From the Desk of Carolyn Dean MD ND
My thoughts on the alternative medicine trend to avoid copper, histamine, oxalates, and lectins is that it is overkill. There was a similar trend in the 1980s when I first practiced medicine to avoid anything that seemed toxic or allergenic. I saw how difficult it became for a particular population segment who had a minimal diet and lived away from civilization to avoid air, food, water, and electrical pollution. I realized avoidance wasn’t a viable therapeutic option. That’s why I set about proving that saturating the body with stabilized mineral ions, food-based vitamins, and essential fatty acids allowed the body to adapt to the changing environment. I think many of the symptoms of sensitivity to the above substances are due to nutrient deficiencies.
It’s been quite impressive to see people climb out of their bunkers and embrace life again as their genius bodies responded to the building blocks that inform the whole body of its perfection.
Copper Toxicity
I learned about copper toxicity in the late 1970s when Dr. Carl Pfeiffer set the naturopathic community on its ear when he identified the scourge of copper toxicity. Copper toxicity comes from copper water pipes, copper IUDs, and copper fungicides contaminating water supplies. Copper compounds jam up copper receptor sites and simultaneously cause toxicity and copper deficiency. The solution is to use bioavailable copper as a picometer-sized, stabilized ion. Stabilized copper ions will displace toxic copper compounds, eliminating them and their adverse effects.
Yes, copper is found in trace amounts in many foods: whole grains, potatoes, beans, nuts, seeds, and green vegetables. There are high amounts of copper in oysters and liver, but those are two foods that are not eaten regularly.
The Iron, Copper Connection
Iron and copper are associated with ceruloplasmin, the transport protein for copper. When you have average amounts of ceruloplasmin, copper is adequately bound and cannot become toxic.
Ceruloplasmin (CP) has another vital function besides ferrying copper around the body. There are six copper ions in each molecule of CP. It’s a lifesaver because CP binds up free iron so that it can’t be used to feed infectious organisms that want to increase their territory in your body. Bioavailable copper, which is necessary to make CP, is crucial to keep iron-regulated.
So, instead of donating blood to the point of anemia, perhaps improving your ceruloplasmin status with sufficient bioavailable copper will suffice.
I always like to promote the building blocks for maintaining essential body functions. The building blocks for ceruloplasmin are food-based vitamin C complex, vitamin A, and copper.
Histamine
Basophils and mast cells defend against parasites, viruses, and bacteria by producing two chemicals: heparin and histamine. Heparin is a blood-thinning substance that most people don’t realize is naturally produced in the body. Histamine widens blood vessels and increases blood flow to infected tissues to help remove toxins.
Histamine intolerance is an increasing problem in chronically ill individuals. It can occur when there is an overgrowth of bacteria that encourages basophils to overproduce histamine. The amount of histamine may overwhelm the body’s enzymes to break down.
You can control histamine without having to avoid all histamine foods in two ways. Magnesium is a natural antihistamine, especially well-absorbed picometer magnesium. Also, basophil function can be balanced with picometer silver because silver ions attach to white blood cell membranes and help fight infection: the less infection, the less histamine released and the less chance of histamine overload.
Instead of using natural means to control histamine production, allopathic medicine says that basophils are implicated in multiple human diseases, including autoimmune disorders, inflammatory disorders, cancer, allergies, and asthma. They imply that basophils may be problematic in these conditions. Still, I say that if basophils are working correctly, which includes having silver ions to assist them, they are likely to be very helpful in the conditions mentioned earlier.
Oxalates
We’ve had a few customers complain about oxalate sensitivity and ask what can be done. Clinical studies show us that increasing magnesium intake to bind calcium in the gut can decrease oxalate absorption. We also know that magnesium can help bind oxalates to help prevent oxalate kidney stones. Customers have reported that taking picometer magnesium has reduced their sensitivity to foods high in oxalates.
What About Lectins?
I won’t say much about lectins other than it turns out that eating foods with a high amount of active lectins is rare. One reason is that lectins are most potent in their raw state, and foods containing them are not typically eaten raw. Cooking, especially boiling or stewing, and soaking in water for several hours, can inactivate most lectins because they are water-soluble and typically found on the outer surface of a food, so exposure to water removes them.
Carolyn Dean MD ND
The Doctor of the Future
