Blood Glucose Management

This topic of Blood Glucose Management had become embedded in Jackie’s post on “The Gut Connection for Afib—Revisited”. I am isolating these glucose related posts from the gut related subject and posting it here so that others can find it more easily and participate in the discussion. The glucose related posts I have isolated started on Jan. 30 and continued through Feb. 5, 2013.

Windstar [ PM ]
Re: The Gut Connection to Afib - Revisited
January 30, 2013 10:49AM
Just rereading this topic and came across an area that I am having problems with, and maybe others are too--"Eat an alkaline forming diet." How does one do this while staying low carb and eating animal protein at each meal? Just eating veggies and animal protein doesn't seem to fill me up unless I eat a large amount of animal protein, which tilts the scale to acidic. My doctor has me on a four day rotation diet using chicken, turkey, salmon, and beef. I can substitute eggs when I want. To this I add one or two veggies at each meal (these are rotated too--things like kale, cauliflower, spinach, broccoli, celery, carrot, zucchini, cucumber, romaine, arugula, etc.) Then I add 1/2 c of cooked quinoa, amaranth, millet, or rice at each meal. For a snack I have 1/2 of a granny smith apple (good for preventing candida) and a handful of nuts--walnuts, brazil nuts, cashews, or almonds or a slice of yogurt cheese. I was allowed 150 carbs per day but now I am supposed to try to stay closer to 100 carbs. That means eating even more animal protein, which means being even more acidic, esp. when I eat beef???
I'd appreciate suggestions for low carb/high protein diets that work for others which are alkaline forming.
Thanks much,
Nancy M.

Jackie [ PM ]
Re: The Gut Connection to Afib - Revisited
January 30, 2013 11:24AM
Nancy - those insulin experts indicate that their eating plans.. (I dislike the word "diet".).. focus on an abundance of healthy fat to control the insulin surge that causes hunger not long after eating. I recall that my own FM MD said in a presentation that she advises adding olive oil to vegetables to help slow down the carb metabolism and also lend to satiety.
Do a search in past posts relating to the work of Ron Rosedale, MD, one of the best known Metabolic Docs . He refers to his eating plan as a high (healthy) fat diet. You'll note that he would say that your plan is way too high in carbs... since the body has no requirement for adding them. The focus of healthy eating according to Dr. Rosedale is to get the body to burn fat a fuel thereby eliminating the risk of causing metabolic problems with glucose, insulin and the threat of diabetes.
The chart I have indicates olive oil is just slightly alkaline at 4.5.
Other oils are neutral at 4.0.
Organic butter is neutral at 4.0
Ripe olives are 5.0 - just get the low salt version
Jackie

Windstar [ PM ]
Re: The Gut Connection to Afib - Revisited
January 31, 2013 10:25AM
Thanks, Jackie.
I will look at the Ron Rosedale, MD past posts. I know I have read some of them and thought he was rather extreme, esp. after reading endocrinologist Diana Schwarzbein's book where she says, "Putting your body into ketosis is never a good thing", p.95 of The Schwarzbein Principle II. She believes that 1/3 of your plate should be protein, 1/3 a real carb (fruit, whole grain, legume, or starchy vegetable), and 1/3 nonstarchy vegetable. She says to never eat a protein alone (which my doctor tells me to do for a snack) without a carb as "eating a protein alone triggers the release of adrenaline and cortisol; ironically this will cause you to use up your biochemicals instead of rebuild them." p. 228. This makes sense to me and is what I have been trying to do in my eating plan, but my fasting glucose level is too high.
I do use olive oil on my veggies and coconut oil on my grains at every meal. Sometimes I add organic butter instead. In fact, I thought maybe my indigestion was stemming from the fact that I am eating too much oil!
I recently read a research article that said that diabetics who have insomnia have higher glucose levels than those who get good sleep. Since I have insomnia, I'm wondering if my glucose will continue to be a problem until I can begin to sleep better. I know when I only get 3 hrs. sleep I am much hungrier during the day than if I can get 5 hrs. sleep.
Thanks much.
Nancy M.

Jackie [ PM ]
Re: The Gut Connection to Afib - Revisited
January 31, 2013 12:13PM
Nancy - if there is one thing I've learned in a saga of over 20 years trying to find solutions to health issues that were not solved by mainstream medicine is that for every book or idea or instructions... there are other opinions that are directly contradictory. Because of my battle with Metabolic Syndrome and Insulin Resistance along with Adrenal Burnout and hypothryroidism, I've learned to glean out the most useful tips from the various experts... The Schwarzbein book describes the overall dilemma that comes from the unremitting stress factor... but her diet did not fit with what my body needed for recovery. I relied more on Rosedale for that and it worked supremely well.. both for the glucose issue and the adrenal burnout reversal. The thyroid is still a work in progress but I'm making significant strides with some important changes in that area as well.
Low glucose is typically what drives insomnia because low blood glucose activates adrenaline ...the body's job is to protect the brain at all costs... and the brain needs glucose to function... therefore when the blood levels get too low, it sets off an alarm or alert to do something to protect the brain and get glucose into cells... therefore... if you're sleeping, the adrenaline surge or alert...keeps you awake. Diabetics with uncontrolled glucose levels have a myriad of other problems that could contribute to sleep issues but typically, they are sluggish and sleepy with too much serum glucose.
Jackie

GeorgeN [ PM ]
Re: The Gut Connection to Afib - Revisited
January 31, 2013 05:39PM
"He refers to his eating plan as a high (healthy) fat diet." I don't recall what Dr. Rosedale thought was healthy, but in my case it is almost all naturally saturated fat from meats, coconut & MCT oil, ghee or butter. A little mono saturated and some omega 3's. I try to severely limit omega 6's as they are pro-inflammatory. I strive for about 80% of my calories from fat and 15% from protein. I personally think Schwarzbein's comment about never being in ketosis is very far off base. Ketones are a preferred fuel for the brain and heart. I spend most of my time in ketosis and have for years.
As to performance, being keto-adapted allows me access to an almost unlimited energy source - the fat/ketone combination. It relieves me of the need to eat at any particular time, even if exercising heavily.
For many years, I tried the current dogma eating plan - low fat, high carb and vegetable sources of protein. The difference in performance now is startling. So much so that my 26 year old friend says none of his age-peers can match my performance (I'm 57) and that I am the only one of his friends that can keep up. That being said, being sensitive to chronic endurance exercise being correlated with afib, I avoid endurance training and activities (for example, I alpine ski the steeps vs. cross country skiing).
George

Elizabeth H. [ PM ]
Re: The Gut Connection to Afib - Revisited
January 31, 2013 09:22PM
A high-protein diet can be a cause of higher levels of ketones in the body. The body can use these ketones as fuel for working of some of the body organs but the brain and nervous system, run only on glucose. In such cases, the body tries to get glucose by breaking down the protein within the body which is there in the form of food and muscle. This again increases the level of ketones in the body, giving rise to a condition called ketosis. To reduce the irritation caused due to increased levels of ketones, the kidneys will increase urinary output, resulting in frequent urination. It is therefore necessary that individuals with kidney disease should consult a physician before opting for a high-protein diet.
Read more at Buzzle: [www.buzzle.com]
Ketosis can also cause heart palpatations.
Liz

Jackie [ PM ]
Re: The Gut Connection to Afib - Revisited
February 01, 2013 08:30AM
George - I agree. with your comments about Schwarzbein...Many doctors are paranoid about Ketosis and there is a lot of misinformation casually posted on the internet about Ketosis that is not based on metabolic science. I use Dr. Schwarzbein's book as a reference and overview about what contributes to adrenal burnout and how to repair... her eating plan may work for some but your plan and the Rosedale plan have excellent results. As you point out, the Omega 6's intake is out of control and contributory to many health ailments. Nothing speaks more for success than a testimonial such as yours and others with similar diets that eliminate carbs almost completely. The main concern with high acid-ash dietary intake is making sure the tissue pH remains alkaline otherwise, an acidic body eventually becomes a sick body.
Liz - Be sure you go back and review GeorgeN's many posts on his success in managing his AF by the ketosis method... He references the protocols in the book by Richard Bernstein, MD..... The focus is to get the body to burn fat as a fuel for the brain instead of glucose and when that's accomplished, it's highly effective...AND healthy... assuming one can maintain an alkaline tissue pH.
Jackie

GeorgeN [ PM ]
Re: The Gut Connection to Afib - Revisited
February 01, 2013 08:46AM
Liz,
Actually a high protein diet will not cause ketosis, in fact, the reverse - it will prevent it. Excess protein is converted to glucose and will keep someone out of ketosis. A ketotic diet is high fat with sufficient, not excess protein. Adding protein to a ketotic diet will stop the ketosis. I've proved it myself and is well documented in others. Calorically, a ketotic diet is generally around 15% protein, but it is the lack of carbs that triggers ketosis. Of course this is individual, but generally lower than 50 g carbs/day will be ketotic. Ketones are actually a product of fat metabolism and exist only in a low insulin environment (and you don't get low insulin in a carby environment).
As to increased urinary output, this is also false. In fact the reverse is true. When I'm in ketosis, I require much less water and also excrete much less water. This is also well documented in others. In my case I can ski hard all day at 12,000' (generally considered dehydrating) and not consume water and not urinate (nor stop nor eat). At the end of the day, my urine color is a very pale yellow, indicating I'm not dehydrated. My ski patroller friends tell me if they get a patient that is hypothermic and they want to feed them glucose, they must first feed them water or they won't process the glucose.
I've never had ketosis cause heart palpitations. I have had low blood sugar, as an aftereffect of eating carbs, cause palpitations.
Most of the negative you read on ketosis is really about ketoacidosis. This is a condition that can occur in an insulin dependent diabetic. It is caused by a lack of insulin and is generally characterized by high levels of serum glucose and high levels of ketones. The situation is caused because even though there is glucose in the system, it can't get into the cells without insulin, therefore the body makes ketones to survive. From the cell's perspective, it is a starvation situation, even though there is plenty of glucose around. Ketoacidosis does not occur in someone with a normal pancreas.
George

Elizabeth H. [ PM ]
Re: The Gut Connection to Afib - Revisited
February 01, 2013 11:18AM
George:
We can find many articles and doctors on the net to bolster our beliefs, there are all kinds of books and experts out there as well, which are used as gospel here. Since my brothers death, I have gotten his mail and I am shocked at the amount of mail coming from vitamin companies, doctors pictured with their white coats boasting of their many vitamins and elixers promising a cure for everything, I get about 6 such mailings a day. I have come to doubt all of these experts with their books and this diet and that diet, afterall they are making money, aren't they.
There is a local health food store that I have gone to for many, many years, I have known the father and then the son running the store, I am sure the son (Don), lived as healthy a life style as he thought possible with all of the supplements he was taking etc., yet he died 2 weeks ago of cancer at the age of 61, what good did it do him.
I have come to the conclusion that a diet consisting of lots of vegetable, fruits, some carbs, and good protein (not lots of fat), lots of exercise, growing as much of your food as possible is the way to go. I believe you are on a fad diet, that is my opinion and others can form their own,
Liz

GeorgeN [ PM ]
Re: The Gut Connection to Afib - Revisited
February 01, 2013 12:52PM
Liz,
I would not throw darts at a real food diet, such as you are eating.
I ate such a diet for many years. It was testing with a glucometer after eating different foods that convinced me it was not optimal for me. I found that many "healthy" foods of vegetable origin caused what I considered an unacceptable spike in blood sugar. It was difficult to eat that way and not cause a blood sugar spike. My spikes would not be considered "bad" by standard medical protocol. I am of the opinion that standard protocol is way too generous on what is allowable in terms of serum glucose and that even modest hyperglycemia and the associated levels of insulin are behind much of aging.
In simple terms, if you look at the risks for chronic disease, they all increase markedly for type II diabetics. It is my opinion that we are all on the same path for these diseases only that the diabetics are on a faster version. If you look at metrics for HbA1C scores, you'll note that heart disease starts increasing at levels starting at 5 (diabetes is considered at a level of 7). An A1C level of 4.6 is estimated to be an average serum glucose level of 85 mg/dl. A level of 5 is an average of 97 mg/dl, an 7 is an average of 154 mg/dl. If you had a test result of an A1C level of 5, I'm sure your doc would say you are very healthy.
When I eat a diet that is primarily non-starchy veggies, naturally saturated fat and modest protein, my blood sugar metrics are stellar. In addition I have more energy than most I know of any age. It is insulin that is the culprit and keeping insulin levels low has many benefits. Obviously we can't live without it, but an environment where we are very sensitive to insulin is optimal, in my opinion. This doesn't mean I think a keto diet is optimal for everyone, but one that is modestly low in carbs and devoid of processed ones has benefits. I'm guessing the diet you describe is not that carby as compared to the SAD eating plan.
George

Windstar [ PM ]
Re: The Gut Connection to Afib - Revisited
February 01, 2013 03:57PM
Jackie,
In regard to "Low glucose is typically what drives insomnia because low blood glucose activates adrenaline ...the body's job is to protect the brain at all costs... and the brain needs glucose to function... therefore when the blood levels get too low, it sets off an alarm or alert to do something to protect the brain and get glucose into cells... therefore... if you're sleeping, the adrenaline surge or alert...keeps you awake." What would a low glucose level range be? My fasting glucose level at 8AM was 96, which is high, so wouldn't that show I wasn't hypoglycemic?
I went to an endocrinologist who had me do glucose testing whenever I felt light-headed during the day or woke up at night. After looking at my readings, he said I was not hypoglycemic despite the fact that I woke up hungry at 2AM or so. I would usually have a snack of 1/2 cup low sodium v-8 juice and a handful of almonds around 9:30PM to try to prevent waking up at 2AM, but it didn't work. Maybe I was eating the wrong thing. Since I've been on my doctor’s eating plan, where she does not allow me to eat anything after dinner, I have slept better most nights. I finish dinner around 7:30PM and go to bed by 10:30PM and normally fall asleep by 11PM or before (with lots of help from melatonin, Mirtazapine, and progesterone). Then I wake up usually between 3 or 4AM and can't get back to sleep though I don't feel hungry until 6AM or later and often don't eat until 7:30 or so. Perhaps it's that the melatonin, Mirtazapine, and progesterone effects have worn off. Also, my body tissue is not absorbing my minerals even though I have plenty in my blood. That's why I'm using transdermal magnesium at night to try to get past my digestion problem that seems to be preventing me from absorbing correctly.
A couple nights ago, I ate a light dinner at 6PM to get to a Bible study at 7PM. By 9:30PM I was hungry so I had my old v-8 juice and almonds snack. That was a disaster!! I didn't fall asleep until after 1AM and woke up at 4AM so I only got 3 hrs. sleep! Again, maybe this was the wrong snack but I've tried eating turkey or yogurt and that didn't work either. I have daily food charts that I keep and have tried finding some rhyme or reason to when I sleep a rare 6 hrs. and when I get only 3 hrs. and haven't found a connection. I can work out in the fresh air in the garden for several hours and think that I'll surely sleep well that night and only get 3 hrs. sleep.
A fellow insomniac said one's vitamin D level and K2 were the key to sleeping. He suggested only taking 3 drops (3000) of liquid vit D at breakfast and 1 drop (1000IU)vit D with 120 mcg of K2 at dinner. I did this and then got a cold, so upped my vit. D to 10000IU and didn't sleep well. I reduced it again and now am getting a cold again, so upped it to 10000 again. Can't seem to win this one!!
Nancy

GeorgeN [ PM ]
Re: The Gut Connection to Afib - Revisited
February 02, 2013 07:29AM
Nancy,
First, let me address your fasting blood sugar. Your fasting blood sugar can be fairly high and you could still have had a drop during the night. There is a phenomena known as the "dawn effect." Early in the morning, say 4 or 5 AM, your liver starts producing glycogen (glucose) to get your body ready for the day. Your fasting blood sugar is indicative as to how well your pancreas handles this glycogen increase. When I first started sampling my blood sugar, I'd notice that many times my fasting blood sugar was higher than the reading before bed. Since I hadn't eaten since dinner, this was puzzling to me.

Later I learned that if I ate very strictly low carb the day before, my fasting blood sugar would be very normal (below 85). However if I ate a carby diet the day before, my fasting blood sugar would be higher. In fact, I found I could make read like I was pre-diabetic like 115 mg/dl or normal like 80 mg/dl or someplace in between, depending upon how I ate the day before.

This was very curious to me. My explanation is this: my pancreas is not functioning perfectly. It does not have enough ongoing insulin making capacity to handle the dawn effect perfectly. However, if I eat a very low carb diet, not much insulin is required during the day. The excess is stored and is available for use to handle the dawn effect. There is a two phase insulin response - the first is using stored insulin.

Being keto adapted gives me an extra energy source and makes eating at any particular time optional. I can easily fast for 24 or 36 hours without effort or discomfort and can also exercise heavily during the fast without any diminution of performance. That being said, if I eat carby, I can still get night-time hypoglycemia. For example, I was traveling with my girlfriend and she was habitually snacking on tortilla chips. I started in on those and noticed I'd wake up hot and sweating in the middle of the night (a sign of hypoglycemia). In CR 73 [www.afibbers.org] , I describe the case of a friend who gets adrenergic PAC's when she exercises, if she eats too many carbs. In fact, a low (normal) fasting blood sugar will predict few PAC's during exercise and a high fasting blood sugar many PAC's during exercise. Her PAC's are numerous enough to impact her ability to exercise. This effect continues till now.

My diet is pretty simple. I generally only eat twice a day - no lunch since becoming keto-adapted. I also will do 24 hour fasts fairly often. In the evening, I usually eat a half pound of fatty meat, with a lot of added fat, such as butter, coconut oil or ghee. I eat non-starchy veggies with this. In the morning, I'll eat six eggs, again with a lot of added fat. Today it was 1/2 stick of butter. Looking quantitatively, you'd like to get at least 1 gm protein for every kg of body weight, but no more than 1.25 gm/kg (there are 2.2 pounds per kg, so divide your weight by 2.2 to get weight in kg). I try to keep carbs below 50 gm/day and make fat 80% of my diet calorically. This diet will freak out most docs as it goes completely against the grain of the high carb/low fat prescription of the day. I will sometimes add more carbs in, like greek yogurt with cinnamon, vanilla and some whey protein powder and blueberries, for a sweet treat. Also, sometimes some nuts. Compared to normal, I'm still pretty low carb, just not in ketosis. I make sure I am very strict enough that I don't un-keto adapt. It generally takes a few weeks of strict low carb to get keto-adapted. I'm not sure how long it would take to un-adapt and I don't really want to find out. I've been adapted for a number of years now.

A note. Low levels of insulin signal the kidney to excrete sodium. The state of the art advice is that if you eat less than 50 gm carbs/day, you should supplement with 2g/sodium/day. Jackie and Erling refer to Dr. Richard Moore's book on blood pressure [www.amazon.com] In it, he prescribes a diet with a 4:1 ratio of potassium to sodium on intake as this signals the kidney to excrete sodium. He also mentions throughout the book how high insulin levels signal the kidney to conserve (store) sodium. Curiously, his diet recommendations are those that promote high insulin levels as they are about 70% carbs. In any case, I do not recommend being on a restricted sodium diet if you drop your carbs below 50gm/day. Your system will not be happy.

For background on low carb diets and ketosis, here are some references:

This doctor's blog is worth reading through
[eatingacademy.com]

[www.amazon.com]
[www.amazon.com]
The shorter version of the above book: [www.amazon.com]

Bernstein's approach to diabetes: [www.diabetes-book.com]
Rosedale's site & book: [drrosedale.com] [www.amazon.com]
Latest Atkins [www.amazon.com]
Old Atkins [www.amazon.com]
This link is to an interview with Stephen D. Phinney MD, PhD on Ketogenic diets & exercise, below is a link to one of Dr. Phinney's paper's on the same topic. This was done a few years ago. Phinney is a co-author of the new Atkins book above. The you can listen to or download the interview here:
[hoe.kgnu.net]
The paper is here:
[www.nutritionandmetabolism.com]
An old, but interesting paper on ketone metabolism is here: [www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov] This includes an observation that hibernating bears are in ketosis and conserve nitrogen, therefore urinating very little.
[www.ajcn.org]
[www.proteinpower.com]
[www.proteinpower.com] <[www.proteinpower.com]; <[www.proteinpower.com] [www.bodyrecomposition.com];
George

Windstar [ PM ]
Re: The Gut Connection to Afib - Revisited
February 02, 2013 01:37PM
George,
In response to "First, let me address your fasting blood sugar. Your fasting blood sugar can be fairly high and you could still have had a drop during the night. There is a phenomena known as the "dawn effect." Early in the morning, say 4 or 5 AM, your liver starts producing glycogen (glucose) to get your body ready for the day. Your fasting blood sugar is indicative as to how well your pancreas handles this glycogen increase. When I first started sampling my blood sugar, I'd notice that many times my fasting blood sugar was higher than the reading before bed. Since I hadn't eaten since dinner, this was puzzling to me.", this really helped me understand what is happening to me when I wake up at 3 or 4AM and can't get back to sleep (which is usually). My nutritionist told me to eat a snack at bedtime that contains carb, fat, and protein, like apple and peanut butter, but this seems to just wake me up and I can't fall asleep for a couple hours and then I still wake up at 3 or 4AM. Maybe my pancrease is weak and just can't handle this.
Thank you for all the follow-up websites on this topic. I obviously have much to learn. It will take me some time to plow through these, so will most likely have some further questions later.
Nancy M.

GeorgeN [ PM ]
Re: The Gut Connection to Afib - Revisited
February 03, 2013 08:45PM
Nancy,
I also don't recommend a "hard start" to a very low carb diet for an afibber. Because low insulin levels can signal the kidney to excrete sodium, sodium supplementation is necessary as well as potassium and magnesium. For an afibber wanting to try this approach, I'd suggest slowly lowering carb levels and letting the body adjust.
George

Windstar [ PM ]
Re: The Gut Connection to Afib - Revisited
February 04, 2013 11:18AM
George,
In response to, " I also don't recommend a "hard start" to a very low carb diet for an afibber. Because low insulin levels can signal the kidney to excrete sodium, sodium supplementation is necessary as well as potassium and magnesium. For an afibber wanting to try this approach, I'd suggest slowly lowering carb levels and letting the body adjust."
I read the info. by the doctor on eatingacademy.com and went to his FAQs. He said there that it took him 20 months to go from eating 600 gms of carb down to 50 gms of carb and even then he had a terrible time adjusting for 12 weeks. My doctor had me go from my normal diet of probably 350 or more gms of carb to 100 gms overnight. I felt terrible and started losing weight. I was at 106 lbs. when I saw the doctor and went down to 102 within a couple weeks. I'm 5'5 1/2" tall and should be 112 lbs or more for my small frame. I'm now back to 106 lbs by eating 150 gms of carb, but still am skin and bones and can't seem to regain any muscle even though I'm eating all this protein. Perhaps now that I'm using more HCl, my digestion will get better and I'll be able to add muscle back that I've lost.
The doctor on the eatingacademy.com (can't remember his name now--my memory has been going downhill along with my insomnia), uses a lot of cream, cheeses, and other dairy to get his 80% fat in his diet, but he doesn't seem to eat much in the way of fresh fruits (a couple berries) or vegggies, yet he doesn't supplement with a multi-vitamin. I still can't get my mind away from eating lots of fresh veggies and fruits to get their enzymes and vitamins, but he doesn't do this. How can that be healthy in the long run? It may work to lose weight and give one energy short term???? I certainly can't afford to lose any weight, which is why I'm afraid to get started on this eating plan. But if I do start it, I will go slowly.
Thanks so much,
Nancy M.

GeorgeN [ PM ]
Re: The Gut Connection to Afib - Revisited
February 04, 2013 02:24PM
Nancy,
I'll answer here for now.
I'm not sure what the answer is on fruits and veggies. When Vilhjalmur Stefansson ate nothing but meat for a year in the late 1920's, replicating the Eskimo diet, everyone thought he would get scurvy from lack of vitamin C, but he didn't.
There are data indicating the body acts very differently on a very low carb diet and may not need some of these nutrients. It is common for most to eat a significant quantity of non-starchy veggies and very limited fruit.
If you are on 100 carbs a day, you are pretty low anyway. I'd get your digestion figured out before you make other changes - just my thought.
Peter Attia managed to keep his lean mass about the same, and increased it a bit for a while: [eatingacademy.com] - see the chart near the bottom. I'm not sure this is applicable to you, as he works out a lot, and I'm guessing you do not exercise nearly as much - not many do. A high carb diet is a building one, a low carb, not so much. There is a weight lifter protocol that cycles back and forth. 5 days very low carb, 2 days very high carb, with heavy weightlifting on the high carb days. It works, but I wouldn't recommend it to someone with blood sugar issues.
Anyway, take your enzymes and digest what you are eating now, then see where you need to go...
George

Elizabeth H. [ PM ]
Re: The Gut Connection to Afib - Revisited
February 05, 2013 11:31AM
A Ketogenic diet in the early 30's was given to children with epilesy. Now a lot of people go on this diet because of being overweight or diabetic. If you don't have these problems I would seriously think before subjecting your body to high fats, protein and some veggies.

Side effects
Because the 4:1 ketogenic diet is an unnatural way to obtain nutrition, it has some potential side effects. Reported adverse effects in patients using the classic ketogenic diet include:
•Growth retardation caused by protein deficiency
•Vitamin and mineral deficiencies
•Nausea, vomiting, or constipation
•Abnormally high levels of blood lipids after discontinuation of the diet
•Kidney stones or gallstones. Parents are taught to monitor the child’s urine for blood as well as ketone levels, because blood in the urine is often an early sign of kidney stone formation
•More frequent infections due to a weakened immune system
•Inflammation of the pancreas
•Dehydration
•Decreased bone density
•Menstrual irregularities (in adolescent and adult females)
Before following someones protocol, study and read all you can, you will always find some doctor or nurtitionist recommending this diet, don't be a lab rat.
Liz



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/06/2013 02:12PM by Hans Larsen.

Thanks Nancy for doing this. Soon, I intend to contribute clips from practitioners working with glucose management. The focus should be on the insulin response. That's the beauty of an eating style such as George's.
Jackie

Jackie,

In response to, "Soon, I intend to contribute clips from practitioners working with glucose management. The focus should be on the insulin response.", I know that I need to do so much more reading on insulin response. For example, it is my understanding that if one eats plenty of protein and healthy fat with say a baked potato, that the glucose release rate in the potato is reduced so less insulin is needed. In fact, there was a diabetes researcher on Dr. Oz's show several months ago who said that diabetics could eat russet baked potatoes if they added plenty of butter or sour cream. He said the russet (and it had to be this kind) baked potato (eating the skin too) gave the person satiety so he wouldn't want to eat too much at the meal and would stay full longer. This is true for me, but when I indulge in a russet baked potato, it is only 1/2 of a small one because of counting carbs. I know if I eat just 1/2 c of cooked grain (amaranth, millet, quinoa, or rice) with my meal, I stay full longer than if I don't. Otherwise, I have to double the amount of animal protein I eat and that brings my pH crashing down even harder. I always soak my grains in 2 tbsps. of lemon juice and 2 cups of water overnight and then rinse thoroughly before cooking in the morning (learned this from The Nourishing Traditions cookbook).

I find it extremely challenging to select the right daily eating plan when there are so many considerations--pH; how much carb verses protein and fat and how to combine them; organic (very pricey esp. for animal protein); fungal-forming; toxins like mercury in fish; calories; raw vs. cooked (should spinach be cooked?); should fruit and nuts be eaten in isolation?; should fruit be eaten before a meal instead of with the meal?; should one drink with a meal or 1/2 hr. before or after a meal?; issues with dairy; issues with grain; and the list goes on. It makes my head spin!! My dear aunt used to say that she wished someone would invent a pill that we could take instead of having to eat; I concur; that would make me very happy! I need to come up with a simple eating plan but don't have a clue how to go about this. I find planning meals stressful! More reading I guess!

Nancy M.

Nancy, i think that straight paleo diet might be a simpler alternative to all that measuring and calculating. Read all about it at
[www.paleodiet.com]

and here is the condensed wikipedia version
[en.wikipedia.org]
Good luck with it.

PeggyM

Nancy,

Liz posts some significant side effects of the ketogenic diet.

I read the research on this several years ago. As I recall, using the ketogenic diet to treat epilepsy, the objective was to maximize serum ketone levels. As a consequence the diet prescribed was very high in fat and very low in carbs and even protein. Again from memory it was <10g/carbs a day with 5% of calories coming from protein and 95% from fat.

For epilepsy today, many have modified this diet and added MCT oil which allows a wider range of nutrient composition, while retaining effectiveness for the epilepsy.

Most practitioners of "nutritional ketosis" today are in the 40-50 grams/carbs/day with 15% of the daily calories coming from protein. This is not a high protein diet. I am not aware of reports of significant negative side effects with diets at this level. As to blood lipids, generally triglycerides drop, HDL's increase, LDL's may increase, decrease, or stay the same.

The state of the art for LDL analysis is LDL-P, not LDL-C, using NMR particle counts.

George

Peggy,
I read through the list of references in the www.paleodiet.com website, but there are so many that I don't know which to select to read. Any recommendations?


George,
Thanks for the clarification on the difference between the older epilepsy and the current "nutritional ketosis" eating plan. For now, as you've said earlier, I just want to be able to digest what I am eating without my stomach burning; that would be a blessing!! That and getting some sleep are my two main pursuits for the time being.

Nancy - Shortly I'm adding a clip to the GI Connection to AF thread... that indicates a small group of people who went on a low carb diet (taking in no more than 20 grams carbs daily) had immediate relief from GERD symptoms. While it is anecdotal evidence from case reports, it's noteworthy for someone who is suffering from GERD.

As a cautionary note, though, have any of your doctors tested for and ruled out the complication of Barrett's Esophagitis? That's always important.

Jackie

Jackie,

In response to, "As a cautionary note, though, have any of your doctors tested for and ruled out the complication of Barrett's Esophagitis? " No. I've only gone to my nutritionist and not to a gastroenterologist (sp?) I don't know what Barrett's Esophagitis is, so will have to look that up on the internet. My inclination was not to see a traditional MD gastroenterologist as I thought he'd put me on some meds that I wouldn't want to take, but I'm not having a lot of success with the enzymes and HCl capsules. My stomach, esophagus, and throat all burn still. I feel like I have sores at the back of my throat though this goes away overnight and I feel fine in the morning. My nutritionist has checked me out for food sensitivies, supplement sensitivities, yeast overgrowth, and H pylori, and they are all negative.

Nancy - I only mention the Barrett's because in patients with ongoing GERD and discomfort, it would be negligent not to have that survey to rule it out.

I would stop the betaine HCl for now. How were you tested for Candida? and how did the nutritionist rule out the food and supplement sensitivities?

Jackie

Jackie,

My doctor did a Comprehensive Digestive Stool Analysis in July 2012. The test showed I did not have parasites, yeast, or problems with gluten. She used Immuno Labs to do a food sensitivities test, and I had 38 foods I was sensitive to. I stay away from these foods for 2 months.

In October, my nutritionist tested me with ART, using his advanced form of light energy and muscle testing. He said I did have candida, so he gave me a strong probiotic that I took twice a day. He retested me about a month ago with ART and said my candida was under control, and that I could take one probiotic every other day now. The nutritionist also used ART to test for food sensitivies and then used a laser and ART to remove them. I also used some drops of water that had been treated with the laser (not sure I'm right about how the drops work) every time I reintroduced a food I had been sensitive to. I had no burning back when all this was done after reintroducing all these foods. The stomach burning started on Thanksgiving when I ate buckwheat and amaranth flour that I turned out to be sensitive to. He retested me about a month ago and said none of my food sensitivities had returned.

Why should I stop the betaine HCl? Do you think it is causing the burning to be worse?

This morning I had turkey, 1/2 c quinoa, and broccoli for breakfast. I took two HCl and two Digestzymes and I have not had any burning so far and it is 11AM. Will see how the rest of the day goes and try to note when the burning begins and what I have eaten. My usual 11AM snack is 1/2 granny smith apple and a slice of yogurt cheese, and often the burning starts after that. Today I'm going to have more turkey and a 1/2 carrot as a snack instead and see if that is better.

I also stopped the raw aloe that the nutritionist gave me to see if that may be part of the problem. It contains a lot of herbs to help one detox, and I have been feeling achey and am wondering if the aloe is the culprit.

Speaking of supplements, I tried the Lypo-Spheric Vitamin C for the first time today and it tastes awful. I used it right out of the packet, and then put it in my morning water with the d-ribose. It stayed in a lump even though I tried to mix it. Any suggestions on what to take it with?

Thanks for all your help.
Nancy M.

Nancy,
Two of the things you're taking made my acid reflux worse - HCL & Apples.

You could well have low stomach acid. That is the case with most reflux sufferers.

BUT - some people do have too much stomach acid and I'm one of those. For me it was easy to test. When I had reflux if I took HCL or Apple Cider Vinegar the reflux got worse.

My own solution to the problem was to drink only 9.5 Ph water and take half a teaspoon of Baking Soda before bed.

Nancy - First, the Lipospheric C.... the taste is not great but I use it just plain... I use a small cup with about 3 oz of water... and squeeze the gel into that... so that the gel doesn't clump... Then you swirl the cup so the gel moves with the water and then toss it down ..."cowboy style" in one gulp. That's the recommended way to avoid the sticking to the sides of a glass or cup and avoiding most of the taste. I don't have a problem using something that tastes a bit weird if I know it's going to do me good... and this LipoC is nothing short of a miracle.

If the burning continues, I'd regroup...and stop or lower the doses of the betaine HCl....and focus on giving the body what it needs to make it's own stomach acid.... you should ask your nutritionist to test you for that and test your levels of the basic nutrients that are required to do that. Or - just use diluted ACV if that seems to be tolerable.

What we know from biochemistry is that in order to make stomach acid, the body needs Iodine, vitamin B1 and Zinc. With zinc, it's a Catch 22 because w/o stomach acid present, the body can't metabolize zinc. (so when you take zinc supplements, it has to be with an acid to enhance absorption).

According to Dr. Tennant (quotes in the Gut Connection post), having enough iodine to make stomach acid, helps prevent food allergies. So in your case, it should be a win/win if you can get in the raw materials that will facilitate your own manufacture of stomach acid....as nature intended. Formal testing for iodine deficiency should be a priority so you know how much to start adding to optimize. Most people are iodine deficient.

More on this iodine connection later. I'm out of time.

(I like Sam's suggestions)

Best to you,
Jackie

Sam,

Where do you get pH water that is 9.5? I'm drinking WW but don't think the pH is that high. I am adding 4 Buffer pH alkaline producing capsules a day but don't know if that helps with digestion. Why do you only take the baking soda before bed and not at other times? My burning is worse during the daytime and not bad at night.


Jackie,

My doctor had tested me for iodine back in July by doing a urine collection test. I was deficient so she put me on 12.5 mg of Iodoral every day. I stopped that back in December because I was told by another practitioner that that much iodine is toxic and could be contributing to my sleep problems. When I told my doctor, she wanted to put me back on the Iodoral but I haven't been on any iodine since then except what is in Concentrace and I don't get much of that anymore since starting the WW a week ago. My doctor does have me on a zinc supplement of 25 mgs plus I get another 20 mgs from my MultiMin supplement. I would think that taking this with the Digestzyme that has lots of enzymes plus 450 mgs of Betaine HCl at every meal should have prevented me from having a problem in the first place.

Yesterday, my burning was gone until 3PM and then after lunch it got really bad. I think I must be eating things that are irritating my stomach lining or I still have food sensitivies, I don't know which. I felt great after eating turkey, quinoa, and broccoli at breakfast with 2 HCl capsules and 2 Digestzymes. For a morning snack, I had turkey and 1/2 carrot with 1 HCl capsules and 1 Digestzyme and still felt great. At lunch at 2PM, I had turkey, romaine and arugula salad with 1/3 carrot, and 1 piece of multigrain toast, and 2 HCl capsules and 2 Digestzymes. By 3PM I started to get stomach burning and then it progressed to my esophagus and throat. I got the sores (uclers) on my throat and also felt achey. It doesn't feel like reflux but rather like I get sores lining my stomach, esophagus, and throat. I noticed certain things that are acidic like when I put lemon on my salmon or spicey things like the arugula or cinnamon on my butternut squash, that I start getting the burning. In this case, I think it was the arugula that set me off. I continued the burning feeling all evening and even had some this morning when I woke up. After breakfast of 2 eggs, cauliflower, and 1/2 c of millet with one HCl and 2 Digestzyme, I am still burning. I don't know how long it will take for this to end, thus it is hard to figure out if anything I ate since the burning started is fueling the problem now. It sure felt wonderful to have no burning pain for those precious morning hours yesterday, and I didn't feel hungry for three hours after eating too. Ever since I went through that horrible 4 month withdrawal from Klonopin that ended Feb. 14, 2012, I had a terrible feeling of being hungry to the point that my stomach hurt all the time, even immediately after eating. I've read that Klonopin withdrawal can hurt the Gaba receptors in the gut and they take a long time to repair. Then on Thanksgiving when I had the allergy to buckwheat and amaranth flour, that hurting feeling turned into a burning feeling and has stayed that way since.

I am going to email my nutritionist today to see what he thinks. My nutritionist does not use formal blood or saliva testing but rather his light energy advanced muscle testing called ART. He says it is more accurate than blood or saliva testing because he can tell what is happening within the tissue.

I am still using the DGL 2 at each meal. I've done this since Thanksgiving when the problem started. I would think that it would have healed any ulcer I had by now, but maybe I keep aggravating it by eating wrong foods like the arugula, apple, etc. I read yesterday that licorice (I'm not sure if DGL is the same thing as licorice) can raise cortisol levels.

Thanks much for your help, Sam and Jackie.

Nancy M.

Nancy - yours is a complicated situation...and certainly not one that can be addressed adequately here by posting. You were on the right track by adding iodine...even if it was a small dose... and wrong of the doctor to tell you to stop. However, that's not uncommon.

I'm not sure that your nutritionist's testing will evaluate missing nutrients in your blood, but if it does, then definitely have him focus on those three key nutrients I mentioned earlier that are the raw materials one needs to produce natural stomach acid.

I have a strong sense that you should be eating strictly Paleo which would eliminate all grains. And I also sense that you do not do well eating those veggies in the cabbage (cruciferous) family. If you like asparagus, use plenty of that as it is highly alkalizing. You'll have to experiment or try a rotation diet ... using one of those offenders only once in every 4 days and see what occurs each time you introduce it again. Tedious, but with so many problems, you have to start somewhere. Paleo eating is straight-forward.

The DGL contains used the form of Deglycyrrhizinated licorice so it's not an interference with cortisol or blood pressure. I'd keep using that if it works.

Another quick way to increase the pH of the water you drink...is just add more of the concentrate. If I feel acidic, I just drink a half or one ounce of the WW concentrate. That fixes it in a flash.

Jackie

Jackie,

Is there are website that explains a paleo diet that you recommend? I've looked at several and they seem to differ on their food items.

As for giving up grains and cruciferous veggies, I did give up grains from July through October to stay on less than 100 g of carb and I still had stomach pains (though not burning at that time). I felt like I was always hungry without the grains and they helped fill me up. The cruciferous veggies did not show up as a problem on the Immuno Food Test my doctor gave me in July nor when my nutritionist tested me twice. I do eat them 3 out of 4 days because they are filling so I don't eat as much animal protein or grain that way. It is difficult to find organic veggies here; I can only get kale, broccoli, cauliflower, celery, tomatos, carrots, onions, bell peppers, arugula, spinach, potatoes, and romaine as organic. I try not to eat much potato, tomato or carrot as they are higher carb, so that doesn't leave much on the list if I eliminate cruciferous veggies.

My nutritionist did test me for vitamin and mineral deficiencies and he came up with low vitamin C and lithium, but I was taking iodine at that time. I think I'll go back to taking Iodoral 12.5 mg every other day. I am getting .75 mg of vit B1 in my NT Factor B Vitamin Complex by taking 2 tablets in the morning. I am supposed to be taking 5, but feel light-headed when I take 3.

Thanks for the tip on drinking the WW concentrate to increase pH. That seems like a better way than taking the expensive Buffer pH pills.

Nancy M.

Wendy,

I us an AlcaTech water ioniser which gives you a choice of pH as well as filtering and ionising the water. At around £700 it's not cheap but I've used it for about three years now and wouldn't be without it. A number of firms make these but some achieve the pH by manually adding calcium which doesn't seem right to me.

I take the baking soda at night because that's when I had the most problems.

Why not try half teaspoon (in water) when you get the burning and see what effect it has?

I definitely think you should stop the HCl for a few days to see what difference that makes.

You should also consider whether some of the vegetables you eat are causing a problem. I had to stop tomatoes & spinach, among others, as they caused reflux.

Keep experimenting!

Sam

Sam,

Thanks for your help. I like the idea of using 1/2 tsp. of baking soda in water when I get the burning. That seems like an easy, sensible thing to do so I'll try it today when the burning starts.

I've decided to take 1 tbsp (1/2 oz) of the undiluted WW between meals three times a day to see how much that brings up my pH. If it helps, this would be cheaper than buying a filtering/ionizing water device. We already have a gravity water filter we like. We make our WW from that.

Last night I had chicken, steamed spinach, and a small piece of butternut squash for dinner and had no burning then or before breakfast today.

What I don't understand is why the burning is continuing to happen. I would think by now that my stomach lining would have healed from the initial problem of eating the buckwheat and amaranth flour that started all this back on Thanksgiving. I used to be able to eat anything spicy or citric or acid without a problem before this happened.

Thanks,
Nancy M.

Nancy - as so many of us have learned by trial and more trials.. you just have to keep experimenting and find what 'sits well' for your particular situation.
Keep in mind that not all testing of various foods and such is accurate. The bottom line is regardless of how you tested, if it causes gastric distress, then you should avoid it.

The Paleo style of eating was developed by Louis Cordain... [thepaleodiet.com]
Over the years, there have been alterations and various versions promoted which aren't typically 'true' Paleo eating as found with Paleo man and the era of Hunter-Gatherer.

Jackie

Jackie,

Thanks for the website on the paleo diet. Will look into it soon.

Today has been terrible painwise. I woke up with no burning, but it started right after breakfast and lasted all day. I have been experimenting with the HCL and Digestzyme. I took two Digestzyme only with breakfast and it didn't stop the burning. I had no HCL or Dig. with my chicken and celery morning snack, and the burning continued. I had one HCL with my chicken, romaine, and rice bread at lunch, and the burning was very mild but came back when I drank more WW this afternoon. I had increased the amount of undiluted WW from 8 oz. in 88 oz of filtered water to 12 oz. in 88 oz. of filtered water since I had decided not to take any Buffer pH today. Maybe that was too much as it seems everytime I drank the WW, my burning got worse. Tomorrow I will not drink any WW and see if there is any difference. As you said, all I can do is experiment. Tom has created a personalized food chart for me that I will fill out for each meal and snack along with how much HCL or Digestzyme I take. That way I can track what I'm doing and hopefully find a pattern and a solution. I may be one of those rare people who has too much HCl already. Or maybe I have an ulcer. It sure feels like it.

Thanks again for all your help.

Nancy M.

Helen,

Can you tell us exactly what you had for breakfast?

I can't eat celery and my stomach wasn't too keen on romaine or rocket either. My main vegetables are broccoli, cabbage, kale and mild flavoured lettuces like Boston. I can usually get these organic but I would rather have inorganic vegetables than those which would upset my stomach.

Half a day without HCl isn't enough time to decide if these are a problem.

Sam,

Thanks for your input on your diet. I've decided to test out your idea so am not having any digestive enzymes or HCL today. In fact, I started at dinner last night with no HCl, no enzymes, and no WW and did better than earlier in the day with HCl and WW. I had a heavy feeling in my stomach and slight burning but not too bad after dinner. Because it was Valentine's day, we had steak (which we don't usually have) a small baked potato with lots of butter and home grown organic kale with lots of olive oil. No evening snack. I've had no GERD or problems when lying down in bed.

When I woke up this morning, my stomach was fine, but because I waited too long to fix breakfast, I started to get some burning. Breakfast today was 2 soft boiled eggs, 1/4 c oatmeal with coconut oil, and brocolli with olive oil with no WW or HCl or enzymes. I have some burning but not as bad as yesterday. I will have the same thing for my morning snack but only 1 egg. I'm trying to eat smaller portions and break my food into 5 or 6 mini-meals.

After breakfast I had diarrhea, probably due to too much magnesium from the extra WW I had yesterday.

Yesterday for breakfast I had a chicken leg, steamed kale with olive oil, and celery. I've never had a problem with any of these foods before so don't know why I'm having so much burning now. It did seem like I got a heavy feeling after eating the celery as I had it at the end of my meal.

Thanks for your idea.

Nancy M.

Nancy,

Glad to hear things are looking a bit better. I do think it's of the foods you've been eating and probably some supplements that have been causing your problems.

You're question about why foods that didn't cause you problems in the past are causing them now is one that many, including myself, have asked without getting an answer. We just have to accept that then was then and now is now.

One idea that I'm working on at the moment is that drinking with meals or too soon after, i.e less than three hours, can cause undigested food to pass out of the digestive system and into the blood causing intolerances. It's meant a big change for me, three meals a day instead of five, (and no tea!) but I'll persevere and see what happens. (I drink a pint of water half an hour before each meal and two thirds of a pint before bed.)

A big factor for you will be that because your throat, oesophagus and stomach are so irritated it will take very little to upset them. Once everything has healed you may be able to reintroduce some of the things you have to leave out now.

Sam

Sam,

Thanks for your help.

I don't think I could go that long without drinking water, which is basically all I drink these days. Right now, I try to drink between meals. I take my pills 20-30 minutes before a meal with water and then don't drink again for one hour.

I have continued to have burning again all day today even though I've had no HCl or digestive enzymes. It seems I burn whether I take them or not. I've also had no WW today, just regular filtered water, and that has made no difference that I can tell.

How long after a meal should I take the baking soda and water? I usually start burning within 1/2 hr, sometimes sooner, after eating. I don't want to stop the digestive process but I don't want to continue burning either.

I've decided to go back to taking Glutagenics which contains glutamine, aloe, and DGL. I had stopped taking it because it contains glutamine, which Dr. Blaylock says is an excitotoxin contributes to insomnia, which is a severe chronic problem for me, but maybe it will help heal my stomach lining. I do seem to feel better very briefly after taking it.

Good luck with your water/3meal a day experiment. For now, I'm trying to do just the opposite, eat 5 smaller meals a day so my stomach doesn't put out as much acid at once to digest a bigger meal.

Nancy M.

"Peggy,
I read through the list of references in the www.paleodiet.com website, but there are so many that I don't know which to select to read. Any recommendations?"

Hello again Nancy. My recommendation is to stop with those articles on paleodiet.com for a while and stick with the simpler wikipedia article. Go back and read whatever catches your eye after you get stabilized on a diet of fresh whole foods simply prepared. Paleodiet disallows all packaged, processed foods. That eliminates most anything that comes in a wrapper, a box, or a bottle. Anything with an ingredient list is out. Any food you find with an ingredient list longer than one item [example: peanut butter composed solely of peanuts, nothing else, is relatively ok, but do not eat commercial peanut butter with an ingredient list of, for example,peanuts, hydrogenated vegetable oils,and salt. Oranges in moderation are ok, but commercial orange juice, sweetened and reconstituted, is not. Paleo disallows grains of any kind, also starchy vegetables like white potatoes, but sweet potatoes are ok, in moderation again. Sweet potatoes are chock full of fiber, minerals, and vitamins. Put plenty real butter on them, but not margarine. Non starchy vegetables are ok in any quantity you like. Pork is ok as long as you cook it yourself, but not bacon nor baloney nor ham nor other processed deli "meats". Sugar is out but not coffee, at least for me. I have taught myself to enjoy it black. You can too.

PeggyM

Peggy - nice explanation...

I am sorry to nit pick, but Peanuts are legumes and are not allowed on the Paleo diet. An acceptable substitute would be nut butter such as Almond butter.

Butter is dairy and not on the original Paleo diet. Many people who modify Paleo eating for their own preferences do include butter. Some say if that's the case, then stick to eating only organic butter since it should have fewer chemical and drug residues since they are not fed to organically raised dairy cows.

Coffee is not on the true Paleo diet either, although many people modify their Paleo diets to include it, With so many health benefits from the polyphenol content, it makes sense to include as long as the caffeine doesn't trigger afib.... but black..no cream or sugar.

In the strict sense of the word, Paleo eating is that which most closely resembles what Paleo man had available to eat... as whole foods without processing....mostly raw.

Those that modfy Paleo eating for personal preferences or habits, may lose some of the principle benefits of what Paleo Eating is all about but overall, eliminating processed, packaged empty-calorie foods is a huge step in the right direction and for afibbers, that's avery important, essential step... (Well,it should be for everyone, but afibbers tend to become more health-conscious than most - more quickly).

Jackie

Wendy,

I'm afraid I can't give you a definite answer on when to take Baking Powder. I've only ever needed it for night time reflux when I took it two hours after I finished eating supper.

A Google search on best time to take might get you an answer.

Don't forget to check whether foods like spinach and spicy types of lettuce are your problem.

Sam

Hi Everyone,

Thanks for all your help on paleo diets. I'm not supposed to have fruit, according to my doctor because the carbs are too high, and as I stated earlier, if I eliminate the veggies that need to be cooked--kale, spinach, cauliflower, broccoli, green beans--there isn't much left to pick from around here that is raw and organic, and I'm trying not to eat things that aren't organic. All that's left is romaine, carrot, celery, zucchini, cucumber, avocado, tomato and onion (tomato and onion seem to hurt my stomach right now so they're out). It seems I'd be eating the same few veggies over and over. Do you have this problem or do you eat cooked veggies too? I think I read that 1/2 of your plate should be raw. Do you eat the cruciferous veggies raw?

How about yogurt and goat cheese? Are these okay?

Right now, I am concentrating on trying to eat 5 - 6 mini meals a day to stop any excess acid production. Today I'm having a chicken leg, 1/4 c cooked quinoa, zucchini, and celery (all organic) at each mini-meal. My stomach doesn't seem to be burning as much but I started taking l-lysine yesterday, 1000 mg after each meal, so maybe that is helping, plus I stopped DGL too.

Yesterday before breakfast, I was taking my usual DGL chewable tabs and my mouth just exploded with canker sores out of nowhere! Very odd! Maybe my body has decided that it doesn't like DGL anymore or that it is saturated with it. My husband has taken lysine before for his canker sores, so I went online to find out how much to take. It said while canker sores are active to take 1000mgs after each meal and 500 mgs for a week after they heal. I'm wondering if my body has too much arginine from all the animal protein I've been eating and not enough lysine?? Could that be causing all my stomach, esophagus, and throat burning?

I've also stopped all HCl and digestive enzymes for now. I've read that if one does have an ulcer, one shouldn't take HCL because it will just inflame the situation.

I went back to WW yesterday and also drank two Green Magna drinks to try to get my pH back in the right direction. Again, after all the Tennant reading, I'm thinking that I need to work on my pH and maybe that will help heal my burning?? Unfortunately, one of these changes has caused very loose stools and then diarrhea this morning. Probably too many changes for my body all at once. I'm going to lower my lysine to 500 mgs three times a day and stop the Green Magna for a few days and see how I do.

I made an appointment on Wed. to see my nutritionist for further food and supplement testing to see if my body has developed any new sensitivities. Hopefully, he'll be able to find some answers.

I had another afib episode Sunday morning at 3:39AM which woke me up, but I was able to stop it by 6:20AM and do okay the rest of the day. I am wondering if this could be digestion related though I didn't eat any processed or strange foods before this happened.

Blessings,
Nancy M.

Nancy - I'm very distresed for you as I read this latest post. My fear is that you are just trying too many things at once... pulled in too many directions at once. If I were in your place, I'd be tempted to go back to the eating style you used before embarking on all the other plans. Time to regroup and focus on the basics. Or, if you are thinking that your various reactions are the result of detoxing, then back off and do it at a slower rate. My experience with detoxing, when it's working properly, is that you can feel a whole lot worse, before feeling better and the symptoms can be both varied and severe. When that occurs, it's suggested that you proceed more slowly. Detoxing reactions can be very harsh on the body, especially if toxic chemicals are being flushed out. Drink plenty of water to promote speedy removal. Try skin brushing as an assist.

The canker sore breakout is a definite symptom that your chemistry is off and that's typically too acidic. Not everyone does well on a higher protein and fat diet. Not everyone tolerates a mostly raw diet. You can try lightly steaming all of your veggies until you regain some normalcy. . And, most definitely, the gut irritation is related to AF... if you haven't read that lengthy post on The Gut Connection to Afib - Revisited... it's a good place to begin. [www.afibbers.org]

Is the Green Magna drink something you've always used or something new? Is this a commercially prepared drink or did you blend it yourself? If commercial, check the label to see if there are suspicious ingredients.

Jackie

Jackie,

You're right. I am going in too many different directions at once, trying to get rid of this horrible burning. I thought the Dr. Hagiwara's Green Magma barley grass juice powder drink would help raise my pH and bring my body into better balance. Perhaps I should have only used it once to begin with. I haven't used it at all today. It says it is organic, vegan, non-gmo, and gluten free. I used it over a year ago to try to rebuild my health after going off Klonopin.

I am doing somewhat better today, whether that is from using the l-lysine or just stopping the DGL, Glutagenics, HCl , and Digestzymes, I don't know. Tomorrow I will see my nutritionist. I hope he has some answers. My canker sores have all gone away except one. I forgot to mention that I got my new Hawley (sp?) retainers, top and bottom, last Thursday and wore them all night Thursday, Friday, and Saturday and didn't seem to have a problem with them. I'm now wondering if my canker sores could have anything to do with my Sunday morning outbreak. I haven't had canker sores in years!

Yes, I have read The Gut Connection to Afib - Revisited, which is why I am so concerned about my digestion issue.

I like the idea of going back to my old diet to see if my body settles down. As you say, perhaps I'm not meant to eat all this protein! I was adding a lot of extra fat to my diet too since Rosedale said that was important. Perhaps my body couldn't handle that.

Nancy M.

Nancy - Definitely. Regroup. Consider that the plastic used in the retainers could cause you severe reactivity. That's not uncommon. There's almost no way around it without finding a biologic dentist who might be able to fashion them out of a different material to which you are non-reactive. In a body that is already burdened with a lot of toxins, it's always a challenge to introduce another known reactive material without previous screening. I hope your tissue settles down and you are no longer producing the aphthous ulcers.

Give your old diet some time and if you do make changes... make only one at a time and introduce the new item only once a day... that helps acclimate and also helps identify something that is not compatible. When you throw a dozen new things in an already reactive body, you're just asking for pandemonium. I'm really sorry that you've been suffering so much. Your intentions were good... you're body just wasn't cooperating. Slowly, your positive changes will give you the health improvements you need.

Best to you,
Jackie

Jackie,

Went to see my nutritionist today and he did more food testing. It turns out that I am sensitive to the latex group of foods (mango, avocado, cashews, etc) which we had cleared once before, but we did not clear carrots which Dr. C says can retrigger the latex group. But what he thinks is the biggest culprit was a new sensitivity to gellatin, namely the gel capsules from all my supplements! He cleared me of all these things, plus the amaranth and buckwheat flour and some other things that were a problem before that I had stopped eating, using a laser and sent me home with a bottle of water that contains the energy from the things we are clearing. I take 7 drops 5 times a day and cannot come in contact with any of the items above for 25 hrs. After that, I can reintroduce one thing every three days. So I'm off almost all my supplements for awhile. He says my stomach, esophagus, and throat linings are all inflammed, and even though we cleared all these items, it will take time to settle down, so I have to stay clear of anything spicey, citrus, fatty, tomatoes, and that contains any gellatin. Should be an interesting next couple weeks.

Not sure what to do about my retainers. It never occured to me that they could be causing a problem. I will take them in to Dr. C for my next appt. on Monday to see what he can do. Perhaps he can clear them so I can use them. If not, I'll contact the orthodontist to see what can be done.

Thanks for your help on all this issues.

Nancy M.