Take Away Points Summary:
Glycine and taurine cause germination of bacteria spores (if spores present). symptoms of this germination may be noticeable within 1 hour after consuming glycine or taurine. This does not necessarily mean taurine and glycine are bad. Copper can kill these bacteria in antagonistic fashion. Charcoal seems to be the most effective weapon against spore-forming bacteria in a Peat sense, and these bacteria are probably why Peat recommends taking charcoal 2-3 times a week because it appears that more normal types of bacteria are wiped out pretty efficiently by insoluble fiber.
It seems these bacteria can change back and forth from live bacteria to inert spore VERY quickly; possibly several times a day. The mystery part comes in because, in spore form, the bacteria do NOT cause symptoms and are inert. This can cause the person to incorrectly believe they are in excellent health. Then within a few minutes of contact with bile salts, the spores sense a nutrient rich environment and come to life to start causing the person near-immediate serotonin symptoms.
Below are all my notes on researching different spore-forming bacteria, with clostridium difficile being the most talked about.
Charcoal
"A greater percentage of bacillus subtilis cells sporulate in bacto-peptone broth treated with charcoal than in untreated peptone water."
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/article ... 99/?page=7
Glycine
"In bile, glycine is conjugated to cholate (Fig. 1). When glycocholate passes into the lower bowel, the glycyl group is deconjugated from cholate by the normal bacterial flora (5). The products of deconjugation are cholate and glycine. When deconjugated by the normal flora, the production of both cholate and glycine from glycocholate results in two compounds that are sufficient to stimulate germination and outgrowth of C. difficile spores."
http://jb.asm.org/content/190/7/2505.full
Taurine
"To aid in digestion, the gall bladder secretes bile into the duodenum, where it helps to absorb fat and cholesterol. The primary bile produced by the liver consists mainly of cholate and chenodeoxycholate conjugated with either taurine or glycine.
We report here that C. difficile spores germinate rapidly in vitro when exposed to taurocholate but only in a rich medium that does not by itself induce efficient germination. Using a defined medium, we found that glycine and taurocholate act as cogerminants and are sufficient to induce germination of C. difficile spores. Secondary bile salts induced germination but also inhibited outgrowth of the germinated spores. These results form the basis for a new model to explain the role of the normal flora in preventing C. difficile infection."
http://jb.asm.org/content/190/7/2505.full
Histidine
"Histidine was found to be a co-germinant for Cl. difficile spores when combined with glycine and taurocholate."
http://www.researchgate.net/publication ... ile_spores
Copper
"Copper metal eliminated all vegetative cells of C. difficile within 30 min, compared with stainless steel which demonstrated no antimicrobial activity (P < 0.05). Copper significantly reduced the viability of spores of C. difficile exposed to the germinant (sodium taurocholate) in aerobic conditions within 60 min (P < 0.05) while achieving a ≥2.5 log reduction (99.8% reduction) at 3 h. Organic material did not reduce the antimicrobial efficacy of the copper surface (P > 0.05)."
http://jac.oxfordjournals.org/content/62/3/522.long
Others
"Collectively, these results indicate that C. difficile spores germinate poorly with KCl or sodium phosphate at pH 6.0, and are able to germinate with sodium taurocholate and glycine."
http://mic.sgmjournals.org/content/155/4/1376.full
Anecdotal Type Info
"What you're referring to and what was explained to you by your physician is called "pulse dosing" and it's exactly what it sounds like. You take the antibiotic for a few days (or weeks depending on the severity of your infection) and then you stop for a few days (pulsing). This makes the bacteria think that the "threat" of the antibiotic is gone from your colon; once they "think" the threat is gone, they begin to transform from their survival mode or "spore" state to their normal vegetative or "active" state as living bacteria. When you restart the antibiotic again after a few days (pulsing), those bacteria that were protected as spores will then be killed by the antibiotic. Physicians use this technique for treatment when normal antibiotic therapy has failed to eradicate the entire infection and the bacterium has returned after a reoccurence."
http://www.earthclinic.com/cures/c-diff.html
"I followed the vanco with 3 weeks of tapering activated charcoal (3 times a week for 1 week, 2 times a week 2nd week, and 1 time a week third week). I hadn't tried the charcoal before and I don't know if that was what did it, but today is 70 days free of c diff.
At the end of the vanco and probiotics I started taking 260 mgs of activated charcoal that I bought over the counter at a pharmacy. They give activated charcoal to people who have been poisoned because it binds to them (along with everything else so you have to take it 2 hours before or after vitamins, meds, food, etc). I tapered and pulsed the vanco to 3 x week, then 2 x week and didn't relapse. I figured the charcoal would bind to any spores that hatched and take care of them. I don't know if it worked or if I would have not relapsed this time, but I figured it couldn't hurt. I also was on the vanco and probiotics continousouly for several months and tapered very, very slowly. Also, I think I had a mild case of c-diff this time because the vanco worked right away and I could eat anything I wanted without a problem. I hope this information helps, but a I said, I don't know if the charcoal played a part or not."
http://cdiffdiscuss.org/PHPBB3/viewtopi ... =17&t=5983
Esophagus
I worry about the esophagus since when using activated charcoal in gelatin pill form, the charcoal doesn't open up until it reaches the stomach. The esophagus isn't coated with charcoal which may be a crucial mistake, or it could be nothing at all.
I believe activated charcoal should probably be used in powder to drink form. Using the pills bypasses the esophagus and in my notes there is a study about H. pylori in the esophagus, so the esophagus does need some form of protection. There is probably a minimum effective dose of charcoal that can be used without causing execssive slowing of peristalsis. I used 1 tbsp charcoal to very good ultimate effect, but it caused slowed digestion for a day or two.
"H. pylori, which may be isolated from gastric juice in infected subjects, can be transmitted by means of GER of contaminated gastric juice to acid secreting gastric-type epithelium of esophagus. The potential analogy to duodenal ulcer of patients
with H. pylori infected Barrett's esophagus remains evocative. However, the relationship between colonization and esophagitis, ulceration or adenocarcinoma of Barrett's esophagus is inconstant. H. pylori, which is not of relevance in GER and not an acquisition of Barrett's esophagus, does not seem to contribute to the natural history of this affection. It is possible that, through migrating from the stomach to the lower third of the esophagus, H. pylori undergoes environmental alteration. Observations do not support the hypothesis that H. pylori causes inflammatory, ulcerative or precancerous lesions of Barrett's esophagus. Whether or not colonization of esophageal gastric-type epithelium is more than an overinfection of pre-existent lesions by a transient contaminant, remains to be proved."
https://www.healthonnet.org/OESO/books/ ... RT219.HTML
Glycine and taurine cause germination of bacteria spores (if spores present). symptoms of this germination may be noticeable within 1 hour after consuming glycine or taurine. This does not necessarily mean taurine and glycine are bad. Copper can kill these bacteria in antagonistic fashion. Charcoal seems to be the most effective weapon against spore-forming bacteria in a Peat sense, and these bacteria are probably why Peat recommends taking charcoal 2-3 times a week because it appears that more normal types of bacteria are wiped out pretty efficiently by insoluble fiber.
It seems these bacteria can change back and forth from live bacteria to inert spore VERY quickly; possibly several times a day. The mystery part comes in because, in spore form, the bacteria do NOT cause symptoms and are inert. This can cause the person to incorrectly believe they are in excellent health. Then within a few minutes of contact with bile salts, the spores sense a nutrient rich environment and come to life to start causing the person near-immediate serotonin symptoms.
Below are all my notes on researching different spore-forming bacteria, with clostridium difficile being the most talked about.
Charcoal
"A greater percentage of bacillus subtilis cells sporulate in bacto-peptone broth treated with charcoal than in untreated peptone water."
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/article ... 99/?page=7
Glycine
"In bile, glycine is conjugated to cholate (Fig. 1). When glycocholate passes into the lower bowel, the glycyl group is deconjugated from cholate by the normal bacterial flora (5). The products of deconjugation are cholate and glycine. When deconjugated by the normal flora, the production of both cholate and glycine from glycocholate results in two compounds that are sufficient to stimulate germination and outgrowth of C. difficile spores."
http://jb.asm.org/content/190/7/2505.full
Taurine
"To aid in digestion, the gall bladder secretes bile into the duodenum, where it helps to absorb fat and cholesterol. The primary bile produced by the liver consists mainly of cholate and chenodeoxycholate conjugated with either taurine or glycine.
We report here that C. difficile spores germinate rapidly in vitro when exposed to taurocholate but only in a rich medium that does not by itself induce efficient germination. Using a defined medium, we found that glycine and taurocholate act as cogerminants and are sufficient to induce germination of C. difficile spores. Secondary bile salts induced germination but also inhibited outgrowth of the germinated spores. These results form the basis for a new model to explain the role of the normal flora in preventing C. difficile infection."
http://jb.asm.org/content/190/7/2505.full
Histidine
"Histidine was found to be a co-germinant for Cl. difficile spores when combined with glycine and taurocholate."
http://www.researchgate.net/publication ... ile_spores
Copper
"Copper metal eliminated all vegetative cells of C. difficile within 30 min, compared with stainless steel which demonstrated no antimicrobial activity (P < 0.05). Copper significantly reduced the viability of spores of C. difficile exposed to the germinant (sodium taurocholate) in aerobic conditions within 60 min (P < 0.05) while achieving a ≥2.5 log reduction (99.8% reduction) at 3 h. Organic material did not reduce the antimicrobial efficacy of the copper surface (P > 0.05)."
http://jac.oxfordjournals.org/content/62/3/522.long
Others
"Collectively, these results indicate that C. difficile spores germinate poorly with KCl or sodium phosphate at pH 6.0, and are able to germinate with sodium taurocholate and glycine."
http://mic.sgmjournals.org/content/155/4/1376.full
Anecdotal Type Info
"What you're referring to and what was explained to you by your physician is called "pulse dosing" and it's exactly what it sounds like. You take the antibiotic for a few days (or weeks depending on the severity of your infection) and then you stop for a few days (pulsing). This makes the bacteria think that the "threat" of the antibiotic is gone from your colon; once they "think" the threat is gone, they begin to transform from their survival mode or "spore" state to their normal vegetative or "active" state as living bacteria. When you restart the antibiotic again after a few days (pulsing), those bacteria that were protected as spores will then be killed by the antibiotic. Physicians use this technique for treatment when normal antibiotic therapy has failed to eradicate the entire infection and the bacterium has returned after a reoccurence."
http://www.earthclinic.com/cures/c-diff.html
"I followed the vanco with 3 weeks of tapering activated charcoal (3 times a week for 1 week, 2 times a week 2nd week, and 1 time a week third week). I hadn't tried the charcoal before and I don't know if that was what did it, but today is 70 days free of c diff.
At the end of the vanco and probiotics I started taking 260 mgs of activated charcoal that I bought over the counter at a pharmacy. They give activated charcoal to people who have been poisoned because it binds to them (along with everything else so you have to take it 2 hours before or after vitamins, meds, food, etc). I tapered and pulsed the vanco to 3 x week, then 2 x week and didn't relapse. I figured the charcoal would bind to any spores that hatched and take care of them. I don't know if it worked or if I would have not relapsed this time, but I figured it couldn't hurt. I also was on the vanco and probiotics continousouly for several months and tapered very, very slowly. Also, I think I had a mild case of c-diff this time because the vanco worked right away and I could eat anything I wanted without a problem. I hope this information helps, but a I said, I don't know if the charcoal played a part or not."
http://cdiffdiscuss.org/PHPBB3/viewtopi ... =17&t=5983
Esophagus
I worry about the esophagus since when using activated charcoal in gelatin pill form, the charcoal doesn't open up until it reaches the stomach. The esophagus isn't coated with charcoal which may be a crucial mistake, or it could be nothing at all.
I believe activated charcoal should probably be used in powder to drink form. Using the pills bypasses the esophagus and in my notes there is a study about H. pylori in the esophagus, so the esophagus does need some form of protection. There is probably a minimum effective dose of charcoal that can be used without causing execssive slowing of peristalsis. I used 1 tbsp charcoal to very good ultimate effect, but it caused slowed digestion for a day or two.
"H. pylori, which may be isolated from gastric juice in infected subjects, can be transmitted by means of GER of contaminated gastric juice to acid secreting gastric-type epithelium of esophagus. The potential analogy to duodenal ulcer of patients
with H. pylori infected Barrett's esophagus remains evocative. However, the relationship between colonization and esophagitis, ulceration or adenocarcinoma of Barrett's esophagus is inconstant. H. pylori, which is not of relevance in GER and not an acquisition of Barrett's esophagus, does not seem to contribute to the natural history of this affection. It is possible that, through migrating from the stomach to the lower third of the esophagus, H. pylori undergoes environmental alteration. Observations do not support the hypothesis that H. pylori causes inflammatory, ulcerative or precancerous lesions of Barrett's esophagus. Whether or not colonization of esophageal gastric-type epithelium is more than an overinfection of pre-existent lesions by a transient contaminant, remains to be proved."
https://www.healthonnet.org/OESO/books/ ... RT219.HTML