Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Support Group

I wanted to share with you all an "herbal" remedy that has been really helping a lot of my symptoms. Before I get started I just to preface this in two ways, first I know a lot people are skeptical of anything that doesn't come from a doctor. Personally I have had to look beyond the doctors office for help for my problems... The doctors have consistently written me off (interestingly, my psychiatrist said he was almost certain my problems weren't anxiety/stress and that I had a biological problem or possibly poisoning - he wasn't sure, and I digress). Secondly, I have watched as my family has gotten burned by a number of rediculous herbal business over the years... against my better judgement. I know the false hopes of health and financial stability often accompany sales pitches and I just want to make this clear this is not me selling or endorsing any products in any way. I have found that the best things I have done for my health have largely been the cheapest things - vitamin d from sunlight for instance i think has really helped me. I didn't pay for it, but technically this is a sort of herbal remedy (at least the way I classify things!)

Anyway, I discovered this stuff called kefir - a fermented milk beverage not unlike yogurt or sour cream. Its made from tiny cauliflower like grains that contain trillions of live organisms. I just wanted to share what I learned about this strange and beneficial beverage... I have a scientific background and I tend to research everything ad infinatum.
Also I don't buy my own... i make it myself. The kefir you buy is stores, while possibly better than yogurt, are NOTHING compared to the beneficial effects of traditionally made and cultured Kefir.. Its a probiotic. It contains about 20-40 strains of live bacteria and yeast. These are good yeast that are not pathanogenic and cannot hurt you. They will supress the bad yeast "candida albicans" and many other bad things that naturally occur in our food and stomach. The probiotics in Kefir are unique to other probiotics in yogurt and such. The ones living in kefir are part of symbiotic colonies of bacteria and yeast. When pathogenic bacteria come in contact with kefir they actually engage in chemical warfare.... bacteria and yeast are prone to this, and the strength of the kefir colonies is their diversity. Again, none of the bacteria in kefir are pathogenic... the stuff is reportedly great even for babies and elderly who have difficulty digesting food. Each different member of the colony has a certain set of chemicals it can produce - antibiotics - to destroy enemy bacteria. The whey of kefir contains many of these natural chemicals that flush out bad bacteria.

In adition to the strengh of the bacteria and their ability to get rid of pathogenic bacteria... they stimulate the human immune system. There is a new and growing field of research analyzing the signal patterns associated with enteric bacteria - the bacteria of your gut. The makeup of the bacteria can stimulate the immune system, antigens on good bacteria end up being processed (in some cases I believe rexpressed on dendtrites and maybe helper cells, but don't quote me on this part) and stimulate a healthy immune system. These end up stimulating and regulating TONS of components of your immune system. This chart was taken from a review of studies and findings on the specific immune markers that some probiotics have on the immune system (from things like kefir, yogurt, sourkraut, etc... not all on the list are in kefir, and not all kefir bacteria are listed... ). This list though gives an idea of the potential for intestinal bacteria to regulate the immune system.

Review of studies:
* Strain, Immune markers/ cytokine target, target cells,
(Inflamm Bowel Dis 2008;14:1585–1596)

B. anamalis MB5 36 2ETEC-induced IL-8, IL-1,
TNF, Gro-, et al
2ETEC adhesion Caco-2

B. thetaiotaomicron 75 1Barrier function 1p38, ERK1/2 MAPK
and PI3K
HT-29
Caco-2
80 1Angiogenin 4 Unknown Paneth cell in vivo

E. coli Nissle 1917 71 1Barrier function Unknown T84
HT-29
74 1Barrier function Unknown T84
HT-29
77 1-defensin 1NF-
B and AP-1 Caco-2


S. thermophilus 75 1Barrier function 1p38, ERK1/2 MAPK
and PI3K
HT-29
Caco-2

L. casei 91 2TNF-induced cytokines and
chemokines
2TNF-induced NF-
B
by stabilizing I
B
Caco-2

L. casei DN-114 011 73 1Barrier function Unknown T84
LGG and soluble
proteins
72 1Barrier function 2PKCand ERK1/2
MAPK
Caco-2
76 1Hsp production 1p38 and JNK MAPK YAMC
82 2Apoptosis 1Akt YAMC
83 2Epithelial damage 2p38 HT-29
Colon culture
36 2ETEC-induced IL-8, IL-1,
TNF, Gro-, et al
2ETEC adhesion Caco-2
90 2TNF-induced IL-8 2TNF-induced Caco-2
NF-
B

L. reuteri 88 2TNF-induced IL-8 2TNF-induced T84
NF-
B HT-29

L. salivarius 89 2TNF-induced IL-8 HT-29

B. infantis
VSL#3 74 1Barrier function 1ERK1/2 and p38 T84
1Mucin expression MAPK HT-29
2E. coli-induced IL-8
79 1-defensin production 1ERK1/2, p38 and
JNK MAPK 1NF-
B
and AP-1
Caco-2

B. animalis 46 1Fecal sIgA in infants Unknown

B. fragilis 59 1IL-14, IL-2, IFN-, CD4
cell expansion
Retain bacterial PSA Dendritic cell

E. coli Nissle 1917 58 1IL-10 Unknown T cell
2TNF, IFN-, IL-2
65 2Colitis in mice TLR2, TLR4
L. casei 52 1IL-10 Unknown Dendritic cell
LGG and soluble
proteins
47 1IL-6 Unknown Spleen cell
48 Moderate 1TNF, CL20 Unknown Dendritic cell
55 2TNF Unknown Macrophage
1 G-CSF

L.gasseri 60 1IL-12, IL-18 Skew CD4 and CD8
T cells to Th1 and
Tc1
Dendritic cell

L. johnsonii IFN-

L. reuteri
LcS 57 2IL-6, IFN- Unknown Monocyte
VSL#3 50, 51 1IL-10 Unknown Dendritic cell
63 2Colitis in mice TLR9
VSL#3 DNA 61 2IL-8, TNF, IFN- 2p38 MAPK, NF-
B HT-29 Mouse
colon in vivo

Yogurt may contain at most five different species, store bought kefir has between 7-10 strains, but 30-40 are present in Kefir depending on the length of time its allowed to ferment. Also the ones in kefir can survive and are supposedly able to colonize the gut when yogurt and other have difficulty persisting. Also 500 ml of yogurt barely contains 1 trillion Colony forming unitts... Kefir usually contains 5 trillion. Theres more of them, more total strains, and they are generally stronger than any other probiotic.

Another weird thing about kefir - parents with autistic children, those with anxiety disorders, sleep disorders, etc often benefit from Kefir because it is very high in Vitamin B, and Tryptophan. People on inteferon treatment experience many if not all of the same symptoms that CFS people suffer from. This is in part due to the effect of interferon on the processing of tryptophan in the body which breaks it into kynurenine and several other less desirable products. Tryptophan should be processed into things like sertonin and melatonin. Kefir has a calming effect on the body ... kinda like turkey at thanksgiving.

To make the kefir you just take the kefir grains (1 tablespoon to a quart) and put them in a covered jar with milk overnight or for 24 hours. You strain the grains out of the kefir and then you can reuse the grains. The grains multiply. Fast sometimes, so you almost always end up trying to find people to give it to (you can eat the extras for aditional health benefits, they taste sour). You can even use the grains as starter for bread - it makes a good cooking yeast as well.

The kefir has taken a huge chunk out of the severity of my symptoms ... decreasing the frequency and pain on my bad days. My father has had stomach issues for years - acid reflux and probably ulcers. He used to go through bottles of malox. Since he has started using it, he uses malox maybe once a week or so....Kefir bacteria break lactose down and most people can drink it even if they are lactose intolerant. Incidentally some pet owners even feed it to their dogs and cats. Cats are usually lactose intolerant by adulthood (something most people don't realize) and yet most cats can drink kefir without any difficulty. I've even given it to the feral kittens behind my house and they gorge themselves on it almost every day. The adults and little kitties both seem to love it.

Well sorry for the long post, I hope this helps. If your interested in making your own kefir there are online communities. I got in touch with a woman who gave me some when we were on vacation - theres probably someone close to you that wouldn't mind giving you some... A lot of people that have extras will mail you their extra grains at the cost of shipping. Several offered to drive an hour to deliver them to me knowing I was sick. The kefir community is a very outgoing and generous one I have found. Most of the people are recovering from illness like CFS, Chron's disease, hepatiitis, and the list goes on and on.


If you have any questions... just ask. :)
Posted on 11/06/09, 09:11 am