posted
Hi, Dr H is putting me on this, i haven't started it yet, just wondering if anyone is trying this, any info would be great, Dee
Posts: 163 | From maine | Registered: Oct 2003
| IP: Logged |
clairenotes
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 10392
posted
Have been thinking about trying GSE someday soon, too. Here is a link to a very recent discussion:
Claire
Posts: 1111 | From Colorado | Registered: Oct 2006
| IP: Logged |
bejoy
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 11129
posted
I have taken GSE in the past. I think it is a very good natural antibiotic, and it also is supposed to help treatment cross the blood/brain barrier.
Citrus is a common allergen, especially with people who have had leaky gut from candida. I have to be judicious with it, myself.
My humble guess would be if you herx - good. If you get gas and headaches - maybe not good.
bejoy
-------------------- bejoy!
"Do not go where the path may lead; go instead where there is no path and leave a trail." -Ralph Waldo Emerson Posts: 1918 | From Alive and Well! | Registered: Feb 2007
| IP: Logged |
posted
thanks you both for your help, dee
Posts: 163 | From maine | Registered: Oct 2003
| IP: Logged |
Monica
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 224
posted
I am no expert on this, but I know that there are medications which counteract with grapefruit (juice). I would suggest you check that you are not taking any of those medications prior to starting the GSE.
Posts: 1757 | From Somerset County, NJ | Registered: Oct 2000
| IP: Logged |
Grapefruit seed extract. Sounds so friendly, doesn�t it? You�ve heard it touted as a ``natural'' preservative, and the health food store sells it in a capsule as an antifungal supplement. If everybody says that it�s natural they must be correct, right? Wrong.
Grapefruit seed extract is not grapefruit juice. It is also not grapefruit essential oil and it is most certainly not an herbal tincture. Chemical manufacturers take the leftover grapefruit pulp, a waste by-product from grapefruit juice production, and in an intensive, multi-step industrial chemical process, change the natural phenolic compounds into synthetic quaternary ammonium compounds. Typically, in chemical synthesis of this type, chemical reagents and catalysts are used under extreme high heat and pressure or vacuum. Synthetic ammonium chloride is one of the chemical catalysts used in this process.
The US Department of Agriculture�s (USDA) National Organic Program defines synthetic as ``A substance that is formulated or manufactured by a chemical process or by a process that chemically changes a substance extracted from naturally occurring plant, animal, or mineral sources.'' Grapefruit seed extract is a synthetic chemical compound, cannot be called ``organic,'' and is not permitted in organic food proucts.
Unfortunately, because there is no legal definition of the word ``natural,'' any company can put chemicals in body care products and tell you that they�re ``natural.'' Also, in the US, any company is free to sell any chemical compound as a ``dietary supplement'' without doing any pre-market or long-term safety studies of any kind.
Grapefruit seed extract has become an extremely controversial chemical compound recently. Studies conducted in the US and abroad report suspicious and abnormal chemical acitivity in numerous, randomly selected grapefruit seed extracts. Here is one report from the Institute of Pharmacy, Ernst Moritz Arndt University, Greifswald, Germany:
``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.''
Further, the USDA did a grapefruit seed extract study (full text here (pdf)) and declared, ``Confirming an earlier study by researchers in Germany we found that some commercial grapefruit seed extracts contain benzethonium chloride, a synthetic antimicrobial agent commonly used in cosmetics and only approved for topical use, at relatively high levels of 8%.''
The Swiss Toxicological Information Center of Basel, Switzerland, reports that ``Grapefruit seed extracts containing benzethonium chloride in concentrations of 7-11% represent a major health risk if larger amounts of a concentrated solution are ingested (i.e. by mouth). Exposure of the skin or the eye may cause toxic symptoms. The Swiss Toxicological Information Center discourages consumers from administration of these extracts unless it is known which of them are containing benzethonium chloride and what the concentrations are."
A ``natural'' and ``safe'' preservative or dietary supplement? Is it worth the risk to you?
Posts: 245 | From connecticut, the lyme state | Registered: May 2004
| IP: Logged |
Monica
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 224
posted
bbinme, sorry I don't have a list of the medications, but I assume there is a list somewhere on line.
Posts: 1757 | From Somerset County, NJ | Registered: Oct 2000
| IP: Logged |
posted
FWIW, I just got NSI brand (Neutraceutical Sciences) grapefruit seed extract from Vitacost and after reading the post above about benzethonium chloride, decided to ask them about the processing and was told:
"Item# NI 003525, the grapefruit Seed Extract, is a naturally cold extract process. If you have any other questions or concerns feel free to email us or call us. Thank you for your patience and interest in Vitacost. "
So this product must be fine, wouldn't you think?
Posts: 449 | From Pasadena, CA, usa | Registered: Aug 2005
| IP: Logged |
The Lyme Disease Network is a non-profit organization funded by individual donations. If you would like to support the Network and the LymeNet system of Web services, please send your donations to:
The
Lyme Disease Network of New Jersey 907 Pebble Creek Court,
Pennington,
NJ08534USA http://www.lymenet.org/
UBBFriend: Email this page to someone!
Printer-friendly view of this topic