Hello itellsya!
Hope you'll benefit from the changes, the important thing is that you are making progress and doing your best. Don't hesitate to network about what you are going through and if you haven't had the chance to read "When the Body Says No", at least check out this video: http://www.sott.net/article/277046-When-the-Body-Says-No-Caring-for-ourselves-while-caring-for-others-Dr-Gabor-Mate
Diet wise, there are a couple of red alerts that stand out for me...
itellsya said:
Having trawled the numerous discussions from neurotransmitters to going keto, I put together a shopping list and invested the last of my pennies in a supplement plan. Over all it should last about 3 months and though for now I have limited finances, I hope to be able to assess what is working and where to next..
Issues: whiplash around my back and chest (resulting in shallow breathing and daily aches and pains from the knots). Anxiety and stress, general but informed by child hood trauma. Debilitating insomnia related to the aforementioned but aggravated by an unhealthy party lifestyle in my 20's. The only other issue I would mention, though there are others, is this sensation I have had in my stomach/bottom of rib cage/solar plexus (?); it happens when I anticipate a stressful issue, and feels like a 'trickling' sensation, lasts seconds and i can preempt and stop it sometimes, as if the cortisol is being dripped into my stomach. So it's like butterflies, but a friend said it's a common report from the children she has worked with, it's like anxiety and anticipation? This happened often enough during my childhood, especially my teens, due to the abuse of my alcoholic father, the sensation would be trigged by the stress and I wouldn't be able to eat. I wonder if it actually is something being pumped, or whether i'm dumping the contents of my stomach into my blood stream? I mention it mainly because I haven't concluded what it actually is, but also because it has informed my 'supp plan' ie. Enzymes, L-gluatmine
I am familiar with supplementation, and the vitamins I choked on as a child were probably the only real nutrition I was getting! I particularly enjoy experimenting in this area, especially where results are tangible.
If you have the L-glutamine in powder, you can put some underneath your tongue when you feel anxiety. Likewise when you crave sugar. The ketogenic diet will help enormously to stabilize your brain chemistry. The supplements are a plus, but focus on improving your diet so that it will help you heal is the best way to go.
So about a week has passed since starting and I welcome any advice or guidance, though if anything , at least my attempt is noted here for others.
As i'm currently looking for work, my finances are limited, but my stress levels are – in some ways - as low as they can go. So I'm thinking this is an optimal time to repair my gut, my frazzled nerves and to prepare.
Nutrition (i eat backwards, heavy at night and light in the day, used to skip breakfast, i'm trying to change this..)
Breakfast: 1 x slice of Buckwheat toast ( with an inch of butter, ground sea salt and a few seeds (I need to leave off of the seeds but is small and provides nice crunch!) + Espresso with butter, 1 tsp of Xylitol + 1 tsp of sugar (i'm running out of xylitol...so have to ½ & ½)
This is basically sugar and perhaps a little bit of fat. Then, the espresso further stimulates your adrenals and you are likely to start the day in a frazzled way.
When you are first addressing the diet, it is best to start BIG: bacon, sausage and egg yolks if you are unsure about tolerating eggs. People who are intolerant to eggs often react to the egg whites. The coffee is not a good idea, really. Black tea with xylitol would be better.
The buckwheat can trigger an immune response if you are gluten intolerant as it cross-reacts very often with gluten. Seeds are full of lectins.
I think you are instinctively starting the day like this to "extract the juice" of your adrenals. It is really not a good breakfast nor friendly for your nerves. The only good thing you are having is the butter. This is really a bad breakfast to start the day!
After some time on a diet, with a good fatty breakfast, you can experiment with intermittent fasting. But at this stage, I think it is a priority to remove the "starting the day with sugar".
Lunch: Few bits of chicken with olive oil/butter. Handful of cashews/nuts (I don't yet soak them)
If it is not organic chicken, it would probably be best to stick to other meats: pork, veal, etc. Nuts and cashews are infamous for triggering articulation problems. You really have to spend some time off from them to notice the difference. You could have some green beans with fat or butter to go with your meat here.
Snacks: Infrequent but if I do, i've been trying the advice, from butter wrapped in ham to nuts
Dinner: For about 6 months I have been having bone broth with about 75-100g butter most weeks, say 3-4 times a week. Usually beef bones from the butchers and left over chicken bones, added to this 1-2 root vegetables, seasoning and a chicken leg or some pulled pork. The meat is not pastured of organic... is called 'higher welfare' (LIES!).
Dessert: chocolate of any kind, recently 75% dark (with sugar...) / but more recently homemade choc pot with butter with xylitol and cocoa BUT prior was store bought with all the nasties that entails.
How about giving the "fat bomb" a try: http://cassiopaea.org/forum/index.php/topic,34453.0.html. It would take care of most cravings and you could probably come off easily from nuts.
Of note: I take the L-glutamine after my vitamin C as i read you must activate it with Vit C, is this correct?
Magnesium is because we all need it, and i'm playing between 600mg & 800mg - whatever i can handle :P - also i find it REALLY helpful for my whiplash and helping me settle to sleep. I'll post in the Mag Miracle my experience. Any tips on when to take to avoid an unsettled tummy would be great.
The magnesium has an alkaline effect on the tummy, so when you take it, take it away from foods. Like one hour before eating or two hours afterwards. Or before going to sleep. You'll need all the stomach acid to digest meat and fat. For the same reasons of aiding digestion, try to not drink a lot during meal times. Also, if your tummy doesn't tolerate big doses of magnesium at a time, divide them throughout the day.
Take the enzymes with the biggest meals and perhaps you can add some apple cider vinegar to further help with digestion.
I think it will be a good idea to test for iron overload in your next check-up: transferrin, iron, ferritin, TIBC. If it comes okay, then you know you can up your dose of vitamin c and that will help with inflammation.
The L-glutamine you can take regardless of vitamin C. Perhaps there is a theory background as to why people suggest it with vitamin C, but in practice, it works by itself.
There are lots of experiments with "brain chemistry" supplements. What you got looks good to me. I would only focus more on improving the diet to finally remove everything that has a bad reputation of being inflammatory. You are nearly there! :) I think the fat bomb from the recipe section will make a lot of difference, mood wise, diet wise and energy wise. When you get enough fat (that is super yummy!), it will make it much easier for you to remove the sugar (i.e. buckwheat) you are eating.
The "fat bomb" recipe has evolved, make sure to check the last few pages for the changes. Guar gum is an evil ingredient contained in some coconut creams, so you can either get some without it, or make your own coconut milk to experiment with. Or if you want to make sure, just use the modified recipe with lard.
I haven't heard of anyone using cream of tartar, although it seems it is a good source for potassium in the ketogenic diet: _http://www.reddit.com/r/keto/comments/pab9s/remember_to_keep_an_eye_on_your_potassium_levels/
Another good thing to keep in store, finances permitting, is DMSO cream. It really has a soothing effect and it helps with pain and inflammation :) Have you tried medical taping? It is also extremely helpful: http://cassiopaea.org/forum/index.php/topic,17544.msg157927.html#msg157927
Once you adjust your diet, you'll likely have a better idea which supplements are worth keeping and which ones can go. As it is, it looks good for me ;)
Hope this helps
on board and will make the necessary changes.
but I figure, if you'll spend money, might as well invest it in good health...
