Rivendell
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 19922
posted
I have been reading different posts about Grapefruit Seed Extract, and some say that it isn't absorbed into the blood, and that it simply goes to the intestine and is discarded. Even Stephen Buhner has suggested that this may be true.
WELL, let me tell you my experience.
I have many times had blood poisoning - you know, the red streaks that go up your arm from an infected wound and is headed to your heart.
While I was without health insurance, I discovered that Grapefruit Seed Extract taken internally would get rid of these types of infections. It also got rid of bladder infections, sinus infectsions., etc. So it does circulate throughout the body. I don't know if it crosses into the brain.
In Norway, the researchers Brorson and Brorson recently discovered that Grapefruit Seed Extract kills Lyme and busts cysts very efficiently in the test tube. Even the author of "Cure Unknown" mentions this in her book.
True, in the body it may react differently. But I am using it for possible Lyme until I can find a decent doctor that will take my health insurance.
I wanted to post this because many people do not have health insurance and are diasbled so don't have much money.
Grapefruit Seed Extract offers hope. Plus Stephen Buhner's protocol and others.
Rivendell
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 19922
posted
Grapefruit seed extract is acidic. Does anyone know of a company that sells Grapefruit Seed extract in enteric-coated capsules? These dissolve in the intestines instead of the stomach.
posted
I know that they do have capsules- more for people who don't like the taste though. Nutribiotic has both forms, although stores might not carry both.
Posts: 503 | From Alberta, Canada | Registered: Jun 2009
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Carol in PA
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posted
grandmother, Oh, okay. But then it wouldn't matter if you used enteric coated capsules, as it would still have an acid ash.
Carol
Posts: 6947 | From Lancaster, PA | Registered: Feb 2004
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I'm taking it for yeast, but I think it's killing other bugs, too.
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Abxnomore
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posted
It does kill other bugs, too. It's an anti bacterial, viral and fungal.
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karenl
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Member # 17753
posted
If you only have a stomach problem with the grapefruit seed you can double pack the capsules.
You can buy empty capsules and put two more sizes over it. I double pack all my medication to protect my stomach.
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posted
hmmm.... just because it is "acidic" does it raise your acidity in your body? I am asking because lemons are acidic and actually make your body more alkaline, right?
I LOVE grapefruit seed extract! been off abx for a year now and still take this about 2x a week (the other days i use oil of oregano or olive leaf extract). those are the only things i am taking and doing very well!
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gwb
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Member # 7273
posted
Maureen,
Could you tell me more about oil of oregano and olive leaf extract? How do you take it and where do you get it?
Have you taken abx before? How long have you had lyme? I ask because I no longer take abx (can't handle it anymore) and am trying to do more natural healing and need all the answers I can get.
posted
I have taken abx. before. I was on it for 17 months. I also rifed (mainly with a doug coil machine).
Not sure how long I have had lyme, probably about 9-10 years now, 7 years before treatment if I go by symptoms (not diagnosed).
The oil of oregano and combo of oil of oregano/olive leaf extract that I take are liquid. I order them through ebay- a store called won with nature I think? My husband also takes this regularly (he has a mild case of lyme- caught it early and took 3 months of abx.).
It helps your immune system a lot. I even give a drop or two to my 4 year old when he is sick or exposed to lots of germs, etc.
Maureen
Posts: 871 | From NJ | Registered: Mar 2007
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Marnie
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posted
Very interesting (!) if you read this explanation in depth and very carefully:
Really reminds me of a movie I watched (again) last night called "The Medicine Man" (with Sean Connery...ohhhh).
Science fiction - he found the cure for cancer in the Amazon rain forest, but the cure was the result of a contaminant added to a particular extract of a rare flower.
BTW...when we were watching that movie, we were SHOCKED to hear not once, but twice, the mention of "Swine flu" (!!!)
and how it wiped out many natives.
Science fiction with a tad of truth?
Posts: 9424 | From Sunshine State | Registered: Mar 2001
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Rivendell
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posted
Thanks everyone. Sorry it has taken me so long to reply.
The reason why I want to protect my stomach is because I have acid reflux disease, and anything spicy or acidic makes it worse. The grapefruit seed extract is acidic at first, but then becomes alkaline in the body, but it seems to worsen the acid reflux.
KarenL, your technique of double/triple packing the capsules sounds good. I guess that would be like enteric-coated capsules.
Maureen, I've also wanted to try Oil or Oregano and Olive leaf extract many times, but was afraid that they would be too spicy and worsen acid reflux, but maybe I could double/triple-pack the capsules or use the tincture subligually. Is than how you use the liquid?
Marnie, I know what Wiki says about grapefruit seed extract. But other researchers say that it somewhat resembles that toxin, but IS NOT that toxin. In fact, in 2008 researchers in Norway used grapefruit seed extract to kill Lyme disease in the test tube. It worked very well and busted the cysts too. I don't think they would have used it if it was a serious toxin. Wiki doesn't always give accurate info. Grapefruit Seed Extract is a powerful antibiotic and can't be used by pharmaceutical companies because it is a food, so they have to discount it because it interferes with their profits. They do this all the time.
I know that the study was in the test tube, but it was enough to encourage me.
I even got acid-reflux (terrible) from regular antibiotics (Amoxil).
Thanks all.
Posts: 1358 | From Midwest | Registered: Apr 2009
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sammy
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Member # 13952
posted
How much and how often do you take GSE? Where do you get it from? As of right now I am not taking any abx and would like to try a natural way. Any info would be helpful. Thanks
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Marnie
Frequent Contributor (5K+ posts)
Member # 773
posted
For acid reflux...OUCH...major...I do this:
1 Zantac with a glass of water (to stop stomach acid production)...
Followed by (1/2 hour later) 2 Pepto Bismol tablets, chewed and taken with a glass of water.
Works like a charm.
Your stools will be black...not to worry.
The mention of a chloride caught my attention:
"``The antimicrobial efficacy as well as the content of preservative agents of six commercially grapefruit seed extracts were examined.
Five of the six extracts showed a high growth-inhibiting activity against the test germs.
In all of the antimicrobial active grapefruit seed extracts,
***the preservative
benzethonium chloride
was detected by thin layer chromatography.***
Additionally, three extracts contained the preserving substances triclosan and methyl paraben.
In only one of the grapefruit seed extracts tested no preservative agent was found.
However, with this extract as well as with several self-made extracts from seed and juiceless pulp of grapefruits (Citrus paradisi), no antimicrobial activity could be detected.
Thus, it is concluded that the potent as well as nearly universal antimicrobial activity being attributed to grapefruit seed extract
***is merely due to the synthetic preservative agents contained within.***
Natural products with antimicrobial activity do not appear to be present.''
"It has been shown that benzethonium chloride produces linear mixed-type *inhibition of* choline esterase and acetylcholine esterase." = ACh-E PMID: 9298350
"Inhibitory potency of choline esterase inhibitors on
"Benadryl in the parenteral form is a sterile, pyrogen-free solution available in a concentration of 50 mg of diphenhydramine hydrochloride per mL. The solutions for parenteral use have been adjusted to a pH between 5.0 and 6.0 with either sodium hydroxide or hydrochloric acid.
"Improvement of symptoms in Alzheimer's patients is seen given treatment with ACh-E inhibitors.
The therapy principle of ***choline esterase inhibition*** has one disadvantage. It is dependent on the pre-synaptic cholinergic activity still present."
"choline esterase inhibitors like Tacrine (Aricept)" (That Rx is given for AD.)
"Currently, there are five FDA approved drugs available for the treatment of AD. Four of them are acetyl choline esterase (AChE) inhibitors and one is an NMDA receptor antagonist.
Although these drugs can benefit some AD patients for a limited time period, they do not stop or slow down the neurodegenerative process.
This is because of the extensive multifocal neurodegeneration occurring due to the accumulation of amyloid beta peptide (Aβ)--a neurotoxic peptide that these drugs do not affect."
I can't help but wonder if grapefruit seed extract's preservatives (active component) are actually destroying Bb or merely causing it to go into cyst form.
A person with CFS reported she was using GSE for 2 years and still had flare-ups of fatigue.
CONCLUSION: Results of this study lend support to the traditional use of grapefruit seeds in the management of type 1 diabetic patients and may suggest a role in orthodox management of the disease.
PMID: 19391322
Grapefruit seed extract is a powerful in vitro agent against motile and cystic forms of Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato. PMID: 17565468
Above...in vitro means in a petri dish, not in vivo (in a live animal).
What works in a "dish" does not automatically mean it will work in us to do the same.
Adverse effects by artificial grapefruit seed extract products in patients on warfarin therapy.
OBJECTIVE: Grapefruit seed extract (GSE) is promoted as a natural product with antibacterial and antiviral properties.
The aim of this study was to investigate the composition of some commercially available GSE products and evaluate their effect in vitro on two cytochrome P450 enzymes, CYP2C9 and CYP3A4.
METHODS: A couple on lifelong treatment with warfarin and continuous regular follow-ups took some drops of a GSE product for 3 days.
The female patient experienced a minor subcutaneous haematoma 3 days later, and her international normalised ratio (INR) value was 7.9.
This was reported to the Swedish Medical Products Agency (MPA) as a spontaneous post-marketing report concerning adverse drug reactions/interactions.
The composition of the GSE products was determined by proton and carbon-13 nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (NMR).
The inhibitory effect of the GSE products on the cytochrome P450 enzymes was tested in an in vitro baculosome assay.
RESULTS: The NMR analysis showed that all three investigated GSE products contained the synthetic preservative benzethonium chloride (BTC) in addition to glycerol and water.
No authentic GSE extract was found in any of the three GSE products analysed. Furthermore, BTC was
found to be a potent *inhibitor of CYP3A4 and CYP2C9* activity in vitro.
CONCLUSION: Our results suggest that BTC in the GSE products is responsible for the increase in the INR value in a patient on warfarin treatment.
PMID: 17468864
The role of specific cytochrome P450 (P450) isoforms in the metabolism of ethinylestradiol (EE) was evaluated. The recombinant human P450 isozymes CYP1A1, CYP1A2, *CYP2C9*, CYP2C19, and *CYP3A4* were found to be capable of catalyzing the metabolism of EE (1 �M).
"ethinyl estradiol (EE), is a derivative of estradiol. Ethinyl estradiol is an orally bio-active estrogen."
So...GSE may block partially the metabolism of estrogen.
"Ethinylestradiol (EE) induces cholestasis by affecting bile salt-dependent and -independent fractions of the bile flow. The decrease in bile salt-independent flow is thought to be due, in part, to a reduction in the expression of the canalicular transporter Mrp2."
The above is likely why more women have gallstones.
Grapefruit-seed extract attenuates ethanol-and stress-induced gastric lesions via ***activation of prostaglandin, nitric oxide and sensory nerve pathways.***
PMID: 16425415
[ 09-22-2009, 01:51 AM: Message edited by: Marnie ]
Posts: 9424 | From Sunshine State | Registered: Mar 2001
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Rivendell
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 19922
posted
Sammy, Thanks for the link. Much appreciated.
I have been using the liquid, about 10 to 15 drops in LOTS of water and sip with a straw because the acid is hard on tooth enamel. I drink this all day, but can't do it for very many days because it worsens the acid reflux.
I'm concerned that Olive leaf extract, oregano extract, andrographis (bitter), and neem (bitter) would also worsen acid reflux. All of these things can fight Lyme bacteria, as well as many other microbes. The book "Cure Unknown" mentions grapefruit seed extract. Stephen Buhner "Healing Lyme" recommends Andrographis and says that it is similar to Neem.
If it weren't for this reflux, I would really go all out to rid my body of bacterial, parasites, yeasts, etc. But this condition makes me stop.
Just trying to figure out what to do.
I think I bought the liquid from Vitacost. I am trying to find a way to bypass the stomach, because anything acidic or spicy causes terrible acid reflux that gets in my throat. Even regular antibiotics to this. I might buy the capsules and double/triple-pack them like Karenl does.
Thanks everyone.
P.S. I know that acid reflux can be a symptom of Lyme and a co-infection, but I have had problem since my teens and I have a hiatal hernia, which can cause/contribute to acid reflux. I also have autonomic dysfunction which can create an acidy stomach.
So trying to heal one problem without worsening another problem.
Posts: 1358 | From Midwest | Registered: Apr 2009
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Rivendell
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 19922
posted
Thanks Marnie. I have seen those studies. I wish I could find the link to the study that proved that it was not the preservative. But I have lost it.
Most drugs are toxic, too, but they are still on the shelf with warnings in fine print.
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