"Life Without Bread"

[Turgon]

A bit of an update on my situation with the rashes and digestive issues with the Broth. I have no idea why but at some point into this transition, my body did some sort of 180 degree turn and started responding very well to broth without the stomach pains. It didn't matter if I ate it cold, hot, with or without fat - my body is digesting it with ease. However, when I ate sweet potatoes several days ago after a three day hiatus, I started getting severe stomach pains again!

I just recently came down with the flu that I've come out of, but during it, I was thinking a bit about my whole digestive issues and some signs and symptoms I've been having since I went zero carb. A few things bothered me that I did a little reading on, the main one being some uncomfortable sensations just underneath my ribcage on both my left (Spleen?), but more noticeably right side (which Nora Gedgaudus says could be an issue with my gallbladder). And with the rashes popping up around this same time trying to single out what's going on.

During the flu I started taking hot showers again to help with the muscle aches, but doing so (I think) caused my rashes to flare up everywhere turning bright red and even spreading a little higher. I was also gassy in excess again during this time and getting some bloating even though I wasn't eating anything for a few days.

Anyway's when I started being able to eat a few days ago, I had a super fat/protein breakfast of about 7 strips of bacon and 3 eggs plus ALL the bacon grease because I was famished. I had to go to work that day and when there, felt an intense flushing sensation on my left side (below the ribcage) and later on it moved to my right side, which I can still feel as a slight dull pain and has been popping up on and off since. I felt like I wasn't digesting all the bacon grease well even though I could've eaten more

Reading SeekinTruth's post in "Sluggish" Liver Issues
had me wondering about whether it's my gallbladder, liver or both that isn't functioning well at all. When I dropped my carbs completely there was an issue with digesting all my fats properly and sometimes what I ate would pass through my system rather quickly. Anytime I would notice this I would take some Digestive Enzymes but never for long.

I introduced some fibre in the form of almond butter for the first time in a month to get things moving which caused diarrhea again.

I'm going to get on Psyche's Sluggish Liver Protocol of Digestive enzymes, Bile Enzymes and Milk Thistle, but is there anything else that I should be doing other than that? Possibly see a doctor or go on a liver cleanse? I've never done a liver/gall bladder cleanse before. The only cleanse I've ever done was the candida/yeast cleanse a few years back and the Heavy Metal/Mercury cleanse in 2010.

Any input is appreciated. Thanks.

 

[Gaby]

Could it be the "syndrome of the unconquerable infection" described in the book LWB? I dunno. It was speculated that this syndrome takes place because the immune system strengthens and tissues that had even a slight infection gets rapidly and aggressively attacked by the immune system. Steroids temporarily stops this and as the tissue returns to normal and the initial infection disappears, no additional autoaggression takes place. The clinical outcome of cortisone therapy has been shown to be extremely effective in the experience of Lutz in LWB book. They say:

[A] person's immune system is already programmed to a variety of infections, and the low-carbohydrate diet makes very powerful reactions possible. The immune system may deal most efficiently with an infection but then call with particular intensity for damage of the tissue, which the body consequently is not able to avoid. Some people benefit from taking cortisone for a few days after almost every infection

FWIW, here is a cortisol protocol that is meant to be used for adrenal support when there is sickness or lots of stress, or just for adrenal fatigue in general:

http://cassiopaea.org/forum/index.php/topic,488.msg384379.html#msg384379

I think adrenal fatigue is a major problem for those having trouble adjusting to a ketogenic diet.

 

[emilien512]

Havnt read the whole thread yet but I was wondering if the carb phenomena is related to the fall and the coming of the black death.
The book says that carbs plays a major role in hormone generation/deprivation (which means a strong imbalanced system when reaching old age) and when you sick a particular 'high' carbohydrathe food, you seek to reach sensations/pleasure and so a food that will make you generate hormones.
And so I am not sure but maybe this is the origin of the fall, people, even in the past, seem to keep consuming while saying "food is first, a pleasure". (e.g. the Romans "Bread and Circuses")
And, because of the cosmic changes taking place (3D end, 4D beginning) I thought that those who really kept consuming strictly for pleasure (carbs) would suffer the most of this plague. The Cs said that it would be an alien virus that would seek to feed but for that you need to feed it/yourself first.
Am I right and was this said before or ... ?

 

[Gaby]

Havnt read the whole thread yet but I was wondering if the carb phenomena is related to the fall and the coming of the black death.
The book says that carbs plays a major role in hormone generation/deprivation (which means a strong imbalanced system when reaching old age) and when you sick a particular 'high' carbohydrathe food, you seek to reach sensations/pleasure and so a food that will make you generate hormones.
And so I am not sure but maybe this is the origin of the fall, people, even in the past, seem to keep consuming while saying "food is first, a pleasure". (e.g. the Romans "Bread and Circuses")
And, because of the cosmic changes taking place (3D end, 4D beginning) I thought that those who really kept consuming strictly for pleasure (carbs) would suffer the most of this plague. The Cs said that it would be an alien virus that would seek to feed but for that you need to feed it/yourself first.
Am I right and was this said before or ... ?

You are on track and the subject has been mentioned in other threads and articles, but also the Ketogenic thread where being on ketosis is definitely a plus in order to keep microbi and nasty viruses on check.

Lectins and viruses are structurally similar, so if you have grains' lectins creating havoc in your immune system, i.e. autoimmune diseases, then it can really get very bad and pretty quick once a real virus comes in.

 

[Oxajil]

Didn't know where to post this (couldn't find a thread on vitamin D), so I thought I'd post it here. It's what Dr. Carolyn Dean has written lately on the topic of vitamin D:

When I blog about Vitamin D I'm sharing my concerns about a blanket recommendation for taking incredibly high doses like 50,000 IU of synthetic Vitamin D a day when the body can't possibly process that amount. Even some people on 5,000 IU find that too much for them. How can taking 50,000 IU of Vitamin D be normal, even if it is made from lamb's wool.

When you take that much Vitamin D, the strain on magnesium is dramatic. The accumulation of calcium is dramatic. And there are probably many other consequences that we don't even know about. Even so, some people seem to improve dramatically on 50,000 IU. Is that true improvement or are the receptor sites for Vitamin D so battered that they react and respond. How long can such a response be maintained without deleterious effects on magnesium and calcium balance?

These are questions that aren't being asked. Since I've been studying and practicing medicine for about 45 years, I've seen the trends and shifts and the fads. So, from a detached position, I'm just asking the hard questions.

When we measure Vitamin D we are measuring the storage form and not even the active form. So, how do we really know what's going on? And since Vitamin D is a hormone with a feedback loop for calcium, when the D levels are low, does that mean it has enough calcium and doesn't want to make more Vitamin D to pull in more calcium? We don't even know the answer to that question. Yet we keep recommending more Vitamin D.

I'm hearing about people taking high doses of Vitamin D developing hypercalcemia. I wrote about the need for magnesium in processing Vitamin D from its storage form to its active form back in my 2003 edition of The Magnesium Miracle. My first questions about the safety of high dose Vitamin D came when I heard about people taking high doses and developing magnesium deficiency symptoms, including seizures.

At this point, I think the 40 ng/mL range of 25-OH D is probably quite sufficient and only take Vitamin D if you are also taking magnesium.

Then there is the Vitamin K2 part of the puzzle that you have to address. I've blogged about this also and recommend this book, Vitamin K2: The Calcium Paradox (although the author doesn't write enough about magnesium). The Weston A Price website has a lot to say about Vitamin K2 because Price discovered the X Factor, which turned out to be Vitamin K2.

In my practice, I recommend Green Pastures, Blue Ice (fermented Vit D and butter oil for the Vit A, Vit K2 and Vit D) as the perfect combination of all three fat soluble vitamins. {maybe this could be a better way of getting Vit D for those being low on vitamin D?}

But let me be clear. I don't know all the answers and you don't have to listen to me, but neither do you have to listen to anyone else. You have to listen to yourself and what makes sense to you and your body. Medicine is about taking big guns and shooting them off indiscriminately. For them, Vitamin D is the new calcium and they will promote it very widely and wait a few decades for the fall out. As I said in my March 10, 2013 blog, I don't want to wake up in 10-20 years and find out we made a huge mistake in overdosing people with Vitamin D, just like we did with calcium.

 

[LQB]

Didn't know where to post this (couldn't find a thread on vitamin D), so I thought I'd post it here. It's what Dr. Carolyn Dean has written lately on the topic of vitamin D:

....
In my practice, I recommend Green Pastures, Blue Ice (fermented Vit D and butter oil for the Vit A, Vit K2 and Vit D) as the perfect combination of all three fat soluble vitamins. {maybe this could be a better way of getting Vit D for those being low on vitamin D?}
....

I just got this e-mail from the Green Pasture folks:

Comparison of Green Pasture CLO to virgin, minimally processed CLO from Norway.

Below is a detailed Bio-feedback test report from one of the top Bio-Feed Back practitioners in the country. Dr Wendy Meyer has a practice plus she trains other practitioners in this field of medicine. She does not sell Green Pasture Products or any fish oil. This test comparison was not requested by me but by another person in the medical field. I was able to obtain a copy of the report but would only publish if the name of the compared cod liver oil was removed as i do not think it is proper to discuss others work specifically.

The Cod Liver Oil was described to me as a new virgin and minimally processed CLO but i do not know what this means other than the post I put within the FAQ area of the website outlining Virgin Marine Oil/CLO defined by governing bodies from the EU/Norway.

I fully respect the medical art field of Bio-Feedback testing and energetic testing. Not all practitioners are the same in ability and there are a few that are highly regarded in these fields such as Dr Wendy Meyer and Dr Louisa Williams...and others...

Comparison of Green Pasture CLO to virgin, minimally processed CLO from Norway.

Purpose of the study: The study was designed to compare different cod liver oils from two different companies on patients using biofeedback equipment

Study was performed using Spectravision biofeedback equipment on acupuncture points pertaining to toxicity, allergy, circulation, brain, and hormones. It is electronic equipment that can measure responses of the body to different compounds including nutritional support.
Results of the test:

GP CLO: 0/38 reaction for toxicity, VMP CLO from Norway: 37/38 reacted to toxicity
GP CLO: 0/9 reaction to people with APO E, VMP CLO from Norway 9/9 reaction to people with APO E
GP CLO: 9/13 positive support for hormone imbalance; VMP CLO from Norway 0/13 support for hormone imbalance

Toxicity point reacts to substances that the body is struggling to eliminate out of the body. It is affected by genetics, length of exposure, type of compound, amount of exposure. There is one particular genetic trait called APO E that can lead to heart disease, Alzheimer’s, or Parkinson’s disease if certain conditions are met. According to Pamela McDonald’s book “The Perfect Gene Diet”, fish oil will raise LDL and lower HDL in people with this genetic trait. It will block arteries and thus decrease oxygen to the brain. Considering that this trait is found in 30% of the population, it is considered very relevant to the medical field. Eating fish does not cause this problem, however. This indicates that there is something removed during the extraction of the oil that is required by people with this genetic trait. The results of the study indicated no ill-effects from the CLO produced by Green Pasture with patients with this genetic trait. However, the fish oil that was considered VMP CLO from Norway decreased circulation on all patients with this trait. It showed toxic on all patients across the board except for one. It is believed that this patient in particular had the genetics that allow him to detoxify very efficiently (APO E2) . People that have the genetic trait APO E4, have a harder time detoxify and need more detox support, and need to be more careful with supplementing with all fish oils due to its potential to cause harm to the body.

Conclusion: GP CLO provides support without the risk of harm other CLOs can pose to people with genetic trait for APO E4.
Dr. Wendy Meyer

 

[scyth]

I'm a diabetic for over 7 years. A few months ago I reduced bread. 3 weeks ago I cut all kinds of grain products. Insulins I use 1/3 cut the rate. I feel much better now and I use less insulin.

 

[Nienna]

I'm a diabetic for over 7 years. A few months ago I reduced bread. 3 weeks ago I cut all kinds of grain products. Insulins I use 1/3 cut the rate. I feel much better now and I use less insulin.

That's great scyth. Gluten really is evil. After a month or so you may want to try cutting fruits and sugars, too. I think you'll see even more improvement.

I hope that you take the time to read through this entire thread, if you haven't already done so.

Keep up the good work!

 

[LQB]

Here is a followup e-mail I received from the Green Pasture (CLO) folks this morn:

The Three Kinds of Cod Liver Oil 1849 {http://www.greenpasture.org/utility/showarticle/?objectID=8216}

Previously I skimmed this book and reported small sections on this blog and in the FAQ area of the web site. If you would like to review some of the previous citations within the book please check out the FAQ area of the website where it is currently posted.

I was working tonight and i found another citation to share. The goal Dr. De Jongh's work was to study the 3 different types of Cod Liver Oil; Pale, Light Brown and Brown Cod Liver Oil, and make a detailed report. I don't know how i missed the conclusion to Dr. De Jongs work in the original post.

....The brown Cod Liver Oil has proven itself a most powerful remedy in rheumatism and scrofula. Now, I have found, in my chemical analysis, a quantitative difference between this and the other sorts of Cod Liver Oil. The constituent parts, which exist in great proportions in the brown Cod Liver Oil, must, therefore, be considered as those which fulfill the most important indications. The neutral fat, the iodine, phosphorus, the inorganic salts, exist in the same proportions in the other kinds of oil, which are not supposed to be particularly efficacious in scrofula and rheumatism; it is, therefore, fair to assume tha the brown Cod Liver Oil owes its great power to the biliary matter and butyric acid, which exist in it in much larger proportions than in the lighter-coloured oils.

I like history and think it is special to note that in the mid 1800's the question of what Cod Liver Oil is best is replicated today. The conclusions/studies where completed in the 1800's without full knowledge on why the brown Cod Liver Oil is best and today we re-ask the question. What is cool is the conclusion is just as clear today as it was in the 1800's, the Brown Cod Liver Oil is best.

Maybe we don't have to know why. 100 years from now we will re-ask the same question and not realize the question has been answered many times in history with the same conclusion but using different reasoning. Will we ever learn to the point of not re-asking the same question? My guess is it is our nature to repeat history.

 

[Mal7]

There's a great article that can help a lot in understanding what happens to you when you are making the switch to low-carb eating here:
http://www.sott.net/articles/show/229352-Tips-Tricks-for-Starting-or-Restarting-Low-Carb-Pt-I

************************************************
Tips & Tricks for Starting (or Restarting) Low- Carb Pt I
Michael R. Eades, M.D.
proteinpower.com
Tue, 31 May 2011 10:40 CDT

As anyone who has done it knows, getting started on a low-carb diet can be a little rough. Not for everyone, but for some. All too often these little front-end bumps in the road - coupled with the spirit of the times in which the well-intentioned but ignorant friends and relatives of low-carb dieters tell them their diet is going to croak their kidneys, clog their arteries and weaken their bones - can be enough to make many people abandon the most sincere efforts. Drawing on my almost 30 years of experience treating patients using the low-carb diet, I can give some tips and tricks for dealing with these difficult early days.

Listen to your body?

The surest road to failure in the first few days of low-carb dieting is to listen to your body. The whole notion of listening to your body is one of my major pet peeves. In fact, just hearing those words makes me want to puke. In my experience, they are usually uttered by females with moist, dreamy looks in their eyes, but not always. I just read a ton of comments in recent Paleo blog post in which vastly more males than females actually wrote this drivel.

Listening to your body is giving the elephant free rein. If you're three days into your stop-smoking program, and you listen to your body, you're screwed. If you're in drug rehab, and you listen to your body, you're screwed. If you're trying to give up booze, and you listen to your body, you're screwed. And if you're a week into your low-carb diet, and you listen to your body, you're screwed. Actually, it's okay to listen to it, I suppose, just don't do what it's telling you to do because if you do, you're screwed.

[. . .]


The period of low-carb adaptation is that time between starting a low-carb diet and feeling great on a low-carb diet. It can take anywhere from just a day or so to two or three weeks. During this adaptation period people tend to fatigue easily, experience a slight lack of mental clarity and be tormented off and on by the unbidden lust for carbs that seems to rise up out of nowhere. Why does this happen early on with a diet that ultimately works so well to increase exercise capacity, mental clarity, and feelings of satiation?

It happens because both your body and brain are going through a profound change in the way they get their energy. You can't run your car designed to burn gasoline on biodeisel...unless you install a converter. Then you can. We humans have the design for our carb to fat converters coded in our DNA - the low-carb adaptation period is simply the time it takes for the converter to be built and installed.

[. . .]

When you've been on the standard American high-carb diet, you're loaded with enzymes ready to convert those carbs to energy. You've got some enzymes laying in the weeds waiting to deal with the fat, but mainly dealing with it by storing it, not necessarily burning it. All the pathways to deal with carbs and their resultant blood glucose are well-oiled and operating smoothly. Then you start a low-carb diet. Suddenly, you've idled most of the enzyme force you have built to process the carbs in your diet while at the same time you don't have a ready supply of the enzymes in the quantities needed to deal with your new diet. It would be like a Ford automobile factory changing in one day into a plant that made iPads. All the autoworkers would show up and be clueless as how to make an iPad. It would take a while - not to mention a lot of chaos - to get rid of the autoworkers and replace them with iPad workers. In a way, that's kind of what's happening during the low-carb adaptation period.

I am currently up to page 20 in this thread. I have read that changing diet suddenly may not be wise or safe. It is something one might do over a period of six months or more, rather than abruptly adopting a completely new diet. While not wanting to de-emphasize the importance of that advice, I thought I might mention that the passages quoted above reminded me of Alan Carr's book The Easy Way to Stop Smoking. I wonder if some of Alan Carr's tricks could be used in going onto a low-carbohydrate gluten free diet. I still have bread in my freezer, but haven't felt any wish to eat it since starting a gluten free diet 4 days ago. I think I am using the same approach as in the past when I stopped smoking for several years after reading Alan Carr's book.

Carr's point is to emphasize the physical, biochemical nature of addiction and cravings, and downplay any psychological addiction as just being the mind playing tricks on itself. Rather than interpreting cravings and physical symptoms of withdrawal as one's own ego or personality or essential self crying out for what it needs, one dissociates the cravings from being one's personal desire, "I need this", and instead thinks of it as the voice of a little nicotine machine in one's body saying "feed me nicotine, please!". Then one can experience the craving positively, as a sign that the little nicotine machine is dying, and enjoy the feeling, knowing that feeding the machine will only keep it alive longer, and not feeding it will only hasten its demise.

In the same way, having a headache and feeling like eating carbohydrates could be interpreted as all those carbohydrate-processing enzymes saying, "Hey, where are our carbohydrates?", rather than the higher wisdom of one's body telling one what it needs.

Apologies for writing about an anti-nicotine campaigner. It was the methodology I though might be of interest, rather than the substance being withdrawn from.

I have had a headache for half of today. My biggest problem so far is probably having cold water poured on one's new diet by a couple of friends and relatives (one skeptical, one vegetarian). Which is why for one's own self, knowledge is so important. Luckily I don't have too many friends, and I will be doing my best to avoid a third friend who is a fanatical raw vegan for a while. :)

 

[monotonic]

That makes sense. But instead of disassociating, maybe you mean, not identifying. We identify with the sensations of addiction so they become much more important to us than they really are. Realizing that the cravings are a rogue aspect of one's machine, and not one that should be part of you as it is, seems to simply be apprehending the reality of the situation. Interpreted more literally, to stop identifying with the cravings could be seen as a decision to reject that aspect of one's machine. The program then dissolves and its parts are used for what's next.

OSIT.

 

[momo]

Hello,

I've posted what is happening with me here: http://cassiopaea.org/forum/index.php/topic,30677.0.html

Trying to transit properly to a controlled and healthy living, I am about reading this thread, the Keto-Thread, many other Threads in here touching the other subjects I am working on and also researching and reading the recommended books. I am trying to go remain patient, and concentrate - brain fog is still there but better.


So, my body has been responding really well to many of the adjustments - and I am getting a hold of my health it seems. (Hoping for those expected speedbumps not to be too tough.)

Worried about controlling my diet too much (I was once anorectic, and bulimic right after that), I am just now beginning to see that I am stable enough to start controlling again.

Researching the net I found this: _http://paleohacks.com/questions/96919/anybody-interested-in-paleo-based-comprehensive-nutrient-calculator-menu-planning#axzz2NbqXUt2S
on a website that has been referenced in here.

The comment section includes links to google docs that collect data on food & recipes - a collective work:
_https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0Anb3qAsfos0LdHRoQUxpbkFYdm9BM0x6WlhJMEJSZWc#gid=0
_https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0Anb3qAsfos0LdHhYMHJEUTVwMlJzOFd5Z0E1NlZQckE#gid=0

Just wanted to share with you - it seems quite a valuable ressource.

Greetings,
momo

 

[mcb]

Over the last 15 years or so, since I learned about the "Standard American Diet" (SAD) and stopped eating that way, I have gone from cooking vegan (from recipes) to buying fresh & frozen prepared foods from the grocery store to cooking low-fat/high-carb (from recipes) to what I do now, which is cook simple, basic foods without recipes.

There is really no calculation to speak of, other than deciding how much to buy for the week. It is easier for me because I am cooking for one, and therefore I don't have to be concerned with feeding anyone that won't eat simple food.

I have often worried about whether I was getting "enough" nutrients, and I have actually read a great deal about it, but I came to realize that in my SAD days I survived somehow, like everyone else, with extremely poor nutrition, and that while it is important, my life doesn't hang day to day on whether I get enough of this micronutrient or that. (This may not be true for someone that is seriously ill.)

The truth is, we can't begin to know what all the "nutrients" are. Science has given us a great deal of information, some of which proves true and some of which does not, and the applicability can vary greatly from one person to the next. One person's superfood is another person's poison.

What I am doing now is trying to establish my own "food traditions," based on experimentation, common sense, sharing information here in the forum, historical food traditions, and what is known scientifically that might actually be true.

 

[momo]

What I am doing now is trying to establish my own "food traditions," based on experimentation, common sense, sharing information here in the forum, historical food traditions, and what is known scientifically that might actually be true.

Thank you, Megan, I was hoping to get to the point where I don't need to control with numbers and lists, because that really fosters this control-mechanism that was active in me mostly before and during my anorectic time - I realize I have a very bad eating habit, e.g. connecting hunger for appreciation with eating.
I remember in my non-eating phase that I was so happy not needing any food any more, I completely shut out the world in those days.

It is good to read that you establish your own traditions, in the way you describe, it gives me hope that I will also be able to get on my own feet in a similar self-responsible way. With support of the hypnotherapy I get because of my Tinnitus, and the Rolfing sessions teaching my body how to work with gravity I hope to get out of self-destruction mode.

I haven't had any gluten and grains in over two weeks now, and I feel quite good about it. Hardly do I crave for any of it. I am trying to organize and strengthen myself in order to have the strength to support my children and husband in transit, too. It will be difficult, because quite a big part of their lives are around people who will need to respect the change, and they will be around children/people who eat the billion-dollar-marketing kind of stuff.

Thanks again for listening!
momo

 

[Rhythmik]

So I switched to organic grass-fed meat a while ago and it's been great.
I found out though that the sausages the butcher sells me are made with rice meal.
They're gluten-free, but is this advisable/ok to eat?