Conscious Eating Part 10

This same type of experiment was repeated, with the control cats receiving two-thirds raw milk and one-third raw meat plus cod liver oil, and the deficient-diet group receiving one-third raw meat plus two-thirds pasteurized milk, evaporated milk, or sweetened condensed milk. The results of this experiment were essentially the same as the raw-meat versus cooked-meat experiment. The most marked deficiencies and degeneration occurred with the sweetened condensed milk. Those fed the pasteurized milk had less degeneration in each generation than either the evaporated or sweetened condensed milk-fed cats. The cats fed the sweetened condensed milk showed extreme nervous system irritability.

Because the percentage of sterility, thyroid problems, and food and environmental allergies seems to be increasing in our society, and a growing number of people are suffering from the environmental sensitivity syndrome, it is worth looking at these symptoms of degeneration in more detail. Normal raw-food cats did not suffer from any problems. The cats who received the cooked meat or cooked milk in some form developed many kinds of allergies with sneezing, wheezing, and scratching. Milk allergies became common. The cooked-food cats had increased nervousness and irritability, and stopped purring. By the third generation of cooked-food cats, the incidence of allergies was almost 100%. If the second-generation deficient cats were put back on a raw-food diet, their allergy symptoms diminished, and by the fourth generation some cats had no evidence of allergies.

The normal or raw-food cats had no incidence of hypothyroidism. In the deficient cats, a low thyroid was a.s.sociated with significant bone changes in the skull, jaw, and teeth. The kittens of nursing mothers on the cooked-food diets had a high incidence of hypothyroidism. My own clinical observations and those of other doctors have revealed a general increase in hypothyroidism in our human society.

There seems to be a general correlation between hypothyroidism and sterility in the overall cat study results. By the second generation of cooked-food cats, 83% of the males were sterile on the pathology examination, with no evidence of any spermatozoa. Approximately 53% of the females in the second generation of cooked-food cats showed an underdeveloped ova. According to the Kellogg Report by Joseph Beasley, M.D., and Jerry Swift, M.A., of the thirty million couples in the US in 1980 with a woman of child-bearing age, 44% were unable to have children. In 1965 there were 482,000 couples with a wife younger than thirty who were cla.s.sified as infertile. By 1976 the number of nonsurgical infertile couples rose to 920,000. Among black couples ages twenty to twenty-four, the proportion of nonsurgical infertile couples quintupled from 3% to 15% in the eleven-year span from 1965 to 1976. The trend for nonsurgical infertility for couples under thirty years of age is distinctly rising. As Francis Pottenger, Jr., M.D., gently put it in his book, "While no attempt will be made to correlate the changes in the animals studied with malformations found in humans, the similarity is so obvious that parallel pictures will suggest themselves."

The point I want to make with the Pottenger Cat Study is not simply that raw foods are superior to cooked foods, although this study makes a strong statement about this. The message is that a diet deficient in essential nutrients or enzymes, as was the cooked diet for these cats, has a powerful degenerative effect on the health of these animals. It becomes progressively more degenerative over succeeding generations. Additional animal studies in Dr. Price's book Nutrition and Physical Degeneration further support this general finding. These studies show a significant difference in the quality of health between an all-natural, whole-foods diet and a processed-food diet. Rat studies reported in Dr. Price's book show that rats grown on whole wheat were healthy, whereas rats grown on white flour were undersized, had tooth decay, were unable to reproduce, and had hostile dispositions. It is not hard to extrapolate the effects of processed foods on rats to their effect on humans.

Like the Pottenger Cat Study, pigs put on a deficient diet had certain deformities in their offspring. When the diets of these pig parents were changed back to a healthy natural diet, the offspring of their next litter were normal. If these congenital deformities were a genetic problem, this would not be the case. Therefore it has to be seen as a problem of the germ cells. Germ cells are the male and female reproductive cells, or sperm and ovum. Poor nutrition depletes the healthy reproductive power of the germ cell plasm of the sperm and the ovum, which leads to congenital malformations and a degeneration of mental and physical function in the offspring. With proper prenatal nutrition, the germ plasm health of the pigs was restored and they no longer had defective offspring.

I believe that humans mirror the same biological process as the cats, rats, and pigs. With poor nutrition, the germ plasm is weakened and we produce children with physical congenital changes and diminished brain function. This helps to explain the almost epidemic proportion of hyper-activity and increasing rates of addiction in our children. Recent statistics show that one hundred thousand children between the ages of ten and eleven get drunk on a weekly basis. The rates of drug addiction among children are increasing. Dr. Price's research in the 1930s showed there was a deterioration in the younger members of families in America. He estimated that between 25 and 75% of the children are affected. He found that not only did they have structural changes, but their IQs were lower and they developed inferiority complexes as a result. This connection between delinquency and lowered mental capacity has been made in a variety of studies. Chasell studied reports from different countries regarding this question and reported a positive correlation between delinquency and less-than-average mental capacity. Burt made an extensive study over a long period of time in London and Birmingham, and found that between 60 and 70% of the delinquents were cla.s.sified as mentally "dull."

This information suggests that there is more going on than just heredity. It suggests that our environment, the diet of the mother during pregnancy, and of the parents before pregnancy can affect the health of the germ cell to the extent that it can result in an interrupted healthy pattern of heredity. The quality of brain functioning in our children may be a direct result of parental diet.

There is an increasing incidence in our culture of chronic degenerative diseases such as heart disease, arthritis, allergies, environmental sensitivity and other forms of immunodeficiency diseases, cancer, hypothyroidism, hyperactivity, drug abuse, depression (there are an estimated forty million depressed adults and five hundred thousand children taking Prozac and other antidepressants), social violence, and sterility. With all these chronic diseases, the condition of our human population does not seem too different from the degeneration observed in the diet-deficient cats in the Pot-tenger Cat Study. Could this cat study be a sped-up version of what is happening to health in our society? Can we afford to wait until all the evidence is recorded before we change the direction in which we are going?

Effects of Processed Foods on Indigenous Cultures.

THE MOST POWERFUL DOc.u.mENTATION of the effect of a deficient and inadequate diet on human physical and mental degeneration was done by Dr. Weston Price, a dentist and internationally famous researcher on nutrition. His study of fourteen indigenous cultures, published in 1939 in his book Nutrition and Physical Degeneration, is a cla.s.sic. The cultures he studied included the New Zealand Maori; descendants of the ancient Chimu culture in Peru, isolated Peruvian Indians, high Andes Indians, and Amazon jungle Indians; Torres Strait Islanders including racial groups from the Papuaans, New Guineans, Mobuiags, Arakuns, Kendals, and Yonkas; Australian Aborigines; isolated and modernized African tribes including the Neurs at Malakal on the Nile River and the d.i.n.kas in Sudan; the Arab schools at Khartoum and Omdurman in Sudan; the Ikblas school in Cairo, Egypt; Ethiopians, Masers tribe, Polynesians, Melanesians, Malay Micronesians, North American Indians in Canada and the US; Eskimos; Gaelics living in the Outer Hebrides; and isolated Swiss villages in the Loetschental Valley.

These studies are unique because they were done around the time that processed foods were introduced into these cultures. This allowed Dr. Price the opportunity to compare the before and after effects of the introduction of processed foods, especially white flour and white sugar. Price had the opportunity to compare the health of indigenous people of the same racial stock who stayed on the indigenous natural diet to those who began eating the industrialized processed food. He was even able to compare changes in the health of offspring of parents who changed their diets to processed foods in the middle of the child-rearing cycle.

Price made several generalizations based on his scientific data. The indigenous diets in each culture contained two to six times the nutrients as the processed-food diets that were introduced as a process of "modernization." The people who stayed with their traditional diet maintained a high level of immunity to dental caries. Those on the processed diet of modern commerce lost their immunity to caries. Price found that those who had lost their immunity because of poor nutrition were able to halt the process of dental cavities by reverting back to a natural diet or taking special supplements that were equivalent to the nutritional content of their indigenous diets. The results are noteworthy. For example, Weston Price found that by putting children back on a healthy diet, the epidemic of caries could be stopped in some of the indigenous cultures he studied. In some modernized tribes the rate of caries jumped from less than 1% on their whole, natural, organic, indigenous diet to up to 60% on the processed-food diet.

One of the most radical findings was the gross structural changes that occurred in only one generation in the head and facial structure. These included changes in the dental arch, narrowing and lengthening of the face, hips, and chest, and significant changes in the bones of the head, especially the maxillary bones. It is most significant that these changes occurred in a single generation when the diet changed, rather than over many generations as might be expected if such changes were primarily genetic.

Another interesting finding was in the families of modernized indigenous and modernized white people eating the processed foods. There was a tendency for more structural and mental damage to occur in children born in the later part of the birth cycle. This suggests a depletion and lowering of reproductive capacity in the parents who had switched to the modernized, processed foods. With the indigenous people who stayed on their natural pre-modernization diet, there was no tendency for more congenital changes and mental deterioration with the younger children.

Data offered by Dr. Price suggest that changes in the bone structure of the skull may also create disturbances in brain development. It is fascinating to think that personality development and character may be a product of biologic diet as well as heredity. Brain embryonic defects may be as biologic as club feet. Both are created by lowered germ cell health of the parents from poor nutrition and the biological stress of too many children from a weakened mother.

Poor nutrition lies at the basis of this generational degeneration that I believe we are witnessing in our present Western society. Research by Dr. Price shows that the diets of indigenous people that have provided freedom from degeneration processes are significantly better than the modernized processed diet. The indigenous diets all provided a natural food intake which gave that average adult at least four times the minimum nutritional need, while the industrialized diet that they later turned to made of processed white flour, white sugar, white rice, and canned goods usually does not even provide the minimum nutrition. For example, the diet of native Eskimos contains 5.4 times the amount of calcium, 5 times the amount of phosphorus, 1.5 times the amount of iron, 7.9 times as much magnesium, 49 times as much iodine, and approximately 10 times the amount of soluble vitamins as the minimum daily requirements. For the Australian Aborigines, calcium was 4.6 times greater, phosphorus 6.2 times greater, magnesium 17 times greater, iron 50 times greater, and fat-soluble vitamins at least 10 times greater than the modernized diet. The superiority of indigenous diets was also confirmed for the Polynesians, coastal Indians of Peru, cattle tribes in the interior of Africa, the Gaelics in the Outer Hebrides, and the Indians of Northern Cannonade.

Returning to Dr. Price's observations of bone structure, one of the most remarkable findings in the studies of different cultures is the degeneration in the younger members of families after the family switched from the whole natural foods of the indigenous diet to the processed and refined foods. Weston Price found that regardless of racial stock, structural changes in the face appear after the introduction of processed foods. In the older children of the families, the tribal facial patterns normally reproduced. In the children born after the introduction of the processed foods, the tribal facial patterns are significantly lost. These changes are doc.u.mented with photographs of the Maori of New Zealand, the Aborigines of Australia, the Quichua Indians, white children in Peru, and the natives of Badu Island north of Australia.

As the quality of nutrition further degenerates with progressive births, congenital abnormalities a.s.sociated with facial abnormalities also begin to be noted. Field research by Dr. Murphy of the University of Pennsylvania on 1,476 cases of physical abnormalities recorded at birth gives us further insight into events a.s.sociated with congenital defects. He found that miscarriages, stillbirths, and premature births occurred more often before and after the birth of a child with a congenital defect, especially immediately preceding the birth of a child with congenital defects. From this we may theorize that a congenitally malformed child is just one expression of a decrease in the germ cell health and consequently, reproductive function. Miscarriages, stillbirths, and premature births may be other expressions of a weakened germ cell plasm. The biggest single cause for this weakening is poor parental pre-fertilization and prenatal nutrition.

Another interesting point about the importance of peri-natal nutrition is that children born to indigenous parents living on the processed-food diet had a "greatly increased incidence of tuberculosis as compared to the children whose parents stayed on the native diet of natural whole foods. Those with the increased incidence of tuberculosis also had changes in their facial structures and dental arch form."

What Weston Price established in his book and what is established in this chapter is the theory that these structural changes are indicative of a weakened germ plasm and prenatal injury. It seems that there is also a connection between these changes in facial structure and dental arch and susceptibility to certain diseases such as tuberculosis and dental caries. In one study at the New York State Hospital for tuberculosis, Dr. Price observed that 94% of the tuberculosis patients had abnormal facial and dental arch structures. He found this also to be true in other inst.i.tutions in New England, Quebec, and Eastern Ontario.

The data he presents in Nutrition and Physical Degeneration strongly suggest that a high percentage of those with significant alterations in normal facial form have some disturbance in their mental and moral character. As with susceptibility to diseases such as tuberculosis, an unhealthy germ plasm as evidenced by facial and dental arch alterations in architecture seems to be a.s.sociated with lower IQ and social delinquency problems. A study by Clouston showed that deformed palates are present in 19% of the population, 33% of psychotics, 55% of criminals, and 61% of those cla.s.sified as mental defective. Peterson, in another study, found palate defects in 82% of the mentally deficient, 76% of epileptics, and 80% of psychotics. Weston Price studied a group of 189 juveniles in the Cleveland School for pre-delin-quents. He found that 98.4% of these juvenile delinquents had marked abnormality in their facial structure and dental arches. He also found that 38.7% of these children were either fifth or last children. Twenty-four percent of these juvenile delinquents were last children, and 22.5% were the fifth child or later. Statistics also suggest that there is a higher percentage of damaged children from abnormally young mothers. At the other end of the range, children with the mongoloid syndrome are often born last in a large family, which is the time when the mother would usually be most nutritionally depleted and the germ cell the weakest.

The point is that a poor nutritional pattern of highly processed foods, high in white flour and white sugar, weakens the germ cell plasm. The process of multiple childbirths close to each other can further weaken the quality of the germ plasm. The more it is weakened, the more structural changes occur in the bones of the face, and the more often subtle congenital brain injuries are created. This subtle congenital brain injury manifests in a variety of ways, such as lowered IQ, mental disturbances and illness, hyperactivity, learning disorders, increased incidence of drug usage, increased tendency toward aberrant social behavior such as juvenile delinquency, and increased social violence. Since all of these are happening in our society, it behooves us to pay attention.

Most people are aware that there are major physiological and structural changes in the head, brain, and body of children with mongoloidism or Downs syndrome. I have tried to make the connection between the appearance of facial and dental arch structural changes and brain function of an individual. These structural changes are not only indicators of altered physiology, but they may even alter the physiology. One dramatic case of a sixteen-year-old boy with Downs syndrome seen by Dr. Price ill.u.s.trates this point. At age sixteen his genitals were that of an eight-year-old and his mind was that of a four-year-old. His maxillary arch was so small that he had trouble chewing. He received an operation to widen his maxillary arch about one-half inch. After the operation, he grew three inches in four months. After three months he had developed fully mature genitalia. A mustache began to grow immediately. His mental state dramatically improved. He went from playing on the floor with blocks and rattles to being able to go to the grocery store with money to do errands. He could make phone calls, travel by himself over long distances, and even date women. This increase in mental capacity occurred over a period of sixteen weeks. The operation had shifted the pressure on the pituitary gland in a way that stimulated its function. When the appliance he wore in his mouth to keep the maxillary bones separated slipped out of place, he reverted to his old state. When it was repaired, he regained his much-improved state.

This finding of the connection of Downs syndrome with abnormal pituitary function is supported by the research of Dr. Clemens Benda, the clinical director of the Wrentham State School in Wrentham, Ma.s.sachusetts. He found in fourteen cases of Downs syndrome a definite failure of pituitary development. This is interesting to correlate with the rat studies showing that a low vitamin E level in the diet of pregnant rats results in offspring with inadequately functioning pituitary glands. The larger implication of this is the connection between changes in the structure of the maxillary bone or cheekbones and dental arches with the physical pressure effect on the pituitary and other brain function. Experiences with cranio-sacral work, in which the bones of the skull are readjusted and loosened resulting in improved brain and mental function, also speak to this insight.

One of the most important points I am making in this chapter is that we can significantly improve the health of our offspring by proper prenatal nutrition of both parents, and high-quality nutrition for the mother during pregnancy The nutrition of prospective fathers also plays an important role. They are one-half of the germ plasm biology These ideas are explored in depth in Chapter 30, "Nutrition for Pregnancy."

Insight regarding the importance of nutrition in the creation of healthy babies and the maintenance of healthy germ cell plasm for all our offspring is not new. Many indigenous cultures are aware of this. One key aspect of this concept is awareness that the frequency of giving birth is a strain on the mother's germ cell plasm health. For example, the Ibos of Nigeria consider it a matter of disgrace for a woman to bear a child at intervals less than three years. In other indigenous cultures such as those of Peru, Ecuador, and Colombia, and among the Melanesians and Polynesians, the accepted interval is approximately two and one-half years. In one of the Fiji Island tribes the accepted interval is four years.

In our American culture, over the last twenty-five years of holistic health practice I have seen a number of women who have never recovered from the biological stress of child-bearing. They often remain energetically and emotionally depleted and depressed, with exhaustion in several parts of their endocrine system and a marginally functional immune system. It is amazing how quickly they respond to proper nutrition and the rebuilding of their endocrine system. Almost all of these women had been to a variety of doctors without receiving any relief for their condition. It is a syndrome that is not given much attention in the literature. It is a problem that is becoming more p.r.o.nounced as the quality of our cultural nutrition patterns in general, and our prenatal nutrition patterns specifically, move further away from the high quality of an organic, whole, natural food diet.

In addition to the problems of a high processed-food diet, we have the problem of nutritionally depleted soils, which undermines the quality of all our foods. Healthy soils create healthy plants, and healthy plants create healthy babies. Going organic not only protects us and our prospective children from the deleterious effects of pesticides and herbicides on the nervous, endocrine, and immune systems of babies, but it supports organic farming. Organic farming is important because it builds the soil rather than depletes it. Eating organic food from organic healthy soils builds organic healthy children. Organic food is a must for maintaining health and for optimal pre-fertilization and prenatal nutrition.

Many indigenous cultures were and are aware of the importance of pre-fertilization and prenatal nutrition. In some cases special nutritional food was given to prospective fathers as well as to the mothers in preparation for pregnancy. Some of these peoples include the Eskimos, South Sea islanders, natives of Badu Island north of Australia, the Gaelics in the Outer Hebrides, coastal Peruvian Indians, the cattle tribes of Africa, and the Swiss in the Loetschental Valley. They all had special nutrition programs and special foods before insemination and during pregnancy.

The effects of poor peri-natal nutrition have been easily demonstrated in animal research. For example, rats given a vitamin E-deficient diet have a longer gestation and their offspring develop slowly, are thin and undersized, have thin skulls, and changes in the quality of the hair. Vitamin E seems to be connected with proper pituitary development. One interesting study of vitamin A deficiency peri-natal makes several points. A litter of pigs was born blind to a farmer who gave them inadequate nutrition. The blind pigs and the mother were then fed high amounts of vitamin A and a generally healthy diet. When a male blind pig from this litter mated with the same pig mother who produced him, they produced all normal piglets. If the blindness had been from hereditary causes, mating the blind pigs with each other and with the mother would have produced some blind pigs even if adequate vitamin A had been available. This experiment again makes the point that the nutritional strength of the germ plasm plays a major part in creating normal offspring. An interesting aside to vitamin A deficiency is, according to Dr. Price, a.s.sociated with impacted third molar teeth. His findings show that in indigenous cultures there is no problem with the third molar or wisdom teeth such as we are experiencing in our modern American culture.

The main purpose of this data and the whole chapter, as I said earlier, is to show that physical health as well as brain function are affected significantly by the peri-natal health of the mother. A weakened germ plasm of both parents and poor prenatal health and nutritional status of the mother affects both the mental and physical state of the children. We as conscious eating and living parents have the opportunity to make a large impact on the quality of physical and mental health of our biological children. We can't easily control the irresponsible use of pesticides and herbicides, irradiation exposure from nuclear plants and food irradiation plants, and other environmental toxins, but we can choose to eat high-quality, natural, whole, raw, and organic foods in our diet.

What Can Be Done to Reverse This Process?.

IN OUR SOCIETY problems such as hyperactivity and early-onset addictions among children, as well as depression, addictions, and anxiety among adults who have depleted their brain biochemistry from stress, poor nutrition, and/or drugs, can be reversed. In my clinical experience at the Tree of Life Rejuvenation Center, many of these problems can be treated effectively with specific replacement supplements and a change from highly processed, fast, frozen, junk, high-pesticide and -herbicide, and microwaved foods to a whole, natural, organic, raw-food diet. Even those born with altered neurotransmitter pathways and function can receive significant help by adopting or returning to a healthy diet and using certain supplements. The exciting news is that much can be done to reverse the process of physical and mental deterioration resulting from one's own poor diet and that of one's parents. There is even more we can do to prevent it. It is helpful to know there are simple ways using a conscious eating approach. What we eat affects the quality of our physical health, the nature of our thoughts, and the very structure and integration of our brain tissue and that of the next generation.

Preview of Chapter 9.

THE NEXT STEP IN UNDERSTANDING the impact of diet on our mental and physical states involves the subtle brain damage that manifests as neurotransmitter deficit. This deficit creates a world of addiction as people with an addictive brain attempt to feel better (i.e., self-medicating with food, alcohol, s.e.x, etc.). A holistic addictive-brain model follows that allows a new look at healing depression, alcoholism, eating disorders, and other addictive-brain disorders.

I. State of our society II. Neurotransmitters III. Stress IV. Neurotransmitter model V. Holistic addictive-brain model A. Applied to depression B. Applied to alcoholism.

C. Applied to eating disorders.

VI. Lover's electron diet and way of life.

The Addictive Brain.

AFTER A LULL IN THE LATE EIGHTIES, drug usage is apparently on the upswing again in the US. Americans consume five billion tranquilizers per year. One-third of all US high school students binge-drink every two weeks, and 100,000 children ages ten and eleven get drunk weekly. Four hundred fifty million cups of coffee are drunk every day, and 2.7 gallons of alcohol per person are imbibed each year. About 2.2 million people in the US use cocaine once a week. The national cost for alcohol and other drug abuse is approximately $238 billion annually. More than 15 million people experience problems as a direct result of alcohol use. Nearly half the violent deaths from accidents, suicide, homicide, and traffic fatalities are alcohol-related. Among young alcoholics the rate from suicide, accidents, and cirrhosis of the liver is ten times normal. Alcoholics die approximately twenty years sooner than the population average. Approximately forty million spouses, children, and close relatives suffer from the destructive energy of alcohol abuse. In 1986, 27,000 people died from diseases a.s.sociated with alcohol abuse, including liver, cancer, and heart disease. We are talking about a significant social plague.

The average age of drug addiction is getting lower. The New York Times reported three studies concerning children. One showed that Prozac prescriptions for children between the ages of six and twelve jumped 300% in 1997 over the previous year. More than a half million children were taking antidepressants in 1997. More than 200,000 children were taking the anti-depressant Prozac in 1997, another 200,000 children were taking the antidepressant Zoloft, and 100,000 more children were taking the antidepressant Paxil. Only 1% of children in the US from ages two to nineteen met the federal recommendations for a healthy diet. This so-called healthy diet includes 10% of calories from fat and artificially added sugar. Our youth exceed this unhealthy recommendation with an average of 40% of their diet from fat and white sugar. There is also an escalating problem with childhood obesity. I am certain the problem is not from genetics.

Although the exact connection between all addictions and physical and mental degeneration secondary to poor nutrition is not fully understood, to me there seems to be an obvious relation. In this chapter we explore this connection and potential ways to heal our culture's downward health spiral.

In order to more fully understand the issues of addiction we must go beyond traditional moral and psychological approaches. Drug abuse has long been seen as a complex psycho-social-spiritual phenomenon for which there are many theories but few real answers in terms of new treatment and prevention in the last forty years. In 1984, eminent Harvard psychiatrist Dr. George Valliant studied more than 650 young men in hopes of finding traits that predict alcoholism. He did not find any evidence to support the social theory that personality disorders predispose a person to alcoholism. Instead, he found that it was more likely the use of alcohol which causes the personality alteration. Even sociopathic behavior was found to be a consequence and not a cause of alcohol abuse. His findings bring into question the sociological, moral, and spiritual theories of the cause of alcoholism. In these popularly held theories, alcoholism is thought to be a moral deficiency problem, a sociological issue, or the result of a spiritual deficiency-depending upon which theory is chosen.

Biological Approach to the Addictive Brain.

IN THE LAST FEW YEARS, some exciting breakthroughs in biological research have opened new doors for prevention and treatment of addiction. While not ignoring the psycho-social-spiritual approach, the following discussion focuses on the biological understanding of the problem of addiction.

Alcohol is the most studied drug and const.i.tutes a model for understanding many other addictions, including cigarette, coffee, sugar, carbohydrate, gambling, and s.e.x addictions. For alcoholism the prevalent rate for men is five times higher than that of women. For other drug abuse the rate for men is two to three times that of women. This begins to point us in the direction of the genetic aspects of alcoholism and their biological ramifications.

In one study it was found that in identical twins, if one twin is alcoholic the chance of the other twin being alcoholic is four times greater than it is if one fraternal twin is alcoholic. This directly suggests a strong genetic component, since identical twins have the same genetic makeup while fraternal twins do not. One study of three thousand adoptees in Sweden showed that the rate for alcoholism in those with one biological parent who was alcoholic was three times greater than among adoptees who did not have a biological parent who was alcoholic. In a reverse study, it was found that children whose biological parents were not alcoholic, but who were raised in a home in which the stepparents were alcoholic, did not have a higher rate of alcoholism than the normal population. A study by Goodwin in 1973 compared 133 sons of alcoholics raised by parents who were not alcoholic to a similar group of boys whose biological parents were not alcoholic. The sons of alcoholics had an alcoholism rate three times greater than that of biological sons of nonalcoholic parents. A genetic study done at UCLA found that the sons of recovering alcoholics had neurocognitive defects like their fathers'. It was also found that these sons of alcoholic fathers had a serious risk at an early age of developing cravings for addictive drugs such as nicotine, marijuana, and alcohol. The data suggested that sons of alcoholics had psych.o.m.otor, neuroelectric, and hormonal differences from that of control groups of sons of nonalcoholics.

The closer we look at the problem of addiction, the closer we come to the idea that there is a biologically altered brain and that this is the prime cause for addictions. It is my hypothesis that the biologically altered brain involves an interface of four major forces: genetic forces, interrupted genetic forces from a weakened germ plasm of parents, the results of poor prenatal nutrition, and environmental forces. The degenerating environmental forces include poor diet. In the infant, child, and adult stages, mental stresses and physical stresses, including an increasing amount of toxins and allergy-causing chemicals in the environment, add to the problem.

In 1990 Kenneth Blum, Ph.D., and Ernest n.o.ble, M.D., found at the D2 dopamine receptor gene site a less-common form of the gene called the Ai allele. This less-common form of the D2 receptor occurred in a higher percentage in the DNA of alcoholic brains than in the DNA of nonalcoholic brains. This uncommon allele was found in 69% of alcoholic brains as compared to 24% in the nonalcoholic brains. In the neurotransmitter-pleasure-reward cascade in our brains, dopamine plays an extremely important role. When our reward cascade is working well, we have a sense of pleasure and ease; when it is not, there may be anxiety, cravings, and a sense of discomfort. n.o.ble and Blum found that those with the Ai allele had one-third fewer dopamine receptors in their brains. They then a.n.a.lyzed data from ten independent studies in the US. With a statistical significance of ten million to one, these researchers found that the Ai allele of the D2 receptor gene was a.s.sociated with severe alcoholism and other forms of drug abuse. The implications for a genetic a.s.sociation for alcoholism are significant. There are approximately twenty-nine million children of alcoholics in the US. Their chances of developing alcoholism are at least several times greater than children of nonalcoholics.

Research by David Comings, M.D, with eight hundred fifty patients found the D2A1 allele present in 40 to 55% of patients with Tourette's Syndrome, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), autism, and post-traumatic stress disorder. These researchers hypothesized that the D2A1 gene was not the major cause of any of these disorders, but rather it appeared to play a role in the degree of expression of these disorders. They found (as I also believe) that this gene is related to addictive and impulsive behavior and susceptibility to stress.

There does seem to be an overlap between the occurrence of ADHD and alcoholism. The D2A1 allele is one of the connecting links. Studies suggest that a significant number of children with ADHD develop problems with alcohol and drugs. About one-third of alcoholics meet the definition of ADHD and have a history of childhood ADHD.

Role of Stress.

THE ROLE OF STRESS IN THIS PROCESS supplies some significant pieces to the puzzle. When a healthy individual is experiencing a sense of well-being, a "normal" amount of opioids or endorphins is present in the brain. The most common of these opioid neurotransmitters is called enkephalin. Under stress the level of opioids/endorphins drops significantly. The mechanism for lowering the opioid level involves the release of enkephalinase, an enzyme that destroys the endorphins. So under stress, enkephalinase release is increased.

This is part of a normal coping mechanism, because when opioids drop a sense of urgency develops. This sense of urgency helps to motivate the person to get the job done, whether it is a response to an emergency, going to work, or doing any specific task requiring alertness, concentration, and focus. The low opioid output causes an increase in the dopamine output, which heightens the person's clarity of thought and instinctive reactions. The high dopamine also decreases serotonin output and decreases the ability to sleep. The low serotonin causes norepinephrine and GABA (gamma amino butyric acid) to increase, which enhances memory access and increases anxiety. The increased GABA reduces opioid availability and thus further increases dopamine output.

When stress pa.s.ses in a person with normal endorphin functioning, the endorphins return to their normal level and the sense of well-being is regained. Some people, however, are not born with a normal endorphin system. They suffer throughout life from a low endorphin output and consequently a sense of urgency, internal stress, discomfort, and "disease." With the addition of modern levels of stress, their endorphin levels decrease even further. Some researchers estimate that the amount of stress in our society doubles every ten years.

It is my opinion that lack of ability to produce adequate opioids can be partially explained by the brain injury a.s.sociated with weak germ plasm from both parents-encompa.s.sing existing genetics, a poor pre-pregnancy nutritional status, and drug addiction (of both parents), as well as poor prenatal nutrition of the mother, especially if the mother is taking drugs while pregnant. This fits with the data from Weston Price's research showing that up to 97% of juvenile delinquents studied have altered facial and dental arch structures indicative of prenatal injury (see Chapter 8). The prenatal injury in the case of low endorphin output is interference in the genetic expression of the ability to produce opioids; this results in children with a diminished ability to produce enough opioids to (1) feel calm and at peace, (2) be without a prevailing sense of urgency and (3) be able to regain a sense of well-being following stress. This hypothesis is supported by research showing that children of alcoholics have a lower plasma beta-endorphin level. It is also supported by the Pottenger ten-year cat experiment (see Chapter 8) showing deteriorated behavior in the second and third generation of cats born from parents with poor nutrition. In particular, the cats demonstrated behavior patterns of increased anxiety, hostility, and lack of sociability. Similarly, in experiments I mention in Chapter 30, "Nutrition for Pregnancy," rats born from parents who were put on a poor-prenatal and poor-germ-plasm diet became hostile and irritable.

In individuals with low opioid production and increased environmental stress there is a tendency to enter into addictive habits, thereby increasing opioid production for a temporary sense of well-being. An addictive habit may be continuous heavy exercise, which produces the endorphin high, or perhaps eating, gambling, cigarette, or s.e.x addiction, all of which increase endorphins; or it can be the use of opiate drugs such as heroin, or opiate-stimulating drugs such as marijuana, cocaine, or a variety of others. Research with marijuana has located specific tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) sites in the brain as well as natural substances within the brain similar to THC. Researchers have found that marijuana augments dopamine activity, as is true for cocaine, amphetamines, heroin, and morphine.

Alcohol gives significant opioid relief but in a slightly different way. When alcohol is ingested it is metabolized to tetrahydroisoquinolines (TIQs). These TIQs preferentially bind to one or more opioid receptor sites. They actually have the capacity to displace enkephalins and endorphins from these sites. The TIQs act like opioids and induce a sense of well-being, peace, and ease. They also create a feedback-system loop which decreases enkephalin synthesis. In addition, alcohol use increases the level of enkephalinase in the system, further decreasing levels of natural opioids available to us. Research has shown that the natural opioid activity in chronic alcoholics is as much as one-third less than normal. One study by Genazzani in 1982 found that the beta-endorphin level in the cerebrospinal fluid of twenty-nine chronic alcoholics was approximately two-thirds less than the average nonalcoholic person. Even drinking a four-martini lunch can decrease the immediate amount of natural opioids and supporting neurotransmitters. Research with alcohol-preferring mice showed that they had a lower level of enkephalins. Research also showed that when normal mice were stressed, they tended to prefer alcohol to water immediately after the stress. Presumably this is to reestablish a sense of well-being via the production of TIQs.

Chronic stress in otherwise normal individuals can also greatly decrease the level of endorphins. In sustained stress the endorphin release seems to get reset at a lower level; without proper treatment to remedy the situation, such people stay at a level of chronic depletion and anxiety. In the battle of Stalingrad, Russian soldiers resisted block by block. The rate of hypertension in this group of individuals rose from 4.1% to 64%. It did not drop after the battle ended, and most of the soldiers involved died about twenty years sooner than their normal life expectancy. Research by Branchey, Davis, and Lieber in 1984 found that in Korea and Vietnam, twice as many combat veterans were either alcoholics in remission, alcohol abusers, or active alcoholics when compared to noncombat veterans. The rate of alcoholism increased proportionately to the time in combat. In 1983, McGivern and a.s.sociates showed that chronic stress can cause a chronic deficiency of beta-endorphins in the corpus striatum and pituitary of laboratory animals. This study helps make the connection between chronic stress, lowered endorphins in the brain, and the turning toward alcoholism in an effort to relieve the stress and create a sense of well-being.

A poor diet that does not supply sufficient endorphin-neurotransmit-ter precursors and co-factors may also decrease the amount of natural opioids in the body. A diet high in alcohol not only directly decreases the natural opioids, but also decreases their production because of the poor nutrition from which a chronic alcoholic often suffers.

A Neurotransmitter Model of the Addictive Brain.

IT IS TIME TO PUT TOGETHER A MODEL of neurotransmitter brain function that helps us best understand the neurochemistry of the addictive brain and its relationship to emotions and a state of well-being. Neuro-transmitters in the normal brain interact in synergistic, complex patterns that produce a variety of mental and emotional states. In this discussion we are looking at the neurochemistry patterns that create a state of well-being, no stress, ease, peace, and inner contentment. This synergy is more complex than simply four neurotransmitters released in a linear sequence. These broad strokes, however, create the essence of a conceptual model for us. The flow starts with an ample amount of serotonin in the hypothalamus and involves several centers in the meso-limbic system of the brain. Serotonin stimulates an opioid called enkephalin, which is released in the hypothalamus to inhibit the release of GABA in the part of the brain called the ventral tegmental region. The inhibition of GABA allows the release of dopamine in the nucleus acc.u.mbens and in the hippocampus region of the brain. The dopamine then activates dopaminergic receptors, which creates a feeling of well-being. The inhibition of GABA also causes a release of norepinephrine in the hippocampus area of the brain, amplifying feelings of contentment and well-being. Proper regulation of the opioids with a balanced release of the enkephalinases is part of the regulation of this system.

When there are enough neurotransmitters and opioids, these pleasure centers are activated in a way that creates well-being. When there is a deficit somewhere in this complex system, people experience anxiety, urgency, angst, discomfort, irritability (with a consequent inability to cope with stress), aggressiveness, anger, hyperactivity, and the potential to experience low self-esteem. If pleasure-center stimulation is too low for comfort, one may be driven toward addictive behaviors in the attempt to both hyperstimulate the dopaminergic receptors and raise endorphins. Such people become driven to compulsive behaviors including drugs, s.e.x, overeating, and gambling. Compulsive behaviors may occur at an early age, along with other forms of deviant behavior in childhood, in an effort to relieve the discomfort. Affective disorders, especially depression, may also develop. Psychosis is another variation of the breakdown of this reward synergy. ADHD, Tourette's Syndrome, and post-traumatic stress disorders are also linked to this system.

A look at ADHD and Tourette's may deepen our understanding of this neurochemistry synergy. ADHD is the most common childhood behavior disorder. It affects 5 to 8% of boys and 2 to 4% of girls. About half of the children have significant symptoms into adulthood. Children with ADHD have a higher percentage of learning disorders and anxiety. Adoption and family studies show that ADHD is common in relatives of ADHD children. Significantly more ADHD children develop drug and alcohol addictions. One Swedish study showed that children with more severe ADHD symptoms had a higher percentage of alcoholism than ADHD children with less symptoms. Studies also showed that a higher percentage of ADHD relatives experienced depression and alcoholism than relatives of non-ADHD children. There is some obvious genetic overlap. We can hypothesize a gene that expresses as ADHD, alcoholism, depression, anxiety, and learning disorders. This fits well with the model. Tourette's Syndrome (TS) is also connected with this gene sequence hypothesis. Approximately 50 to 85% of those with TS have ADHD. People with TS also experience problems such as obsessive-compulsive disorders, learning disorders, depression, anxiety, sleep disorders, anger, irritability, and addictive behavior, with more drug and alcohol use in men and eating disorders in women.

There may be genetic changes that compromise other major neuro-transmitter activity. Serotonin is one of the main brain neurotransmitters. It seems particularly related to the functioning of the limbic system and emotions, as well as the prefrontal lobe areas a.s.sociated with concentration, thinking before acting, and motivation. It is no surprise that Dr. Comings' research found a significant decrease in serotonin levels in a study of 1440 TS and ADHD patients. He also found a significant decrease in tryptophan levels in these patients. Tryptophan is an amino acid precursor of serotonin. In my work with people with depression, anxiety, and drug and alcohol addictions, serotonin/tryptophan deficiencies are common. This overlap of low serotonin in all these syndromes suggests the possibility of a gene a.s.sociated with serotonin production. I find that a high percentage of people with tryptophan and serotonin deficiency benefit tremendously from supplementation with tryptophan and 5-hydroxy-tryptophan. In addition, I find that many of these people are deficient in phenylalanine or tyrosine, the precursors to dopamine and norepinephrine. I also frequently find low concentrations of GABA.

The point here is that the brain neurochemistry depends on a critical balance of neurotransmitters and opioid neurotransmitters. In many people with depression, anxiety, addictions, TS, and post-traumatic stress disorder this balance is disturbed. There may be separate genes that affect serotonin, dopamine, norepinephrine, and GABA production, and their expression may also be affected by genetic defects in the dopaminergic receptors, as seen with the D2A1 allele. The neurotransmitter deficiencies are a critical aspect of the addictive brain problem, but there is more.

Holistic Addictive-Brain Model.

IN ORDER TO BRING THE NEUROCHEMISTRY back into harmony we need to repair the results of chronic stress, poor diet, and mental and physical stress from chronic drug and alcohol use. Perhaps there is weak genetic expression and/or interrupted genetic expression because of poor germ plasm resulting from the poor nutrition of both parents; or damage to the brain and nervous system from poor prenatal, lactation, and post-natal nutrition. A total holistic approach is needed that includes treating the emotional and psychospiritual aftereffects of these biological problems.

In summary, we have a working model for beginning to significantly ameliorate a variety of general problems such as compulsive activity, depression, anxiety, ADHD, TS, post-traumatic stress syndrome, juvenile delinquency, some psychoses, a variety of addictions to food, s.e.x, drugs, and alcohol, and more.

Using the neurotransmitter models developed by others, I have created a complete holistic model to heal the addictive brain and all that is a.s.sociated with it. My model involves the expression of at least two sets of hypothesized synergistic genes: one set for serotonin production and receptor sites, and the other for dopamine production and receptor sites. There are probably additional gene sets for the expression of opioid-neurotransmitter production and receptor sites, enkephalinase production, GABA production and receptor sites, and other neurotransmitters. These genetic tendencies, which are the "hard wiring of the computer," are significantly impacted by the quality of the nutrition of both parents in terms of its effect on germ plasm health and prenatal nutrition for the developing nervous system and brain in utero. The quality of the germ plasm and prenatal nutrition can significantly impact the brain function of a newborn and set the stage for the full, partial, or zero expression of serotonin or dopamine neurotrans-mitter defects or other neurotransmitter genetic tendencies. Brain function is later impacted by infant, childhood, and adult nutrition. Many environmental toxins also play a role in the expression of disease and the addictive brain syndrome (with its concomitant drug and alcohol abuse, depression, anxiety states, etc.). These toxins include pesticide and herbicide exposure, both in the germ plasm, in utero, and post-birth; excess estrogen in milk and flesh products; radioactive fallout in utero and at birth. Also relevant are emotional stresses on the pregnant mother, and a variety of physical stresses on the mother such as insufficient vitamins, minerals, and essential fatty acids ([EFAs] like the long-chain omega-3 fatty acid, and docosa-hexaenoic acid [DHA], which is absolutely critical for normal brain-tissue development). The input of certain amino acids in a synergistic way can significantly improve neurotransmitter levels and positively affect the healing of this syndrome. Each neurotransmitter has a specific function and is affected by a variety of foods and drugs. I list the main ones below. I use these substances synergistically because I found that in cases of alcoholism, recovery from drug usage, and depression, people are often deficient in most, if not all, of these substances.

Endorphins create a feeling of pleasure, decrease cravings, and enhance feelings of love, laid-back joy, and euphoria. In high enough amounts they create ecstasy. Endorphins may also give relief from physical and psychological pain. Deficiencies of endorphins create a feeling of anhedonia (difficulty experiencing pleasure) and inability to give or receive love. Heroin, marijuana, alcohol, sugar, and tobacco can affect neurotransmitter sites. D-phenylalanine inhibits the activity of enkephalinase and therefore increases endorphin levels.

Serotonin helps maintain emotional stability, self-confidence, and a sense of well-being, and decreases alcohol and carbohydrate cravings. A deficiency of serotonin creates depression, a tendency to suicide, obsession, anxiety, insomnia, sweet cravings, and irritability. Sugar, marijuana, the drug "ecstasy," and tobacco affect the serotonin neurotransmitter site. L-tryptophan and 5-hydroxy-tryptophan are amino acid supplements that enhance serotonin production in the brain.

GABA (gamma amino butyric acid) creates calmness and relaxation and has anti-anxiety effects, and in some cases helps with insomnia when the mind feels too active. When there is a deficiency, the symptoms are free-floating anxiety, fearfulness, insecurity, insomnia, tendency to panic attacks, and cravings. Valium, alcohol, marijuana, and tobacco affect GABA function as a neurotransmitter. The supplements that increase the amount of GABA in the system include L-glutamine and GABA itself.

Norepinephrine gives energy, motivation, ambition, power, alertness, and a feeling of well-being. A deficiency seems a.s.sociated with lethargy, lack of energy, melancholy, and depression. Cocaine, speed, caffeine, tobacco, marijuana, alcohol, and sugar affect norepinephrine's neurotransmitter function. L-tyrosine and L-phenylalanine are precursors to norepinephrine.

Dopamine is the prime activator of the pleasure centers. It creates a feeling of well-being, ease, love, contentment, and inner peace. It decreases cravings. A deficiency creates angst, anxiety, depression, irritability, a sense of urgency, and lack of a sense of well-being. Cocaine, speed, marijuana, alcohol, tobacco, and sugar all interfere with its function as a neurotransmitter. L-tyrosine and L-phenylalanine are natural precursors. L-phenylalanine also seems to increase the number of dopamine receptors, a fact that is important because many people are born with a diminished A2D1 allele, which means that they have about one-third fewer dopamine receptors.