Healing the Gut Tribe.......April - Page 7

[JaneS]

Has everyone noticed that the CHEAT SHEET has been stickied at the top of the H&H forum?

I will continue to update that version, added a new link this morning.

[JaneS]

More on S. boulardii
http://www.drhoffman.com/page.cfm/169

One of my favorite good guys of the gut is actually "good yeast". Sacchromyces boulardii is good yeast that has been studied extensively for intestinal diseases and symptoms of IBD. It is wonderful for controlling diarrhea, especially if Clostridium difficille is the cause. Saccharomyces boulardii releases a protein that interferes with the binding of toxin A secreted by C. difficile to its receptor.

In a randomized placebo-controlled trial, Saccharomyces boulardii in combination with vancomycin or metronidazole reduced the relapse rate by 50% and was well tolerated.

[JaneS]

Interesting blog on probiotics with good links out. I've never heard the "HSO's can contain metals" reference. He also says Primal Defense contains iron, which can be trouble for a damaged gut.

http://www.patsullivan.com/blog/2005...tics_supp.html

Having used many probiotic supplements with little success, I learned the hard way that the only way probiotics really work are with very high quality, high doses of just a few proven human strains of friendly bacteria. Also, I learned to HATE FOS because it caused me so many GI problems. And, I don’t want ANY heavy metals in any supplement I take...soil Based Probiotics can have problems with heavy metals depending on the source of “dirt”! Who needs a lot of lead?

He writes a lot about amalgam fillings and the autism mercury connection too.

[JaneS]

This is the non dairy probiotic I would do instead of Primal Defense if you are not following SCD:
http://www.papanature.com/store/Prod...&pid=EFI-12125

If you are going SCD I think the only non dairy acidophilus is at Kirkman.

[Panserbjorne]

Ditto. Primal Defense is a great product, but although J.R. healed himself with a similar product HSO's aren't always a good idea for a compromised gut. Later on it's a great supplement. We had luck with the one from Kirkman Labs.

[Panserbjorne]

Thanks, Jane for all your hard work! Sure makes it less intimidating for beginners.

[JaneS]

Originally Posted by firefaery

Thanks, Jane for all your hard work! Sure makes it less intimidating for beginners.

thank you

I just was about to post...

I'm not answering any more questions 'til I get feedback on the Cheat Sheet

And like I said before if there's any suggestions or basic things that people wonder about that I didn't include, please let me know. I'm so in the middle of this that I sometimes can't see it from a newbie's eyes.

[JaneS]

I Need Help

Anyone have experience with the Acid/Alkaline balance?

I think that DS is overacid. I'm worried how this relates to the calculus on his teeth... acidic saliva is primarily the cause b/c it contains an excess of calcium.

I've found a very interesting article from the Price Pottenger foundation on the calculus issue. Apparently the key is certain saturated fats in the bloodstream, that clear the blood of acid, not just having an alkaline diet of mostly produce as some people think since the body has it's own controls.

In the early 1900's a dentist named Dr. Waters noticed that, without exception, every diabetic and cancer patient he examined, along with the majority of those with chronic diseases, had an unusually heavy buildup of calculus and evidence of gum disease. Those with dentures would have a heavy deposit of calculus on the dentures. Dr. Waters concluded that in these patients the bloodstream was slightly acidic, helping to foster the development of cancer and other diseases. One of the symptoms of this systemic acidosis was that the saliva made from acidic blood allows solids to precipitate and form tartar or calculus deposits on the teeth.
The treatment he devised was to give these patients a supplement of ox bile, and by this means he was able to completely eliminate the calculus formation. Bile salts are highly alkaline. - Dr. David G. Williams, Alternatives, June 2001.

Interestingly enough, when I kept researcing the acid issue: bacterial inactivation of bile salts kept coming up. Which effects lipid digestion. And (drumroll) sugar digestion and the "deconjugated" bile salts themselves are quite toxic. And (another drumroll) causes diarrhea.

It would seem impossible to do an alkaline diet plus SCD. And DS still doesn't tolerate a lot of fruits and veggies either. And I'm now concerned about his liver b/c of all this overwork. How to test that best?

My head is seriously ready to explode here.

[Panserbjorne]

Jane-short on time...it actually is very doable-we did it because I really believe in the benefits. I'll write more in a bit (I have visitors showing up.)

[Pattyla]

Jane- I was very acid and took a homeopathic to correct it. I'm trying to remember what it was now... Actually it may have been a cell salt. My dr likes the cell salts a lot. DD was on the same one. Have you looked into trying the butter oil on your ds? It has something in it that is supposed to specifically help with leaky gut. I forget the name right now.

Thanks for the cheat sheet. It is a huge help.

[JaneS]

Yeah I have the butter oil and wasn't sure if it was making his stool looser or not so of course I pulled it. This is the problem, I pull stuff and then wait for a "good time" to reintroduce and that day never comes. I honestly cannot tell what he reacts to sometimes.

He's on a constitutional remedy: Sulfur. It's doing less than nothing after almost 2 weeks. I'm just so flippin' irritated about all this right now!

[Panserbjorne]

jane, the liver thing is the easy part. It's just a blood test, if it's under any strain at all it will be dumping enzymes. It's very standard-not something you need to go to yet another lab for. If it was a problem there is SO much you can do about it. Liver support is not difficult.

The body does have it's own controls, that's true. But dietary changes can sort of re-activate the body's natural "tendencies." It's a good place to start. Homeopathy can help too, but it sounds like you aren't having great luck with your practitioner? Do you know which sulfur he's on?

I don't know how picky your ds is. Will he drink lemon water?

[caedmyn]

My chicken stock didn't gel I've made it lots of times before and it always gelled but this one didn't at all. I bought a "natural" chicken from the hfs (different brand than before) and I guess it was no good. That makes me mad--I spent like $13 on that chicken and paid full price instead of waiting for a sale because I wanted to get some good gelatin in me. I guess I'll try beef stock next time--oxtail is supposed to have gelatin in it, right? I can only get marrow bones so I got some oxtail, too.

DD was back to normal yesterday so I started up the enzymes again, more slowly this time. How do I know if she has diarrhea...EBF baby poop is so runny anyway I don't know if I could use that as a sign of her reacting to something.

I tried those Midas gold pancakes today w/added cinnamon--that was good! Til now I've been sticking with raw (crispied) almond and almond butter to preserve the enzymes but I decided to try cooking with it. I guess right now I'm kind of doing a combination of Maker's Diet and SCD--following the Maker's Diet recommendations for foods, which are all SCD legal right now I think, but eating raw stuff. Next week I get to add the rest of the fruit back in, except bananas, and the rest of the nuts. I'm supposed to be able to add in starchy veggies, too, but I think I will leave them out for another couple of weeks. I'm hoping to get enough healing done on the first 2 stages of the Maker's Diet to be able to avoid going on the SCD...plus I am bound and determined to use up the $35 bottle of Garden of Life probiotics I bought and already opened and I know it's not SCD legal.

I did get some kefir grains in the mail yesterday--has anyone tried making kefir w/juice? I was thinking maybe I'd start with that in a few weeks...since they're milk grains would that contaminate the juice with dairy? If I used store-bought organic pineapple juice, would that be okay--I know it will be pasturized, though. I suppose I need to find a refrigerated version because the shelf stable ones are probably ultra pasturized. I don't have a juicer...maybe I can mush the fruit up in the VitaMix and then squeeze out all the juice.

Is there any way to keep from losing weight on this diet? I've lost an average of 1/2 pound per day so far, even with eating a lot, and I didn't have any weight to spare.

[Pookietooth]

Jane, I am also thinking about the whole acid/alkaline balance thing, particularly since ds and I have major tooth decay. I would love to see a list of SCD legal alkaline foods. Where would one get the bile salts, anyway? I am sure that my and ds's livers are overworked, just because of the dark circles (mine keep getting worse, I really have a couple of shiners going on) and blue areas around the inside of my eyes along the bridge of my nose (and his). As far as the sulfur, is your homeopath having you put the pellets in spring water then take some of that and put it in some more spring water, then use the resulting liquid? Or taking the pellets? Sounds like voodoo in a way. Haven't tried it myself yet, still looking for a good homeopath who can guide me on it. Oh, and the sticky is great!

Firefaery, what is the liver test? Can a naturopath order it?

To the person who posted the schwarzbein principle link (it was for zinc): I read her book a few years ago when I was ttc, and at the time, her diet, which involved cooking all your foods yourself (!) sounded too complicated, so I abandonded it. I ended up using fertility drugs instead, basically, and now I'm feeling bad because maybe if I'd fixed my diet in the first place, I would have been able to conceive naturally, and maybe ds wouldn't be so challenged (can't think of another way to put it). Maybe by going with drugs instead of fixing the problem, I caused a baby to be conceived in a body that wasn't fit to carry a child? Maybe all his problems are my fault! I am feeling a bit depressed today, can you tell? That said, I looked at the book Fertility, Cycles & Nutrition, and the author says to be fertile you need to get 50% of your calories from complex carbs, and to eat low fat!

I am feeling like the SCD is not working for us, in that I just don't have the energy to make all the foods that are yummy to eat and easy to eat, and ds is ending up eating raisins instead, and making his yeasties go crazy (he actually acts really wacky). Sigh.

To top it all off, found out that at a new church group that dh and I attended, the husband who was hosting the get together followed dh around every time he left the main room where people were chatting, making dh feel like a criminal or something. Yuck! I know my thoughts are acidifying today!

[Siana]

So I went on SCD about a month ago, to a false start because of "marital issues" re: the diet! I was basically on SCD about 90-95% after that, until I got my act together with my milk source etc.. Then about 10 days ago, I staterted SCD with "fanatical adherence". My DP has expressed his strong opinions against me doing this diet, especially since this time both the kids are on it as well.

Today, he finally said that he feels I should be doing this along with the watchful eye of a doctor. I admit I haven't seen a health practioner (for general check-ups etc) in 5 years (apart from pregnancy related -- Ob/gyn the first time, Midwife the second, but they don't really count nutrition-wise). Basically I've done all this self-diagnoses and my DP doesn't think I should be experementing on myself (and our kids) like this. I told him about how this diet can't harm anyone, but I kind of feel he has a point that perhaps it'll be in our family's best interested to have a practioner follow our progress.

My DP did say that perhaps having a doctor will help this animosity that has developed between us as a result of my fanaticism to SCD. I've been telling him that I wanted to get tests just to show him the shape I was in wasn't great, but he'd just roll his eyes at me. I'm happy this recommendation is coming from him, because this time I'm actually just going to see a Naturopath (or should I see someone else?) and get the tests, and see how SCD fits in to our lives after that.

I'm going to continue with SCD since I've had great results so far -- for myself and Galen (which my DP thinks could just be all coincidence!). We'll see what the new doctor will have to say.

Any input, thoughts and ideas would be greatfully appreciated

[Pookietooth]

Siana, I think that if you find a doctor who will support SCD, it will definitely help your relationship, although your dh really should support you regardless (but I know how they are). There is a website where you can find SCD friendly doctors. It's run by a woman named Gay Bauer, she's on an SCD list I'm on. The url is http://www.scdiet.net/

[Peri Patetic]

Originally Posted by JaneS

Welcome

Personally I saw great difference in fatigue/energy when healing started taking place. I think the toxins that yeast/bacteria has something to do with it. And the interference with absorbing nutrients. Also die off can indeed cause enormous fatigue. One thing I think I noticed when vacillating about going on the diet, then not, then on again... was cyclical die off. I just kept increasing the bugs and killing them off again. Not a good feeling.

Thanks for the welcome, Jane! I've noticed in past threads that you are a fountain of wisdom.

Yeah, I think that it might be die off. I stopped taking the Candidase for now (b/c I'm not doing the rest whole hog and because I keep forgetting to take it) and the extreme fatigue is gone. I guess I will have to psych myself up to go through the fatigue stage and be really conscientious about taking the C and other stuff.

I don't know much about adrenal issues. I probably should though b/c my DS is obviously running on empty half the time. If you find anything good please post!

I'm going to go see a local doc (DC and nutritionist) who is heavily into NT and works on all kinds of gut issues/fatigue/adrenals/yeast/etc. I'll see what he says.

How did the yogurt flop? Raw milk yogurt can be strange textured.

Well, I ended up with a small layer of something like yogurt on the top, then mostly yellow liquid (whey?) and then some curdy-looking yogurty like stuff on the bottom. I know it's supposed to be a bit watery but this didn't seem right at all. It smelled and tasted very yogurty but geez, more than half of it was liquid. I checked the temp of the yogurt though at the end and it was at 120 degrees, so I think the yogurt maker runs hot. I'm trying again right now with the lid propped a tiny bit open...third times the charm? Anyway, this time I started with raw milk right out of the fridge. Someone on my local yahoo NT list shared her method and she starts with it cold. Previously I had heated the milk to 110 the first time and 100 the second time. It's so frustrating to have to wait a full 24 hours to check it! Actually, I will probably let this go a bit longer than 24 hrs. since I started from cold.

I'll let you know tomorrow afternoon if it turned out! If not, I think I will try the oven method.

[caedmyn]

DD had blood in her poop again today I haven't had any dairy in 3 weeks except for a tiny bit of butter 1 week ago and possibly some hidden dairy in Mexican food 2 weeks ago. Is it possible that there is still enough dairy in her/my system to be causing this? Or is there another food she's having problems with? Or can the leaky gut alone cause this?

If it's another food I don't know what it could be except eggs--pretty much all I've eaten for the past week are veggies (no starches), berries, juiced lemons, lentils, almonds, and eggs, oh, and meat. I don't think she would be reacting to the almonds because before I only ate them once in a blue moon, so I guess it would have to be the eggs if it's anything. I don't see how I can do this without eggs, though, especially since I can't do dairy.

[Annikate]

Originally Posted by caedmyn
Is there any way to keep from losing weight on this diet? I've lost an average of 1/2 pound per day so far, even with eating a lot, and I didn't have any weight to spare.

I was worried about the weight loss thing too. I think I may have lost some in the beginning but am now maintaining at a good weight for me.
I did read somewhere (wish I could remember where) that the SCD is good for both people who need to lose and maintain weight. So far, it seems to be true for me.

Before babies, I tried everything to keep the weight on. People told me to eat bananas, eat peanut butter, drink malted milk shakes, blah, blah. I wish I had known about this healing the gut thing when I was in my 20s!

Sorry about your dd. You should get her in to a doc. I have no experience w/blood in stools but if you've been dairy-free for that long, I'd bet the cause is something else.

[Panserbjorne]

Absolutely it can still be dairy. Don't get into the head game of thinking that you must have cheated or had a tiny bit here or there. A).it only takes a tiny bit, B). damage does not get fixed overnight. Whatever caused her to bleed is still going on in terms of tissue damage. That takes a long time to heal. C). dairy proteins can take 6 weeks to get out of the system. If you suspect dairy you need to be "fanatical" (word gets used more on this thread than anywhere, but for good reason.) Dairy may have started the damage, but once it's done so many other things can aggravate it. I know it isn't an easy answer-we were there. That's what the SCD is for though. To deal with any problem food no matter what. You may want to think about gluten if you haven't already...

Pookietooth-the method you are describing is called "plussing" and should never be done without the say so of the doc. That's a quick way to get yourself dropped as a patient. It's the same as deciding to take ten prescription pills instead of one-it increases the dosage of the remedy. granted, it won't hurt you, but it could make things very uncomfortable for a long time if it is the right remedy.
The liver test is a simple panel. It's something that's routinely done in adult bloodwork and would have to be requested for kiddos. It just measure the different enzyme levels. If they are elevated it indicates the liver is working overtime or is damaged-depending on the #'s.