[Bxbhtjnr]

After my recent treatment, Dr. Steenblock advised avoiding certain foods. I asked him to write something up for the forum and here it is:

Thanks Dr. Steenblock



The place of food in the treatment of emphysema and other degenerative conditions revolves around what foods help prevent further deterioration and hopefully help rebuild the damaged tissues. Inflammation is the condition in which white blood cells are attracted to damaged and diseased tissues and release a variety of harmful chemical substances especially protein digesting enzymes. In the case of emphysema, the white cells release protein dissolving enzymes which break down the membranes that make up the small air sacs where oxygen is absorbed into the blood. As these membranes break down, you have less and less numbers of air sacs to absorb oxygen causing you to become shorter and shorter of breath. Infections are more common in emphysema because the tubes that take the air from your mouth to the small air sacs have been damaged by years of irritation from smoking, smog, infections, etc and this causes the tubes to stretch open more. This increase in diameter keeps these tubes from sweeping out the bacteria that would normally be swept out since the cilia that line these tubes are no longer long enough to reach into the middle of the tube to sweep all of the debris out. Thus some of the bacteria and other debris remains in the tubes and this irritiates the tissue and draws more white cells to this damage and this causes more damage and this damage stretches out the tubes more and the cycle keeps repeating so you keep getting worse and worse.
Once the tubes are stretched out and are larger in diameter than they should be, you need to treat the infections and try to stop the enzymes from digesting the tissues. Drinking more water and taking mucous liquifiers such as plain robitussin and N-acetylcysteine pills will help move the bacteria out of the lungs which helps stop the inflammation. Tetracyclines such as minocycline 100mg/day often should be taken routinely if you have had a chronic cough since this is a sign of ongoing lung infection and that you are having progressive damage to your lungs. This antibiotic kills the bacteria and also inhibits the enzymes that have been released by the white blood cells helping to prevent further tissue destruction.
White cells are made more aggressive by acidic foods, by the amino acid arginine which is found in high concentrations in all nuts and seeds and by endotoxins which are the byproducts of bacteria and yeast that live in the intestine. Once these bacterial cell walls get into the blood, the white cells become more active and produce more enzymes all of which makes them damage your tissues more and more. So avoid all nuts and seeds, avoid sugars and sweets since they increase the amount of endotoxins in your intestine that then can get into your blood. Take acidophilus and other probiotics since they help decrease the toxic effects of the endotoxins and help correct a chronically upset stomach and intestine. Increasing your fish oil to one tablespoon three times per day along with 3 capsules 4 times per day of evening primrose oil will help decrease the inflammation as well. Avoid all dairy products since they increase the mucous in the lungs and casein the protein found in milk since it is a pro-inflammatory agent by itself. Soy milk and soy products are anti-inflammatory. Alkaline foods such as greens are most helpful in decreasing inflammation and cleansing the intestine of endotoxins. Alcohol causes the white cells and phagocytic cells of the liver and spleen to not function well and this allows the agents of inflammation to remain longer in the circulation than normal. This creates more inflammation and destruction of the lung tissues. Any and all forms of alcohol should be eliminated. For that matter if you are still stupid enough to be smoking then you should pay someone to lock you in their basement for one month so that you can not possibly get your hands on any tobacco. Also you should play hypnosis tapes all day long about the importance of stopping inhaling smoke of any type. This includes marijuana. If you have to get a buzz, then get the marijuana in the form of food and eat your way into bliss. That way you will be avoiding further damaging your lungs. Having three different kinds of airconditioners in your bedroom is often also of importance and can make quite the difference. These three types are hepa, charcoal and electrostatic. They should be run continuously in the closed bedroom. When you go to bed, take off your clothes in the bathroom and take a complete shower especially your hair before going to bed in your sealed bedroom since your hair will carry dust and pollens in and onto your pillow which you will then breath all night. Breathing really clean air is an absolute to staying healthy. Finally, if you have a chronic cough that you can't seem to get rid of, ask your doctor to order a CT of the sinuses. Often chronic sinus infections have absolutely no symptoms but drain pus into your lungs continuously and this pus will slowly destroy your lungs and kill you so make sure that you don't have a chronic sinusitis. Antioxidant vitamins are helpful as well. These include vit C, E (mixed tocopherols), selenium, beta cartotene, vitamin D, pycnogenol, vitamin A, resveratrol, R-alpha lipoic acid, curcumin, EGCG, N-acetylcysteine (500 mg three times per day) and probably a few more I have forgotten. Onions and garlic makes the blood flow better through the small air sacs and this will help your oxygenation also but you must consume them at least two times per day with your food to get the most out of these foods. Thanks for reading this but the most important thing is to follow these guidelines! David Steenblock, DO www.stemcell.md

[FilmCriticAwezume]

Great article Barbara, it answered some very old question that I have had. I have been a very heavy smoker (45 years) and developed a chronic cough probably 15-20 years ago. A friend of mine recomended takeing Garlic to help it. I have been takeing 2000 - 4000 mg of garlic ever since and my cough went away sometime after I started.

My stem cell Dr. said I needed to quit smoking in order to get greater benifit from the cells, so I have finally quit. Still struggling but so far so good.

Thanks for answering some of my questions on the garlic treatment.

JP

[iiilizium]

JP Congrats on your quitting. I agree with most of what this article says and taking garlic the way you are is the simplest. However, one time I visited Gilroy, California which claims to be the garlic capitol of the world. I even tried garlic chocolate ice cream. I was with my mom and we were supposed to visit a couple of her friends that evening. The garlic started to come out of our pores even and by the time we got to their house, we reeked. One of the ladies opened the door and exclaimed that we must have been eating garlic ice cream because we smelled so garlicky. Maybe, next time I go to California, I had better detour to Gilroy for a day of healthy ice cream eating. It was probably the worst ice cream I ever ate, but I wanted to say I tried it. It is not something I will ever forget.