BRUMI1968

I assume the shots also have folate - the B12 shot is not too helpful w/o that. Anyway, I don't know how to answer. When I got them for a month or so, I didn't notice any difference. Of course I had not actually tested low on either folate or B12, and when they did check, I was high in folate.

Hope someone has answers for you. Take care.

I have not been diagnosed with candida, but fit the profile of someone who would have issues with it (past use of prednisone, etc.) What I find is that by cutting out all grains, sugars, and fruits (and most starchy vegetables), I get relief from the issues of bloating and discharge. If I eat sugar (for a few days) or fruit, I get the symptoms again. And yes, mental stuff is among the symptoms, especially just being less able to handle emotions if I eat sugar.

There is a book called Body Ecology which is really good, if your library has it. The diet, as outlined, is VERY hard to maintain if you are thin - it is hard to get enough calories - and also if you are vegetarian, since it indicates some meat. But even if you don't follow the diet to a T, you can get some good advice about eating in general and about an anti-candida diet.

I don't think you need to be diagnosed to go on a grain free sugar free FRUIT free diet - the first two things here are probably not very good for anyone, so no loss in giving them up (except the mental one). The fruit you get to add back once you get back on track.

I figure for me, my digestive system's natural bugs just aren't robust enough yet to handle much fruit or to handle any sugar. Once they get back on track, I should be able to eat fruit again. Ah, peaches.

Folks have been giving good advice. I just wanted to say that my digestive systems prefers raw food. I am much less likely to have stomach problems (or intestinal problems) when I eat raw. That said, I don't mean lots of nuts or cabbagy foods.

Often these comfort foods like rice are not easy to digest. I don't eat any grains and since then, my stomach has felt better. Not so much nausea, which for me is an intermittent problem I have not quite solved.

For me nausea can be from:

eggs

too much fat

nervous/stress

I have not yet mastered why I sometimes have bouts of nausea - they do seem to show up around my period - not so much so that it's an easy connection - but I often wonder if I'm hormonally odd when I get the nausea.

Small Bowel Bacterial Overgrowth is a possibility. I have found when I eat too much sugar and not enough probiotics, or get out of balance sugar wise, I often get nausea. Another thing to check out.

I once had nausea so bad and for so long, I went on Xanax. That really fixed it, but only because it dulls your nervous system. I did it because I was losing too much weight. In my case, at least part of it was caused by stress (relationship dissolving.)

Peppermint tea helps. Peppermint also comes in pills.

I don't avoid carbs - I don't eat grains. This means that sweet potato and yam and squash are still good for me (I don't eat potato for other reasons). All foods except animals have some carbs. In fact, nuts have more carbs than protein - nonetheless, they are considered a protein food. What you want to think about is the "refined" nature of the carb - and for me, whether or not it is a cereal grain.

I have felt amazingly better eating grain-free. I do eat amaranth and quinoa (both seeds, actually), but have to limit the quantity due to gas issues.

Anyway, just thought I'd share the way I frame it.

I had this problem for a while, where I had a lot of undigested food in the loo every time I relieved myself. I had it tested, and they did not say I had malabsorption, though I don't know what their critera was (regular lab at school that isn't too tuned in to digestive disorders...) I started using digestive enzymes and Betain HCI for a while, and it got a lot better. The enzymes help to digest the food with enzymes (obviously I suppose) and the Betain HCI raisees the stomach acid. Lots of folks with Celiac disease have low stomach acid and can't digest properly. (An important thing to note about low stomach acid, is that it especially limits your ability to absorb vitamin B12!)

Digestive enzymes can be expensive, though I think HCI is pretty cheap. Make SURE the digestive enzymes are good and don't have gluten. I used DigestGold myself, and they worked great. I have also used Rainbow Light...but the DigestGold's worked better (very strong).

I find I don't need to take them now - only if I eat meat or something do I take them. Since I'm mostly raw, I've got oodles of enzymes already in there. Also, you can experience some 'heartburn' on the Betain HCI. Try taking the enzymes at the END of the meal, even though the bottle will say before; and the Betain HCI at the beginning - or split the dose beginning/middle/end or something along those lines if it is bothering you. Of course, you may not have low stomach acid at all - but it sure helped me out.

Good luck.

Ani Phyo's cookbook is great as it does not require much in the way of dehydration.

I don't eat eggplant (the only nightshade I eat is tomato)...so can't help there.

I read an interesting thing about PB actually, which said the worst kind you can get is the grind it yourself kind. This article suggested that unlike some other foods, you want to pick a mainstream brand that goes off the shelves quickly. Peanuts have a big problem with mold, so if you have any issues with candida, you'll want to avoid it.

I avoid it due to the mold, and since I don't eat legumes. But I crave it like crazy sometimes. I used to mix it with maple syrup and eat that out of a bowl - that was a real problem for a while. I can't stomach almond butter, which is weird, since I eat lots of almonds.

Anyway, I'm sure you'll be just fine eating PB, just thought I'd share about the thing about the mainstream brands. ADams seems good (no additives).

As to the hayfever...I read someplace that it takes about five years to redevelop hayfever for a new location. I don't know if that's true, but I did read it someplace (and was excited, because I'm moving to the desert).

I only have alder tree pollen hayfever, so it gets over pretty quickly in the spring.

...I had a rant here, but rants rarely change people's minds anyway. I reiterate that the book is very valuable and well written and shocking in many ways.

Please read "Our Daily Meds" if possible. I under no circumstances would take a drug for something that I can control with diet. And please consider this: what phrama company wouldn't want the market of 1 in every 130 Americans. What with the lax laws about marketing drugs in America (putting kids books about OCD drugs in our national and school libraries, sponsoring and creating "science" exhibits which tour our science centers nationwide, making fuzzy mascots and giving away toys to kids, etc.), we can see that big phrama companies may well stop at nothing, including killing and harming thousands of people, to sell their big blockbuster new drug.

Okay, the book torqued me off. But for good reason. Really good read - not dry - only risk is that you might become hideously jaded (or more hideously jaded if you were already, like me) and drive your friends crazy.

You're not also thirsy, are you? I ask because high levels of hunger and thirst can be signs of diabetes.

I also crave peanut butter, but I don't think I should eat it because I don't do well with beans, and I've read that PB has a lot of mold issues.

One thing is that it sounds like you were at least (still are?) eating lots of baked goods. These will put the weight on whether gluten-based or not.

It is hard to give them up. I used baked sweet potato and winter squash to help me get past it (creamy and sweet and strarchy, but not as starchy as the baked goods). I also eat NO sugar of any kind (save for the rare dash of agave nectar in my salad dressings.)

Instead of peanut butter, I've tried other nut butters. But one thing that really seems to work is something else fatty, like an avocado for example. That seems to kill the urge for the PB.

Good luck to you.

I do not know about a specific Naturopath (ND). I have seen several ND's over my lifetime, and have found great success. The best one for me turned out to be someone who focused on a style (style is not a good word, I just can't think of what else I might call it). He is from India, and is an MD in India...so he practices Ayurveda. I'm sure other folks focus on Chinese medicine, or whatever.

ND's are often much more focused on the idea of what you put into your body - and what comes out. Most ND's (not so much Aurveda) that are western trained focus on the intestines (Ayurveda focuses on the liver) so be prepared to give stool samples.

They also seem to prescribe a lot of vitamins/herbs/etc. Although I think this often helps in the first part of healing, I personally think it's expensive, and probably not a great idea to take elements of foods separated out like that.

Anyway, I'm blathering. ND's will focus more on the whole you, not just on this symptom or that symptom the way western medicine often does. This is where western medicine gets into trouble - they want to cure your sleeplessness, then their cure causes another problem which they want to fix, until you have problems you never had before when all you really needed to do was obtain total darkness or not eat chocolate bars before bed, or something like that.

It is worth a try, especially if your insurance pays for it at all.

Did something happen around the time you were 7 or 8 that started this insomnia I wonder? It almost sounds like maybe it could be something from your past trying to stick around, and manifesting itself that way. Wow...did I just write that new agey stuff?

Is vog some sort of volcanic fog?

What about those parasites that enter through your barefeet, get into your lungs to make you cough, then you swallow them and they end up in your digestive tract? Or what about poisonous millipedes or shark attacks?

Okay, there's not much I can say about how awful you've got it.

Will look for those today. I have made avocado soup myself - mostly just the ingredients for guac, but the thinned out a bit. Yum! I'm on my way over there to Hawaii. Probably someplace in Kauai, but possible the wet side of Maui. I'll build my shack and plant some avocados and be in heaven in no time. I'm a little scared of tropical storms, though. All I have around here are volcanoes and earthquakes, with the hundred year or so tidal wave.

I want to admit up front that I have not read this post. I am going off the title.

I am reading a book called "Our Daily Meds" which I would suggest to you all. (Melody Petersen). You can 100% bet the mortgage that with 1 in 133 Americans probably suffering Celiac, drug companies are going to start selling their snake oil all across America. I for one will not be listening at all.

I would not take any drug that any company claimed to heal my Celiac. (Nor would I give my daughter lactaid to help my kids digest milk --an argument I have with my sister all the time). Gluten is not good for anyone. Just because my body is smart enough to figure it out and go on strike, I'm not going to argue with it. I trust my body. I trust in my own abilities to take care of a disease that is curable through diet.

(did that all sound weird? like I'm mad or something? this book is ticking me off, not this post, I didn't even read it.)

anyway, good book.

i was at the Canadian Gluten Intolerance Festival in Victoria this past weekend, and the docs there stressed upon having a scope and biopsy to rule out any other problems. But since I'm on gluten-free diet, a biospy will show no results now. there were experts from Canada and the US there who all said that same thing. that;s why i wonder if my problems could be something more.

This reminds me of a book I'm reading: "Our Daily Meds", which is about the pharmaceutical industry and their chokehold on Americans. So far, really good book, and eye opening. I'm not on any meds, but most folks I know are on at least one thing.

Anyway, one thing they mentioned were tests, and how tests are another way both doctors (who took a big hit with the advent of managed care) and pharmaceutical companies (who probably have some "cures" for ills that can only be diagnosed with testing) benefit from testing more than you do. The amount of radiation you get from a mammagram, for example, is quite large. And the discover of breast cancer from mammogram is actually quite small. Self breast exam and annual exam are much better. that's just an example. But frankly, giving you a scope is another test that invasive, would force you to go back on poison, and is uncessary because you know that the gluten is giving you fits.

Just my rant. But the book is awesome and I think everyone in America should read it. (Already learned about how pharma companies invent diseases such as generalized anxiety disorder [which i was diagnosed with - but ooops, turned out to be gluten intolerance], overactive bladder, acid-reflux disease, and Premenstrual Dysphoric Disorder. ARG!)

Aches and Pains could easily be a nightshade problem (tomato, potato, eggplant, peppers [not black pepper], tobacco [not sweet potato]). These can not only leach calcium in their digestion, they can also cause lots of trouble for those with arthritis. Even aside from those things, lots of folks with joint/bone pain feel relief quitting those nightshades.

Fatigue. I have been plagued with this for years. I recently quit all grains and beans (along with dairy, soy, gluten) and after about two or three weeks, suddenly felt a whole new level of mental clarity, and some increased energy physically as well. It sounds quite extreme, but I don't find it so (once you get used to it, which takes about 3-4 days addiction-wise, a bit longer sociologically speaking).

Fatigue, of course, can also be problems of low iron or B12. If you have not had your B12 checked, it is well worth it. If you do have low B12, they can do shots or you can take pills, but find out about the newest thing, which I think is nasal spray - it is supposed to work best. Also know that B12 cannot be absorbed dietarily unless you have enough stomach acid, which is true of many nutrients (that is how our stomachs are meant to work). So folks with chronically low stomach acid may well be nutrient deficient in many ways. So that is worth getting tested as well.

Thyrdoid function should be checked as well. Celiac and thyroid issues often go hand in hand, so it's worth looking into.

Lastly, I'd consider candida. If you have any other symptoms that fit candida (check it out on the web), that could be the fatigue.

Biggest allergens: wheat, dairy, soy, corn, eggs. You might try making sure you're getting fewer of these, or cutting them out entirely.

I know it's a pain to keep thinking of foods NOT to eat - it can get demoralizing. But once you get the energy and mental clarity, then all that feeling can go away. Good luck.

I seem good with the fats, for the most part. The stench-fest literally started about the same time I hit the jar of tahini and found amaranth. I don't want it to be the amaranth since I finally have a breakfast I like. I don't want it to be the tahini cause I'm hot for my new salad dressings.

But I will admit this - I think about the tahini like while I'm sleeping...I crave it. That's probably not a good sign. I'm going to quit them both I think for a week and quit farting. Then add one back; then the other. I hate to quit either of them, but I suppose this makes the most sense.

I guess I'll go back to my raw buckwheat "oatmeal" for breakfast every other day (too heavy for every day) and lord knows what...avocado soup maybe...maybe for the others. Any ideas?

What is your avocado soup?

I prefer (of the Haas) avocados from Chile. The ones from Mexico have zero flavor to them. I have not tried the smooth skinned ones at the co-op mostly because I can't tell if the buggers are ripe. They don't seem so.

I am planning on moving to the Soutwest and building an earthship so I can grow my own avocados in my living room and eat them all day long.

Okay. I think I'll change the sesame first, since I really appreciate the calories from the amaranth. If that no worky, it is likely the amaranth. Really, I"ve been eating it every day, so it could well be the problem.

I wonder how lectin-y amaranth and sesame are. I have troubles with most lectins, but do alright with walnuts and almonds, but not almond butter or walnut butter in any quantity.

No sesame for one week! (boo hoo)

I am about 75% or so raw, maybe a little more. My stomach has never been happier, and my bowels are great too. The challenge for me is keeping on weight. I'm currently dropping again, despite my desperate attempts to eat enough amaranth (cooked) for breakfast to offset my virtually calorieless raw diet. I read a really interesting thing on the raw diet that explained how much food you would have to eat to get the proper amount of calories every day. It was virtually impossible unless it was mostly coconuts and avocados. I eat one or two avocados per day...would do more, but sometimes more is too much, and I never when those sometimes will be until I've already eaten it, you know. Then I have that overly-fatted stomach for an hour.

Anyway, I'm sticking with this raw thing. It feels good to me. Now granted, right now I can't really handle fruit too much. I am probably a still bent up by candida - so I get bloaty if I eat too much sugar of any kind. But I hope to add fruit back at one point. I ate a pear the other day and have not done poorly with it. I have trouble with smoothies from all the air in them from the blender. Is there a trick to that. Plus, smoothies w/o fruit not quite as good. I worry about the folks I read about who eat all fruit all the time. They must not have any intestinal issues or something. I get the whole as long as you eat the whole fruit the sugar releases more slowly, but I've read about folks who eat 7 bananas in a day. How can that be good for you? (Unless you're a chimp)

I did try blended salad the other day - it was good, like avocado soup.

We can certainly have a Raw Diet Support Thread like some folks have with their deals. Anyway, I love hearing what folks come up with for breakfast. I was doing raw buckwheat "oatmeal", but find the buckwheat a bit too heavy; it gives me heartburn. So breakfast has always been the challenge for me. Now I"m on the cooked breakfast of amaranth. (It has tons of calories, protein, fiber, and lots of minerals).

Okay. I'm usually no more or less farty than the next person. But lately, I've been an unstoppable machine of farting. Perhaps it is the global energy crisis - I'm subconsciously trying out methane as a form of propulsion (so far I have not been knocked far enough to make it worth exploration). Okay...so I'm making noises...but it is the SMELL that is making me crazy!

So, what has changed in my diet? And here's where I hope to hear comments on what might cause stinky gas.....

1) Amaranth. A seed, not a grain. Eat lots of it. Makes me regular.

2) Pacific Vanilla almond milk. Need something to make the amaranth taste good. Have eaten in quantity before.

3) Tahini. I'm into tahini salad dressings right now. Prior to that I'd only eat this in humus, and only rarely

Honestly, these are the changed items. I feel so good in virtually every way right now - so it is disturbing that I am going around stenching up the planet. Any advice?

Oh yes, I have been taking probiotics when I think of it to help, but can't see every single day.

Don't eat:

grains

beans

dairy

soy

dried fruit

fruit for the most part (had a pear the other day - yum)

brocoli type veggies for the most part

just quit cashews because I read they can cause gas (and are a bean, when I thought they were a seed...insights?)

dead animals for the most part (rarely a 1/2 piece uncured bacon or some buffalo jerkey or something)

Do eat:

salads (lots of them)

tomatoes

avocados

onions

sometimes sweet potato (not too much lately)

Wow. I'm not eating a very varied diet right now. Anyway, please advise. Thanks so much.

Actually, fruits and vegetables are by far and away a better source of fiber than whole grains. Check out avocados, for example. Yummy, good fat, lots of potassium, and lots of fiber. Fried fruits of course are good, but they come with lots of sugar (releases more slowly due to fiber, but nonetheless can cause gas quite badly, says me from personal experience). I bloat with dried fruit w/i a couple days of eating it for sure. If you eat beans, those are very high in fiber.

More on fiber...Open Original Shared Link

I would say if you're eating FLAX, make sure you drink lots of water, but you probably know that one. Some folks have a harder time with flax than others. I know when I was eating it regularly, it gave me quite a boost in stool size, which was fun.

I've been eating Amaranth for breakfast, which has plenty of fiber and protein, and some good minerals for keeping the old system flowing.

Good luck.

Good laughs for this morning - thanks all!

As to the Amaranth: I bring to a boil 3 parts water 1 part amaranth, with some salt and cinnamon. When it comes to a boil, I turn it down and put the lid on, walking away for 30 minutes -- kindof like rice really. When it's done I stir it again (weird stuff, kind of hydrophobic) and add lots of almond milk (Pacific Vanilla). This is kindof the key, since the amaranth itself tastes odd, like dirt or old corn husks or some old veggie skins or something. Makes sense - it is also eaten as a veggie (the leaves). If I am spoiling myself, I add some maple syrup (can't do every day, as sugar is not my best friend). If you eat dried fruit, that would help it taste better. I actually like it, though admit that it is odd. Some days I put walnuts or almonds in it as well.

As to not being able to find things in the grocery store as not being fair...and here I am going to be "that guy"...it is not really a human right to be able to go the grocery store and find cheap food carted in from thousands of miles away, is it? Isn't this exactly the problem contributing to the downfall of the environment, the loss of connection with our food etc.

In order to fuel the industrial revolution, masses of people (workers) were brought together in cities, that by their sheer definition, exceeded their carrying capacity. People in cities MUST be fed by people in the country (or today, companies in the country). Food itself had to change - it had to become more efficient to travel, had to last longer, had to eek the most out of the least. People's "work" became removed from their own survival. And we can see how this has been a problem for our health and for our environment.

I realize that many folks can't move into the country (what's left of it unclaimed by huge agribusiness), but let me ask, how many of us have lawns. We water them, often fertilize them, mow them. If those lawns were food, we'd be less reliant on grocery stores, agribusiness, etc. Our shrubberies could be blueberries and Oregon grape. Our lawns could be lettuce or whatever grows where you live. We could look at what the natives our culture displaced have been eating in a location, and try to grow those things. We can complain about agribusiness profits if we like (I like to), but unless we are willing to question the tenants of Capitalism, that becomes a slippery slope (I am willing, but many are not). Now of course some folks live in cities, and unless they rooftop gardens or access to a pea patch, they are stuck. And many many people are stuck - I am in no way denying that. The system has created a huge dependency by the population for the SYSTEM to feed them. That's just not right, to my mind.

For me, it is a matter of food security. I don't like the idea of being beholden to world markets and to politics to know I'm going to be able to eat. I don't like wondering how animals are treated before they're slaughtered or the cleanliness of production lines. We certainly can't count of the FDA to protect us, lord knows.

I'm lucky. I've got an opportunity here and am going to take it. My partner and I are moving out of our town (about 60,000) and finding some land where we can grow food and collect rainwater and live off the grid. Sure, to many of you now I'm a nutball. But this oil crisis is not really an oil crisis - it's a food crisis, and that is going to become more and more clear. The sooner we accept responsibility for feeding ourselves and then also our families and communities, the more likely we'll survive the storm. I don't tend toward sensationalism, but I refuse to be beholden to a system that can't possible sustain itself on a planet of finite resources.

Nice morning rant. Now I'm off to drive my Jeep (about 20mpg probably) about 1.5 miles to a meeting (have to carry stuff, but heck, I should admit that I do drive there more often than not) and then crank up all the electricity the dead salmon can possibly offer me, and get to work on my computer under fluorescent lights and flushing the toilets with perfectly good drinking water.