Kale and Green Drinks implicated in Thallium contamination toxicity

I was going to title this post, Hold the Kale and Green Drinks - Thallium contamination of Kale associated with arrhythmia… based on news from the current issue of Townsend Letter (January 2016), in a report on thallium (TI) as a heavy metal contaminant in human populations. I nearly put off reading it until later, but decided to learn more since long ago I had a thallium stress test and was curious if they’ve discovered a problem and fortunately, there is not. But after reading, I feel compelled to share this alert for many important reasons. Arrhythmia is not the main focus in the Townsend report but obviously, that's what caught my immediate attention. Thallium causes a lot of ailments not typically recognized as coming from thallium contamination.

The Re-emergence of Thallium as a Heavy Metal Contaminant of Human Populations
by Michael Rosenbaum, MD and Ernest Hubbard….. based on an interview with Nancy Faass, MSW, MPH

Thallium toxicity “rivals that of mercury and lead and is absorbed directly through the skin on contact, inhaled or consumed in foods or liquids.” The second paragraph hooked me into reading the entire report. It said:

“Our work in two pilot studies identified the presence of elevated levels of thallium in patient populations,which led to a third pilot project, documenting thallium in the present-day food chain in cruciferous vegetables such as kale.”

“We also noticed that patients with high thallium on the lab results had thallium-related symptoms. One patient, for example had severe arrhythmia (which later subsided when she stopped eating kale).”

My “Wow” response is an understatement. Considering the emphasis in recent years on healthy green drinks and green smoothies… plus kale chips and many other kale recipes, I’d think it’s very important for afibbers to assess their diet and if kale is a mainstay, then stop immediately and be your own ‘experiment of one.’ It certainly can’t hurt and if it improves your Afib, then that’s obviously a welcome and intriguing solution. I stopped several years ago because it’s well known that cruciferous vegetables in the brassica family (kale, maca, broccoli, cabbage, mustard, etc) are known to be thyroid hormone disruptors and I’ve always had a problem there…even though all my lab numbers are in the “normal” range. Apparently stopping kale intake doesn’t eliminate the contamination problem; rather thallium needs to be detoxified out of one’s system although the report indicates that people stopping kale began to feel better.

A Google search for the ranking of which brassica is likely to have more tendency to uptake thallium, indicates that kale isn’t typically mentioned high on the list… yet this report focuses on kale and is based on studies from 10 years ago and also very current pilot studies on how thallium acts in the body and seems to be very compelling information overall, especially considering other environmental sources of thallium exposure.

So… keep an open mind as you read these excerpts why thallium contamination can cause arrhythmia. And it’s not just arrhythmias but other neurological symptoms and disorders.

The information is compelling considering the increasing incidence of the related disorders identified and the fact that, most often, routine lab tests don’t screen for elevated thallium levels.

As might be expected, a Google search on this topic also brings up articles challenging the validity of the Kale/Thallium association.

Following are some of the details. Unfortunately, this particular report does not have a hyperlink to the complete online report as many of the Townsend reports often do. There are 14 references listed which I can copy/type if anyone is interested.

Brief points included that make the case for causing arrhythmia - (Quotes and paraphrasing from the report):

Thallium is highly toxic to the nervous system – “more than perhaps any other system”.. by upsetting the production of myelin which controls the speed of nerve impulse conductivity (slows down conduction). With myelin sheath breakdown, petit mal, grand mal seizures, arrhythmias, tremors, ataxias are triggered in early stages of myelin degeneration. This is consistent with thallium’s mechanism of action and sulfur and sulfur-containing bonds and interference with sulfur metabolism.”

“Thallium mimics the structure of potassium and the body is completely misled, responding as if the thallium were potassium. Thallium then can enter into all the metabolic processes that involve potassium… including “the major biochemical effect of potassium pumped inside cells, sequestered inside cells and exchanged with sodium to produce electrical discharges… or the functioning of nerves.”

Thallium interferes with the major enzyme ..sodium-potassium ATPase .. again interfering with the enzyme’s electrical transmissions and all of the functions such as sensation, motor ability, movement coordination and cognition. As an electron stealer, thallium overpowers potassium.

Thallium compromises new protein production used for healing, to make antibodies and create neurotransmitters.

Thallium toxicity needs to be ruled out in cases of:
Neurological symptoms… ataxia, tremors, seizures, arrhythmia, neuropathies, neuritis, autism.
Neurological disorders - cognitive disruption, ALS, Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s and other dementias
Conditions involving demyelination – MS and Gullain-Barre syndrome
Liver toxicity, renal dysfunction or failure
Energy-related conditions including fatigue
CFS and CFIDS
Alopecia
Idiopathic disorders

Symptoms of Chronic thallium exposure is known to cause
Fatigue
Headaches
Depression
Hallucinations, psychosis
Dementia
Poor appetite
Leg pain
Hair loss
Vision disturbances
And based on the foregoing… cardiac disturbances.

It’s noted that chronic poisoning can occur over a period of months or years while it accumulates to toxic levels. The progression of this toxicity and symptoms are similar to numerous other diseases so often goes un-recognized or detected.

Symptoms of acute exposure include: GI symptoms: nausea, vomiting and severe abdominal pain and in a matter of days – 2 – 5 – can affect the nervous system that begins with neuropathy of the feet, and then moving up the legs and thighs. People experience numbness, tingling, shooting pains and or burning sensations in the skin that can transverse up the body. People can develop ataxia, seizures and tremors.

A 2009 study published in Europe reports thallium bio-accumulates in the body and binds very tenaciously to the body’s sulfur tissue and while it is gradually detoxified in the liver, gall bladder and small intestine, about 50% is resorbed right back into the body through enterohepatic recirculation.

Arrhythmia may occur even in the absence of physical tremors.

Thallium in the Food Chain – Connecting the Dots ...Paper from 2006, Uptake of Thallium from Artificially Contaminated Soils by Kale… Czechoslovakian article stated “It can be concluded that the ability of some plants of the brassica family that are planted as common vegetables to accumulate thallium is very high and can be a serious danger for food chains.”

Uptake of thallium from artificially contaminated soils by kale (Brassica oleracea L. var. acephala)
ABSTRACT
A pot (container) experiment focused on the study of factors influencing thallium transfer from contaminated soils into kale (green cabbage, Brassica oleracea L. var. acephala, variety Winterbor F1) was evaluated. Three different types of topsoils with naturally low content of thallium (heavy, medium and medium-light soil) were used.. The soils were contaminated with thallium sulfate to achieve five levels of contamination (0, 0.52, 2.10, 4.20 and 5.88 mg/kg). There were six replicates for each combination (90 pots in the experiment).

The first part of the experiment started in the year of contamination (2001) and continued in 2003. The soil samples and the samples of kale (leaves and stalks were sampled separately) were collected and analysed. Kale was found to be able to accumulate Tl without any influence on yield. The highest thallium concentration was found in the leaves of kale in the first year of the experiment and reached 326 mg/kg dry matter. Bioaccumulation factor (Biological Absorption Coeffici- ent - BAC) was found to be over 80 during the first year of the experiment. In the third year the BAC was around 3 for the soil with the highest pH and the highest organic matter content but as high as 15 for an acid soil with the lowest content of organic matter and the lowest Cation Exchange Capacity (CEC) of soils. The content of thallium in the leaves of kale was found to be 7 to 10 times higher than in the stalks in the third year. In the first year this ratio was up to 18.

From these findings it can be concluded that the ability of some plants of Brassicacea family, that are planted as common vegetables, to accumulate thallium is very high and can be a serious danger for food chains. Neutral soils high in CEC and organic matter are able to bind thallium more effectively than poor acid soils and the transfer of Tl into plants from these soils is substantially lower. The uptake of Tl from contaminated soils into kale can be very high and without any negative effect on the plant growth. The transfer of Tl into kale decreases with the time necessary to reach the equilibrium between the added Tl and the soil (ageing of a sample).

Testing for Thallium
The urine collection provocation agents (EDTA and DMSA) that work well for lead, mercury and cadmium do not work for thallium. Although provocation does not appear to be necessary, the authors found using a zeolite supplement, OREA, appears to increase thallium excretion. They think Doctor’s Data (lab) is best suited for this type of testing. Hair analysis is used less frequently.

Treatment
The authors are using Prussian Blue. Sometimes activated charcoal helps and the OREA form of zeolite is helpful. Some evidence also indicates chlorella binds thallium. They say thallium is harder to detoxify than any other heavy metal known. They note that “with dietary exclusion of Kale and using OREA, within 60 – 90 days, there was a substantial decline and especially in three people who had significant symptoms and thallium in their urine.”


July 7, 2015 an article entitled Vegetable Detectives was published on a blog that serves about 150,000 readers (www.Craftsmanship.com) and later featured on Salon.com, Huffington Post and at least 10 other blogs and the Dr. Oz show aired a segment on 10/09/15.

Conclusion
“In these pilot projects, we were able to demonstrate on a small scale that both thallium in the urine and symptoms started to abate with a reduction in the intake of cruciferous veggies. This is an important finding, because if patients continue to replenish the source of thallium every day with kale green drinks or stir-fried vegetables, event the best chelation of thallium is going to be hampered by a continual replenishment.

A second article will be published in a forthcoming issue of Townsend Letter with additional (and surprising) information on potential sources of thallium in the food chain, including organic baby food, and updates on (equally surprising) responses from the organic food industry.”

Financial disclosure… The OREA producers contributed to the first study but not in any way to the second or third pilot studies. The authors, Michael Rosenbaum, MD and E. Hubbard used their own funds and laboratory gear. The company that produces OREA was not involved in the third study in any way, eliminating conflict of interest.

Source:
Townsend Letter – The Examiner of Alternative Medicine
Port Townsend, WA
330-385-6021
Subscriptions [www.townsendletter.com]


My quick searches on this topic:

Orea - Life Health Science [www.lhscience.com]

[www.motherjones.com]

Results RNA's ACZ Zeolite Extra Strength said to reduce thallium by 234% in 12 hours after provocation
[www.resultsrna.com]

[www.vox.com]

[www.agriculturejournals.cz]

[www.researchgate.net]

[www.kiwiscience.com]

Reference 12. From this report:
Uptake of thallium from naturally-contaminated soils into vegetables
• [www.tandfonline.com] Published online: 20 Feb 2007
Jana Pavlíčkováa, Jiří Zbíralb, Michaela Smatanováb, Petr Habartaa, Pavlína Houserováa & Vlastimil Kubáňa*

Abstract
Thallium transfer from naturally (pedogeochemically) contaminated soils into vegetables was studied. Three different types of top-soil (heavy, medium, and light) were used for pot experiments. The soils were collected from areas with low, medium, and high levels of pedogeochemical thallium (0.3, 1.5 and 3.3 mg kg−1). The samples of vegetables were collected and analysed. The total content of thallium in soil and the type of soil (heavy, medium and light), plant species and plant variety were found to be the main factors influencing thallium uptake by plants. The uptake of thallium from soils with naturally high pedogeochemical content of this element can be high enough to seriously endanger the food chain. These findings are very important because of the high toxicity of thallium and the absence of threshold limits for thallium in soils, agricultural products, feedstuffs and foodstuffs in most countries, including the Czech Republic.

===End.

I tried to proof for typos. Threw this together in a hurry, so sorry if I've missed something.

Let's see what else we can find about the thallium contamination and arrhythmia connection and add it to this thread.

Happy New Year to all ... Wishing every heart NSR and good health.

Jackie

For me, staying away from the brassica family seems to improve my thyroid function. For two months I didn't eat any of these types of foods and my TSH reading went down from 6.2 to 4.4. And when I started to eat these foods again, the reading went back up.

I think I had heard about the kale findings before. Question: Could green food supplements such as "Living Fuel Supergreens" talked about in Todd Bollinger's series, The Truth About Cancer, a Global Quest, be a problem as well? All ingredients are organic even though it contains kale, spinach, broccoli, and beet root.

I am starting to wonder what vegetables can you eat. Corn usually is genetic modified. Potatoes is high in carbohydrates which causes a rise in sugar. Plus, the Paleo diet tells you to stay away from all potato products, sweet potatoes, and yams. Tomatoes, eggplant, peppers, squashes, cucumbers, and pumpkins contain lectin (according to Dr Gundry list of forbidden lectin foods) which also can be bad for you. Dr. Gundry writes about gluten free diets and says gluten is just one kind of lectin. Now, you have your green foods such as kale, spinach, broccoli, etc. Personally, I can't eat a lot of spinach on a daily basis. It affects my colon giving me pain.

Maybe moderation and variety is the key.

Marsh



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 12/30/2015 10:46AM by Marsh.

Here is where you can find information on Dr. Gundry: Dr. Gundry's comments on lectins



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 12/30/2015 10:45AM by Marsh.

Thanks, Marsh, for your comments. I do recall hearing that in the Truth About Cancer series... thanks for the reminder... I'll go back and check that again... to see what I may have missed or forgotten.

Perhaps in addition to avoiding the known food sensitivity culprits (for us individually), the key to safe eating is "variety" and not consistently eat the same things day after day and/or multiple times a day. That makes shopping and meal prep a bit more challenging, but at least gives a chance to avoid accumulations or creating subtle intolerances.

The lectin issue is certainly problematic for many and certainly rules out many other foods. This clip is from the Dietary Enlightenment Tips for the New Year post this past March:

Another major grain culprit, lectins, (invisible thorns that protect plants), even more damaging than gluten and found in many common foods including wheat and legumes, are known to promote the formation of fatty streaks, mature arterial atherosclerotic plaque and chronic, low-level inflammation from inflammatory cytokine production. “…Wheat Germ Agglutinin (WGA) is a lectin glycoprotein shown in clinical studies to cause damage to gut lining, joints, kidney, pancreas and the brain since it is able to cross the blood-brain barrier as research identifies this as a neurotoxic substance.

WGA is also “cardiotoxic” to the lining of arteries, leading to invisible damage, inflammation and atherosclerosis and is well known to promote platelet aggregation/clumping and clot formation. Potentially ‘toxic’ lectin-containing food groups include:

• Grains, especially wheat and wheat germ but also quinoa, rice, buckwheat, oats, rye, barley, millet and corn. (including sprouted wheat)
• Legumes (all dried beans including soy and peanuts), soy oil and peanut oil
• Dairy (more so when cows are fed grains instead of grass) based on research showing transference of lectins into breast milk and dairy.
• Nightshades (potato, tomato, eggplant and pepper) ” [4,9]
Source: [www.afibbers.org]

It's often mentioned that high-quality digestive enzymes taken with every meal and a high quality, high-count quality probiotic daily help keep the entire GI tract more functional... once you have identified those foods that are reactive to your specific, biochemistry and uniqueness. There are specific compounds that help facilitate the breakdown of difficult- to-digest proteins that contain high protease or proteolytic enzyme complexes that seem to help in some cases.

Thanks for the Gundry link. I'll be reading.

Be well,
Jackie

The "Living Fuel Supergreens" does have protease 6.0, protease 4.5, protease 3.0, peptidase, alpha-galactpsodase, cellulase, hemicellulase, and pectinase prorietary complex. I'm not sure what these ingredients are. It also has probiotics, amino acids and anitoxidants as well as vitamins and minerals.

Jackie:

With all of the foods that are on your list of foods that are problematic, what do you eat?

I have been reading Dr. Don Colbert's book "Let food be your medicine" which by the way is disappointing. Colbert talks about various ailments and gives names of foods which one should avoid or eat. Most often they are the same food, throughout the book he says to avoid wheat and corn products, he believes in a modified Mediterranean diet which includes beans and other legumes (says to eat some everyday) salads, nuts, oats, millet, brown rice. He says to eat red meat in just 3 to 6 ounce portions once or twice a week, chicken, turkey and eggs in 3 to 6 oz portions a few times a week, he doesn't believe in a lot of meat. Claims that the Modified Mediterranean diet is the best anti-inflammatory diet in the world.

I tried eating just a small amount of meat and instead ate more beans, I do eat vegetables and fruit (mostly apples and oranges now), well, this doesn't work for me I have not felt good the last few days, tried, no energy, headache. I have to eat meat for my protein not beans, my blood sugar must have dropped very low, once I ate some meat I felt much better.

I am trying to get my Systolic reading down as it is higher than I would like, the diastolic reading is fine, which could be a reason for my AF episodes. But, not eating much meat plus more legumes isn't working for me. Colbert also says that the Nightshade plants may cause BP problems, I do eat tomatoes/tomato sauces which I grow and can.

Some on this board believe in the Paleo diet, no beans legumes, I have lower blood sugar so I can't do some of these diets as they appear to lower blood sugar, I believe a modified Paleo diet is best for me.

I grow most of my veggies and a lot of my fruit so I don't know if Thallium is a problem for me, I have never had my soil tested guess I will do that next year.

Liz

Marsh:

Brassica plants, cabbage, Brussel sprouts, etc. will cause your TSH to rise (hypo), but you would have to eat them everyday. You can however eat them cooked without any problems, I raise cabbage and so eat cole slaw plus cooked cabbage, I seem to be OK with it, but don't overdo it. Also, I found I had a problem with my thyroid when I got a bread that was made with millet, it made me hypo, so I stay away from anything with millet in it.

Liz

Liz,

I to have read Dr Colburt's book and for me I need to eat meat to keep my blood sugar level from going low.
Is there available an afibbers diet?? What does the modified paleo diet consist of.

You may try pomegranate juice (100% pure) to lower BP

Colin

Elizabeth,

I feel the same as you - what do you eat? I have started cooking those vegetables from the Bassica family. The cooking method seems to give me less gas. I have been staying away from wheat products and even beans to see how I feel. As a result, I do have less gas. I have been eating more meat protein. However, from what I have read, meat protein can make your body more acidic which can lead to inflammation. Some suggest this could lead to cancer. An alkaline body is suppose to be better for you. But, when I eat meat protein, I have more energy and feel better.

This is why sometimes I fall back on Dr. Peter D'Adamo's book, Eat Right For Your Type recommended to me by a natural doctor. He gives you a diet for your blood type dividing the diet into categories - highly beneficial foods, neutral foods, and avoid foods. For my blood type (type A), he suggests eating meat no more than 3x a week. He does suggest eating beans but only certain types. Black beans are okay for me but not red kidney beans. But, in the series, the Truth About Cancer, black beans can cause inflammation as well and one shouldn't be eating them on a regular basis. The author of this book does recommend eating grains, 5-9x a week. I am not so sure I agree with him from my reading books on grains and the possibility of the grains affecting the brain. I don't know too much about this author and I am not sure about his experience.

Like Liz, it would be nice to have an afibbers diet. And, I have been wondering as well, what does the modified paleo diet look like? I will have to research Dr. Colburt. There are so many diets out there, it gets confusing. And, everyone's body chemistry is different.

Marsh

I too have type A neg blood and the diet sounds good for me, with a few exceptions. When I read my "type" no loud noises and yoga for
exercise, and other things that I did, I was mightily surprised as it suited me to a T.

I am going to read further into it. I too need some meat protein for energy.

The focus of this Thallium Contamination alert was to share the new finding about not eating a lot of veggies that contain thallium. That means eliminating some of the cruciferous veggies and specifically Kale as reported in Townsend’s publication. Eliminating these veggies certainly can be a positive step to avoid thallium accumulations which were noted as contributing to arrhythmia.

Regarding eating plans and specifically one for afibbers, keep in mind that while various eating plans can be helpful as guidelines, each person is “individually or biochemically unique.” Following is a commentary about the principles of biochemical uniqueness offered by Jeffrey Bland, PhD who wrote the introduction to Biochemical Individuality. Jeff Bland is “ an internationally-recognized leader in the nutritional medicine field for over 25 years.” (1)

This helps explain why a specific diet or eating plan works wonders for one person but is sabotage for another. A similar book is Eat Right for Your Type by Naturopathic Physician, Peter D’Adamo, N. D.(3) His highly successful eating plan…4 blood types and 4 diets… has been used for years as it immediately addresses some of the fundamental dietary intake problems caused by food incompatibilities and blood types. It’s a good start for those who haven’t recognized that connection and testimonials are abundant from those who enjoyed major health improvements by eliminating foods incompatible for their blood type. It makes perfect sense.

For Afibbers, we have basic dietary guidelines based on functional nutrition that includes a focus on what heart cells and componentry need for optimal functionality; but there again, the ‘uniqueness’ of the individual may override the general plan. As we know from experience, the fundamentals involve core nutrients to keep electrolytes optimized, support for the production of ATP and optimizing mitochondrial function and alkalinity to enable making new cells. All hearts need those basics. And avoiding substances that damage or impair cells from that optimal functionality such as too much sodium, calcium, alcohol that kills heart cells or damages neurons, and so forth is basic, requisite strategy for afibbers.

Fundamental to the body’s requirements also includes knowing what elements are essential…such as you absolutely must consume more than 1,000 calories a day to support functionality. Less that results in a breakdown of the whole system and catabolism in the body’s attempt to survive . Calories need to be nutrient-filled and not the empty calories of junk food which are typically high carb and damaging fats. Proper amounts of protein intake are also required for functionality… a minimum of 60 mg a day… to higher amounts depending on body size and activity levels. Healthy fats are also included in requisite nutrients.

It’s known that the body functions very well when adapted to using healthy fat for fuel. Avoiding trans fats, hydrogenated commercial oils such as soybean oil, canola, sunflower… anything high in Omega 6’s, and focusing on healthy fat including pure, expeller pressed coconut oil, extra-virgin olive oil, organic butter, Omega 3 fish oils and healthy fat contained in organic meat. Those who have hypoglycemic problems can regulate that nicely by adding coconut oil several times a day as a stabilizer. Fruit consumption tends to produce insulin spikes and the resulting lows cause hypoglycemic events which not only can be a trigger for Afib, that also can make one feel terrible. Some low carb fruit can be eaten with meals or with a fatty snack such as almond butter or coconut oil, but when eaten alone, it’s known to be a problem in those who have marginally-stable glucose handling mechanisms.

Hypertension often crops up in our ‘senior’ years and functional medicine practitioners point out that can be due to less efficient kidney function where kidneys fail to sequester or hold on to the critical electrolytes as efficiently as they once did. Drugs can lower the numbers but don’t correct the underlying problems which may involve a dysfunction or dysregulation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis (HPAA) where chronic stress (as an example) adversely catecholamine production…. so assessments there are in order.

The bottom line is, we are all genetically unique but the overall approach to health and longevity is a clean diet that provides continual alkalinity so that our cells have the voltage needed to make new cells, clean lifestyle and avoidance of environmental toxins and pollutants that can change or influence the basic functionality of our body as nature intended.

Remember: From the 2012 Alkalinity, Healing, pH and Voltage - The Inside Story post:

A. Requirements to make new cells
1. Voltage
2. Raw materials: proteins (amino acids), fats, vitamins and minerals to make it all work. [www.afibbers.org]


Biochemical Individuality: The Key to Understanding What Shapes Your Health
Roger J. Williams, PhD.. Introduction to the 1988 edition by Jeffrey Bland PhD (2)

What are the characteristics of a "classic book"? Is it the timelessness of the message? The insight which spurred the development of a field? The contribution to a new way of thinking that significantly improved the state of society? Or the ability to see the "obvious" in a way that had never been seen before and so well communicated?

The book Biochemical Individuality, authored by the late world-renowned biochemist Roger Williams, Ph.D., first published in 1956, fulfills all of these characteristics. It is a book that should be on the bookshelf of all students and practitioners of modern molecular medicine. It is with great admiration and respect that I have the privilege of writing the introduction to the republication of this timeless work.

Molecular medicine was a term used by two-time Nobel laureate in chemistry and peace Linus Pauling, Ph.D., in his landmark article on the mechanism of production of sickle cell anemia published in 1949. [1] It defined a new perspective on the origin of disease based upon the recognition that specific mutations of the genes can create an altered "molecular environment" and therefore the modified physiological function associated with specific diseases.

Dr. Williams contributed to the evolution of the understanding of the molecular origin of disease with the development of the concept of biochemical individuality. He described anatomical and physiological variations among people and how they related to their individual responses to the environment. He was the first to gain recognition for the term "biochemical individuality" and how this related to differing nutritional needs for optimal function among different people.

He pointed out that even identical twins could be different in their needs for optimal function based upon the fact that they developed in different environments in utero. Although identical twins share the same genes, their differing nutrition and developmental environments can result in different expression of the genes as they grow older.

In the 1980s the field of biochemical individuality became fashionable within science as a consequence of the progress made in understanding the molecular biology of the gene. The Human Genome project represented a major international commitment of scientists to understand the genetic code of life by sequencing the human chromosomes.

As this story has unfolded from laboratories around the world, its implications have been revolutionary in terms of how medicine views genes and their function. The genetic structure is no longer seen as "rigid" as previously considered. Rather, as Bishop and Waldholz pointed out in their book Genome, "aberrant genes do not, in and of themselves, cause disease. By and large their impact on an individual's health is minimal until the person is plunged into a harmful environment. . . . The list of common diseases which has its roots in this genetic soil is growing almost daily. . . . How many human ills will be added to the list is unknown, although some contend that almost every disorder compromising a full and healthy four score and ten years of life can be traced in one way or another to this genetic variability" (Simon and Schuster, New York, 1990).

The first major breakthrough that resulted in this revolutionary change in thinking about the origin of disease was the recognition that we are much more different biochemically than was previously acknowledged.[2] Dr. Williams in Biochemical Individuality pioneered this revolution in thinking forty years ago. Genetic polymorphism is the term which has emerged in the past decade to describe this variation in function surrounding a specific genetic trait.

The second major breakthrough in thinking made by Dr. Williams is the recognition that nutritional status can influence the expression of genetic characteristics.[3] Once again Dr. Williams foresaw this important concept in Biochemical Individuality and set in motion research and discoveries over the past four decades that have transformed medicine. It is now well recognized that our genotype gets transformed into our phenotype as a consequence of nutritional, lifestyle and environmental factors which are important in determining our health patterns.

In 1976 Dr. Williams and his colleague Donald R. Davis, Ph.D., co-authored a paper entitled "Potentially useful criteria for judging nutritional adequacy" in which they provided observations about how nutritional status can influence the functional expression of the genes. They pointed out that phenotypic characteristics such as voluntary consumption of food, sleeping time after anesthesia, weight gains after surgery, heating time after surgery, hair growth after clipping, voluntary sugar consumption and recovery time after poisoning could all be influenced by nutritional influence on gene expression.[4]

The concept of biochemical individuality has become part of most contemporary clinical and experimental medical and nutritional research. People are now known to fit into personally unique biochemical profiles based upon their own genetic structure, nutrition and environment.[5] There is no such thing as a truly "normal" individual-meaning average.

We are all biochemically unique and need to be dealt with as such. The Recommended Dietary Allowances (RDAs) which were developed by the Food and Nutrition Board of the National Research Council to establish the nutritional needs of "practically all healthy people" were not based upon the more recent information concerning the range of biochemical individuality among individuals. The RDAs that describe "normal" nutritional needs have questionable relevancy to the concept of optimal nutrition based upon individual needs. The contributions of Dr. Williams have opened the door for personally tailored nutritional and medical interventions that take biochemical individuality into account.

Some of the world's foremost nutrition and medical researchers are now actively involved in developing a better understanding of the field which Dr. Williams pioneered. Rucker and Tinker from the University of California at Davis, Department of Nutrition, have described the role of nutrition in gene expression and its relationship to biochemical individuality as "a fertile field for the application of molecular biology."[6] It is now well known that significant biochemical diversity occurs in such physiological functions as the ability the individual to detoxify both exogenous and endogenous s stances, the control of blood cholesterol, the metabolism of the potentially harmful amino acid homocysteine, and the response certain cancer genes to the diet and environment. These are all examples of how nutritional status can influence disease patterns based upon biochemical individuality.

Dr. Williams coined the term "genetotrophic disease" to describe diseases which resulted from genetically determined nutritional metabolic needs not being met by the individual and which result in poor gene expression. Motulsky has recently argued that many the common degenerative diseases are the result of the imbalance nutritional intake with genetically determined needs for good health.[7]

The genetic concept with which most nutrition and medical searchers grew up intellectually before the contribution of Dr. Williams was that of Gregor Mendel. His concept of dominant recessive genetic characteristics gave us the belief that our characteristics are "locked in stone" when the sperm meets the egg. Dr. Williams opened the eyes of the research communities that expression of genes and therefore phenotypic function was modifiable through altered diet and nutritional status. He pointed out human biochemical variation in function was much greater than nutrition and medicine recognized prior to his publications.[8] Simopoulos has stated that "of all the recent scientific advances contributing to our understanding of the role of nutrition in disease prevention and the variability in human nutrient needs, the recognition of genetic variation as a contributing factor must rank am the highest."[9]

Dr. Williams made this complicated story easy to understand and compelling to health scientists and the general public alike. His clarity of thought and language helped open up this field which been dominated by Mendelian thinking for nearly one hundred years before the publication of Biochemical Individuality. In one of lectures at which I was in attendance he responded to an inquiry as to why the RDAs were not sufficient to define a person's nutritional needs with the simple insight, "Nutrition is for real people. Statistical humans are of little interest."

It is very timely that Biochemical Individuality is being reprinted over forty years after its initial publication, and that it is even more timely today than at the time of its original publication. By all definitions, Biochemical Individuality fulfills the definition of "a classic" and should have an honored place among the principal reference books of anyone interested in health and nutrition.

Jeffrey S. Bland, Ph.D
HealthComm International, Inc
Gig Harbor, WA
________________________________________
References
1. Pauling L, Itano HA. Sickle cell anemia: a molecular disease. Science 1949; 110:543-548:
2. Motulsky AG. The 1985 Nobel Prize in physiology and medicine. Science 1986; 231:126-127.
3. Holtzman NA. Genetic variation in nutritional requirements and susceptibility to disease: policy implications. Am J Clin Nutrition 1988 48:1510-1516.
4. Davis DR, Williams RJ. Potentially useful criteria for judging nutritional adequacy. Am J Clin Nutrition 1976; 29:710-715.
5. Robertson EA, Young DS. Biochemical individuality and the recognition of personal profiles with a computer. Clin Chemistry 1980; 26:30-36.
6. Rucker R, Tinker D. The role of nutrition in gene expression: A fertile field for the application of molecular biology. J Nutr 1986; 116:177-189
7. Motulsky A. Nutrition and genetic susceptibility to common diseases. Am J Clin Nutrition 1992; 55:1244S-1245S.
8. Motulsky A. Human genetic variation and nutrition. Am J Clin Nutrition 1987; 45:1108-1113.
9. Simopoulos AP. Genetic variation and nutrition. Nutrition Today 1995 30: 157-167.
________________________________________
From the back cover of the 1998 edition:
Biochemical Individuality explains why:
• some of us are better at detoxifying drugs and chemicals
• the harmful amino acid homocysteine may or may not cause heart disease
• cancer genes respond in different ways to diet and environment
• some people are alcoholics or diabetics
• low fat diets cause some people to gain weight
• one person needs higher levels of a nutrient than another to be health

Biochemical Individuality: The key to understanding what shapes your health
Roger J. Williams, Ph.D.
Keats Publishing, New Canaan, CT; 1998.
ISBN: 0-87983-893-0 Copyrights: 1956, 1984. Printings: John Wiley & Sons: 1956, 1963; University of Texas Press: seven printings between 1969-1988.
=====

References
(1) [www.jeffreybland.com]
(2) [www.anapsid.org]
(3) [www.amazon.com]

A Healthy and Happy New Year to all!

Jackie



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/31/2015 02:06PM by Jackie.

Anyone know anything about Prussian blue, listed above as a substance that helps detoxify thallium? Is it a prescription item?

Thanks, and Happy New Year to all!

--Lance

Colindo:

I call it a modified Paleo diet as I believe that the Mediterranean and the Paleo diet are both good but each on its own is restrictive. I need to eat more meat than the Med. diet says to eat and I think eating legumes, beans are, which the Paleo diet, says not to eat is wrong. So, I believe in eating legumes and meat, so I call it my modified Paleo diet, could be a modified Med. diet also.

I am cutting out wheat and corn products and see what that will do with my BP, I have started taking a supplement from Dr. Colbert which is supposed to help with bringing down BP, it has Olive leaf extract, celery seed extract, grape seed extract and Mag.Bisglycinate chelate. Pomegranate juice and the raw fruit is very healthy, I do eat the fruit when in season, I will pick up some juice.

Liz

Apparently Prussian Blue is available only by prescription (in the US) <[emergency.cdc.gov] <[www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov] <[www.fda.gov] It is a common dye, but the FDA says people should not take the common dye.

Thanks, George.

Yes, now that I look at it, the CDC site you mention has a stern warning: "People SHOULD NOT take Prussian blue artist's dye in an attempt to treat themselves. This type of Prussian blue is not designed to treat radioactive contamination and can be harmful."

--Lance

Lance… a number of Google hits focus on using Prussian Blue for radioactive decontamination of cesium… in contaminated water from the Fukushima nuclear accident and in cattle to reduce the radioactive cesium content of milk and meat after the Chernobyl.

And there is this link or reference from the Wikipedia report on decontamination procedures for thallium; however, it obviously is done for extreme contamination and under highly specialized treatment supervision.
[www.bt.cdc.gov]

And this link for the FDA website on the PB topic [www.fda.gov]

Jackie

You can order from these guys (likely with prescription) <[www.heyltex.com]

Here are a few links to articles that balance the argument against kale because of supposed possible dangerous levels of thallium:

[www.medicaldaily.com]

[www.today.com]

[www.huffingtonpost.com]

[www.healthnewsreview.org]

[www.vox.com]

Good Reading!

John

Hi John and thanks for posting these links.

It will be interesting to see the second segment published in Townsend letter since they don't typically publish speculative reports. I'll post notes when it's published.

As I initially commented, the compelling items worth noting to me were the patient who found arrhythmia subsided when stopping Kale....plus the biophysics of thallium interfering with sodium potassium ATPase which causes interference with electrical transmission in nerves was highly interesting implication and plausible enough for afibbers who are also high consumers of Kale. Hopefully we will have some posts on those afibbers who eliminate Kale and what they notice..

Time will tell how the connection plays out.

As the old saying goes, 'where there's smoke, there's fire' ...Meanwhile, I'm continuing to read anything related to the topic.

Jackie

Jackie,

We seem to be focusing on kale and possibly eliminating kale from the diet, but is the message here, if all this is confirmed, that all members of the brassica family should be avoided because of this thallium issue? (Let's keep the thyroid issue to the side, for now.)

Thanks!

--Lance

Lance - Yes... two issues. Sorry for the lack of clarity.

Apparently, some of the brassicas tend to accumulate thallium more than other types... Kale 'stood out' because of the popularity of green drinks using kale. In the report, the interviewer says: This seems hugely important because currently the green drink du jour is that kale-based green drink...and Dr. Rosenbaum agreed, saying:" Kale has become the icon of the green movement."

That said... reminders have always been present to avoid cruciferous veggies (or brassicas) known as goitrogens- especially raw in those with thyroid issues. Steaming renders them less harmful... but some practitioners don't totally agree.

Also cruciferous veggies are useful in getting rid of excess estrogen... so as in so many cases, the individual's total lab profile comes into play. It's obvious if you have a thyroid problem such as Hashimoto's auto-immune thyroiditis, avoidance of brassicas is a must.

Goitrogens are substances (whether in drugs, chemicals, or foods) that disrupt the production of thyroid hormones by interfering with iodine uptake in the thyroid gland. This triggers the pituitary to release TSH, which then promotes the growth of thyroid tissue, eventually leading to goiter. (Wikipedia).

However, if it's proven extensively that various brassicas tend to naturally accumulate thallium, then that's a whole other issue and big problem as to whether any amount of cooking will reduce the toxic effects of thallium. So I'd think anyone with arrhythmia who eats an abundance of kale and other cruciferious veggies might want to stop to see if that has a positive effect in recurring Afib. It's certainly easy enough to do and no Afib as a result would be most welcome, I'm sure. Beats an ablation any day in my book.

Jackie