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  • From: "Tradingpost" <tradingpost@gilanet.com>
  • To: livingontheland@lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: [Livingontheland] White flour contains diabetes-causing contaminant alloxan
  • Date: Tue, 18 Oct 2005 09:08:02 -0600


Again, Old Ways to the rescue. Those of you grinding your own grains may
have another reason to avoid refined storebought flour. We know refining
strips flour of nutrients to retard spoilage, but there's a villain, added
alloxan. Throw that in with McDooDoo's burgers & fries with MSG and
hydrogenated oil, and you need additional life insurance.

paul, tradingpost@gilanet.com
http://medicinehill.net

The care of the Earth is our most ancient and most worthy, and after all
our most pleasing responsibility. To cherish what remains of it and to
foster its renewal is our only hope.
- Wendell Berry
---------------------------

http://www.newstarget.com/008191.html

White flour contains diabetes-causing contaminant alloxan
See more articles on alloxan
Posted Jun 2, 2005 PT by Dani Veracity

You may want to think twice before eating your next sandwich on white
bread. Studies show that alloxan, the chemical that makes white flour look
"clean" and "beautiful," destroys the beta cells of the pancreas. That's
right; you may be devastating your pancreas and putting yourself at risk
for diabetes, all for the sake of eating "beautiful" flour. Is it worth it?

Scientists have known of the alloxan-diabetes connection for years; in
fact, researchers who are studying diabetes commonly use the chemical to
induce the disorder in lab animals. In the research sense, giving alloxan
to an animal is similar to injecting that animal with a deadly virus, as
both alloxan and the virus are being used specifically to cause illness.
Every day, consumers ingest foods made with alloxan-contaminated flour.
Would they just as willingly consume foods tainted with a deadly virus?
Unless they had a death wish, they probably would not. Unfortunately, most
consumers are unaware of alloxan and its potentially fatal link to diabetes
because these facts are not well publicized by the food industry.

How does alloxan cause diabetes? According to Dr. Hari Sharma's Freedom
from Disease, the uric acid derivative initiates free radical damage to DNA
in the beta cells of the pancreas, causing the cells to malfunction and
die. When these beta cells fail to operate normally, they no longer produce
enough insulin, or in other words, they cause one variety of adult-onset
type 2 diabetes. Alloxan's harmful effects on the pancreas are so severe
that the Textbook of Natural Medicine calls the chemical "a potent
beta-cell toxin." However, even though the toxic effect of alloxan is
common scientific knowledge in the research community, the FDA still allows
companies to use it when processing foods we ingest.

The FDA and the white flour industry could counter-argue that, if alloxan
were to cause diabetes, a higher proportion of Americans would be diabetic.
After all, more consumers consume white flour on a regular basis than are
actually diabetic. This point is valid, but it does not disprove the
alloxan-diabetes connection. While alloxan is one cause of adult-onset type
2 diabetes, it is of course not the only cause. As the Textbook of Natural
Medicine states, "current theory suggests an hereditary beta-cell
predisposition to injury coupled with some defect in tissue regeneration
capacity" may be a key cause. For alloxan to cause injury to an
individual's beta cells, the individual must have the genetic
susceptibility to injury. This is similar to the connection between
high-cholesterol foods and heart disease. Eating high-cholesterol foods
causes heart disease, especially in people who have family histories of
heart disease. The link between alloxan and diabetes is as clear and solid
as the link between cholesterol and heart disease.

If you've been eating white bread for years and you have a family history
of diabetes, all hope is not lost for you. Studies show that you can
reverse the effects of alloxan by supplementing your diet with vitamin E.
According to Dr. Gary Null's Clinicians Handbook of Natural Healing,
vitamin E effectively protected lab rats from the harmful effects of
administered alloxan. Now, you're not a lab rat, but you're a mammal and
vitamin E is definitely worth adding to your daily regimen of nutritional
supplements, especially if you have a history of eating foods made with
white flour and are at high risk for diabetes.

Even if you are already diabetic, some simple changes to your diet can help
treat your diabetes. First of all, stop eating foods made with white flour.
Even though you already have diabetes, vitamin E supplements can still help
you, as can many common foods. Garlic, for example, does wonders for
diabetes. As Dr. Benjamin Lau states in his book Garlic for Health, "When
fed garlic, the rabbits' elevated blood sugar dropped almost as much as it
did when they were given the antidiabetic drug tolbutamide. Researchers
postulated that garlic may improve the insulin effect."

If you can't handle the taste of natural garlic, you can take it in widely
available supplements. Aloe vera is a traditional diabetic remedy in the
Arabian Peninsula, and its therapeutic characteristics are now gaining
worldwide acceptance in the treatment of diabetes. According to both human
and animal research studies, aloe vera lowers blood glucose levels by an
unknown mechanism. According to the Clinicians Handbook of Natural Healing,
this natural hypoglycemic effect extended over a period of 24 hours. Adding
onions to your diet (along with the garlic) can also significantly reduce
your blood sugar level. Additionally, as Dr. Michael T. Murray writes in
The Healing Power of Herbs, studies show that ginseng controls glucose in
both diabetic humans and diabetic laboratory animals.

It all comes down to asking if putting yourself at risk for diabetic coma,
blindness, limb amputation and death is worth eating white bread. If you're
willing to risk your quality of life and your life itself, then go ahead
and eat all the foods made with white flour you want. However, if you want
to stop poisoning yourself with alloxan, a known toxic chemical, then make
a few simple dietary changes. Eat groceries (see related ebook on
groceries) made with whole-grain wheat flour, not processed white flour.

The experts speak on alloxan
Animal experiments have shown that animals which have their Beta cells
destroyed by alloxan are able to regenerate Beta cells after a few months
when taking GS, a herb grown in India. The Beta cell is the cell that
produces insulin. Diabetics needing insulin treatment (Type 1) have been
able to decrease their insulin after GS therapy.
A Physicians Guide To Natural Health Products That Work By James Howenstine
MD, page 112

In the mid-1980s, however (when herbal remedies again were popular), pata
de vaca's continued use as a natural insulin substitute was reiterated in
two Brazilian studies. Both studies reported in vivo hypoglycemic actions
in various animal and human models. Chilean research in 1999 reported the
actions of pata de vaca in diabetic rats. Their study determined that pata
de vaca was found to "elicit remarkable hypoglycemic effects," and brought
about a "decrease of glycemia in alloxan diabetic rats by 39%." In 2002,
two in vivo studies on the blood sugar-lowering effects of pata de vaca
were conducted by two separate research groups in Brazil. The first study
reported "a significant blood glucose-lowering effect in normal and
diabetic rats."…
The Healing Power of Rainforest Herbs by Leslie Taylor, page 382

When beta cells in the pancreas fail to secrete enough insulin, the body
loses its ability to metabolize carbohydrates and to reduce glucose levels
in the bloodstream. Researchers believe that some people have weak free
radical defenses in these beta cells, and that free radical damage to DNA
in beta cells, resulting in dysfunction or cell death, helps cause
maturity-onset diabetes. It is known, for example, that many
chemicals—including alloxan, paraquat, and certain chemotherapeutic
agents—can stimulate excessive production of oxy radicals in the nuclei
of beta cells.
Freedom From Disease by Hari Sharma MD, page 94

...nearly two decades later, researchers at RNT Medical College in India
induced diabetes in rabbits with intravenous injections of alloxan. When
fed garlic, the rabbits' elevated blood sugar dropped almost as much as it
did when they were given the antidiabetic drug tolbutamide. Researchers
postulated that garlic may improve the insulin effect by either increasing
the pancreatic secretion of insulin or by releasing bound insulin.
Garlic for Health by Benjamin Lau MD PhD, page 22

Commercial yeasted breads, even the whole-grain varieties, often have other
problems. They typically contain flour bleach, which forms alloxan, a
compound known to cause diabetes in animals by destroying the beta cells of
the pancreas (Clinical Nutrition Newsletter, Dec. 1982). …
Healing With Whole Foods by Paul Pitchford, page 452

Insulin dependent diabetes mellitus is generally recognized to be due to an
insulin deficiency.1 Although the exact cause is unknown, current theory
suggests an hereditary beta-cell predisposition to injury coupled with some
defect in tissue regeneration capacity. Causes of injury are most likely
hydroxyl and other free radicals, viral infection, and autoimmune
reactions. alloxan, the uric acid derivative used to induce experimental
diabetes in animals, is a potent beta-cell toxin, causing destruction via
hydroxyl radical formation.
Textbook of Natural Medicine Volumes 1-2 by Joseph E Pizzorno and Michael T
Murray, page 1197

In this study, mice received intraperitoneally melatonin in doses ranging
from 100 to 450 mg/kg. Results showed that such treatment proved plasma
glucose increase due to alloxan-induced pancreatic toxicity.
The Clinicians Handbook Of Natural Healing by Gary Null PhD, page 88

Bleached white flour. Not only have the bran and germ been stripped away,
but bleached flour also contains a substance from the flour bleach
(alloxan) which causes diabetes in animals. Unbleached white flour should
also be avoided since it is stripped of essential nutrients.
The Enzyme Cure by Lita Lee with Lisa Turner & Burton Goldberg, page 123

When fed garlic, the rabbits' elevated blood sugar dropped almost as much
as it did when they were given the antidiabetic drug tolbutamide.
Researchers postulated that garlic may improve the insulin effect by either
increasing the pancreatic secretion of insulin or by releasing bound
insulin.
Garlic for Health by Benjamin Lau MD PhD, page 22

Aloe vera also exhibits a hypoglycemic effect in both normal and
alloxan-induced diabetic mice. A small human study shows benefit in
diabetics. Five patients with non-insulin dependent diabetes ingested half
a teaspoonful of aloe 4 times daily for 14 weeks. Fasting blood sugar in
every patient fell from a mean of 273 to 151 mg/dl with no change in body
weight. The authors concluded that aloe lowers blood glucose levels by an
unknown mechanism….
Textbook of Natural Medicine Volumes 1-2 by Joseph E Pizzorno and Michael T
Murray, page 587

Results of this study showed that rats given vitamin E before being
administered either streptozotocin or alloxan provided protection against
the diabetogenic effects of each. It was also observed that rats with a
depleted antioxidant state due to a vitamin E and selenium-deficient diet
showed increased diabetogenic susceptibility to normally nondiabetogenic
doses of streptozotocin.
The Clinicians Handbook Of Natural Healing by Gary Null PhD, page 312

Noting that the dried sap of the aloe plant to be a traditional diabetic
remedy in the Arabian peninusla, this study examined its ability to reduce
blood glucose levels in 5 non-insulin-dependent diabetics and in Swiss
albino mice made diabetic with alloxan. Results showed that the intake of
1/2 teaspoon of aloes daily for 4-14 weeks signficantly reduced the fasting
serum glucose level fell in all patients. Fasting plasma glucose was
significantly reduced in diabetic mice by glibenclamide and aloes after 3
days.
The Clinicians Handbook Of Natural Healing by Gary Null PhD, page 369

This study examined the effects of exudate of Aloe barbadensis leaves (oral
administration of 500 mg/kg) and its bitter principle (ip administration of
5 mg/kg) on plasma glucose levels of alloxan-diabetic mice. Results showed
that the hypoglycemic effect of a single oral dose of aloes on serum
glucose level was insignificant in while that of the bitter principle was
highly significant and extended over a period of 24 hours.
The Clinicians Handbook Of Natural Healing by Gary Null PhD, page 369

Ginseng exerts numerous pharmacological effects in humans and laboratory
animals, including … improved glucose control in humans and diabetic
(alloxan-induced) rats; ….
The Healing Power of Herbs by Michael T Murray ND, page 269






  • [Livingontheland] White flour contains diabetes-causing contaminant alloxan, Tradingpost, 10/18/2005

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