Bee Pollen is a mass of microspores. Many nutrtionists and herbalists feel that pollen is a 100% nutritionally balanced food because it contains enzymes, amino acids, vitamins, hormones, and other substances required for healing and rejuvenating the body. It is used to treat aging, allergies, indigestion, prostate disease, sore throat, acne, and fatigue. Chemistry varies from area to area but the basic composition is: 3-16% water; 6-28% crude protein; 15-22% amino acids, with some being in free form; 1-20% lipids; up to 44% carbohydrates; 4-10% simple sugars; 2-3% flavonoids; plus Vitamins A, B1, B2, C, D2, E, K1, K3, folic acid, nicotinic acid, etc.; 19-24 trace elements, sterols, and other constituents that have not yet been identified.
Bee Propolis has shown to decrease plaque and gingivitis, heal gum injuries, tooth extractions, and gangrene of the mouth. Propolis can be found in some mouthwashes. It can also be found in creams and pills as well as the natural gel. Propolis has amazing effects on children with colds, whereas “cold medicines” showed no effect on children, except overdosing them. Propolis is a natural antibiotic which also has antiviral qualities. It is used to treat burns, scars, acne, bedsores, herpes, and tuberculosis.
Beriberi was first described in 2697 BC by the Chinese, but it was a Japanese surgeon who attributed the disorder to an improper diet in AD 1884. In 1912, it was isolated from an extract of rice bran and then named “vitamine.” Nevertheless, despite claims that it would cure beriberi, it did not. Dutch chemists, again working with rice bran extracts, finally isolated the factor against the disease. In 1934, an American scientist isolated and determined its structure and, in 1936, it was synthesized. The following year, the active coenzyme form of thiamin was determined. Beriberi is found in two forms – wet and dry.
DRY beriberi affects mainly the nervous system, when the nerve insulation (myelin sheath) degenerates, causing pain, numbness, and eventually paralysis and muscle wasting. Preliminary symptoms are a staggering gait, numbness of legs, burning feet particularly at night, calf muscle tenderness or cramps, difficulty rising from a squatting position, and growth retardation with mental symptoms of disorientation, hallucinations, and depression. Diagnosis of mild peripheral neuropathy can be made when ankle jerks are absent. Continued deficiency causes loss of the knee jerk reflex, loss of sensation in the toes, atrophy of calf and thigh muscles, and finally foot drop and toe drop. The arms become involved after the leg signs are well established.
WET beriberi takes on two forms. 1) The more common high output form: tachycardia, wide pulse pressure, sweating and warm skin, then heart failure. 2) The rare low -output state is characterized by severe hypotension, lactic acidosis, very low systemic vascular resistance, and absence of edema. Symptoms are abnormal heart rythem, low blood pressure, elevated blood lactic acid, edema (swelling) of the legs, heart muscle weakness, and heart failure. Edema of cardiovascular beriberi differs from other forms of cardiovascular edema in that it responds well to bedrest but responds poorly to digitalis or diuretics. Response to a therapeutic trial of thiamin in uncomplicated cardiovascular or cerebral beriberi is usually prompt and complete. However, dignosis can be difficult if complicated by hypertensive, degenerative, or infectious heart disease.
INFANTILE beriberi occurs in infants breastfed by thiamin-deficient mothers, and usually becomes noticeable between the ages of two and four months. Cardiac failure, aphonia (loss of voice), and absent deep tendon reflexes are characteristic.
BHA (Butylated Hydroxyanisol) and BHT (Butylated Hydroxytoluene) are food additives used to prolong shelf life. They have come under increasing controversy from those advocating its usage because they have the fashionable antioxidant properties, which is fashionable today, and from those who are against additives in any form. They have been proven to impair liver function in lab animals as well as slowing the production of DNA and RNA and thus cell growth and replication in general.
Bile is a fluid produced and secreted by the liver, stored and concentrated in the gallbladder, and poured into the duodenum at intervals, participating in fat digestion. It aids in the emulsification and absorption of fat, activates the pancreatic lipase, and prevents putrification. Among its consituents are bile acids, bile salts, bile pigments, cholesterol, and lecithin.
Bile acids are glycocholic and taurocholic acids formed by the conjugation of glycine or taurine with cholic acid.
Bile pigments are principally bilirubin and biliverdin, which are responsible for the color of the bile. The accumulation of the orange pigmented bilirubin in the blood causes jaundice. Biliverdin is the green pigment of hemoglobin that undergoes reduction to bilirubin in the liver.
Bile salts are chiefly sodium glycocholate and sodium taurocholate.
Bitot’s Spots are small, triangular, grayish or glistening white plaques, with sometimes a foamy surface, on the conjunctiva. The spots are generally bilateral on the temporal sides of the cornea and are associated with a Vitamin A deficiency. Under proper guidance, they can be treated with 20,000 to 50,000 units of beta carotene per day.
