Acidophilus Yeast vs. Acidophilus Bacilli
By Dr. Royal Lee
Summary: In this primer, Dr. Lee explains the science behind his bowel-normalizing product Acidophilus Yeast (known today as Lactic Acid Yeast). This special “mycelium type yeast” converts any dietary carbohydrate into lactic acid within the colon. This not only acidifies the bowel—thus killing potentially dangerous microorganisms that thrive in a more alkaline environment—but also releases enzymes that aid in digestion and provides bulk to stool, all of which help ensure normal bowel movement. “It has been demonstrated time and time again,” Lee writes, “that the stools of patients who are constipated are, in a very large majority, alakin[e]…The lactic acid acts as a stabilizer of the hydrogen ion concentration in the colon.” Circa 1940.
Chronic Idiopathic Ulcerative Colitis
By N. Philip Norman, MD
Summary: A classic, definitive work on ulcerative colitis. Dr. Royal Lee described this remarkable book, which his foundation published in its entirety in 1950, as "worth its weight in gold." Groundbreaking in its understanding of the lesions of malnutrition, the book makes a cogent case that ulcerative colitis is closely related to scurvy, the result of a deficiency of the vitamin C complex, along with additional nutrient deficiencies and other ill effects of a processed-food diet. 1950.
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The Commoner Forms of Pruitus Ani Considered Eutrophically
By N. Philip Norman, MD
Summary: Pruritus ani is a condition marked by intense and chronic itching in the anal area. Here Dr. Norman, the celebrated New York City physician and author of Chronic Idiopathic Ulcerative Colitis (available in this archive), explores the various nutritional causes and treatments of this difficult condition. It is a splendid example of how far back some medical doctors embraced a holistic approach to difficult health problems and applied nutritional solutions to great success. Lee Foundation Clinical Research Report No. 9, 1965.
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Effects of Vitamin Deficient Diet on Rats with Reference to Motor Functions of the Intestinal Tract
By Louis Gross
Summary: Historically significant British study from 1924 on the pathological lesions appearing in the nervous system and digestive tract of rats fed vitamin-deficient diets. This article demonstrates the seriousness and excellence of early vitamin research. From the Laboratories of the Royal College of Surgeons, London, and the Institute of Physiology, University College, London. Reprint 24, 1924.
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Lactic Acid Forming Yeast in Chronic Constipation
By Chester H. Lyon and James P. Hart
Summary: Perhaps the first published study of a probiotic supplement for the treatment of constipation and related bowel disorders. The researchers fed their subjects a special mycelium-type of yeast—developed by Dr. Royal Lee—that converts all carbohydrate foods into lactic acid in the colon. (The normal pH of the colon is acidic; this promotes the growth of beneficial bacteria and inhibits the growth of harmful bacteria.) Unlike lactobacillus-type bacteria, which can convert only lactose into lactic acid, the special yeast used in the study was able to convert any carbohydrate source into lactic acid. This efficient conversion restored the lower bowel to its normal pH and function and provided improvement in every parameter that was studied. Published originally in the journal Clinical Osteopathy under the title "Studies of a New Type of Yeast In Chronic Constipation." 1940.
Nutrition in Health and Disease
By Sir Robert McCarrison, MD
Summary: In this 1936 article from the British Medical Journal, nutrition pioneer Sir Dr. Robert McCarrison lays out some of the basic principles of nutrition—principles that have long been lost by a modern world that has convinced itself that processed foods are sufficient substitutes for whole natural foods. In addition to the fundamental truth that only whole foods can properly nourish the body, McCarrison discusses specific dysfunctions that occur in the two body systems affected most immediately by a poor diet—the gastro-intestinal tract and the endocrine system. 1936.
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The Prevention of Recurrence in Peptic Ulcer
By D. T. Quigley, MD
Summary: Dr. Quigley, the famed cancer expert and author from Omaha, declares peptic ulcer a nutritional deficiency disease reflecting a high intake of refined carbohydrates. Deficiency diseases in general, he adds, should always be treated as broad-based deficiencies rather than as isolated, single-nutrient deficiencies. "In real life no scurvy is ever cured by ascorbic acid, no pellegra [sic] is ever cured by nicotinicamide [sic], no anemia is ever cured with iron and no beriberi is ever cured with thiamine. With these remedies the outstanding and most distressing symptoms are alleviated but the basic disease still exists." Thirteen case histories are presented. From The Nebraska State Medical Journal. Reprint 17, 1954.
Protective Colloids Found in Ancient Remedies
By Dr. Royal Lee
Summary: An illuminating discussion of water-absorbing compounds in foods known as hydrophilic colloids. These compounds, found in foods such as okra and apples, absorb water once in the gastrointestinal tract, creating bulk that initiates peristalsis; irritants to the bowel are also taken up, making hydrophilic colloids effective against diarrhea as well as constipation. The modern use of hydrophilic colloids such as kaolin and bentonite clay, Dr. Lee says, substantiates the genius of traditional cultures that used similar clays to combat dysentery and food infections. Lee quotes Dr. Weston A. Price: “One of the sources I have found helpful in studying primitive races is an investigation of knapsacks. Among the groups (natives) in the Andes, Central Africa and Australia…each knapsack contained a ball of clay, a little of which was dissolved in water. Into this they dipped their morsel of food while eating. Their explanation was to prevent ‘sick stomach’.” From Let's Live magazine, 1958.
The Use of Raw Potatoes
By Dr. Royal Lee
Summary: Dr. Lee discusses the nutritional value of potatoes, explaining that much of that value is lost when they are cooked. "We may estimate that 25 percent of the vitamins are lost in cooking either by heat or leaching. The loss of vitamin C is particularly fast...." In addition, he says, "the cooked potato contains no enzymes, as all enzymes are destroyed by heat." One such enzyme, studies showed, helps relieve constipation, while others are even more precious. "One of the enzymes found in raw potatoes is phosphatase, which promotes assimilation of calcium and iron in particular; another is tyrosinase, an essential component of the vitamin C complex and associated directly with the function of the adrenal glands." (Dr. Lee often referred to raw potatoes and raw mushrooms as the best food sources of tyrosinase available.) Lee gives tips on conserving potatoes' nutrients when cooking them and instructs readers to be sure to add lemon juice to freshly extracted potato juice, which keeps the juice from oxidizing and turning black. From Let's Live magazine, 1958.
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Vitamins and Their Relation to Deficiency Disease of the GI Tract
By Edward A. Johnston, MD
Summary: This excellent report, a reprint from The Journal of the American College of Proctology, starts with a clear description of the all-important connection between vitamin complexes (as they are found in whole foods) and the endocrine system. "When we consider that vitamins in the food are the substances with which the endocrines are able to secrete their active principles, it is apparent that a glandular insufficiency may take place in the absence of vitamins....All of the ductless glands, the thyroid, para-thyroid, thymus, pineal body, pituitary, adrenals, gonads, pancreas, islets of Langerhans, and spleen must have one or more of the vitamins in order to secrete their vital fluids, and, if deprived of the vitamins, will atrophy and cease to function." Such events, Dr. Johnston says, are obviously bound to weaken the body and make it more susceptible to disease. "Stomach ulcers are probably the best instance of bacterial invasion primarily due to a lowered resistance resulting from a vitamin deficiency. Other instances of vitamin A deficiency, and often found in conjunction with infections of the intestinal tract, are infections of the eyes, tonsils, sinuses, lungs, buccal and lingual mucosa, and the skin." This is the Royal Lee Philosophy writ large. Reprint 2, circa 1940.
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