Paleo Diet: Raw Paleo Diet and Lifestyle Forum
Raw Paleo Diet Forums => Health => Topic started by: CatTreats on April 10, 2014, 06:05:36 am
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Hi everyone. I've been a lurker for a while now and just finally made an account. My boyfriend and I both started eating a little under a year ago, but sometime during Winter we screwed up and ended up eating almost entirely cooked food again. We have always eaten primal/paleo and really thrived once we got off of SAD (seriously). We're back to 100% raw now, though. I've been using recipes (I know, mixing is frowned upon by some here) to keep things interesting so that we DON'T stray away again. I've been enjoying it even more now than before. I feel like a new person.
I'm writing here to document everything and also to get suggestions from the community. I've read about eczema on here already, but I wanted to make a personal post.
Background:
My boyfriend has had eczema for his entire life. His childhood was all about covering himself from head to toe in steroidal/topical creams and using lotion at all times. It wasn't until I started really studying nutrition and learned about leaky gut and all that stuff that he even considered that eczema was an internal problem - not some skin disease you're permanently born with as the dermatologists always say. One of our visits to a derm actually concluded with her saying "There's nothing you can do, your body is just lacking topical creams, which is why you need to use them." I was stunned. His skin got better when we swapped from SAD to Paleo/Primal (still cooked). He was still using Aveno lotion (not the worst but still), though. When we went raw back last Summer, his skin did get better. He noticed that flare-ups would go down much faster especially right after a meal of raw beef or salmon. There wasn't any serious bad changes when we ended up eating cooked food again. It was during December that things just suddenly went downhill. But, he did stop using Aveno, and he was using Dr. Bronner's organic lotion. Once things got REALLY bad, even Aveno didn't make things better. Nothing would, but we weren't going to turn to topical creams.
Symptoms:
- Extremely itchy skin
- Inflamed skin (puffy/swollen and red)
- Very dry, sometimes cracking skin
- Extreme shedding (we have to wipe dead skin off of the bed multiple times a night)
- Sweating/oozing when skin is against something for a long time (i.e. if I end up against him during the night, it was be burning hot and wet)
- Bad dead skin smell EVERYWHERE
Before going back to 100% raw, he was eating pretty basic foods - veggies, some fruit, lots of meat (primarily red meat), fats, and minimal dairy. Now, we're eating nothing but raw meat (grass-fed beef and seafood/shellfish) with minimal amounts of fruits and veggies, lots of animal fats when it's included in our meat, some oils, and beef liver and bone marrow when we can get ahold of it. Everything is raw. We were going to do raw goat kefir for the probiotics, but we've just cut out dairy completely. He also eats a bit of fermented vegetables (kimchi/sauerkraut) daily. No kombucha, though.
He's also taking some supplements to help with his gut. Enough research on probiotics made me feel like they were a good idea, so the one he is currently taking is called RAW PROBIOTICS Ultimate Care 100 Billion with 34 probiotic strains. The guy at the health food store that we go to (who we know pretty well) highly recommended a supplement called IntestiNEW. It contains: L-Glutamine, N-Acetyl D-Glucosamine, Gamma Oryzanol, Cranesbill root, Ginger root, Marigold Extract 5:1 flower, and marshmallow root, along with the capsule (veggie fiber and water). I didn't see anything wrong with it, and I've read good things about L-Glutamine and Glucosamine, so we included that.
Also, he stopped using all lotions at this point. He was using coconut oil, but noticed a slight irritation (nothing visible like a rash, but he would feel an unpleasant tingling), so he's since switched to olive oil. That's been working out just fine.
Since taking these things (it's been 2 weeks now), and going back to raw (1 week in now), we've seen improvement. It's very, very slow, though.
Improvements:
- Legs are very cleared up (skin is smooth but still dry, and it itches occasionally)
- Hands appear to be healing (skin will shed off, revealing healthy skin, but then it dries up quickly and repeats the cycle)
- Face and arms are significantly less inflamed
Changes:
- The sweat got significantly worse for a few days. I actually thought he wet the bed because the sheets were soaked.
- Feet are VERY swollen to the point of not being able to wear certain pairs of shoes. This is still ongoing.
Even though there's a lot clearing up, he's still very miserable. He itches 24/7, sometimes getting less than an hour of sleep at night because he is so uncomfortable. The shedding is insane, we had probably 2-3 lbs of JUST dead skin in our vacuum. The sheets, chairs, linoleum floor, and just about everything are covered in this dead skin shed. And we vacuum 2-3 times a day now. Still covered. I feel like he's improving. Certain areas are definitely clearer. But the swollen feet and inflammation hasn't gone down, and I'm wondering what swollen feet means. I've read that this could all be signs of die-off (bad bacteria, candida, etc) from having such a messed up gut.
Can anyone give any info? Any advice on what else we can be doing to help? Does this sound like it's getting better or worse? All inputs are welcome and appreciated! I'm literally doing everything all day and night for him. I really hope we'll be able to put his eczema to rest once and for all.
TLDR: My boyfriend suffers from eczema, and is hoping that a 100% raw diet of mainly animal meats, fats, and some organ/marrow along with a supplemented probiotic, intestinal healing supplement, and fermented vegetables will help. Suggestions, advice, tips, and any other inputs are greatly appreciated.
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His feet are likely swollen because he is eating lower carb but it doesn't seem like you are supplying extra salts, especially potassium. I would recommend brewing up some dandelion root tea and adding some lemon to it, and drinking that down with a ton of water. Both salt and water intake need to be much higher when you are more fat and protein and less carbs. Adding seaweed such as dulse and kelp to the diet to keep minerals balanced. Eating mineral and water rich vegetables also helps, celery and cucumber for example.
What oils are still being taken internally? If you notice reactions on the skin from oils, just think the internal reactions they might cause. I would suggest to not eat any refined oils and instead switch to egg yolks. It also might be good to source fatty fish and buy in bulk, or look for pastured pork fat, anything to get omega 3's and vitamin D, which are very healing to the skin. Other then that I would also suggest that you might invest in some raw colostrum to help boost his immune system.
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His feet are likely swollen because he is eating lower carb but it doesn't seem like you are supplying extra salts, especially potassium. I would recommend brewing up some dandelion root tea and adding some lemon to it, and drinking that down with a ton of water. Both salt and water intake need to be much higher when you are more fat and protein and less carbs. Adding seaweed such as dulse and kelp to the diet to keep minerals balanced. Eating mineral and water rich vegetables also helps, celery and cucumber for example.
What oils are still being taken internally? If you notice reactions on the skin from oils, just think the internal reactions they might cause. I would suggest to not eat any refined oils and instead switch to egg yolks. It also might be good to source fatty fish and buy in bulk, or look for pastured pork fat, anything to get omega 3's and vitamin D, which are very healing to the skin. Other then that I would also suggest that you might invest in some raw colostrum to help boost his immune system.
Oh, I didn't really get into details about food. My mistake. He's a salt ADDICT. Sometimes, I find him just eating it straight from the shaker. He's always been a big salt eater. And, I do add salt to our food almost all of the time. Generally, as much as I can without ruining the food. :) Also forgot about eggs - we both eat about 3-4 egg yolks a day. The oils we eat are organic, cold-pressed olive, coconut, and sesame. Mainly just for a little flavor in some recipes (so we aren't consuming large amounts of any). Would they be that detrimental?
We're definitely doing our best to eat fatty meat. We scored some freshly cut sockeye salmon heads last week and ate everything we could out of them (they were amazing btw). It's been tough finding some stuff, though. Having to go out of our way to find stuff like that. Haven't found much pastured pork except for sausages, unfortunately.
Can you give me some more info about the colostrum? I've read about it, but I didn't know much about picking out a good one.
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He may have other deficiencies, why he is a salt addict.
Has he tried living near the ocean, on the beach for a few weeks?
See if that resolves his need for salt.
If he cannot live by the beach for a while, get him some magnesium oil.
Spray on every day.
If he has access to live oysters and live clams, those should have good ocean saltiness in them.
I have good results with my family on black salt. Has sulfur in it.
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He may have other deficiencies, why he is a salt addict.
Has he tried living near the ocean, on the beach for a few weeks?
See if that resolves his need for salt.
If he cannot live by the beach for a while, get him some magnesium oil.
Spray on every day.
If he has access to live oysters and live clams, those should have good ocean saltiness in them.
I have good results with my family on black salt. Has sulfur in it.
Hmm, that's interesting. I know that he whenever he was living in the Philippines, he was very close to the water. I'm not sure about his salt-addiction then, though. It would've been when he was younger. The magnesium oil is an option. We're a little tight on money, so investing in so many things will be tough for the next couple of weeks. I'm not even sure if we can get live oysters or clams here, but I'll look into it. I've been wanting to have raw oysters for a while now.
Thanks for the tip!
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You might want to get him seaweed to put into foods instead of just salt or "seasalt". Try kelp and dulse. Seaweeds naturally have a high potassium level as well as other trace minerals, much better ratios for seasalts. Low potassium and high sodium causes the body to retain fluids, the body will not get rid of fluids properly if there are mineral imbalances. Seaweed is also a natural source of iodine, which should help the skin to heal of any infections.
I also forgot to mention you might want to try adding "great lakes" brand gelatin to your diet if you are not making slow/low cooked broths or consuming much connective tissues. This will do a great deal in healing up the skin and giving it the proper amino acids to rebuild.
Jarrow brand makes an excellent Glucosamine Chondroitin and MSM supplement that might be more beneficial. MSM is excellent for skin repair, as are any forms of sulfur you can get into the body...they are also excellent for healing and to cleanse the blood and liver. This particular supplement is also high in potassium, so it might be extremely useful right now to help the swelling as well. You also might not want to be taking a supplement that has marshmallow (or other herbs) as it will inhibit some of the absorption of minerals and vitamins, as it coats the intestines to soothe them. Because your BF is so sensitive, I would suggest testing out all of those herbs on their own to be sure they do not cause some sort of reaction, or just skipping them all together.
Oysters sound like a great idea as they are high in zinc, which is another mineral that is great for healing. The zinc also might help with his night sweats, those might be attributed to hormonal imbalance. Having this condition probably buts a lot of stress on the body and is taxing the adrenals. They only have two pathways, to make sex hormones, or to make cortisol, my guess is that they are leaning more towards cortisol production and this time and his endocrine system is becoming out of balance.
About salts again, when people are stressed and there bodies are under stress, there adrenal glands will start working overtime to compensate. The adrenals need salts to function, and will dump salts under stress. Also since he is sweating at night he should probably wake up and drink a big glass of water with seaweeds, dandelion roots and a little lemon juice, just to get his electrolytes back. Even doing some warm cold therapy, once he is properly hydrated, to get these minerals going through the body.
Same with Vitamin C, these are two very important things to think about supplementing while under stress. If you want any suggestion for vitamin c supplements I would be happy to give those too. Magnesium like goodsamaratin mentioned is also great because that is probably being lost during night sweats, any extra vitamins and minerals you can get into him, from excellent sources of course, will probably do a great deal to help.
The reason I mention colostrum is not only is it a great immune supporter, but it is high in lysine and luecine, which are amino acids that are in high concentrations in milk and that are helpful for healing skin issues and repairing damage. Also the fatty profile in well raised and fed raw dairy seems exceptional for adding moisture to the skin, perhaps you have a source of raw dairy and can try making butter??
I would suggest to try the oils you are using as food on his skin and see how he reacts. You already mentioned coconut oil causing a rash on the skin, is that not reason enough to not take it internally? I would still caution away from them even as flavors as they can be harsh on the liver. Especially in someone who's health seems so sensitive and who needs to be eliminating anything that might be the least bit inflammatory......I would recommend to stay away. Also, I used to use olive oil on my skin even though it seems awfully thick and somewhat ineffective , but I used it because it was less expensive then my preferred oil, which is JoJoba oil . I am super sensitive and cant do other seed or nut oils, but jojoba seems to be the best oil, you might want to look into that if olive oil ever causes issues. I have read that is it the most closely similar to our skins own that you can find.
http://www.ecopolitan.com/eco-shop/products/406-himalayan-sulfur-rich-black-salt- (http://www.ecopolitan.com/eco-shop/products/406-himalayan-sulfur-rich-black-salt-)
excerpt from site
"
SULFUR: A MODERN DEFICIENCY, A SIMPLE SOLUTION
Written by Dr. Adiel Tel-Oren
Of the six main building blocks that power life on this planet - carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, oxygen, phosphorus, and sulfur - sulfur has up until recently taken the back-seat in most of our minds. This oft ignored element is a deserving recipient of increased attention, however, as it ceaselessly acts as humanity's go-to element for antioxidant behavior, detoxification, youthful appearance, and bodily locomotion.
Occupying two grams per kilogram of body weight (similar to famous potassium!), sulfur is present within every human cell and any reduction in its activity or availability can be critical. Necessary in the processes of cellular repair and regeneration, sulfur enhances the health of all tissues and organs, and strengthens the structure of skin, hair, nails, joints, and gums. Additionally, sulfur plays a crucial role in the activities of proteins (e.g. metallothionein) and enzymes that contain sulfur-bearing amino acids, which bind heavy metals for safe removal from the body.
Although there are several other amino acids which host sulfur within their latices, it is cysteine which is necessary for the manufacturing of the mighty glutathione molecule. Sulfur-containing glutathione is one of the most important antioxidants and detoxifying agents within human cells and its activities are necessary for optimal health. Sulfur is also essential within what may be the most important of all detoxification pathways - the liver's sulfation pathway. Living within a highly polluted world where nearly every facet of one's life (from food, air, land, and water, to personal-care products and building materials) is increasingly contaminated with heavy metals and other toxic chemicals, activating the mechanisms for eliminating these toxins from the body by employing the use of sulfur becomes direly important. Yet the stress and pollutants modern humans endure cause a functional deficiency of this vital element. With this awareness, the desire naturally arises to incorporate more of this element into our bodies and lives. But how?
Although methylsulfonylmethane (MSM) supplements are rising in popularity, they carries a heavy price and the psychological burden of having to take yet another supplement. Would it not be easier to obtain the necessary supply of sulfur through the deliciously simple act of eating? Though comparatively abundant in cruciferous vegetables (broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, kale, collard greens, etc) and allium plants (onions, garlic, chives, shallots and leeks), the domestication and hybridization of these flora, as well as the prevalence of petroleum-based agricultural methods that disrupt the natural cycling of sulfur throughout the ecosystem (excess phosphorus inhibits the plant's absorption of sulfur) have all created a situation where these foods alone can no longer supply humans with adequate sulfur supplies. Although foods like eggs, meat and other animal products are relatively high in sulfur, their high level of methionine appears to shorten lifespan in animal studies and increase homocysteine levels - resulting in damaged blood vessels, increased risk of stroke and heart attacks, depression, and dementia.
What is needed is a source of sulfur that is eaten regularly and frequently and contains a whole array of trace elements, without providing calories and without also delivering large amounts of methionine, allergenic proteins, or heavy metals. The wholesome Himalayan Sulfur-Rich Black Salt fulfills these requirements beautifully. It would be an error, however, to surmise that other salts would offer any sulfur at detectable levels. Table salt will obviously not hold up to the test as it has been so processed that it contains only sodium chloride. Modern sea salts also fail as they arrive from highly polluted seas that have been contaminated by agricultural, industrial and urban runoff, and their sulfur content is extremely low. Himalayan pink salt, although it is wholesome and land-mined (hence unpolluted), is harvested from sedimentary layers that lack sulfur. The highly prized Himalayan Sulfur-Rich Black Salt - harvested from pristine layers 300 million-years old - is a delectable salt rich in both sulfur and a large variety of trace elements. Ayurvedic medicine attributes numerous healing properties to this popular black salt, which cause it to be found in most homes in Nepal, Pakistan, and Northern India, where it is used as medicine for many ailments and symptoms. In Nepal, it costs at least 3 times as much as the equally-available Himalayan pink salt, which enjoys great repute in the USA and the West despite its absent sulfur. The Himalayan Sulfur-Rich Black Salt will no-doubt be crowned "king of salts" as soon as it touches Western consciousness and taste buds...
It is important to separate the black salt crystals from the conjoining rock by hand and not by chemical or mechanical means that may contaminate the resultant salt. Also, it is crucial to avoid grinding the crystals using machines coated with lead-laced paint, since the corrosive salt will cause the lead to leach into it in significant amounts, as confirmed by sensitive laboratory tests. Lastly, it is counterproductive to expose the salt to high temperature fire ovens for 3 days, as most manufacturers admit they do - in order to improve its physical properties (for easy handling and flow) - while damaging its natural molecular structure. The ideal salt will therefore be wholesome, rich in sulfur, will contain no heavy metals and other pollutants in appreciable amounts, and will be processed without polluting machines or chemicals or high heat. Also, it should be manufactured employing fair-trade practices, without child labor or harsh conditions. Ideally, the salt should be made in a dedicated facility where no other foods (allergenic or polluted) can contaminate it.
While some may hear the word “salt” and revert to the opinion that salt is an unhealthy food, one should look to nature instead. In Nature one finds mammals traveling great distances and exerting much effort to find and extract salt from the Earth. Humans have resided for eons near seashores abundant in salt-laden sea algae that were once a staple in the human diet. This intimate association with wholesome natural salt is demonstrated by the body's ability to regulate salt levels through adrenal and renal functions, and through sweat and tears. Salt in its wholesome state is instrumental to maintaining fluid balance between the internal and external environments of our cells. Cell membranes utilize sodium, chloride, and other trace elements in the process of communication, regulation, neurological transmission of impulses, and muscular contraction. Additionally, human bodies possess specific mechanisms to keep electrolytes (sodium, chloride, and other elements) within a narrow range by utilizing specific adrenal hormones. These hormones instruct the kidneys to either spare the sodium or excrete it into the urine. In fact, people who drink too much water or avoid salt tend to create imbalance in this regulatory hormonal system and often suffer from electrolyte deficiency in the blood, as well as symptoms of adrenal fatigue, such as dizziness, inability to handle stress, intense fatigue, headaches, fluid retention, and sleep disturbance.
I therefore encourage you to consume wholesome salt without fear - particularly the Himalayan Sulfur-Rich Black Salt, which is made by a Kathmandu factory owned by a humanitarian network of schools, orphanages, and community centers dedicated to preventing child trafficking while providing quality education and strengthening the local communities sustainably. This factory uniquely abides by all the manufacturing principles listed above, as required for a clean, unpolluted, unadulterated, truly-natural product. You will find that because of its high level of sulfur, this black crystal salt has a distinctive egg flavor, which can be very useful in the preparation of plant-based dishes. For anyone recoiling at the thought of an egg-like taste, that flavor can be eliminated with ease by simply cooking it with your meal. Utilizing either approach, just apply as you would any other salt and enjoy knowing that what has enhanced the flavor of your dish has also enhanced your wellness, vitality, and beauty, as well the lives and futures of thousands of Nepali children."
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Thank you SO very much for such detailed information.
You might want to get him seaweed to put into foods instead of just salt or "seasalt". Try kelp and dulse. Seaweeds naturally have a high potassium level as well as other trace minerals, much better ratios for seasalts. Low potassium and high sodium causes the body to retain fluids, the body will not get rid of fluids properly if there are mineral imbalances. Seaweed is also a natural source of iodine, which should help the skin to heal of any infections.
Any specific seaweed you would recommend? He loves the dried nori (not roasted, so raw I guess). Is that good enough, or is there something specific you had in mind?
I also forgot to mention you might want to try adding "great lakes" brand gelatin to your diet if you are not making slow/low cooked broths or consuming much connective tissues. This will do a great deal in healing up the skin and giving it the proper amino acids to rebuild.
We're going to be getting a bulk amount of bone marrow in a week. Will that suffice? How would we know if we're consuming a lot of connective tissues?
Jarrow brand makes an excellent Glucosamine Chondroitin and MSM supplement that might be more beneficial. MSM is excellent for skin repair, as are any forms of sulfur you can get into the body...they are also excellent for healing and to cleanse the blood and liver. This particular supplement is also high in potassium, so it might be extremely useful right now to help the swelling as well. You also might not want to be taking a supplement that has marshmallow (or other herbs) as it will inhibit some of the absorption of minerals and vitamins, as it coats the intestines to soothe them. Because your BF is so sensitive, I would suggest testing out all of those herbs on their own to be sure they do not cause some sort of reaction, or just skipping them all together.
So we'll discontinue the original IntestiNEW supplement when it runs out. Can we start that Glucosamine supplement right away, or would it be best to wait until the IntestiNEW is out of the picture?
Oysters sound like a great idea as they are high in zinc, which is another mineral that is great for healing. The zinc also might help with his night sweats, those might be attributed to hormonal imbalance. Having this condition probably buts a lot of stress on the body and is taxing the adrenals. They only have two pathways, to make sex hormones, or to make cortisol, my guess is that they are leaning more towards cortisol production and this time and his endocrine system is becoming out of balance.
Would explain why he has absolutely zero interest in sex. I figured it was from discomfort, but this makes a lot more sense. Would raw, but not live oysters be okay? I haven't found live ones before. Are there any other foods rich in zinc that you could recommend as well?
Same with Vitamin C, these are two very important things to think about supplementing while under stress. If you want any suggestion for vitamin c supplements I would be happy to give those too. Magnesium like goodsamaratin mentioned is also great because that is probably being lost during night sweats, any extra vitamins and minerals you can get into him, from excellent sources of course, will probably do a great deal to help.
Definitely recommend a supplement. I'm assuming that getting Vitamin C through food wouldn't be enough? How much a day would you recommend? Also, what Magnesium spray would be good? We are already supplementing Magnesium Glycinate at the moment.
The reason I mention colostrum is not only is it a great immune supporter, but it is high in lysine and luecine, which are amino acids that are in high concentrations in milk and that are helpful for healing skin issues and repairing damage. Also the fatty profile in well raised and fed raw dairy seems exceptional for adding moisture to the skin, perhaps you have a source of raw dairy and can try making butter??
Being in California, we have access to high quality raw dairy. Both milk and butter. But, we shied away from dairy because it's a known allergen/inflammatory food. And he's suffered from minor "lactose-intolerance" (more like issues with pasteurized dairy, since he never exhibits symptoms from raw). Even though raw dairy, especially butter or kefir, can be healthy, we just cut it out as a precaution. Plus, there's enough anti-dairy talk here that I guess it helped discourage me.
I would suggest to try the oils you are using as food on his skin and see how he reacts. You already mentioned coconut oil causing a rash on the skin, is that not reason enough to not take it internally? I would still caution away from them even as flavors as they can be harsh on the liver. Especially in someone who's health seems so sensitive and who needs to be eliminating anything that might be the least bit inflammatory......I would recommend to stay away. Also, I used to use olive oil on my skin even though it seems awfully thick and somewhat ineffective , but I used it because it was less expensive then my preferred oil, which is JoJoba oil . I am super sensitive and cant do other seed or nut oils, but jojoba seems to be the best oil, you might want to look into that if olive oil ever causes issues. I have read that is it the most closely similar to our skins own that you can find.
True. I don't think we've used coconut oil in anything lately, actually. Just very minimal amounts of olive and sesame. I really do like the sesame oil. :c
SULFUR: A MODERN DEFICIENCY, A SIMPLE SOLUTION
Of the six main building blocks that power life on this planet - carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, oxygen, phosphorus, and sulfur .... "
Thanks for the info on sulfur. I've barely read anything about that at all, and I've done a lot of reading. Do we need to get that specific salt, or is there any we could find at a store like Whole Foods or something?
Again, thank you SO SO SO much for all of the info. I really appreciate the time you put into writing so much. I really hope we're going to see the end of his skin problems soon ... it would make both of us so happy.
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I have similar skin problems, although not nearly as bad. Vitamin D supplements, specifically the Now brand, really help me. Sunbathing also helps a little as well.
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I have similar skin problems, although not nearly as bad. Vitamin D supplements, specifically the Now brand, really help me. Sunbathing also helps a little as well.
He's currently supplementing 10,000 IU of D3. No noticeable difference. :/
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I was in the same situation as your boyfriend. I had an eczema-covered body. Now it has completely gone.
Here is what I did (no particular order) to finally get rid of eczema:
1. followed a high ANIMAL fat, low carb diet (no oils)
2. eliminated dairy and eggs, alcohol and drugs (i also never ate nuts. I very rarely ate veg).
3. sunbathed whenever possible (not to the point of burning). Supplement with vit D when not summer.
4. never strayed from the raw palaeolithic high fat low carb diet. If I did (eg. if i drank some red wine or ate some raw honey, or chocolate etc), any healing would be reversed and I'd be back at square one, due to having scratched myself all night.
5. eliminated use of all man-made chemicals, eg washing powders, skin creams, body care products etc)
6. got an earthing bed sheet
7. removed mercury fillings
8. thought positive
9. learnt to be patient
10. avoided air pollution eg from traffic, whenever possible.
11. used an air humidifier whenever the heating in the house was on.
I can't think of anything else right now.
My diet right now is zero carb. But your boyfriend will probably be fine to eat a few berries and avocados for example.
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I almost never added/add salt to anything. The only seafood I regularly ate was wild salmon.
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One more thing: I regularly ate liver, heart and kidneys
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If you are interested there are two journals going on right now, one is mine, the other one is this guy named letsdoiteczema from Hong Kong.
He did more in short period of time but the basis of his recovery plan is RPD with correct supplementation.
I highly encourage staying in the game for LONGER time period.
I've noticed that there is a delayed period for results to start appearing: meaning that if you take half a year with 100% CLEAN diet, you will need to wait for a little bit for results to show at times. This is just how your body works. I've tried relapsing several times if you read my journal.
The key for me was sunlight (or D3), High Fat low carb raw paleo diet ( or even medium carb, doesn't matter that much honestly. Eat carb in relative to your activity level), and make sure you're resting a lot.
Note
1. a supplement that helped me a lot is the Dr. Christopher formula for Lower Bowel Balance , The point of it is to help your digestion system flow better. Better out = better absorption of nutrients
2. Sunlight + lots of Raw Fat, eat till you full
3. Adjust carb to activity level, avoid nightshades + legumes
4. Keep a journal, encourage himself to come on instead of you. This keeps him on track more.
5. Use the journal or his own diary to keep track of food habits. Very Crucial.
6. Try to induce better sleep by supplementing with magnesium oil / magnesium drinks, they calm my mood
7. Salt addiction is something i don't know much about, but it might be mineral deficiency ? What minerals are you potentially lacking?
8. Feel free to keep using this place, message me for help if you need anything, but GS and Haai has completely cured theirs while i'm at 85%
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We intend to eat RPD as much as possible for as long as possible. I imagine that aside from some random things like at social events, I will be eating raw forever. I can already tell from going raw, then back to cooked, and now back to raw that my body just thrives on raw. I'm sure the boyfriend will follow suit considering that I'm generally in charge of what we eat. ;)
He hasn't been craving salt very much lately. I only add a pinch to our meals, and he hasn't been eating it straight. I'm assuming the major increase in seafood is why. When we were back to eating cooked, we ate very minimal seafood. Now, we're eating at least some type of seafood every single day. Lots of tuna and salmon, and shellfish every other night.
We have a lot of beef fat and connective tissue, so I'm getting him to eat that. Other than that, fat is generally from fatty fish like tuna belly and salmon, whatever just comes in a steak or piece of beef, and then avocado or coconut. Should we be cutting out all plant foods completely? The one thing he has trouble with is fruit, he is a fruit lover. He'll easily down pounds of fruit in one sitting if I had them in the house. How much is safe, or should it be cut out altogether? We don't eat any nuts or seeds at the moment.
I'm cutting out the sesame oil, and the olive oil will just be for his skin. He needs some type of moisturizer or he's going to go nuts. I'll be getting a pure magnesium oil tomorrow. Just had to wait for payday (literally down to less than a dollar today lol).
We were a little hesitant to just eat a liver straight, so I made "pills" out of our beef liver and froze them all. We each take 4 "pills" of raw liver a day. I know that frozen isn't as good, but it's better than not eating liver at all in my opinion. So, we're getting a little bit of liver every single day. As mentioned, I'll be getting beef shanks and other sources of beef bone marrow. Trying to find wild-caught oysters to include.
Our staple foods right now are grass-fed beef, wild-caught salmon, ahi tuna (including tuna belly), scallops, shrimp, beef liver, egg yolks, avocado, and some type of fruit (apples, banana, mango, orange). Soon to be adding the bone marrow in regularly, as well as oysters. We sometimes get another random fish like mahi mahi or snapper. I will cut out fruit if you guys suggest it.
We've started sun bathing on days we aren't working the entire daytime (just standing or sitting in direct sunlight and talking until we feel like we need to go in). As mentioned, we currently supplement D3 (he takes 10k IU, I just take 2k), and Magnesium Glycinate. He's still on probiotics, which have significantly increased his bowel movements. Always a good thing for this. Also, we use absolutely NO chemicals. Both of us are free of all body products. We just rinse for showers - no shampoo or soap. No deodorants or lotions, and I never use make-up. No funky cleaning products. All we have is an organic oil-based soap for dishes, detergent, and whatever cleaning we have to do around the house. We have an air filter, but that's about all we can do right now. We're in California, so pollution is basically unavoidable. I do everything I can to make things easy on him at home. Always slaving away in the kitchen (which isn't bad when everything is raw), rub his back, all that good stuff.
Does anyone else agree about supplementing the Glucosamine/MSM, Gelatin, and Vitamin C that was mentioned earlier? Would like more inputs.
Also, looks like today the skin on his feet have cleared up a bit. Still very swollen, though. I did give him a banana for potassium (since it was mentioned) until we decide on that supplement. His wrists had some brand new, soft skin on them, and a bit on his hands. It's slow progress, but that's still good.
Sorry, this is a random list of info. Kinda replying to all of you guys at once. Just want to get everything out there.
Thanks everyone for the replies! I feel like we're steadily getting closer.
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I hope you are encouraged you are in a forum with the cured people. :)
My boy almost 13 is now eczema cured too. He is on cooked paleo diet today but when he was in his worst intestinal injury days he had to be on completely raw paleo diet for 6 months. Rice was making him ill, even the best heirloom rice from the rice terraces. He now gets sweet potatoes instead at times as "chips".
Our boy just shot up growing fast after we stopped giving him rice. Was very encouraging. We even stopped rice for the 2 younger siblings hoping for a growth spurt with them too. For Filipinos to give up rice is usually just unthinkable. But there it is.
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I hope you are encouraged you are in a forum with the cured people. :)
My boy almost 13 is now eczema cured too. He is on cooked paleo diet today but when he was in his worst intestinal injury days he had to be on completely raw paleo diet for 6 months. Rice was making him ill, even the best heirloom rice from the rice terraces. He now gets sweet potatoes instead at times as "chips".
Our boy just shot up growing fast after we stopped giving him rice. Was very encouraging. We even stopped rice for the 2 younger siblings hoping for a growth spurt with them too. For Filipinos to give up rice is usually just unthinkable. But there it is.
Yes, I'm VERY encouraged by the success stories I've seen here. That's why I'm considering every single thing suggested to me. We haven't eaten any grains whatsoever in almost a year. Although he messed up and had some white rice on Thanksgiving just out of habit of putting it on his plate.
And yeah, he's also Filipino and they're usually confused when we don't eat the rice, or the lumpia ..... or the pancit ... aww those things were really good. Haha.
I thought that eating really clean and healthy would be enough to help him, but it's definitely taking more work. Last night I woke up to him crying because he couldn't sleep and his body was so itchy and burning up. Need to do something soon.
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We have a lot of beef fat and connective tissue, so I'm getting him to eat that. Other than that, fat is generally from fatty fish like tuna belly and salmon, whatever just comes in a steak or piece of beef, and then avocado or coconut. Should we be cutting out all plant foods completely? The one thing he has trouble with is fruit, he is a fruit lover. He'll easily down pounds of fruit in one sitting if I had them in the house. How much is safe, or should it be cut out altogether? We don't eat any nuts or seeds at the moment.
In my honest opinion there is no need to eliminate plant foods altogether, but pounds of sweet fruit equates to way too much sugar. If he wants fruit then I would recommend berries eg. raspberries, blackberries, blueberries and the like, but keep it to just a couple of hundred grams per day. Berries, avocados and coconut should be alright, providing your bf doesn't have a salycilate sensitivity.
Our staple foods right now are grass-fed beef, wild-caught salmon, ahi tuna (including tuna belly), scallops, shrimp, beef liver, egg yolks, avocado, and some type of fruit (apples, banana, mango, orange). Soon to be adding the bone marrow in regularly, as well as oysters. We sometimes get another random fish like mahi mahi or snapper. I will cut out fruit if you guys suggest it.
Others may well disagree with me about this, but my advice would be to cut out the scallops and shrimps (sea food allergy is pretty common and could be triggering eczema, so perhaps hold back on adding oysters to diet), cut out the egg yolks (eggs are also a common allergen), cut out the apples, bananas, mangoes and oranges (too much sugar in these), eat more liver (try 100 g per day, because 4 pills is nothing, I used to sometimes eat a 2 to 3 kg beef liver within a week, but it shouldn't be necessary to eat that much). Start eating that bone marrow asap, because animal fats should form the backbone of the diet.
Once the eczema has cleared up (this will take time, even if you are doing everything right, so be patient), if you wanted to, you could add sea food to the diet to see if it causes any problems. Then do the same with eggs. In my opinion, though, neither are essential for good health.
About supplements: the only one I ever used was vit D3.
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I agree with Haai... try a diet without the usual allergy causing foods.
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In my honest opinion there is no need to eliminate plant foods altogether, but pounds of sweet fruit equates to way too much sugar. If he wants fruit then I would recommend berries eg. raspberries, blackberries, blueberries and the like, but keep it to just a couple of hundred grams per day. Berries, avocados and coconut should be alright, providing your bf doesn't have a salycilate sensitivity.
Oh, I just meant he's perfectly capable of eating that much. I just stopped buying it because he has no control around any type of fruit. He'll even eat it if it's mine only. I'll make sure we're only getting berries, avo, and coconut.
Others may well disagree with me about this, but my advice would be to cut out the scallops and shrimps (sea food allergy is pretty common and could be triggering eczema, so perhaps hold back on adding oysters to diet), cut out the egg yolks (eggs are also a common allergen), cut out the apples, bananas, mangoes and oranges (too much sugar in these), eat more liver (try 100 g per day, because 4 pills is nothing, I used to sometimes eat a 2 to 3 kg beef liver within a week, but it shouldn't be necessary to eat that much). Start eating that bone marrow asap, because animal fats should form the backbone of the diet.
Once the eczema has cleared up (this will take time, even if you are doing everything right, so be patient), if you wanted to, you could add sea food to the diet to see if it causes any problems. Then do the same with eggs. In my opinion, though, neither are essential for good health.
Yeah, I'm waiting on the next Farmers Market to get our bone marrow. I can only get it from one grass-fed beef vendor, and she's going to be gone for 2 months. I'm planning to buy huge amounts of the bones to make sure he can eat at least one bone's worth of marrow a day. I'm just concerned that cutting out shellfish and eggs will further limit our already somewhat unvaried meals. I don't want him to get bad cravings and eat a ton of fruit or something.
About supplements: the only one I ever used was vit D3.
We're only doing that and Magnesium because I have bad deficiency symptoms if I'm not. But we're considering those other ones that jessica recommended. At least the Glucosamine/Chondroitin/MSM one.
I agree with Haai... try a diet without the usual allergy causing foods.
Okay, I guess I'll have him stop eating the eggs. More for me then!
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Remember that diet restrictions are temporary, diets are fluid and ever changing, follow your instinct and your experiment results.
I also do not know at what level his education is, but this interview with Dr. Lorraine Day will certainly help.
How to Survive Cancer and the Truth about AIDS w/ Dr. Lorraine Day (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P7Fv3_Oqbgs#)
http://youtu.be/P7Fv3_Oqbgs (http://youtu.be/P7Fv3_Oqbgs)
I observe many old time raw paleo dieters already know this, but newbies need to take note.
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Remember that diet restrictions are temporary, diets are fluid and ever changing, follow your instinct and your experiment results.
I also do not know at what level his education is, but this interview with Dr. Lorraine Day will certainly help.
How to Survive Cancer and the Truth about AIDS w/ Dr. Lorraine Day (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P7Fv3_Oqbgs#)
http://youtu.be/P7Fv3_Oqbgs (http://youtu.be/P7Fv3_Oqbgs)
I observe many old time raw paleo dieters already know this, but newbies need to take note.
Yeah, I just want to keep things interesting for him. I know he's already having a tough enough time just going through all the discomfort. Having something yummy to eat can at least make him feel good for that time. But hey, there's nothing less delicious than some good fat and meat/fish in my opinion. Also, what's your opinion on guacamole? I make it with avocado, onion, garlic, cilantro, and tomato with lime juice. I can tweek the recipe if needed. I'm not a fan of plain avocado, but I love guac, so I make it sometimes.
Thanks for the video. We haven't seen it yet, but I can tell from the first minute that I probably already know the jist of it, and I'm going to enjoy it. Now I have something to listen to while I clean up. ;D
On a side note since you mentioned education level, I'm 21 and he's 26. The info might be of use at some point so I'll just put it out there.
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it might be smart to yolks and seafoods and fruit out but be sure you are getting plenty good quality, unprocessed and diverse fat in your diet.
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it might be smart to yolks and seafoods and fruit out but be sure you are getting plenty good quality, unprocessed and diverse fat in your diet.
We're going to cut them out, then. Can you recommend some good fat sources outside of beef fat, fatty fish like salmon, and bone marrow?
Side note: This lady emphasized the fact that all animal products accelerate the growth of cancer ..?
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I suspect the fruit is making his skin problems worse. Try cutting out fruit entirely for about a week, and getting carbs from liver. Going high-fat and low-carb will make the vitamin D a LOT more effective.
Also, he should try the Now brand vitamin D. I can absolutely vouch for its effectiveness. Some other brands don't actually contain very much vitamin D, I think.
Just to get rid of the worst of the skin problems, I would suggest trying a small amount of the prescription cream, just so he can sleep for a couple of nights.
Fasting seemed to help my skin problems as well, or even just eating less food in general.
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I suspect the fruit is making his skin problems worse. Try cutting out fruit entirely for about a week, and getting carbs from liver. Going high-fat and low-carb will make the vitamin D a LOT more effective.
Also, he should try the Now brand vitamin D. I can absolutely vouch for its effectiveness. Some other brands don't actually contain very much vitamin D, I think.
Just to get rid of the worst of the skin problems, I would suggest trying a small amount of the prescription cream, just so he can sleep for a couple of nights.
Fasting seemed to help my skin problems as well, or even just eating less food in general.
Thanks for the info. I don't think he's going to use any topical creams. Our D3 is Now brand, too. How much do you recommend taking? No one has given me a number, yet.
I've been working on his "grazing" habits. I'll go half my day without eating, but he's always trying to snack.
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We're going to cut them out, then. Can you recommend some good fat sources outside of beef fat, fatty fish like salmon, and bone marrow?
Side note: This lady emphasized the fact that all animal products accelerate the growth of cancer ..?
you guys are on the right track, just try to get some pastured lamb and pork, if you can, to vary your amino acid and fat profile. and buy the fattiest cuts or add fat to each meal. your bfs grazing habits might change if he goes lower carb and ups the fat for a while, it will probably be beneficial to his skin to a certain point. just be sure that he is drinking much more water and more electrolytes/salts esp. potassium and magnesium if he starts eating lower carb then usual, it will help to keep him hydrated and hopefully help keep him from feeling like snacking.
kelp and dulse are what seaweeds I use for electrolytes, along with a little lemon juice(its citrus season)https://www.seaveg.com/shop/ these guys are a good source from maine, their website has a lot of info on the mineral breakdown of seaweeds
there is also http://www.pacificbotanicals.com/store/home.php?cat=3&page=1 (http://www.pacificbotanicals.com/store/home.php?cat=3&page=1) I think they are here in Oregon, they are a great company for herbs and seaweeds
I have taken like 4 of those now brand vitamin ds a day, I think they definitely help in the summer. but nothing beats sun bathing when the sun is out. how does he react to the sun?
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ps if he is going to be eating a lot of liver and heart, make sure he supps. with zinc. you can read others accounts of there copper/zinc ratio getting out of balance, which encourages carb cravings and sometimes skin eruptions if there is bacterial disbiosis like candida over growth. zinc will also help restore his hormonal balance. investing in some other vitamins and nutrients just to flood his system to insure that he has all of the proper building blocks for healing isn't a bad idea..i know you guys are short on $ though,
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you guys are on the right track, just try to get some pastured lamb and pork, if you can, to vary your amino acid and fat profile. and buy the fattiest cuts or add fat to each meal. your bfs grazing habits might change if he goes lower carb and ups the fat for a while, it will probably be beneficial to his skin to a certain point. just be sure that he is drinking much more water and more electrolytes/salts esp. potassium and magnesium if he starts eating lower carb then usual, it will help to keep him hydrated and hopefully help keep him from feeling like snacking.
I was already planning to buy some lamb for us. We never did like it cooked (that weird flavor that supposedly comes from the 'glands' in certain cuts), but I would eat the lamb chops right off the bone. We have very little access to "pastured" pork, which is usually just organic grain-fed pigs that live outside. I just don't know if I can find the quality worth eating raw. What's your opinion? I have huge packages of grass-fed beef fat and connective tissue that the store saves for us, so I've been making him eat a few good sized chunks at every meal. I even sent him to work with a lunch box of just fat (hah).
kelp and dulse are what seaweeds I use for electrolytes, along with a little lemon juice(its citrus season)https://www.seaveg.com/shop/ these guys are a good source from maine, their website has a lot of info on the mineral breakdown of seaweeds
there is also http://www.pacificbotanicals.com/store/home.php?cat=3&page=1 (http://www.pacificbotanicals.com/store/home.php?cat=3&page=1) I think they are here in Oregon, they are a great company for herbs and seaweeds
We picked up some packs of Kombu (kelp) and Dulse the day you recommended it. He's been eating a few pieces of each in the morning and sometime during the day.
I have taken like 4 of those now brand vitamin ds a day, I think they definitely help in the summer. but nothing beats sun bathing when the sun is out. how does he react to the sun?
He's taking 5 of them, so 10,000 IU. I don't think he ever commented on any difference at all when taking it. I don't really have much to say on how he reacts to the sun. We sunbathed two days ago together just standing and talking for 45 min. I felt good, but he said there wasn't really any noticeable difference. I know that skin tone plays a part (I'm light skinned, he's dark tan), but I'm not sure how significant it is. We're going to sunbathe longer tomorrow, we've just both had work throughout the day yesterday and today.
ps if he is going to be eating a lot of liver and heart, make sure he supps. with zinc. you can read others accounts of there copper/zinc ratio getting out of balance, which encourages carb cravings and sometimes skin eruptions if there is bacterial disbiosis like candida over growth. zinc will also help restore his hormonal balance. investing in some other vitamins and nutrients just to flood his system to insure that he has all of the proper building blocks for healing isn't a bad idea..
I'm not sure if he's going to eat "a lot" of it. We've never actually tasted it, but when I get more from the market in a few days we're going to. I told him to just try to make a meal out of liver once every other day for now ... hopefully that will be alright. I'm going to get heart as well to try. So we need to supplement zinc?
i know you guys are short on $ though,
We're not really short on money, we just don't have a ton of spending money to throw around. I absolutely have the money to order/pick up some vitamins for him, I just want to make sure that I'm getting all the ones that are definitely important for him so I don't spend more than I have to.
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So as of now, we don't have any real updates on improvements. It looks like his hands (one of the most intensely damaged areas) are trying to heal. Unfortunately, being in the food-handling business means he either has to touch harsh sanitizing solutions or wear gloves to avoid it, but the gloves also cause problems. So everytime they start to heal, he wrecks them again at work. Luckily, this is his last week at that job and he will be starting his non-food-handling job after that. Things should be better in that area then.
We started eating lamb again, and I realized that they have lamb chops with bone marrow in them available. So bone marrow will be a regular thing for him now. Waiting to hear some more input on pork. I've been getting him out into the sun as much as possible each day (we got an hour in today). We got magnesium oil, but are stuck only having him rub it on his palms. The saltyness burns him even in the clearest looking places. It does seem like he's gotten good sleep the last two nights since we started using it.
But aside from that, we're at a bit of a stand-still until I hear back from people about what supplements we definitely want to get for him. Waiting on GS to reply about doing colon/kidney/liver cleanses and how to go about them.
Fingers crossed! I appreciate all of the help so far.
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http://www.livestrong.com/article/550420-sodium-potassium-skin-eczema/ (http://www.livestrong.com/article/550420-sodium-potassium-skin-eczema/)
Sodium, Potassium & Skin Eczema
Last Updated: Oct 28, 2011 | By Natalie Smith
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Sodium, Potassium & Skin Eczema
The sodium in sea water may relieve the symptoms of eczema.
Photo Credit
Thinkstock/Comstock/Getty Images
Eczema is a condition characterized by inflamed, scaly and itchy skin. The patches of eczema may occur anywhere on the body, but they are more likely to appear on the face, scalp or extremities. As of the date of publication, there is no cure for eczema, but bathing with potassium permanganate or sodium may help relieve the itching and irritation.
Causes
No one knows what causes eczema, but it is more common in people who suffer from hay fever or allergies, according to PubMed Health. Most eczema sufferers develop the first symptoms of eczema as infants. Eczema may be caused by an immune reaction, similar to an allergic reaction, that causes the skin to become inflamed. Several triggers can cause an eczema flareup including heat, rough or scratchy fabric, dry skin, contact with an irritant or stress.
Potassium Permanganate
Potassium permanganate is a chemical compound composed of potassium, manganese and oxygen. A weak solution of potassium permanganate can have a soothing effect on eczema, especially eczema that is blistered or infected. To use potassium permanganate, dissolve the tablets in hot water in a ratio of 1 part potassium permanganate to 10,000 parts water, according to the New Zealand Dermatological Society, or one 400 milligram tablet for every 4 liters, which will make the water pink. Bathe in this solution twice a day until the eczema clears up. This chemical is caustic unless it is highly diluted, so take care to measure the ingredients.
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We're seeing improvements: less itching, less shedding, inflammation lessened, skin is not so red, and under shedded skin is healthy smooth skin. Boyfriend says he's feeling better, less discomfort. :)
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As of today, things are improving steadily still. Less inflammation, less shedding, less itching. The only serious issue right now that persists as strong as ever is the dryness. His skin will peel off, revealing very healthy, soft skin. But halfway through the day, it has completely dried out and then it cracks severely, so then there is broken skin everywhere. I had thought he was just scratching, but it's not even itching much these days. It just gets so utterly dry that his arms and hands crack open. When the cracking is bad, it looks like someone just took a knife and made little slices over his hands and wrists.
He uses olive oil to moisturize. That's all. It helps, but no matter what, within a day of the new skin forming, it has completely dried and cracked. It seems like that's the real hurdle to get over now. Again, itching, redness, inflammation are all down significantly. If we can just get this drying out to stop .... I hope it's going to improve.
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Two thoughts:
1) Healing comes from the inside out, so don't judge the outer appearance alone. Remember that it takes a ton of inner healing to manifest itself on the outside. In other words, it sounds like he is on the right track.
2) If a topical oil is helpful, find something besides olive oil, which is a highly processed, often rancid, oil. Coconut oil is more stable. Also, there's no law against rubbing animal fat on your skin. I use animal fat on my skin, and it does not turn offensive.
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Two thoughts:
1) Healing comes from the inside out, so don't judge the outer appearance alone. Remember that it takes a ton of inner healing to manifest itself on the outside. In other words, it sounds like he is on the right track.
These were my thoughts. The fact that the skin is healthy whenever the dry stuff sheds seems like a good sign. I keep telling him that we're healing 26 years of damage, so it's going to take time. :)
Also, he said that he's feeling a TON better internally. Just an overall better'ness. So I'm guessing that's the inside healing, and now it's just a matter of time before it shows on the outside.
2) If a topical oil is helpful, find something besides olive oil, which is a highly processed, often rancid, oil. Coconut oil is more stable. Also, there's no law against rubbing animal fat on your skin. I use animal fat on my skin, and it does not turn offensive.
I've mentioned that coconut oil seemed to cause a, albeit very minor, reaction on his skin. No visible irritation, but he said there would be a slight tingling feeling that was uncomfortable. What animal fats would you suggest, and how do you keep it from making you smell like a walking chunk of suet?
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Try ghee to moisturize.
Try Nature's Gate papaya lotion.
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search back through the forum there are posts about using animal fat on the skin. has he tried jojoba oil?
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Things seem to be stuck. Nothing is worse, but nothing is getting better. His hands are still awful. No matter what we put on them, they will dry out and crack very fast. I had some lard, and he tried that. Still dried out and cracked within an hour or so. Not sure how to use the chunks of suet ... other than to render them into tallow, but I don't really want to do that.
I will probably pick up jajoba oil tomorrow. But still, these are just outside fixes. I'm not sure how to get the healing on the inside moving forward. I thought we were improving, but it feels like the dryness is still extremely chronic. He didn't sleep last night again because of how dry and itchy (thus, uncomfortable) he was.
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My skin issues all resolved when I increased my calories including acne and eczema.
Dry skin is symptoms of low thyroid. I track body temperature to understand thyroid levels.
My roommates just yesterday commented on how clear my skin is. They are both vegetarian and have a little bit of acne as well as, IMO, thin skin with inclination towards eczema.
I am pretty sure I blow their minds when I am eating tons of butter, honey, eggs, and meat all day with little to no veggies and look way healthier then them and feel it too.
It still blows my mind that they can continue to eat their way while constantly complaining of fatigue and stress.
Meanwhile I am stuffing my face all day while laughing and enjoying life :)
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...I had some lard, and he tried that. Still dried out and cracked within an hour or so. Not sure how to use the chunks of suet ... other than to render them into tallow, but I don't really want to do that.
Don't forget that a product like lard is not only cooked, but the fat that is used is probably from a corn-fed animal. Not everybody is that sensitive to a bit of corn-fed animal food - I'm not - but my daughter is. She get migraines when she has anything that was corn-fed.
For applying animal fat to the skin, just rub your hands on the fat until your hands are greased up, then rub it where you want to apply. You can also rub it on the skin directly once your chunk of fat is a little warmed from your hands.
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Does your boyfriend take showers? perhaps try oil or fat bathing, where you massage your body with a ton of oil, the use a clean damp towel to exfoliate and wipe clean but don't totally get all the oil off and then add another layer of oil if/where necessary?
Is there any chance you he will be getting his vitamin and mineral levels tested any time soon?
perhaps he needs to up his fat intake?
I would also still recommend either eating dulse daily for the added minerals and iodine or taking a multivitamin that has those same trace minerals an iodine. this should help the thyroid, like paper clips mentioned.
also just be super patient, healing definitely does not go at a steady pace, you may see huge improvements then times where it seems nothing is happening, and maybe little set back and then some improvements again. take into account the big picture.
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Things seem to be stuck. Nothing is worse, but nothing is getting better. His hands are still awful. No matter what we put on them, they will dry out and crack very fast. I had some lard, and he tried that. Still dried out and cracked within an hour or so. Not sure how to use the chunks of suet ... other than to render them into tallow, but I don't really want to do that.
I will probably pick up jajoba oil tomorrow. But still, these are just outside fixes. I'm not sure how to get the healing on the inside moving forward. I thought we were improving, but it feels like the dryness is still extremely chronic. He didn't sleep last night again because of how dry and itchy (thus, uncomfortable) he was.
He might want to try a few sessions in a tanning bed, just to see if it helps. Sunbathing is healthier, but a tanning bed delivers a more precise dose. It's not necessarily something I'd recommend long-term, but it may work for his skin issues.
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My skin issues all resolved when I increased my calories including acne and eczema.
Dry skin is symptoms of low thyroid. I track body temperature to understand thyroid levels.
My roommates just yesterday commented on how clear my skin is. They are both vegetarian and have a little bit of acne as well as, IMO, thin skin with inclination towards eczema.
I am pretty sure I blow their minds when I am eating tons of butter, honey, eggs, and meat all day with little to no veggies and look way healthier then them and feel it too.
It still blows my mind that they can continue to eat their way while constantly complaining of fatigue and stress.
Meanwhile I am stuffing my face all day while laughing and enjoying life :)
Yeah, we haven't been eating a lot of calories the past few days. I agree, I have a "vegan" co-worker who will "cheat" constantly. She says she's very healthy and in-tune with her body, but is one of the moodiest people I've ever met. She has gotten sick twice in the last month or so, always has headaches, and the worst skin ever.
Don't forget that a product like lard is not only cooked, but the fat that is used is probably from a corn-fed animal. Not everybody is that sensitive to a bit of corn-fed animal food - I'm not - but my daughter is. She get migraines when she has anything that was corn-fed.
For applying animal fat to the skin, just rub your hands on the fat until your hands are greased up, then rub it where you want to apply. You can also rub it on the skin directly once your chunk of fat is a little warmed from your hands.
I know, lard was probably not the ideal choice. But I only had these hunks of suet, and I wasn't sure how to use it. But he's going to try them tonight.
Does your boyfriend take showers? perhaps try oil or fat bathing, where you massage your body with a ton of oil, the use a clean damp towel to exfoliate and wipe clean but don't totally get all the oil off and then add another layer of oil if/where necessary?
He says he's not sure about that. :o I'll work on it. I've been on him a lot about taking long showers. I told him to just get in and out, but he will sit in there for 30 minutes or until I go in and yell at him.
Is there any chance you he will be getting his vitamin and mineral levels tested any time soon?
Unfortunately, no. If we're eating RPD and he's supplementing quite a few things, is there really a risk that he's completely deficient in anything?
perhaps he needs to up his fat intake?
Yes, he definitely does. Liek I mentioned above, we've both been lacking calories. Tonight, I'm making him eat a coconut and straight fat. It's been a while since either of us had a lot of fat. Tomorrow is shopping day, so I'll be able to stock up on more food. We just didn't buy enough last weekend and ate everything .. heh.
I would also still recommend either eating dulse daily for the added minerals and iodine or taking a multivitamin that has those same trace minerals an iodine. this should help the thyroid, like paper clips mentioned.
We're going to buy more, but he's been eating both Dulse and Kombu regularly.
also just be super patient, healing definitely does not go at a steady pace, you may see huge improvements then times where it seems nothing is happening, and maybe little set back and then some improvements again. take into account the big picture.
I know. We're both trying our best to be patient. It's easy to stay positive when there's improvements, even if it's slow. It's just hard when suddenly his hands dry out, crack, and bleed leaving ripped, scabby hands that feel like scales. It can get discouraging.
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30 minutes? Really? I hope that is not daily.
He should probably stop showering all together.
I never knew there was an actual method for this but I am glad other people do it and can confirm it will make your skin feel greasy and amazing. If your boyfriend would agree to this I would suggest that any oil he uses is one that he has tested many times before.
http://www.theoilcleansingmethod.com/ (http://www.theoilcleansingmethod.com/)
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Sunflower seed oil, though? If lard was bad for being processed and all, wouldn't a highly processed, rancid oil be a bad idea?
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That's why I mentioned that if your boyfriend was interested in trying that technique to make sure the oil he uses is one he has tested many times to make sure it doesn't irritate his skin. Its basically just giving you an idea of the technique and you tailor it to your specific needs and what feels and works best.
Showering often can be harmful to already dry skin, taking away all of the natural oils that may have formed and any natural bacterial protection. Also if you are unfortunate enough to shower in city water that comes with a whole host of gnarly chemicals that effect your skin and that your skin absorbs, more and more the longer you are in it.
This just seems like a way to refresh the skin, getting rid of old skin and oils, without taking away all of the natural oils. It might be one of those things where he has to get used to how different his skin feels, it might feel a bit worse before it feels better because the skin has to get used to not having to recover all of its natural oils or being incapable of that and shedding the dry skin.
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Just wanted to update. Kevin's skin is improving once again. It seems that we're down to just his hands and his feet. His face, back, and front torso are basically completely clear. His arms and legs are very good, but still drying out. His hands and feet are the only part that still have obvious inflammation - red, scaling and all. But still, this is serious progress!
Right now, he's still supplementing Vitamin D3 (12,000 IU), Vitamin C (2,000 mg), Glucosamine (2,000 mg) + Chondroitin (2,000 mg) + MSM (1,400 mg) which includes Vitamin C (60 mg), Manganese (1 mg), Potassium (2,000 mg), and Methylsulfonylmethane (300 mg), and Zinc (15 mg) which includes Copper (1 mg) daily. He's eating about a teaspoon's worth of Sulfur rich black salt, a few pieces of Kombu and/or Dulse seaweed, and a tablespoon of Great Lakes Gelatin + Cologen.
He's still 100% RPD. It's now a little over a month being literally 100% RPD for both of us. Focusing on eating raw animal foods. We've added in quail, wild boar, and venison for variety, and some pasture-raised chicken. So that, along with beef liver (we're very limited, so it's not a significant part of the diet at the moment), beef heart, tuna, and very fatty wild-caught salmon. Still eating some fruit when he craves it, but I make sure it's not too much.
I've gotten him to stick to ~30 second showers in lukewarm water. He generally makes a sauna in the bathroom with very hot water and stays in the steam for a few minutes, then reduces it to lukewarm water and hops in and out after a quick rinse. He's using raw beef fat on his skin and he loves it. The saturated fat moisturizes it like no other. He does smell like a walking fat slab which is pretty funny. Not so much when the bed smells like it, but it does make for building up your appetite in the morning for breakfast. ;) He takes a huge amount of the fat with him to work so he can continue to keep himself moisturized, and then he will eat the majority of the fat too, which is good. He only discards a few pieces that become too unappealing because of the amount of dead skin it collects. I can't say I blame him ... he offered a piece to me and I kindly declined (bleh).
He's done enough colon cleanses (castor oil method) that taking it results in a normal bowel movement. No runny diarrhea or sludge at all. Kidney cleanses are done from what I know. Still need to do liver flushes, but have to get my hands on epsom salt first. Hopefully that's going to help when we do it.
Slow and steady progress, but progress nonetheless!
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Still no improvements on his hands or feet. His hands ... if we could get his hands better, we'd be nearly there. The dryness is just bad, cracking, scaling, scabbing. And the itch. Can't get rid of that. Using raw cacao butter right now (saturated fat) because we're out of our raw suet supply. It works and smells a bit more pleasant than raw fat,, so that's good. I wish we could get his hands to heal.
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Still no improvements on his hands or feet.
Things to check:
Is he washing his hands often or with soaps? Try SLS-free soap or forget soap altogether to see if that helps. Unwashed skin forms its own antibacterial environment. Dirt can be washed off with just water.
What footwear is he wearing? Lots of inner shoe material is treated with anti-bacterial chemicals. How are his socks washed, and what are they made of? Are his feet ever exposed to air and sun?
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Try bathing in chlorine free water.
My technique is to have 2 pails and a dipper.
Fill the 2 pails with faucet water, let it stay overnight. In the morning the chlorine may have evaporated. Use the dipper to shower.
Just plain water. No soap, no shampoo. He can't use those right now.
You will see immense improvements when you get to doing liver flushes / coffee enemas.
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Things to check:
Is he washing his hands often or with soaps? Try SLS-free soap or forget soap altogether to see if that helps. Unwashed skin forms its own antibacterial environment. Dirt can be washed off with just water.
What footwear is he wearing? Lots of inner shoe material is treated with anti-bacterial chemicals. How are his socks washed, and what are they made of? Are his feet ever exposed to air and sun?
No chance on the soap thing. We both stopped using SLS soaps and shampoos over a year ago. And more recently, a few months ago, we stopped using anything at all. We both just do rinse (water only) showers, no shampoo or soap. I wash our clothes with Dr. Bronner's (organic, castile soap) Peppermint and it's very diluted, too. I imagine the socks are just cotton, but never did check. We haven't bought new socks in quite a while. His feet definitely aren't exposed when outdoors. I'm the only one that goes barefooting, but he's always at work anyway. His hands are always exposed, but it's not much better either.
Try bathing in chlorine free water.
My technique is to have 2 pails and a dipper.
Fill the 2 pails with faucet water, let it stay overnight. In the morning the chlorine may have evaporated. Use the dipper to shower.
Just plain water. No soap, no shampoo. He can't use those right now.
You will see immense improvements when you get to doing liver flushes / coffee enemas.
No soaps or shampoo ever. I'll try the standing water. I think the only issue is that he won't like how cold it is.
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I'll try the standing water. I think the only issue is that he won't like how cold it is.
I use a de-chlorinating shower filter. It slows the water flow slightly, but not enough to ruin the shower experience. It installs by removing the showerhead, screwing the filter in place, putting the showerhead back on. No tools necessary. The filtering part is replaced every 6 months or so. Various brands at hardware stores and online, I have no brand preference.
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I find that my skin fares better with clay, such as a clay-aloe mix I make, than with nothing at all or other alternatives like baking soda, vinegar, etc. I learned about red clay from Inger and then found Redmond bentonite clay to be seemingly even a bit better still.
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I find that my skin fares better with clay, such as a clay-aloe mix I make, than with nothing at all or other alternatives like baking soda, vinegar, etc. I learned about red clay from Inger and then found Redmond bentonite clay to be seemingly even a bit better still.
You use this as a lotion/moisturizer?
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I don't think of it as a lotion, and it actually dries a bit if left on long enough, though it quickly clears up. It makes my skin feel good, younger, softer, more elastic, and reduces skin flaking a bit. It supposedly increases CO2 at the skin surface, which is supposed to be a rejuvinator. It reduces my skin flaking and grease in eyebrows and scalp and gives more body to my hair. Works better than any other shampoo/nonshampoo I've tried.
For lotion/moisturizing, I tend to use shea butter lotion, cocoa butter, suet, and coconut oil.
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I don't think of it as a lotion, and it actually dries a bit if left on long enough, though it quickly clears up. It makes my skin feel good, younger, softer, more elastic, and reduces skin flaking a bit. It supposedly increases CO2 at the skin surface, which is supposed to be a rejuvinator. It reduces my skin flaking and grease in eyebrows and scalp and gives more body to my hair. Works better than any other shampoo/nonshampoo I've tried.
I might take you up on that for myself. I don't use anything in my hair or on my body, but I do still deal with some oilyness in my hair. What's your method for using it on your hair?
For lotion/moisturizing, I tend to use shea butter lotion, cocoa butter, suet, and coconut oil.
We've been alternating between suit and cacao butter (all raw) depending on which we have. Our regular fat supplier has had extremely lean meats, so hardly any suet or trim for us at all.
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I might take you up on that for myself. I don't use anything in my hair or on my body, but I do still deal with some oilyness in my hair. What's your method for using it on your hair?
So far the best method I've found is to mix some clay in with aloe vera gel (which I think is heated some, but I figure that's not a big deal for external use) and to keep it in a small container (too much would require me to store the aloe gel longer at room temp. and it could go bad). At least once per week I apply a lot to my head and massage it into my scalp, especially where the dandruff flakes tend to accumulate. Then during the week I use a small amount every day or two to keep the grease down and keep the hair looking thick and clean.
For my clay-aloe mix, I use the finest clay powder I have, as I find that the thicker clay powders tend to become too thick. If I do use a coarser powder, then I use less of it to keep it somewhat liquidy.
We've been alternating between suit and cacao butter (all raw) depending on which we have. Our regular fat supplier has had extremely lean meats, so hardly any suet or trim for us at all.
I have found them both to work well and to be the best stuff I've tried. They do require a bit more time to rub them enough to get the oil to come off onto my hands, but it's worth it. I find that suet and cocoa butter absorb better into the skin than oily forms of fats, probably because they are more like our own subcutaneous fats. When I'm in more of a rush, I use a shea butter lotion.
I have read that Shaka of the Zulu people and his warriors used to oil their whole bodies every day when fat was plentiful. The British marveled at their glistening "well-oiled" bodies. Given that they had cattle, mainly bovines, my guess is that they used mainly butter to oil themselves. Occasionally I use unsalted butter myself and find that to also work well. Just don't try salted butter, though. I accidentally grabbed salted butter once (I know, I know, butter is not considered "Paleo," sorry) and put it on some dry skin. Ouch! ;D
Samburu Masai warriors still use (fermented) butter to oil themselves: "Weeks before the raids Samburu moran start sharpening their spears and oiling their rusty AK-47s. They smother themselves in rancid butter and ochre like warriors of old." http://zululandobserver.co.za/20854/farming-in-africa-is-a-deadly-business/ (http://zululandobserver.co.za/20854/farming-in-africa-is-a-deadly-business/)
Spartan warriors also used to oil themselves: "Demaratus explained to Xerxes: This is the way Spartans prepare to go into battle and almost certain death. They exercise, oil their bodies, and dress their hair. They go into battle shining." http://www.cliffsnotes.com/literature/r/republic/critical-essays/leonidas-portrait-of-a-spartan (http://www.cliffsnotes.com/literature/r/republic/critical-essays/leonidas-portrait-of-a-spartan)
"One Spartan woman in the first century BCE is reported to have doused herself with so much butter that the odor made a Galatian princess ill." (http://tinyurl.com/mmhvgpt)
I'll bet that the Spartan butter was fermented/cultured too, which would explain the strong smell.
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Kinda brainstorming here. We got a chlorine filter yesterday and installed it right away. Kevin is still sticking to 10-20 second lukewarm rinses as a shower, but it's nice to rest assured that the water is filtered now. We're still having a shortage on raw suet, so he's only using raw cacao butter to moisturize his skin.
I couldn't help but notice that one day when we both ate nothing but a variety of meats, there was a significant improvement in his skin. And, he mentioned feeling better. So, I'm having him go this week without anything that isn't a meat/fat/organ. Not sure what everyone else might think of this, but I'm curious to see if we get improvements from it.
So over the week, he will be eating the following things:
Venison (chunks), wild boar (belly), duck (breast and legs), salmon, bison (ground), beef, beef liver, and beef heart. We have no access to any other organs at the moment, and we still have eggs and shellfish restricted.
Thoughts are appreciated!
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Yes, you could go temporarily just animal food for a length of time that will do the job.
This is why we have a section in this forum called "zero carb" or carnivore.
http://www.rawpaleodietforum.com/carnivorous-zero-carb-approach/ (http://www.rawpaleodietforum.com/carnivorous-zero-carb-approach/)
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The caveat when going "all animal food" is to avoid high protein. I figure out a target amount of protein and carbohydrate and then eat fat for all additional hunger. I sustain very low carb, not zero-carb, and the carbs I eat are carefully selected by what agrees with me; in my case, fermented vegetables work the best.
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The caveat when going "all animal food" is to avoid high protein. I figure out a target amount of protein and carbohydrate and then eat fat for all additional hunger.
We already focus a lot on eating a good amount of fat. But even more so, now. Whenever we eat duck, I give him the majority of the fat and skin. I get an instinctive "stop" pretty fast when I eat a lot of the fat, but I'm able to eat a lot of the meat. We stick to salmon as our main fish because the fish market knows us and will give us the pieces that are pretty much 50% fat (great stuff). I sometimes send him to work with just a lunchbox or bag filled with fat strips.
I sustain very low carb, not zero-carb, and the carbs I eat are carefully selected by what agrees with me; in my case, fermented vegetables work the best.
That's actually the first plant-food I intend to let him eat again once this is through. The problem was that when he did eat plant foods, it was fruit. And he easily overdoes the sugar part, which I know it holding him back from healing. So, I had to tell him no to everything in order to keep that in check lol.
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As of today, except for the tops of his shoulders, his back is FULLY healed. The skin is as soft as mine, and that's soft. There are just a few scabs that have to heal, and then the tops of his shoulders are still dry. But basically, his entire back is 100% healed.
Hands and feet are as bad as ever, though. His arms seem to have worsened again. Just very dry. His hands are feet are still the only parts that have obvious inflammation, but everywhere is dry. Back and torso are good, though.
He started exercising. Yesterday was his first day back at the gym, took today off for rest. The first time he got his eczema under control, he was still eating SAD, and using an eczema lotion (along with a topical cream sometimes). But, he had started working out daily (5+ days a week), drinking a lot of water, and doing a weekly colon cleanse via dieter's tea. So, he's hoping that returning to regular exercise (won't be nearly that often) might contribute positively. Especially now that he will be eating RPD rather than SAD.
Two days into pure carnivorous eating. Not sure if his back fully healing is a result of that, the exercise, both, or just a coincidence. Either way it's a good sign.
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It is usually a combination of everything.
You guys are doing it.
You must document in pictures and inspire others in the future to heal.
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It is usually a combination of everything.
You guys are doing it.
You must document in pictures and inspire others in the future to heal.
I've taken pictures of his hands and feet at the beginning, unfortunately those are the two things that haven't improved enough to notice. When those are really healing, it's going to make for such an inspirational "before and after" image. I can't wait. His back was never a real problem. It's not surprising that it's the first one to fully eal. I can't wait until his arms and hands heal up, that will be the real kicker. His family thinks I'm insane for doing this, so I want to show them that it's going to work.
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Are you liver flushing or doing coffee enemas?
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Are you liver flushing or doing coffee enemas?
Not yet. It's been hard finding Epsom salts for the liver flush.
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Not yet. It's been hard finding Epsom salts for the liver flush.
this is the brand we use. safe for ingesting. order online.
http://www.amazon.com/White-Mountain-Magnesium-Sulfate-Solution/dp/B0064GBCL0/ref=sr_1_2?s=hpc&ie=UTF8&qid=1400179677&sr=1-2&keywords=epsom+salts (http://www.amazon.com/White-Mountain-Magnesium-Sulfate-Solution/dp/B0064GBCL0/ref=sr_1_2?s=hpc&ie=UTF8&qid=1400179677&sr=1-2&keywords=epsom+salts)
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this is the brand we use. safe for ingesting. order online.
http://www.amazon.com/White-Mountain-Magnesium-Sulfate-Solution/dp/B0064GBCL0/ref=sr_1_2?s=hpc&ie=UTF8&qid=1400179677&sr=1-2&keywords=epsom+salts (http://www.amazon.com/White-Mountain-Magnesium-Sulfate-Solution/dp/B0064GBCL0/ref=sr_1_2?s=hpc&ie=UTF8&qid=1400179677&sr=1-2&keywords=epsom+salts)
Sweet, thanks! I will order this soon. I have to wait for payday unfortunately.
We've done colon and kidney cleanses so far. So hopefully we can do the liver soon and it will help.
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Epsom salts are sold in every pharmacy, like CVS, Walgreen's, etc. As a laxative to use for a cleanse, I prefer a salt water flush, which I find just as effective without the cramping. As a magnesium soaking solution, I use magnesium citrate, sold as nigari in Japanese markets, which is the salt that remains after common table salt has been removed from sea water.
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Epsom salts are sold in every pharmacy, like CVS, Walgreen's, etc. As a laxative to use for a cleanse, I prefer a salt water flush, which I find just as effective without the cramping. As a magnesium soaking solution, I use magnesium citrate, sold as nigari in Japanese markets, which is the salt that remains after common table salt has been removed from sea water.
I have checked just about everywhere and haven't found Epsom salts. It's kinda weird. For soaking, though, I have a magnesium oil spray that's made from 100% magnesium chloride. It's good for spraying directly onto the skin or you can add some to water for a foot or whole body soak. I love this stuff.
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CVS, Walgreens, Rite Aid, Walmart, and many supermarkets, health food markets, etc. carry epsom salts. They are often hidden away on a bottom shelf in nondescript packaging. If you ask for help, you'll likely find them. They do tend to get sold out quickly at the places with the best prices in my area, but they can order them if you ask.
http://www.walmart.com/search/search-ng.do?search_query=Epsom%20Salt&adid=22222222220202362486&wmlspartner=wmtlabs&wl0=e&wl1=g&wl2=c&wl3=19554230534&wl4=&veh=sem (http://www.walmart.com/search/search-ng.do?search_query=Epsom%20Salt&adid=22222222220202362486&wmlspartner=wmtlabs&wl0=e&wl1=g&wl2=c&wl3=19554230534&wl4=&veh=sem)
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This morning, Kevin has taken his first egg yolk liver flush potion. Wow, that took a LOT of eggs. It was at least a dozen. And 10 lemons, no less! It went down pretty easily, and he's about to finish the laying down period. I've ordered 3 lbs of epsom salts online to use for the other liver flush method. I'm excited to see how this is going to affect him!
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This morning, Kevin has taken his first egg yolk liver flush potion. Wow, that took a LOT of eggs. It was at least a dozen. And 10 lemons, no less! It went down pretty easily, and he's about to finish the laying down period. I've ordered 3 lbs of epsom salts online to use for the other liver flush method. I'm excited to see how this is going to affect him!
Something is wrong with the quantity you mentioned.
All you need is 1/2 measured cup of egg yolks and 1/2 measured cup of lemon juice as the morning liver flush potion.
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Something is wrong with the quantity you mentioned.
All you need is 1/2 measured cup of egg yolks and 1/2 measured cup of lemon juice as the morning liver flush potion.
I think our egg yolks are a bit smaller than the average chicken eggs. I had a 1/2 cup measuring cup and just added egg yolks until full. Then put it into the cup. Used the same measuring cup and squeezed fresh lemons into there until full. Strained and added to the cup with the yolks, stirred until mixed, then he drank it right away, followed by coconut oil. The lemons were also pretty small compared to others.
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Tonight we will be doing the second liver flush - the olive oil one. Looking forward to the results.
Something new has arisen - pimples on his palms. He never has eczema on his palms but now has small painful bumps that you can pop like pimples. What gives? So strange
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The olive oil liver flush went well. TONS of small green stones in all bowel movements the following morning (this morning). Next weekend we'll do it again. He got another pimple on his palm ... still no idea what to think of that. He's been craving honey all day so he had quite a bit. Probably needs the carbs/sugar and minerals for his liver.
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CatTreats, how is the rest of his skin?
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CatTreats, how is the rest of his skin?
We are seeing progress. Finally like REAL REAL progress. His arms are very clear, meaning that aside from his wrists (I think the friction of his long-sleeves for work are impairing healing) his entire upper body is very very good. However, the itch seems to have worsened. I think it might be that heal itch ... you know, when a scab gets crazy itchy as it heals.
Olive oil liver flush #2 is this weekend. We're both anxious to see how it goes. The egg yolk liver flush didn't yield any stones, so I wonder how effective it is compared to the olive oil one. Not that I doubt GS at all, but it's interesting. I also wanted to mention that he has started uropathy about a week ago. So any thoughts about that are welcome. Not sure if it was the liver flush or the uropathy (or both), but it seems like we got a lot of improvement this week.
This is still a tough and slow journey. As long as we see progress though, it helps us from going crazy. It gets tough sleeping in a bed of dead skin ... u_u
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I'm glad things are getting better.
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The second olive oil flush is complete. A lot of stones came out, and a few really BIG ones too! Kevin had 3 days off of work so he got a lot of rest too. Looks like we got more progress as well. His entire upper body is still dry and it does itch, but it's definitely looking so much clearer.
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You can start planning how to do diluted orange juice fasting.
Maybe after you have done some 5 liver flushes, try a 1 day diluted orange juice fast, then a 3 day orange juice fast, then a 7 day orange juice fast, and so on.
Go to the website of Ask Barefoot on Curezone.com for support.
Learn how to do a water enema before bed when you do a long fast, you want to evacuate your poop before bed.
Diluted orange juice fast will heal leaky gut. The longest I did was 14 days.
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You can start planning how to do diluted orange juice fasting.
Maybe after you have done some 5 liver flushes, try a 1 day diluted orange juice fast, then a 3 day orange juice fast, then a 7 day orange juice fast, and so on.
Go to the website of Ask Barefoot on Curezone.com for support.
Learn how to do a water enema before bed when you do a long fast, you want to evacuate your poop before bed.
Diluted orange juice fast will heal leaky gut. The longest I did was 14 days.
Going so long on just orange juice won't be bad? I'd only be worried about going that long without any animal foods, particularly healing fats, and other nutrients that he needs.
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Going so long on just orange juice won't be bad? I'd only be worried about going that long without any animal foods, particularly healing fats, and other nutrients that he needs.
I would also be worried about that.
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I modified Barefoot Herbalist MH's orange juice fast for my own boy. I substitute raw egg yolks for fats. Lately I even add black salt in the quantities in watercure2.org for the sulfur which should enhance the healing of the gut.
My boy's case included lots of raw duck eggs sometimes with the whites because he had diverticulitis at the same time. He was on that for 2 weeks. in 2011.
Try out 1 day and 3 days first. Should be easy.
My boy started having an eczema outbreak again some 10 days ago. My wife blames the "halo halo" snacks they were eating during the summer and the use of commercial evaporated milk. Sifu Jen Sam says commercial milk has insane amounts of aluminium. His personal research found that commercial dairy cows are fed a supplement of aluminium because it separates the fat in their milk easily... haven't verified that claim yet.
My boy is on his 3rd day of this new orange juice fast regimen... so we are both in good company. :)
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The idea behind this type of fast as a healing modality is autophagy. Inducing autophagy with some sort of starvation can help destroy diseased cells faster, on the presumption that the benefit of autophagy outweighs the risk of nutrient loss. Types of fasts that induce autophagy include juicing, urotherapy, master cleanse (the one with lemon juice, maple syrup, and cayenne).
I've used 10-day fasts with enemas to treat problems, and I think autophagy has merit.
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My boy's case included lots of raw duck eggs sometimes with the whites because he had diverticulitis at the same time. He was on that for 2 weeks. in 2011.
So it's an orange juice fast but also egg yolks can be eaten?
My boy started having an eczema outbreak again some 10 days ago. My wife blames the "halo halo" snacks they were eating during the summer and the use of commercial evaporated milk. Sifu Jen Sam says commercial milk has insane amounts of aluminium. His personal research found that commercial dairy cows are fed a supplement of aluminium because it separates the fat in their milk easily... haven't verified that claim yet.
I'm sorry to hear that, but at least he's in good hands. Yeah, we had stopped commercial dairy long ago, but no dairy at all not even raw since going full RPD.
My boy is on his 3rd day of this new orange juice fast regimen... so we are both in good company. :)
I hope it goes well. I imagine that would be so hard to have it gone and then have it come back .... u_u
The idea behind this type of fast as a healing modality is autophagy. Inducing autophagy with some sort of starvation can help destroy diseased cells faster, on the presumption that the benefit of autophagy outweighs the risk of nutrient loss. Types of fasts that induce autophagy include juicing, urotherapy, master cleanse (the one with lemon juice, maple syrup, and cayenne).
I've used 10-day fasts with enemas to treat problems, and I think autophagy has merit.
Oh I have heard of that.
Would it be advised to go full orange juice or to have egg yolk as well? How much egg yolk is allowed?
Neither of us have any experience with enemas. How do we start?
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I'd like to share a little of my experience regarding recovery progress.
I call it the "Zero Progress Period"
This goes for both direction of good dietary/ healing measures, or bad diet.
For example: It'd take me a while for my body to act up and flare up, if I go with a SAD, or just plain junk.
On the other hand, it'll take me about 3-6 months to see progress, even if i do everything perfect.
From experience, since the outcomes isn't measureable right away, many people just give up during the zero progress period. (Depends from person to person)
Keep on going, I can see that you guys are in good hands of GS.
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Thank you. It's only been about 2.5 months now, so the fact that we're seeing progress is a good thing.
It gets very tough without visible progress because of how uncomfortable this whole situation is. I really just hope some of the internal problems (cold sensitivity, lack of energy, etc) will be getting better soon. Everyday is a challenge for him.
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Please ask Badboy for his coffee enema techniques. I do coffee enemas too when needed. And my boy has done those in the past. It's just that liver is not the problem of my boy thus egg yolk liver flushes are enough for my boy.
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Here's some inspiration for you. My boy's 2014 eczema cure progress. After some 2 weeks ago was the worst time. 3 weeks ago his eczema began.
My son just finished his 5th day of diluted orange juice fasting + salt (in watercure2.org proportions) and raw duck egg yolks. He had pain in his loins and seems he again had the negative gram bacteria of old so we used the same Fucidic Acid on his loins and that stopped it.
I also had him do 2 bath tub treatment with epsom salts, chamomile tea, and sodium bicarbonate.
He also had 3 oil enemas. 1 with vco, 2 with evoo. Later he should have a 4th oil enema. He has a history of diverticulitis.
Eczema at the back of his knees and ankle had stopped weeping and itching are now scabs and fresh scars.
This morning I allowed him to eat other fruits and later will allow for some raw fish to break his fast. But he will still continue to drink and have salt in the watercure2.org proportions. Raw fish is planned for 1 week.
The following week I may start giving him raw red meat... and after a few days start searing them steaks for a few seconds to allow him to get back into a mode where he can eat some cooked meat at times for socials.
He has designated Thursdays as his intermittent fasting day.
He just turned 13.
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Ion cleanse machines may help you heal faster.
Sometimes the toxins are already "there" at the edge of your skin and may just need to be leached out.
I just had a bad shoulder injury and in the 2 weeks I was suffering seems to have toxin accumulation.
The healer Dr. Bien Castro did his dorn manipulation and the following day put my arm in the ion cleanse machine. I actually felt relief after toxins had leached out.
https://www.google.com/search?q=ion+cleanse&tbm=isch&imgil=aQXAE8rWegoYyM%253A%253Bhttps%253A%252F%252Fencrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com%252Fimages%253Fq%253Dtbn%253AANd9GcRMvL1Kr7nrNxpIIJtK-U82tM7ktT6bJATrlP5JfNENp3k-nhuW%253B484%253B339%253B3OXJxTA_cxtXBM%253Bhttp%25253A%25252F%25252Fwww.buzekchiropractic.ca%25252Fion-cleanse-foot-spa%25252F&source=iu&usg=__taTG8xa6PPaftA_lyQ0NrYzfGaQ%3D&sa=X&ei=Hp-bU8DlI4i-uASSn4C4DA&ved=0CE0Q9QEwBA&biw=1243&bih=932#facrc=_&imgdii=_&imgrc=aQXAE8rWegoYyM%253A%3B3OXJxTA_cxtXBM%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fwww.buzekchiropractic.ca%252Ffiles%252Fion-cleanse-colors.jpg%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fwww.buzekchiropractic.ca%252Fion-cleanse-foot-spa%252F%3B484%3B339 (https://www.google.com/search?q=ion+cleanse&tbm=isch&imgil=aQXAE8rWegoYyM%253A%253Bhttps%253A%252F%252Fencrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com%252Fimages%253Fq%253Dtbn%253AANd9GcRMvL1Kr7nrNxpIIJtK-U82tM7ktT6bJATrlP5JfNENp3k-nhuW%253B484%253B339%253B3OXJxTA_cxtXBM%253Bhttp%25253A%25252F%25252Fwww.buzekchiropractic.ca%25252Fion-cleanse-foot-spa%25252F&source=iu&usg=__taTG8xa6PPaftA_lyQ0NrYzfGaQ%3D&sa=X&ei=Hp-bU8DlI4i-uASSn4C4DA&ved=0CE0Q9QEwBA&biw=1243&bih=932#facrc=_&imgdii=_&imgrc=aQXAE8rWegoYyM%253A%3B3OXJxTA_cxtXBM%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fwww.buzekchiropractic.ca%252Ffiles%252Fion-cleanse-colors.jpg%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fwww.buzekchiropractic.ca%252Fion-cleanse-foot-spa%252F%3B484%3B339)
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... He also had 3 oil enemas. 1 with vco, 2 with evoo. Later he should have a 4th oil enema. He has a history of diverticulitis. ...
GS, Four enemas in a single day? Why so many enemas? How many enemas do you give him in a year, roughly? Is this the same boy who has had eczema for years?
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GS, Four enemas in a single day? Why so many enemas? How many enemas do you give him in a year, roughly? Is this the same boy who has had eczema for years?
Those are 4 separate days. 1 oil enema per day.
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I see. Eczema has been linked to GI bacteria deficiencies/imbalances, so I wonder if too much "cleansing" might be counterproductive in the longer run, flushing out beneficial bacteria?
Halo halo sweets look like exactly the sort of thing that would trigger skin issue flareups for me. Canned evaporated milk is heated much higher than ordinary pasteurized milk.
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My son's issue had always been diverticulitis. (plus leaky gut) The oil enema purpose is just to get at the crevices of each pocket of diverticulitis and escort out the stuck poop. We are watching out for that limit. We use mainly evoo so it is not so anti-candida as vco. His first oil enema was vco, the next 3 were olive oil. My boy is in charge of telling us if he feels there is some success with dislodging poop from a possible pocket. We are running on his "feel" of the situation.
My wife had most of the halo halo ingredients home made to satisfy the kids' cultural enjoyment of the hot summer. We were pushing for raw coconut milk but the kids liked evaporated milk instead (the maids bought evaporated milk for themselves). A disadvantage of having maids.
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Diverticiulitis and leaky gut are also linked to the GI microbiome. While I don't wish to prescribe and it's early yet and the science is not well-threshed-out, accumulating evidence appears to suggest that the notion of "cleansing" is actually counterproductive in the longer run--that what most people really need is more good bacteria in their guts, rather than less stuff, and that the notion of a clean and sterile gut being healthy is misguided:
The Microbiome and Diverticulitis: A New Target for Medical Therapy? (http://journals.lww.com/dcrjournal/Citation/2014/04000/The_Microbiome_and_Diverticulitis___A_New_Target.20.aspx)
There are some reported risks with excessive cleansing:
Colon Cleansing
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colon_cleansing#Effectiveness_and_risks (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colon_cleansing#Effectiveness_and_risks)
Are Enemas Good for Your Health? - Dr. Ben Kim .com
drbenkim.com/articles-enema.htm
I hear you on the maids. Maybe we can come up with a better halo halo for your son that doesn't contain certain of the reported common ingredients like evaporated milk (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halo-halo (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halo-halo)). How is this for a start:
shaved ice
cultured/fermented milk
white beans, mung beans, and/or garbanzos (boiled and cooled overnight)
home-made bone broth gelatin
fruits: sugar palm fruit (kaong), coconut cream, dried somewhat-ripened plantains, jackfruit (langkâ), gulaman, tapioca, nata de coco, sweet potato (kamote), cheese, pounded crushed young rice (pinipig)
It at least seems to be healthier than the reported ingredients. Perhaps you could improve on that, if you wish.
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Today is the morning after the 4th liver flush. Lots of tiny stones in his first bowel movement of today. Awful smell.
We have no way to get unpasteurized orange juice. Without a juicer, is it okay for us to blend whole oranges (without peel or seeds) and then strain the liquid from it? Should we include egg yolks, and if so, how much and can they be eaten whenever?
I'll start looking into the enemas. I'm still unsure myself how you do them to be honest.
What we're noticing is that the day after the liver flush and through a few days after, he feels so much better. But he deteriorates and things worsen on the 6th and 7th day (the day that we do the next flush).
I wanted to ask about sleep twitching / spasms. He does it a LOT. Never did before, but since his eczema got this bad, he would have twitches constantly through the night and sometimes full muscle spasms. It can range between every 5 seconds to every minute, then sometimes not at all. Some nights it's a lot, some nights there's hardly any. Just felt like mentioning it.
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Eating high-fat and low-carb will help control the spasms. As far as blending the oranges, that works fine.
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Eat the egg yolks separately.
The spasms are an important clue to his health.
Are the spasms painful?
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I wanted to ask about sleep twitching / spasms. He does it a LOT. Never did before, but since his eczema got this bad, he would have twitches constantly through the night and sometimes full muscle spasms. It can range between every 5 seconds to every minute, then sometimes not at all. Some nights it's a lot, some nights there's hardly any. Just felt like mentioning it.[/size]
Wow, every 5 seconds is a lot of spams. Does the fact that it never happened before seem troubling at all to you? What do you think might be causing them?
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The spasms are an important clue to his health.
Are the spasms painful?
He said never pain at all. He is usually completely asleep, but he said sometimes he can feel it. But no, no pain at all.
Wow, every 5 seconds is a lot of spams. Does the fact that it never happened before seem troubling at all to you? What do you think might be causing them?
Yeah, it can be that often, but usually only goes for maybe 2-3 minutes that often and then stops. It's not throughout the night, usually happens off and on the first hour he falls asleep. But he will wake up often in the night, so everytime he is going back to sleep, it starts up.
I'm not actually concerned, but I wanted to mention it because it started when the eczema got this bad. That, and it can be hard sleeping next to someone having spasms. u_u I have no idea what is causing it.
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Could the twitches be this?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypnic_jerk (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypnic_jerk)
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Could the twitches be this?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypnic_jerk (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypnic_jerk)
Oh no no no no this isn't that. It's like muscle spasms, usually the lower body. Jerks, twitches, and full on spasms. It's once he's fallen asleep (I know this because it'll be when he finally stops scratching), and usually goes on for 10-45 minutes, happening anywhere between every 5 sec to every minute. It almost never wakes him up.
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I wanted to update the current status of Kevin's condition since we're at 2.5 months in and I haven't at all yet. Just to let everyone know what's changed, improvements or lack thereof, etc. There will be a lot more detail now than my previous post. I wrote the other one hastily and missed some important symptoms.
AS OF 2014/06/16:
Symptoms:
- Itching: Probably the main problem, always itching everywhere. It can be impossible for him to stop, and it affects his entire day including impairing his sleep.
- Dryness: The skin will dry out until it dies and sheds off.
- Shedding: He is literally always shedding. We have to wipe the bed of "crumbs" multiple times. We have to shake out the blankets twice a day. We vacuum daily and it's always filling up with loads of dead skin. Our kitchen and bathroom floors have skin shed all over. His clothes are lined with dead skin. Might be the second worst part of this.
- Inflammation: Wrists, hands, shins, ankles, and feet are inflamed.
- Discoloration: Arms, hands, legs, and feet are darker shades of his skin color. Lower legs, ankles, and especially feet are almost blackened. Like a burn.
- Smell: There is a slight odor with all the dead/dying skin on him and coming off of him.
- Insomnia: It's hard for him to fall asleep and stay asleep, possibly due to the discomfort of his skin, but might be actual insomnia, too.
- Muscle Spasms: For the first hour or so that he's asleep, he will have muscle spasms ranging from just a light twitch to a full limb spasming. It can happen as often as every 5 seconds to every minute or so.
- Mood: It seems like his mood is suffering. There are times that he is very irritable or easily annoyed, which is not how he is. If he does get annoyed, it will trigger a flare-up in his skin. He describes it as an unbearable tingling and itch that he absolutely can't NOT scratch. It's the worst.
- Cold Sensitivity: This comes and goes, but there are times where I will be too warm but he is very cold. It's summer here and most nights are 't-shirt and shorts weather' but he will need long sleeves + pants + sweatshirt.
- Lack of Energy: Extreme lack of energy. Goes to work, naps on all of his breaks, and comes home exhausted. No energy to do anything at all. Sometimes he will come home, shower, eat, and go straight to bed (attempting to sleep). Lack of sleep doesn't help, but even on days off when he spends 12+ hours in bed he will awake with little energy.
- Loss of Libido: Pretty much nothing. At all. Doesn't matter what I do (really).
- Snoring: Not sure if this is really anything worth reporting. He began to snore a ton when he gained weight (we both put on a good amount of weight while eating SAD) and then lost it all plus more when going paleo. Oddly, the snoring never stopped. It doesn't happen too regularly, but there are nights that it is SOOOO LOUD, and then nights where he doesn't at all. It might be an allergy and not related to eczema at all, but I figured that I would mention it.
Changes / Unchanged:
- Itching: Not much progress here at all.
- Dryness: His upper body has progressed well. It still dries out constantly (leading to shedding), but the new skin will be completely new, almost as soft as mine. His back, front, and upper arms are usually clear with just a bit of dryness. Hands, legs, and feet are still very dry, though.
- Shedding: The shedding is still a real issue. It's not as bad as before, but still extremely chronic. It's hard to tell if it's trying to heal and that's why it will keep shedding.
- Inflammation: Very great progress on the upper body. Only the hands appear to have slight inflammation still. It goes down but never completely, and sometimes will come back. But his back, front torso, upper arms, and neck are no longer inflamed at all. His thighs are not inflamed, but the lower on the legs, the worse it will get, and his feet are still the worst of all parts.
- Discoloration: Improvements in the areas that have improved in dryness. Lower legs and feet are still blackened.
- Smell: There used to be a really awful dead skin smell. Either we're just used to it, or it's significantly better. Hopefully the latter.
- Insomnia / Muscle Spasms / Mood: No changes here.
- Cold Sensitivity: This has improved. Before, it was a constant issue, but now it comes and goes. Seems to improve greatly after a liver flush.
- Lack of Energy: Still a real issue. I don't think there's been much of a change.
- Loss of Libido: There's been a slight improvement. But minimal. Even eating a plate of oysters didn't do anything to help 90% of the time.
What We Are Doing / What We Have Done:
- Eating 99.9% RPD (more accurately - 99% raw, 100% paleo).
* To be a bit more specific, eating mainly fresh raw seafood (fish and shellfish, includes meat, bones, and some organs when provided LOTS of diversity), red meat and fat, beef liver, egg yolks, fresh fruit (LOTS of diversity), and raw nuts.
- Living as cleanly as possible (e.g. No chemicals or household cleaners, only soap is diluted, organic, castille soap for dishes which only I touch and for laundry, using a chlorine water filter, neither of us smoke or drink, etc).
- Doing our best to get outside for fresh sunlight, air, and being with Earth / Nature.
- Flushes / Cleanses (working on them).
* He has done many colon cleanses, two kidney cleanses, and we're up to four liver flushes - all being guided by GS (much appreciation goes out to him for his help). Intending to get up to ten liver flushes, and also to do an enema (hoping we can get that done) and the orange juice fasting for leaky gut, also all with GS' guidance.
- Uropathy (drinking it 90% of the time).
- He uses 100% raw cacao butter to moisturize his skin. In a pinch, he will use coconut or olive oil.
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Sounds like my brother's old problem.
My brother was very much pleased with his progress with VCO detox.
He did 3 day VCO detoxes... a total of 4 times.
It was candida for my brother.
http://www.curemanual.com/detox-protocols-and-treatments/stomach-healing-intestinal-cleansing-yeast-elimination/virgin-coconut-oil-detox/ (http://www.curemanual.com/detox-protocols-and-treatments/stomach-healing-intestinal-cleansing-yeast-elimination/virgin-coconut-oil-detox/)
My brother also had great results eating raw garlic at every meal.
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Figuring out what the nocturnal muscle spasms are would be a help. Unfortunately, I don't know what it is. Could he be low in electrolytes?
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Eczema has been linked to GI bacteria deficiencies/imbalances, so I wonder if too much "cleansing" might be counterproductive in the longer run, flushing out beneficial bacteria?
I'm not going to guess about the cause of the muscle spasms, but I, too, have heard that cleansing can be overdone, the rationale being that cleansing and nourishing are at odds with each other. I have heard the guideline of no more than once every six months because nourishing is more important for healing.
...it'll take me about 3-6 months to see progress, even if i do everything perfect.
From experience, since the outcomes isn't measureable right away, many people just give up during the zero progress period.
Besides giving up, many people jump from one thing to the next during the zero-progress period. For example, you mentioned urotherapy, which can be an effective long-term treatment. People in extreme cases do urine fasts with good results. I'm not convinced that urotherapy needs to be combined with other fasts and cleanses to be effective.
Another thing: how are your circadian rhythms? Being awake during sunlight hours and sleeping during darkness, getting outdoor daylight, avoiding much indoor light at night, and going to bed with an empty stomach are healers.
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Sounds like my brother's old problem.
My brother was very much pleased with his progress with VCO detox.
He did 3 day VCO detoxes... a total of 4 times.
It was candida for my brother.
http://www.curemanual.com/detox-protocols-and-treatments/stomach-healing-intestinal-cleansing-yeast-elimination/virgin-coconut-oil-detox/ (http://www.curemanual.com/detox-protocols-and-treatments/stomach-healing-intestinal-cleansing-yeast-elimination/virgin-coconut-oil-detox/)
My brother also had great results eating raw garlic at every meal.
I was thinking about this, along with the OJ fast. But, he never gets consecutive days off work. So he wouldn't be able to do the VCO one for more than a day.
Another thing: how are your circadian rhythms? Being awake during sunlight hours and sleeping during darkness, getting outdoor daylight, avoiding much indoor light at night, and going to bed with an empty stomach are healers.
For work, he has to wake up at 5 am (prior to sunrise, just by 45 min or so). He's awake all day, works from 7am - 6pm and gets home by 7-7:30. He is outside some of the time of work, but not always unfortunately. When he gets home, he will eat and shower and then either stay up a bit or go straight to bed. We live in a studio, and unless I unplug every single thing and turn off phones (not even possible because one is our alarm clock), we cannot escape the lights. And I would have to sleep exactly when he does, and sometimes I have to do stuff, so there is indoor light. Even then, there's a light almost right outside our window so that also comes in even with the blinds shut.
So I'm sure both of our circadian rhythms are off. Mine doesn't seem bad, but I'm sure his is. Sometimes it seems like he sleeps really well during the day. On his days off, he usually takes anywhere between a 1-5 hour sleep in the afternoon. He sleeps better then than any other time, so I just let him get his rest because he needs it.
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For work, he has to wake up at 5 am (prior to sunrise, just by 45 min or so). He's awake all day, works from 7am - 6pm and gets home by 7-7:30....
I'm not sure who is saying that you have to wake up at exactly the time of sunrise or unplug everything at night. If city light brightens your home at night, you can block it with window shades. Bright indoor lighting can be changed with different light bulbs. (Refrigerator light bulbs are good. My daughter uses night-lights and Christmas tree lights for low lighting.) Computer screens can be altered with f.lux. The basic idea is that day/night light controls all the functions in the body, so you want to harmonize with circadian rhythms as a vital part of healing. Getting daylight on your body, including the eyeballs, signals the body in an important way if healing is desired. Getting strong light at night confuses this signalling system.
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Try the raw garlic at every meal. Easiest thing to do.
My mother in law does 1 day vco detoxing.
My son used to do 1 day vco detoxing.
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I'm not sure who is saying that you have to wake up at exactly the time of sunrise or unplug everything at night. If city light brightens your home at night, you can block it with window shades. Bright indoor lighting can be changed with different light bulbs. (Refrigerator light bulbs are good. My daughter uses night-lights and Christmas tree lights for low lighting.) Computer screens can be altered with f.lux. The basic idea is that day/night light controls all the functions in the body, so you want to harmonize with circadian rhythms as a vital part of healing. Getting daylight on your body, including the eyeballs, signals the body in an important way if healing is desired. Getting strong light at night confuses this signalling system.
Good to know!
Try the raw garlic at every meal. Easiest thing to do.
My mother in law does 1 day vco detoxing.
My son used to do 1 day vco detoxing.
Okay, we will do that. Any preparation for the VCO cleanse, or we can just do it whenever? How much garlic should he have? Is it a good or bad thing that raw garlic (onions too) make our stomachs burn and it can be unpleasant?
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My brother just eats raw garlic with his meals... chopped.
Just a teaspoon is probably enough each meal.
If it burns your stomach eat less.
See the vco detox recipe. It's easy.
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Thanks GS. He has Thursday off of work, so I'll have him do it then.
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What would you roughly estimate are the macronutrient proportions of his diet (% or grams or calories)? How much prebiotics does he eat?
Snoring and apnea have been linked to CO2 deficiency:
Acta Neurobiol Exp (Wars). 2007;67(2):197-206. Role of hypercapnia in brain oxygenation in sleep-disordered breathing. Brzecka A.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17691228 (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17691228)
"Adaptive mechanisms may diminish the detrimental effects of recurrent nocturnal hypoxia in obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). The potential role of elevated carbon dioxide (CO2) in improving brain oxygenation in the patients with severe OSA syndrome is discussed. CO2 increases oxygen uptake by its influence on the regulation of alveolar ventilation and ventilation-perfusion matching, facilitates oxygen delivery to the tissues by changing the affinity of oxygen to hemoglobin, and increases cerebral blood flow by effects on arterial blood pressure and on cerebral vessels. Recent clinical studies show improved brain oxygenation when hypoxia is combined with hypercapnia. Anti-inflammatory and protective against organ injury properties of CO2 may also have therapeutic importance. These biological effects of hypercapnia may improve brain oxygenation under hypoxic conditions. This may be especially important in patients with severe OSA syndrome."
I have heard the guideline of no more than once every six months because nourishing is more important for healing.
Yeah, in the old days a "wash out" was usually done just once a year (typically at the start of school, for children), and maybe occasionally as needed, sometimes twice a year (such as also at the start of spring), rather than chronically.
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What would you roughly estimate are the macronutrient proportions of his diet (% or grams or calories)? How much prebiotics does he eat?
Snoring and apnea have been linked to CO2 deficiency:
Acta Neurobiol Exp (Wars). 2007;67(2):197-206. Role of hypercapnia in brain oxygenation in sleep-disordered breathing. Brzecka A.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17691228 (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17691228)
"Adaptive mechanisms may diminish the detrimental effects of recurrent nocturnal hypoxia in obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). The potential role of elevated carbon dioxide (CO2) in improving brain oxygenation in the patients with severe OSA syndrome is discussed. CO2 increases oxygen uptake by its influence on the regulation of alveolar ventilation and ventilation-perfusion matching, facilitates oxygen delivery to the tissues by changing the affinity of oxygen to hemoglobin, and increases cerebral blood flow by effects on arterial blood pressure and on cerebral vessels. Recent clinical studies show improved brain oxygenation when hypoxia is combined with hypercapnia. Anti-inflammatory and protective against organ injury properties of CO2 may also have therapeutic importance. These biological effects of hypercapnia may improve brain oxygenation under hypoxic conditions. This may be especially important in patients with severe OSA syndrome."
Yeah, in the old days a "wash out" was usually done just once a year (typically at the start of school, for children), and maybe occasionally as needed, rather than chronically.
It's hard to come up with an idea on macronutrient %. We make sure to eat mainly fresh seafood, so a mix of lean and fatty meats. We've been eating more fresh fruit because it's in season and we both crave it, as well as nuts. I would say fat and protein are higher than carbs, but not by an extremely large amount.
I've never heard of a CO2 deficiency. What would cause this? I realize now that you mention it that he does have sleep apnea. However, it is VERY minimal nowadays. He used to suffer from these "suffocating" attacks in his sleep every other night years ago. Ever since eating paleo, it's almost non-existent. I think he had it happen once this entire year (2014).
I agree on the flushing. Once a year sounds about right just because toxins can accumulate from our environment. But in situations like these where there could be a major build up (considering many of us came from SAD or something just as bad) it might be effective to do a combination of many flushes to quickly rid yourself of toxins while eating nutrient dense foods to keep your body healthy. Just my thoughts, though. I definitely can see how constant flushes would be negative in the long-term.
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I've never heard of a CO2 deficiency. What would cause this?
Countless things. Ray Peat writes about it a lot. Do you know his blood oxygen saturation % (99-100% is ideal)? It may seem paradoxical, but using CO2 can reportedly improve blood oxygen saturation and apnea. Ray Peat has lots of tips on CO2.
Ray Peat wrote:
the medical analysis is that people don’t breathe enough at night, but when you look at the blood chemistry the usual thing is that they hyperventilate during the night, because as their blood sugar is pushed down to sleep, their adrenaline comes up periodically and this makes them have in effect higher estrogen, higher inflammatory hormones which drives hyperventilation and blows off too much Carbon Dioxide. Then they don’t breathe for a while so they wake up feeling like they have died or have not been breathing enough . The best chemical for this is Diamox (Acetazolamide ) that causes the body to retain more carbon dioxide, it prevents the body from losing too much carbon dioxide which keeps it in the blood.
It’s well established as a cure for sleep Apnea, also used by skiers to prevent altitude sickness, because altitude sickness is a lack of CO2 not oxygen.
http://www.raypeatforum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=3351#p39598 (http://www.raypeatforum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=3351#p39598)
See also:
http://raypeat.com/articles/articles/co2.shtml (http://raypeat.com/articles/articles/co2.shtml)
http://oneradionetwork.com/health-articles/show-summary-in-detail-for-dr-ray-peats-interview-on-january-1-2014 (http://oneradionetwork.com/health-articles/show-summary-in-detail-for-dr-ray-peats-interview-on-january-1-2014)
Folks have been talking a lot about what the ancestral environment/food was like. CO2 (and things that help generate and use it) was apparently one of the key features of ancestral environments and foods, from the very first living organisms (such as around volcanic vents) all the way to Stone Age humans and every living organism in between.
"seek, and ye shall find"
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I would hesitate to decide that his sleep apnea is cured based on your observations since he needs 1 - 5 hour naps. That good-sleep nap in the afternoon could be a spillover of exhaustion from an insufficient nighttime sleep period. Untreated sleep apnea has negative long-term effects. He could get a new sleep study and compare his original waking number of times per hour to his current number.
I read about one study in which even a single burst of bright light during sleep can have a negative impact on circadian rhythms. I realize that you two are in a studio apartment with completely different work schedules, but you might figure out a compromise - like going to bed at the same time when you get home from work and waking up together, in which case you would have your "doing stuff" time in the morning hours before work. Even if you don't do something like that, remember that it's light, not just waking up, that affects the day/night cycle the most. My daughter sleeps with an eye-cover to block out city light in her bedroom - a cheap solution.
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I would hesitate to decide that his sleep apnea is cured based on your observations since he needs 1 - 5 hour naps. That good-sleep nap in the afternoon could be a spillover of exhaustion from an insufficient nighttime sleep period. Untreated sleep apnea has negative long-term effects. He could get a new sleep study and compare his original waking number of times per hour to his current number.
The sleep apnea "suffocating" attacks have stopped. His insomnia has not. I agree that the naps are definitely because he's getting inadequate sleep at night. I know for a fact that his sleep is awful every single night. He wakes up in the night many many more times than before. We don't have to test that because he wakes up every 30 min to an hour. Like I said, those midday naps are the only time he will sleep for a few hours straight.
I read about one study in which even a single burst of bright light during sleep can have a negative impact on circadian rhythms. I realize that you two are in a studio apartment with completely different work schedules, but you might figure out a compromise - like going to bed at the same time when you get home from work and waking up together, in which case you would have your "doing stuff" time in the morning hours before work. Even if you don't do something like that, remember that it's light, not just waking up, that affects the day/night cycle the most. My daughter sleeps with an eye-cover to block out city light in her bedroom - a cheap solution.
Yeah, I've been going to sleep earlier and waking earlier as well. But some nights I am just not tired enough to sleep as early as 9pm. I do want to get the eye cover for him anyway because we still have electronic lights.
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It's interesting how similar his symptoms are to what Ray Peat tends to discuss:
Dr. Ray Peat: Thyroid supplements can be useful for prostate hypertrophy and some cases of impotence and infertility. Occasionally, a man who can't put on a normal amount of weight finds that a thyroid supplement allows normal weight gain. Leg cramps, insomnia and depression are often the result of hypothyroidism. Heart failure, gynecomastia, liver disease, baldness and dozens of other problems can result from hypothyroidism.
http://www.thyroid-info.com/articles/ray-peat.htm (http://www.thyroid-info.com/articles/ray-peat.htm)
Cold hands and feet is a great indicator of thyroid function. If they’re colder than most people’s, it means the adrenals are holding the temperature up for the brain and heart by restricting circulation.
http://oneradionetwork.com/health-articles/show-summary-in-detail-for-dr-ray-peats-interview-on-january-1-2014/ (http://oneradionetwork.com/health-articles/show-summary-in-detail-for-dr-ray-peats-interview-on-january-1-2014/)
inflammation-related proteins, including CRP, are increased by the hypothyroid hyperhydration. The heart muscle itself can swell, leading to congestive heart failure. ...
Aldosterone secretion increases during the night, and its rise is greater in depressed and stressed people. It inhibits energy metabolism, increases insulin resistance, and increases the formation of proinflammatory substances in fat cells (Kraus, et al., 2005). During aging, salt restriction can produce an exaggerated nocturnal rise in aldosterone.
During the night, there are many changes that suggest that the thyroid functions are being blocked, for example a surge in the thyroid stimulating hormone, with T4 and T3 being lowest between 11 PM and 3 AM (Lucke, et al., 1977), while temperature and energy production are at their lowest. This suggests that the problems of hypothyroidism will be most noticeable during the night.
http://raypeat.com/articles/articles/water.shtml (http://raypeat.com/articles/articles/water.shtml)
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I wanted to add that he has extreme gas. I forgot to add that above.
When we went paleo (before raw), both of us had almost no gas ever. Now, he farts constantly. It started when his eczema got bad. Constantly farting, VERY LONG AND LOUD ONES. They can be horrible smelling or completely odorless. It does not seem to matter what we eat or whether he has to go or just went to the bathroom. He will fart through the night and wake up and immediately let out tons of gas. It's just a constant thing that has neither improved or worsened this whole time.
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Beef may be too hard for him to digest at this time.
Try fish and eggs for the moment.
After you have tried vco detox and garlic... you might want to explore parasites.
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Beef may be too hard for him to digest at this time.
Try fish and eggs for the moment.
After you have tried vco detox and garlic... you might want to explore parasites.
Funny you say that, we haven't had red meat at all. We are doing only seafood, egg yolk, fruit, and a little nuts right now. But we do have liver sometimes. Is that okay or cut that out too?
Would we use humaworm for parasites? I have some.
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Methodical is all it is.
Try the 1 day vco detox first.
And the raw garlic with meals.
You will find out if his case is more of a candida thing.
I know my brother's case was and he had the same symptoms you are describing.
Once you have exhausted the candida angle, you might want to move into the parasite angle.
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Methodical is all it is.
Try the 1 day vco detox first.
And the raw garlic with meals.
You will find out if his case is more of a candida thing.
I know my brother's case was and he had the same symptoms you are describing.
Once you have exhausted the candida angle, you might want to move into the parasite angle.
Oh yeah, I was just wondering if we would use Humaworm for parasites should it come to that.
We're picking up garlic tomorrow. Thursday will be the VCO detox. Can only do one day for those. We're doing another liver flush on Saturday.
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Probiotics might help with the farting. Egg yolks can make bad farts, do up guys eat them daily? Does it get worse with the flushes? Might be good to consider taking a probiotic like garden of life primal defense after all of the flushes and cleanses as you will want to be sure to bolster the population of good bacteria in the gut
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Has he considered fasting for a few days to let his digestive tract empty out and rest for a bit?
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Probiotics might help with the farting. Egg yolks can make bad farts, do up guys eat them daily? Does it get worse with the flushes? Might be good to consider taking a probiotic like garden of life primal defense after all of the flushes and cleanses as you will want to be sure to bolster the population of good bacteria in the gut
He took probiotics in the beginning. The farting started around then, and it doesn't seem like they did anything. He's no longer on that, and he still farts constantly. They might get slightly worse with the flushes because of all the bowel movements. We abstained from eggs when people said to be cautious about allergies, and the farting did not stop. We had no eggs at all for about 3 weeks, but now we're eating them again. And we do eat quite a few. Only the yolks.
Has he considered fasting for a few days to let his digestive tract empty out and rest for a bit?
We were forced to fast for two days last weekend because of money. He could barely move from lack of energy. Since he is already always drained from this, the lack of calories just had him in bed. I have to admit that I was particularly low in energy, too. So I know he must have been worse. He farted constantly through that fast as well.
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If I had to bet, I would lay money on his gut bacteria being seriously disordered. Good luck trying to get a physician to prescribe a test, though. Some day bacterial testing and probiotic therapies will probably be common. We're not there yet.
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I agree on both counts, phil.
Has he tried high meat or fish? They definitely help my digestion.
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What are you guys doing for carbs? Liver flushing can drain livers of carbs. The coffee enema protocols some have you eating 2 tablespoons of raw molasses before the coffee enema.
Running out of money and not able to eat sounds scary.
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Maybe ditch the fruit. Sugar (fruit) might really be a bad idea
Jack Kruse have lots of stuff on Sleep Apnea.... you should search his blog/site.. EMF is a big thing
Maybe stop uropathy. Maybe he is cleaning out some bad stuff and for now this kind of therapy is not the right? Do lots of spring / RO water instead. No chlorine/fluoride
Do you live in a high EMF area? How does the work looks like? Have you tried high meat?
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Fasting can be read bad if you are drained. Eat. Do you eat enuf? Raw seafood sounds great :)
Maybe too many enemas is no good for the gut flora. I would not mess with that.
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Eat wild greens or carrots from the garden with some earth/dirt on them. Very good for the gut.
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Have you tried to ease into raw? Maybe he get too much detox going fully raw too fast. What if he would do 1 meal / day gently cooked seafood? With some high meat to get bacteria in?
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What are you guys doing for carbs? Liver flushing can drain livers of carbs. The coffee enema protocols some have you eating 2 tablespoons of raw molasses before the coffee enema.
Running out of money and not able to eat sounds scary.
Yes, it was not fun.
Carbs come from fruit, nuts, and honey.
Maybe ditch the fruit. Sugar (fruit) might really be a bad idea
Jack Kruse have lots of stuff on Sleep Apnea.... you should search his blog/site.. EMF is a big thing
Maybe stop uropathy. Maybe he is cleaning out some bad stuff and for now this kind of therapy is not the right? Do lots of spring / RO water instead. No chlorine/fluoride
Do you live in a high EMF area? How does the work looks like? Have you tried high meat?
Yes, it's somewhat of a city ... a rural city, but still a city. Just using the wifi search brings up like 20 different wifi sources. We're in an apartment complex.
I didn't think the fruit was bad because GS was giving his boy fresh fruit and seafood. And I didn't want him to be on nothing but seafood. Even that could be missing some nutrients. Plus we can't afford THAT much seafood.
On a side note, his food showed some clear areas for the first time this entire time. He also noted yesterday that he feels like he has more energy. I asked today and he said that he still feels like he's getting more energy as well as not being so cold sensitive.
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Carbs come from fruit, nuts, and honey.
Maybe you're a little high on the fructose side from the fruit and honey. The way I understand it, fructose toxicity should be a concern with gut and liver problems. Nuts don't have much carbs in a typical serving size. If you are eating carbs, don't avoid the starchy "glucose" kind.
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I agree with Eve on checking the amount of honey you eat (fructose). If you need to recharge your liver after liver flushes, or before coffee enemas, I would recommend 1 or 2 tbsp raw molasses.
What kind of nuts are you getting? Raw? Please specify.
If nuts are not fresh raw, they are fungus laden and may need to be heated in a toaster oven for 5 minutes to rid of the fungus. Fungus is extremely weakening. Poisoning.
In my own raw / stored nut experiments I had experienced like Aajonus and others here that eating nuts interfered with animal food digestion. I cannot eat nuts and eat animal food at the same time.
Thus I had concluded not to eat nuts as a staple. I eat nuts maybe twice a month or less. I teach these nut basics to my kids. So yesterday I had a handful of pistacios. That would be it for me. I was not in the mood for animal food later on in the day and night. I will probably eat nuts again in 2 weeks or a month.
And if your boyfriend was my boy with leaky gut, nuts are obviously in the BANNED list of foods.
Another hard to digest fruit is jack fruit.
Salad greens are hard to digest. Juice them instead if you need green nutrition.
If you remove nuts from your diet, you will be able to absorb fish and egg nutrition much better. And have a better chance at healing leaky gut.
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...I would recommend 1 or 2 tbsp raw molasses.
Raw molasses? Teach me something new if I'm mistaken, but I don't think there can be such a thing as raw molasses.
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Maybe you're a little high on the fructose side from the fruit and honey. The way I understand it, fructose toxicity should be a concern with gut and liver problems. Nuts don't have much carbs in a typical serving size. If you are eating carbs, don't avoid the starchy "glucose" kind.
He normally eats apples and pears, sometimes banana and berries. What "starch" would you recommend?
What kind of nuts are you getting? Raw? Please specify.
If nuts are not fresh raw, they are fungus laden and may need to be heated in a toaster oven for 5 minutes to rid of the fungus. Fungus is extremely weakening. Poisoning.
In my own raw / stored nut experiments I had experienced like Aajonus and others here that eating nuts interfered with animal food digestion. I cannot eat nuts and eat animal food at the same time.
Thus I had concluded not to eat nuts as a staple. I eat nuts maybe twice a month or less. I teach these nut basics to my kids. So yesterday I had a handful of pistacios. That would be it for me. I was not in the mood for animal food later on in the day and night. I will probably eat nuts again in 2 weeks or a month.
We eat raw organic macadamia and pecan. But they might not be "fresh" raw. We only recently ate them more regularly because we both craved them and enjoyed them. I have not felt any negative effects myself, in fact sometimes I feel good when I eat them. I didn't think they would be a problem. Unless I eat a lot, I don't find that they interfere with my interest in animal foods.
It's difficult to remove everything from the diet and only eat seafood and eggs. It's expensive to get enough fresh seafood, on top of having to drive 30+ minutes to get to the shop. I would worry about lacking nutrients eating nothing but seafood and eggs.
I don't really know what qualifies as "wild greens" and neither of us enjoy the taste of greens, nor how they feel in the stomach.
I've never seen raw molasses.
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Here are some starchy raw plant foods. The more raw or dried (concentrated) these foods are, the higher the resistant starch content.
Bananas, plantains
Chestnuts
Cashews
Water chestnuts
Sunflower seeds
Hearts of palm (aka sago, palm cabbage, ubod)
Raw new potatoes (young, small, lower in toxins, especially if peeled)
Horchata de chufa (raw tigernut drink)
Raw rice horchata
Calabash/morro horchata
Fermented raw or rolled oats
Breadfruit
Here are some foods containing animal starch. The more fresh and raw, the more starch.
liver
shellfish
eggs
Traditional raw Eskimo foods containing starch that are not easily available in modern societies:
seal liver
loche liver
walrus liver
Eskimo potato
muktuk
fermented walrus, stink flipper
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if I were to choose between the digestibility of nuts vs beef... I'd choose beef. And the fat in beef is more satisfying than sea food. The energy you get with beef saturated fat more steady long term.
Of course your mileage may vary so experiment. Will beef or lamb be cheaper than the nuts?
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I forgot to mention chuño (freeze dried potatoes http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chu%C3%B1o (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chu%C3%B1o)).
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Okay, I won't be getting nuts anymore. I might have some, but I won't share. -d
We're doing the VCO fast today. Prepared the lemonade so it's ready while I'm gone at work. He has today off to relax and do the fast. I wonder if he can do it at work tomorrow ... but maybe too difficult.
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We eat raw organic macadamia and pecan. But they might not be "fresh" raw. We only recently ate them more regularly because we both craved them...
Glad you are going to give nuts a break. One problem with year-round nuts is mold, fungus, and rancidity because they store so well. Suppliers interpret good storage to mean that you can crowd them at any old temperature and humidity and still sell them as if they were fresh. If you do want fresh nuts, contact growers (easy in California) and find out when you can get the next fresh crop, then freeze them at home. There are some good online sellers, too, but I don't buy through them.
But the main problem with nuts is that you say you crave them. Having a food that you crave is a big ol' red flag that something is wrong with you eating that food. There are many reasons to crave a food, such as dips in blood sugar causing sugar cravings and empty opioid receptors signalling a craving for wheat. None of these are good. I think we do best with foods that we enjoy but do not crave.
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Regarding saving money can you ask a butcher for free fat trimmings from his rubbish bin?
This could provide all your energy needs as well as heaps of fat soluble vitamins. It won't feed unhelpful micro overgrowth (candida etc), it will create ketones for improved brain function, makes some glucose for brain and immune system, and suppresses hunger so you don't need to eat very much or often.
Also resistant starch is very important as paleophil says. One to two heaped tablespoons of potato starch a day with a teaspoon of psyllium husks in a glass of water is very affordable.
Re enamas I am currently experimenting with colon flushing and direct repopulation with beneficial microbe cultures. Eating some fat trimmings, resistant starch, meats - hunger has gone energy up but still constipated. I will post my results in another week when things have settled down.
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Glad you are going to give nuts a break. One problem with year-round nuts is mold, fungus, and rancidity because they store so well. Suppliers interpret good storage to mean that you can crowd them at any old temperature and humidity and still sell them as if they were fresh. If you do want fresh nuts, contact growers (easy in California) and find out when you can get the next fresh crop, then freeze them at home. There are some good online sellers, too, but I don't buy through them.
Good to know about the freezing!
But the main problem with nuts is that you say you crave them. Having a food that you crave is a big ol' red flag that something is wrong with you eating that food. There are many reasons to crave a food, such as dips in blood sugar causing sugar cravings and empty opioid receptors signalling a craving for wheat. None of these are good. I think we do best with foods that we enjoy but do not crave.
I think I use the term craving wrong because I get real cravings from meat and seafood too. Not cooked. I will be drooling at my keyboard looking at pictures of the raw meat I'm craving. This is the "craving" I get for nuts. It's like when you think about it and your stomach wants to growl. You look forward to getting to it eat. This happened earlier at work thinking about the tuna at home. It's not like sweets cravings where it's this desperate need to taste it ... that's how I would describe that craving. I'm not sure how to really explain the difference, though.
Regarding saving money can you ask a butcher for free fat trimmings from his rubbish bin?
This could provide all your energy needs as well as heaps of fat soluble vitamins. It won't feed unhelpful micro overgrowth (candida etc), it will create ketones for improved brain function, makes some glucose for brain and immune system, and suppresses hunger so you don't need to eat very much or often.
You would be surprised how upset people get when you ask! Whole Foods absolutely refuses. They said they don't want to give it away (basically they want profit, or to just toss it), and then sometimes they tell me it's a health hazard to eat that much fat and won't give it out. Really. Most places that are happy to give us fat just don't have much at all. There's rarely enough trimmings from grass-fed beef, at least our sources of it. We have one butcher that saves every scrap he can for us, and even then we only get a pack of it once every other week .. sometimes longer.
Re enamas I am currently experimenting with colon flushing and direct repopulation with beneficial microbe cultures. Eating some fat trimmings, resistant starch, meats - hunger has gone energy up but still constipated. I will post my results in another week when things have settled down.
I'd like to hear how it goes. :) Thank you.
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i read your man has cold feelings problems?
try bone broths and fish broths
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Since Kevin has a lot of gas that started after taking the probiotic I wonder if he has Small Intestinal Bacterial Overgrowth (SIBO) that was actually caused by the probiotic inappropriately over-colonising the small intestine (which in turn could be caused by a high carb diet, poor digestion & limited immune functions).
"All dietary treatments strive to reduce the food sources for the bacteria. They seek to feed the person but starve the bacteria. Bacteria primarily eat carbohydrates so all the recommended diets decrease carbohydrates to reduce the bacteria by limiting their food supply." siboinfo.com (http://siboinfo.com)
Looking at their site there are a number of diets used to treat this, but in my opinion they all still include rather high levels of carbs - maybe that is why their diets take 18 to 36 + months to be effective!
Personally I think that a fat based very low carb diet with >20g of resistant starch per day to feed beneficial microbes in the large intestine would be much better. For example 3 tablespoons of potato starch is around 36g and would give at least 24g resistant starch and under 12g digestable carbs => less than 40 carb calories => less than 2% of 2000 calorie diet from carbs => VLC.
Also regarding fat trimmings, are they available from common grain fed beef?
Looking at the macro issues first - that you need an affordable source of animal fat - I wonder if it would be OK to include grain fed sources?
I don't know anything about this as our beef and lamb is all grass fed, but as long as there wasn't a danger of infection through the poor animal welfare I expect Kevin could put up with the higher omega-6 content way better than alternative low-cost high-carb energy sources.
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Since Kevin has a lot of gas that started after taking the probiotic I wonder if he has Small Intestinal Bacterial Overgrowth (SIBO) that was actually caused by the probiotic inappropriately over-colonising the small intestine (which in turn could be caused by a high carb diet, poor digestion & limited immune functions).
"All dietary treatments strive to reduce the food sources for the bacteria. They seek to feed the person but starve the bacteria. Bacteria primarily eat carbohydrates so all the recommended diets decrease carbohydrates to reduce the bacteria by limiting their food supply." siboinfo.com (http://siboinfo.com)
Looking at their site there are a number of diets used to treat this, but in my opinion they all still include rather high levels of carbs - maybe that is why their diets take 18 to 36 + months to be effective!
Personally I think that a fat based very low carb diet with >20g of resistant starch per day to feed beneficial microbes in the large intestine would be much better. For example 3 tablespoons of potato starch is around 36g and would give at least 24g resistant starch and under 12g digestable carbs => less than 40 carb calories => less than 2% of 2000 calorie diet from carbs => VLC.
I would agree with this but we tried doing a nearly zero-carb (all fat and meat) diet for about 2 weeks and there were no improvements. Not even a little. Unless you think it would take that much longer.
Also regarding fat trimmings, are they available from common grain fed beef?
Looking at the macro issues first - that you need an affordable source of animal fat - I wonder if it would be OK to include grain fed sources?
I don't know anything about this as our beef and lamb is all grass fed, but as long as there wasn't a danger of infection through the poor animal welfare I expect Kevin could put up with the higher omega-6 content way better than alternative low-cost high-carb energy sources.
I would worry about poor quality. We still get a lot of animal fats through the beef we eat and fatty fish we eat. We eat a ton of sardines (I save the meat closest to the skin - it's super oily - for him specifically because he needs it) and salmon which our fish supplier gets us extremely fatty cuts too. It might not be as good as eating straight fat, but it's not like he isn't getting a good amount of it.
We reduced his fruit consumption, removed nuts, and haven't had honey much. I imagine his carbs are a lot lower now than before. Sticking to as much fat and meat as possible. He also eats a lot of egg yolk.
He had the VCO fast yesterday and I noticed that the gas was lessened for once. I wonder if it's helping in that regard.
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egg yolks can give gas. Try eating them separately from other foods with empty stomach.
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I would agree with this but we tried doing a nearly zero-carb (all fat and meat) diet for about 2 weeks and there were no improvements. Not even a little. Unless you think it would take that much longer.
I know it's been said before, but two weeks is nothing more than a start. So then, what's the right length of time? I'd say that if you are well-based in some sort of science as your reason for trying a healing method, stick to it for as long as it takes - 3 months, 6 months, or more. If you change course before healing occurs, you may get rid of symptoms, but you'll still have the underlying cause. Things like the gut heal slowly.
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egg yolks can give gas. Try eating them separately from other foods with empty stomach.
We abstained from eggs completely for a month without any change.
I know it's been said before, but two weeks is nothing more than a start. So then, what's the right length of time? I'd say that if you are well-based in some sort of science as your reason for trying a healing method, stick to it for as long as it takes - 3 months, 6 months, or more. If you change course before healing occurs, you may get rid of symptoms, but you'll still have the underlying cause. Things like the gut heal slowly.
Oh of course. I just didn't want to stay on a purely carnivorous diet for such a long time, risking nutrient deficiencies. Also GS suggested not going longer than 2 weeks on pure carnivore, so we didn't since we weren't seeing any changes.
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The link that alive gave you www.siboinfo.com (http://www.siboinfo.com) estimates 1 1/2 - 3 years to heal leaky gut if one is on an appropriate diet. As a matter of fact, the one thing that keeps me from "cheating" is the statistic that it takes 6 months for a gluten-sensitive person to recover from one slice of bread.
Do you need a professional diagnosis before you try healing with a gut-healing protocol? I'd say not, since leaky gut is the official disease of the Standard American Diet. It is definitely on top of the suspect list when it comes to eczema.
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We abstained from eggs completely for a month without any change.
Oh of course. I just didn't want to stay on a purely carnivorous diet for such a long time, risking nutrient deficiencies. Also GS suggested not going longer than 2 weeks on pure carnivore, so we didn't since we weren't seeing any changes.
Indeed, don't make the same mistake I did of sticking with ZC or near-ZC for more than a few weeks. I regret it now.
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The link that alive gave you www.siboinfo.com (http://www.siboinfo.com) estimates 1 1/2 - 3 years to heal leaky gut if one is on an appropriate diet. As a matter of fact, the one thing that keeps me from "cheating" is the statistic that it takes 6 months for a gluten-sensitive person to recover from one slice of bread.
Do you need a professional diagnosis before you try healing with a gut-healing protocol? I'd say not, since leaky gut is the official disease of the Standard American Diet. It is definitely on top of the suspect list when it comes to eczema.
We've been paleo for a year, so hopefully that counts for something. :(
Indeed, don't make the same mistake I did of sticking with ZC or near-ZC for more than a few weeks. I regret it now.
Yeah, I find that I feel fine but I just end up craving fruits and potatoes like crazy. I'll hit a point where no meat or fat sounds good and it's almost impossible to continue, and I end the ZC phase with a full day fruit and other non-meat food binge. u_u
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As of tonight, his feet are starting to show signs of clearing up. They are the most chronically affected part of his body, huge chunks of dry skin on them at all times and nearly BLACK from the discoloration. Tonight I rubbed cacao butter on his feet and could feel a drastic improvement. This is good!
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Maybe the 1 day vco detox had a role in that?
And the garlic?
the absence of nuts?
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The nuts never appeared to have a reaction, but it's probably true that they would slow down healing.
I'm sure all of it contributed.
Looking forward to more progress!
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I have just been reading about the benefits of raw potato juice for skin, hair and health - which include the treatment of eczema.
For a long time, potato juice has been used as a remedy for a wide array of ailments from skin disorders to constipation to inflammation, and even cancer. It’s not a surprise why. This vegetable is an excellent source of fiber, vitamin A, vitamin B, vitamin C, carbohydrates, potassium, phosphorus, calcium, manganese, and iron among others.
http://www.livenedup.com/25-raw-potato-juice-benefits-skin-hair-health/ (http://www.livenedup.com/25-raw-potato-juice-benefits-skin-hair-health/)
I have just gathered fresh potatoes and stinging nettle, blended them together with water, and then washed them through a sieve. The taste is very nice and clear, with a chlorophyll edge, deliciously fresh. I have drunk two large mugs so far and can feel some resistant starch granules crunching between my teeth :)
I will eat the strained pulp too, a little later. I feel like it will help my digestion to have the liquid first and then the solids later.
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I would go easy on the pulp, at least early on, and especially if you get any mouth or throat tingling from it. Some people are sensitive to nightshades, though some report that resistant starch eventually helps them overcome such food sensitivities.
I got some tingling from certain raw potatoes and found other ones that I didn't get that from.
Interestingly, POWs fed potatoes (sometimes raw) in German camps reportedly fared much better than those fed rice in Japanese camps:
http://freetheanimal.com/2014/01/resistant-starch-tidbits.html
Gemma // Jan 4, 2014 at 01:43
@Richard
It was maybe mentioned before on this blog that Nazi Germans used raw potato diet etc. in their concentration camps during WWII. It definitely happened to my Czech grandfather imprisoned in Mauthausen (Austria) between 1942-45. He was included in a test group surviving on raw food only combined with hard work in a stone mine. Too painful for me to recall family stories (he died in 1984) or search for the archived information. But I found this:
“How Spuds Saved American GIs in Nazi Prison Camps During World War II”
http://www.mofga.org/Publications/MaineOrganicFarmerGardener/Fall2010/Potatoes/tabid/1726/Default.aspx (http://www.mofga.org/Publications/MaineOrganicFarmerGardener/Fall2010/Potatoes/tabid/1726/Default.aspx)
Reply
• v // Jan 4, 2014 at 04:13
hi gemma, my mom was a child prisoner of the nazis and they did weird food experiments with her, among others (like with sulfa). they used a sugar substitute on her and a butter substitute. luckily i interviewed her about a month or two before she went into the hospital and died 2 months later. early on in the invasion on russia, they fed the prisoners raw potato skins which my mother refused to eat because she thought of it as pig food. she would shine the shoes of german soldiers to get a little bread instead (before the camps). did you collect your grandfather’s stories somewhere?
Reply
• Gemma // Jan 4, 2014 at 06:05
@v
Yes, his war stories were collected including photos, not by me. I personally can not even look at that booklet. It makes me sick. But this topic does not belong to this blog.
It more made me wonder if amidst all that horror his raw potato diet (and some raw beet as well, if I remember correctly) was a good thing. He survived and many others did not.
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I wonder if this is really supposed to take this long. I read so many stories about people having near instant results just from eating raw foods.
Getting so depressed and frustrated. Yes there's progress, but in terms of comfort and going about daily routine there's really none. I feel so helpless and so bad every night he sits for 3-4 hours scratching. Literally can't stop. Or when I see him crying from the itch and discomfort.
I wish I knew this was really going to get better.
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the instant things ive seen happen are with 3 day vco detoxing and 7 day orange juice fasting. also liver flushing and raw paleo diet.
you can look at the secondary infection thing.
my son had negative gram bacteria. we used fucidic acid.
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I used to have severe sneezing allergies and they disappeared after a ten-day Bernard Jensen detox. They never returned.
However, thirty years later, I find that most things don't heal in the short run.
It helps to think in terms of causes rather than symptoms. In some cases, the symptoms abate long before the cause is corrected.
Also, I had to learn to be more skeptical, less gullible. It's like all those weight-loss ads that now have to say "Results Not Typical" and "Your Results May Vary."
Bottom line: It takes as long as it takes. Find an enjoyable, clean and healthful way of eating and living, and you won't notice how long it takes.
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Cat treats, any updates? Hope you both have continued to learn and heal.
About time, healing is a continual process, we are never done, fixed or better but in the process of betterment. In the beginning of course I felt a great relief, and many do because we are so low and depressed overall. But that usually leads to a huge backslide when we try to integrate things from the past, push to hard towards healing or only focus on healing one part of our being and hope it compensates for other areas that are out of alignment.
I gave myself a two year time line for healing from the last self destructive spell I had, and it's been that slow but very steady and I feel as though if I would have rushed things and gone to extremes to do so it would have been just as taxing on the system as all of the horrible inputs and life ways I was participating in. I think in he beginning its much more of a roller coaster but if you remain present during both the ups and downs and take a thorough inventory if what works and what doesn't, the majority of your learning will come at this time and then it's just a process of refining what works and staying dedicated to improving overall health.
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Indeed, don't make the same mistake I did of sticking with ZC or near-ZC for more than a few weeks. I regret it now.
why do you regret it?
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the instant things ive seen happen are with 3 day vco detoxing and 7 day orange juice fasting. also liver flushing and raw paleo diet.
you can look at the secondary infection thing.
my son had negative gram bacteria. we used fucidic acid.
can you elaborate/detail the protocols and what you achieved?
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why do you regret it?
I've written about it in past posts in the forum (probably best not to go on a tangent by rehashing it in this unrelated thread), though perhaps the experience of myself or Goodsamaritan or others who don't completely avoid carby foods, or nearly so, will not speak to you. You do seem to take Aajonus Vonderplanitz seriously, so to get some idea of part of what I'm talking about, you could check out his writings and presentations on what he viewed as beneficial carby foods, such as raw honey (note: I'm not trying to imply that I agree with everything that he ever said or wrote--and I doubt that I agree on absolutely everything with anyone--I'm just trying to meet you where you're at and avoid potential unconstructive arguments over details). This past Aajonus honey thread is a start: http://www.rawpaleodietforum.com/primal-diet/why-honey's-good-for-you-aajonus-explains/msg25986/#msg25986 (http://www.rawpaleodietforum.com/primal-diet/why-honey's-good-for-you-aajonus-explains/msg25986/#msg25986)