Transcript

Most Replayed Moment: The Antibiotic Alternative Big Pharma Doesn't Want You To Know!

0:00 Uh So the sort of three things that I've I've been able to ascertain. as risks of misuse or overuse or inappropriate use of antibiotics, which is the impact on the gut microbiome. Um

0:14 the you're contributing to the rise in antibiotic resistance and That's the main things. I guess even with the diseases you get, you'll be slower to heal. Because you're less if you've got that resistance. That

0:28 things that we do see, particularly those who are Long term ill. You know, that they lose some of the healing capacity. And that's so much of the work I do is to Aimed.

0:40 Right. And there's links to colorectal cancers. Yeah. But that's it. Because we're talking about the microbiome, you see. So those are the cancers in the lower gut. And we know that the microbiome is a major factor in how well So things like Crohn's and ulcerate colitis and

0:58 Cancer the bow. Very closely linked to the state of the microbiome. Uh okay. So are there alternatives? on this table or in the world of plants to Antibiotics.

1:11 Maybe also considered. Um instead of just jumping straight to antibiotics for everything that I experience. If you got a serious Got. Or other than the Infection.

1:23 You may need the antibiotic, so let's put that straight away. But if you've got a Cold. flu, virus, repres uh a a viral problem, particularly the airways. You

1:35 A antibiotics will n have no use at all and be as we just said, they just add to the risk of more'cause every time you take an antibiotic, you're growing a small population of that Oh of the species of bacteria that's affected who are resistant to that. is natural selection.

1:53 You know, though you have a thousand Little bacteria, that's a small amount by their terms, and you kill nineteen uh nine hundred and ninety nine of them. The one that survives. will then become two in twenty minutes and four in forty minutes and suddenly become a new population.

2:11 And you know, I I I Stuck that bullet. And so that group of bacteria will already Resistant.

2:19 So we're creating resistance every time we use an antibody. So Try let's try then doing something else, shall we? So let's say you've got a cold. Feeling the cold. It's got a good name, by the way. So

2:32 Cold is one of the things you feel when you've got a cold. And that's interesting because in former times we didn't have tests, we didn't have laboratories, we didn't have paramedics, we didn't have people poking things in you. All we could know is what it felt like. And when you've got a cold, you often feel cold. And you feel chills and you want to wrap up. And he wants to hop.

2:55 All that in the old language. Meant that you were cold. And what you needed to do was to heat up. No, you take

3:07 This fella. This is Ginger. It's grown. widely around the world, in its original Asian form, it was made extinct around the time of the Romans. So popular was it. And ever since all

3:22 the ginger sense of this species. uh has but going from rootstock is it no longer seeds itself. So This has been the most valuable natural commodity ever. in its dried form worth more than its weight in gold. And you know the reason why all those Europeans ended up in Asia and running India and South the Dutch and the Indonesia and so on is because that's where these things came from. That's where the spices came from.

3:49 So we decided you know, like good Capitalist to go and uh Control the business. So Ginger became.

3:57 very popular over here because we don't have nothing like it over here. The nearest thing we got is horserish, which I promise you is no substitute for this. So How do we use this? We've got a knobber ginger here about the size of your thumb. That's about a good dose. You crate it.

4:14 Fresh ginger. Into a Uh a mug. Can you do that for me? I've got a great question.

4:22 Um We've got here a piece of ginger that As I say, about the size of your thumb. A thumb's a good measure because it's your measure. So if you're a small person, you'll have a small thumb. But I'm a bigger person, so I'm gonna use And you literally it's gonna make a bit of a mess, yeah.

4:40 But doing this at home you don't mind a bit of mess. You're literally grating and it grates nicely, doesn't it? Into a mug. And let's say that was the whole thumb. I don't want to take up too much time on this. And then The one thing that works brilliantly with ginger.

4:57 Is cinnamon. Uh this is It comes in different forms. There's one from China called Scasia, which looks like one big curled

5:09 Bug. Yeah. Ha If you look at this one you'll see that it's tightly wrapped. with lots of little curl lots of little filaments in it. That's the one you go for. It's got it's more aromatic. And you

5:21 Either great that with if you've got a a spice mill or You take a teaspoon Of It. Um teaspoonful you put that.

5:33 In your Okay. Ginger and cinnamon. That's it. Then you add your hot water. Yeah.

5:51 You're going for the real one, right? Going for the real one. Good on you. Uh at this point a sieve is useful. Why? Because it's gonna be it's full of

6:01 Oh bits. And then let's say this is this is a nice Japanese green tea mug, but let's say this is your Mug. And Well for a little bit.

6:14 And then You see all the stuff that you leave behind? Oh yeah. Ah, okay. And if you don't mind.

6:25 Sharing a mug? So what's in here? This is just ginger and cinnamon. Just ginger and cinnamon. It's it's fairly weak. Oh it is nice though.

6:37 It is nice. Can you feel it warming already? Yes, straight away. It's really nice. Yeah. Now see what what's happening there is that you I mean

6:47 Ginger is an is an example of A group of remedies which includes turmeric, by the way, and that's other root the other root there. That's turmeric. Um seen a yellow powder. We might talk about that later. And black pepper and chilies.

7:08 Which when you take them. You think you're burning your mouth, aren't you? The interesting thing is that There's no burning. You can actually have

7:21 at full madras level. Uh Chile. And no harm will be done. to your lily because there's no burning going on. What you're doing is you're stimulating the pain fibers. So you got pain fibers.

7:35 All the way through the lining of the mouth. When you take a hot thing like ginger. It's stimulating the pain fibers and immediately There's a What we call a reflex.

7:47 Response. Which opens up the blood. Vessels. It's called hyperemia, more blood. And uh

7:55 Vessels lining these Mikosa, the ones that you just swallowed and including a little bit up in the nasal passages. A opening up. The mucus cells producing mucus. We'll loosen up.

8:08 And you get more runny mucus. Which is helping to flush through The uh The grot on the mucosa. And the main thing you feel is the warmth.

8:19 Mm-hmm. And if you're dealing with something down here in the lungs you'll actually start bringing up more Up the Airways.

8:27 It's there's a natural escalator that we use to that the body uses to get stuff out of the lungs. That's stimulated And the mixture of cinnamon and ginger was created, I think, in heaven. I mean I think there's such a natural compliment. And anybody can do that. And

8:45 The point about it is that it's warming and in the old days That was the key thing. He would Didn't matter if you had a headache. All right.

8:55 Joint pain. Or menstrual cramp. If you wanted to put a hot water bottle on it. Or heat it up. Then that was a cold problem.

9:06 And putting a heating medicine. would begin to make difference. So you can use the same thing. If you have a headache and you want to put a hot pack on it. If you've got a menstrual cramp and you want to put a water bottle on it. If you've got a joint pain and you want to put a uh heating

9:21 uh liniment on it. You can use the same thing. Ginger, because it's heating. And that's Simple.

9:29 Old medicine. T. So when you are experiencing types of pain or a cold Then cinnamon and ginger are good. Well only if it responds to heat.

9:43 No, if you want to put an ice back on. I mean the old doctors when someone came with a migraine would say Tell me. Would you prefer a hot pack or an ice pack? For your migraine. And migraine sufferers generally split seventy thirty.

9:57 Preferring heat. Seventy. But A third of people. with migraines actually wants a coal pack.

10:03 You don't use ginger for that. You use cooling remedies, which we might come on to later. My girlfriend she drinks Ginger tea all the time. Almost every day. Yeah. She likes the heat. She likes the heat. Cheat. Yeah. Cheat. She drinks it before bed as well. Can help with sleep if that's the way.

10:22 Because I mean everyone's People are different. And There are some people who can't take

10:31 Um You know, literally heats them up too much so they get Stimulated by it. Um

10:38 But that's where the individuality comes in. Okay, so any any condition where I might be looking for heat. Ginger and cinnamon. First place to go. First place to go. Yeah. You could t t if you want it to be Tex Mex, you can take the chilies. Um, that's a we think of them as a much more extreme version uh of the heating. And you know, remind ourselves it was only when

11:03 The Europeans discovered America's Yeah. Chili's became used. Over here.

11:10 You know, can you imagine a an Italian meal with a Yeah, without tomatoes and Chili's. But in the old days there were none of those'cause they all came from America. Um

11:21 But yeah, chilies were the American equivalent of ginger. Used for the same purpose. So if someone comes to you and they say Yeah. Sorry, when should I use

11:31 Chili's as a form of medication, what what would you say? First of all, I don't know yet. Yeah. And you know, if I'm dealing with someone at a distance, you know, online or on the phone or something and they say, Oh no, what shall I try? I said

11:44 The first thing to do. Is you've Figure it out. You can start with herbal tees. You are.

11:54 I'm gonna drop it into the Gonna drop it into here. Is that a bad idea? Yeah, yeah, no, yeah, go for it. But it'll You'll s you should notice that's should be quite a hot one. Uh I will uh s suggest that they start with herbal teas,'cause herbal teas are a very low dose. Mm-hmm.

12:10 But they'll allow you to figure out what suits you. And you can divide m as hinting at earlier, old medicines were often divide into those that were more warming. We were now cool. Stimulating circulation. And more cooling.

12:25 Which we would now translate as stimulating digestion. And depending on which of those you prefer, would it really give me a clue. So If you were looking at warming remedies, it could be ginger tea, it could be pennel tea. You know, that's a warming remedy, or it could be cinnamon or um any of the spices. Cardamom is one of my favourites, by the way.

12:48 Um this is I use cardamom, this is the cardamom pods inside of little black seeds. Absolutely lovely taste. Do you know him? Do you know Cardamor? Have you tried it? Not really now. Oh have a bite of that. Yeah, just bite into it. You don't t just just get a hint of the taste. In many parts of the Mid East.

13:09 Cartman is one of the main Flavors, things like coffee and so on. Mm reminds me of um Oh I was gonna say Indian food that I've had. Yes. used a lot in India. And in China it's a

13:22 Uh convalescent tonic. So they use it when people building up their digestion after being ill for a long time. They will often use cardamom. That's one of my favorite remedies for that. When people really run low, their digestion isn't functioning. It was appeared in one or two of these stories I've got here. Uh because I prefer that to most of the other spices when I need warming.

13:43 Yeah. But also. sustaining and nourishing. So You asked them.

13:52 Do you prefer teas that are warming? Or Would you like something more cooling? Cooling remedies. That people know about

14:02 This Mint. Mm. Uh spearmint, the best one is peppermint. Oh.

14:10 It's kinda lovely. Yeah. That has always been thought of as cooling. And it's a simple test. Would you prefer ginger or peppermint tea? And already you're beginning to narrow things down a bit.

14:24 Mm-hmm. The main cooling. Remedies throughout history from Yeah. Very beginning and in every part of the world you'll find them ex saying exactly the same thing.

14:35 The main cooling remedy, so called are the bitters. And they taste. Really.

14:44 When you say cooling, y y you mean I feel hot, so I want something to cool me down. That's right. And there's certain conditions where I will feel I'll feel hot. Fever. Fever. And they were often used to fever, manage fever.

14:58 And Um what happened? You remember w when we were young we were told If you've had a big meal, don't go swimming. Um

15:07 You weren't told that. I can't swim, so there you go. But that was one of the things that you know some of us in my generation at least were always remembered we were told, you know, if you've got a big meal, it's not a good idea to go swim because you'll The blood. moving into the digestion. And you won't get many as much as you want where you need it in the limbs. Uh and that's you know, it's true when you're digesting a lot of blood

15:32 Investment, shall we call it. is going into the digestive system because there's a lot of work needed to break down this food, turn it into something useful. It is an investment. You put a lot in, get much more out. But what it means is is that Um Uh digestion is all about I'm just

15:51 being a bit loose here with the language, but it's not about language. It's like bringing blood into the Cool. When you got a fever. The blood's all charging around and your body temperature's going up. Which is great.

16:05 Because fever actually is a defense measure. You know, when our body temperature rises by a couple of degrees Uh white blood cells, the ones that are doing the Legwork. Two or three times as active.

16:18 So fever is what the body uses when it needs to Bring out the big guys, bring out the fight. There's a slight. design problem is almost as though You know.

16:27 Creators. put it a uh you know, purposeful fault in the system because a lot of fever comes from the gut. You know, they you get gut infections. You know, that's one of the main places. And at that moment all the blood's going out here, and you want more of it. going in more digestion, if you like.

16:46 So when you take a bitter When you're taking a bitter, you're actually s triggering taste buds up here. A bitter. Is are there any plants that are bitter? Yeah, uh bitter plants are very common.

17:00 And were highly valued in The old world. Um In our times. Probably the most bitter plough that people used in European

17:11 terms was something called wormwood. Now you may not be familiar with that word, but the French for wormwood is for moose. And you think of the Use of a drink before a meal. Mm-hmm. The idea was it was they used to call it an aperitif, something that has stimulated your appetite. So they would use

17:30 Bitters to improve your appetite and uh And Burdock.

17:38 Uh. Two. Other. It is. which we now have as a soft drink, you know.

17:46 And we know that bitters do switch on the appetite, so we sometimes use them when appetite is poor. And You know. There's all sorts of reasons why you've got a low appetite, but Bitters can rarely help.

17:59 Um They can help with um Getting the digestion juices flowing and the appetite up. Because they bring blood to the digestive systems. Actually, when you switch on these receptors in the mouth, these taste buds, they are hardwired and they produce hormones.

18:17 That switch on all sorts of things. uh an effect of increased digestive activity, which involves more blood. coming into the area. So yes.

18:27 Let's imagine you're living in some part of, you know, the uh desert area in the Middle East. You know, you're eating a sheep or something that hasn't seen a refrigerator. And it's a bit dodgy. Yeah. And you think after a meal.

18:43 It turned to something. easily available in that part of the world. It's a plant called Cafe Arabica. We call it coffee. Ground the coffee. into a sludge at the bottom pour a bit of hot water.

18:57 And drink that straight. That's bitter. So if you ever had an espresso without sugar, That's a bit of a Okay.

19:05 And that was used as the digestive. In other words, after you're eating It would help cope with Some pretty rough food. So bitters were always seen

19:20 And in fever that actually meant lowering your body temperature and that's we can see that happening. Yeah, it's uh it means that You some of the anger out here just gets Sublimated into digestion. So that was where the bitters got their cooling.

19:34 Reputation. And we can now laugh at this is all medieval nonsense. But the point that I keep coming back to when I'm seeing patients, I start with that blank sheet of paper.

19:44 It's because the only test of what these do to you is to take it. And as you notice with your ginger and cinnamon, you don't need long.

19:56 You got it there straight up. And you know, if I give a bitter to somebody Uh and you know, some of the They will know within an hour or so.

20:07 What effect is having? What you just listened to was a most replayed moment from a previous episode. If you want to listen to that full episode, I've linked it down below. Check the description. Thank you. Wow.