Our old enemy E. coli is in the news again, as a severe recent outbreak has been blamed for more than 4,000 cases of foodborne illness and 48 deaths in Europe and North America. While this bacteria is essential for colon health, one particularly bad strain can cause severe, bloody diarrhea, intense abdominal cramping, and kidney failure in 2 percent to 7 percent of people. As with many infections, children under the age of 5 and the elderly are at the greatest risk.

Eating raw, contaminated foods appears to be the culprit in the recent outbreak in Europe. There are two major reasons for the scale of this outbreak — the use of human feces for plant fertilizer and the failure of people to thoroughly wash their fruits and vegetables before eating. (As regular readers know, I preach about washing produce constantly in my newsletters and lectures.)

People assume — especially in this country — that the government is looking out for their safety. And you can go on the Food and Drug Administration website and read that all fruits and vegetables should be thoroughly washed before being eaten — mainly because of dangerous pesticides and herbicides used in agriculture.

But that’s not nearly enough. What boggles my mind is that there are no public service announcements raising awareness of this danger, despite it being vital to everyone’s health. Maybe the people at the FDA are so busy telling us that vaccines are safe and essential that they don’t have any budget left for broadcasting really important information — such as the need to wash fruits and vegetables.

Some years ago, I had a severe attack of food poisoning, with cramping so bad I thought I might die. At that point, I drank a mixture of magnesium and water, and to my surprise, the pain immediately stopped.

Of course, this is just a single observation, but that is how scientists have always made important discoveries. Now, we would do hundreds of studies, wait decades, and then announce with much fanfare.

However, we already know that magnesium protects the kidneys and can protect against vascular collapse associated with gram-negative bacteria such as E. coli. So wash your fruits and vegetables to avoid serious food poisoning such as E. coli. But if you are stricken, keep magnesium in mind.

You can learn even more about the benefits of supplements by reading my special report "Key Vitamins That Save Your Heart, Prevent Cancer and Keep You Living Long."



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