I thought of many subjects for this column and, in the end, decided to mix the grill. There was former South African
President Nelson Mandela’s returning home from hospital after surgeons successfully removed his troublesome gallstones, giving him a new lease of life thereby. There was the American government crackdown on the soft drinks industry led by Pepsi Cola and Coca-Cola. Some studies claim their products contain about 10 tablespoonfuls of refined sugar per bottle, and are a cause of obesity and congestive heart failure, two American health problems. McDonald’s, a leading fast foods restaurant chain, was not spared either. It was said to make its fast – selling fast foods with trains fatty acids – laden oil now said to be linked to low sperm count. The cheering news of the day was that Jobelyn, a Nigerian herbal blood enhancing formula, moved more steps internationally towards being recognised as a Nigerian national plant medicine product.
Nelson Mandela
Literally speaking, a new lease of life suggests there wereproblems with the old lease which could have led to
death had those problems not been successfully resolved. In this case, the problems were with Mr Mandela’s gallbladder which had become distressed by gallstones. Not many people know about the gallbladder or about gallstones, although, in many people these stones are already forming, first as small as grains of sand, later, perhaps as big as a pebble. They may block bile flow from the liver to the gallbladder or from the gallbladder to the intestine, creating life-threatening painful conditions.
To understand gallstones, we must all return to our childhood. We saw our mothers dress chicken. We also saw the butchers dress the cow or the ram for the wedding or funeral feast or for Eid –el- Fitri. Often, the livers of these animals were reserved for children and toothless elders. Meticulously, whoever was doing the dressing made sure a small bag with greenish – yellow fluid content which was joined to the liver didn’t get burst or spill its contents on the liver or any other part of the animal being dressed. If it did, the contents would make the meat taste bitter, because it had bitter chemical principles. That bag is the GALL BLADDER, and the greenish-yellow fluid the BILE.
Gall bladder
This hollow organ sits under the liver in the upper right section of the abdomen. Adult gall bladders measure about eight centimeters (8.1 inches) in length and about 4 centimeters (1.6 inches) in diameter when full, and stores about five milliliters of bile every day. An organ of the digestive system, the gallbladder is connected at the neck to the liver (bilary) tree through a duct (cystic) and, in the beginning of the small intestine, the duodenum, through the common bile duct. The liver produces bile from many resources, including excess blood cholesterol. When the gallbladder receives bile from the liver, it stores and concentrates it for the digestion of fats, among many other functions of bile in the body. These functions include
(1) Emulsification (making soluble) of fat in the diet.
(2) Digestion and absorption of fats.
(3) Absorption of fat- soluble nutrients, including Vitamins A and E
4) Trapping and excretion of fat-soluble toxins, including bilurubin, the yellow pigment of destroyed red blood cells
5) Excretion of drug residues and other waste leaving the body, including excess/ Cholesterol
6) Removal of excess hormones broken down by the liver for excretion in the stool. If these hormones are not bound by the bile for excretion, they would be re-absorbed into the blood in the colon. In the case of women suffering from ailments fuelled by excess of the hormone estrogen including, period pains, breast cancer and endometriosis, these conditions get worse.
As food from the stomach arrives in the duodenum, hormones and nerves trigger the release of tile from the gallbladder to mix with it. It is this mixing with food which eventually gives the stool its dark brown complexion. Therefore, stool colour can be a signal that the liver is not making enough bile, which calls for immediate concern or that if the liver, produced enough, but it may be stuck in the gallbladder. There are occasions, however, when too many microorganisms in the digestive track, call for more bile to destroy them and normal bile supply isn’t enough to make the stool dark brown after killing the germ. Another body language in the small room is when the stool floats or sinks in the water closet system. Oil and water do not mix, we were taught in the primary school. Oil or fat floats. Fat in the stool will, therefore, cause the stool to float. This phenomenon suggests that fat was not well digested in the digestive process, and calls for more attention to be paid to the liver and to the gallbladder.
Bile flow blockages
As stated, the bile flows from the liver to the gallbladder where it is concentrated to make it more potent.
Blockages sometime occur in the liver-gallbladder flow line or in the gallbladder – olodemum flow way. Often, the blockage is caused by a gallbladder stone which is too big for the ducts. That should suggest that some stone pass through without our knowledge or adverse symptoms. This should be scary because, someday, such stone could grow bigger and cause us the type of trouble they gave Nelson Mandela. My first personal contact with a gallstone sufferer was with Margaret Mike-Pearse, now of blessed memory, who had her stones removed at the Military Hospital in Lagos. She always had nauseating abdominal trouble and pain which could leave her sprawled on the flour. I have a friend from Calabar who would read this, being now an avid reader of health publications, including this column. He used to belch, real heavy ones, by the minutes and lost much weight. His condition had progressed to inflammation of the gallbladder, which suggested that the organ may have been infected, developed a polyp or even burst somewhere, because his doctor suggested it be surgically removed. We had much serious discussion during which I advised him of the importance or benefit of being a man and fighting a disease to the end. If the gallbladder was removed, it meant his capacity to digest fat would dwindle, as would his ability to absorb Vitamins A and E, and Coenzyme Q10 for his heart and energy requirements for example. Mrs. Harnet Lawrence, an African American who lived in Nigeria for many years, often spoke of her baby who was born without a gallbladder. She tried all she could to help this baby. But the baby died about three years later.
When bile flow to the gallbladder is blocked, pressure of a backup of bile is imposed on the liver, causing liver dysfunction. Downstream, not enough bile arrives in the intestine for digestive purposes. Analysing the content and structure of gallstones, some researchers believe they form because of a dietary deficiency of cholesterol solvents, such as lecithin (choline and insitol). And that’s because many of these stones are cholesterol stones. In cases where bacteria, viruses, Candida and even heavy metals are found in the stones, it is assumed that they may have significantly impaired liver capacity to make quality bile. In some cases, lack of minerals and vitamins have been claimed as the cause, as the liver is said to need them to convert excess cholesterol from the bloodstream into bile. Whatever the cause, for which remedies are available, a gallstone problem is likely to produce the following symptoms and more.
(1) Pain in the upper right side of the abdomen which sometimes radiates to the right shoulder blade
(2) General abdominal pain
(3) Vomiting, fever and nausea
(4) Indigestion, bloating and infection
(5) Jaundice
Natural cures
The best way to cure a disease is to prevent it. In this case, this means taking care of the gallbladder. This ensures the bile is soluble and that even sand – grain type stones do not develop. When stones develop and pose problems, Mother Nature provides abundant help. One of these is Phylanthus nuriri which the Yoruba call ehinbisowo or ehin olube.
The Asians call it Chanka piedra, which means “stone crusher”. It clears stones in the gallbladder and in the kidneys,lowers blood pressure,eases pain, is an anti-malarial and a male virility enhancer. In Amazon Gallbladder Support, it is a star of eight ingredients which is described in the product literature as follow …
Chanka piedra’s antilithic actions reported in seven different studies animals, humans and in vitro, have validated its long history of use for kidney stones. It is also used in herbal medicine for gallstones and while no research has been performed that specifically validiate this use, one study does indicate that Chanka piedra has an effect on gallbladder processes. In a 2002 study, Indian researchers reported that Chanka piedra increased bile acids secretion in the gallbladder and significantly lowered blood cholesterol levels in rats. In Amazon Gallbladder Support, Chanka piedra is compound with Boldo a spice, Artchoke, a liver herb, and Carqueja, my second favourite liver herb after Milk thistle. Carqueja lowers blood sugar and blood pressure besides destroying Helicobacter pylori bacteria in peptic ulcer, resolving gastroenteritis, reflux, detoxifying the liver and gallbladder. The product literature describes Carqueja thus… “Carquefa has demonstrated antilepatoxic effect in animal studies, as such, it may speed the clearance of some drugs metabolised in the liver, thereby reducing the pharmacological effect (and side effects of certain drugs required to be metabolised in the liver) This suggest it should not be used along with drugs when the liver is to be cleared up.
These are many more helpful herbs I’d like to mention, such as Beet Root, had I the space.
One herb I’d like to mention is Horseradish of which the legenclary Austrian herbalist Maria Treben once wrote:
“Interestingly, more women than men shave gallstones. Since there are so many remedies available in God’s Pharmacy it does not always have to end in an operation. A six –week course treatment with radishes has helped several times, unless the stones are of the rare kind that does not dissolve. In this case, an operation is necessary.
Radishes are put in the juice extractor. To start with, 100grams are used and this is increased gradually to 400 grams”.
She tells the story of a General’s wife who had had a big gallstone surgically removed. The stone was hewn into the handle of a kitchen knife as a moment. One day, while she was cutting radishes in a tray, the door bell rang; she left the knife in the tray and went to answer the call. When she returned to the kitchen, she found that the gallstone had been melted by the radishes. Today, there are radish supplement in the health food store!
The U.S war on sugar
The United States is the last country you would expect to wage a war on sugar consumption William Duffy, in his Sugar Blues, has documentarily shown, like other people, that sugar was killing Americans, that it was sugar, not alcohol, that was causing road crashes. He said sugar thickens the blood, slows circulation and responses to stimuli, which is why motorists see an accident on coming but fail to respond appropriately in good time to avoid it .When I read this, I began to hold a torch in the evenings to wave motorists away from me. They may see you coming, but may fail to avoid hitting you because the message to do so from their brains may not reach their hand muscles in good time! The American war on sugar which engulfed Cocoa Cola would appear to have snowballed from the United Kingdom where the report of a new study published in the British Medical Journal suggested that
1) When obese people reduce their sugar intake, their weight reduced
2) The more the sugar consumed, the more the weight increased.
British Prime Minister David Cameron said in the House of Commons he couldn’t stop his three children from consuming sugar and fizzy drinks, which have been associated with obesity and kidney failure and degenerative diseases such as diabetes and heart disorders. He spoke after Labour Party member of parliament (MP) Keith Vaz, a Type 2 diabetic, said about a third of primary school leavers in Britain were either obese or overweight but couldn’t stop taking sugary foods, especially Cola drinks.
In the United States, where African slaves were made to cultivate sugar plantations centuries ago, the war on sugar is heating up. New York City wishes to ban the sales of fizzy and other sugary drinks in “restaurants, cinemas and stadia.”
Coca Cola would appear to be leading the defense of the soft drinks industry with a two –minute television advertisement which
1) Reminds viewers that the company had been making low calorie drinks for a long time, a way of saying it had always known that much sugar was bad for health
2) Calls the bluff of the anti-sugar campaigners by saying all foods end up in calories, anyway.
My comment on this is that all foods end up in calories, but some calories are empty and dead and create a nuisance in the body, whereas some others are packed with life-support, living and, therefore, useful in maintaining health. The calories in an orange, for example, contain… protein, fat, minerals, fibred, carbohydrates, calcium, phosphorus, iron, vitamin C, vitamin B complex. What is in a bottle of soft drink other than 10 teaspoonfuls of degraded white sugar, preservatives and carbon dioxide, a health hazard?
Jobelyn’s New Soar
My generation witnessed Nigeria’s political independence from colonial Great Britain: It witnessed, also, colonisation of its dress culture, religion, education, and health, among several other facets of lifestyle. Codeine and APC replaced herbs from the bush for healing and wellness. Today, I address only colonisation of the health sector. Thankfully, the World Health Organisation (WHO) directed in 2000 that, by 2010, all nations return to Traditional Medicine, TM by upgrading it through law and funding, and training to the standard of allopathic medicine in all ramifications. Nigeria is a sluggard. Other countries have met or are close to meeting this WHO goal. But, thankfully, on January 16, Nigeria’s Health Minister Prof. Onyebuchi Chukwu, announced that Nigerian medical students would henceforth study Traditional Medicine and that the curriculum was being developed. We keep our finger crossed. What concerns me now is that, while other countries have been funding product research and development in this sector, Nigeria has done so little. The result is that national products from other countries have colonised this sector. But one Nigerian product, Jobelyn, gives us hope of a Nigerian Natural Traditional Medicine product to export to the world. Some of the latest findings from research on Jobelyn in the United States have just been published in the peer-reviewed JOURNAL OF MEDICINAL FOOD and the peer-reviewed JOURNAL OF FOOD SCIENCE. This is a huge leap forward for Jobelyn and for Nigeria.
The Journal of Medical Food reported three anti-inflammatory activities found Jobelyn by researches. One level reduced the production of free radicals. Another level induced the induction of anti-inflammatory cytokines. This journal also reported the potential of Jobelyn to boost immunity. The report of the Journal of Food science mentions a high level of the polyphenol antioxidant, the 3-deoxy-anthocyanidin which recommends the product to the food and beverage industries for a natural food colouring. This is a huge market of artificial, chemical food colouring which, rejected now like the white sugar industry, and is searching for natural options. If the Nigerian doctor of the future will be intellectually decolonised to not distrust or loathe the medicine of his or her forebears, of what value will his or her rigorous training be to anti-colonial Nigeria if there are no well researched Nigerian Traditional Medicine products he or she can prescribe? That’s why we are all indebted to all the forces, seen and unseen, and people who have made Jobelyn continue to soar.
