A while ago I wrote about how  a low carbohydrate diet could possibly ease some IC and IBS symptoms through reducing inflammation. That statement is still true but starting what’s known as “The Perfect Health Diet”, under the supervision of some kind of doctor, might be a better idea in my opinion. At least check it out, it’s worth it.

It’s not really a “Diet”

“The Perfect Health Diet” by Shou-Ching Jaminet Ph.D. and Paul Jaminet Shih, Ph.D., is a book not so much about a diet, but about a lifestyle, a way to heal a lot of common health problems through proper (though not yet widely accepted, example: government’s food pyramid) nutrition along with modern or alternative medicine. Through all of their research, these author’s have apparently helped their own chronic health problems.

(If you are interested in buying their book from Amazon, I’d love it if you use the link on the picture to the left. You can help me support this little blog of mine. Thanks so much!)

The book is written with the regular person in mind, meaning it isn’t overflowing with crazy scientific or medical jargon, nor is it filled with philosophies or commands that make you feel guilty for being skeptical. However, the author’s fully back all of their statements with thorough and complete research. Research that mainstream nutritionists don’t tend to look at because they think they already know everything about what the human body needs.

I didn’t read the entire book. I skipped some parts that were a bit to0 lengthy but I’d definitely recommend this book as well as this ‘lifestyle’ to my fellow IC & IBS sufferers as well as to anyone else plagued by chronic health conditions with no obvious relief in sight.

The basic premise of this ‘diet’ consists of two ideas that have already been gaining in some  popularity; eating a gluten free and a low carb diet (especially sugar free).

Some Main Points From the Book

• In today’s diet, we eat too many Omega 6′s. Vegetable oils, processed foods etc. all contain too many of them. It’s why most of us have an unbalanced ratio of Omega 6′s to Omega 3′s in our bodies. This can cause inflammation.
• Gluten, as is evident by so many being diagnosed with Celiac’s Disease, is not good for your body. It wreaks havoc on your intestines (even in people who don’t have Celiac’s) and therefore your health in general. Ever heard of leaky gut?
• Saturated fat is NOT bad for you! Yeah… this might shock some people but their reasoning is pretty much irrefutable. Seriously.
• Sugar IS bad for you! This might NOT shock most people but again, their evidence is irrefutable.

Advice

I’ve been trying this type of diet for almost a year now and I have to say that my IBS symptoms have been reduced by at least 70% and my IC symptoms by at least 50% just by changing my eating habits. Of course this was alongside treatments I got from my investigative/herbal medicine doctor as well a pelvic floor physical therapist.

Yes, it’s hard. Yes, you will slip up. Yes, giving up sugars and breads and processed foods and vegetable oils is going to be weird and difficult. But if there is even a chance, a small possibility that these scientists are right, that their research actually makes sense, that this could help heal some common health problems then why not try it? Or at least talk to a professional healthcare provider about trying it. Besides, this diet is better than the IC diet, in my opinion.

Discussion Topics

Has anyone else read this book and tried this diet? What are your experiences?

References

The Perfect Health Diet Website: http://perfecthealthdiet.com/?page_id=2

This summer a couple of instances of whale carcass’s appearing along the shores of the San Francisco Bay made headline news. As if the death of such a magnificent animal isn’t sad enough, it was reported that marine biology scientists discovered some human garbage inside the stomach of one of the whales. Among the pieces of garbage were plastic tampon applicators.

“Are you kidding me?” I said to myself. I could not stop thinking about the fact that not only was human garbage found inside this poor whale’s stomach, there were dirty, used, plastic tampon applicators as well. It is not only disgusting and disturbing, but completely unnecessary!

A Call To Action

This post is a call to all the women of the world. I want to help spread the word that there are alternatives to plastic, chlorine laden, environmentally hazardous tampons and pads.

Of course for us girls, feminine products like tampons, pads and panty liners are one of modern life’s basic essentials, so skimping on a good quality product is something we try to avoid. Well I am here to tell you (in case you didn’t already know) that there are good quality environmentally friendly feminine products out there, and they are more easily accessible than ever before.

Mostly all women of child bearing age in today’s modern society use some sort of feminine product quite frequently. Whether it be tampons, pads or panty liners. So why haven’t the popular manufacturer’s of these essential products created and mass marketed products that are more human/eco-friendly? Usually the answer to that question is cost, both to the producer and the consumer. Sometimes the answer is demand. If the female’s of the world don’t demand more eco-friendly tampons and pads, producers aren’t going to make them.

My Discovery

Before I discovered a line of eco-friendly feminine products, the closest I came to using eco-friendly feminine products was through Tampax’s biodegradable cardboard applicator tampons. I was like every other girl inside the drugstore. I grabbed the most comfortable and popular feminine products and did not think about the impact these products were having on the environment. It was a matter of efficiency. A girl’s period is annoying enough, she does not want to constantly be thinking about which feminine products are the best. We just want something that works and is comfortable enough to almost make us forget we’re on our period in the first place.

This year I finally discovered a line of eco-friendly feminine products called Natracare. Their products are made from 100% organic, chlorine free, biodegradable cotton and the packaging, covers and wraps are also biodegradable. Thankfully, they work well too! They absorb like they’re suppose to, they feel comfortable and they don’t irritate sensitive skin.

Feminine Product Brand Comparisons

I first found Natracare in my local Whole Foods store but I have now discovered them online on Amazon or at Drugstore.com. Unfortunately I have found that the low price stores such as Target and Walmart do not yet carry any eco-friendly feminine products. The price difference between popular brands like Tampax or Kotex and the Natracare brand can be a bit off putting but is still reasonable, especially if you buy in bulk and especially considering how many feminine products we all throw out each month! Landfills must be full of this stuff!

Here is an average price comparison chart:

Tampax’s pearl line and Kotex’s U brand are surrounded by non biodegradable plastic (plastic applicators, plastic packaging etc).  Also, neither of those brands use all  organic cotton ingredients in their products which means you don’t know what exactly that tampon or pad is made of and what chemical it was treated with. If you’re still not sold on buying a human/environmentally friendly feminine product because of the price difference, consider at least using Tampax’s biodegradable applicator tampons. For those of you thinking of buying the other organic feminine care brand, Seventh Generation, please re-consider since many of their products are covered in unnecessary plastic packaging.

From Amazon

If you like the Natracare tampons, you can buy them in bulk (kind of like buying it from Costco) on Amazon.com here:

If you are interested in getting more than one box of the Natracare panty liners, Amazon has a good price here:

Search Drugstore.com For a Variety of Natracare Products

If you prefer to try just one box of either the tampons or panty liners or their line of pads with wings, I have found very good prices and quality at this online retailer:

search:

I included their search button on my page so you can search for any Natracare products from here.

Conclusion

So if you aspire to become more environmentally friendly as well as possibly reduce the toxins entering your own body each day, please consider buying eco-friendly feminine products such as the ones from Natracare. Too much of our non biodegradable waste is already clogging up our land and landing in the oceans.

You go girls!

Low Carbohydrate Diets

The benefits of a low carbohydrate (or carb) diet have already been discovered but its potential has mostly been centered around weight loss. The potential of this diet to ease the symptoms of IC and IBS is exciting but new. Finding this probable connection between too many carbohydrates and these health issues brought up the more important question of, “Can IC and IBS be the result of too much inflammation in our bodies?”.

A Photo By Tina Phillips

Carbohydrates and Inflammation

Eating too many carbohydrates (any and all grains) can cause or increase inflammation in the body. Today’s most popular anti-inflammatory diet ideas are centered around the fact that refined and processed carbohydrates such as bread, cereals, pasta, white rice, and sugars are some of the most pro-inflammatory foods to avoid. They unnecessarily increase your insulin response  and have little to no nutritional value. Also, recorded sensitivities to glutenous grains such as, wheat, rye, barley, spelt and kamut are on the rise as patients and their doctor’s begin to realize the cause of some health issues could be due to a gluten allergy. An allergy is just another form of inflammation. (See the references section below for more information)

Chronic Health Problems and Inflammation

Medical research on the adverse affects of chronic  inflammation is ongoing, but possible links to many illnesses and health problems including IC, IBS, autoimmune diseases, allergies, arthritis, type 2 diabetes, cancer and more, have been theorized. If IC and IBS are potentially related to chronic inflammation caused by consuming a diet too rich in grains (which most of today’s diets are), then these health issues should be easy to fix with a diet. Or so you think…

Reducing Daily Carbohydrate Intake

In light of these discoveries as well as advice from some nutrition books and blogs which I am currently reading, I began dramatically reducing my daily carbohydrate intake. Here is a list of some of the carbohydrate rich foods I stopped eating or stopped eating regularly (some of these I had already cut out of my diet from experimenting with the yeast diet mentioned in my last post):

1. Any and all breads
2. All sugars and anything with added sugar including honey, agave, stevia etc.
3. All rice
4. All pasta
5. Most potatoes
6. Corn
7. Breakfast cereals
8. Crackers
9. Chips
10. Tortillas

One of the books I am reading is called “The Inflammation Syndrome” by Jack Challem. If you are interested you can find it on Amazon here:

Results of Testing the Low Carb Diet

I’ve been testing the low to no carb diet for about three months now and I have to say that the frequency of my IC symptoms has reduced. It has also helped reduce bloating and gas. This success could also be attributed to the dietary supplements I was taking at the same time but I noticed that during my summer travels this year, my intake of carbohydrates increased due to eating out in restaurants, and consequently my bladder became irritated more frequently than it had been before all of the eating out began.

Conclusion

I’m not going to lie, reducing your daily carbohydrate intake is very difficult. Today’s society is basically built of off eating some kind of grain or starch (which also has a high carbohydrate content). Almost every meal we eat, whether in your own home or in a restaurant, includes carbohydrates as a major calorie source. Just take a walk down a grocery store aisles and almost every packaged product contains some sort of refined or unrefined carbohydrate. Even our own government recommends eating a daily dose of 6-8 ounces of grains a day. Apparently the government has been using information that is outdated or inadequate when it comes to proper nutrition.

One of the other books I am currently reading, “The Primal Blueprint” by Mark Sisson, states that to become a healthy and happy human being we need to revert our diets back to the diets of our pre-agricultural primal ancestors. We need to forget the ease and simplicity of using grains as a major staple in our daily diet and go back to eating fresh and nutrient dense foods like vegetables, fruits, pasture fed meats, fish, nuts and seeds. Once I finish the book I will definitely write a more thorough review. If you’re interested in also reading this book, I bought mine from Amazon here (you can also  buy it in e-book format):

Even though this diet takes a while to get used to, the health benefits of it seem to be endless and though you may not notice an immediate change in your health, the long term benefits could be significant. That is why I’m sticking with it.

Important Note: Always be sure to ask your doctor if changing your diet is right for you.

For More Information and For Other Very Interesting Blogs See the Following:

Mark’s Daily Apple: Primal Living in a Modern World, “What’s All This Talk About Inflammation?”

Cooling Inflammation: “Inflammation Causes Diseases”

Melissa Diane Smith: “Passing Up The Bread Basket”

The Nutrition Reporter: Jack Challem’s “The Inflammation Syndrome”

Women To Women: “Inflammation”

Brigham and Women’s Hospital: “Defending Against Disease With and Anti-Inflammation Lifestyle”

What are Candida?

Candida, the most common are known as Candida Albicans, are a yeast like fungus that naturally live inside the mouth, intestinal tract and vagina as well as on the skin and in the environment. Normally, in people with healthy immune systems, the candida population is kept in check by the immune system and the healthy bacteria in their bodies.

Image from Wikipedia

What is Candidiasis a.k.a Yeast Infection?

Candidiasis is an overgrowth of the candida fungus in the body. In women, the most common form of candidiasis is a vaginal yeast infection. Candidiasis can also affect the mouth, which is called “oral thrush”, and the skin. In more severe and rare cases, the yeast infection spreads into the bloodstream and affects other parts of the body.

Causes of Candida Overgrowth

Some of the main reasons why candida is allowed to overgrow inside the body are: antibiotic use, steroid use, using a catheter, hormonal imbalances (using birth control pills, menstruation, menopause, pregnancy), diabetes, or having a weakened immune system due to cancer or AIDS.

Some alternative medicine physicians believe that candidiasis can also be caused by lifestyle and diet along with the previously mentioned causes.

Symptoms of Candidiasis

This is where the line between the modern medicine world and the alternative medicine world becomes distinct. For yeast infections of the mouth, skin, and vagina, modern medicine has guidelines for what the symptoms should be and that the presence of these symptoms infers a yeast infection.

However, some alternative medicine doctors and nutritionists believe that an overgrowth of yeast anywhere in the body also concurrently affects other organs and may be the underlying cause of many other health ailments. Some of the most common symptoms of candidiasis include: gas, bloating, nausea, fatigue, loss of concentration, constipation or diarrhea, sexual dysfunction, bladder/urinary problems, muscle and joint weakness or pain, ringing in the ears, dizziness, chronic hives, headaches, acne and the list goes on and on.

How to treat Candidiasis Using Alternative Medicine: The Candida Diet

Eliminating an overgrowth of yeast in the body usually begins with a body detox. You start with the candida diet and strictly follow it for 2-4 weeks. Sounds easy right? Well, let me list some of the foods you are versus aren’t allowed to eat and then you can decide if it still sounds easy. (This is not an complete list)

The goal is to avoid any type of food which the yeast feeds of off, especially simple carbohydrates like sugar and white flour, as well as foods that are processed or preserved and even foods that can be contaminated with chemicals or other fungi. Every candida diet out there contains a few differences in what you are allowed to eat but the idea is to begin to eat healthy, organic, and fresh foods. When you think about it, we really should be eating those types of foods anyway, not all of the sugary, packaged, and processed foods that surround us today.

During this diet it is recommended that people also begin taking some type of probiotic, which helps destroy the yeast.

I took the Align Probiotic and Garden of Life Primal Defense Probiotic and had good results. If you’re interested you can usually find the Align (at a decent price) in Target stores or here on Amazon:
The Garden of Life Primal Defense can be found at Whole Foods Stores or also on Amazon:

About 2 to 4 weeks later, you are allowed to slowly add some of the disallowed foods back into your diet such as organic whole yogurt or sweet potatoes depending on how those foods make you feel. Obviously if you don’t feel well after eating a certain food you should avoid it.

During the candida detox, the alternative medicine practitioner or dietitian might also advise you to stop taking anything that can increase the candida such as birth control pills or antibiotics if at all possible.

Does the Candida Diet Work?

In my experience, the answer to that question is two fold. One, it may not completely cure illnesses such as Interstitial Cystitis (IC) or Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) but it does make you feel better overall since you’re eating healthy, fresh, organic, preservative free foods. You may also loose some weight and extra body fat if you have weight and extra body fat to loose. So the diet can in fact reduce some of the earlier mentioned symptoms. Two, I personally  believe that this diet does more then just reduce a possible overgrowth of candida yeast. Since your overall carbohydrate intake is dramatically reduced, this diet can also help minimize inflammation in your body.

Reducing inflammation in your body can benefit the healing of many different health issues including Interstitial Cystitis and Irritable Bowel Syndrome.

Summary

Candidiasis, or yeast overgrowth, can produce serious health issues, even more than what modern medicine believes it can produce.

The candida diet should be easy to follow for those of use who are suffering from IC and  are already following the IC diet since our food choices are already so limited. I wouldn’t say the candida diet helped my IC anymore than the IC diet did but I will say I gained some interesting knowledge about my IBS versus carbohydrates. I will present more detail on this topic in my next post.

During and after my candida diet experience, I realized this diet wasn’t a miracle cure for any of my ailments but since my overall feeling of well being increased, it wasn’t a total waste of time and energy. Presently, even though I completed the candida diet detox, I still try to avoid foods containing yeast, sugar, white flour, and most fruits, since this seems to reduce the symptoms of my IC and IBS.

As always, consult with your medical doctor before starting or stopping any type of diet, dietary supplement or medicine.

Please feel free to comment and tell me about your own experience with the Candida Diet.

For more information see the following websites:

University of Maryland Medical Center

The Yeast Diet

emedicinehealth

Natura

YeastInfectionAdvisor

What is Colostrum?

Colostrum is a substance found inside of a mother’s milk within the first few days after birth. This substance is not unique to humans, it also resides in all new mother’s milk of the mammal species. Colostrum provides essential antibodies, nutrients and growth factors to newborns.

From FreeFoto.com

Bovine (cow) colostrum has recently been extracted and made into supplement form for human consumption. Colostrum has been researched to help treat certain health problems such as diarrhea, gastrointestinal difficulties and sports injuries. It basically helps boost your immune system since it contains many beneficial antibodies like immunoglobulins (IgG’s, IgA’s, IgM’s). Why use cows to obtain colostrum? Well, mainly just because cow milk is readily available.

Is it Safe?

There have been no significant side effects recorded so far but as with any non FDA regulated dietary supplement it is always best to air on the side of caution and ask your doctor if taking colostrum is right for you.

My Experience Using Colostrum

I began taking Colostrum to help heal and treat my Interstitial Cystitis (IC) symptoms . I discovered the healing potential of colostrum supplements through researching other peoples journey’s of healing IC with alternative medicine. Honestly, I really believe colostrum has played a major role in slowly easing my IC symptoms even more than Quercetin and Bromelain, which are popular supplements to help treat IC symptoms. I’m not saying colostrum was the only supplement to help me reach a new level of IC symptom relief, since I’ve been taking many other supplements in unison with colostrum, but I will say that once I began taking it I noticed a definite difference in the frequency and severity of my symptoms. Symbiotics is the company that produces the colostrum capsules which I buy. You can find them here at Amazon.com
or here at iHerb.com. If you are interested in buying from iHerb.com see My Review About iHerb.com to find a coupon code.

Advice About Buying The Right Colostrum

Here are a few guidelines to help you buy the right colostrum capsules.

1. Make sure the company pasteurized their colostrum, but check to make sure they used the quick and effective flash pasteurization process or the low heat process because too much exposure to heat can degrade some of the beneficial substances in the colostrum.

2. The colostrum should be from pasture fed, hormone and rBST free USDA Grade A diary cows.

3. Check that the product mentions the quantity of immunoglobulins (IgG’s etc), growth and immune factors (lactoferrin, interleukin).

4. The colostrum should be free of other chemicals, preservatives or additives. Important additives to avoid are any proteolytic enzymes such as papain. Since the enzymes will digest the beneficial types of proteins that colostrum provides.

I’m interested to hear other people’s good or bad experiences with colostrum so feel free to comment.

For more information see the following:

Drugs.com

iHerb.com Herbs & Supplement Library

Institute of Colostrum Research

Symbiotics.com

iHerb.com is an online re-seller of dietary supplements and herbs. Their main location is in Irwindale, California. Their website is www.iHerb.com.

Buying from iHerb

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Coupon or Referral Code

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