Nearly everyone has a theory about why Americans are so fat. The easiest way to arrive at a conclusion is to generalize, which would lead us to the theory that all Americans just eat too much. However, doing so denies the fact that some people watch what they eat very carefully and exercise regularly but still gain weight. This is where an intriguing theory from homeopathy expert Dana Ullman, MPH, comes in. She suggests that our country’s collective weight gain may be directly related to our overuse of antibiotics. Antibiotics? Yes, you read that right. Many people will find his theory provocative as it makes a connection between two very pervasive health issues.

Ullman starts by pointing out that antibiotics are already known to make animals fat. Farmers regularly dose livestock with antibiotics, the ostensible purpose of which is to ward off disease; but these drugs also disrupt metabolism of fat by altering the balance of microbes in the animals’ guts. The result is fatter cows and fatter profits for the food industry. Ullman suspects the same processes are at work when humans take antibiotics that end up disrupting digestion.

Too Much of a Good Thing?

We already know that when it comes to antibiotics, we’re taking the bad with the good. There’s no question that these drugs can bring about miraculous recovery from illnesses that once claimed many lives. They play an important role in modern medicine. But scientists have long voiced concern that antibiotics are also destructive, especially when used indiscriminately, which they often are. Many patients “demand” antibiotics whenever they have a sore throat or a cough, for example, and doctors too often comply. Research verifies that doctors write untold numbers of antibiotic prescriptions annually for people with colds, the vast majority of which are caused by viruses that antibiotics can’t even fight! Remember that antibiotics are poisons, albeit useful ones.

While it was once controversial, no one today disputes that the excessive use of antibiotics has fueled antibiotic resistance and the evolution of superbugs such as antibiotic-resistant Staphylococcus aureus and tuberculosis. Furthermore, few people argue with the contention that antibiotics disrupt intestinal function, which is, as you’ll see, is the crux of the antibiotics-obesity connection.

Making the Case: Antibiotics and Obesity

While they suppress bad disease-causing microbes, antibiotics simultaneously decrease beneficial flora, leading to unintended consequences. Women know, for instance, that taking antibiotics for an infection often brings on a vaginal yeast infection, the result of diminishing the organisms that normally control the body’s yeast population. That’s not the only such example, however:

Antibiotics have nearly eradicated Helicobacter pylori bacteria here in the US and in other developed countries. This is an impressive advancement, since it was discovered in the 1980s that certain strains of H. pylori are linked with ulcers and gastric cancer. Yet eradicating H. pylori has some surprising consequences since these bacteria are also involved in mediating ghrelin, an important hormone involved in hunger and fat regulation.

It’s also known that many species of healthful bacteria which are involved in metabolizing and storing fat and other nutrients live inside the colon. Digestion is disturbed when the normal bacteria balance gets changed, leading to problems such as constipation and malabsorption of nutrients higher up in the system. It’s not much of a leap to wonder whether all these things may be contributing to rising obesity rates.

Scientists Agree

Ullman is in excellent company with his questions concerning antibiotics and obesity. Research from diverse places, including Cornell University, Emory University, the University of Colorado and Stanford University School of Medicine conclude that antibiotics are related to inflammatory processes that eventually result in metabolic syndrome and diabetes, both related to excess weight. At the Marseille School of Medicine in France, investigators using data from the food industry concluded that antibiotics act as growth promoters in animals, the researchers speculate that the drugs might likewise be contributing to the obesity epidemic in humans.

One cycle of antibiotics will not make you fat, Ullman concedes. Yet physicians commonly prescribe repeated rounds of these drugs for recurrent infections, acne and more. By disturbing broad swaths of microbes, frequent use of antibiotics will eventually render your inner ecosystem far more vulnerable.

If you must have antibiotics, talk to your medical doctor or a naturopathic physician about how to restore the proper balance of bacteria to your body. If you are obese, you may also want to consider having your gut bacteria levels checked as well.

Ullman emphasizes that antibiotics must be handled with great care and be used sparingly. “Antibiotic” literally means “anti-life,” he notes. And it really shouldn’t come as a surprise that they could be dangerous in more ways than we know.

Reprinted with the permission of:
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Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) bacteria presents a medical conundrum — while the gut bacteria has been implicated in ulcers and stomach cancer, it also seems to confer protection against other health problems, including esophageal cancer. What’s a person to do? One helpful strategy might be to eat broccoli sprouts. It seems they are a natural way to help maintain H. pylori at a level that is helpful, not harmful.

The benefits of broccoli sprouts and your health.

Sitting right next to the much more popular alfalfa sprouts in groceries and health-food stores, these “baby broccoli plants” are even better for you than in their grown-up form. New research from Tokyo University of Science and Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine investigated how regular consumption of broccoli sprouts affected people with H. pylori infection, the frequent cause of peptic ulcers and stomach cancer. The study included 48 H. pylori-infected adults who were randomly assigned to consume 70 grams a day (about two and one-half ounces) of either broccoli sprouts or alfalfa sprouts. Researchers found that after eating broccoli sprouts for eight weeks, participants significantly lowered biomarkers for H. pylori while those who ate alfalfa sprouts did not show this benefit.

Jed W. Fahey, ScD, a faculty research associate in the department of pharmacology and molecular sciences, was a study coauthor. He told me that the active component against the bacterium is a phytochemical called sulforaphane. This natural substance induces and boosts some of the body’s protective anti-inflammatory enzymes and also has antibiotic properties particularly effective against some strains of H. pylori. Broccoli sprouts are a much more potent source of sulforaphane than is even the freshest broccoli, Dr. Fahey said.

A dietary source to combat H. pylori is excellent news for many people. Estimates indicate that 50% of Americans harbor the bacteria, though they don’t always have symptoms. However, when the H. pylori runs rampant and causes infection, treatment can be tough; typically it involves taking two different antibiotics simultaneously, often in addition to a bismuth preparation or an acid-suppressing protein-pump inhibitor. The end result of all this is, quite often, yet another ulcer — and, in about 20% of patients, it doesn’t even solve the problem.

Broccoli sprouts offer a natural alternative and an easy and tasty way to combat H. pylori. Note, however, that the protective effect fades if you stop eating the sprouts, so you should eat broccoli sprouts regularly (two to three times a week). Dr. Fahey points out that they keep for several days in the refrigerator and are wonderful in salads, sandwiches and wraps.

Source(s):

Jed W. Fahey, ScD, faculty research associate, department of pharmacology and molecular sciences, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland.

Reprinted with the permission of:
Bottom Line Publications/Daily Health News
Boardroom Inc.
281 Tresser Blvd., 8th Floor
Stamford, CT 06901
www.BottomLineSecrets.com