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Alternative-Doctor Allergy and Overload Pages


Natural toxins in foodstuffs

To those who think "herbal" means safe, natural and nurturing, I like to
point out that deadly nightshade (belladonna), opium, hemlock and
digitalis are all herbs €“ but very dangerous indeed!

In fact Nature has seen fit to endow a number of plants with the
capacity to synthesize substances that are toxic to humans and other
animals. Ingesting them may produce unpleasant consequences which are
not allergic but may become confused with an allergy. As I reported in
THE FOOD ALLERGY PLAN (Unwins, London, 1985), humans are probably able
to tolerate the majority of foods only because of the discovery of fire,
which cooks away toxins (although several plant toxins are heat-stable).

Farmers and veterinarians, who are more advanced in clinical ecology
than many doctors, have known for years that animals become sick if they
graze on certain types of plant (for example, bulls become enraged if
they eat loco weed €“ 'loco' being Spanish for crazy). Many plant
substances are toxic to humans in quite small quantities, including
deadly nightshade, acorns and hemlock. Ricin, the toxic principle in
caster seeds (Ricinus communis), is one of the most poisonous substances
known: a minute drop on a needle at the tip of an umbrella was used in
an infamous political assassination on the streets of London in 1978.

The fact is that all plants, including edible ones, contain quantities
of poisons. Carrots, for example, contain a nerve toxin: caratotoxin.
And someone once pointed out that if cabbage had to undergo the tests
that drugs are now subjected to before being pronounced fit for humans,
it wouldn't pass. Obviously, most often the amounts of poison in foods
are tolerable. Toxicity is a matter of degree.

There are a number of interesting groups of plants toxins in our food
supply. To understand them a little may help you work out some
mystifying food reactions that defy even the advice given here in this
book!

Lectins

Lectins are large protein molecules; they are toxic and also mimic
allergies. Lectins are widespread and may be up to 20 per cent of the
protein content of plants, especially of seeds and pulses. They have the
curious property of imitating antigen-antibody reactions without
actually sensitizing the immune system.

Anti-enzymes

These interfere with body enzymes such as trypsin (a protein digestive
enzyme). In experimental animals this interference has been shown to
cause retarding of growth, abnormal hypertrophy (enlargement) of the
pancreas and, in the case of prolonged feeding, even the formation of
cancer of the pancreas. Soya-bean protein derivatives have been shown to
retain some of this effect, leading to concern that infants fed on soya
milk might suffer growth retardation.

Goitrogens

Goitrogens are substances causing goiter or thyroid enlargement. Soya-
bean extract is in this category and goiters have been seen in human
infants fed with soya milk. Iodine appears to counter act this effect,
so infant soya milks are fortified with iodide as a precautionary
measure.

Goitrogens are a common constituent of plans belonging to the Crucifer
family (cabbage, turnip, swede, broccoli, cauliflower, kale brussel
sprout, rape and mustard seed). An epidemic goiter seen in Tasmania is
probably due to milk from cows fed on kale and turnips.

Oestrogens

There are naturally occurring oestrogenic compounds in many plants.
These heat-stable compounds are capable of eliciting an oestrogenic
response (feminization) in experimental animals. Recently much interest
has focused on so-called "phyto-oestrogens", some women like to use
these substances in the belief that they are somehow a natural
alternative to medication for hormone imbalances. This is partly
deluded, in that pseudo-oestrogens in plants are not the human hormone.
It is possible to manufacture natural human hormone, such as
progesterone from plant sources (such as diascorea from the wild yam)
but this requires a whole factory manufacturing process and chemical
formulations: not what I personally accept as a "natural" substances.

Moreover excess oestrogens are bad for males and equally harmful to
women already suffering from oestrogen dominance, a condition where
oestrogen is not balanced by opposing progesterone, causing bloating,
water retention and extreme mood changes. Therefore oestrogens,
naturally occurring in plants or not, are potentially toxic.

Nerve Toxins

Also known as cholinesterase inhibitors, these affect chiefly animals,
causing paalysis and sometimes death, though humans are occasionally
afflicted. Lathyrism, a condition associated with high intake of
lathyrus bean (chickpea family), is a kind of paralysis.

Poisons

These include prussic acid and its precursors, nicotine, solanin,
atropine and a host of others.

Antinutrients

Antinutrients are substances that interfere directly with the absorption
of vitamins, minerals and other nutrients.

Phytate occurs in several plant groups, particularly grains and also the
pulses. These are known to chelate, that is, combine with and remove,
valuable minerals such as calcium and magnesium and trace elements such
as zinc, copper and iron, which are vital for health.

Flatulence Factors

The pulses (peas and beans) are especially noted for this effect. The
cause is low molecular weight oligosaccharides (simple sugars), namely
raffinose and stachyose. Flatulence is generally attributed to the fact
that humans do not possess the enzyme alpha 1,6-galacto-sidase necessary
for breaking down these sugars. Blowing off? see flatulence section

Psychogenics

There is growing interest in drug-like substances in plans. Well-known
are the psychedelic substances such as those in marijuana and peyote
cactus; the coca plant gives rise to cocaine and the opium poppy is
notorious for its forbidden juices. But there have been opium-like
alkalodis called exorphins, and many other pharmacologically active
substances, found in plants. These may have beneficial effects as well
as unwanted ones.

Alkaloids

These are small organic molecules, usually comprising several carbon
rings with side chains, one or more of the carbon atoms being replaced
by a nitrogen (which confers the alkalinity). About 7 to 10 per cent of
all plants contain alkaloids, of which several thousand are now known.

Famous alkaloids include nicotine, quinine, strychnine, ergotamine and
atropine. The less toxic ones, such as caffeine, are used for pleasant
social effects. The powerful ones are hallucinogens (cannabis, LSD and
mescaline).

The well-known food allergy effect of addiction, where withdrawal from
the food causes unpleasant symptoms, may be due at least in part to the
addictive properties of alkaloids present in the food.

The action of alkaloids on the nervous system is generally to disrupt
electrochemical transmission at nerve junctions (synapses), either
preventing transmission (as in the case of the plant poison curare) or
enhancing it inappropriately (as, for example, physostigmine). Locoism,
referred to above, is of this latter class.

Outbreaks of food poisoning due to solanine (from potatoes), tomatine
(tomatoes) and dioscorine (yams) have all been reliably observed in
either humans or domestic animals. Death due to alkaloid overdose is
fortunately uncommon in humans; in Socrates' case (hemlock) it was
deliberate murder by the state. But subclinical alkaloid intoxication
occurs all the time. The 'edible' nightshades (potatoes, tomatoes,
capsicums, pepers) are especially rich sources, but cabbage, peppercorns
and many other foodstuffs are not far behind.

Exorphins

These are morphine-like peptides derived from partially digested grain,
milk and legume proteins. Pharmacologically they behave, when tested on
isolated tissues, very much like morphine, hence the name. It is
reasonable to propose that in people whose intestinal digestion of these
foodstuffs is incomplete, exorphins are absorbed and have the effect of
a small dose of an opiate drug-for example, patients who take wheat bran
and find their constipation gets worse. On the plus-side, the well-known
effect of pleasant somnolence after a meal is probably also due to
morphine-like activity.

Milk sickness

A disease known as milk sickness, characterized by weakness, nausea and
collapse, has occasionally reached epidemic proportions in certain parts
of the US. It probably caused the death of Abraham Lincoln's mother. The
name derives from the fact that the disease is brought on by drinking
milk from cow made ill with a disease known as the trembles. This was
eventually tracked down to the consumption, by cattle, of a plant known
as snake root (Eupatorium rugosum), containing the chemical tremetone.

Along the same lines, lupin alkaloids have been known to be transferred
to human beings via goat's milk. Birth abnormalities have been reported
and, significantly, lupin alkaloids have the same effect on goat
offspring.

Caffeine Family (Methylxanthines)

It is commonly forgotten that caffeine and theobromine (which occur in
tea and coffee) are toxic substances. Taken in sufficient quantities
they can cause cerebral oedema (so-called 'water on the brain),
convulsions and even death, though no one has ever been able to
establish tissue damage caused by chronic ingestion at normal levels.

Salicylates

Salicylates are aspirin-like chemicals that occur in many fruits and
vegetable. They tend to cause pharmacological rather than allergic
reactions. Adverse reactions are dose-related and only occur in
sensitive individuals who have a constitutional predisposition.

Hypertensive Substances

These are aromatic amino compounds such as serotonin and norepinephrine
(noradrenalin), which constrict blood vessels and thereby elevate the
blood-pressure. Such substances occur in chocolate, pineapple juice,
avocado, alcohol and cheese.

--
Oz
This post is worth absolutely nothing and is probably fallacious.

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