Primal Defense - is it really a good product?

[Guest guest]

I was considering trying PD, but after doing some research I'm not so

sure. I know a lot of you use it, how have your results been? I've

read some posts on CureZone from people who say that they did well on

it at first, but after they stopped using it were worse off than

before. This would correlate with what this article says about

spores. Have any of you had a bad reaction to PD?

I'd like your opinions on these articles:

http://www.raysahelian.com/soilorganisms.html

Another one:

DO NOT USE BACTERIAL SOIL ORGANISMS

On page 108 of THE IBD REMISSION DIET, I suggest that readers may

want to try a product called Primal Defense after they've been

completely healed for 3-6 months. I learned of this product from

numerous readers who wrote in to let me know how well it's worked for

them. Since I couldn't try the product myself (I've been pregnant or

breastfeeding for 4 years and counting), I questioned numerous

respected naturopaths, microbiology professors and

gastroenterologists for their opinion on the product and all said it

looked fine.

However, since meeting the founder and president of Natren Inc. (top

quality probiotic manufacturer), Natasha Trenev, I must change my

opinion of bacterial soil organisms. Natasha is a world-renowned

expert on microorganisms and maintains one of the largest research

libraries on that topic in the world. She has sent me an entire CD-

ROM of articles, research, clinical data and other scientific studies

(most done outside of North America) outlining why it is not

considered safe to consume bacterial soil organisms (like those

contained in Primal Defense and numerous other products).

To summarize the research briefly, soil organisms (SO) are spore-

formers, so they make good competitors for yeast, fungus and other

pathogens. This is why many people taking soil organisms will

initially experience very favorable results. However, these spores

are extremely difficult to kill, surviving commercial sterilants,

disinfectants, acceleration forces, heat, pressure, radiation and

many antibiotics. Strong antibiotics - like Vancomycin - can suppress

certain spores.

Spores are so persistent in the intestines that another round of

germination may occur after the drug is stopped. Soil organisms can

also adapt loose genetic material and incorporate it into their

cellular structure – the ramifications of which are as yet unknown.

Various soil organisms can produce harmful peptides, affecting

hemoglobin in the blood. It's important to keep in mind that

virtually all antibiotic drugs were initially developed from soil

organisms and as antibiotics become more potent, they cause more

damage to the host, not just in the immediate gut environment, but

systemically as well.

In the EU (European Union) the use of soil organisms in animal feed

is being stringently controlled and questioned at this time. There

are simply too many questions and unknowns to sanction the use of

soil organisms for human consumption and one certainly cannot qualify

them as `safe' at this time. Traditional probiotics (like L.

acidophilus, B. bifidum etc.) have been used by humans for thousands

of years and therefore have a VERY long-term record of safety for

human consumption. If you consume bacterial soil organisms, please be

aware that this therapy is highly experimental - there is no long-

term record of safety for human use. Maybe soil organisms will

eventually be proven safe for human use, maybe not. The point is,

that at this juncture, we do not know.

I'm very sorry for any confusion this may have caused you. To be

honest, this is the very first time I've recommended a product that I

have not tried and tested extensively myself – I admit I was swayed

by good recommendations from readers. Rest assured that I will not do

so again! You should also know that since originally receiving these

recommendations, some of these same readers have contacted me again

to let me know that they have since had bad flares, or, the lower

right quadrant of their colon has become very swollen and tender -

whether this is connected to the soil organism consumption, or not, I

have no idea.

My sincerest apologies,

Jini Patel

[Guest guest]

I was considering trying PD, but after doing some research I'm not so

sure. I know a lot of you use it, how have your results been? I've

read some posts on CureZone from people who say that they did well on

it at first, but after they stopped using it were worse off than

before. This would correlate with what this article says about

spores. Have any of you had a bad reaction to PD?

I'd like your opinions on these articles:

http://www.raysahelian.com/soilorganisms.html

Another one:

DO NOT USE BACTERIAL SOIL ORGANISMS

On page 108 of THE IBD REMISSION DIET, I suggest that readers may

want to try a product called Primal Defense after they've been

completely healed for 3-6 months. I learned of this product from

numerous readers who wrote in to let me know how well it's worked for

them. Since I couldn't try the product myself (I've been pregnant or

breastfeeding for 4 years and counting), I questioned numerous

respected naturopaths, microbiology professors and

gastroenterologists for their opinion on the product and all said it

looked fine.

However, since meeting the founder and president of Natren Inc. (top

quality probiotic manufacturer), Natasha Trenev, I must change my

opinion of bacterial soil organisms. Natasha is a world-renowned

expert on microorganisms and maintains one of the largest research

libraries on that topic in the world. She has sent me an entire CD-

ROM of articles, research, clinical data and other scientific studies

(most done outside of North America) outlining why it is not

considered safe to consume bacterial soil organisms (like those

contained in Primal Defense and numerous other products).

To summarize the research briefly, soil organisms (SO) are spore-

formers, so they make good competitors for yeast, fungus and other

pathogens. This is why many people taking soil organisms will

initially experience very favorable results. However, these spores

are extremely difficult to kill, surviving commercial sterilants,

disinfectants, acceleration forces, heat, pressure, radiation and

many antibiotics. Strong antibiotics - like Vancomycin - can suppress

certain spores.

Spores are so persistent in the intestines that another round of

germination may occur after the drug is stopped. Soil organisms can

also adapt loose genetic material and incorporate it into their

cellular structure – the ramifications of which are as yet unknown.

Various soil organisms can produce harmful peptides, affecting

hemoglobin in the blood. It's important to keep in mind that

virtually all antibiotic drugs were initially developed from soil

organisms and as antibiotics become more potent, they cause more

damage to the host, not just in the immediate gut environment, but

systemically as well.

In the EU (European Union) the use of soil organisms in animal feed

is being stringently controlled and questioned at this time. There

are simply too many questions and unknowns to sanction the use of

soil organisms for human consumption and one certainly cannot qualify

them as `safe' at this time. Traditional probiotics (like L.

acidophilus, B. bifidum etc.) have been used by humans for thousands

of years and therefore have a VERY long-term record of safety for

human consumption. If you consume bacterial soil organisms, please be

aware that this therapy is highly experimental - there is no long-

term record of safety for human use. Maybe soil organisms will

eventually be proven safe for human use, maybe not. The point is,

that at this juncture, we do not know.

I'm very sorry for any confusion this may have caused you. To be

honest, this is the very first time I've recommended a product that I

have not tried and tested extensively myself – I admit I was swayed

by good recommendations from readers. Rest assured that I will not do

so again! You should also know that since originally receiving these

recommendations, some of these same readers have contacted me again

to let me know that they have since had bad flares, or, the lower

right quadrant of their colon has become very swollen and tender -

whether this is connected to the soil organism consumption, or not, I

have no idea.

My sincerest apologies,

Jini Patel