Mushrooms Can Heal & Prevent Flu

found here:http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2011/12/31/organic-mushrooms-for-immune-support.aspx?e_cid=20111231_DNL_art_1

By Dr. Mercola

Some of the most potent immunosupportive agents come from mushrooms, and science is just beginning to tap into this vast natural medicine warehouse.
There are mushrooms that kill viruses, mushrooms that kill bacteria, and even mushrooms that kill yeast—which may surprise you, given they're both fungi.
Some mushrooms destroy cancer cells, and others facilitate nerve regeneration.
Fungi are incredibly resilient, even surviving radioactivity.
They can actually harness radiation to thrive, as was found by a robot sent to map the inside of the entombed Chernobyl nuclear reactor in 1999.
The robot found a hardy fungus chowing down on 200 tons of melted radioactive fuel.
In addition to bringing us nutrition and powerful medicine, mushrooms offer great benefits for the planet.
You may be surprised to learn that mushrooms have the following green applications:

• Eradication of carpenter ants by producing a pesticide that tricks the ants into eating it
• Producing a low carbon footprint type of ethanol
• Breaking down the neurotoxins in nerve gas
• Producing a fully compostable fungal-based packing material that could potentially replace plastics and styrofoam
• Bioremediation: Cleaning up waste from petroleum, toxic chemicals (PCBs, TNT), and bacteria such as E. coli

Of the 140,000 species of mushroom-forming fungi, science is familiar with only 10 percent, according to world-renown mycologist Paul Stamets in "The Most Powerful Medicine in Nature". About 100 species are being studied for their health-promoting benefits. Of those hundred, about a half dozen really stand out for their ability to deliver a tremendous boost to your immune system.
I'd like to share some information with you today about a few of the rock stars of Kingdom Fungi. Some of these were discussed in my interview with Steve Farrar, who has worked and studied mushrooms professionally for the last 30 years. If you missed that informative interview, I highly recommend listening to it as well. But first, you need a little understanding about how mushrooms grow and what makes them so unique.

Mycelium: Mother Nature's Internet

Mushrooms are nature's recycling system. If it weren't for mushrooms, we wouldn't have plants, because mushrooms (and their "parent" mycelium) break down rocks and organic matter, turning them into soil that provides the framework to nourish plants..
Mushrooms are actually only the fruiting body of a more vast fungal form—the mycelium. The mycelium is a fascinating cobweb-like mat that infuses nearly all landscapes. It is through the mycelium that the fungus absorbs nutrients from the environment. When two compatible mycelia combine, the resulting mycelium occasionally forms fruiting bodies called mushrooms. The mushrooms make spores, which fly away to make new mycelial colonies, and the lifecycle is complete.
Mycelial mats can be too small to see or cover vast areas of ground.
Their extreme tenacity makes the soil spongy and able to support 30,000 times its weight. A single cubic inch of soil can contain 8 miles of mycelium cells. The largest living organism on Earth is a mycelium in Eastern Oregon that covers 2,200 acres, is ONE cell wall thick and 2,000 years old.
Paul Stamets believes fungal mycelia and the intricate, branching network they form function as "the Earth's Internet," a complex communication highway that is sort of Mother Nature's neural net. In some ways, mycelia are "sentient" and seem to demonstrate learning. If one pathway is broken, it develops an alternate path. According to Stamets, when you step on it, it knows you're there and "leaps up" in the aftermath of your footstep, trying to grab debris. The mycelia—not JUST the mushrooms—contain many of the healing agents for which mushrooms are revered.

Hanging with Fungi Increases Your Odds of Survival

We're more closely related to fungi than we are to any other kingdom. We share the same pathogens, meaning bacteria and viruses. As a defense against bacterial invasion, fungi have developed strong antibiotics, which also happen to be effective for us humans. Penicillin, streptomycin, and tetracycline all come from fungal extracts.
The predominant mushrooms displaying antiviral activities are the polypores, sometimes called bracket fungi or woody conks, tough and fibrous fungi characterized by many tiny holes on the underside of their caps. Polypores have been dubbed the "frontier" of new medicines and are thought to be the ancestors to most of the gilled mushrooms. Interestingly, there are no known poisonous polypores, whereas there are more than one hundred poisonous gilled mushrooms.
Paul Stamets recently discovered that a very rare polypore called Agaricon is effective against the poxviruses—including smallpox. This has the Department of Defense very interested, as smallpox is one of the most feared bioterrorism agents. Agaricon was also found to be effective against flu viruses.
History tells us that living in cooperation with fungi will increase our odds of survival. After major extinction events, it was the fungi that thrived because they didn't need light and lived on dead organic matter. Organisms pairing with fungi flourished, and those that didn't fared poorly.
Many of the mushrooms valued for strong medicinal properties grow on trees, as opposed to the ground dwellers you've likely seen.
These tree fungi concentrate the unique elements that the host tree has absorbed over its lifetime, which may be ten or twenty or even HUNDREDS of years. Many of these mushroom species are long-term residents of Old Growth Forests and play an essential role in nutrient recycling by decomposing old trees. The mushroom wraps itself around these special nutrients, capturing them in the fruiting body of the organism and turning it into a little medicinal powerhouse. Maybe it's time for us to embrace the mushroom and harness it's medicine the way the Asians have done for thousands of years.

Blends of Mushrooms are More Effective Than any One Mushroom Alone

It is therapeutically best to utilize a blend of several mushroom species, because "the whole is greater than the sum of its parts." For one thing, it is easier for pathogens in your body to adapt and become resistant to one mushroom than to several. Secondly, each mushroom species has a unique arsenal of anti-infective and immunomodulating agents.
These special agents include:

• Polysaccharides
• Glycoproteins
• Ergosterols (steroid-like compounds that create vitamin D in sunlight)
• Triterpenoids

You might have heard the term "beta glucans." The agents listed above are precursors to the more complex compounds, beta glucans. It is the synergism between ALL of these elements that makes mushrooms so medicinally powerful when consumed as a whole food—mycelium included.
Because mushrooms have such powerful immune-boosting effects, it isn't surprising that some have great potential for battling cancer. Mushrooms with anti-tumor activity appear to increase the number and activity of killer T and natural killer (NK) lymphocytes, with no toxicity to healthy cells. Cancer cells are notorious for "hiding" from chemo agents. New research has shown that certain mushroom extracts help chemotherapy drugs better locate and identify cancer cells by "uncloaking them," thereby making chemo more effective.

This is getting some open-minded oncologists very excited! Medicinal mushrooms also strengthen your immune system if you are undergoing chemo, so cancer patients get a double benefit. The list of health benefits science is revealing to us about mushrooms is still growing, but thus far includes the following:

Increased longevity	Improved blood flow	Cholesterol and blood sugar normalization
Liver protection, including protection from adverse effects of alcohol consumption	Kidney support	Antiviral (including HIV), antibacterial, and antifungal properties
Destruction of cancer cells; improved outcomes for people receiving chemo and radiation	Improved respiratory illnesses, including asthma	Reduced risk for heart disease, decreased platelet aggregation and improved blood flow
Nerve regeneration (Lion's Mane mushroom)	Improved skin and hair	Increased sexual function and athletic ability

It's important to eat ONLY organically grown mushrooms. Remember, what makes mushrooms so potent is that they absorb and concentrate whatever they grow in—good OR bad. Mushrooms are known to concentrate heavy metals, and air and water pollutants.

Now that you have the overview, let's take a look at a few of my favorite health-enhancing mushroom species. We'll start with a delicious little mushroom you have probably seen on your dinner plate or at your local market—the shiitake.

Shiitake (Lentinula edodes)

Shiitake is a popular culinary mushroom used in dishes around the world.  It contains a number of health-stimulating agents, including lentinan, the polysaccharide for which it was named. Lentinan has been isolated and used to treat stomach and other cancers due to its antitumor properties, but has also been found to protect your liver, relieve other stomach ailments (hyperacidity, gallstones, ulcers), anemia, ascites, and pleural effusion.
One of the more remarkable scientific studies demonstrating shiitake's antitumor effect was a Japanese animal study, where mice suffering from sarcoma were given shiitake extract. Six of 10 mice had complete tumor regression, and with slightly higher concentrations, all ten mice showed complete tumor regression.
Shiitake mushrooms also demonstrate antiviral (including HIV, hepatitis, and the "common cold"), antibacterial, and antifungal effects; blood sugar stabilization; reduced platelet aggregation; and reduced atherosclerosis. Shiitake also contains eritadenine, which has strong cholesterol-lowering properties.

Reishi (Ganoderma lucidum)

Reishi is known as Lingzhi in China, or "spirit plant." It's also been called "Mushroom of Immortality"—a nickname that kind of says it all. Reishi has been used medicinally in Asia for thousands of years. One of its more useful compounds is ganoderic acid (a triterpenoid), which is being used to treat lung cancer, leukemia and other cancers. The list of Reishi's health benefits includes the following

• Antibacterial, antiviral (Herpes, Epstein-Barr), antifungal (including Candida) properties
• Antiinflammatory, useful for reducing symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis
• Immune system up-regulation
• Normalization of blood cholesterol levels and blood pressure
• Reduction of prostate-related urinary symptoms in men

Cordyceps (Cordyceps militaris)

Cordyceps, also called caterpillar fungus or Tochukasu, is a favorite of athletes because it increases ATP production, strength and endurance, and has anti-aging effects. This parasitic mushroom is unique because, in the wild, it grows out of an insect host instead of a plant host. Cordyceps has an enduring history in both traditional Chinese and Tibetan medicine.
Cordyceps has hypoglycemic and possible antidepressant effects, protects your liver and kidneys, increases blood flow, helps normalize your cholesterol levels, and has been used to treat Hepatitis B. It has antitumor properties as well.

Turkey Tail (Trametes versicolor)

Turkey Tail is also known as Coriolis, or "cloud mushroom."  Science is showing that Turkey Tail mushroom holds an arsenal of cancer-blasting compounds. Two polysaccharide complexes in Turkey Tail are getting a great deal of scientific attention, PSK (or "Kreskin") and PSP, making it the most extensively researched of all medicinal mushrooms with large scale clinical trials.
A seven-year, $2 million NIH-funded clinical study in 2011 found that Turkey Tail mycelium improves immune function when dosed daily to women with stage I–III breast cancer. Immune response was dose-dependent, with no adverse effects.
In addition to breast cancer, Turkey Tail has been found to hold promise for other cancers, including stomach, colorectal, lung, esophageal, nasopharyngeal, cervical, and uterine. PSP has been shown to significantly enhance immune status in 70 to 97 percent of cancer patients. Turkey tail is also being used to treat many different infections, including aspergillus niger, Candida albicans, E. coli, HIV, Herpes, and streptococcus pneumonia, and is hepatoprotective. It may also be useful for CFIDS.

Himematsutake (Agaricus blazei)

The last mushroom I'd like to mention is the newcomer on the block: Himematsutake, also called Royal Sun Agaricus, a relative of the common button mushroom. Himematsutake was not cultivated in the East until fairly recently but is now a very popular natural medicine, used by almost a half million Japanese.
Himematsutake mushroom is attracting many scientists worldwide due to its remarkable anticancer properties related to six special polysaccharides.  Like many other medicinal mushrooms, this fungus can also protect you from the damaging effects of radiation and chemotherapy. But its benefits don't stop there—Himematsutake can also decrease insulin resistance in diabetics, normalize your cholesterol, improve your hair and skin, and even treat polio.
There are many more mushrooms deserving mention—far too many to include here. But at least you can begin to appreciate the scope of benefits mushrooms have to offer, based on the handful of examples above.

Final Thoughts

A carefully designed blend of medicinal fungi can deliver a powerful therapeutic punch, whether you just wish to help protect yourself from seasonal colds or flu, or you have a more serious condition such as cancer.  Either way, these special mushrooms can be an excellent adjunct to a healthful diet and lifestyle to improve your immune health. If you are interested in more information about medicinal mushrooms, you might consider visiting the following sites:

• Healing-Mushrooms.net is an encyclopedia of medicinal mushrooms with a searchable database, abundant resources and fungi photos
• MedicalMushrooms.net is another encyclopedic database with information about many of the medicinal mushrooms
• MushroomExpert.com can help you with mushroom identification
• Paul Stamets' YouTube video channel has about 30 videos of wild mushroom hunts and all sorts of informational videos, including mushroom identification and cultivation

References:

• Mushroom-Appreciation.com
• Cosmos Magazine
• TED with Eben Bayer: Are mushrooms the new plastic? July 2010
• "The Most Powerful Medicine in Nature," an interview with David Wolfe (Booklet, 2009)
• Polypore Primer
• GreenMedInfo
• J Cancer Research 1970
• J Nutrition August 1995
• MedicalMushrooms.net
• Life Sci December 2006
• Am J Chin. Med. 2010
• Fungi Perfecti LLC
• Mico Nutri
• Altern Med Rev 2000
• SB3.com

Anonymous - Declaration of Supercedence

The Emergent Reality Network Presents: Declaration of Supercedence (original?-http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=exFkTEjIL5s) PHASE I

Learn more:
http://www.anonyops.com/
http://www.whatis-theplan.org/
http://www.thezeitgeistmovement.com/
http://www.thevenusproject.com/
http://zemerge.com/blog/
http://www.peakmoment.tv/
http://magnatune.com/

Greetings. Fellow Citizens of all nations.
We, as anonymous we like to take this time to offer this Declaration of Super Cedence,
To this end, we will continue to make every effort to focus our direct attention and address the obsolete and irrelevant political and economic system that have created this global crisis.

We So Declare:

We are a planet at war with itself. We are not here to fight.
We have acknowledged the time has come, to surrender.
We surrender all systems that have failed to sustain our survival.

We So Declare:

We acknowledge that the current political system of checks and
balances are broken beyond the repair of traditional voting and representation.
We will NOT, participate with any system that is, unsustainable.

We So Declare:

We are here to supersede. We can form a new Global Autonomous Collective.
A Global Consensus, that is designed to provide A sustainable,
peaceful and cooperative coexistence with all life.


We So Declare:
We, as a nation of supercedence, have acknowledged that our right to self governance
is a continual dynamic process of the emergent reality of self expression.

We So Declare:
Therefore, the choice of self participation will be given many meanings by many individuals,
by which the many, will choose to remain anonymous.


We so Declare:
We all have a choice. We can be part of the problem or part of the solution.
The choice is yours. The time has come to Wage Peace.

We so Declare:
We are a global uprising.
We are a cry form the heart of the world.
We can succeed.
Occupy Earth.
We so Declare:

If the government shuts Down the Internet, the internet will shut down the government.
We are united by one, dived by zero. Knowledge is freedom.

We so Declare:

We are not afraid. We are not alone. We are everywhere. We are the future.
We are the 99 percent.

We so Declare:


We are anonymous. We are legion. We DO not forgive. We DO not forget.
Expect. us.

Obama Issues Ron Paul “Kill Order” As Russia Prepares For War

The Federal Security Service (FSB) is reporting today that the “secret letter” sent to Prime Minister Putin by Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda contains a warning that United States President Barack Obama has issued an executive-level “kill order” against US Congressman Ron Paul over fears this charismatic politician, who many believe could capture the Republican Presidential 2012 nomination, is about to expose to all Americans what can only be described as the largest mass theft in human history.

According to this report, Prime Minister Noda first became aware of this “kill order” after a private meeting with Obama at last weeks ASEAN Summit meeting in Indonesia when the American President expressed his “unconstrained joy” over the toppling of the Greek and Italian governments in bloodless coups by EU banksters who installed to run these countries unelected former Goldman Sachs executives.

Not known to many Americans is that the giant global investment firm Goldman Sachs put Obama into office by being its top donor and after winning the Presidency put so many of its former executives into the US government it is known as the “Wall Street Cabinet.”

The reason for Goldman Sachs, and other top American and European banksters, putting Obama into office, this report continues, was to loot the Americans taxpayers of an estimated $100 Trillion…nearly $30 Trillion of which went directly into the pockets of international banksters around the world and another $70 Trillion in lost home values, stock portfolios and pensions funds.

The main conduit of this massive theft was the US Federal Reserve System which during the 2008 Financial Crisis secretly doled out, without the American peoples knowledge, over $16 Trillion to European banks and companies and another nearly $8 Trillion in “secret loans” to the largest banks in the United States.

Causing Obama and his bankster allies to fear Ron Paul, this report continues, is the Congressman’s ability to hold US Congressional hearings on the $8 Trillion in secret loans to the largest banks in American without the public’s knowledge exposing this largest theft in human history and laying bare for all to see the total criminality of their entire elite political, financial and corporate class.

Though the US mainstream media has virtually ignored Ron Paul’s candidacy the American people themselves appear to have broken through this deliberate government ordered blackout of his Presidential run as evidenced by his rise in the polls in the first campaign States of Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina, which should he win them all would assure him the Republican nomination.

The fears Ron Paul is causing among Americas elite classes appear to be justified as he recently likened the US Federal Reserve System to “drug addiction” warning that the deception it has foisted upon the public will lead to the destruction of the United States.

Ron Paul further warned the American people this year that their nation was becoming a “police state,” called for the impeachment of Obama for ordering the assassination of an American citizen without charges or trial, and stated that Obama had violated the War Powers Act over his actions against Libya.

Ron Paul’s fears of a police state America being ruled by a dictatorial tyrant were confirmed yesterday when the US Senate, in a 61-37 vote gave, for the first time in history, the power to the US Military to hold citizens without charges or trial indefinitely by passing a bill that was written in secret and never openly debated.

So frightening is this new law that the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) in the days prior to its passing warned, “The Senate is going to vote on whether Congress will give this president—and every future president — the power to order the military to pick up and imprison without charge or trial civilians anywhere in the world. The power is so broad that even U.S. citizens could be swept up by the military and the military could be used far from any battlefield, even within the United States itself.”

Most ominous in this FSB report is its stating that the “assassination regime” ordered against Ron Paul by Obama may already be underway as one of the US foreclosure fraud whistleblowers subpoenaed by Ron Paul to testify before the US Congress named Tracey Lawrence was found “suicided” yesterday in Las Vegas.

The destruction of anyone found opposing the Obama regime and its bankster backers was, also, brought into sharp relief this week by the smearing by mental illness allegations of one of America’s top heroes US Marine Sergeant Dakota Meyer, who in September received the Congressional Medal of Honor from Obama (who called him one of the most “down-to-earth guys that you will ever meet”) for saving the lives of 36 of his comrades, but after he alerted the press that his employer defense contractor BAE Systems was selling high-tech sniper rifles to Pakistan that are being used to kill America Soldiers was labeled as a “drunk and mentally ill.”

So concerned has the Kremlin become about the growing American fascist police state it caused General Nikolai Makarov, Russia’s top military commander, to issue a warning to the West last week that the Motherland was fully prepared for a nuclear World War III and which prompted the Obama regime to state that it would immediately cease observing their arms treaty with Russia.

To if the American people will be able to rally around Ron Paul before he is assassinated by the Obama regime it is not in our knowing, other than to note that in a country where every public demonstration – however peaceful and orderly it might be – is ordered by their authorities to be treated as the equivalent of a prison riot, where the former police chief of Seattle blamed the militarization of local US police forces on Obama’s Homeland Security Department, and where the media is described as being nothing more than a “lapdog” for Obama and his bankster allies, the likelihood of these people escaping the worst horrors to come do, indeed, seem inescapable.

November 30, 2011 © EU and US all rights reserved. Permission to use this report in its entirety is granted under the condition it is linked back to its original source at WhatDoesItMean.Com. Freebase content licensed under CC-BY and GFDL.

[Ed. Note: Western governments and their intelligence services actively campaign against the information found in these reports so as not to alarm their citizens about the many catastrophic Earth changes and events to come, a stance that the Sisters of Sorcha Faal strongly disagrees with in believing that it is every human beings right to know the truth. Due to our missions conflicts with that of those governments, the responses of their ‘agents’ against us has been a longstanding misinformation/misdirection campaign designed to discredit and which is addressed in the report “Who Is Sorcha Faal?”.]

http://www.whatdoesitmean.com/index1542.htm

David Icke - The One Party State (Essential Knowledge For A Wall Street Protestor - Part Two)

The Einstein of Conspiracy does it once again.

Chris Hedges Explains How We're Screwed If We Don't Act

Between Occupy Wall Street, in New York, and the other cities it's spread to, as well as the October 2011 movement that just began here in D.C, something seems to be happening in this country. Earlier at Freedom Plaza Chris Hedges, Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter and author, tells us what this could lead to.

Celiac disease and gluten intolerance - Does time heal all wounds?

(NaturalNews) As the saying goes, "time heals all wounds." But what if you have been suffering with celiac disease or gluten sensitivity (GS) for decades and just want to feel better today? Besides a gluten-free diet, is there anything else you can do to enhance the healing process?

After receiving a celiac or GS diagnosis, most patients leave their doctor's office with instructions to adhere to a strict gluten-free diet -- and that's it. While it's wonderful to have a definitive diagnosis and not to have to take medication for the rest of your life, it's also important to know that there are powerful over-the-counter tools at your disposal.
I frequently encourage newly diagnosed clients to start a course of nutritional supplements for six months to a year depending on the severity of their condition. Not only do the nutritional supplements listed below promote intestinal health and healing, they can actually accelerate your recovery.

Without a small intestine biopsy, it is difficult to estimate how ravaged your intestines are. Since biopsies are no longer required to diagnose celiac disease, most newly diagnosed patients are in the dark about the condition of their digestive track. According to the National Institutes of Health, diet alone will heal existing intestinal damage and prevent further damage. Yet, the amount of time it takes to heal completely varies depending on a number of factors, particularly age. For example, in children, the small intestine can take three to six months to heal; however, in adults, it may take several years before healing is complete.

While waiting for the gut to heal, many of the nutrients you consume are lost. A healthy intestine has an abundance of villi (tiny, finger-like projections that increase the intestinal surface area), which allows for the absorption of nutrients into the bloodstream. With celiac disease these villi are flattened and proper absorption of nutrients is compromised. The continued malabsorption of nutrients such as calcium, magnesium, vitamin D, B vitamins, and omega-3 fatty acids can contribute to mood disorders, lower energy levels, poor bone health, insomnia, attention problems, and a host of other issues.

Until recently, conventional medical wisdom presumed that only those with celiac disease suffered from severe intestinal degradation, the kind that destroys your villi. In the spring of 2011, however, Dr. Alessio Fasano completed a research study that found differences in levels of intestinal permeability and the expression of genes regulating the immune responses in the gut mucosa possibly associated with gluten sensitivity. What this study revealed is that gluten sensitivity and celiac disease are part of the same spectrum of gluten-related disorders. Meaning that those with gluten sensitivity suffer from intestinal permeability issues similar to those with celiac disease, but to a lesser degree. In other words, people with gluten sensitivity -- not just those with celiac disease -- have absorption issues caused by an immune response to gluten.

For the people with celiac disease and gluten sensitivity who more than likely have intestinal inflammation and permeability issues, the question remains: "How to return the digestive track back to normal as quickly as possible?"

Nutrition Supplements to Support Healing

The following nutrition supplements are effective and work independently of each other. These supplements also complement each other, so taking them together can help heal many aspects of the gut at once. In my experience as a Registered Dietitian working with patients who are afflicted with gluten issues, I have found that glutamine, probiotics, and fish oil (in that order) are my "Top Three" choices. Before you begin taking these, or any supplements, I encourage you to have a consultation with a dietitian who has experience with gluten disorders.

Glutamine is the most abundant amino acid in the body. It is a protein building block and is involved in more metabolic processes than any other amino acid. Glutamine also serves as a source of fuel for the cells lining the intestine and can promote healing in these cells when they are damaged by gluten. How much Glutamine you should take depends upon several factors. I suggest you consult a dietitian for the dosage that is right for you.

Probiotics are live bacteria that improve the intestinal microbial balance and enhance overall health. They are the "good" bacteria found in the gastrointestinal track. Inflammation or toxins in the gut can disrupt the balance between "good" and "bad" bacteria. Probiotics may be taken to restore a healthy balance and assist in the removal of toxins created by gluten insensitivity or celiac disease. In addition, a preventative dose of probiotics is a good idea as these microbes promote immune health, and they are frequently absent in modern diets. Probiotics come as capsules, tablets, liquids, powders and contain many different strains of bacteria. Be sure to purchase your probiotics from a reputable company that ensures the potency and efficacy of their products. Contact these companies for documentation stating probiotic viability and research studies using the strains in their formulas -- or visit their websites. I normally recommend that my patients receive a daily dose of at least 10 billion (or more) live, viable, organisms per gram containing: Lactobacillus acidophilus, Lactobacillus bifidobacteria, Streptococcus thermophilus and Lactobacillus bulgaricus.

Omega 3 fatty acids are comprised of the fatty acids EPA and DHA and are found in fish and fish oil supplements. These essential fats are not made by the body and must be eaten or taken in supplement form to ensure the body's adequate functioning. In addition to reducing inflammation, these fats help to support healthy heart, brain, skin, and bone function. Significant health problems may result when these nutrients are not adequately absorbed. I recommend a dosage of 1,000 mg EPA and 1,000 mg DHA be taken daily from a high quality product with low mercury and toxin levels.

Digestive enzymes aid the body in digesting and breaking down proteins, fats, and carbohydrates. Digestive enzymes from either animal or plant sources should be taken an empty stomach, 20 minutes before meals or snacks. Enzymes help break down food into forms that the body can use. When the gut is damaged a condition called "leaky gut syndrome" occurs, and undigested food particles can pass through the intestinal wall into the blood stream in a form the body cannot use. These unusable food particles then activate an immune response because the body has detected an "invader." This immune response adds inflammation to the ongoing food sensitivity issues. Digestive enzymes assist in breaking food down into the right form for the body to use. In general, plant- or microbial-derived enzymes are more effective and work in more areas of your digestive system than their animal-derived counterparts.

Anti-inflammatory herbal formulas can help reduce inflammation and promote healing. Look for herbs like turmeric, aloe vera, ginger, and boswellia in formulas or by themselves as a part of your healing regime. Again, working with a dietitian to decide dosages and which combination of these herbs would be most beneficial to you is recommended.

What to Consider if You Are Not Getting Better

There are some people with celiac disease that show no improvement on a gluten-free diet. One of the most common reasons for a poor response to the diet is that small amounts of gluten are still being consumed. Hidden sources of gluten include medications, additives such as modified food starch, preservatives, and stabilizers made with wheat. Additionally, those with severe sensitivities may not be healing because of cross contamination caused by production facilities. Most corn and rice products are produced in factories that also manufacture wheat products. For some people, even these minute amounts of cross contamination can add up. Some people should only consume packaged foods from GF certified facilities, or in extreme cases, consume no packaged foods at all.

Some people with celiac disease continue to have intestinal flare ups despite being on a strict gluten-free diet. People with this condition, known as refractory celiac disease, have severely damaged intestines that heal very slowly -- if at all. Because their intestines are not absorbing enough nutrients, these celiac sufferers may need to receive many of their nutrients intravenously.

Cross reactivity to some gluten-free grains can also be a problem. Intolerances to grains that do not contain gluten, which people on gluten-free diet tend to eat more of, can also develop. Many times these secondary intolerances develop because of gut permeability and the body's response to foreign material outside the gut lining, where it is not suppose to be. Cyrex Labs offers a Gluten Cross Reactive Foods Test that looks at the 24 most common foods that cross-react with gluten. This test will help you identify and avoid other foods that are preventing you from healing and feeling better.

In my experience, time does heal these wounds, but the amount of time varies widely from person to person. I have seen many people's symptoms -- in particular, severe cases that have gone unresolved for decades -- abate faster and more thoroughly thanks to additional supplementation. Any time the gut has undergone stress, the supplements mentioned above can be of benefit -- and always be mindful when purchasing supplements to be sure they are gluten-free.


About the author:
Julie McGinnis, M.S., R.D., certified herbalist holds a Master's degree in nutrition from the University of Bridgeport in Connecticut and has been involved in the field of nutrition for twenty years. Upon completion of her herbal certification she began her career in complementary health and worked for years in research and development for a professional line of nutrition supplements. She has written professional nutrition and health literature for national retailers and other small businesses. She is one of three owners of The Gluten Free Bistro in Boulder, CO a manufacturer of gluten-free pizza, pasta and flour.www.theglutenfreebistro.com

Learn more: http://www.naturalnews.com/034293_celiac_disease_gluten_intolerance.html#ixzz1fML4Yz3I

Expert: Mexico glyphs don't predict apocalypse but rather a transition to a new era

MEXICO CITY (AP) — The end is not near.

At least that's according to a German expert who says his decoding of a Mayan tablet with a reference to a 2012 date denotes a transition to a new era and not a possible end of the world as others have read it.

The interpretation of the hieroglyphs by Sven Gronemeyer of La Trobe University in Australia was presented for the first time Wednesday at the archaeological site of Palenque in southern Mexico.

His comments came less than a week after Mexico's archaeology institute acknowledged there was a second reference to the 2012 date in Mayan inscriptions, touching of another round of talk about whether it predicts the end of the world.

Gronemeyer has been studying the stone tablet found years ago at the archeological site of Tortuguero in Mexico's Gulf coast state of Tabasco.

He said the inscription describes the return of mysterious Mayan god Bolon Yokte at the end of a 13th period of 400 years, known as Baktuns, on the equivalent of Dec. 21, 2012. Mayans considered 13 a sacred number. There's nothing apocalyptic in the date, he said.

The text was carved about 1,300 years ago. The stone has cracked, which has made the end of the passage almost illegible.

Gronemeyer said the inscription refers to the end of a cycle of 5,125 years since the beginning of the Mayan Long Count calendar in 3113 B.C.

The fragment was a prophecy of then ruler Bahlam Ajaw, who wanted to plan the passage of the god, Gronemeyer said.

"For the elite of Tortuguero, it was clear they had to prepare the land for the return of the god and for Bahlam Ajaw to be the host of this initiation," he said.

Bolon Yokte, god of creation and war, was to prevail that day in a sanctuary of Tortuguero.

"The date acquired a symbolic value because it is seen as a reflection of the day of creation," Gronemeyer said. "It is the passage of a god and not necessarily a great leap for humanity."

Last week, Mexico's National Institute of Anthropology said a second inscription mentioning the 2012 date is on the carved or molded face of a brick found at the Comalcalco ruin, near the Tortuguero site. It is being kept at the institute and is not on display.

Many experts doubt the second inscription is a definite reference to the date cited as the possible end of the world, saying there is no future tense marking like there is in the Tortuguero tablet.

The institute has tried to dispel talk of a 2012 apocalypse, the subject of numerous postings and stories on the Internet. Its latest step was to arrange a special round table of Mayan experts this week at Palenque, which is where Gronemeyer made his comments.

http://news.yahoo.com/expert-mexico-glyphs-dont-predict-apocalypse-040313881.html