TheGrifter said...
I was asking whether anyone knows if there is any link between hydrogen peroxide and hydrogen sulphide.
The reason being that the Briggs Protocol implicates hydrogen sulphide as one of / the root cause of UC. Many of the treatment recommendations are similar between Briggs and Pravda.
I personally came across Vitamin E enemas as part of the Briggs Protocol and found it works well for me.
I have a lot of experience with gut flora down to the genomic level, so I can give you my thoughts, but I'm not a microbiologist.
I spent 3 years following the H2S theory of UC. The main prescript
ions were either the Briggs Protocol or veganism, and both didn't work for me. The idea is that, because H2S bacteria are gram-negative and account for huge numbers in the colon, when they die they release their lipopolysaccharide (LPS) coating into the colon environment, which disrupts the tight junctions of the colon causing leaky gut. Then the immune system reacts to the leaky gut. As part of the protocol, you need to avoid high protein foods, especially those high in cysteine and methionine (the amino acids with sulfur in them). These are abundant in animal protein, which is why I was told to avoid all animal products. The Briggs Protocol also calls for all of the medications that *never worked* for me.
The problem I have with the H2S theory is that UC itself causes bleeding, which feeds the H2S bacteria. Ulcers do too. H2S basically love animal protein, which includes the protein of the colon. When ulcers form, the protective mucosal layer is gone in those areas, so the H2S bacteria have a field day. Nothing is stopping them from direct contact with the colon wall. Their numbers multiply, releasing more LPS as they die, which just erodes the gut wall further. The idea behind dealing with H2S is that you deprive them of sulfur, their numbers scale back, and then UC gets better. But what causes the initial gut erosion that causes the ulcers/bleeding that feeds the H2S?
The thing is, I was on the H2S protocol for over a year, then I was a vegan for a year, then I tried FMT to displace H2S bacteria. My UC did improve, but I was still not in remission. I was still on prednisone despite being a vegan and doing other H2S remedies. On the other hand, when I worked with the reductive theory of disease, I stopped caring about
my gut flora. The antioxidants made me better within weeks. They sealed my gut lining and now my food allergies are disappearing. I'm not on any medications after flaring for 2.5 years. I can have steak, dairy, all the "no no" H2S foods that I couldn't tolerate before, it doesn't matter. And I didn't have to go on any drugs first like the Briggs Protocol suggests.
IMO if the H2S protocol only works with immune suppression, then it's not dealing with the root cause. If you have to avoid sulfur foods like crazy and one slip up can make your UC come back, then it's not healing you. Therefore, H2S is an aggravating factor, but not the root cause. You certainly want to use a modified diet to avoid producing more H2S/LPS bacteria because when you have
open ulcers, their numbers are already very high. So you don't want to feed them even more sulfur from food. The LPS bacteria will explode in numbers, making UC worse.
Removing the sulfur does not make UC go away, it just downgrades it. I was starving on the Briggs protocol and on a vegan diet because the goal was to reduce protein intake. But when you're flaring AND on prednisone, your protein requirements are high. I am meant to eat meat. After years of trying that approach, I couldn't stand it anymore. I had to consume dense protein sources. When I did, many aspects of my health got much better, but my UC was still there. When I started antioxidant therapy this year, my stools became solid within days and my gut healed.
I am extremely skeptical that H2S cause UC. It aggravates it, certainly. Conversely, when hydrogen peroxide corrodes the gut wall, the immune response happens; inflammation, ulcers and bleeding happen, and then H2S bacteria go wild. That's why most UCers in active flare who get a comprehensive stool test or gut microbiome have high gram-negative species, especially proteobacteria, while their healthy flora are low. Proteobacteria live on animal protein, so when the mucosa disappears they start feeding on blood and ulcers. Healthy flora, on the other hard, require an in-tact mucosa to properly colonize the gut. Without it, they vanish. So that's why UCers often take probiotics long-term.
When hydrogen peroxide is neutralized, the gut wall heals and seals, and the dysbiosis self-repairs because the beneficial species can then properly colonize. The H2S/LPS species downgrade because there are no longer
open wounds to feed on. Voila.