The Kill List: Proteus Edition

Proteus mirabilis is an interesting bug, named after an ancient Greek god of the sea for its ability to change its shape and swarm rapidly over moist surfaces. Ominous, no?
It’s a member of the same (infamous crime) family as E. coli: gram negative, motile, naturally resistant to penicillin and fluorquinolone-based antibiotics, highly likely to form a biofilm when it spreads in a medical setting, generally through catheters, but almost every case I’ve seen has been in someone who hadn’t been catheterized.
All of them, however, had low stomach acid. Treating that is vital to both killing a current Proteus infection, and preventing new ones.

As with E. coli, there’s a myth that it is inhibited by an acid pH, and likes alkaline urine: this is due to the bacteria being studied in an oxygenated environment. Like E. coli and Klebsiella, Proteus is a facultative anaerobe that doesn’t need oxygen to live. In an anaerobic environment, such as the bladder, they eat acid. Proteus uses an enzyme called urease to hydrolyze (break down) urea, which produces ammonia, which causes urine pH to rise. It’s one of nature’s janitors, breaking down waste.

Your initial approach is going to be the same as for E. coli or Klebsiella: alkalize the urine to simulate a bacterial waste-filled environment. The bacteria stops feeding because the alkalinity sends the signal that it’s already sitting in a pool of its own waste. It’s like you’re turning off the chemical signal to feed.

IMPORTANT NOTE: Few of these weapons are going to work as they should if you have not cleansed with activated charcoal at all, or if you have low stomach acid and aren’t actively treating it. Without cleansing the gut, the bacterial and fungal pathogens in your gut will use up most types of natural meds before they can get to the bladder. It’s like charging a machine gun nest when there’s three rows of enemy-filled trenches in the way: you must sweep the trenches clear first in order to reach your objective. For this you can do the Shock and Awe cleanse outlined here. 

Or, you can simply start taking 1.5 oz pure lemon juice concentrate with every meal, and your gut should be clearing out within 36 hours. Once you’re loose and frequent, you can take 2 tsp (5 gram) doses twice that day, with 12 oz water each. Remember, no food within 2 hours of charcoal.

If you have low stomach acid your digestive system is unable to properly break down and absorb most of what you’re putting into it. That’s why you feel like crap all the time and nothing works. This must be addressed or nothing will get better. Click here to read how.

Additionally, if you are peeing frequently but only taking natural meds a few times a day, they move into your bladder quickly and then get emptied out too soon. You want every bit of urine coming through your bladder to be alkaline, and full of natural meds. That means you want to take a combination of the ones you don’t need to take with food (ginger, OLE, cayenne) every time you pee. My favorite way to do this is to drink 6-8 oz celery/ginger/lemon juice after every trip to the bathroom, with 2 OLE capsules and a fat pinch of cayenne, for instance.

The natural meds are listed in order of how broad-spectrum they are against the different strains, and potency. For best results with all of these things:

1. Cleanse with activated charcoal: you want to send a minimum of a tablespoon (7.5 grams) through, total, before taking full-strength doses of natural meds.
2. Take a shot (1.5 oz) of pure lemon juice with every meal
3. Keep your urine pH where it needs to be, monitoring with urine test strips
4. Combine three different types of these natural meds
5. Keep a journal where you jot down what you’re taking, when, and what your symptoms/test results are when you pee. This way you will be able to spot patterns and track your progress.
6. Lastly, when you’re doing everything right, (you cleanse thoroughly with charcoal and you’re taking acid if needed and your meds consistently), it should take 5-7 days to kill a UTI, at the most. If it’s taking longer, you either need more charcoal cleansing, more acid with your food/meds, or a different combination of natural meds. 

Proteus: pH 7.0-8 Lemon juice/baking soda water, juiced celery

1. Juiced ginger root. 1.5-2 inch cube per dose. In my experience, terpenes are the most powerful weapon against Proteus, and ginger is packed with them.
It also has some Candida-killing action but is absorbed into the blood too fast to cause severe die-off. You can take it by itself like a shot with a squeeze of lemon juice in it, and/or juice it with a head of organic celery and a lemon for an alkalizing anti-bacterial/anti-fungal combo. Drink that combination all day in place of lemon/baking soda water. This juice blend is especially good when you have Proteus because it reverses low stomach acid, over time, and low stomach acid is a major risk factor for a Proteus infection. You will never be safe till you fix that. Also, the juice flushes out kidney stones, which are related to Proteus infections.
Juiced ginger root can be taken with or without food, as often as desired. Safe for pregnancy and breastfeeding.

A.  The root should be firm and unwrinkled, with some visible juiciness when you slice it.
B. If you drink this juiced with celery and lemon in place of lemon/baking soda water, drink 8 oz every time you pee. You can juice a big batch every morning and bottle it to take with you to work/errands. Make sure you pee every 2 waking hours.
C. If the juice gives you the runs, you both need and are now prepared for a charcoal cleanse. Take 2 tsp (5 grams) doses with 12 oz water 1-3x a day until stools normalize.

2. Oregano oil. A monoterpenoid phenol, this is the second most powerful tool against Proteus but will not be fully effective unless you’ve cleansed with charcoal first. Look for the carvacrol content (active ingredient) and aim for around 150-200 mg of carvacrol per dose. Not total dosage of the capsules, the carvacrol content per capsule is the active ingredient dosage. Study the label and do the math.
Take only with food, 4x a day. Use no more than twice a day if pregnant: safe for breastfeeding.

3. Olive leaf extract. This is an excellent wing man to all of these other meds when you have Proteus. It’s also an effective prophylactic against all types of bacteria, kills Candida like no other, has no toxicity and is excellent for general health, BUT when you already have an embedded UTI you need to combine it with other natural meds to administer the coup de grâce. It has the strongest Candida-killing action of any UTI med: you will have die-off unless your Candida has a biofilm. It can be taken with or without food, as often as desired. Safe for pregnancy and breastfeeding.

A. The most trustworthy brands are Vitacost and Swanson Super Strength. Most brands sold in hippy stores are weak, overpriced crap that will do you no good. You need about 300-350 mg of oleuropein (the active ingredient) per dose.
B. Charcoal cleansing before you take full doses is imperative, or the Candida die-off will be hell.
C. If you ignore the warnings and take this without charcoal cleansing and feel nothing, your gut Candida has a biofilm and you need to be extremely thorough with charcoal cleansing to peel it all off the gut walls, or OLE will never reach the bladder. Extensive use of prescription antifungals or corticosteroids in the past is a predicator of Candida biofilm.

4. Raw garlic. This is great to start out with because if you don’t already have it in the house you can easily get it at your local store, along with cayenne pepper. Take 1 large clove with food, 4x a day. Safe for pregnancy/breastfeeding, may cause baby gas.

A. If you have low stomach acid, you will not absorb it. Take alongside a shot of lemon juice to ensure absorption.
B. It needs to be freshly minced/crushed right before taking.
C. Do not mix into hot food or you will destroy the medicinal qualities.
D. Get a firm head with lots of large cloves: do not store in the refrigerator: do not buy elephant garlic; it is a leek, not garlic.
E. If you bloat every time you take garlic, even though you’re taking lemon juice with it, you have a problem with fructans and you need a low FODMAP diet and some serious gut healing. Click here to read about it.

5. Cayenne pepper. This has terpenoids, alkaloids, and tannins in it, making it a good starting weapon in Proteus treatment while you’re waiting for oregano oil to arrive in the mail.
1/4 tsp loose powder from the grocery store 4x a day, taken with or without food, either with a mouthful of milk or mixed into a large spoonful of honey.
Use twice a day if pregnant, may cause baby gas if breastfeeding.

6. Freshly grated horseradish: Given Proteus’s proclivity for biofilm formation, you want to take this if your infection doesn’t fold promptly on a combination of the above meds.
1/2-1 tsp grated root per meal and with a bedtime snack. Grate with a medium-fine grater, pinch it together, and take mid-meal with a mouthful of milk. Minimal interaction with Candida but it’ll cause wicked bacterial die-off (cramps, diarrhea) in the gut if you haven’t cleansed with charcoal.
Take only with food, 4x a day. Use no more than 1/2 tsp twice a day if pregnant. Safe for breastfeeding but may cause baby gas. When horseradish is not wholly effective, either:

A. It is not fresh enough. It should smell wickedly pungent. Cut the root in the middle and grate the freshly cut end.
B. If smelling it brings tears to the eyes but it’s making your bowels run and not helping your bladder, do a charcoal sweep (2-3 tsp (5-7 grams) doses until the runs stop) and take a shot of lemon juice with every dose to improve absorption into the bloodstream.
C. If you have greasy yellow stools while taking this, don’t freak: you just got a gallbladder cleanse.
D. Those of you in Asia (Japan/China/India area) can take wasabi root the same way, since horseradish root is virtually impossible to get, there.