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#I thought you had to have a microbiome based food to do that

aurora-nova-fic · 1 year

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As science continues to learn more about the importance of our symbiotic microbiome, I wonder how that would play out in the Trek universe. If you’re not aware, the symbiotic microbiome is made up of those probiotics you hear people talking about, and it’s super important. Eighty percent of your immune system is in your gut. The gut microbiome can influence nearly every aspect of your health, it seems - there’s always a new study coming out linking gut health to overall health. I can personally say probiotics are amazing for me. I was kicked into depression some years back now, and it was not good; I was barely functional. For unrelated reasons I decided to give probiotics a try and to my delighted surprise it pretty much wiped out my depression. Obviously this won’t be the case for everyone, but in retrospect my depression came on the heels of a nasty gastrointestinal bug I had, and it turned out that what I needed in that particular case was to get the good guys back in my gut.

Basically, without friendly bacteria we’d all be dead. So how do you deal with that in space? Do you bring a huge stash of probiotic pills for everyone? Because they are alive, so these helpful bacteria can’t just be replicated. You can have a whole area of the ship devoted to making fermented foods like yogurt and sauerkraut, I suppose.

Also, scientists tell us that changing what we eat can change the gut microbiome in a matter of weeks. (Hello, prebiotics!) This is where fiber feeds good bacteria and sugar, sadly, feeds the bad guys. So, where does alien food fit into this? If you go down to visit a new planet and have food with their probiotics on it, what will that do to your system? For instance, gagh. That’s worms. Foods which come from soil will have traces of soil-based probiotics, which is good for us, but does that mean gagh is giving Klingon probiotics? Will those take over? Are there whole medical procedures to realign microbiomes after such exposure?

Furthermore, this makes biofilters difficult. Supposedly in Trek the transporters will screen out viruses, right? But if you screen out bacteria everyone will die. So that’s a problem.

I’m curious if anyone else has mused on this. If so, please share your thoughts! And now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to go start a batch of fermented carrots.

#star trek #reality of space travel #probiotics and science fiction

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ontploffing · 6 years

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Keito was unhappily munching on yet another brown bar.

"Why do you only eat the protein bars that your spaceship makes?" Chloe had seen him eat dozens, probably hundreds of them. Whenever they left his spaceship for a time, he would print off a few and stuff them in a thigh pocket or a backpack. When they left the spaceship behind at Houston and took a walker to New New Orleans, he'd had a veritable crate of them. That and water were all he consumed.

Keito sighed. "It's all I can eat."

"It it like a food allergy or something?"

"Ehhh, more like an engineered dependency."

"Aren't you human? Did the Emporium do something to you when you were theirs?"

"That's about it. They rebuilt my human body on their biosphere's protein base, because that guaranteed compatibility with every other species in the consortium. Medical supplies, food, recreational drugs, all that — having their biology made me a better customer because I could use more of their products. And as a better customer, a better salesman."

"That's — are you okay?"

"Eh, I'm fine. Bland but filling, these bars. The ultimate meal replacement." It sounded like he was reciting marketing materials.

"Is that what they are, some sort of meal square?"

"Well, there's no raisins. The best flavor analogy I can come up with is like eating chocolate every day, to the point where it became as bland as spit."

"Oh gross."

It was at this inopportune moment that Keito's pet messenger robot reappeared, teleporting back from his smuggler friend in the Emporium with a fresh cassette of micro-missiles, a gift-wrapped blob, and an envelope. It skittered across the table to deposit the blob and envelope at Keito's table setting, before dancing up Chloe's arm and shoulder to nest in her hair. She giggled; it restocked its missile pod.

Keito picked up the note, and read aloud "'Dearest Keito, we are happy to hear that you have made it safely to Earth, and that you have rejoined with your species. We're sending a homecoming gift with the bot, which we found in a market stall in Lower Trelebnik. It's probably been months since you last had a candy bar, if your ship exploded like all the rumors were saying. Let us know and we'll send more goodies. And send us some Earth food!'" He put the letter down. "That's the other thing. The ship's food processor only makes this one flavor of bar because all the DRMed patterns have expired and this one counts as emergency rations, suitable for humanitarian purposes and feeding employees. They expect that employees will buy food offship, rather than relying on their actual home-and-business-and-spaceship to be able to provide food from feedstocks. 'Eat local,' they said. 'It contributes to the Greater Economy,' they said."

"So did they do the protein normalization on all planets for the entire biosphere? Because that's sick ay eff. Whole-planet bioengineering is godmode for any sort of terraforming effort."

"Nah, they worked with what's available. It would be too much work to normalize a whole planet's proteins."

"So then why'd they normalize the Emporium employees' proteins? Wouldn't you be out and about eating local food, with all its non-normalized proteins?"

"I... will be right back." He disappeared into the office and returned with a pencil and index card, "'Dear Samedi, I still have my ship, but the food processor only makes the [translated as chocolate] meal bars. They rebuilt my body on Empy standard, to avoid allergies, right? Or did that get mistranslated too during the educational briefings? Happy Saturday, Keito.' Okay where's the crab?" He whistled a query; the bot tweedled back from its perch in Chloe's fro. "Oh you bot, come here." Obediently it jumped onto his arm. "Take this back to Samedi, and wait for his reply, and no shooting, please." With a sulfurous whiff, it was gone.

Chloe sniffed at the stench. Keito looked thoughtful. "Smells like it displaced into the Upper Trelebnik, not the Lower. What's he doing there, I wonder."

Ten minutes later, the bot returned, carrying a note and another missile cassette. With grave anticipation Keito opened the note, and read it, and threw it across the table to Chloe. She picked it up, and began to read.

Keito stalked to the fridge, opened it, stared at the contents, closed the door. Went to the pantry, looked in there. Went to the door to the garage, opened it, and shouted, "Al! We're going to dinner to night; I'm buying!"

Al, Chloe's gourmand mechanic brother, shouted from beneath the walker, "What? Why?"

"Turducken translation errors!"

Chloe looked up from the note. "So they didn't swap your proteins out, they just replaced your microbiome with something that could convert their proteins into ours?"

"And with a fecal transplant, I'll be good to go for Earth food. So this is gonna sound gross, but believe me when I say they trained me in the technique as part of the medical training and I do have the tools for it on the ship — Chloe, will you be my fecal donor today? I really desire your gut's ability to handle spices."

"Oh, you say the sweetest things."

#emporium #original #edited

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the-moon-in-you · 3 years

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New Moon in Cancer on 9th July 2021

When I was a little girl, my mum was my world. She was my first teacher, comforter, and inspiration. She was beautiful, strong, and very loving. My mum had an incredible singing voice and often sang on stage with my Uncle Reg at various local pubs and clubs, together they made a great duo. I loved being part of their fun. My mum, of course was a native Cancerian and I miss her deeply. Her passing in 2013 left a huge whole in the family, especially the unconditional Cancerian love she exuded. Life is always a little bit easier if you are blessed to have a native Cancerian in your life. I’m the one snuggled in my mother’s neck.

Cancer is a Cardinal water sign ruled by the Moon representing the stomach, breasts, chest, womb, ovaries, and mucosa in the body. The principal of Cancer is “I Feel”. Cancerians are extremely sensitive and emotional which is their greatest strength yet can also be their downfall. When you are aware of this emotional power, you are most likely able to manage your emotions and those around you with more ease and grace than those without awareness.

Cancer needs to be nurtured and are incredible at nurturing and protecting those they care for. There is an acute intuition with Cancer that picks up on where others are vulnerable and will gladly nurture them. Cancer is the mother of the zodiac. Cancer loves anything to do with the home, cooking, the family, ancestors, and the past. Hugely sentimental, it will hang on to something no matter how small because of the sentimental value. Huge in kindness, sympathy, intuition, and imagination, however just like the crab it can hang on to relationships and resentments long after it was time to let go.

The Shadow Cancer: Acute sensitivity to the point at times anything that is perceived as hurtful can bring on a huge emotional irrational reaction. The moods can fluctuate and change at a moment’s notice. If you live with a Cancerian be them child or adult and they are in a mood, leave them until they get over it themselves letting the emotions subside or you can experience a tsunami crashing upon you.

New Moon in Cancer

No matter where our Sun or Moon is in our Natal Chart (Birth Chart), we are all effected by the Cancer New Moon. The New Moon signifies “new beginnings” and is a time to set the seeds for the future, so the New Moon in Cancer can trigger emotions of safety and security most likely with you feeling extra sensitive. This is the ideal time to get in touch with your feelings and intuition. The Cancer New Moon invites us to our feelings of home, security, family and nurturing. The Cancer New Moon helps you get in touch with your intuition and to listen to the messages and signals you are receiving. Being a cardinal sign, it will initiate change so ideally you should not wear yourself out but treat yourself gently. Cancer represents the desire to belong, feel safe and cared for. In saying this you may become more aware of your emotional needs which may include the wounds of the past.

Letting go isn’t easy if the emotional wounds run deep, however if the wounds and hurtful memories of the past are making themselves known it is time to open, feel the feeling accept the need for change and let go. In hindsight it is these kinds of experiences which help us grow. More Moon Magic Here Helpful suggestions during Cancer in New Moon

Get out and walk in nature – it is the best medicine. Take steps to resolve any family or close relationship issues. Find the courage to be honest and true to your feelings. Are you holding on to secrets? Is it time to release them?. Take a bath with Geranium essential oil and magnesium salts. Make a plant-based meal. Bake a cake and gift it to someone. Invest in a full body massage. Play a guided meditations in our App to take time for yourself Meditate and Journal.

Key Cancer Facts Cancer Ruling Planet: The Moon (emotions, feelings, mother, instincts); Cancer Ruling House: 4th House: Security, home, family, ancestors, past; Cancer Symbol: The Crab; Cancer Medical Ruler: Stomach, breasts, womb, ovaries; Cancer Element: Water (emotions, feelings); Cancer Modality: Cardinal (initiating action); Cancer Counterbalance Sign: Capricorn. How New Moon in Cancer coincides with your cycle

Week 1

During menstruation, your body releases chemical-messengers called prostaglandins, which stimulate your uterus to contract, which helps encourage the shedding of the uterine lining (the period). These prostaglandins are suggested to be responsible for increasing gastrointestinal side effects around this time, by influencing the nearby intestinal tissue (Heitkemper MM, 1992). If you find yourself with stomach and bowel issues it could be because of these chemical messengers. The stomach is ruled by Cancer, so it makes sense to address this topic at this time: During this New Moon in Cancer take a critical look at your diet. Do you plan your meals, do you cook, or do you eat take away meals? Can you find ways to incorporate home cooking into your days? Looking after your gut during your menses is so important and you might even discover a pattern of painful cramping could be remedied simply by changing your diet.

Week 2The favourite part of my cycle was week two. My period was finished, and the days of oestrogen began. This week is ideal to begin anything new. It’s a week where your body is on track for increased brain activity that enables quick thinking and ideas to flow freely. It is also a good time to love and forgive those around you that may have caused you suffering. The body is at its ultimate high this week and for that reason you will have emotional strength to deal with any old wounds that need stitching. Lean into the New Moon and the Caner energy during this week and watch the magic happen.

Week 3

Ovulation marks the beginning of week 3 and if your progesterone that rises over the next few days can stay optimal until day 28 your PMS days may be over. To keep progesterone levels at their optimal levels you need to look at your stress hormones because they can interfere with your progesterone causing PMS to occur. For me, one of the most important factors to healing my progesterone levels was looking at the health of my gut and how that impacted also on my stress levels. Science has proved that our gut is our second brain. If the microbiome is out of balance, you may feel anxious, depressed, or tired. You may also suffer from memory problems or brain fog. In addition to eating the right foods, try to get into a meditative state prior to eating. Do this by removing all stressors, including stressful people and conversations. Be grateful for the food that is in front of you and eat slowly. This week try to avoid anything that comes in a can, plastic bag, cardboard box or bottle. Eat plant-based foods only – click here for a whole balanced food.

Week 4

The hormone progesterone peaks at day 21 and should remain at optimum levels until the end of your monthly cycle normally day 28. At this time, all hormones crash sending signals through your body to release the uterine lining because no pregnancy has occurred, and the body starts the cycle again. Do you experience the Progesterone drop at Day 21 and suffer PMS? What would it mean to you if you could eliminate PMS? To understand why Progesterone drops prematurely you need to address a few things in your life.

Stress (meditate, breathing techniques; Food (plant-based options) Hydration (water only) Exercise/stretching (30 minutes a day)

Thoughts (counter your negative thoughts with – that may not be true)Above all the greatest discovery I found out was that Stress Hormones interfere with Sex Hormones, so if you are stressed PMS will most likely be hanging around. Look to the activities I’ve suggested to do this week to help you find ways to reduce stress in your body.

References

Heitkemper MM, J. M. (1992). Pattern of gastrointestinal and somatic symptoms across the menstrual cycle. Gastroenterology. . In J. M. Heitkemper MM.* Always seek the help of a qualified health professional if your skills in choosing your own foods are inadequate. Tracking to better understand your emotions.

The Moon in You helps you to understand the impact hormones have on your emotions and psychology. During menstruation, hormones create significant mood and behaviour changes within the body and as a result, some women make choices they regret. If all is well with your monthly hormonal cycle, tracking your moods daily for a few months, and then overlaying your findings using a healthy hormonal chart, will identify a pattern of behaviour. Having evidence that your mood swings coincide with your hormonal changes can bring some comfort. Now, you can predict unproductive habitual behaviours and not be swept away by your emotional state largely created by misdirected feelings. Are you ready to take control of your emotional wellbeing?

https://www.themooninyou.com/get-the-app-1

Receive your Free Birth Chart

Kerrie Hourigan is our permanent guest speaker on The Moon in You Podcast. Kerrie’s gift to you is a FREE Birth Chart plus a mini report because she loves to help people, it’s as simple as that! Click Here

#cancer sign #cancer season #new moon #moon #menstrual talk

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nelliievance · 3 years

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The Pegan Diet: A Wfpb/Paleo Compromise

The term “pegan” was coined by Dr. Mark Hyman, a preventive medicine specialist who has helped his patients achieved good health with diet for many years. His recommended diet has elements common to both paleo and a healthy version of a vegan diet, so he calls it The Pegan Diet, and recently wrote a book with that title. This is a very good book which I review below. First I’ll give my take on the compromise between the Whole-Foods Plant-based (wfpb) diet, of which a healthy version of a vegan diet is a subset, and the paleo diet. I think this compromise removes extreme aspects of both diets, and ends up fitting in well with mainstream guidelines.

I discussed previously, wfpb emphasizes strict avoidance of overly processed foods (or as I summarize them, “junk”). It allows pretty much unlimited amounts of unprocessed fruits, vegetables, and legumes. Plenty of grains are also allowed, as long as they are minimally processed. Wfpb also recommends reduced consumption of animal products, including dairy, meat, and fish. Taking this to the extreme eliminates these products entirely, resulting in a whole-food vegan diet. But in my opinion, this is not necessary as I’ve explained previously (for example looking at the healthy and long-lived Blue Zones populations, most of them consume some animal products, up to about 10% of their calories).

Paleo has a lot of similarities to wfpb. It also emphasizes strict avoidance of junk, and allows pretty much unlimited amounts of unprocessed fruits and vegetables. It also recommends limiting dairy consumption. Where it differs is that meat and fish consumption are not limited, but consumption of grains and legumes are. This is all based on an estimate of what hunter-gatherer (or “pre-agricultural” populations ate. Originally paleo diets recommended eliminating grains and legumes, because it was thought they were not eaten by hunter-gatherers. Now there is evidence that at least some grains and legumes were eaten before the advent of agriculture, but probably considerably less than what is eaten in typical modern diets. Just as an extreme version of wfpb is vegan, an extreme version of paleo is no grains, no legumes.

A further complication is that there are both lower fat and higher fat versions of paleo. The former is based on the assumption that wild meats consumed by hunter gatherers were much leaner than modern meat from domesticated animals. The latter is based on the counter argument that typically more parts of the animal are consumed by hunter-gatherers than just the muscle meat, and other parts such as organs are higher in fat. Another important factor is hinted at by this argument. If it is true that our ancestors evolved eating a lot of different parts of the animal, but in modern diets we now eat almost predominantly muscle meat, might that have health effects? One paleo author has argued in a post on “eating the odd bits” that this might be why studies show excess animal protein has some health issues, because we are not getting a balanced profile of amino acids. There is concern about toxic materials getting concentrated in parts like liver, which would be a reason to insist on only organically raised grass-fed meat if you try this. Dr. Hyman emphasizes that in his book.

Mainstream nutritionists usually are somewhat dubious about the extreme versions of both these diets because they eliminate “entire food groups”, but in my opinion in the version where wfpb limits but does not eliminate, meat, it is compatible with mainstream guidelines. Also, in my opinion, the lower fat version of paleo, that limits, but does not eliminate, grains and legumes, is compatible with mainstream guidelines. Mainstream nutritionists may object that it is still a higher meat diet, but I’ve argued previously that is does not have to be. For example, the last remaining hunter-gatherer population of earth, the Hadza people of Tanzania, eat a diet of about 70% plant foods, and 30% lean meat. I should point out that the Hadza are not counted as a “Blue Zone” population, because they do not have higher longevity than typical modern populations. But they have much lower incidence of modern chronic diseases like heart disease and cancer. As for longevity, they do not have access to modern medicine, so have a higher infant mortality rate. If they reach adulthood they are likely to live to at least 70. And even then they tend to die of things like infectious disease rather than modern chronic diseases. It it quite possible that they would reach “Blue Zone” rates of longevity if they could get modern medicine.

The Magnificent Hadza People- Last of The First (https://benensonproductions.com/films/the-hadza-last-of-the-first/)

The higher fat version of paleo does not meet with mainstream guidelines because it tends to allow more saturated fat than is normally recommended. As I’ve discussed, advocates of the higher fat version do not agree with the reasoning about saturated fat. For example, ldl cholesterol may not be low on this diet, but hdl cholesterol tends to be high, and triglycerides low, and this makes ldl less likely to oxidize, which is an important factor for preventing heart disease.

I have been following wfpb for a little over four years now. In my experience, it is much more important to be strict about the “whole-foods” part than the “plant-based” part. If I stray from whole foods I’m likely to have cravings for junk foods return, like cakes, cookies, etc. But if I eat some meat for lunch it is unlikely to trigger a meat binge. Some wfpb authors might object that it is unhealthy to eat more than about 10% meat, based on the Blue Zones argument. Another argument is that excess meat in the diet can start changing our gut microbiome in an unhealthy direction. But even Dr. Bulsiewicz, who is a wfpb advocate based on fiber and gut health arguments, admits that the Hadza are exemplars of a high fiber diet and probably have good gut health, and we know they eat considerably more than 10% meat. The Hadza do eat an astonishing variety of plant foods (about 600!), and get about 100 grams of fiber a day, far exceeding modern dietary recommendations. What if it’s the high fiber content and high diversity of plant foods that matters most? It is true that excess consumption of animal protein correlates with increased risk of all-cause mortality, but that is in the context of a modern diet, which has a lot of junk (like refined carbs) and not enough fruits and veggies.

Dr. Hyman’s Pegan Diet

If you start with the wpfb diet, but reduce consumption of grains, and allow a bit more meat, you pretty much end up with Dr. Hyman’s pegan diet. He starts out recommending A lot of fruits and veggies, up to 75 percent of your plate. Dr. Hyman calls this “whole-foods plant-rich”. I like that term as opposed to wfpb, because it save you from always explaining why “plant-based” doesn’t necessary mean no meat. The remaining 1/4th is for protein sources including meat and legumes, as well as some grains. He has had lots of patients with grain sensitivities, so especially wants us to be on the lookout for digestive issues with grains (and some legumes). It may be healthier for those with issues to substitute gluten-free grains, or even “pseudo-grains” like buckwheat. But he feels grains are not as nutritionally dense as other plant foods like fruits and veggies, so even for those without sensitivities, he recommends not eating too many calories from grains.

Dr. Hyman emphasizes the importance of adequate and good quality protein. As I’ve discussed previously, this is even more important for aging adults, to prevent loss of muscle mass (sarcopenia). He admits that it is possible to get adequate protein on a vegan diet, but you have to know what you’re doing, with proper foods combinations to get a good blend of amino acids. But it is much easier to get enough good protein if you allow some meat in the diet. There are other possible deficiencies like vitamin B12 that he discusses, that may be avoided via supplementation, but are not an issue if some meat is in your diet.

Dr. Hyman has 21 principles to his pegan diet. This sounds complicated, but the diet can easily be summarized as something like “eat lots of fruits and veggies, limited grains, and a decent amount of meat and legumes”. The 21 principles add additional nuances. There is a chapter for each principle, such as “eat the right beans, whole grains, nuts, and seeds”, “eat your meat as medicine”, “be picky about poultry, eggs, and fish”, and “treat sugar like a recreational drug”. The book is a very good source of info on high quality foods sources, like grass-fed beef, and sources of fish that are least likely to be polluted.

I also thoroughly enjoyed the chapter “eat like a regeneratarian”. A regeneratarian eats foods sourced from regenerative agriculture. This is a very good condensed version of the environmental arguments against conventional agriculture, and in favor of regenerative agriculture, of both plants and animals, that agrees with arguments in the book Sacred Cow. I used to consider myself a “reduceitarian”, or someone who eats a reduced amount of animal products for environmental reasons. I now instead strive to be a regeneratarian (it is possible to be both, but now I believe regeneratarian to be more important than reduceitarian).

I highly recommend this book, especially for those who are confused by conflicting arguments coming out of the wpfb and paleo “camps”. Following the principles in this book will improve your health considerably, especially in contrast to typical modern diets.

The Pegan Diet: A Wfpb/Paleo Compromise published first on https://steroidsca.tumblr.com/

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healthcarefoundationus · 3 years

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Living with recurrent C. diff? 5 tips to enjoying the holidays

Just when we all thought it was still March, the holidays have crept up on us. Let’s face it, we could all use a little joy right now to brighten up our holidays. Although the holidays may look different this year, many of us are hoping to keep a few normal traditions. Whether it’s gathering safely with family or enjoying a special meal, if you’re suffering from a recurrent diarrheal condition like C. difficile infection, those things can be anything but normal. Here are 5 tips Dr. Paul Feuerstadt of the PACT Gastroenterology Center in Connecticut recommends to help people with C. diff enjoy the holiday season.

1) Try your best to decompress

The holidays come with their own set of stressors. Gathering for meals with loved ones shouldn’t be one of them. Feuerstadt explains that those living with recurrent C. diff often show greater signs of stress in general, and frequently when it comes to mealtime.

Many C. diff patients often suffer a range of increased emotions which can be further elevated during the holiday season. Whether it’s grief, anger, fear, depression or anxiety, remember the holidays are a time to be kind to one another, including yourself.1

Take some time for yourself. Each day take 10 minutes to relax. Close your eyes and try your best to clear your mind.

Find outlets to help manage your stress and anxiety, such as through yoga, listening to music, reading a good book or just by getting enough sleep (7-8 hours per night).1

Listen to your body. It will tell you when you may need to take a minute for yourself. If the feelings are more intense than you feel you can consistently handle, follow up with your healthcare provider.

2) Don’t try to do it all yourself

The holidays can be a busy time of year. From picking out gifts for loved ones, to decorating the house, those suffering from C. diff can feel overwhelmed easily.

Rather than trying to do everything this year, why not focus on a couple of fun holiday traditions you enjoy? Maybe your one big activity is family baking and you ask a family member to help you decorate cookies. Whatever it may be, remember you don’t need to do it all. Focus your attention on one or two holiday traditions so you’re able to enjoy them to the fullest.

3) Know what’s on the menu

Whether you’re the chef or guest at a holiday dinner, know what’s on the menu. If there are certain foods or ingredients you must avoid, let your host know.

Although no two people are alike, there are foods that C. diff patients should generally avoid, including dairy products with lactose, greasy foods and any foods that may cause bloating (e.g., broccoli, onions, beans).2

Knowing it’s never good to arrive at a holiday gathering empty-handed, consider bringing a dish that you know will keep your gut calm and that you can eat without repercussions.

Remember to consult your healthcare professional for more information on nutritional advice for foods that are best suited for your body type and C. diff infection.

4) Practice health and safety guidelines

Anyone living with recurrent C. diff knows how contagious it is. That’s why it’s important to ensure you maintain standard health and safety measures, such as frequent handwashing. When using the restroom, be sure to always wash your hands with soap and water before touching surfaces such as doorknobs. Please be aware that alcohol-based hand sanitizer will not kill C. diff spores.3,4

Although already top of mind for most, COVID-19 is still on the rise in many parts of the country. Proper handwashing, social distancing and wearing of face coverings is essential for everyone. Many people living with C. diff have already been practicing many of these universal hygiene measures before COVID-19 so this will be less of an adjustment.

COVID-19 has opened the doors to telehealth, making it even easier and more common for people with C. diff to connect with both their local medical providers but also experts across the country who might be able to help. If you feel that you are not well, you should feel free to utilize these modern tools to communicate with providers to get the proper care you need, when you need it.

5) Try a new tradition

2020 has been a year unlike any other. We’ve all had to reimagine the expectation of being “together” and perhaps this year is the time to try a new tradition — like a virtual meal with family and friends who are far away. If you’re a big football fan, you may consider a Zoom football watch party. Or how about a recipe and meal prep virtual gathering? It’s normal for people with C. diff to feel isolated, so try turning social distancing into an opportunity to be more connected without the stress of, “What if I need to get to the bathroom quickly?” Embrace technologies like Zoom to safely connect with loved ones and take this opportunity to spin this constraint into a positive.

Although the holidays this year will look a little different, consider these tips as a guide to safely connect with your loved ones and enjoy this special season. Above all, continue to talk to your healthcare provider about your symptoms, and potential treatments. There have been a number of important advancements in therapies for recurrent C. diff that may help people feel better and lead better lives.

About C. diff:

Clostridioides difficile (C. diff) is a type of bacteria that can cause diarrhea, fever, abdominal pain, nausea, colitis, and in more serious cases, shock and death. According to the CDC, it’s estimated to cause almost half a million illnesses in the United States each year.5 After initial C. diff infection, up to 35% of patients may experience symptoms again, also known as recurrent C. diff infection.6

To learn more about the power of the microbiome and if it can be unlocked to break the cycle of recurrent C. diff infection, visit http://www.powerofmicrobiome.com/ and on Twitter, follow @FerringUSA.

This piece is sponsored by Ferring Pharmaceuticals, a research-driven, specialty biopharmaceutical group committed to helping people around the world build families and live better lives.

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The post Living with recurrent C. diff? 5 tips to enjoying the holidays appeared first on HealthCareFoundation - Health & Fitness.

source https://healthcarefoundation.co.uk/living-with-recurrent-c-diff-5-tips-to-enjoying-the-holidays/

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lookingforsomeanswers · 6 years

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A (very) honest cover letter

Dear service, charity or company I am applying to for a job,

I admit, my CV looks a bit muddled. That’s because choosing one’s educational path and subsequent career can be extremely difficult for people like me! When I was at school, like many, I had a wide range of interests. I found science really interesting, but I also loved playing the flute – and I kind of found social sciences and humanities interesting too. So it was hard to even choose my A levels – particularly when I had teachers telling me I’d be great at other subjects I hadn’t even considered, like English.

Due to the high-performing academic school I went to, my career advice was essentially “go to a good university”. Ideally Oxbridge. Or it was good if you wanted to be a doctor or a lawyer – they could help you with that. Otherwise you were a bit stuck. Having no ardent desire for either of these careers, I applied for psychology and philosophy, because I thought it sounded interesting and was a nice blend of my interests within and outside of science.

Funnily enough, I found myself wanting to veer away from my degree once I’d started it, as I hadn’t been ready to make this commitment. I took a year out from my degree to apply for music college but was unsuccessful, as there are a lot of good flute players. I therefore decided to go back to finishing off my degree. With all my university friends being a year further ahead with their degrees, I struggled to fit back in and make any new ones. My mental health declined and I started developing an eating disorder. This got me thinking about the relationship between food and health from an academic perspective, so it gave me an idea for further study. I therefore applied to a Master’s degree in Human Nutrition. Due to sheer determination to obtain my place, I battled through the rest of my undergraduate to narrowly miss out on a 1st class honours degree.

I absolutely loved my Master’s degree – learning about nutrition from multiple perspectives, including public health and molecular nutrition. I finally felt that I had found what I always wanted to do – a PhD in molecular nutrition, as this was the area I found most interesting. I applied to PhDs in this area from early on in my Master’s, but at that time I lacked the relevant experience. I therefore opted for a laboratory based project to conclude my Master’s degree. I performed so well that my supervisor offered me a PhD opportunity within his research team – but it was a clinical trial based project, rather than in a lab, so I decided to turn it down – a decision I now regret. At the time I suddenly worried that I had nothing lined up for September once I finished my course, so I made a couple of rash job applications, including to a healthcare recruitment company in London. Being a new company, they rang me up for a telephone interview minutes after I had sent in my CV. Not even knowing what I was taking on or considering the implications, I was suddenly moving to London to start the job – because I’d heard how tricky the jobs market was, and I was scared that if I didn’t take this first opportunity, nothing else would come along.

The job could not have been a worse fit. Going from being in a lab to sitting behind a desk making telephone calls all day was a living hell. What’s more, I’d left my boyfriend and other friends still in Sheffield, and was living far out of the city with just a dodgy live-in landlord for company. Therefore, before I went completely mad I quit the job – with my back-up plan being to apply for PhDs once more. In the meantime, I managed to get myself work in a bookshop to tie me over.

I was part-way through applying for lab-based nutrition PhDs (including at the Rowett Institute in Aberdeen, where I closely missed out on a place during my Master’s), when I came across a PhD opportunity involving the microbiome - a topic I had found interesting within molecular nutrition - based in London, that was starting in just two months’ time. I sent in my CV thinking I would not stand a chance, but was invited to interview. As I was so keen to land a PhD opportunity, my enthusiasm at interview paid off over my experience. Sadly, I was woefully unqualified for what the project would actually entail – coding and statistics.

If I’m honest, it was like a part of my brain knew the London-based PhD had been more a ‘PhD of convenience’ than the right fit, as from the beginning I didn’t give the project the 110% I had given my Master’s (where I achieved an average mark of 80%). Looking back, I regret jumping in for this project and giving up on my applications to the Rowett Institute and other molecular PhDs. If I had been successful, maybe I’d be doing a PhD project I loved now. Or maybe I wouldn’t – because this kind of life experience causes you to subsequently question a lot of things. Once I had quit the PhD and started working in a restaurant, followed by a bar as a front of house (where I work to this day), it gave me time to think about what was really important. I realised I wanted to make a difference to the world within my career, if I still had the chance. Having both friends and a partner doing very specific scientific PhDs, I started thinking that maybe this wasn’t the best way of making a measurable, profound impact, because science is as much a game of luck as anything else. When you’re a PhD student, your relationship with your supervisor and work ethos of your lab or research group can play as much of a role defining the success of your project and future scientific career as the actual research you’re doing. What’s more, scientists are seemingly supposed to devote their lives to the job (particularly if they work in a lab), working long unsociable hours in the hope they might get that significant result which will boost their thesis and lead to journal publication.

Having some time out to do a job that doesn’t use my brain much has meant that when I’ve been away from work, I’ve had the time and space to realise just how lost I became in my journey. When I was a little kid, I cared about animals and the environment, and wanted people to be nice to each other. I didn’t care about prestige, money, or looking like a smart alec (though that can feel nice). One of the first work-type, outreach sort of things I remember doing aged 11 was making personalised stickers to sell to my classmates to raise money for the Marine Conservation Society, and emailing businesses like M&S to encourage them not to use unsustainable palm oil, in order to save the orangutans. Where did that girl go? She got lost in a world where academic success defined later life, and then got scared she wouldn’t be able to earn enough money to live. It caused her to run away from what mattered.

Because of this, I’m now looking for something that matters, but I’m still not sure what that is exactly, so I’m open to options. I’m applying to charities, and to working for the civil service, as that might be a way to make a measurable impact. Ideally, I’d love to be able to use my enthusiasm and passion for the environment, or my knowledge about health and nutrition. I keep trying, but I never seem to be much good at those ‘competency questions’. I can’t necessarily think of specific examples where I’ve shown outstanding customer service or made effective decisions – particularly when I have to follow the STAR formula to get enough points to be considered for the next round. That’s too formulaic for me – I’m better at speaking from the heart. But writing this has shown me two things. Firstly, I am finally ready to commit myself fully to pretty much anything where I feel like I’m making some kind of difference – or that I’d be able to get on a career path to eventually doing so. Secondly, it shows that I’ve gone through enough of a jobs-related nightmare that I deserve a chance. What makes me upset almost every day is when I stop and think that I went from being a top-class Master’s student, who potentially could have aced a scientific career, to right now, working in a meaningless job where I don’t even need GCSE’s. I admit that I made mistakes. But I think I’ve demonstrated that these were due either to poor timing or fear. That has cost me dearly, but I hope that it won’t have ruined my chances for a successful and fulfilling career in the future.

Therefore, if any of my words have managed to appeal to anyone, please consider me if you can. I have proved in the past that if I am passionate, I will work extremely hard – and it is my desire to be able to do so. So if you have an opportunity which would inject me with enthusiasm, I believe I could help you.

Best wishes,

Tilly Potter (real name Imogen, but I prefer using my nickname).

#jobs #career #job search #job searching #honest #experience #emotion #writing from the heart #writing #blogging #coverletter #letter #blog #lookingforwork #life #lifestory #biography

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339: Healing Trauma, Releasing Shame, Finding Joy & Becoming a Super Attractor With Gabrielle Bernstein

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339: Healing Trauma, Releasing Shame, Finding Joy & Becoming a Super Attractor With Gabrielle Bernstein

Child: Welcome to my Mommy’s podcast.

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Katie: Hello, and welcome to the Wellness Mama podcast. I’m Katie, from wellnessmama.com, and now, wellnesse.com, that’s wellness with an ‘e’ on the end, which is our new line of personal care products, like hair care, toothpaste, and hand sanitizer, that are not just safe and natural, but work better than their chemical counterparts.

This episode, I’m really excited to share with you today, because it’s all about healing trauma, releasing shame, finding joy, and becoming a super attractor. I’m here with Gabrielle Bernstein, who is the number one New York Times best-selling author of books like “The Universe has Your Back,” and “Super Attractor,” her newest book, which launched last year. She’s been featured on everything from Oprah’s SuperSoul Sunday to almost every TV show, the Dr. Oz show, all kinds of networks, and she co-hosted the Guinness world record largest guided meditation, along with Deepak Chopra.

The reason I wanted to have her on is that she also has trauma in her past, and has recovered and then let her recovery become a path to helping other people. And since trauma recovery has been a big part of my story these last couple of years, I’ve gotten many, many questions about it, and I don’t consider myself qualified as an expert in mental health or trauma recovery, but I’m trying to connect you guys with more people who are a good resource for that, and I think Gabby has a lot of great resources, and I’m very excited to share her, and share those resources with you today. Gabby, welcome. Thank you so much for being here.

Gabby: I’m so happy to be with you.

Katie: It is such an honor to finally get to chat with you. I’ve read several of your books and I’ve known of your work for a really long time. And the last two years for me have been a journey through healing from trauma and kind of recovery that led to like a dramatic 80 pound weight loss and just completely changed my life. And since I’ve shared my story, so many people have come with questions of how did you work through this and where do you start? And I have similar trauma or a similar story. Where do I even begin? And I think you’re just such an amazing voice for this, that I knew I had to have you on to talk. And if you don’t mind, I would love to hear a little bit of your story as we start because you also have a really incredible story of recovery and healing.

Gabby: Well, first of all, I want to honor you because anyone who is brave enough to face trauma is a warrior. Truly. It’s, uh, it’s something that I think often people are too terrified to face, which is why so many people become addicted or why they become, it’s all the reasons why we run. So when we do become brave enough to even listen to a podcast with this topic, that’s a big deal. So whoever’s listening right now, God bless you and to you, I just want to really bow to you for your bravery because I’ve been through it myself and I really am going to say that’s what I’m most proud of about myself today is my bravery and my willingness to go to the places that scare me so that I could come out the other side so we can start there.

I’ve been a spiritual teacher for 15 years, but prior to that I was quite the opposite. In my early twenties, I was running a nightlife PR company. And I was running, running, running, running from something I was unaware of. I didn’t know what I was running from, but I was severely anxious all the time. I had a severe codependency addiction, constantly in and out of relationships that didn’t serve me. And I ultimately became quite addicted to cocaine and alcohol, but primarily to cocaine, which if anyone, unfortunately, had the unfortunate experience of being addicted to cocaine, you know, it’s a very, very dark drug, but at the same time, it’s a drug that takes you down. So I was quite blessed by the age of 25 to be really on my knees ready to change because it was life or death for me.

And there was a voice within me in the deepest throes of my addiction that knew I was running from something but didn’t know what it was. There was a voice within me that wanted more. I had stacks of self-help books next to my bed. I would constantly read through them and journal and seek. I was seeking, seeking, seeking, all the while using. But by the grace of God, at age 25, I made the decision to get clean and sober and I made that commitment, not just to myself, but ultimately to the world in a big way. My decision to get sober was the catalyst for my own personal growth, but also my spiritual awakening, which then led me to become a self-proclaimed spirit junkie, the author of now eight spiritual self-help books and most importantly, a shame-shifter.

Somebody who really made the commitment to, to live with vulnerability and authenticity so that I could take away the shame of addiction and trauma and be a voice for recovery. My recovery began with my sobriety, but it continued far beyond that. My sober recovery was one step, but then I kept running. I was running for many, many years through workaholism and finally I really hit another bottom with that to only crack into a memory of childhood trauma. So, in 2016, I had a dream of being sexually abused as a child and then being an adult confronting it. When I woke up, I thought to myself, hell no, I am not going to touch that. I am not ever speaking of that. I’m not going anywhere with that. Then I was in a therapy session days later to be prompted to remember it fully. Not completely, but to accept the remembrance of that moment. When we’re children and we have these types of traumas, we can dissociate from them, which was the case for me. But as soon as I accepted my experience as a child, I realized that’s why I use drugs and alcohol. That’s why I’ve been a workaholic. That’s why I have anxiety attacks. That’s why I have chronic pain. That’s why, that’s why, that’s why, and that conversation, that’s why I went on you know, I could go on for hours of all the “that’s why’s.” TMJ, sleep issues, everything. So since 2016 I’ve been on an extremely devoted journey of healing from that traumatic remembrance and from the traumas of my history. Uh, and most recently I’m still in trauma recovery. I’m 16 months postpartum and when I had my child, about four months after I gave birth, I was blessed with postpartum depression.

I say blessed because it deepened my personal growth journey once again. Whenever we hit these bottoms, we’re led to more. So the trauma healing has become even more grounded. And even more freedom has come from having been to the darkest moment of my life, which was the postpartum depression. So that’s a very sort of, a quick way of saying this has been a long journey of recovery, but I want to really acknowledge that throughout this journey of recovery, I have accepted fully and completely, but every single experience I’ve had has been exactly as it’s needed to be so that I could become the woman that I am today. And so that I could face those places within me that scared me. So that I could live to tell what freedom really looks like and help guide people spiritually and through psychological practices and methods that I have garnered over the years to really help others become free and to know what mental illness is and to know what trauma feels like and looks like. And to know what addiction is from a very vulnerable and authentic place is what has allowed me to, in many cases, help people save their own lives. So I’m grateful for all of it.

Katie: I love that. And I’m so, I love that you brought up the term “shame” and that term “shame-shifter,” which is so perfect because I think for women especially, they certainly… Way too many women have been through some form of trauma and we hear the awful statistics about that. But then there’s all these other layers that come after it. I feel like the shame and the shame attached to things like mental illness or postpartum depression or miscarriage or like there’s all these aspects of like a female existence, there’s just so much shame attached to. And I know like that was kind of a long process for me unraveling and trying to take all those layers of shame and guilt and all of the emotions that came with that often. And even realizing like, you, I’m very driven and I’ve felt like that’s been an advantage to me in life. And so I worried if I work through this, am I going to lose my edge? Am I going to stop being driven? Am I going to stop being as productive? And it’s just, there’s so many layers, so I’d love to go a little deeper on, for women especially, but anyone listening, how can we start shifting from that shame to stepping more into vulnerability and into the lessons of that and like to you, now having gratitude for that?

Gabby: Oh yeah. Well, first of all, I just wanted to speak to you directly in terms of, you know, am I going to lose my edge? You know, I think that drive that traumatized people have is actually, you’re driven by fear. So yes, sometimes traumatized people can become immobilized and do nothing. And then folks like you and I can fight, flight, freeze. We were in flight, right? And in that flight state, you can sometimes be very overly productive because it’s another form of running. So I just wanted to acknowledge that and as you’re still in your recovery and you’re in this, this beautiful journey that, sorry, I don’t mean to be like coaching you right now, but I just, I just heard that and I wanted to respond to it ,that you won’t lose your edge, that you will lose the edges and it will become a much more fluid way of creating and you’ll be able to do less and attract more. So I just want to really be a voice of hope for you and I imagine that you’re already on that path. As it relates to shame, so many people don’t even recognize their shame, not speaking for myself. I was a year into my recovery, my trauma recovery. It was a year since I had remembered this trauma and we did a workshop that I was leading and there was another teacher co-leading it with me and I sat in on her program and in her program she did a whole bit on shame. And I sat there in that room for the first time, after having, at that point, probably a decade of personal and spiritual growth, and a decade of teaching and writing behind me.

And in that moment was when I really looked at myself and said, Holy shit, this is all about shame. I am carrying the shame of the abuser. I’m carrying the shame of being abused. I’m carrying the shame of being an addict. I’m carrying the shame of not feeling good enough and carrying the shame of being unworthy. I’m carrying the shame of all the wreckage from my past I’m carrying…but mostly I’m carrying the shame of being a child who was neglected and felt unlovable. Because when we have moments in our childhood that dissociate us from, that separate us from the God within us, from the love within us, the story that’s built up around us is that I am unlovable and I am unworthy. And being in that place of feeling unlovable is a very shameful place for a child to be. So the person, the child, will do anything they can to avoid that feeling. And that becomes a lifetime of avoiding that feeling. That was the experience I had. So having a recognition of my shame, which came a decade into my career was a really big turning point for me.

Katie: Yeah, I think that’s really profound and it seems like many people, I mean, I would guess the vast majority make it to adulthood with some version of that kind of filter in their head of “I’m not lovable or I’m not worthy.” Or for me it was, I’m not good enough. And I was always a striving to be, to prove myself good enough and I don’t know if it was the same for you, but like you mentioned gratitude. I had to realize kind of now at this point in my journey looking back, I could be grateful for the lessons and the things that I had learned as a result of the trauma and still not have to hold onto the shame and not have to hold onto the pain. But there was like a fear in releasing that at the beginning because I felt like those things kept me safe for a long time and I had to acknowledge like these mental filters I had kept me safe. They protected me for a long time. Or even the physical weight kind of was a shield that I used to protect myself for a long time and now I can let it go, but that doesn’t mean I have to lose the lesson. And in fact, like you said, I loved that, that was a perfect line. You don’t lose your edge, but you soften your edges. That’s such a perfect reframe of that. And, and you’re right, I think it’s like we also are a constant journey of that. I thought I had dealt with pretty much all of it and I was feeling in this great place. And then with the lockdowns and quarantine, the first week I was like viscerally angry and I didn’t want to eat anything and I was working out nonstop and I just like felt like I wanted to get in a fight and I couldn’t figure out what it was at first.

And eventually talking through it with a therapist, I realized because of my trauma I had resolved, I would never feel helpless again. So I had put all these systems in place so that I never felt helpless. I could always be in control. And then this big thing happened that I had no control over and that helplessness came raring back. And so I had to face it once again. But in a sense it was also a beautiful opportunity because I was able to acknowledge that and work through it and kind of face an aspect that I thought I had already dealt with. And it’s, I love your perspective and you’ve mentioned that it’s in many of your books about finding the gratitude and finding the lessons and being grateful in all of that. I think you just, you frame it so beautifully.

Gabby: Well first, Katie, I want to just to acknowledge that you are not alone in that, that first week of coronavirus re-traumatization. So first of all, I mean, I was right there with you. Rage was my number one emotion. But the world right now is in a pre-traumatized state and particularly people who are folks who do have deeper traumatic wounds are very kicked up, very activated. And for anyone out there who doesn’t have the right resources or the right therapeutic guidance or even psychiatric guidance, if that’s what’s necessary, you may feel as though you’re so activated at this time because the deep root desire of a traumatized person is to feel in control. That’s my belief because we’ve been experienced an experience that has been so out of our control that we will do whatever we can to stay in control in order to feel safe and that was what you were saying about I will never be helpless again. That’s another form of saying I will never be out of control again. So when a pandemic hits and our control is taken from us, we can no longer safely walk to the grocery store and walk in with our child or we can no longer send our kids to school or whatever the ways that we’ve created a life that felt seemingly safe are taken from us. The traumatic events from our history are going to be extremely activated. And that’s for anyone, whether you have severe trauma or not, that we are all going through a pre-traumatized state and I say pre-traumatized because we can work through it now so that we don’t come out with PTSD. Or honestly I’m going to be a, I’m going to be writing books for a very long time and there will be guidance for us when we do come out of this and there will be a lot of PTSD and there’ll be support then.

So I just want to just also acknowledge anyone that’s listening right now is in some way open to personal growth at this time. So it’s taking this experience that we’re going through right now where we are absolutely activated, absolutely re-traumatized and retriggered feeling completely out of control, which is the biggest fear of a person who has any kind of history of trauma. And even those of you who don’t remember or don’t recognize it, the feeling of out of control is very, very severe. And that’s when we can really begin to rely on a spiritual foundation. That’s when we can rely on a prayer practice, a meditation practice, and even therapeutic practices for grounding ourselves in regulating our own nervous system. Because when we are in a triggered state, our cortisol levels are shot through the roof, which then creates inflammation in our body, which makes our gastrointestinal tract really malfunction, which makes our physical pain get exacerbated, which makes our relationships out of whack and ultimately puts us into a vibrational stance that’s very frantic.

And in that place we can’t attract the, the opportunities, the abundance, the connections, the support that we need right now. So this is a time right now for learning how to self-regulate. Frankly, it’s always been a time for learning how to self-regulate, but now more than ever, and so we can talk about that a bit. I’m happy to give some tools on this podcast as well. But I will answer your question or speak to the concept of gratitude because what we can be most grateful for right now in the midst of this pandemic is, that we can be grateful for being given the opportunity to choose a different path. Right now we can go through this numb and dissociate or we can wake up. We can wake up to a path of personal growth, a path of spiritual development, a path of a different way of perceiving the world, a way of seeing the world through the lens of love, seeing more oneness seen through the lens of compassion, feeling more connected, feeling awakened to a spiritual relationship. That’s an opportunity that I’m grateful for.

Katie: I love that. And I would love to go into the idea of how to self-regulate a little bit more because that’s been very top of mind for me. And I also find myself saying that to my kids quite a bit right now cause I think even older kids are having some of these similar experiences in trying to navigate this sort of out of control feeling and all the uncertainty. And I love the quote from Viktor Frankel that says “between stimulus and response, there’s a space. And in that space is our power to choose our response. And in our response lies our growth and our freedoms.” And I think you’re right, like we are in, if we look at it this way, we’re in a very unique opportunity of growth right now and almost like, I heard someone refer to it as a cocoon of sorts.

Like we are in this tough time, but we have the option to transform through it and to emerge better on the other side. So I’d love to hear the tips you have for how do you self-regulate, especially for all the other parents listening who maybe are overwhelmed right now and have kids at home and are navigating a new reality.

Gabby: These are tools that I want every mom or dad or person, human being listening to master. And as you master these methods, you then can give them to your children because they’re tools that you could give to a child that would change the course of their life. It’s ultimately a resilient child. As a child who knows how to self-regulate. And these are tools that most of us were never gifted as children, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever. So I’ll get into the kid part first, but let’s first put our own oxygen mask on and take care of ourselves as the parents or as the adults. So one really beautiful empowering method that I use all throughout the day is a hold. It’s a heart hold where you place your left hand on your heart and your right hand on your belly. And on the inhale you extend your diaphragm. You let your diaphragm really just move out and extend, on the exhale you relax your diaphragm, you inhale out and you can close your eyes while we do this. And exhale and release.

Inhale out, exhale and release, inhale out and exhale and release. And on the inhale and the exhale, you can now begin to say to yourself, and I’ll say first, but you can say to yourself, silently, I am safe. I am safe, I am safe, I am safe, I am safe, I am safe. Just take a deep breath in and hold that feeling of safety and on the exhale, just let it go. That simple practice practiced in about a minute can regulate your energy. What it’s doing is the breath is actually sending oxygen to your brain, stimulating your vagus nerve, which is going to regulate… It’s the nerve that regulates your entire nervous system, relaxes your gastrointestinal system. It will just get you back to a state of peace and then keep going. If it feels good, go for more. You can do it in the moment.

You can do it in the bath. You can do it when you wake up in the morning and you’re lying in bed. You can do it when you wake up in the middle of the night and you need to fall back asleep. Just hold and say, I am safe. If I am safe, doesn’t resonate with you. You can say, I am taken care of, I am supported, I am loved. Whatever affirmation makes you feel comfortable. It makes you feel grounded. And again, I’d love to share this, you know, for people to share this with their children. The most important thing that we can be doing right now for self-regulation also is really releasing our rage because I think that that pent up rage is what causes so much of the reactivity in our life. And this is really taking from the work of Dr. John Sarno who wrote books like Healing Back Pain and The Mindbody Prescription and his whole belief system is that chronic pain is the direct result of impermissible rage.

So right now we are, are definitely being activated and in that activation, this rage that’s just been brewing within us for decades is busting out. So one thing you can do is just go for a walk and scream it out. You can really literally just scream it out into the woods if it’s possible, a method that I’ve been practicing that my friend Nicole Sachs had taught me what she called a journal speak. I call it rage on the page. I raged for 20 minutes in my journal. This is a method she gave me over about a month ago. And I was like, this has changed my life. Twenty minutes of raging on the page in the journal and then 20 minutes of meditation. And what I added to that was actually binaural music or bilateral music from Spotify where I just listened to this bilateral music, which stimulates both sides of the brain and really calms that lower part of the brain so that you can then be in more of your resource brain and balance out your emotions. So that’s 20 minutes of writing all the rage on the page while you’re listening to this bilateral music. And it’s stimulating both sides of the brain, which is when the music comes in one ear and then comes in the other and then really meditating to that music for about another 20 minutes. Now, if you don’t have 40 minutes, my child’s sleeping for three hours in middle of the day, you have six children. So you do not have 40 minutes, do it for 10 minutes, whatever you can do.

Katie: I love that and I think people maybe often underestimate how just saying those same things to ourselves can have such a dramatic impact. And I definitely discounted that for a really long time before I actually tried it myself. When you talk about rage, that really resonates because after my trauma in high school, I shut down my emotions, I remember consciously doing it. Like I will not feel again, so I will not be hurt again. And I didn’t raise my voice. I didn’t experience anger that I knew of for 16 years until I actually did that. I kind of went through this almost like rage therapy and when that finally like broke back open and I was able to feel it was like this, you know, decades of emotion came flooding out. I did a similar thing with tapping and the person I was working with, she had me say, you know, even though I am experiencing whatever it was right now, I love and accept myself and I love and accept myself as I now choose.

And then whatever the new state I was going to move into was and those first few times it was like I didn’t believe myself saying that I love and accept myself. It was hard. Like I cried. It was hard to even hear those words because I knew they weren’t even true. And then I felt that shift. Like it did slowly shift over time and it changed my mental state. And I know you talk about this in Super Attractor and you’ve talked about it in some of your other books as well, but let’s talk about that. How can we start to like move into alignment with those new mental states or like in Super Attractor, like into joy because I think that’s so profound when you can make that shift.

Gabby: Well, first of all, I’m really glad that you mentioned EFT. So emotional freedom technique is excellent for anyone who’s traumatized or anxious. And why don’t I give you one more tool and then I’ll talk about another tool which is about really reprogramming our thinking and it’s a method from Super Attractor. But one thing you can also do is you can tap on this one specific point and these are energy meridians and when they’re tapped on they actually can really release that fight or flight state. So the point is called the gamut point, but I like to refer to it, Katie, as the “holy shit point.” And this is when you’re really activated. And so it’s between your pinky finger and your ring finger and maybe in your show notes you can link to an image of it or something and you tap on this point and you can still use that affirmation, I am safe or I am well, or you can even say I deeply and completely love and accept myself.

Even though I feel anxious, I deeply and completely love and accept myself that point, I would tap that point all day long, early in my trauma recovery when I was in this sort of re-traumatized state, I would walk around all day just tapping that point and it’s that little point, that little skin between the pinky finger and the ring finger on the top of the hand. So we can find an image of it for everybody. But, um, that’s a really nice practice that I would highly recommend if you are new to EFT and you just want to tap to feel instant relief, that’s a big one. What I want to really call out as a practice that you’ve just recognized is how do we change our thinking? How do we change our behavioral patterns at this time? And in my book, Super Attractor, the most important method in the book, and the book has methods for manifesting a life beyond your wildest dreams, but really their methods for feeling good.

That’s what the whole book is about, is feeling good. Because when we feel good, we become a super attractor. So the method that’s in the book that I think is so valuable that’s especially for right now, it’s kind of like a cognitive behavioral therapy method because it’s about rethinking. So it’s called the choose again method. And the first step is to witness the negative fear-based thought that you have on repeat. So for me, I’ll just use myself as example. For me right now, when I had postpartum depression and anxiety, I suffered from insomnia. And right now I’m about to try to conceive again and I’m nervous about my sleep because I had been using melatonin and some other sleep aids that I won’t be able to use when I’m pregnant. So I’m trying to just learn how to sleep again and I’m nervous about it.

So my story has been oh God, I’m scared of my sleep. I’m scared I’m not gonna be able to sleep. And so I’ve been using this choose, again, method all throughout the day. So the first step is to notice the fearful thought and notice how it makes you feel. So the fearful thought for me is I’m scared about sleeping, then sends this pang of anxiety into my chest. Okay? So I’m familiar with the thought, now I know what it is. I’m calling it out. And then referencing, there it is. There’s my fear. And the second step is to forgive yourself for having the thought. Now, Katie, this is major because if we don’t forgive ourselves for… when we forgive ourselves for the thought, what we do is we recognize that the thought is not who I am. The thought that I have insomnia is not the truth of who I am.

That’s an old story. That’s an old ego-based belief that I’m bringing into the present, but when I forgive myself for having the thought, I disconnect myself from the belief that that thought is who I am. Now I unpack that a lot in the book, but I want to just really highlight that even in this moment when I say I forgive myself for thinking that I have, a sleep issue, it immediately dissolves the thought for me because it’s saying I am not my past. I am in a different place in this present moment. Now, the third step is the fun and crucial step, which is to choose again. The choose again method is about reaching for the next best feeling thought. So if we’re going to use my example, I can start reaching. I can say, well, I’m no longer in a panic disorder because I’ve treated the postpartum experience and I’m not where I was a year ago.

I have the resources and the support system. I’ve never felt more grounded than I do today. After all that I’ve been through and all that I have faced, I have a connection to a spiritual guidance system that can help me through this period. I can accept that my sleep might not be as great if I’m not on melatonin, but I will change my new patterns and accept each day as it goes. Or I can also go to the place of saying, when I’m pregnant, I will be tired and that will help me sleep. So just reaching for the thoughts that you believe in, proactively guide you out of the story that you’ve been hooked into. And it’s these stories that we grasp onto that become belief systems and the beautiful teacher, Abraham Hicks say that a belief is just a thought that you keep thinking.

So when we just repeat that thought and repeat that thought and repeat that thought, that becomes a belief system. And for me, I have just been totally in acceptance that that thought doesn’t have to be mine right now. And I can choose to believe, through the practice of rethinking this and choosing again, I can choose to believe that I’m going to be tired when I’m pregnant and sleep beautifully and that my body does remember how to sleep and my brain does remember how to sleep and that I have all these great sleep hygiene routines and I can really reprogram the way I’m thinking. Did that, did that make sense to you Katie?

Katie: Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, I think that’s such an important point. And I think, like I said, I didn’t believe just how profound these things were until I started actually changing the internal things I was saying to myself. And you know, you hear all those quotes and things about how your body listens to everything your mind says and all of that but it really is incredible when you actually start reprogramming that.

And like the other thing you talk about like Super Attractor, I loved it. It was all about kind of like getting into that alignment. And then in doing so, being able to attract the things that you want and need in your life. Can you kind of explain the concept of that? And then, and then also maybe some of the roadblocks that happen when people are attracting things they don’t want and how we can fix that.

Gabby: Yeah. I think that anytime we’re not attracting what we want or attracting things we don’t want, it’s just a sign of misalignment. It’s a sign that we’ve been thinking a thought for too long that we don’t want and has become a belief system. That belief system has created a vibration within us, an energetic state. That energetic state has been expressed out into the world and that is what we’re getting back. It’s being served back up to us. So it’s really about just recognizing that the energy that we express is a boomerang and our thoughts inform our energy and our energy informs our actions and our actions are picked up and put back to us. And as well as our energy, even if we don’t take any action, the feelings that we have are reflected back to us in our experiences. So practicing a book like Super Attractor will put you on a path of undoing the belief systems and the patterns and the energetic state that has kept you in the misalignment and kept you from attracting what you genuinely want in your life. By undoing those patterns and belief systems, you start to restore a greater sense of presence and peace within you that ultimately changes the direction of your life.

Katie: Gotcha. Okay. So can you kind of walk us through, in a little bit more detail, like I know you have the four step action method for kind of creating the life you want. Can you walk us through that?

Gabby: Well, I know the whole book is filled with methods. One of them was the choose again, method that I gave you. Other methods could include, there’s a daily design method, which I think would be very valuable for folks right now because right now a lot of people are feeling immobilized. They’re feeling stuck. In that state, they don’t have much… They wake up in the morning, maybe turn right to the news or social media or whatever’s going on. But instead, what would happen if you woke up in the morning, you opened a journal or even your phone and you answered these three questions or four questions actually. How do I want to feel today? Who do I want to be today? The answers to something like that like I want to be a good mother. I want to be a happy person today or whatever.

So how do I want to feel today? Who do I want to be today? What do I want to give today and what do I want to receive today? When we answer those four questions, we design our day. We set the day up the way that we want, the way that we’re intending. Even simply making those statements to ourselves silently or writing them down in the morning, sets ourselves up to win. It sets an intention and it redirects us off of the news, the drama, the stories, the emails, the text messages, the fear from yesterday, and it redirects the energetic state that we’re in into a place that we want to be in today. So I would love for people to start using that daily design.

Katie: I love that. That seems like something great to do with kids as well, which was going to be one of my next questions. You’re a mom so how can we foster this mindset from like a very early age with our kids and I know obviously I’m hearing some of the stuff you’ve already said and thinking this would be great to do with my kids, especially that four step formula, but I’m curious how you’re approaching it as a mom even with the really little ones to kind of hopefully give them this foundation so that they’re not having to address some of these things as an adult like many of us are, but they can start from a young age, having this mindset.

Gabby: The absolute most valuable thing I believe as a mom, that a parent could do right now is read these two books. One of them is called Trauma-Proofing Your Kids and it’s a book by the leading trauma therapist, Peter Levine, Dr. Peter Levine, and the other book is by Dan Siegel, which I’m sure you’ve read some of the Dan Siegel books and this book is called No-Drama Discipline. I cannot recommend these two books enough. No-Drama Discipline is frankly blowing my mind because what it’s teaching is how to connect with your child’s feelings and to validate their feelings, honor their feelings. Because when a child is in an overactive state and acting out and doing something that’s inappropriate or whatever it may be, they’re not in their resource part of their brain. They’re not in their upstairs brain. They’re in their downstairs brain. And that downstairs brain is emotion.

It’s all the feelings, whereas the upstairs brain can problem solve, but we can’t just force them into that problem solving brain because that doesn’t work. Throwing them into a timeout saying you’re not, you know, what are you doing? You shouldn’t be doing this. It just throws them into more of a triggered state. So if we just can regulate them by just being really, really recognizing their emotions, their feelings, validating their feelings, even though we may not say that what they did was correct, we can validate their feelings about it and it’s all about connection. And then once you felt that connection, that’s when you can redirect. I could do an entire podcast with you on this work. But Dan Siegel’s work and Peter Levine are just blowing my mind personally and as a parent and professionally actually because I’m just like, I got to teach this work everywhere I can. It’s unbelievable.

Katie: I’m definitely going to check out both of those because having been through trauma myself, that’s something I think about a lot with my kids. And I know obviously every parent, you know, with very rare exceptions or like mental illness, every parent wants to do the best they can with their kids. But yet I think so, like we talked about the beginning of so many people make it to adulthood with these filters or these scripts of not being good enough or not being worthy or not being lovable. And so I’ve thought about that a lot in the recent years as my kids get older. It’s like, how can we as parents better navigate this and still teach them and help them learn important life lessons, but also make sure that they get to adulthood with the feeling of being loved and worthy and valuable and good enough. And I’m sure like we still will do many things wrong or wish we could do things a little better as parents. But, um, I can’t wait to check out both of those books. How old is your little guy now?

Gabby: He’s 16 months.

Katie: Oh, that’s awesome. That’s such a great age.

Gabby: He’s so much fun. He’s so cool. Yeah. Yeah. It’s been, and that’s been the silver lining of this whole experience is that I actually, we have full time childcare, not full, you know, five days a week childcare when we’re working, because my husband and I run our business, but we don’t have that right now. And it’s been really a blessing even though I have a lot less hours in the day. I have this bond that when I went through the postpartum depression, I didn’t, I lost some of that bonding time and I’ve now been able to reignite that with my son. So it’s very special.

Katie: That is, and two things there I want to touch on a little bit. So I’m curious if you have any strategies or just any personal experience of how you’ve navigated this path with your husband and being in relationship? Because I know at least from my own experience, having been through some kind of trauma like that, and especially once you’ve put up walls or with the shame that we talked about earlier, it’s like it can make it hard to be vulnerable and to connect in relationships sometimes. And so I’m curious if you have anything that’s been helpful for you guys in your relationship or help to strengthen that bond as you work through these levels of trauma.

Gabby: Oh, this is such a whole other podcast. I agree with that. So there’s really great gifts in being on your own personal growth journey, but there’s an even greater gift than in being on one with a partner because your partner is the one who continues to trigger your core wounds and activate them, which only allows you to have the opportunity to go deeper into your own personal growth. So if you see it that way, it can be a real blessing, if you don’t, it can be a pain in the ass. It can be torturous. So thankfully my husband and I both been on our own journeys separately and together. The places that I think I’ve felt the most, the deepest connection is even reading these, these Dan Siegel books, realizing that the same way that I would treat my child when he’s activated is how I have to treat my husband and myself. So if my husband’s, you know, throwing an attitude around and he’s upset about things, I have to recognize that I can’t just jump into solution with him. I have to honor his feelings. So by simply saying… Last night I said, he was really stressed out because we have so much going on. And I said, “You know, listen honey, why don’t you just tell me how you feel and I don’t need to problem solve. I’ll just listen.” And his whole face just lit up. Like, thank you so much. So the answer is I recommend couples therapy to every family, every human, every couple. I think every couple should be in couples therapy, especially if you have children, every couple should be in couples therapy. And I say that should with a real “S” a capital “S,” Should, and I’m not a “should”er, but I think that is my big should for the lifetime. And uh, it’s my highest recommendation. Also just doing your own personal growth work, you have to hope and pray that your partner will grow with you.

Katie: Absolutely. Yeah, definitely agree. And I love that. And then the other point of what you said that I really resonated with as you said, you were just you’re being grateful for not having the childcare right now and for more time with your son and at home and I think it’s easy to fall into that out of control feeling or the uncertainty or the helplessness like we talked about earlier on. But we also all do have the choice to choose gratitude. And I’m hopeful, especially, I think moms kind of direct the mood at a lot of households and I’m hopeful that we can kind of collectively let this become a great experience like we talked about for us and for our families and for our kids.

And I’m hopeful that we’ll also keep some of the good lessons of this. Like many more people are gardening and many more people are cooking at home with their families or spending more one on one time with their kids or just spending more time in nature. So as things hopefully relatively quickly move back towards what we remember in life, I also hope we can keep the good and keep the lessons. And, um, and like you said, use this as a catalyst for change in our lives and kind of a metamorphosis of sorts. Um, for people who are new to you, I know you’re very well-known and I guess most listeners have heard of you, but for someone who’s new, who is ready to kind of jump in and kind of go on this journey, where would you recommend that they start with your work and your books?

Gabby: I would say head over to my site, Gabbybernstein.com and really just allow yourself to be guided there because there’s so much content. There’s so many free resources. If you’re a reader and you are looking for a spiritual book, I think a great place to start is my book, The Universe Has Your Back. If you read The Universe Has Your Back, a great one would be Super Attractor. But I’ve written eight books now, so I think that the best thing to do is also just go read the introductions online and see what’s the most, what’s really striking you as your path, your journey with me. I probably need to do sort of like a website form of like a choose your own adventure with the books, you know, like, which direction do you want to go in right now? But you can spend some time on Amazon reading the introductions and seeing what feels right for you.

Katie: I love it and I will make sure all of those links are at wellnessmama.fm in the show notes. If you guys are listening while you are driving or exercising, you can find everything we’ve talked about there. And I know Gabby, you have so many resources on your site including a meditation challenge. I’ll make sure we link to that as well. But I love that you’re a voice of calm and gratitude even in these kind of tough and uncertain times. And I love your message throughout your books of us being able to choose joy. And to choose a positive response. I think it’s so important and so needed right now and especially with no childcare. I really appreciate you making the time today to be here and to share your, your message and your journey.

Gabby: Thank you. And listen, I really do want to encourage people, if this is coming out in before the 17th of May or even within that week to take me up on this journey of this 21-day challenge because Katie, I’d love to have you involved in doing it because I’ve put in these meditations, daily new meditations for people and I think so many people have been begging me right now for guidance on how to meditate in this crisis. And so I feel it’s my responsibility as a spiritual teacher to give those tools. So I’m really glad that you brought that up because I think that taking… and also being part of a community right now, feeling part of a collective group of people going on a journey together. So we’ll give them all those details.

Katie: I love it. So yeah, you guys make sure you check out the show notes and find those links. Gabby, thank you so much for your time and for all that you do.

Gabby: Thank you. Thank you for your vulnerability too. Thank you so much.

Katie: And thanks as always to you for listening and sharing one of your most valuable resources, your time, with both of us today. We’re very grateful that you did and I hope that you will join me again on the next episode of the Wellness Mama podcast.

If you’re enjoying these interviews, would you please take two minutes to leave a rating or review on iTunes for me? Doing this helps more people to find the podcast, which means even more moms and families could benefit from the information. I really appreciate your time, and thanks as always for listening.

Source: https://wellnessmama.com/podcast/gabrielle-bernstein/

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pearcar93-blog · 5 years

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Is Autoimmune Paleo The Best Diet For Hashimoto’s?

Recently, I got an email from a reader asking me how I manage to not feel guilty when indulging in the foods I love. She had recently been diagnosed with an autoimmune disease and was trying to figure out what diet was right for her without turning her life completely upside down.

It wasn’t an easy note to answer. Because there’s no simple antidote to guilt and food shame, otherwise I would surely write you a how-to on the subject. I find that the most useful answer is knowing you’re not alone in feeling it.

If you’ve read The Wellness Project, then you know it took me far longer than the year at hand to get my healthy hedonism mindset under control. There were so many should not’s when it came to the diet piece. So many contradictions. So much confusion.

When I cross-referenced the prevailing anti-inflammatory diets, the no-no foods listed on my yellow legal pad included the trio from my vice detox—alcohol, caffeine, and sugar—along with the big eight allergens: dairy, wheat, eggs, tree nuts, peanuts, shellfish, fish, and soy. Some recommend no eggs, seeds, beans, legumes, or grains of any kind.

Many only advocate animal protein if its wild, grass-fed, free-range or organic. And others said no animal protein at all. Add nightshade vegetables (tomatoes, peppers, potatoes, and eggplant) and cruciferous vegetables (broccoli, cabbage Brussels sprouts and, yes, kale) for thyroid sufferers and it starts to feel like all that’s left are organic blueberries not flown in from Chile.

One of the flagpole diets I came across was AIP, otherwise known as Autoimmune Paleo. The books that promoted it unequivocally said that all autoimmune peeps would benefit.

While knowing that most autoimmune diseases are more alike than different, I struggled to see how so much restriction could be necessary for everyone. And then inevitably felt guilty about the food groups I didn’t manage to eliminate.

Eventually, I came to understand that my initial instincts were right. I just didn’t have the clinical practice to back them up. Which is why I asked Jill Grunewald, as the second post in her HashiPosse series, to break it down. Below she explains what autoimmune paleo is, why it’s not necessarily the right answer for those of us with Hashimoto’s, and when it might be time to give it a try.

If you’ve been wondering about AIP or found yourself confused about who falls under its umbrella of efficacy, I hope you’ll give this post a read!

Jill’s approach is very similar to my own in the 4 Weeks to Wellness Program. For those looking for some support trying out an elimination diet, finding your trigger foods, or slowly on-boarding to a healthier lifestyle, I highly recommend joining me for the fall session!

Enrollment is officially open. You can find out more here.

With health and hedonism,

Phoebe

Is AIP The Best Diet for Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis?

If you’ve been tuned into the thyroid and Hashimoto’s (autoimmune hypothyroidism) community, you’ve likely heard of (or tried?) a Paleo or Autoimmune Paleo diet (AIP).

There are varying twists, but generally, with Paleo, you’re eating what’s believed to be what our ancestors ate: meat (grass-based/pastured), fish, vegetables, fruits, nuts, seeds, herbs, spices, eggs, unrefined coconut and olive oil, and animal fats like ghee, lard, and tallow. According to some, fruit is off limits. Others only support eating berries.

Most notably, the paleo lifestyle excludes grains (including corn) and legumes (including soy), dairy (although some allow grass-fed), sugar, caffeine, and oils derived from seeds and grains, which can be high in inflammation-promoting Omega-6 fatty acids. Some claim no eggs and others say no starchy vegetables because they can’t be eaten raw.

An AIP diet, often recommended for those with autoimmune conditions, is similar to Paleo, but in addition to the above exclusions, eschews nuts, seeds, eggs, dairy, nightshade vegetables, and generally, fruit.

These diets have become the “prescription” for any manifestation of autoimmunity, but may not be the answer for everyone.

I see merit in these approaches in some circumstances, but I’m wholeheartedly skeptical of removing whole food groups from your diet, even for people with autoimmunity. This skepticism is thoughtful, based on years of taking a different approach that’s not so restrictive, and seeing my clients get the results they’re seeking.

I do have some “restrictions” around grains and legumes, which has always been to largely limit flour-based products and eat true whole (intact) non-gluten grains, in moderation, because it’s true that a diet heavy in grains can be inflammatory and lead to weight gain and blood sugar issues.

Legumes/beans are a great source of plant-based protein, but I recommend not making legumes the sole protein of any meal, unless you can truly handle them without digestive distress. Even some who don’t have autoimmune conditions can have a difficult time digesting legumes (i.e. those with SIBO or IBS who may find relief on a low FODMAP diet).

My Essential Thyroid Cookbook contains chapters called “In Defense of Grains” and “In Defense of Legumes” that highlight the research of Justin Sonnenburg, PhD and Associate Professor of Microbiology and Immunology at Stanford and the author of The Good Gut, co-authored by his wife Erica Sonnenburg, PhD. They’ve been trailblazers in discovering how the fiber in grains and legumes improves the health of our gut microbiome, our digestive “mini ecosystem.”

Likewise, Dr. Susan Blum, author of The Immune System Recovery Plan, regularly mentions quinoa, amaranth, millet, teff, buckwheat, various types of rice, and also legumes as part of her healing program.

Just in the last year or so, I’ve witnessed many functional medicine/functional nutrition experts sing the praises of moderate intake of properly prepared grains and legumes.

AIP Isn’t For Everyone

I was diagnosed with Hashimoto’s in early 2008. At that time, the popularity of the Paleo diet hadn’t crested.

Given that 70-80 percent of our immune system is in our digestive tract, I did the gut-healing Elimination Provocation diet—a version similar to the one I share with my clients today. It’s a temporary diet and excludes nuts—but not seeds, grains, or legumes, with the exception of peanuts (which are technically legumes) and soy (also a legume).

Within a few months, my Hashimoto’s was managed—without the use of thyroid hormone replacement drugs. Over those next couple of years, prior to the popularization of the AIP diet, the vast majority of my clients had the same success—plummeting antibodies and alleviation of their hypothyroid/Hashimoto’s symptoms.

Considering this, it’s difficult, in my opinion, to rationalize a highly restrictive diet in all circumstances, for everyone with autoimmunity.

I prefer a flexible Paleo diet or a “Paleo template,” in the context of the Elimination Provocation diet. Flexibility is key—it gives people more of a feeling of control and “I can do this” vs. “I have to do do this.”

Stress = Antibodies

Many who’ve tried strict Paleo and/or AIP diet have expressed feelings of stress and frustration at the highly restrictive nature of these diets—and some have seen increased antibodies, worsening of symptoms, and confusion about how long to eat this way. (I worked with many of these “AIP refugees,” as I call them.)

Some thrive on (and love) the AIP diet and I’m not here to disregard its merits! But often, it’s a two-steps-forward-two-steps-back situation. The stress that ensues—at least for some people—isn’t conductive to the healing that needs to take place.

There’s enough evidence showing that stress increases antibodies. It’s even said to be a trigger for the onset of autoimmune diseases. According to Dr. Mark Hyman, “Stress worsens the autoimmune response.”

While some may be directly affected by grains and legumes, others can get their autoimmunity managed while continuing to eat small amounts of these foods—as long as other dietary triggers are investigated vis a vis an Elimination Diet.

At the beginning of this post, I said that I see some merit in an AIP diet right out of the chute in some circumstances. In addition to the foods excluded in the Elimination Provocation diet, I recommend the exclusion of grains, legumes, and seeds, in two circumstances: when the symptoms of autoimmunity are so painful and distressing as to cause life-altering circumstances or when a simple Elimination Diet hasn’t proven successful.

According to Chris Kresser, a long-time Paleo proponent, autoimmunity expert, and author of The Paleo Cure, “The belief that ‘everyone’ will benefit from one particular dietary approach—no matter what it is—ignores the important differences that determine what is optimal for each person. These include variations in genes, gene expression, the microbiome, health status, activity levels, geography (e.g. latitude and climate), and more. When it comes to diet, there is no one-size-fits-all approach.”

Hopefully you can see that I’m not anti-AIP. Given that there are equally effective and also flexible approaches to gut healing and immune modulation that tend to dovetail more easily with our busy lifestyles, I feel that it’s in many people’s best interest to start with a less restrictive approach, which is also conducive to sticking with the healing protocol and getting the results wished for!

Jill Grunewald, HNC, Functional Medicine Certified Health Coach, and founder of Healthful Elements, is a thyroid health, Hashimoto’s, and alopecia (autoimmune hair loss) specialist and co-author of the #1 best selling Essential Thyroid Cookbook, of which this post is adapted from (the chapter, “Why This is Not Another Paleo or AIP Cookbook”).

Source: https://feedmephoebe.com/autoimmune-paleo-diet-hashimotos/

#read more #see more #check it out #interesting #learn more

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skinflesh97-blog · 5 years

Text

Is Autoimmune Paleo The Best Diet For Hashimoto’s?

One of the flagpole diets I came across was AIP, otherwise known as Autoimmune Paleo. The books that promoted it unequivocally said that all autoimmune peeps would benefit.

If you’ve been wondering about AIP or found yourself confused about who falls under its umbrella of efficacy, I hope you’ll give this post a read!

Enrollment is officially open. You can find out more here.

With health and hedonism,

Phoebe

Is AIP The Best Diet for Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis?

If you’ve been tuned into the thyroid and Hashimoto’s (autoimmune hypothyroidism) community, you’ve likely heard of (or tried?) a Paleo or Autoimmune Paleo diet (AIP).

These diets have become the “prescription” for any manifestation of autoimmunity, but may not be the answer for everyone.

Just in the last year or so, I’ve witnessed many functional medicine/functional nutrition experts sing the praises of moderate intake of properly prepared grains and legumes.

AIP Isn’t For Everyone

I was diagnosed with Hashimoto’s in early 2008. At that time, the popularity of the Paleo diet hadn’t crested.

Considering this, it’s difficult, in my opinion, to rationalize a highly restrictive diet in all circumstances, for everyone with autoimmunity.

Stress = Antibodies

Source: https://feedmephoebe.com/autoimmune-paleo-diet-hashimotos/

#read more #see more #check it out #interesting #learn more

0 notes

butaneplate02-blog · 5 years

Text

Is Autoimmune Paleo The Best Diet For Hashimoto’s?

One of the flagpole diets I came across was AIP, otherwise known as Autoimmune Paleo. The books that promoted it unequivocally said that all autoimmune peeps would benefit.

If you’ve been wondering about AIP or found yourself confused about who falls under its umbrella of efficacy, I hope you’ll give this post a read!

Enrollment is officially open. You can find out more here.

With health and hedonism,

Phoebe

Is AIP The Best Diet for Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis?

If you’ve been tuned into the thyroid and Hashimoto’s (autoimmune hypothyroidism) community, you’ve likely heard of (or tried?) a Paleo or Autoimmune Paleo diet (AIP).

These diets have become the “prescription” for any manifestation of autoimmunity, but may not be the answer for everyone.

Just in the last year or so, I’ve witnessed many functional medicine/functional nutrition experts sing the praises of moderate intake of properly prepared grains and legumes.

AIP Isn’t For Everyone

I was diagnosed with Hashimoto’s in early 2008. At that time, the popularity of the Paleo diet hadn’t crested.

Considering this, it’s difficult, in my opinion, to rationalize a highly restrictive diet in all circumstances, for everyone with autoimmunity.

Stress = Antibodies

Source: https://feedmephoebe.com/autoimmune-paleo-diet-hashimotos/

#read more #see more #check it out #interesting #learn more

0 notes

paullassiterca · 5 years

Text

Research Reveals Shocking Information About Sucralose (Splenda) Side Effects

Table of Contents

Splenda Was Approved With Near-Nonexistent Evidence of Safety

Sucralose ‘Should Carry a Big Red Warning Label’

All Artificial Sweeteners Are Toxic to Your Gut Bacteria

Sucralose Is Not an Inert Compound

Researchers Call for New Safety Review

Sucralose Linked to Liver, Kidney and Thymus Damage

Sucralose Raises Risk of Type 2 Diabetes

Lots of Studies Question Safety of Sucralose

Studies That Support Sucralose Safety

Artificial Sweeteners Trick Your Body Into Storing Fat

Commonly Reported Splenda Side Effects

Report Reactions to Splenda and Other Artificial Sweeteners

Healthier Sugar Substitutes

Sucralose (sold under the brand names Splenda, Splenda Zero, Zero-Cal, Sukrana, Apriva, SucraPlus, Candys, Cukren and Nevella, to name a few) was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 1998 as a tabletop sweetener and for use in products such as baked goods, nonalcoholic beverages, chewing gum, frozen dairy desserts, fruit juices and gelatins. It is also permitted as a general-purpose sweetener for all processed foods.

In the European Union, sucralose is known under the additive code E955. However, this artificial sweetener, like aspartame before it, was approved based on extremely limited evidence of safety, and studies published in the years since it was brought to market confirms early suspicions, showing it is not an inert substance after all; that it accumulates in body fat, disrupts your gut microbiome, and causes metabolic dysregulation and associated health problems.

Splenda Was Approved With Near-Nonexistent Evidence of Safety

The FDA claims it approved sucralose after reviewing more than 110 animal and human safety studies. What they don’t tell you is that of these 110 studies, only two human trials were actually published before the FDA approved sucralose for human consumption.

These two human trials had a grand total of 36 subjects, only 23 of whom were actually given sucralose, and the longest lasted just four days and looked at sucralose in relation to tooth decay, not human tolerance.1

What’s more, the absorption of sucralose into the human body was studied on a grand total of six men. Based on that study,2 the FDA allowed the findings to be generalized as being representative of the entire human population, including women, children, the elderly and those with any chronic illness — none of whom was ever examined.

These studies are hardly indicative of what might happen to someone consuming sucralose in multiple products every single day for years or a lifetime. Some of the animal studies also raised questions about the product’s safety, showing:3

Decreased red blood cells (a sign of anemia) at levels above 1,500 mg/kg/day

Increased male infertility by interfering with sperm production and vitality, as well as brain lesions at higher doses

Spontaneous abortions in nearly half the rabbit population given sucralose, compared to zero aborted pregnancies in the control group

A 23 percent death rate in rabbits, compared to a 6 percent death rate in the control group

I knew the approval of sucralose was a serious mistake, which is why I wrote “Sweet Deception” in 2006, despite the fact Johnson & Johnson threatened to sue me if the book went to publication. Since then, many new studies have confirmed my warnings, showing artificial sweeteners confuse your metabolism and cause biochemical distortions that can result in weight gain, metabolic dysfunction and other health problems.

Sucralose 'Should Carry a Big Red Warning Label’ as It Kills Your Beneficial Gut Bacteria and Accumulates in Your Fat Tissue

Sucralose has been found to be particularly damaging to your gut. Research4 published in 2008 found it reduces gut bacteria by 50 percent, preferentially targeting bacteria known to have important human health benefits. Consuming as few as seven little Splenda packets may be enough to have a detrimental effect on your gut microbiome.

The study also found it increases the pH level in your intestines, and is absorbed into and accumulates in fat tissue. In response to this study, James Turner, chairman of the national consumer education group Citizens for Health, issued the following statement:5

“The report makes it clear that the artificial sweetener Splenda and its key component sucralose pose a threat to the people who consume the product. Hundreds of consumers have complained to us about side effects from using Splenda, and this study … confirms that the chemicals in the little yellow package should carry a big red warning label.”

All Artificial Sweeteners Are Toxic to Your Gut Bacteria

More recent research confirmed these findings, and expanded them to all currently approved artificial sweeteners. The animal study,6 published in the journal Molecules in October 2018, found aspartame, sucralose, saccharin, neotame, advantame and acesulfame potassium-k all cause DNA damage in, and interfere with, the normal and healthy activity of gut bacteria.

As reported by Business Insider,7 the research team concluded that all of these sweeteners “had a toxic, stressing effect, making it difficult for gut microbes to grow and reproduce,” and that by being toxic to gut bacteria can have an adverse effect on human health.

Aside from the countless side effects associated with an impaired gut microbiome, the researchers warn it may also affect your body’s ability to process regular sugar and other carbohydrates.

Sucralose Is Not an Inert Compound

Research has also demonstrated that sucralose is not a biologically inert compound, as claimed. In the 2013 paper,8 “Sucralose, a Synthetic Organochloride Sweetener: Overview of Biological Issues,” the authors state, in part:

“Sucralose and one of its hydrolysis products were found to be mutagenic at elevated concentrations in several testing methods … Both human and rodent studies demonstrated that sucralose may alter glucose, insulin and glucagon-like peptide 1 levels. Taken together, these findings indicate that sucralose is not a biologically inert compound.”

According to this paper, the acceptable daily intake set for sucralose may in fact be hundreds of times too high to ensure safety. Importantly, the study also notes that “Cooking with sucralose at high temperatures … generates chloropropanols, a potentially toxic class of compounds.”

Yet, Splenda is frequently recommended for cooking and baking,9 and is often used in processed foods in which high heat was involved. Chloropropanols, which are still poorly understood, are thought to have adverse effects on your kidneys and may have carcinogenic effects.10

Researchers Call for New Safety Review in Light of Evidence Showing Sucralose Is Metabolized and Stored in Fat Tissue

Another industry claim that has been demolished by science is the claim that sucralose passes unmetabolized through your body and therefore has no biological effects. Alas, research11,12 published in the online version of the Journal of Toxicology and Environmental Health August 21, 2018, shows it is in fact metabolized and that it accumulates in fat cells.

Here, 10 rats were given an average dose of 80.4 mg of sucralose per kilo per day (k/day) for 40 days. According to the researchers, this dosage is “within the range utilized in historical toxicology studies submitted for regulatory approval in North America, Europe and Asia.”

Urine and feces were collected daily from each rat, and were analyzed using ultrahigh performance liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (UHPLC–MS/MS), which “revealed two new biotransformation products that have not previously been reported.”

The two metabolites are acetylated forms of sucralose that are lipophilic, meaning they dissolve in and combine with fats. Sucralose itself is far less lipophilic, which has been part of the safety argument. According to the authors:

“These metabolites were present in urine and feces throughout the sucralose dosing period and still detected at low levels in the urine 11 days after discontinuation of sucralose administration and six days after sucralose was no longer detected in the urine or feces.

The finding of acetylated sucralose metabolites in urine and feces do not support early metabolism studies, on which regulatory approval was based, that claimed ingested sucralose is excreted unchanged (i.e., not metabolized).

The historical metabolic studies apparently failed to detect these metabolites in part because investigators used a methanol fraction from feces for analysis along with thin layer chromatography and a low-resolution linear radioactivity analyzer.

Further, sucralose was found in adipose tissue in rats two weeks after cessation of the 40-day feeding period even though this compound had disappeared from the urine and feces.”

So, not only is sucralose metabolized, these metabolites accumulate in your fat tissues, where they remain for “an extended period of time” after you stop consuming sucralose. In all, these findings led the authors to conclude:

“These new findings of metabolism of sucralose in the gastrointestinal tract and its accumulation in adipose tissue were not part of the original regulatory decision process for this agent and indicate that it now may be time to revisit the safety and regulatory status of this organochlorine artificial sweetener.”

Sucralose Linked to Liver, Kidney and Thymus Damage

Another study13 published online August 2, 2018, in the journal Morphologie, found sucralose caused “definite changes” in the liver of treated rats, “indicating toxic effects on regular ingestion.” The researchers warn these findings suggest sucralose should be “taken with caution to avoid hepatic damage.”

In other words, regularly using Splenda could damage your liver. Here, adult rats were given a much higher (yet nonlethal) oral dose of sucralose — 3 grams (3,000 mg) per kilo body mass per day for 30 days, after which the animals’ livers were dissected and compared to the livers of unexposed controls. According to the authors:

“Experimental rats showed features of patchy degeneration of hepatocytes along with Kupffer cells hyperplasia, lymphocytic infiltration, sinusoidal dilatation and fibrosis indicating a definite hepatic damage on regular ingestion of sucralose. Sinusoidal width was also found to be increased in experimental animals as compared to controls.”

Earlier research has also linked sucralose consumption to liver and kidney enlargement14,15 and kidney calcification.16,17 Another organ affected by sucralose is your thymus, with studies linking sucralose consumption to shrinkage of the thymus (up to 40 percent18,19) and an increase in leukocyte populations (immune system cells) in the thymus and lymph nodes.20

Sucralose Raises Risk of Type 2 Diabetes

Like all other artificial sweeteners, sucralose is commonly used by diabetics who need to limit their sugar consumption. However, research again shows you simply cannot trick your body with calorie-free sweetness. Research21 published in 2013 revealed sucralose alters glucose, insulin and glucagon-like peptide-1 levels and responses, which raises your risk for Type 2 diabetes.

It confirmed that, compared to controls, obese patients using sucralose experienced a greater incremental increase in peak plasma concentrations of glucose, a greater incremental increase in insulin and peak insulin secretion rate, along with a decrease in insulin clearance.

According to the authors, “These data demonstrate that sucralose affects the glycemic and insulin responses to an oral glucose load in obese people who do not normally consume non-nutritive sweeteners.”

Lots of Studies Question Safety of Sucralose

There are 11,200 references to sucralose in the scientific search engine Google Scholar, so there’s no shortage of studies to review for those who are curious. Here’s a small sampling with a focus on more recent papers showing sucralose may be harmful to your health:

Potential Metabolic Effect of Sucralose Following an Oral Glucose Load in Subjects With Obesity and Normal-Weight Subjects, 201822— This food science and human nutrition master’s degree thesis notes sucralose “may have adverse effects on glucose metabolism in people with obesity, which is the group that most frequently consumes non-nutritive sweeteners to facilitate weight management.”

The findings also highlight the role of sweetness perception in glucose homeostasis, “which supports the notion that sweetness, regardless of an associated caloric contribution, should be consumed in moderation.”

The Artificial Sweetener Splenda Promotes Gut Proteobacteria, Dysbiosis, and Myeloperoxidase Reactivity in Crohn’s Disease–Like Ileitis, 201823,24— This study found Splenda consumption may exacerbate gut inflammation and intensify symptoms in people with Crohn’s disease by promoting harmful gut bacteria.

A letter25 to the editor argued against the findings, but at least one of the protesting writers, V. Lee Grotz, works for the company that owns Splenda.26,27

Pharmacokinetics of Sucralose and Acesulfame-Potassium in Breast Milk Following Ingestion of Diet Soda, 201828— This study found sucralose shows up in breast milk after consumption. Considering the effects of sucralose on beneficial gut bacteria, organ health and metabolism, this is a rather crucial piece of information for pregnant women as it may have significant ramifications for their baby’s health.

Other research29 shows sucralose is so ubiquitous it’s even found in groundwater and sanitary wastewater. It persists through sewage treatment, and may therefore be present in your drinking water as well.

Artificial Sweetener such as Sucralose May Promote Inflammation in Human Subcutaneous Fat-Derived Mesenchymal Stromal Cells, 201730— Research presented at GW Annual Research Days in 2017 shows sucralose consumption caused an increase in superoxide accumulation and cellular inflammation.

The sweetener also Increased expression of a specific sweet taste receptor. According to the researchers, “upregulation of adipogenic genes … cultured in near physiological concentrations of sucralose, indicate possible causality between increased fat deposition and sweetener use.”

The Effect of Sucralose on Flavor Sweetness in Electronic Cigarettes Varies Between Delivery Devices, 201731— Sucralose is found in a wide variety of products, and not just food. It’s also commonly added to drugs, often without being listed on the label, and even e-cigarette liquids.

This study found sucralose contributes sweet taste only when used in a cartridge system, and chemical analysis showed the use of a cartridge system also raised the concentration of sucralose in the aerosol.

According to the authors, “Together these findings indicate that future regulation of sweet flavor additives should focus first on the volatile constituents of e-liquids with the recognition that artificial sweeteners may also contribute to flavor sweetness depending upon e-cigarette design.”

While this study did not look at health effects, previous research32 has shown sucralose, when heated, releases potentially carcinogenic chloropropanols,33 which are part of a class of toxins known as dioxins.

Chronic Sucralose or L-Glucose Ingestion Does Not Suppress Food Intake, 201734— This study demonstrated that when sucralose is consumed along with a low-carbohydrate diet, it “causes a pronounced increase in calories consumed.” In other words, it increases hunger and promotes overeating.

Gut Microbiome Response to Sucralose and Its Potential Role in Inducing Liver Inflammation in Mice, 201735— Echoing the research discussed earlier in this article, this study also found that sucralose alters “the developmental dynamics of the gut microbiome,” and that the sweetener may thus play a role in chronic inflammation.

The Non-Caloric Sweeteners Aspartame, Sucralose and Stevia sp. Induce Specific but Differential Responses to Compartmentalized Adipose Tissue Accumulation, 201736— In this study, consumption of sucralose resulted in weight gain, elevated blood glucose and body fat accumulation.

Sucralose Activates an ERK1/2–Ribosomal Protein S6 Signaling Axis, 201637— Sucralose was found to stimulate insulin secretion much like glucose, but through completely different and poorly understood pathways. According to the authors, these findings “will have implications for diabetes.”

Sucralose Promotes Food Intake through NPY and a Neuronal Fasting Response, 201638— Here, sucralose consumption was again linked to increased hunger and food intake. According to the authors, “dietary sucralose creates a sweet/energy imbalance,” which in turn “activates a conserved neuronal starvation response.”

Changes in the Expression of Cell Surface Markers in Spleen Leukocytes in a Murine Model of Frequent Sucralose Intake, 201639— This study found frequent sucralose intake may affect your immune function. According to the authors:

“Our results show a decrease in the frequency of B lymphocyte population and T lymphocytes in comparison to the control group. In B and T lymphocytes the analysis of co-stimulatory molecules show a lower frequency compared to the control group. The immune response depends on the differentiation and activation of cellular populations.

We hypothesized that chronic ingestion of commercial sucralose might be affecting the immune response by modifying the frequencies of cellular populations, as well as the expression of co-stimulatory and inhibitory molecules … by decreasing the ability of co-stimulation between B an T lymphocytes, with a probable effect on the immune response.

It is necessary to further determine if sucralose intake affects the efficiency of the immune response.”

Sucralose Administered in Feed, Beginning Prenatally Through Lifespan, Induces Hematopoietic Neoplasias in Mice, 201640— This study is significant as it specifically refutes industry claims that sucralose is not carcinogenic. As noted by the authors:

“Long-term carcinogenicity bioassays on rats and mice conducted on behalf of the manufacturer have failed to show the evidence of carcinogenic effects. The aim of this study was to evaluate the carcinogenic effect of sucralose in mice, using a sensitive experimental design.

We found a significant dose-related increased incidence of males bearing malignant tumors and a significant dose-related increased incidence of hematopoietic neoplasias in males, in particular at the dose levels of 2,000 ppm and 16,000 ppm

These findings do not support previous data that sucralose is biologically inert. More studies are necessary to show the safety of sucralose, including new and more adequate carcinogenic bioassay on rats. Considering that millions of people are likely exposed, follow-up studies are urgent.”

Effects of Splenda in Experimental Crohn’s Disease, 201441— As in later studies, this one found Splenda may exacerbate symptoms of Crohn’s disease by augmenting “inflammatory activity at the biochemical level” and altering microbial-host interactions within the intestinal mucosa.

Sucralose Affects Glycemic and Hormonal Responses to an Oral Glucose Load, 201342— Here, sucralose was found to affect the glycemic and insulin responses in obese individuals who normally did not consume non-nutritive sweeteners. Compared to controls, sucralose ingestion caused a greater incremental increase in peak plasma glucose concentrations, greater increase in insulin, greater peak insulin secretion and a decrease in the insulin clearance rate.

Sucralose, A Synthetic Organochlorine Sweetener: Overview of Biological Issues, 201343— This review highlights a number of health effects associated with sucralose, including alterations in P-glycoprotein levels, which could result in medications used in chemotherapy, AIDS treatment and treatments for heart conditions being shunted back into the intestines, rather than being absorbed by your body; alterations in the microbial composition in your gastrointestinal tract; mutagenic effects and more.

Popular Sweetener Sucralose as a Migraine Trigger, 200644— As noted by the authors, “This observation of a potential causal relationship between sucralose and migraines may be important for physicians to remember this can be a possible trigger during dietary history taking.

Identifying further triggers for migraine headaches, in this case sucralose, may help alleviate some of the cost burden (through expensive medical therapy or missed work opportunity) as well as provide relief to migraineurs.”

Studies That Support Sucralose Safety Are Nearly Always Produced by Industry

So, what about studies that support Splenda’s safety? A hallmark of such studies is that they’re overwhelmingly done or funded by industry. Following is a sampling of oft-cited studies ostensibly showing that sucralose is safe. As you will see, many of these have conflicts of interest that likely taint their findings, as one or more of the authors have close ties to the industry.

Regulatory Toxicology and Pharmacology, 201745— This study came to the conclusion that “The collective evidence supports that sucralose has no effect on A1c or glycemic control.”

Conflict of Interest — The lead author, V. Lee Grotz, is the director of global medical and safety science for Heartland Products Group, which owns Splenda. She also previously worked as director of product safety at McNeil Nutritionals (now Johnson & Johnson), which markets and sells Splenda.

Food and Chemical Toxicology, 201746— This review, based on an “extensive database of research” concluded that “sucralose is safe for its intended use as a non-caloric sugar alternative.”

Conflict of Interest — As reported by Marion Nestle,47 this so-called safety study “was commissioned by the Calorie Control Council,48 a trade association representing 'manufacturers and suppliers of low- and reduced-calorie foods and beverages, including manufacturers and suppliers of more than two dozen different alternative sweeteners, fibers and other low-calorie, dietary ingredients.’”

The authors are also affiliated with Health Science Consultants and Intertek. (One of the authors on this study is also an author on the Regulatory Toxicology and Pharmacology study above).

According to Nestle, the Calorie Control Council has a vested interest in demonstrating that Splenda is safe, and the consultant groups have a vested interest in pleasing the Calorie Control Council.

Nutrition and Cancer, 201649— This scientific review concluded that “sucralose does not demonstrate carcinogenic activity even when exposure levels are several orders of magnitude greater than the range of anticipated daily ingestion levels.”

Conflict of Interest — This is another industry-biased review by Grotz, director of global medical and safety science for Heartland Products Group, which owns Splenda, and former director of product safety at McNeil Nutritionals (now Johnson & Johnson) that markets and sells Splenda.

International Journal of Scientific Research, 201850— This is a rather confusing study showing weight gain in sucralose-treated rats, even though they didn’t eat any more than the control group.

What’s confusing is that the study authors still concluded that sucralose is “safe at least for a period of one month in sublethal doses” even though they believe “the body weight gain after sucralose ingestion needs to be relooked and investigated further.”

American Journal of Physiology, 200951— This Australian study concluded sucralose “does not stimulate insulin, GLP-1 or glucose-dependent insulinotropic polypeptide release or slow gastric emptying in healthy humans.”

Artificial Sweeteners Trick Your Body Into Storing Fat

Those who switch to artificial sweeteners are typically carrying extra pounds and/or are diabetic, or prone to these conditions. Unfortunately, this may be the absolute worst diet change you could implement if you’re overweight or diabetic. Research has repeatedly shown that artificially sweetened no- or low-calorie drinks and other “diet” foods tend to stimulate your appetite, increase cravings for carbs, stimulate fat storage and weight gain, and promote insulin resistance and diabetes.

There are a number of different reasons for this. First of all, artificial sweeteners basically trick your body into thinking that it’s going to receive sugar (calories), but when the sugar doesn’t arrive, your body signals that it needs more, which results in carb cravings.

This connection between sweet taste and increased hunger can be found in the medical literature going back at least three decades. Following is another sampling of studies looking specifically at the connection between artificial sweeteners — sucralose and others — and weight gain. Repeatedly, studies have shown artificial sweeteners increase your risk of unwanted weight gain, oftentimes to the same or greater degree than regular sugar.

So, if weight control is the reason you’re using these products, you’d be wise to reconsider. Based on the evidence, you’d be better off consuming regular sugar when you want sweet taste. Alternatively, opt for one of the sweeteners discussed at the very end of this article.

Journal of the American Geriatrics Society 201552— Seniors aged 65 and over were followed for an average of nine years, and there was a “striking dose-response relationship” between diet soda consumption and waist circumference. This held true even when other factors such as exercise, diabetes and smoking were taken into account.

People who never drank diet soda increased their waist circumference by an average of 0.8 inches during the nine-year observation period. Occasional diet soda drinkers added an average of 1.83 inches to their waist line in that time period. Daily diet soda drinkers gained an average of nearly 3.2 inches —quadruple that of those who abstained from diet soda altogether.

PLOS One 201453— This study, which was done on rats, using aspartame, also found an increased risk of glucose intolerance. Animals that consumed artificial sweeteners ended up with raised levels of propionate — short-chain fatty acids involved in sugar production. Consumption of artificial sweeteners shifted gut microbiota to produce propionate, which generated higher blood sugar levels.

Nature 201454— This important study was able to clearly show causality, revealing there’s a direct cause and effect relationship between consuming artificial sweeteners and developing elevated blood sugar levels. People who consumed high amounts of artificial sweeteners were found to have higher levels of HbA1C — a long-term measure of blood sugar — compared to nonusers or occasional users of artificial sweeteners.

Seven volunteers who did not use artificial sweeteners were then recruited, and asked to consume the equivalent of 10 to 12 single-dose packets of artificial sweeteners daily for one week. Four of the seven people developed “significant disturbances in their blood glucose,” according to the researchers.

Some became prediabetic within just a few days. The reason for this dramatic shift was traced back to alterations in gut bacteria. Some bacteria were killed off, while others started proliferating.

The Journal of Physiology 201355,56— This study demonstrated that your body is not fooled by sweet taste without accompanying calories, which is yet another reason why artificial sweeteners promote obesity.

When you eat something sweet, your brain releases dopamine, which activates your brain’s reward center. The appetite-regulating hormone leptin is also released, which eventually informs your brain that you are “full” once a certain amount of calories have been ingested.

When you consume something that tastes sweet but doesn’t contain any calories, your brain’s pleasure pathway still gets activated by the sweet taste, but there’s nothing to deactivate it, since the calories never arrive. Artificial sweeteners basically trick your body into thinking that it’s going to receive calories, but when the calories fail to arrive, your body continues to signal that it needs more, which results in carb cravings.

Trends in Endocrinology & Metabolism 201357— This report highlights the fact that diet soda drinkers suffer the same exact health problems as those who opt for regular soda, such as excessive weight gain, Type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease and stroke.58 The researchers speculate that frequent consumption of artificial sweeteners may induce metabolic derangements.

Appetite 201259— Here, researchers showed that saccharin and aspartame cause greater weight gain than sugar, even when the total caloric intake remains similar.

In 2011, the UT Health Science Center in San Antonio publicized the results of two studies, saying:60

“In the constant battle to lose inches or at least stay the same, we reach for the diet soda. Two studies presented [June 25, 2011] at the American Diabetes Association’s Scientific Sessions suggest this might be self-defeating behavior.

Epidemiologists from the School of Medicine at The University of Texas Health Science Center San Antonio reported data showing that diet soft drink consumption is associated with increased waist circumference in humans, and a second study that found aspartame raised fasting glucose (blood sugar) in diabetes-prone mice…

Diet soft drink users, as a group, experienced 70 percent greater increases in waist circumference compared with nonusers [Editor’s note: the study was 10 years long]. Frequent users, who said they consumed two or more diet sodas a day, experienced waist circumference increases that were 500 percent greater than those of nonusers.

'Data from this and other prospective studies suggest that the promotion of diet sodas and artificial sweeteners as healthy alternatives may be ill-advised,’ said Helen P. Hazuda, Ph.D., professor and chief of the Division of Clinical Epidemiology in the School of Medicine. 'They may be free of calories but not of consequences.’”

Yale Journal of Biology and Medicine 201061— This review offers a summary of epidemiological and experimental evidence concerning the effects of artificial sweeteners on weight, and explains those effects in light of the neurobiology of food reward. More than 11,650 children aged 9 to 14 were included in this study.

Each daily serving of diet beverage was associated with a BMI increase of 0.16 kg/m2. It also shows the correlation between increased usage of artificial sweeteners in food and drinks, and the corresponding rise in obesity.

Source: Yale Journal of Biology and Medicine June 8, 2010,: v83(2)

According to the authors:

“[F]indings suggest that the calorie contained in natural sweeteners may trigger a response to keep the overall energy consumption constant … Increasing evidence suggests that artificial sweeteners do not activate the food reward pathways in the same fashion as natural sweeteners … [A]rtificial sweeteners, precisely because they are sweet, encourage sugar craving and sugar dependence.”

The Journal of Pediatrics 200662— The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute Growth and Health Study followed 2,371 girls aged 9 to 19 for 10 years. Soda consumption in general, both regular and diet, was associated with increase in total daily energy intake.

Journal of the American College of Nutrition 200563— In this two-year-long study, which involved 166 school children, increased diet soda consumption was associated with higher BMI at the end of the trial.

San Antonio Heart Study 200564— Data gathered from the San Antonio Heart Study, which went on for 25 years, showed drinking diet soft drinks increased the likelihood of serious weight gain far more so than regular soda.65 On average, for each diet soft drink the participants drank per day, they were 65 percent more likely to become overweight during the next seven to eight years, and 41 percent more likely to become obese.

International Journal of Obesity and Metabolic Disorders 200466— This Purdue University study found that rats fed artificially sweetened liquids ate more high-calorie food than rats fed high-caloric sweetened liquids. The researchers believe the experience of drinking artificially sweetened liquids disrupted the animals’ natural ability to compensate for the calories in the food.

International Journal of Food Sciences and Nutrition 200367 — This study, which looked at 3,111 children, found that diet soda, specifically, was associated with higher body mass index (BMI).

Journal of the American Dietetic Association 199168— In a study of artificial sweeteners performed on college students, there was no evidence that artificial sweetener use was associated with a decrease in their overall sugar intake either.

Physiology and Behavior 199069— Here, they found that aspartame had a time-dependent effect on appetite, “producing a transient decrease followed by a sustained increase in hunger ratings.”

Physiology and Behavior, 198870— In this study, they determined that no- or low-calorie sweeteners can produce significant changes in appetite. Of the three sweeteners tested, aspartame produced the most pronounced effects.

Preventive Medicine 198671— This study examined nearly 78,700 women aged 50 to 69 for one year. Artificial sweetener usage increased with relative weight, and users were significantly more likely to gain weight compared to those who did not use artificial sweeteners, regardless of their initial weight.

According to the researchers, the results “were not explicable by differences in food consumption patterns. The data do not support the hypothesis that long-term artificial sweetener use either helps weight loss or prevents weight gain.”

Commonly Reported Splenda Side Effects

Scores of people have reported side effects from using Splenda, ranging from mild to severe. The following are common symptoms, usually noticed within a 24-hour period following consumption of a Splenda product:

Skin — Redness, itching, swelling, blistering, weeping, crusting, rash, eruptions or hives (itchy bumps or welts)

Lungs — Wheezing, tightness, cough or shortness of breath

Head — Swelling of the face, eyelids, lips, tongue or throat; headaches and migraines (severe headaches)

Nose — Stuffy nose, runny nose (clear, thin discharge), sneezing

Eyes — Red (bloodshot), itchy, swollen or watery

Stomach — Bloating, gas, pain, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea or bloody diarrhea

Heart — Palpitations or fluttering

Joints — Joint pains or aches

Neurological — Anxiety, dizziness, spaced-out sensation, depression

Report Reactions to Splenda and Other Artificial Sweeteners

To determine if you’re having a reaction to artificial sweeteners — be it Splenda, aspartame or any of the others — take the following steps:

Eliminate all artificial sweeteners from your diet for two weeks

After two weeks, reintroduce your artificial sweetener of choice in a significant quantity (about three servings daily)

Avoid other artificial sweeteners during this period

Do this for one to three days and take notice of how you feel, especially as compared to when you were abstaining from artificial sweeteners

If you don’t notice a difference in how you feel after reintroducing your primary artificial sweetener for a few days, it’s a safe bet you’re able to tolerate it acutely, meaning your body doesn’t have an immediate, adverse response. Just know that this doesn’t mean your health won’t be damaged in the long run

If you’ve been consuming more than one type of artificial sweetener, repeat steps 2 through 4 with the next sweetener on your list

If you do experience side effects from an artificial sweetener (or any other food additive for that matter), please report it to the FDA (if you live in the U.S.). It’s easy to make a report — just go to the FDA Consumer Complaint Coordinator page, find the phone number for your state, and make a call to report your reaction.

Keep in mind that some medications may contain sucralose as well, even if it’s not listed on the label. If you continue to experience any of the symptoms above even though you’re avoiding Splenda and other artificial sweeteners, then it may be worth investigating whether any of the medications you’re taking contain artificial sweeteners.

Healthier Sugar Substitutes

Two of the best sugar substitutes are from the plant kingdom: Stevia and Lo Han Kuo (also spelled Luo Han Guo). Stevia, a highly sweet herb derived from the leaf of the South American stevia plant, is sold as a supplement. It’s completely safe in its natural form and can be used to sweeten most dishes and drinks.

Lo Han Kuo is similar to Stevia, but is my personal favorite. I use the Lakanto brand vanilla flavor which is a real treat for me. The Lo Han fruit has been used as a sweetener for centuries, and it’s about 200 times sweeter than sugar.

A third alternative is to use pure glucose, also known as dextrose. Dextrose is only 70 percent as sweet as sucrose, so you’ll end up using a bit more of it for the same amount of sweetness, making it slightly more expensive than regular sugar. Still, it’s well worth it for your health as it does not contain any fructose whatsoever. Contrary to fructose, glucose can be used directly by every cell in your body and as such is a far safer sugar alternative.

from Articles http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2019/02/06/sucralose-harmful-effects.aspx source https://niapurenaturecom.tumblr.com/post/182598782551

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