Peanuts / aflatoxin online case JA/May01

[Joy Lucas]

Hi Sheila and Dave, re: the recent case I have been reading a bit about
peanuts - prone to contamination of moulds that produce carcinogens (is this
the aflatoxin Dave?) and especially liver cancer - roasting probably kills
off the mould.

Regards, Joy
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[Dr. R. Swift]

On the aflatoxin issue: I don't believe they are destroyed by heating,
although, the mold likely is. An interesting note I heard is that recent
research suggests that without dairy in the diet, liver cancer did not occur
even with aflatoxins in the diet. This was a study done in animals, but it
is something to consider.

Joy, sorry for the misunderstanding. I re-read your post and I misunderstood
when you said "put aside bell is an acute remedy" that you were saying it
was not.

be well

russell swift, dvm

[Sara Klein Ridgley PhD]

Aflatoxins are removed and killed with Vitamin C. In order to make sure
that the peanuts don't have them, you have to rinse the peanuts in water
to which Vitamin C powder has been added (1/4 teaspoon to a pint). It is
best to remove the fine dark 'skin' first.

Sara

Dr. R. Swift wrote:

[Dave Hartley]

Hi Joy,

Aflatoxin is "toxin" produced by mold.
Aflatoxins are one of a group of compounds known as mycotoxins. Mycotoxins
are poisonous compounds produced by fungi (molds, yeasts, rusts, smuts and
mushrooms) on grains and other foods. Some molds can produce toxins, but
most do not. And there are certain conditions needed for the contamination
of foods with mycotoxins: the mold must be able to grow on the food; it must
be a moist environment; and oxygen must be present. The most potent
aflatoxin is produced by the mold Aspergillus flavis- Aflatoxin B1.
Aflatoxins have been found in foods at the time of harvest, and poor
harvesting and storage systems may increase mold growth and production of
toxin. The foods of main concern in the U.S. for aflatoxin production are
peanuts, cottonseed and corn. In the SouthEast U.S., peanuts are often
crop-rotated with cottonseed crop- which is treated to Extremely High levels
of pesticides, it is probably best to avoid other than SouthWestern grown
&/or organic peanut for this reason as well as lower probability of
aflatoxins.
Peanuts can become contaminated with mold and aflatoxin during growth,
harvesting or storage. Infection of peanuts with toxigenic fungi usually is
associated with insect or mechanical damage to the shells before, during or
after harvest. After harvest, it is essential that peanuts be rapidly dried
to 8% or less moisture content, and stored under conditions so that the
moisture content will not increase. When contaminated peanuts are pressed to
remove oil, most of the toxin remains with the meal cake; and clarification
of the oil removes any remaining toxin, thus peanut oil is considered safe.
The aflatoxin content of peanuts may be confined to a few highly contamined
kernels. When peanuts are removed from the shell, they are sorted to remove
any moldy, discolored, shriveled or damaged nuts. Results show that the
aflatoxin content of peanut lots is significantly reduced by this sorting
process. In addition, roasting peanuts for manufacture of peanut butter
destroys most, if not all, of the toxin present. Aflatoxins are, however,
not destroyed at normal household cooking temperatures.
"peanut allergy" info:
http://www.mercola.com/1998/jul/20/peanut_allergy.htm
regards,

Dave Hartley
www.localcomputermart.com/dave
Santa Cruz, CA (831)423-4284

[Joy Lucas]

Excellent Dave, thanks. As regards the case with the severe peanut allergy
(and it would seem that peanut allergies are always severe + the child also
has other allergies) do you think there is a special relevance here
regarding the peanuts or do you think it is more a part of a general
allergic condition? Thanks again for all your info.

Best wishes Joy
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[Dave Hartley]

Aflatoxin is thought to cause, in and of itself, "leaky gut syndrome."
This fact in itself constitutes a special relevance; when combined with
other mycological afflictions including candida overgrowth or other
imbalance in anaerobic gut flora/fauna, it could easily be critical.

Of course, from our perspective we need to think of these things in terms of
SUSCEPTIBILITY.
Most people can tolerate minimal levels of an incredibly large variety of
toxins/allergens.

To some extent, we must think of increase in allergic reactions in humanity
as a combined onslaught of environmental pollution by 100's & 1,000's of
previously non-extant substances, nevertheless, the fact remains that humans
are incredibly adaptable, and a "healthy" human is relatively unaffected by
toxins/pollutants which contribute to a life of misery for those susceptible
to individual or (more likely) combined influence of toxins/allergens.

I have observed that many allergy sufferers and those suffering from
intestinal flora/fauna imbalance are apparently hypersensitive emotionally,
or otherwise disturbed/overexcited.

I believe that in order to address allergy homeopathically, we must take the
same kind of care to obtain full case information, and as usual, to give
sufficient thought to the M/E sphere in order to identify the "center of
gravity" of the case.

Therapeutically, I believe that most persons suffering from severe allergy
should not only eliminate known toxins/allergens (specific to them, and
those more general such as cow's milk, even if thought to be tolerated) -but
should also do a supervised intestinal cleanse program, to remove "placque"
adherent to intestinal walls, which is a perfect anaerobic medium for
pathogenic gut flora/fauna.. special study should be made of intestinal
nosodes in these cases too, I believe.

regards,
Dave Hartley
www.localcomputermart.com/dave
Santa Cruz, CA (831)423-4284