B Lymphocytes: They are white blood cells that mature in the bone marrow. They
manufacture the appropriate antibodies 99% of the time, which are specialized
proteins. They not only neutralize foreign invaders and are recorded and
remembered forever by the immune system as the formula needed to ward off the
pathogen the next time. This is one reason why we are immune to measles,
mumps, or chicken pox after we have been afflicted. It's like we have this
manmade computer inside us that keeps track of everything. "The immune
system instantly whips up a batch of the effective antibody and force feeds it
to the illness, thus killing it before we ever feel a sniffle or any other
symptom." (World Medicine)
Neutrophils: They are small WBC manufactured in the bone marrow that are
standing alert to fight away invading pathogens. They are called to action
by the T-4 cells, the battlefield generals.
MHC: Major Histocompatibility Complex Molecule is an identity badge that
is worn on all cells that belong to this man's army. It's a sign that
determines whether the cell is a friend or foe.
Antigen: This is any fragment of protein found on the surface of the cell, which
would indicate that the cell has been infected. Hence, the lymphocyte
would destroy the cell and the virus inside so that it could not multiply.
There's so much more to our immune system. It's so complex and so
completely lethal against invading pathogens that there is absolutely no chance
for viral victory. There is a special team of memory cells made up of
special T Cells, B Cells, and antibodies that are capable, according to Albert
Carter, of "recognizing every toxin, bacterium, and virus that exists in
nature." This is both our hope and our destruction. Our glory
and our death. This information, if it holds true, is both our blessing
and our curse. If this information holds true, then the call for
antibiotics would be for naught. The call for vaccinations would be for
naught. The call for more research on antibiotics and vaccinations would
also have to be stopped. The call for more dollars invested would be for
naught. According to Carter, "For every species of virus on the earth
from small pox to the common cold and for every species of bacteria there are T
cells and antibodies, which recognize them as foreign and as fair game for us to
attack and destroy."
But the magnificence of the immune system goes beyond that, if that is
possible. Its intelligence goes into the next millennium, to every agent
that will ever be created by a scientist today and in the future.
According to Carter, "T cells and antibodies have an uncanny capacity to
recognize and destroy chemicals created in your laboratories, substances we have
never encountered."
This information is unbelievable. I am so mesmerized. It brings me
to an ecstatic, ethereal status. So according to Carter, "Every time
an organic chemist makes a new chemical, the immune system already has a cell
for it."
The question remains if this is true, which I totally believe. What do we
as a people have to be in fear of if our bodies already know the solution for
any chemical solution made up to simply harm? Fear not. Knowing
this, believing this, researching this, we as a people know the answer.
So we stop for a minute in total awesville, for our body's complexity is
awesome. It creates a feat of untold beyond amazing every second, every
minute. There is only room for standing ovation at every movement of our
body. The question remains. What does it take to keep our body in
tiptop condition? Diet, according to numerous studies, plays an important
part in determining the strength or weakness of the immune system.
According to World Medicine, "Saturated fat has been shown to affect a
macrophage by adversely changing the cell's membrane and reducing its
sensitivity." If this happens, the ability to identify and destroy
pathogens is compromised. That answer requires more of an answer, which
has to be stated so simply, so completely, so understandably, that there is no
misinterpretation of what it takes to have and maintain a strong immune
system. As stated by Dr. C. Samuel West, "The laws of nature are the
laws of God. Nature is no respecter of person. No matter how
righteous a person is, if he breaks the mental, nutritional, of physical laws of
health, he
will cause his own destruction."
As a health food storeowner and not a medical doctor, I can only say what I can
say. Having been on the brink of death nearly 10 years ago (check out the
heart disease article on my website at www.Arnoldsway.com), I educated myself to
recovery. I learned about and made a continual flow of fundamental
changes. I became the follower of truth and wisdom. To study, to
learn, to write. I am the small stone in the sand that is dedicated to do
what I do best. Be myself.
It's past 11pm. We wrote about antibodies. We wrote about
antibiotics. This is a message of hope. So I talk to my cells about
healing not repeating sickness. I swallowed the words of avoiding red
meat, chicken, fish, dairy, eggs, sugar, white flour, salt, processed food,
milk, pork. The continuation of a healthy lifestyle can explore the highest
fulfillment of life being lived to the fullest. This means avoiding those
foods just mentioned and eating a diet of 75-80% raw. Couple this with a daily
rigorous exercise program and ta-da you will have an immune system ready to take
on what needs to be taken on.
I run to the wile. I raise my hand high. I am one with myself.
I quest, I sought, and I found truth. As I perceived it.
Thank you for your time
-Arnold
References:
God's Way to Ultimate Health by Dr. George Malkmus
The Golden Seven Plus One by Dr. C. Samuel West
World Medicine by Tom Monte
Sunfood Diet Success System by David Wolfe
The Food Revolution by John Robbins
Alternative Medicine by Burton Goldberg
The Cancer Answer by Albert E. Carter
The Raw Life by Paul Nison
How to Fight Cancer and Win by W.L. Fisher
Text Book of Medical Physiology
The American Cancer Society Cancer Book
Hypodynamics and Hypogravics by M. McCalley
Physiological Responses of Women to Simulated Weightlessness by H. Sandler and
D.L. Winter
Next week's topic.SMALL POX
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Upcoming events at Arnold's Way
Arnold's Way now has a website! www.arnoldsway.com
TONIGHT!!! Dinner buffet lecture at Arnold's Way catered by B.I. chef
extraordinaire of raw food with guest speaker Paul "the durian king"
Nison the most visible raw food promoter in the world. Time:
6:30-9:30pm. Date: Saturday November 3. Cost is $35. Reservations
are required by Oct 27. Call 215-483-2266. Register Early!!
Arnold's Way presents: 2nd Tuesday Raw Lecture Series
Tuesday November 13th - 6:30pm. The talk will be about recovery from
multiple sclerosis.
Arnold gives a breakfast lecture on raw food and healing every Saturday morning
at the store from 8: 15 to 9:45. It's free and there's free
breakfast. But please pre-register.
On the last Saturday of every month, Arnold gives a free raw food preparation
course from 8:15 to 9:45 at the store. Learn how to make pizza, chili,
pies, soups, cookies and more in 7 minutes or less.
There's a raw food Pot Luck dinner on the last Wednesday of the month at the
store beginning at 6pm. Bring a raw food dish or pay $7. No
pre-registration required.
Greenwood has 2 pot luck dinners each month, on the second and fourth Saturdays,
from 2-5 p.m. Call Tom for more info at (610) 623-5656.
Loreta Vainius is sponsoring a Living Food support group. (610) 648-0241