| Author |
Message |
columbo1976
New Member
Joined: 24 Sep 2008
Posts: 10
|
 Posted: Wed Aug 05, 2009 7:56 pm Post subject: candida questions |
 |
|
hello shelley, its been a long time since ive posted a message. i have some questions regarding my case of candida. well i went on the diet for nearly three years straight, starting may 2006. its been an eye opening time in my life. i have learned so much about myself and this thing that has been dragging me down all this time. i went off the diet for what was supposed to be a week and turned into 8 months before i knew it, starting back in october last year. even that was an eye opening time. ofcourse i wish i hadnt done that but i did observe all the changes my body went through and it only verified that i cannot eat or consume foods like reguar people. i once thought this diet was a prison sentence with a defined end but i know that this will be a life long way for me. so here are some of my questions:
1. im pretty sure i am also a celiac, as my mother is, so i can only eat gluten free foods. i would like to know, if you know, if i can find the following foods gluten free: deli cold cuts (the books i have read say no) or should i be cooking and slicing my own organic meats; condiments-ketchup, mayo, mustard; burger meat; tomoto sauce?
the occassional pasta dinner would go a long way in making this diet more livable. are there any reliable books or sources where i can find gluten free foods or cooking ideas?
2. are gluten free foods that contain sugars just as harmful as regular foods to someone with candida, and if so, should they only be consumed 20% of the time, using your 80/20 diet?
3. i always read that diet soda is not allowed on the candida diet, but i would like you to confirm this as true or not? if i could have an occassional diet coke it would take the edge off. and do you know if diet coke or other sodas are gluten free? i could call the company but dont know if i would trust their honesty.
4. and lastly, when i went off the diet, i was expecting my symptoms to return as they were before i started the diet (slurred speech, headaches, skin, itch, etc..), and they did for the most part, especially the skin, but the nuero symptoms were different. if anything, my mood is elevated when i eat the sugars...my headaches subside and my speech and mental focus is sharp...do you have any theories as to why this is. when i do not eat sugar, i feel worse. i would expect this to be opposite. my theory is that candida is a fungus and feeds on sugar and when i consume sugar its being fed and therefore is happy, and when i do not its being starved and is upset...is this a sound theory?
5. is sugar free gum ok? and taco bell claims a gluten free low sugar hard shell taco on their menu...is this ok, within the 20% part of my diet? |
|
| Back to top |
|
 |
shelley
Editor in Chief
Joined: 23 Dec 2004
Posts: 7365
Location: Southern California
|
| Posted: Fri Aug 07, 2009 10:51 pm Post subject: |
|
|
Columbo! So great to hear from you! Wow, it's been years! And I know so much more now than I did back then!
Okay, the first thing Celiac people should do is up their bile. When you don't have enough bile to digest fats and such, the receptors in the gut go on overdrive and react to everything. Since gluten is a really tough protein to digest, it's one of the first compounds that the body will hate.
So celiac disease IS curable I've found, you just have to up your bile. You can do this by taking actual bile salts, or better yet, help your body make bile by taking lots of Taurine, which is in cottage cheese, or you can get taurine supplements. It also helps to take Lecithin and digestive enzymes.
Second, you need to take a small dose of Selenium for about 3 weeks. Selenium gets depleted by mercury, lead, arsenic... etc. When selenium is too low we can't tolerate sulfur and sulfur is very needed, in everything, so that really messes things up.
Also important are anti-oxidants to scavange the free radicals and help rebuild healthy tissues faster: Emergen-C, Wheat Germ Oil, Cleansing Carrot Salad, Alpha Lipoic Acid.
1. Only avoid foods that have gluten. Meat doesn't have gluten. Deli meats are only bad if they have nitrates/nitrites, which gluten people tend to have problems assimilating because they get sensitive to sulfur too.
Pasta is no problem! Just find either Brown Rice Pasta, Quinoa Pasta, Rice Vermicelli, or bean threads. You can find most of these in the regular grocery store in the ethnic aisle or health foods aisle. My cleansing pasta recipe in the FAQ is very soothing, especially if prepared with white rice vermicelli, which is very easy to digest and cooks up in two minutes.
2. IF you have candida you will recover faster if you reduce simple sugars.
3. There are sodas and colas. Diet Colas like Coca-Cola should be limited to one can a day because they are so high in phosphorus and salt.
Fruity sodas like 7-up are easier to tolerate, especially if no caffeine. I like to make my own sodas like Vietnamese cuisine's Soda Chahn. Simply squeeze half a lime into a glass, then throw the lime remains in with ice, sugar/molasses/stevia, sparkling water and a pinch of salt. YUM! Also great are Italian soda flavors, which also come in diet flavors, but you can also make your own by juicing or blending and seiving. This way you avoid all preservatives and are in total control over the sweetener. Avoid aspartame. The new sweetener is okay.
4. That is one of the theories and it could very well be true. But mainly it's because the liver is so exhausted, and the Kreb's Cycle so depleted of what it needs, that you are no longer able to manufacture glucose. And you may even be insulin sensitive, which happens after free-radical damage.
You should be able to go off the diet IF you've solved the original problem. That the symptoms returned means the problem was never solved: you never replaced the friendlies or took care of all your deficiencies or fully cleansed the liver.
5. Totally okay.
Hope that helps!  |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
columbo1976
New Member
Joined: 24 Sep 2008
Posts: 10
|
| Posted: Thu Aug 13, 2009 9:00 pm Post subject: |
|
|
hi shelley and thanks for the reply. yeah i hadnt posted in a long time but i'll be around more often now, now that im again focused on tackling this thing. ok, i have a few follow up questions, as you would expect.
1. the liver i understand is crucial to health. i did a few flushes which didnt result in anything, no stones. instead of doing flushes, can i just take a liver supplement, one that contains milk thistle and maybe a cocktail of other things as well. or is it really all about the flushes?
2. amino acids. i just recently added a gluten free amino acid supplement to my regimen, and i dont know if its just coincidence or what, but i feel way more alert and my neuro symptoms (fog, speech difficulties, malaise) have lifted. i did some reading on amino acids and their effect and function, and many play a role in energy, mood, production of neuro transmitters, sugar metabolism, etc.. maybe you can shed some liight on why i hav seen this effect. perhaps because of the candida or possibly my celiac, or both, i was malnurished and low on these necessary amino acids. like i said, i take a supplement containing all them, i also take a separtate Taurine per your recommendation for bile, and i also take glutamine for the gut, etc..
its strange i always hear aspartame is not good but isnt this one of the amino acids?
3. do i need to drink a bulk fiber cleansing drink or would the kefir shake (cinnamon, omega oil) twice a week and swf's twice a week be sufficient for cleansing the colon? |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
shelley
Editor in Chief
Joined: 23 Dec 2004
Posts: 7365
Location: Southern California
|
| Posted: Tue Aug 18, 2009 9:05 pm Post subject: |
|
|
1. No, it's not all about the flushes. I stress comprehensive liver cleansing. You don't even have to flush if you dissolve the stones. And if you just flush but never use herbs, your liver is NOT clean.
2. Aspartame is NOT an amino acid. An amino acid is a Protein building block. When the liver is overwhelmed or the diet is too low in high-quality protein, it cannot form the amino acids it needs to make everything from hormones to enzymes, let alone muscle tissue, so pretty soon nothing works right. Invading viruses are also proteins. When the immune system is overworked due to mineral deficiencies and candida overgrowth, it starts assuming ALL proteins are invading viruses so that you don't accidentally die. inflammation and malnourishment result. It's a slower death at least.
3. The SWF doesn't really cleanse the colon much, only the small intestine. I only recommend SWF for after liver flushes. I don't want anyone to do them regularly, they're too hard on the kidneys. How much and what kind of colon cleansing depends on what you eat and how bad your symptoms are. If you eat the cleansing recipes I have on here, such as kichadi and the salads, then all you need is a probiotic shake every now and again.
|
|
| Back to top |
|
|
columbo1976
New Member
Joined: 24 Sep 2008
Posts: 10
|
| Posted: Tue Aug 18, 2009 10:21 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| Ok, thanks for answers. I am really confused lately by my overall good feeling. Like i said, I went off the diet for a good 9 months, and felt worse (and looked worse) for it. But then i began feeling better and more clear, and then I really felt a huge improvement when i went to Wild Oats, bought all gluten free supplements and got rid of the other supplements I wasnt sure were gluten free. My first reaction is well its because i eliminated gluten from the supplements, but surely the foods I have been eating have gluten. So I dont know why. My own inclination is to attribute it to the amino acid supplement because thats all that makes sence. but you say that amino acids are derived from eating protien and for the past 3 years on the candida diet, thats all ive been eating and i never felt this good while on the diet. So I dont know. ofcourse i get nervous and begn thinking that its because i have been feeding this beast and its abating my symptoms. I guess the only way to know for sure, is to continue taking the supplements, continue all of the candida treatment (diet, digestion, colon and liver cleansing, and probiotics), and see what happens. unless you have any theories? |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
shelley
Editor in Chief
Joined: 23 Dec 2004
Posts: 7365
Location: Southern California
|
| Posted: Thu Aug 20, 2009 3:47 am Post subject: |
|
|
| sweetie, I can't tell anything without a complete phone or IM consultation that dives very deeply into all of your symptoms. I can usually tell just from a list but I know so much more now that I prefer being quite thorough and leaving no stone unturned. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
columbo1976
New Member
Joined: 24 Sep 2008
Posts: 10
|
| Posted: Fri Aug 28, 2009 7:27 pm Post subject: |
|
|
that makes sence but i think i basically know what i have to do. very simple, follow diet, cleanse sinus, cleanse digestive system, probiotics, avoid gluten, and supplementation. ill follow that road map for the next year and if things dont develop like i suspect they should, ill take you up on that phone consult.
two quick questions:
1. im going to see my regular family doctor in 3 weeks. i havent had a physical or a complete run down in a few years. is there anything other than the usual blood work, blood pressure, etc, that i should have done, as someone who has candida and celiac disease? like most doctors, he doesnt really accept candida as a serious health issue but he does humor me when i discuss it. i was thinking of having my thyroid tested, maybe a test for parasites, but was curious what you thought.
2. i buy bottled water and have for three years, but the more i hear and read makes me think these water companies are just running a hose from the same water source i get from my tap. is this true or is it wise to continue buying bottled? i also worry about the plastic from the bottle over heating and leeching into the water.
3. and meat, because of the candida diet i ate alot of chicken and some beef, but the section i read on amino acids mentioned that a high meat diet leads to excess production of nitrogen which i guess is not good for the body. is this true and is there a max amount of meat you recommend someone eat for the week? i was thinking 3 times a week, at most...a few pieces of chicken at a time, maybe a steak mixed in?! i used to eat 2 full packs of chicken thighs when i first started the diet bc it was hard to stay full. i think that may have been too much. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
shelley
Editor in Chief
Joined: 23 Dec 2004
Posts: 7365
Location: Southern California
|
| Posted: Tue Sep 01, 2009 8:01 pm Post subject: |
|
|
Heh, my phone consultations are designed to get you all better within 1-3 months, but if you want to feel awful for a whole entire year go right ahead. 
1. Nope. TSH should be on the basic metabolic test, but make sure it is. If you have a lot of digestive upsets, or fatigue, test Ferritin levels (iron). They can also test vitamin D accurately. Nothing else (candida, other nutrition) cannot be tested reliably via blood or stool.
2. It's true. Read consumer reports or if you have a water store near you that filters it thoroughly, those are great and cheap.
3. A very high-protein diet is tough on the kidneys and causes gout because a by-product of protein digestion is not only nitrogen but amonia. If you don't have gout you're not eating too much protein. Men do tend to eat too much protein.
Keep your portions to about 3-4 ounces (no more 8 ounce steaks) and then you can eat protein 3 times a day without overdosing. About 20% of your meals should be completely vegetarian (not even tofu or beans), the rest should be like a Japanese teriyaki chicken bowl - small portion of meat, then veggies and grains - or like a chef/cobb salad, etc.
You can also go without for days and then gorge, we're designed to handle that becuz of our hunter-gatherer days, but it depends on your metabolism requirements.
|
|
| Back to top |
|
|
columbo1976
New Member
Joined: 24 Sep 2008
Posts: 10
|
| Posted: Tue Sep 08, 2009 7:29 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| i do appreciate the consult but ive deviated so far from my diet and overall candida regimen that i feel it would be better for me to reestablish that first and see where im at. my symptoms have changed so much since i went off the routine that i dont even know where i stand with them. i figure in about three months ill be ready for that consult. thanks again and wish me luck. oh, about the water, are those britta filters worth anything....any better than bottled? |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
|
Search 
Memberlist 
Usergroups
Register
Profile 
Log in to check your private messages 
Log in
