Re: Dairy products and their chemical makeup

[Guest guest]

In a message dated 9/7/04 11:26:30 PM Pacific Daylight Time,

forestbedell@... writes:

> I really don't know anymore than that .....I

> think MARY or ANGUS might be able to tell you more.

>

>

Hi, Kat and Isabelle,

This is a good cue for Angus to step in here because he is the expert on

opioids and their effect on afib. It was his explanation here that caused me to

give up dairy and thereby greatly reduce my afib frequency over the past two

years. (I gave up dairy three years ago, but it took a whole year in which my

afib actually worsened before I saw the reduction in afib.)

I will try to explain the opioid theory, but I hope Angus will jump in and

correct or elaborate if necessary. The casein in milk and other dairy products

contains opioid peptides which are absorbed in the small intestine and may

cause inflammation in some susceptible individuals. As I understand it, the

reaction that causes afib is similar to but not really the same as an allergic

response because the body's immune system recognizes these opioid peptides as

foreign invaders and launches an attack on them which precipitates the

inflammation which can lead to afib. These opioid peptides on some level must

have

some properties in common with opioids in drugs such as opium or morphine, for

example, but, of course, they are totally different in intensity of effect as

far as sedation or other effects usually connected with opioid class drugs. One

would not use milk as an anesthetic for pain, for example, because the

chemical structure of its opioids must be drastically different from that of

common

painkiller type opioids. However, the common painkiller opioids can also

cause afib, I think, perhaps by the same mechanism. That may be why many people

have trouble with anesthetic administered for surgery as an afib trigger. On

one occasion back in the 70's my brother, who is now in permanent afib, went to

the E.R. for another reason before he even knew that the symptoms he had been

experiencing were afib. When the E.R. personnel gave him morphine, his heart

went wild. They called it arrhythmia and didn't label it afib for him, but

he knows in retrospect that the morphine put him in afib or exaggerated afib

symptoms if he was already in afib. (He doesn't know how long he has been in

permanent afib, but he knows that he was having afib in the 70's and maybe even

before.)

Anyway, this is getting long and I am running out of time, but I think the

general theory is that there is a connection between opioids and afib. Also,

Angus once recommended an article which postulated an interesting extension of

that theory which I won't go into right now and about which I have thought a

great deal in application to myself. I'll write more about that later. Or

maybe Angus will jump in and rescue me here as he rescued me from afib!

in sinus in Seattle

[Guest guest]

>

> Anyway, this is getting long and I am running out of time, but I

think the

> general theory is that there is a connection between opioids and

afib. Also,

> Angus once recommended an article which postulated an interesting

extension of

> that theory which I won't go into right now and about which I have

thought a

> great deal in application to myself. I'll write more about that

later. Or

> maybe Angus will jump in and rescue me here as he rescued me from

afib!

> in sinus in Seattle

>

>

,as you are the queen of communication .. After you:-) Angus

[Guest guest]

In a message dated 9/9/2004 9:02:14 AM Pacific Daylight Time,

NavyGoat@... writes:

> they gradually and

> increasingly become lactose intolerant. Lack of this enzyme causes

> all manner of digestive upset. Could this digestive track upset

> trigger the vagus nerve? So maybe avoiding dairy, avoids digestive

> upset, avoids afib? Sounds highly likely to me.

>

,

I had a lactose intolerance test at my doctor's clinic at the time I quit

dairy three years ago. The test showed that I am not lactose intolerant. I had

to stop dairy products for nine days before that test never resumed eating

them afterward because I had encountered Angus's account of his experience in

stopping afib by stopping dairy. Despite the negative results of the lactose

intolerance test, my gastroenterologist advised me to avoid milk.

My cardiologist didn't comment one way or the other on the opioid theory, but

said he thinks that the milk products could have been causing vasovagal

stimulation for some reason which he didn't specify, and the vasovagal

stimulation

caused the afib. According to him, removal of the milk products removed the

vasovagal stimulation and thus reduced the afib. This theory is more in line

with your thinking, but I think there is more involved here than simple

vasovagal stimulation.

in sinus in Seattle

[Guest guest]

> Angus:

> Have you looked to see if it could be a link to " lactose

intolerance " ?

> From what I understand, there is an enzyme in our gut that helps to

> digest milk --- and that the enzyme disappears over time (after all,

> humans are the only mammals that consume milk after weaning). I

> understand many people are not aware as they gradually and

> increasingly become lactose intolerant. Lack of this enzyme causes

> all manner of digestive upset. Could this digestive track upset

> trigger the vagus nerve? So maybe avoiding dairy, avoids digestive

> upset, avoids afib? Sounds highly likely to me.

> H, Charlotte NC

>

Hi , I didnt know that people were more likely to becoume more

lactose intolerant over time.If you were to go to one of the antimilk

websites we could chose one of a hundred different things that could

be wrong with milk,opioid peptides like beta casiomorphin 7 works best

for me.Angus(eater of beef)