Wheat and Dairy Intolerance

  • Exclusion diet/ Food intolerance/ Immune system - healing/ Inflammation/ Leaky Gut/ Mineral Depletion/ Nutritional Medicine/ Wheat and Dairy Intolerance

    Turn Your Health Around

    Paleo Diet Help

    If you want to remain healthy or turn your health around you have to look after your gut health and your microbiome.  The microbiome is the collection of over 500 species of gut bacteria that support your immune system, contribute to weight, disease and health.

    So much research and information has been shared in the last 5 years on the importance of the microbiome and correcting chronic health problems from IBS to Cancer, Anxiety to Autoimmune Diseases. This is the one strong message that dominates – lifestyle diseases require lifestyle changes to heal – and your gut health is the most important to take action on to improve your health. Drugs just disguise the symptoms and cause more problems in the long run – they are not the cure.

    The gut wall is just one cell thick and these are some of the fastest healing cells in the body. If given the right nutrients and conditions they can heal in 3-7 days. Then strengthen your microbiome with good diet and supplements.

    What damages these cells and causes problems such as inflammation and leaky gut? Read More →

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  • Food intolerance/ Health/ Healthy Food/ Inflammation/ Integrated Medicine/ Nutritional Medicine/ Wheat and Dairy Intolerance

    10 Food ‘Facts’ that are wrong

    Food 'Facts' that are wrong

    10 Food ‘Facts’ that are wrong –

    popular misconceptions about Food and your Health that need correcting

    1. “You need Carbs for energy”  – No, you need FOOD for energy. Protein contains similar energy per gramme as Carbohydrates and Fats have around double the energy content but both with keep you from feeling hungry for far longer as they take longer to metabolise. You have all the enzymes needed to inter-convert encoded for you in your genes. If you switch from eating predominantly carbs to eating more protein or fat it takes a few hours for the body to adjust but your energy will probably increase.
    2. “The Brain needs glucose to function therefore we must eat sugar and other carbs” – No, the Brain actually runs better on ketone bodies from burning fats.
    3. “Natural Sugar is OK” – No, it is still sugar whatever form it is in and if not taken in moderation with other food that includes fat and protein it will cause insulin spikes and this is bad. Processed sugar is totally empty calories as it contains no other nutrients whereas whole fruit or vegetables like sweet potato contain other nutrients. Honey, Black-strap Molasses and coconut sugar also contain some healthy nutrients although they are still sugar and should be used in small amounts and they are preferable to artificial sweeteners.
    4. “A Calorie is a Calorie, it doesn’t matter how your energy is made up only that you have the right amount of energy” – No, we can go on ridiculous diets (and I have tried some of them!) like eating nothing but yogurt and drinking black coffee or eating cabbage soup all day but any diet that cuts out nutrients will cause deficiency and then cravings for other foods and overeating.
    5. “Because fat contains twice the energy of Carbs you are more likely to gain weight on a high fat diet” – No, fat is very satiating, you will not overeat on fat fat if you keep your carb intake as low as possible. You will also get the benefit of sufficient fat-soluble vitamins A, D and E and if you choose healthy fats you will also balance your Omega 3 oils to give you a more anti-inflammatory diet.
    6. “Animal fats cause Heart Disease” – No evidence supports this whatsoever, only a consensus of opinion driven by anything but science.
    7. “Cholesterol causes heart disease and should be lowered (Total) while HDL should be higher than LDL for heart health.”  –  No, Cholesterol does not cause heart disease. There is no evidence to support this. Atherosclerosis (hardening and thickening of the arteries) is an inflammatory/immune dysfunction, not a lipid (fat) dysfunction. If you have high cholesterol go on an anti-inflammatory diet and analyse the type of oils and fats that you are consuming that may have lead to inflammation, like high Omega 6 or Trans fats.
    8. “The best thing to do is take a ‘Balanced Diet’ ” – or “You don’t need to take Supplements if you eat a ‘Balanced Diet” – No, The best thing to do for your health is to take a nutritionally complete diet from which, we as a species has evolved.
    9.  ” Wheat and other wholegrains are an important (even vital) part of the human diet” – No, they are unnecessary carbs and it has been proved that many of us cannot tolerate them without immediate dysfunction. A high grain/cereal intake, even in people who think they can tolerate them, can lead to long-term inflammation, Autoimmune diseases, diabetes, fatness/obesity, heart disease, vascular disease and Alzheimer’s.
    10. ” Medical or dietetic qualifications provide a good grounding in the science of nutrition” – No, so much of the science of nutrition has been disproved by more scientific methods and studies of other cultures and also by learning from our mistakes of being guided by government or Food producers over the last half century when we have seen chronic disease escalate. Functional medicine is now looking at Nutrition and the body as a whole to prevent and reverse Chronic disease caused by all these misconceptions.

    My thanks to Bart Kay Lecturer in Clinical Physiology at HE Birmingham University Sector UK for having compiled this list on a discussion topic on LinkedIn. I have modified it slightly for the form of this website but have included all his important misconceptions about food and health that need to be taken seriously if we are to improve our health and our medical treatment.

    Please feel free to comment, I would love to hear from you, or explore other Posts to gain insight into particular chronic health problems and beneficial changes you can make.

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  • Food intolerance/ Health/ Nutritional Medicine/ Wheat and Dairy Intolerance

    First foods – baby is ready for solids

    First foods - baby is ready for solids

    First foods – this baby is certainly ready for solids!

    I really sympathise with Mums who are not sure what they should be giving their babies to eat when they are ready for solids. The world of nutrition is a nightmare of constantly changing and conflicting information for all of us, so I hope to bring some of the best current medical opinion and some common sense for you. The choices you make now are important and can set them up for life.

    Mothers know when their babies are ready for more than milk. They will often be needing more milk during the day, waking up earlier in the morning or not settling in the evening until they have had some extra. It is tiring for Mum, especially if she is breastfeeding and she needs more nutrition in her own diet to cope. If we go by the book the recommendation is to stick with just milk until at least 6 months but in reality every baby is different and other factors need to be taken into consideration.

    Weaning needs to be a gradual process that takes into account their immature digestive and immune system. They have to learn to chew and swallow and they have to develop the digestive enzymes needed to process the food and absorb the nutrients. If they eat food that they can’t digest they will get excessive wind, pain and diarrhoea or constipation and it will be misery for everyone.

    The function of the digestive system is to break down food into small enough particles that the nutrients can be absorbed into the blood stream and the waste should be eliminated easily. We can help this process by cooking, softening and mashing most food and introducing soft finger food initially. Even if your baby has no teeth their gums are strong enough to start to breakdown softer foods.

    Good first foods for 5 -7 months:-

    • puréed or well mashed cooked vegetables – potatoes, sweet potatoes, butternut squash, parsnip, carrot, courgette, broccoli, green beans, peas and cabbage.
    • fruit purée from cooked fruit like apple or pear and mashed raw fruit such as avocado or banana
    • protein in the form of cooked egg yolk; puréed organic liver, chicken, and lamb and a little white fish or salmon.
    • Homemade bone broth (links below contain the best way to make this)
    • Homemade jelly made with well diluted pure fruit juice and gelatine
    •  olive oil, coconut oil, butter or ghee in preparing and softening foods

    If food is not broken down enough in the stomach and passes into the intestines it will cause problems. It can start to ferment or increase peristalsis (the muscular movement that pushes food through the gut) and both will cause tummy ache. Look at what comes out the other end to get a good idea of what is happening. If you can see identifiable food in the poo then they are not digesting it properly. Certain foods will go through without being broken up – tomato seeds, sweetcorn and peas and other higher fibre foods not puréed.

    When they are coping well with those foods you can start to introduce more variety and more texture, like cooked rice, yogurt, fromage frais and let them try plenty of finger food and chop up some of what you are eating if it is suitable and let them feed themselves with fingers or spoon. If they have had to have antibiotics or they have excess wind you can give them an infant formula probiotic.

    Do not give them:

    • normal table salt (a little Celtic sea salt is OK for the good minerals)
    • Low fat or fat free foods
    • margarine or trans fats
    • processed vegetable oils
    • dry breakfast cereals
    • sugar
    • artificial sweeteners
    • refined sugar or undiluted pure fruit juice (well diluted with meals only)
    • flour products
    • Honey (because of the slight risk of Botulism poisoning) under 1 year old
    • certain fish that is known to have a higher risk of mercury -like tuna and swordfish.
    • soft mould ripened cheeses like Brie or Camembert

    At this stage I would say that if you have known allergies within the family, problems with Asthma, Eczema or behavioural problems then be especially careful about what else you add to the diet before they are a year old. The most common allergy foods are:- Wheat, Gluten, soy, peanuts and nuts, Cows milk, eggs (usually the white), seafood, and oranges. These can cause an acute reaction with itchy skin rash, swelling in the mouth or lips, wheezing, coughing, stomach pain, vomiting and diarrhoea where you need urgent medical help or chronic symptoms like runny nose, eczema, asthma, itchy skin, especially dry skin, anaemia and behavioural problems like hyperactivity. If you are concerned about introducing  gluten then start with sour-dough bread and see how it is tolerated. Fermented foods have already had the indigestible parts broken down in the process of being fermented. For more information on this have a look at www.westonaprice.org  This organisation support getting back to a more basic diet of natural foods and eating plenty of animal fats, bone broth and natural, raw dairy and we have certainly come a long way away from this in the last 50 years. The Mediterranean Diet is always mentioned as a healthy way to eat and it is not just about the olive oil and red wine it is because they have very little pre-prepared food and they eat all parts of the animal as was usual in most countries before Supermarkets chased out local butchers shops, fishmongers and bakers. Another great source of information is  www.Kidshealth.org for health in all ages of children.

    If you already have major health problems like Autoimmune disease and you eat a Paleo based diet, then you will find lots of good information on Cave Babies and starting a grain free way.

    Following on from first foods, 7-12 months, try to let them experience as many different flavours and textures as possible. Most babies like quite strong flavours – I personally remember being horrified when a friend gave my first, 9 month old a Chinese spare rib of pork to munch on but he has loved them ever since! We are lucky to have so many choices of food and so let them have a go and give them what you are eating as much as possible.

    If you buy convenience baby foods and ready made snacks taste them yourself – and then come up with some good, cheaper alternatives where you know what all the ingredients are!

    Playing with food and getting involved with growing it (plus getting dirty in the soil) and then helping to prepare it is the key to a good relationship with food.

    A healthy diet does not depend on how much you spend on it but how much you put into preparing it at home from basic, natural ingredients.

    With modern equipment it doesn’t have to take long. A good slow cooker pot of meat on the bone and vegetables, put on when they have a morning nap, will also be an instant meal for your baby and ready for the rest of the family when they need it.  Freeze some in individual containers for when you need them. A stir fry with meat and vegetables is quicker than take-away. Learn plenty of tips to save time and stress.

    This article is a guide for near perfect child feeding and nobody is perfect so the most important thing is not to worry or feel guilty that you do not achieve this 100% – it is a guide.  It is what is advised now with our knowledge of modern food production and science. Above all else remember that food should be enjoyable and tasty and

    make you feel good!

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  • Exclusion diet/ Food intolerance/ Health/ Immune system - healing/ Inflammation/ Wheat and Dairy Intolerance

    Food Intolerance symptoms and tests.

    Food Intolerance Test

    There has been a lot of controversy over food intolerance over the last few years and the distinction between true food allergies and food intolerance is still a very blurred line for many.

    Food Intolerance symptoms can be bloating, tiredness, constipation, diarrhoea, IBS, Eczema, arthritis, headaches and migraines, palpitations, mood swings and attention problems.

    On visiting your Doctor and saying that you think you may have a food intolerance he may tell you that the best way forward is to carry out a exclusion diet where if you leave out the offending foods and your symptoms go away then you have nailed it. If pressured the Doctor may send you for allergy testing. This is usually a history of your symptoms followed by a skin prick test for the substances  suspected as causing problems plus non food ones like grasses and pollens plus a control to show that you have a strong histamine response. This test is relying on a IgE immune response which would occur almost immediately with the release of inflammatory chemicals like histamine and leucotrene and can result in raised blisters, itching and even breathing difficulties or collapse. This is an allergic reaction. Food allergies are a reaction to food proteins and can be described as IgE -mediated (immediate) and non-IgE-mediated (delayed reactions).

    Delayed immune reactions to food and antigens are mediated by IgG, IgA and IgM and can take several hours or days to produce a response in the body. Celiac Disease is a non-IgE related response. Other food intolerance tests like York Laboratories, IgG RAST /ELISA and Food Detective rely on IgG immunoglobulin and a blood sample is necessary. They do not cause a histamine reaction. Recent research from the National University Hospital in Singapore has shown that the IgG response may even be protective against the development of a more severe IgE food allergy. These tests have been ignored by mainstream doctors for many years but have proved increasingly popular by patients who don’t feel they are getting to the root of their health problems. It is true that they may not show up all your intolerances as the tests are based on raw foods but we have known for 30+ years that people can react much more to processed foods. Processing food by heating and oxidisation changes the protein. If a person is reacting to tomato ketchup he may not show an immune response to  tomato and therefore the patients problem would go undetected.

    An article from The National Centre for Biotechnology Information in 2009 concluded that the determination of food allergy, intolerance and sensitivity would be improved by testing IgE, IgG, IgA and IgM antibodies against both raw and processed food antigens. Antibodies from modified food may cause disruption in degenerative and autoimmune diseases such as diabetes, atherosclerosis, joint inflammation, neuro-degeneration and neuro-autoimmunity.

    This is exactly what the Functional medicine community has been saying for a few years now – delayed Food sensitivity is associated with a multitude of chronic disorders, such as MS, Autism, RA, fibromyalgia, IBS, Crohn’s disease, Dementia and hundreds of other conditions that affect about 40% of the population.

    My son has an Autoimmune condition that affects his eyes, his digestive tract, his skin and his joints. He had eczema from about 11 years old but when he had severe gastroenteritis and couldn’t eat for 5 days his skin cleared up completely. On pointing this out to the Doctor we asked if we could have an allergy test done. While waiting for the appointment we tried an Elimination diet and filled in a detailed food diary. He definitely reacted to Dairy and soya and an improvement was seen but this is a difficult diet to do, especially when the reaction can come hours or days later. The offending proteins can also come in ways other than food, like in medicines (even the capsules that contain them), toiletries etc. When he had the skin prick IgE tests they came up negative and he also showed a very low histamine response so they said he was unlikely to be allergic to anything. We introduced more foods but remained off dairy but he was still getting quite severe inflammation. A year on we both tried the   Clean Gut Diet by Alejandro Junger, MD and started taking Probiotics and all symptoms went away within days. We also lost over 14lbs each without ever being hungry and we had much more energy. We realised that gluten was also a problem and eliminated that. We substituted Almond milk for cows milk we found great tasting bars that had only fruit and cashew nuts and we even added back in wine and gluten free beer and we still felt good and maintained our weight.

    Then gradually my son’s eczema started to come back and he had occasional flare ups of arthritis. Our only options seemed to be to go back onto the full Elimination diet or pay for a Food Intolerance test. We bought the Food Detective from bodykind and the results were very helpful and made sense. Luckily it didn’t throw up a whole new lot of foods to avoid but apart from Cow’s milk and gluten it showed a response to almonds and cashews. This is hardly surprising as these were foods that he had hardly ever consumed in the past but was now eating nearly every day. We have left them off and his inflammation is already reduced after just 3 days. We will leave them off for about 3 months and then eat them less frequently and see how he goes but the test was definitely the quickest way  and we saw results very quickly – evidence based medicine!

    I would recommend this Food Intolerance  test to anyone who thinks they can cope with collecting a small amount of blood from a finger prick and following the instructions to the letter. The test costs £65/$110/85 euros and takes about 40 mins to do with the results at the end of the test. It tests for the IgG reaction to 59 different foods and there is a video on the bodykind site that shows you exactly what to do. There is also a booklet that tells you how to interpret the results and how to proceed with dietary changes.

    Click here to visit bodykind


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  • Health/ Nutritional Medicine/ Wheat and Dairy Intolerance

    Gluten and Dairy Free Fast Food

    Gluten and dairy free fast food

    Two Fast food Gluten and dairy free meals that really deliver on flavour and nutrition.

    Burger and Chips 

    • Burger made from organic lamb mince, chopped bacon plus sea salt.
    • Guacamole made from Avocado, lemon juice, garlic and pepper. Topped with sliced onion.
    • Salad of Herbs, spinach leaves, cucumber and tomatoes.
    • Grilled mushrooms
    • Sweet Potato chips oven cooked or grilled with olive oil.

    DSCN2573

    Pizza

    Having experimented with various bases I find just using a gluten free Wrap as the base works best for a quick meal although this does include rice flour, tapioca and corn starch it does not contain wheat, gluten or dairy.

    • Gluten free wrap
    • jar of olive and tomato purée or gluten free pasta sauce
    • mushrooms sliced
    • peppers sliced
    • good quality pepperoni slices, smoked Pancetta or sardines
    • sliced onions

    Just layer, cook in a hot oven for 8-12 minutes and serve topped with Rocket/Arugula leaves and olives or olive oil. It is very tasty and doesn’t need cheese – believe me!

     

     

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  • Health/ Nutritional Medicine/ Wheat and Dairy Intolerance

    So is Gluten intolerance a FAD?

    Gluten Intolerance

    The Facts about Gluten 

    • We know because of tests carried out on bloods taken over 60 years ago that there is an increase in Celiac Disease of 400% and that it now affects 1 in 133 people in the USA. 95% are thought to be undiagnosed or not diagnosed until the disease is advanced.
    • China had no Celiac Disease and so it was assumed it was a genetic problem but as they have introduced more wheat into their diet they are developing Celiac Disease.
    • Gluten causes inflammation and damage to the lining of the small intestine. Nobody can digest gluten but some people tolerate it more than others.
    • According to research by scientist Stephanie Seneff gluten becomes much more allergenic when sprayed with herbicide, Glyphosate – it binds to the gluten and alters its structure. This may explain why scientists have been unable to come up with a protein or immune marker unique to gluten when a toxin is also involved.
    • In the Western World we are now eating gluten far more than at any time in the past. Cereals, sandwiches, pasta, biscuits, cake, plus all the hidden sources we can be consuming it all day long.
    • There is an epidemic of Autoimmune disease at present with over 50 million sufferers and more than 140 different conditions categorised as Autoimmune so far, which is more than Cancer and Heart disease account for in total. In the latest research people with 34 different Autoimmune diseases were all tested positive for a leaky gut – the main trigger for which is gluten.
    • A large number of patients who have a negative intestinal biopsy still have symptoms and improve when they eliminate gluten. Genetic testing is unreliable in about 35-50% of cases for either Gluten intolerance or Celiac Disease. Blood tests for antibodies have similar amounts of false negative results and you have to have been eating gluten prior to the test.
    • At the 2011 Oslo International Celiac Symposium they agreed that there was proof that there was non-Celiac gluten sensitivity but decided to consider both under the term “Gluten Related Disorders” and since that time, research into non-Celiac gluten sensitivity has increased dramatically by about 43 papers to every 1 on Celiac.
    • In 2006 The Journal for Attention Disorders published a paper on 132 children with ADHD where they put them on a gluten free diet and they reported improvement in all 12 markers for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.

    So what is the best approach? The tests are invasive and unreliable at present so if you think you have problems with gluten sensitivity try going totally gluten free for 3-6 months. Most people who have had distressing symptoms will notice a dramatic improvement. Follow the diet and guidelines for supplements in other posts on Millenniumhealth.

    1. Gluten free diet for at least 3 months and try dairy or lactose free at the same time as the end of the villi in the intestines get damaged and no longer produce lactase therefore often bloating, gas and diarrhoea can also be caused by dairy foods.
    2. Take good probiotic supplements.
    3. Cut down on sugar and alcohol.
    4.  Take gut healing amino acid L- Glutamine and Silicogel that will ease gut inflammation symptoms.
    5. Take a good multi-vitamin and mineral supplement that is gluten and dairy free. If your digestive tract is inflamed you probably have not been getting all the nutrients you need from your food and you need them all to heal.

    If you do not see a huge improvement in your health then try re-introducing these foods in moderation and only one at a time to monitor the effects. Consult a medical practitioner if you still have problems and get a food allergy blood test done as there may be additional sensitivities that need to be addressed.

    Take a look at this YouTube video on Gluten sensitivity.

    If you would like more information on Gluten Sensitivity or Celiac disease visit the Glutenology site and get the free video presentation.

    Statistics taken from The Autoimmune Summit sessions from Dr. Alessio Fasano and Dr. Tom O’Bryan.

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  • Nutritional Medicine/ Wheat and Dairy Intolerance

    DIETS for Health and weight loss

    Diets for health and weight loss

    Some of these diets for health and weight loss may be new to you but they all have something in common – they eliminate grains.

    • PALEO DIET – A modern nutritional approach sometimes called the Stone Age diet or Caveman diet. The diet advocates eating a diet with plenty of unprocessed, meat and fish, non starchy vegetables and fruit and avoiding dairy products, grains, legumes, processed oils and refined sugar. Most people that try this diet feel much healthier in a short space of time, lose weight, have more energy and previously ill health and chronic aches and pains frequently disappear. The original premise of the Paleo diet was that we should return to the way we would have eaten in the Palaeolithic era but now most health and nutrition experts use the diet as a base for people who need to omit grains and dairy for health reasons and avoid sugar, processed foods and carbohydrates to loose weight and prevent chronic disease. this then becomes their own “Personalised Paleo diet” and they may be able to add in grains like rice and alternatives to wheat, rye and barley that have zero or less gluten. If you stick to a strict Paleo diet you will lose a lot of weight relatively easily and there is an endless supply of ideas, information and recipes on the internet. Whenever you leave out whole food groups you need to make sure that you get all the nutrients you need and with this regime you need to have healthy fats: coconut oil, fish oil, flaxseed oil, olive oil but avoid trans-fats and too much Omega 6 fats. You also need to get enough vitamin B complex daily from red meat, organ meat, sunflower seeds, dried seaweed, liver pate, fresh oily fish, canned sardines, scallops and prawns.
    • The PALEO KETOGENIC DIET– if you follow the full Paleo diet with no carbohydrates then it is a ketogenic diet which means that the body has to rely on fat for energy as opposed to a carb.-heavy western diet where the main source of energy is glucose, as carbs. are broken down into sugars whether they are grains, flours, sugar or alcohol. A Ketogenic diet will make you lose weight because it is easy for the body to burn the fat stored in the body when glucose is not so readily available. It can also heal some of the longer-term damage that has been brought on by the western diet as in insulin resistance. Appetite is also suppressed due to regulation of blood sugar levels. It has also been found beneficial for some neurological disorders like Epilepsy, Parkinson’s Disease and Alzheimers. Type 1 diabetics should monitor their insulin levels carefully and be monitored by their Doctor. It may not be good for anyone that does high intensity training or workouts as they will quickly exhaust the glycogen stored in their muscle tissue and become fatigued. They would need to match their exercise with additional sources of carbs. like sweet potato, banana, nuts or almond butter.
    • The MEDITERRANEAN KETOGENIC DIET- consists of a higher proportion of fish as the main protein, olive oil and plenty of non-starchy vegetables plus a glass of red wine daily. This diet is very high in healthy fats and high in micronutrients with the antioxidant effect of the Resveratrol in red wine. In studies blood pressure improved, as did blood sugar and cholesterol levels. The Mediterranean diet is already high in magnesium but it would be even more necessary to take enough Vitamin B complex, probably as a supplement, to help avoid heart problems.
    • The PALEO AUTOIMMUNE PROTOCOL – works on the the assumption that certain foods that can have an inflammatory effect in addition to the foods already eliminated (breads, potatoes, beans and dairy) should be eliminated if you have conditions like Rheumatoid Arthritis. These are tomatoes, Aubergine (egg plant) peppers, chillies and the spices derived from them, nuts, seeds and eggs and they should be eliminated for about a month. If you have seen some improvement you should continue and then test each food, one at a time to see if any are triggers. This is not an easy process and I strongly recommend that you do it slowly and keep a food diary. Zinc, Vitamin D and the other supplements recommended above would be advisable due to the restrictive diet.
    • THE FODMAP DIET – This a diet that originated in Australia for treating Irritable Bowel Syndrome. The diet eliminates fermentable carbohydrates such as Apples, pears, peaches, mango, sugar-snap peas, watermelon, tinned fruit, milk, ice cream, yogurt,and cheese, Brussel sprouts, cabbage, onions, cereals, legumes, avocado, cauliflower, mushrooms and all artificial sweeteners, to name just a few. Although this diet has been found to eliminate some of the symptoms of IBS in about 70% of people, it is highly restrictive and anyone with IBS should be looking at the possibilities of Dysbiosis, Candida, and leaky gut  and treating it accordingly. See previous Posts.
    • SCD Diet –  the Specific carbohydrate diet designed to fix a Leaky gut and Candida infections. The diet eliminates sugars, starches and  grains to starve out any yeast overgrowth. Good supplements like multivitamin, high amounts of Vitamin D and essential fish oils plus a Probiotic and Digestive enzymes like bromelain and papain to help digestion and calm inflammation.

    All these diets have something in common and that is that they eliminate foods that are toxic and inflammatory in our bodies and that cause us problems with digestion and health.

    1. Cereal grains
    2. sugar
    3. Omega-6 processed seed oils (corn, safflower, soya bean etc.)
    4. Processed soy products, milk, protein and flour.

    So my advise is whether you have chronic disease or not – leave these out and introduce plenty of oily fish, fish, non-starchy vegetables and fruits, good quality meats, Olive oil and some fermented foods and a good Probiotic. Add in some starchy vegetables like potatoes, parsnips, carrots and occasional bananas, dates, figs and Brown Basmati rice when you can tolerate them and also to stabilise your weight when you have lost what you needed to. Avoid substituting “Free From” foods and Gluten free foods as much as possible because for every ingredient they take out they seem to add in 10! If you would like some alcohol then it is best to have dry wine or cider and to avoid grain spirits and mixers but beware that alcohol tolerance usually decreases when you are on a Ketogenic diet.

    Other Ketogenic diets for weight loss rather than health are The Atkins Diet and the Dukan Diet and the same supplement recommendations apply to those. I personally do not agree with extreme low carb diets for more than 1-2 weeks and during that time it is important to not have alcohol as you are already putting stress on your liver and blood sugar regulating mechanism. A moderately low carb high nutrition approach will give long lasting results.

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  • Nutritional Medicine/ Wheat and Dairy Intolerance

    MORE REASONS NOT TO EAT WHEAT!

    More reasons not to eat wheat.

    Modern wheat production, as well as corn and soy, is using an increasing amount of a herbicide called Glyphosate(manufactured as Roundup). The use of this product has escalated over the last 15 years in step with Genetically Engineered crops. There are many concerns about Glyphosate and research is on going around the World especially concerning the exceptional rise in Autism, Alzheimer’s, Celiac Disease and Cancer as it disrupts a wide variety of minerals in the body. For instance, research shows that Glyphosate interferes with Sulphur/Sulphate pathways in two areas

    1. Sterols  – cholesterol, vitamin D, sex hormones and DHEA
    2. Neurotransmitters  – Dopamine, Melatonin, Serotonin and adrenaline.

    Sulphur is essential for our detoxification and anti-inflammatory systems. A deficiency of sulphur may show itself as problem with the growth of nails and hair or skin.

    Glyphosate also acts as a transporter for Aluminium directly into the brain and Aluminium is used as an adjuvant in some vaccines (DTP-diphtheria-tetanus-pertussis vaccine, some Hib flu vaccines, pheumococcal conjugate vaccine, Hepatitis A and Hepatitis B vaccines, Human Papilloma virus vaccine, Anthrax and Rabies vaccines). It is also in many foods we eat, personal care products like deodorants and any medicines as well as infant formula – about 5 times higher than in breast milk.

    For an in depth interview between Dr Mercola and Dr. Seneff go to You Tube.

    How to combat the effects 

    Avoid wheat, corn and soy as much as possible or buy organic products.

    Eat and drink plenty of Polyphenols –

    • tea, coffee and red wine (resveratrol)
    • colourful fruit and vegetables
    • Curcumin, Turmeric, mustard and yellow peppers
    • Coconut oil and coconut butter as these can transport sulphates to the liver from the gut.
    • eat plenty of sulphur foods – broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, kale, brussel sprouts, turnips, bok choy, garlic, onions, leeks and chives plus eggs, especially the whites.
    • Buy organic as much as possible and grow some of your own food if possible.
    • Use Celtic sea salt
    • Bathe in Epson Salts

    Much of the research in this field is coming from China and The China Development Strategy Research Committee recently hosted a conference in Beijing for Chinese and International Experts to discuss the global harm caused  by GMO and glyphosate based herbicides. For full details go to Sustainable Pulse. China does not have the political link to Monsanto – an American chemical, agricultural Biotech Corporation, therefore research and information does not get suppressed as easily as it does elsewhere. The Chinese Government have already banned the growing of GM Rice but they do manufacture the herbicide and they are the largest importer of GM Soy.

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  • Nutritional Medicine/ Wheat and Dairy Intolerance

    PALEO DIET- to regain your health

    If you want to rid yourself of irritating and debilitating symptoms then a detox diet is a good way to start. The Paleo Diet has very good  guidelines as it doesn’t include grains and dairy and there is so much support for it on the Internet. One of the best Blogs that I follow is www.ultimatepaleoguide.com and they give all their information and help for free. This is their PALEO DIET FOOD LIST
    paleo-diet-food-list

    Find the original paleo diet food list & infographic and at UltimatePaleoGuide.com.

    If you have a long standing or severe Autoimmune disease then you may find that you need to try the AIP diet which is the Autoimmune Paleo diet which goes further in cutting out other inflammatory foods like the Nightshade family which are potatoes, tomatoes, peppers, chillies and spices made from these. Everyone is different and you have to play detective and find your own perfect diet for health so this is one of the best places to start and then you may end up on your own modified Paleo type diet. I would also suggest that you need to strengthen your Adrenal Function, maybe even before changing your diet completely. I will cover this in another post as it can be crucial to recovery.

    The diet needs to be followed for at least 30 days and at the same time you take supplements to heal your leaky gut and increase your nutrition. At the end of 30 days you should feel much better and not have any digestive problems in which case you could try introducing one omitted food back into you diet and see how you feel. It is very important to take this slowly and I strongly recommend starting a food diary at this point if you haven’t already. List any symptoms like headache, rash, indigestion, bloating, painful joints, weakness, excessive mental activity or brain fog. You are highly likely to get worse symptoms on reintroducing a problem food and if you do go back to basics foods with lots of alkalising vegetables until your symptoms subside. if you don’t notice any symptoms after 3 days then you may be able to continue eating that food in moderation.

    My only exception is wheat. The type of wheat that is being used in much of the developed world has been proven to damage the intestinal wall. A healthy person can recover from this damage in about 3-4 hours but if you eat it 2-3 times a day you are much more likely to develop an intolerance and any wheat protein that gets through the gut wall will set up a chain of damage and destruction. Also, don’t be in a hurry to introduce highly processed wheat/gluten substitute foods. These can contain many ingredients that you have been avoiding – in the case of ‘ free from’ wheat, gluten and dairy Pittas no fewer than 15 ingredients including Dextrose and preservatives.

    For more information please watch this 15 min You Tube video by Dr. Amy Myers called The Pitfalls of Paleo.

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  • Blood sugar management/ Exclusion diet/ Nutritional Medicine/ Wheat and Dairy Intolerance

    Help with your detox diet – 2- Meal planning

    Gluten and dairy free fast food

    Meal Planning on your Elimination diet.

    Following on from healing your Leaky Gut and detoxing from Sugar we need to discover what foods might be causing a problem or intolerance – meal planning and appropriate shopping are important. The aim is to omit foods which can cause inflammation, slow digestion and blood sugar spikes, therefore Dairy foods, grains (gluten containing plus non-gluten) and cereals, sugar and high sugar/carbohydrate fruits like bananas and dried fruit are left out initially. The first couple of weeks on a detox/elimination diet are quite a challenge but if you plan ahead and are prepared to experiment a bit you will enjoy it. Quite often we get into a rut with our meals, with little time we throw something together at the last minute with whatever we have in the fridge. When you plan a change of diet it brings the food back into full focus and you can get more enjoyment out of cooking and trying something new. After 1 week I added in brown rice and sweet potato and had no trouble sticking to the diet because I felt so much better. Joint pain disappeared, no bloating after meals and much more energy.

    Get your mindset right. The main idea being that we are trying to make it easy for the body to digest and assimilate the nutrients it needs.

    Think protein and vegetables three times a day.

    Breakfast usually causes us the most problems. No cereal, no toast, no sugar !

    Do not try to go low fat as well, even if that is how you have been used to eating. You need those good fats because some of those essential nutrients are fat-soluble vitamins. You will lose some weight anyway because your body will adjust to the low carbs by boosting your metabolism.

    Here are just some suggestions for Breakfast

    • bacon, tomatoes and rocket
    • eggs and spinach
    • Herb omelette and bean-sprouts
    • Mushroom omelette and asparagus
    • Bacon and mushrooms with cooked spinach or Kale
    • Miso soup with grilled fish and zucchini (courgette)
    • Cashew nut yogurt or coconut yogurt(non dairy) these are available in some shops
    • Coconut kefir
    • Smoothies – there are hundreds of recipes but experiment with your own. I love Almond milk with fresh raspberries or strawberries and a teaspoon of coconut butter or a chocolate one with a hot cup of cinnamon or ginger tea, cocoa powder, a few nuts and coconut cream.

    If it is texture you are missing try a few nuts – brazil, pecan, cashew, or walnut and keep a small bag of them with you when you are out and about and need a snack to keep your blood sugar OK.

    Lunch  –  Protein of your choice and a large (and as varied as possible) salad.

    Dinner  –  Protein of your choice and a large amount of steamed or lightly cooked vegetables.

    I love stir -frys as they are quick and easy and you can make them varied and colourful.

    There are times when you just feel like you need a sweet course. You could do a less liquid smoothie with frozen berries and a spoon of coconut butter and it will come out like a mousse. Generally it is better to have fruit in between meals and not immediately after so I prefer to leave a couple of hours between a main meal and fruit, it just helps the digestion. I have made my own Raw Chocolate slightly sweetened and with nuts or peppermint essence – it is so rich you only need a little! There is caffeine in it so anyone who is caffeine sensitive should be careful eating it in the evening.

    Just enjoy trying new combinations of food end enjoy the vitality that comes from eating real, fresh food.

    After the initial phase of the detox you can add more. We found good quality Lemon, Raspberry and Mango Sorbets and a gorgeous chocolate or vanilla coconut ice cream that was dairy free and no nasty additives. Also found lots of ideas and recipes on Pinterest under Paleo Diet which should be Grain and Dairy free.

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