Re: Blood-brain barrier and food?

[Guest guest]

....I'm curious what particular foods might help you to be alert and sharp

instead of being in a fog? Improving my diet hasn't really helped much. There

must be something else that is causing my brain not to get the fuel it is

needing. Any

ideas?...

You say you've improved your diet, but have you paid attention to your

blood-sugar/insulin levels. Having them out of balance can cause this. You may

be having good foods, but if you're eating carbs on their own (without enough

protein and fat) or going for long periods without eating at all, this could be

the problem.

Cheers,

Tas'.

[Guest guest]

Hi Robin,

The fog in the brain feeling is common with allergic reactions to

some foods and also environmental chemicals(car exhaust,cleaning

supplies, etc)or it can also happen with candida overgrowth. I used

to have all of the above. You could be tested for allergens and

candida.

I hated that brain fog feeling. I couldn't concentrate long enough to

read the a comic strip from one end to the other. I mean ONE SINGLE

comic strip not the whole slew of them! It was awful. My heart goes

out to you. You can get over this problem, once you know what is

causing it.

I don't think there is much, if anything, which doesn't cross the

blood brain barrier. Someone please correct me if this is wrong.

Thanks.

How long has it been since you made changes in your diet and what

are they?It sometimes takes quite a while to see resutls after

changing your diet.

Sheila

> What exactly does it mean for a food to cross the blood-brain

> barrier? I fight brain fog a lot of the time and have wondered

what

> this statement means, and what those foods are. From the

statement,

> I'm assuming there are foods that can't cross the blood-brain

> barrier, why? Naturally, I'm curious what particular foods might

> help you to be alert and sharp instead of being in a fog?

Improving

> my diet hasn't really helped much. There must be something else

> that is causing my brain not to get the fuel it is needing. Any

> ideas?

>

> Robin

[Guest guest]

>What exactly does it mean for a food to cross the blood-brain

>barrier? I fight brain fog a lot of the time and have wondered what

>this statement means, and what those foods are. From the statement,

>I'm assuming there are foods that can't cross the blood-brain

>barrier, why? Naturally, I'm curious what particular foods might

>help you to be alert and sharp instead of being in a fog? Improving

>my diet hasn't really helped much. There must be something else

>that is causing my brain not to get the fuel it is needing. Any

>ideas?

>

>Robin

If you aren't already avoiding gluten ... try avoiding it! If you have gluten

intolerance it causes proteins to cross the barrier and create

opiods it the brain, which may be what cause brain fog!

If you don't eat gluten, then the next suspects would be:

1. Casein (does the same thing for some folks).

2. Lack of sunshine

Sunshine, exercise, and fish seem to be the best bets

for keeping " sharp " . And a regular wake up and bedtime.

Vit B's help too.

-- Heidi

[Guest guest]

>I don't think there is much, if anything, which doesn't cross the

>blood brain barrier. Someone please correct me if this is wrong.

>Thanks.

Actually, it is very difficult to get stuff to cross the blood-brain

barrier, that is why it is called a " barrier " :--) Dr. Fasano has been

studying it, to find a way to deliver drugs to the brain. Zonulin

breaks down the barrier ... and zonulin gets produced when you

are gluten-intolerant (and probably other intolerances). Once you

have zonulin, I suspect you have brain-fog.

-- Heidi

[Guest guest]

> Blood-brain barrier and food?

>

>

>What exactly does it mean for a food to cross the blood-brain

>barrier? I fight brain fog a lot of the time and have wondered what

>this statement means, and what those foods are. From the statement,

>I'm assuming there are foods that can't cross the blood-brain

>barrier, why?

It's really nutrients in foods that can cross the BBB not *food* itself (too

big :-), as well as a few other things like mercury (and maybe other heavy

metals - but I'm not sure about that). I'm only aware of one nutrient common

in foods that crosses the BBB (due to my limited knowledge of this subject)

and that's alpha lipoic acid. In fact, ALA is widely used to chelate mercury

from the brain because of it's ability to cross the BBB and to chelate

mercury.

Others have mentioned foods that may cause brain fog, but be sure not to

rule out mercury poisoning, especially if you have dental amalgams in your

mouth, which are the most significant source of the body burden of mercury.

Suze Fisher

Lapdog Design, Inc.

Web Design & Development

http://members.bellatlantic.net/~vze3shjg

Weston A. Price Foundation Chapter Leader, Mid Coast Maine

http://www.westonaprice.org

----------------------------

“The diet-heart idea (the idea that saturated fats and cholesterol cause

heart disease) is the greatest scientific deception of our times.” --

Mann, MD, former Professor of Medicine and Biochemistry at Vanderbilt

University, Tennessee; heart disease researcher.

The International Network of Cholesterol Skeptics

<http://www.thincs.org>

----------------------------

>

[Guest guest]

--- In , " Suze Fisher "

> Others have mentioned foods that may cause brain fog, but be sure

not to

> rule out mercury poisoning, especially if you have dental amalgams

in your

> mouth, which are the most significant source of the body burden of

mercury.

So much good information everyone. Thank you. I have largely cut

gluten out of my diet and bake with sourdough. Heidi, I did not

know that gluten can cause a breakdown in the BBB. How dangerous.

That would mean that things are getting into your brain that should

not be going there. Did I understand that correctly?

As far as the mercury goes, Suze, I have a mouth full of it. I have

read up on it some and have heard such conflicting things that I'm

not sure what to do. This one website that I came across seems to

be offering a chelating agent that is better than the others I've

read about. What do you all think about what they have to say? At

times I feel like having the dentist just yank out my mercury filled

teeth and put in porcelain ones.

http://www.awakennutrition.com/faq.html

Are there any other foods, besides the ones mentioned, that can

cause the BBB to open up when it's not supposed to?...very

interesting (and disturbing) about the cholesterol lowing

medication. Can you recommend some sources that I can look into for

this? I have several family members who take cholesterol lowering

medication.

Robin

[Guest guest]

> Re: Blood-brain barrier and food?

>

>

>--- In , " Suze Fisher "

>

>> Others have mentioned foods that may cause brain fog, but be sure

>not to

>> rule out mercury poisoning, especially if you have dental amalgams

>in your

>> mouth, which are the most significant source of the body burden of

>mercury.

>

>As far as the mercury goes, Suze, I have a mouth full of it. I have

>read up on it some and have heard such conflicting things that I'm

>not sure what to do.

The best thing to do is to get rid of it!

This one website that I came across seems to

>be offering a chelating agent that is better than the others I've

>read about. What do you all think about what they have to say? At

>times I feel like having the dentist just yank out my mercury filled

>teeth and put in porcelain ones.

>http://www.awakennutrition.com/faq.html

I don't know much about PCA, but I know a WAPF chapter leader in Ohio thinks

highly of it. However, I must warn you that Andy Cutler warns sternly

against using any chelating agent while amalgams are still present. (He

" screamed " at me in all caps today on the list when I said I

was considering using a chelating agent *during* amalgam removal. he said

" DON'T DO IT! " lol.) He says it can cause permanent neuroligical damage. For

background, he is a chemist who suffered amalgam illness (mercury poisoning)

himself, and cured himself of it. He's also author of " Amalgam Illness:

Diagnosis and Treatment " . So far, he is the researcher I trust most on this

issue. I don't think he's perfect, but he's VERY sharp. For example, he's

adament about not relying on abstracts for any reliable info, and says that

you must read the original research and sometimes the original data to

understand the actual findings of a study. He's very critical of folks who

troll medline and forward a bunch of abstracts as their " proof " on a topic,

as one researcher did to me when I posted something questioning the

conventional wisdom about the toxicity of vit. A. He's also a WAP fan :-)

In any case, I've decided NOT to use any chelating agents till my amalgams

are out. And unless you've read research that absolutely convinces you this

is safe to do, I'd suggest not doing it. Keep in mind that you're getting

chronic daily leakage of mercury vapor from your amalgams into your body.

And as long as your amalgams are present, it's possible (I've been told

" more than " possible) that chelating agents will draw *more* mercury out of

your amalgams. Not a good thing.

The list has a ton of good info on mercury toxicity:

I'd also recommend Andy's book: Amalgam Illness: Diagnosis and Treatment.

More info at his website: http://www.noamalgam.com/

>

>Are there any other foods, besides the ones mentioned, that can

>cause the BBB to open up when it's not supposed to?...

I just read a post on the " amalgam " list (mostly for dentists) wherein the

poster stated that mercury creates permeability in the brain allowing other

heavy metals in. If this is so, I'd imagine the permeability would allow

more than just other *metals* in. So perhaps it has a similar effect to

zonulin that Heidi was talking about.

Suze Fisher

Lapdog Design, Inc.

Web Design & Development

http://members.bellatlantic.net/~vze3shjg

Weston A. Price Foundation Chapter Leader, Mid Coast Maine

http://www.westonaprice.org

----------------------------

“The diet-heart idea (the idea that saturated fats and cholesterol cause

heart disease) is the greatest scientific deception of our times.” --

Mann, MD, former Professor of Medicine and Biochemistry at Vanderbilt

University, Tennessee; heart disease researcher.

The International Network of Cholesterol Skeptics

<http://www.thincs.org>

----------------------------

>

[Guest guest]

Hi Heidi,

Thanks for the correction. Now I am wondering if the body in all it's

healing capasity can actually repair itself after the damage of

chemicals and allergic intolerances have done injury within it's

cells. Have you come across any comments on the healing of the brain?

Sheila

-- In , Heidi Schuppenhauer

<heidis@t...> wrote:

>

> >I don't think there is much, if anything, which doesn't cross the

> >blood brain barrier. Someone please correct me if this is wrong.

> >Thanks.

>

> Actually, it is very difficult to get stuff to cross the blood-brain

> barrier, that is why it is called a " barrier " :--) Dr. Fasano has

been

> studying it, to find a way to deliver drugs to the brain. Zonulin

> breaks down the barrier ... and zonulin gets produced when you

> are gluten-intolerant (and probably other intolerances). Once you

> have zonulin, I suspect you have brain-fog.

>

> -- Heidi

[Guest guest]

>As far as the mercury goes, Suze, I have a mouth full of it. I have

>read up on it some and have heard such conflicting things that I'm

>not sure what to do.

The best thing to do is to get rid of it!...

What about the recent post that the alternative fillings are estrogenic? That

got me worried as my hormones are already screwed - I have PCOS.

Tas'.

[Guest guest]

>Hi Heidi,

>Thanks for the correction. Now I am wondering if the body in all it's

>healing capasity can actually repair itself after the damage of

>chemicals and allergic intolerances have done injury within it's

>cells. Have you come across any comments on the healing of the brain?

>Sheila

No comments, just anecdotes! I think the brain develops differently

if, say, you have Asperger's or Autism in childhood ... people heal,

but they are never the same as they would have been. But they

do change ... in my case my skill set is very different than it was.

I talked to one guy with Asperger's who took 3 different skills

tests for employment, before changing his diet, shortly after

changing his diet, and a year later.

His scores changed from high in the

engineering arena to high in the sales arena (if you have been

around engineers and salespeople at all, you KNOW they have

different brain types!). I think the brain can heal and rewire to

some extent. A lot of the brain problems aren't " damage "

so much as they are chemicals interfering with correct

processing and learning that is skewed. I did meet one young

man, for instance, who had been schizophrenic, who is ok

now on diet. He can change from " normal " to " seeing visions "

rather quickly, just by eating some bread.

There is a book about brain imaging where the doctor takes

brain scans in 3D showing which areas of the brain are active.

He uses drugs to normalize the processing, sometimes diet.

But it is fascinating how it works ... sometimes he can identify

permanent damage and " work around " it, but usuall the permanent

damage is from a stroke or tumor, the other stuff can change.

I wish I could remember the name of the book though ... (that part

of my brain must be permanently damaged ...)

-- Heidi Jean

[Guest guest]

>So much good information everyone. Thank you. I have largely cut

>gluten out of my diet and bake with sourdough. Heidi, I did not

>know that gluten can cause a breakdown in the BBB. How dangerous.

>That would mean that things are getting into your brain that should

>not be going there. Did I understand that correctly?

Bingo! Like Suze said, only nutrients (mainly glucose) are SUPPOSED to get in

there,

and it's a hard barrier to cross. The reason Fasano was studying it was to

come up with a delivery system for anti-tumor drugs -- it's hard to get a lot

of drugs into the brain, so opening up the BBB would help in that case. Though

you have to wonder ... maybe the tumor got there because carcinogens

crossed the BBB ...

> Are there any other foods, besides the ones mentioned, that can

>cause the BBB to open up when it's not supposed to?...

Probably. I'm guessing (and so are some researchers) that any of the IgA

allergies might cause this sort of reaction. For instance, IgA gluten intolerant

folks are overrepresented among schizophrenics. But, not all schizophrenics

are gluten intolerant. So what is going on with the others? Maybe the same

thing is happening, but with some other common food.

It would be interesting if they would just test for the presence of zonulin.

If they give zonulin to rats they develop T1 diabetes ... so it's likely

the zonulin that is the core problem (it also causes leaky gut, which causes

stuff to get into the blood that shouldn't get there, which triggers

autoimmune reactions it would seem?). So here you have a leaky gut

AND a leaky brain, all from zonulin.

BTW people with gluten intolerance also produce too much prolactin, which is

also associated with tumors and screws up the hormones, which ALSO

affect the brain. Again, other IgA allergies may have the same effect

but haven't been studied as much yet.

At any rate, people on fasts often talk about " how clear minded " they

get, and aside from other effects, I think a big part of it is that fasting

gets rid of all the food allergens! (I mean " no food fasts " , not the broader

definition talks about. Though fruits don't seem to be associated

with IgA allergies AFAIK).

-- Heidi Jean

[Guest guest]

--- In , Heidi Schuppenhauer

> BTW people with gluten intolerance also produce too much

prolactin, which is

> also associated with tumors and screws up the hormones, which ALSO

> affect the brain. Again, other IgA allergies may have the same

effect

> but haven't been studied as much yet.

Heidi,

Would you mind explaining what an IgA allergy is? What is the

difference between and IgA allergy and other allergies?

Robin

[Guest guest]

:

>Heidi,

>

>Would you mind explaining what an IgA allergy is? What is the

>difference between and IgA allergy and other allergies?

>

>Robin

There are 5 (that I know of) immune responses the body has. The " Ig " stands

for " immunoglobulin " which is a chemical the body produces to fight

bacterial and viral invaders. The 5 systems are IgE, IgA, IgG, and I think IgH

and IgM

(but I don't know about the last two).

IgE are the " usual " allergies ... like pollen, peanuts etc. It causes histamine

to be produced ... swelling, itchy eyes, etc. It seems to be protective of

the upper airway. This is the one they test for with the skin prick test.

These are usually very obvious reactions: you pet a cat and you start

sneezing, for instance.

IgG is produced in the blood, I think, and is associated with food allergies.

They test for it with an blood test. These are not very obvious,

and often people don't know they have them, but after the blood

test they feel a lot better when they avoid the foods they react to.

These are likely associated with leaky gut, if foods get into the bloodstream

that shouldn't get there. They can change and go away, apparently, which

is why people recommend a rotation diet.

IgA is produced in the upper gut, and is designed to " fight " bacteria

and viruses, and possibly disable certain food proteins (like lectins?).

It's only been recently studied, and most of the study has been

on IgA reaction to gliadin, in terms of celiac. It seems to be very

much genetically linked: the IgA gets produced if you have a certain HLA

gene (and the gene is involved in the immune reaction directly, it's sort

of like a gene-encoded memory of which viruses to react to).

IgA reactions are often silent, and the person never knows they

are happening. If symptoms occur, they can be 2 hours to 2 days

after the food is eaten. This kind of reaction seems to foul up the

immune system big time, causing autoimmune disorders and making

the person more prone to infections and cancer ... a person with untreated

celiac, for instance, has *twice* the chance of dying in any given year

(though they will probably die from cancer or heart problems or adrenal

problems, not from gut problems).

There are two other immune system classes, IgH and IgM, I think, but

I've not heard much about those.

-- Heidi Jean