With a name like Campaign for Real Health, you can be certain we are interested
only in
real causes and
real solutions without which “real health” is only a wish. In this regard, Doug Kaufmann of “Know the Cause” fame is a kindred spirit. We are pleased to introduce you to Doug and his work.
But first, we at this site are deeply skeptical of what might be considered dubious, or false causes and false solutions, such as the cholesterol myth, the vaccine “is always safe and is always the key to disease prevention” myth and the “sugar is OK but red meat is always bad” myth of conventional thinking, among many others This last one was driven home to me by an older lady friend of mine who had just completed standard medical breast cancer treatment. Her physician told her to stay away from red meat but that there would be no problem with her eating sugar. Such advice is truly ignorant of the benefits of
properly raised, grass-finished beef, and the devastating consequences of introducing refined sugars into the body. Here’s a hint: the one — grass fed beef — is an omega 3-rich food that is good for inflammation while helping to boost the immune system and – as you will read below — can even kill fungi, while the other — sugar — helps cancer grow, increases arterial plaque, and dampens the immune system for hours after its ingestion. It also feeds fungus. Perfect segue, so let’s get on to Doug Kaufmann of “Know the Cause” his fungal theory of disease — and I believe, a genuine REAL step in the direction of REAL health.
Doug Kaufmann is a man on a mission. To that end he hosts the increasingly popular daily television program, “Know the Cause,” a show on health and wellness. But the show isn’t your average health program. It has a twist: the “cause” in Know the Cause is “fungus” and Doug’s mission is to educate as many people as will listen that fungus, is behind more human illness than most people — layman and scientist — have ever imagined.
He makes a very compelling case for fungus in nearly every disease imaginable from cancer to heart disease, hypothyroidism to multiple sclerosis. Now, he’s careful not to implicate every case of such diseases as being fungal in nature but he often comes close to doing so and he has turned this initially skeptical viewer into a confirmed FUPO-head (Fungus Until Proven Otherwise). Let’s learn more.
What is “Know the Cause?”
Doug’s daily TV show has been on since 1998 and
has featured some of the most prominent names in nutrition and health care as it stresses the importance of diet, exercise, and safe alternatives to the often deadly approaches offered by conventional medicine. But it’s not just the safe alternative modalities he stresses, for many preach these concepts. It is the fungal theory of disease that truly sets Doug Kaufmann apart. He frequently holds in his hand and quotes from scientific tomes on medical mycology (mycology being the branch of biology dealing with fungi) from decades ago that implicate the lowly fungus in disease. But as Doug is constantly pointing out, in the medical world, bacteria rules while fungi, by comparison, are mostly completely ignored. A tragic mistake of colossal proportions to the health of many if his theory of fungal causation is correct. To compound the problem, antibiotics
are mycotoxins — fungal derivatives.
They cause fungal overgrowth. Translation: if many — and we mean MANY — diseases are fungal in origin and nature, then the vast overuse of antibiotics is causing an incalculable amount of serious illness. And it goes without saying that those illnesses are not being treated as the fungal illnesses they are.
(And please note that above we said “overuse.” Antibiotics, judiciously used, have their place and can be absolutely lifesaving. Their use should always be followed by pro-biotic supplementation to re-seed the good flora in the digestive tract in order to boost natural immunity. Seventy to Eighty percent of the immune system resides in the digestive tract. Antibiotics wipe out the bad and the good. The good must be replaced so that B-vitamins can again be made by the good flora, to prevent bad flora from opportunistically re-asserting themselves wreaking havoc all over again, and to help prevent fungal overgrowth resulting from the antibiotic itself the latter of which is a common problem and a key to understanding the fungal theory of disease).
As we noted earlier, Know the Cause has as its guests many interesting and prominent professionals from the worlds of alternative medicine and nutrition. As an example, one of the most intriguing guests Doug has featured is Dr. T. Simoncini, an oncologist from Rome, Italy. His website is at
http://www.cancerfungus.com/. Dr. Simoncini has shared video with Doug’s audience of cancer inside the body, demonstrating how it is white, not black, and explaining why this is so. I posted a blog entry on this particular subject a few months back; you can access that post if you wish
here. The great thing about this show, in my personal view, is it gives viewers an uncomplicated, easy to understand “common sense” approach to illness — both prevention and cure. Something that viewers not trained in the medical fields can easily wrap their heads around and do for themselves. No mysterious, complicated terminology available only to the initiated brotherhood of priests, er um, doctors. Simple language, straightforward practical information offered by one of the most down to earth guys you might ever hope to come across. But don’t get the wrong impression from his easy to understand, folksy style; there is a profound body of substance in what he says. Indeed, it is testimony to the truly scientific nature of Doug’s work that
doctors are calling HIM!
Who is Doug Kaufmann?
So, who is he? A biographical sketch on him reads as follows:*
After graduation from Hospital Corps “A” School, Kaufmann worked in Respiratory Therapy and in the operating room at The San Diego Naval Hospital. He was ordered to Vietnam in 1970 and was attached to The Seventh Marine Division, where he was a field corpsman. Upon returning to the USA in 1971, he became ill. While working at USC Medical School, the mystery surrounding the illness would be unraveled, enabling full recovery for Kaufmann without the recommended prescriptions.
Thirty-six years later, many thousands of loyal television viewers enjoy learning about this still relevant discovery and how it might impact their health. Much occurred in the early years that convinced Kaufmann that he needed to teach this lifesaving information to physicians. Few listened, so his plans changed. The new mission was to educate the consumers of healthcare…we, the people.
In 1987, Kaufmann relocated his family to Dallas Texas at the request of several physicians who were familiar with his discovery. A few years into this relocation, a local radio station requested that Kaufmann begin broadcasting his different approach to health on their station and offered free time each Saturday. This 30-minute show was quickly enhanced to 3 full hours as its popularity (YOUR HEALTH MATTERS) grew into several large markets. In 1998, a television network requested Kaufmann’s presence and his TV shows have grown in popularity ever since.
Today, Hermosa Studios in Rockwall, Texas tapes and edits the TV shows and arranges satellite uplinking for many independent television stations and networks to pull the show down and broadcast it in over 80,000,000 households throughout America. The show can be viewed on first tier DISH, DirecTV and via many cable systems nationwide. Kaufmann has always encouraged his viewers to understand why they are ill. His Show, KNOW THE CAUSE, expounds upon his decades old discovery and continues to teach the importance of disease prevention. The show has won three “Telly” awards.
Kaufmann has published seven books dealing with the discovery. He has lectured throughout America and writes extensively.
What does Doug teach?
You read a general introduction to Doug’s theory above. But now, let’s take a look at his ideas in his own words. At his website, linked at the very top of this post, can be found a video of Doug speaking called “Fungus 101.” Here is a transcript of that three minute video.
” Welcome to Mycology or Fungus 101. Fungi are ubiquitous organisms. Most are non-toxic. Out of over 1,000,000 out there, about 400 are found to be pathogenic to man. That means they can get inside our bodies and cause disease. Older medical textbooks, those in the 1920’s and 1930’s, talked about farmers working in the dirt, cutting themselves, and the fungi would gain access to the heart, and would mimic a heart attack when in fact it’s a
mycotoxin induced heart attack.
What do we mean? Fungi emit a poison. It’s a biochemical process. They make a poison called a mycotoxin. Mycotoxins are intimately linked in serious disease in man – infertility, heart disease, chronic sinusitis, and the list just goes on and on. That’s why the show, Know the Cause, was necessary. Once these mycotoxins get inside your bloodstream, and they can even get into the nucleus of a cell, and cause a break in the DNA. Once they are inside, how do we get rid of them? The medical textbooks talk about starving it, go on a diet that fungus doesn’t eat because fungus can become a parasite of man. Take those foods, the sugars, the grains, the alcohol, etc. that fungus needs, out of your diet. Eat the foods fungus don’t like – broccoli and kale and some of these cruciferous vegetables and even meat, can kill these fungi. They just don’t like them and they don’t want to starve to death. So what you begin craving might be because you have a fungal condition and fungi are always the dominant partner in a human-fungal cell relationship.
Second, kill the fungus. Doctors have very potent anti-fungals: Diflucan, Sporanox, Lamicil, Nizoral. But remember one thing: there are thousands of antibiotics so that’s why physicians really learn in medical school is about bacteria, not much about fungi. There are safe and natural anti-fungals from olive leaf extract to caprylic acid to many many things. Vitamin C is an anti-fungal, amino acids are anti-fungal; fatty acids are anti-fungal, etc. So there are dozens of these you can find in a health food store.”
So, how does one deal with fungal overgrowth? Doug continually emphasizes three steps:
Specific methods of eliminating fungus from the body
1. STARVE THE FUNGUS with The “Phase I Diet.” Zero starchy carbohydrates, i.e. breads and pasta; zero refined sugars; low glycemic fruits like green apples are OK. An abundance of salads, nuts (ex. peanuts) meat based proteins. The complete diet is available on his site but here is a good representative list:
EGGS
FRUIT, berries, grapefruit, lemon, lime, green apples, avocado, fresh coconut
MEATS, virtually all meat including fish, poultry and beef
VEGETABLES, Most fresh, unblemished vegetables and freshly made vegetable juice
BEVERAGES, bottled or filtered water, non-fruity herbal teas, stevia sweetened fresh lemonade or limeade, freshly squeezed carrot juice (see below)
VINEGAR, apple cider vinegar
OILS, olive, grape, flax seed, cold pressed virgin coconut oil
NUTS, raw nuts, including pecans, almonds, walnuts, cashews, and pumpkin seeds. Stored nuts tend to gather mold, so be careful!
SWEETENERS, Stevia, Stevia Plus, birch tree extracted Xylitol
DAIRY, Organic Butter, Organic Yogurt, (use the following very sparingly) cream cheese, unsweetened whipping cream, real sour cream.
2. KILL THE FUNGUS OUTRIGHT. The prescriptive pharmaceutical agents Diflucan and Nystatin are frequently mentioned as powerful, sometimes necessary anti-fungals depending on the severity of the infection. Many completely safe natural over the counter anti-fungals can work well, too. Favorites are caprylic acid and olive leaf extract. Other typical naturals mentioned include grapefruit seed extract, oregano and 10 Undecenoic acid, among others. Emphasized is the importance of using one or two at a time on a rotating basis so that the fungus cannot adapt to any of them rendering them useless.
It is emphasized that BOTH steps — STARVING and KILLING the fungus must be undertaken at the same time and that the diet must be followed religiously for a period of time. Vigilance in both starving and killing the fungus is paramount.
3. SUPPORT THE IMMUNE SYSTEM with probiotics and beta glucan. (We can add exercise here, too. Doug lives and teaches exercise as a critical component of good health.)
A good list of natural anti-fungals follows although it is emphasized that some will want to consider prescriptive anti-fungals depending on their personal situation: aloe vera, astragalus, basil, beet root, bentonite, berberis root/berries, betaine hydrochloride, bile, biotin and other b vitamins, caprylic acid, castor oil, Chinese herbs (various), cinnamon extracts, chlorophyll, citrus seed extract, cinnamon, cloves, colostrum, deer antler velvet, digestive enzymes, echinacea, essential monosaccharides, flowers (various), food multiple vitamins, garlic, goldenseal glandulars, green vegetables, homeopathic & isopathic remedies, horsetail, l-glutamine, l-valine, lactoferrin, licorice, n-acetyl glucosamine, magnesium, manganese, molybdenum, oxygen (in various forms), pau d’ arco (and other South American herbs), probiotics (including non-traditional ones), olive leaf, oregano (wild and oil forms), psyllium (seeds and/or hulls), Saccharomyces cerevisiae, silver (in various forms), thyme, tillandsia, una de gato (cat’s claw), vitamin C, wheat germ, wheat grass, white fish, and zinc. **
Now that you have had a fairly good overview of Doug Kaufmann and the fungal theory of disease, let’s wrap it up with a few memorable words from Doug himself.
The Quotable Doug Kaufmann — A sampler
(On what doctors see when they put a camera down the throat and how they miss candida) “They would never see it. Oh no, no. First of all they can’t see the fungus. I’ve had so many people come to me in hospitals in my hospital work through the years and show me the results of a camera being dropped down their throat and on the way down there are these white patches and YOU KNOW that’s candida albicans and if you ask a Doctor ‘…well uh that’s just a patch of oh, say chalk….’ OK Doc but I didn’t eat chalk ‘…Well grumble grumble…’ Nothing ceases to amaze me anymore in science, but that white is more than likely monilia growing in a damp, warm space. They are only interested in seeing whats in the belly. Why? What’s in the belly should be a fermenting vat of mushrooms based on all the white that was all the way down. So people have come to me and shown me their pictures and they’re excited. THEY KNOW MORE THAN THE DOCTOR! They come to you at the hospital and say ‘…look at this. The doctor didn’t even say anything. Look at this, Doug. It’s white. There are white spots. Yeah. It’s yeast. He didn’t know…’
(In describing the reason for his workout routine): “I want to prevent disease, but almost more importantly, I want to prevent doctor visits. Because I contend that doctor visits lead to disease. I think doctors (who are nice guys) put you on medicines (that are FDA approved) but that have HORRIBLE side effects…(continues, now quoting a writer, non-verbatim, in JAMA — and for which she got in trouble a few years back) she said that doctors are now the third leading cause of death in America. She said, cancer, heart disease, then doctors. So my goal is to prevent doctor visits into my 60’s, 70’s, and 80’s.”
(On localized problems, ear, nose, etc)
“We tend to think when something’s wrong here we need a “here-ologist. When something’s wrong here we need an ear-ologist. And I’m telling you, what goes awry, physiologically in the human body, has more to do with your gut than you can ever, ever imagine.” If you put the right food into your body in the first place you can prevent and help clear up localized issues. It’s amazing how if you put lighter fluid in a diesel Mercedes, the car never blows up — it just stops because you’ve put the wrong petrol in it. If you put diesel fuel those engines go 300,000-400,ooo miles. Why don’t we understand that same thing? We are all better than Mercedez Benses and we’re all squirting lighter fluid into our bodies.” (Regarding Ezekiel products — high quality whole grains) “Grain is grain. Even whole grains. Here is your worry: ‘…but Doug, my dietitian, my nutritionist, my doctor, my dentist says the human body must have grains in order to thrive…’ If that’s true, then I’m not alive and I’m not thriving. That’s a FALLACY that you must have grains in order to thrive.
(As to whether fungus survives the cooking processs as in grains and corn — both known to be ALWAYS fungally infested): “The answer is no. And that’s surprising to most people. But, fungus is probably not the problem. What fungus makes as a natural biochemical process, the mycotoxins — are heat stable. To the best of my knowledge, you can’t microwave or autoclave these mycotoxins away. Mycotoxins are heat stable. Fungus you can cook out when you cook the pasta. So if there’s no fungus there, you won’t be making the mycotoxins which is a good thing. But if mycotoxins have already impregnated the food, then you’ve got problems.” ***
Source: http://www.campaignforrealhealth.com/2009/11/21/an-introduction-to-doug-kaufmann-and-the-fungal-theory-of-disease/
