Undenatured Whey Reduces Pathogen Adhesion

"The majority of infectious diseases are initiated by adhesion of pathogenic organisms to the tissues of the host; in many cases, the infectious organism has an affinity to certain carbohydrates on the surface of the host tissues. The presence of certain monsaccharides inhibits a pathogen's adhesion to cells, and when pathogens can't stick, their influence on the host's cell wall is minimized.

Mannose for example is well known to inhibit E. coli adhesion in urinary tract infections; in fact aromatic alpha-mannosides are up to 1000 times more active than MealphaMan on type 1 fimbriated E. coli. This inhibition also applies to the colonocyte cells of the bowel lining; mannose also inhibits Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Salmonella typhimurium and S. enteritidis, galabiose inhibits P. fimbriae and N-acetylglucosamine also fills specific adhesion sites on E. coli.

Research has shown that fucose inhibits at least two strains of Shigella dysenteriae type 1 and two of S. flexneri, n-acetyl neuraminic acid and n-acetyl mannosamine inhibited these as well, that fucose, n-acetyl-neuraminic acid and n-acetyl galactosamine inhibited Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and both n-acetyl neuraminic acid and glucuronic acid reduced adhesion in the mouth, of Porphyromonas gingivalis, the gingivitis bacteria. Fucose is also an adhesion site sugar of Streptococcus pyogenes; this class A Strep bacteria has been linked to many human diseases.

Not all of this inhibitory action is attributed to monosaccharides; other glycopeptides and oligosaccharides, some of which are exposed by fermentation in buttermilk for example rout Helicobacter pylori fom the stomach's mucous layer, others reduce Clostridium difficile, and still others bind some e.coli strains.

Further, the principle works on some parasites too; adhesion of Cryptosporidium parvum was reduced by galactose-N-acetylgalactosamine, and galactose also reduced Entamoeba histolytica adhesion.

The role that undenatured whey can play in pathogen inhibition is as follows: in bovine whey the ratio of fucose, mannose, galactose, N-acetylgalactosamine, N-acetylglucosamine, and neuraminic acid of the lactophorin component, which contains about 18% saccharides, were 1, 6.6, 10.3, 5.5, 9.7, and 11.6, respectively. That is to say, the mannose for example in this research was 6.6 times the amount of fucose. Whey also contains galactose, which reduced adhesion of the parasite above.

The anti-adhesion property is probably an overlooked reason that those especially with bowel disorders do so much better when they're using undenatured whey. This property adds yet another reason to use it in a bowel health program besides being a strong donor of glutathione precursors, containing the bowel lining food, the amino acid glutamine, and being the most bioavailable and the only alkalizing animal protein.

In addition, the lactoferrin component of undenatured whey is known to break down biofilm and not support the growth of streptococcus mutans, streptococcus pneumonie, and pathogenic e. coli.

The above inadvertently makes a fair case for not avoiding whey as some people do, for although it may be somewhat mucous-producing, the mucins produced also contain adhesion-impairing glycoproteins that neutralise bacterial progress.

The whey-containing "glyconutrient pudding", to which additional d-mannose and other glyconutrients can be added to further improve its anti-adhesion effect, is looking better all the time."


By Duncan Crow