Is your pH balanced?

There has been so much discussion on how acidity affects our bodies in the community of chronic inflammatory conditions, so I feel that it deserves attention. I think that given the evidence and the fact the we are chemically messing around with the foods we eat and the things we drink that it is bound to affect our bodies balance and defense systems.

Below is a basic explanation about pH levels inside our bodies found at http://www.vaxa.com/food-ph.cfm.

"If you are interested in maintaining healthy pH levels inside your body, the first place you can start is by learning about food pH. All foods and beverages have a pH measurement. `

Interestingly, food pH and beverage pH may change once they are digested by your body. For example, orange juice has an acidic pH outside of the body, with a pH range of about 3-4. But, once orange juice is metabolized, it will leave alkaline residues in your body. Therefore, the effect of food pH inside your body may be very different than the pH of the food itself.

To maintain optimum health, your body is constantly working to maintain a slightly alkaline pH. The main culprit behind fluctuating body pH levels is the pH of food that you ingest into your body. Modern diets tempt us to consume a lot of acid producing foods like meat, coffee, cheese, butter, oils, breads, grains, and pastas. By remaining aware of the food pH of everything you eat, you can avoid acid producing foods and concentrate more on alkaline producing foods. Proper food pH in your everyday diet will take a lot of stress off your body and help your body to hold onto important minerals.

To eat a diet with more of an alkaline producing food pH or neutral food pH, increase your intake of fruits, vegetables, legumes, mushrooms, seeds, and milk. Also, since food pH can change inside your body, it’s a good idea to use pH testing strips to test your urine. These testing strips will give you a better idea of what pH effect your diet is having on your body."

From what I understand from previous research I have done and my own sense of bodily health, this makes perfect sense! Whenever I endure increased physical or emotional stress, my conditions get worse and my tolerance for foods that have a more acidic pH is decreased. From what I have heard from others with IC, gluten intolerance, and IBS it is relatively the same for them.

Here is a good diagram of the pH scale:

Illustration: The pH scale

As noted by the site the diagram was taken from (http://www.balance-ph-diet.com/ph_scale.html), a pH of 7 is neutral while anything less than 7 is acidic and anything higher than 7 is alkaline. This site also discusses the effects on the body that an acidic environment can cause:

"At rest, the normal blood pH of a human being is slightly alkaline, with a pH around 7.4 on the pH scale...the extremes of this scale are life threatening for the human body; if the pH value drops below 6.8 or increases above 7.8, the cells of the body cannot function properly anymore and the human will die.

...By consuming too many unhealthy, acidic-forming foods, the growth of harmful bacteria, fungus, yeast and other micro-organisms is promoted within our body, which may result in obesity (we create fat cells to carry acids away from our vital organs), allergies (the absorption of undigested proteins dues to an overly acidic body is a major cause of allergy conditions), fatigue (an over-acidified body produces toxins and weakens the body's ability to produce enzymes and hormones) and many other unhealthy conditions.

...A proper alkaline diet suggests taking in at least 80% of alkaline foods, like green vegetables or grasses, and never more than 20% of neutral and acidic foods. Eating green foods, vegetables and alkaline foods will help our internal fluids to achieve a natural pH balance as the acidic environment inside the body will be eliminated...When pH balance is achieved, your body will start to  restore its overall health."

Some more specific effects are noted below: 

 "- Connective tissue gets weakened and facial skin and hair lose their tone. It is the accumulated acid that damages the cartilages and irritates the joints. Gout is the accumulation of uric acid in the joints.
- Excess acid wastes produced by the body stresses the kidney as it has to work harder for eliminating them from the blood. Thus, kidney functioning could be impaired in the long run.
- There is tendency to accumulate fat and thereby gain weight.
- When the body’s condition is too acidic, it frequently makes compensating withdrawals of calcium from the bones leaving them brittle and subject to fractures.
- Increase in the body fat occurs overtime.
- Sleep patterns get disturbed. 
- Friendly bacteria in the intestine die and the immune system gets impaired.
- Vitamins and Minerals from food and supplements are not well absorbed.
- Free radical oxidation occurs with greater ease, while antioxidant activity is impaired."

(found at http://www.medindia.net/patients/lifestyleandwellness/acid-base-dietary-balance-health-and-wellbeing-effects.htm#.)

Below is a basic chart that shows foods that produce acid in your body versus alkaline foods.

I found some great looking alkaline diet recipes at http://www.balance-ph-diet.com/alkaline_recipes.html. I am excited to try the soup recipes with winter fast approaching and the hot food season returning. Good luck to all! Let me know if you have found any alkaline recipes or sites with more info on the subject, I would love to hear any input. Thanks for stopping by!

IBS: Natural Treatments

The treatments below I found at http://www.healingwell.com/library/ibs/article.asp?author=thompson&id=2

This first one I have actually explored on my own prior to reading! I didn't know it was 'colonic massage', but I remember being in the throne room at work, in a lot of discomfort waiting for a movement to finish so that I would finally have some relief, and so I starting massaging my abdomen in desperation. Lone behold it helped! It helped to ease my discomfort (and general colon spasms)  and move the movement along.


"Colonic Massage

Perform the massage either sitting on the toilet or lying down with your knees bent. Make a fist with your right hand and massage your colon using a digging, circular motion with your knuckles. Start at the lower right quadrant of your abdomen (just inside your hip bone) and work up to under the right side of your ribcage, then straight across, then down the left quadrant of your abdomen and when you get to just inside your left hip bone, massage in towards your groin/pubic bone. The idea is to massage the length of your colon which starts at the lower right quadrant of your abdomen and then up in a horseshoe shape under the ribs and down to the lower left quadrant of your abdomen. The rectal canal then extends from the lower left quadrant diagonally across to the groin (or pubic bone). Repeat this massage several times experimenting with varying pressure and your massage technique. This is a fantastic technique that can be used by anyone during, or to encourage, a bowel movement. It also relieves colic in newborns by helping them expel gas and stool.

 

Constipation

The easiest remedy for constipation is simply to increase your intake of vitamin C (in ascorbic acid form) and magnesium. Vitamin C is an excellent immune booster with many extensive clinical trials showing large doses to be quite safe. About 40% of Americans are deficient in magnesium so this is a mineral you probably will only benefit from - the only side-effect of magnesium is diarrhea. Start at 2000 mg vitamin C and 200 mg magnesium per day. You can increase up to 6000 mg of vitamin C and 1000 mg of magnesium. For maintenance, eat lots of fresh fruit and 'non-scratchy' complex carbohydrates (zucchini, carrots, peas, broccoli, cauliflower, spinach, etc.) and drink at least 8-10 glasses of spring or filtered water per day. Perform the colonic massage technique listed below several times a day and especially when you feel the urge to have a bowel movement.
DiarrheaAn amino acid called L-Glutamine is the best remedy I've come across for diarrhea and it works very quickly (within 2-3 days usually). It's virtually tasteless and dissolves easily in water. Start with 1/4 tsp. per day mixed in cold or room-temperature water and drink it on an empty stomach. If that's not enough, increase to 1/4 tsp. two or three times a day. Then increase the dosage gradually (if you need it) to 1/2 tsp. then 3/4 tsp., up to 1 tsp. two or three times a day. L-Glutamine directly nourishes and heals the mucosal lining of the intestine and causes the bowel to reabsorb the water in your stool, thus reducing the number and frequency of bowel movements. Do not use if you have any liver or kidney disease.

Avoid diarrhea-causing foods such as refined sugar, refined flour (white, bleached), hydrogenated fats, caffeine, and acidic, tomato-based foods like spaghetti sauce and pizza. Most people find coffee (regular or decaffeinated) highly irritating as well. Anyone with IBS should automatically avoid processed foods, luncheon meats or hot dogs, and foods with artificial flavor/color, preservatives or msg. Colonic massage is also an excellent way to reduce the frequency of bowel movements as the massage helps move all the separate little stool deposits around the colon and out at once, rather than in many separate bowel movements (see the Colonic Massage section below).

Heartburn

Heartburn is caused by stomach acid (generated by digestion) washing back up the throat and is best treated with a multi-pronged approach:

• Avoid acidic foods and drink eg. tomatoes, oranges, grapefruit, alcohol, lemons, etc. 
• Also avoid chocolate, peppermint, spearmint, high fat foods, and caffeine - especially in the evening. 
• Avoid lying down or reclining for 2 hours after eating. 
• Before bed or on an empty stomach, slowly sip 1/2 cup of George's Roadrunner Aloe Vera Juice. This is my favorite brand of aloe vera juice as it contains no irritants or laxative components and just tastes like distilled water. If you can't get George's Roadrunner brand, then look for one that has no added ingredients or preservatives and has the Aloin (laxative component) removed. It should be perfectly clear in color (like water). 
• Gently massage your esophageal valve by rubbing gently just under your solar plexus and stroking downwards toward your belly button. 
• When you go to sleep, lie on your left side. Your stomach opens up to your left and this encourages the food and acids to stay in your stomach and away from your esophageal valve."

An article I found at http://www.huffingtonpost.com/gerard-e-mullin-md/ibs-natural-treatment_b_886421.html#s300343&title=Stress_Reduction describes the author's top 5 remedies for IBS as described below (The author is a gastroenterologist so he probably knows what he\s talking about!).

"When it comes to seeking relief from IBS, my mother wasn't alone: People with IBS are usually willing to try anything to improve their symptoms, and about 50 percent experiment with complementary and alternative approaches as a result. While not every natural therapy can treat IBS, research suggests that several can help ease symptoms -- in some cases, more effectively and more safely than conventional medications. Here's what I recommend to keep IBS at bay. Try one or more of these approaches to see what works for you:

1. Stress Reduction:

Most people with IBS notice that their symptoms tend to worsen under stress. That's not surprising: The brain and the gut's nervous system are intertwined through a series of hormones and biochemicals, which means that negative thoughts can have profound effects on digestive function. Stress management techniques like meditation, deep breathing, yoga and even hypnosis can all improve IBS. Try them one at a time and see what works best for you, then practice your favorite regularly.

2. Diet:

Food is a notorious trigger of IBS symptoms for many people. In most cases, it's difficult to guess the specific culprits, so when my IBS patients tell me that food seems to set off their symptoms, I place them on an elimination diet that removes the most common food allergens (such as corn, soy, dairy and wheat). Studies show that eliminating such allergens can be quite effective at easing IBS symptoms. If you believe food may be triggering your IBS symptoms, ask your doctor about following an elimination diet.

3. Acupuncture: 

This ancient Asian technique has long been used to alleviate pain and relax the mind, both of which can benefit people with IBS. Some research has found a possible link between acupuncture and the relief of IBS symptoms, but regular visits (once or twice a week) are thought to be necessary to see results. Fortunately, many insurance carriers now cover the much of the costs for acupuncture visits, which typically range from $35 to 65.

4. Peppermint Oil:

This soothing herb appears to calm intestinal spasms, offering rapid relief for people with IBS. One 2008 review of clinical trials published in Nutrition in Clinical Practice found that encapsulated peppermint oil was more effective than conventional medications at improving symptoms of IBS. Look for enteric-coated peppermint oil and take 0.2 mL in capsule form two to three times per day with meals. Teas, unfortunately, are not as helpful.

5. Probiotics: 

A healthy gut requires sufficient quantities of "friendly" flora. More than a dozen clinical trials, using a number of different strains of friendly bacteria (known as probiotics), have been conducted, with promising results. Consider using probiotic strains that have been either proven in clinical trials to be safe and effective (such as VSL#3) or that are from companies that adhere to good manufacturing practices. The starting dose for taking probiotics is 10 billion colony-forming units daily. If you're lactose intolerant, look for dairy-free formulations."

The last section of information I have listed below, was found at http://www.besthealthmag.ca/get-healthy/home-remedies/natural-home-remedies-irritable-bowel-syndrome. 

"Go easy on your intestines

• Minimize fried foods, meats, oils, margarine, dairy foods, and other fatty foods.They cause your colon to contract violently, which can lead to diarrhea and abdominal pain.

• Stay away from spicy foods. The capsaicin in hot peppers, for example, makes your large intestine go into spasms, which can cause diarrhea. 

• Cut down on caffeine. It can worsen IBS by irritating your intestines.

• Avoid foods known to cause flatulence, including cabbage, Brussels sprouts, and broccoli.

• Don’t chew gum or candy that contains artificial sweeteners. Among the common sweeteners in these products are sorbitol and mannitol, which can have a laxative effect. They’re very difficult to digest. When bacteria in your colon eventually break down these “nonabsorbed sugars,” you get gas and diarrhea.

• Stop smoking. Nicotine contributes to IBS flare-ups. Also, when you smoke, you swallow air, and people with IBS are very sensitive to having air in their gut.

Fit in more fibre

• Soluble fibre soaks up liquid in your intestines, helping to prevent diarrhea. Good sources are beans, oatmeal, and some fruits, such as apples, strawberries and grapefruit.

• If you can’t seem to get enough soluble fibre in your diet, take a daily supplement of psyllium, the main ingredient in dietary fibre supplements. Unlike chemical laxatives,psyllium is safe to take long-term. Follow the label for dosage directions.

• If constipation is your main complaint, fill up on insoluble fibre, found in whole wheat, bran, other whole grains, salad greens, and other foods. Insoluble fiber bulks up stool, which speeds its passage through the intestines.

• If you haven’t had much fiber in your diet, increase the amount you eat gradually.Adding too much fibre all at once can actually give you gas and bloating. Start with 8 g of fibre daily—about what you’d find in two pears—and increase by 3 or 4 g each day until you’re up to 30 g daily.

• Drink at least six to eight glasses of water each day to keep fiber moving smoothly through your system.

Graze, don’t gorge

• Eat smaller meals more frequently rather than a couple of large meals each day.Taking in too much food at once can overstimulate your digestive system.

• If you usually bolt down your meals, go more slowly and pay more attention to chewing your food. Fast eaters often swallow too much air, which turns into bothersome intestinal gas.

Eat yogurt

• Having diarrhea can drain away good bacteria that help prevent harmful bacteria from growing out of control. When you’re having IBS-related diarrhea, eat plenty of yogurt containing active bacteria, such as acidophilus. Or take supplements of acidophilus. The usual daily dosage is one pill containing 1 to 2 billion live organisms. Take it on an empty stomach.

Drink tea

• Every day, drink a cup or two of peppermint tea, which relaxes your intestines, reduces spasms, and relieves gas pain. Make sure to buy the kind that contains real peppermint, rather than black tea with peppermint flavoring. Alternatively, you can take enteric-coated peppermint-oil capsules. The coating ensures that the oil reaches the intestine instead of breaking down in the stomach. Take one or two capsules three times a day, between meals.

• Drink ginger tea. ginger soothes all manner of digestive problems, including IBS. For the freshest tea, grate a half-teaspoon of ginger into a cup, then pour in hot water, let it steep for 10 minutes, strain out the ginger, and drink the tea. Ginger tea bags are also available. Drink four to six cups a day.

Get some exercise

• Whenever possible, get at least 30 minutes of noncompetitive exercise such as walking. Exercise helps relieve stress, releases natural painkilling endorphins, and keeps your body—including your digestive system—working smoothly."

You Tube videos on Gluten Allergies

The story of one family and their symptoms of dealing with gluten allergies.

Here is another great explanation of an MD, and she also has personal gluten allergy experience, and how she treats her patients.

Here is another MD, talking about the connection of people with gluten allergy and other diseases.

This last video is about gluten free paleo diet, which the interviewee claims to help people with gluten allergies, I like the idea of going back to our ancestral roots in terms of what we have evolved to digest.

You Tube videos on IC

I love how this vlogger relates her personal journey. She (as are all IC sufferers) is truely amazing and very open and honest with her experiences. Please watch these to vlogs because they are very inspiring.

This vlog is a great introduction to IC.

What are the IC irritating foods? Jill Osborne from the IC network outlines what they are (she focuses mostly on beverages) and why they irritate us!

This vlogger (go4discipline) started posting in 2009 as she started her journey to a natural healing process of her IC afflicted body. She has reduced her pain by correcting her pH balance from more acidic to alkaline, by changing her diet. In this first video she describes her personal day to day experience and a quick review of her history with it.

In this next vlog, go4discipline describes the connection between the lymphatic system, inflammation, and a raw foods diet.

This last video is go4discipline discussing how to deal with the emotional side of IC, and how IC effects relationships of family and friends.

I hope that these vlogs have given you some comfort, information, and the drive to keep on pushing yourself to try a natural path (for some IC sufferers they may still require medications to function but I highly recommend trying these healthy options at least in addition to what you do for IC) at worst you will be getting lots of nutrients that you may have been missing before. Why not right? Good luck to all on their paths to living and treating IC. You are definitely NOT alone.

Gluten Allergy due to Undigestable Proteins in Modern Wheat?

My mum (who also has gluten intolerance) told me of an article one day that warned of the changed structure of wheat as being the culprit for most people’s wheat allergies nowadays.

My response: ewwwww...genetic modification is to blame?? how do you get around that? Why did they have to do it in the first place?

The reason why the wheat protein changed is because farmers combined different types of wheat until they had a species that produced the highest yield of grain, is drought resistant, insect and disease resistant, heat tolerant, etc. Unfortunately, a side effect of this is that the protein molecule of the wheat had changed too. The result of which is a protein molecule that some people cannot tolerate, and some are severely allergic to.

Melinda Beck of HealthJournal@wsj.com says:

“The incidence of celiac disease is rising sharply—and not just due to greater awareness. Tests comparing old blood samples to recent ones show the rate has increased four-fold in the last 50 years, to at least 1 in 133 Americans. It's also being diagnosed in people as old as 70 who have eaten gluten safely all their lives.

"People aren't born with this. Something triggers it and with this dramatic rise in all ages, it must be something pervasive in the environment," says Joseph A. Murray, a gastroenterologist at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn. One possible culprit: agricultural changes to wheat that have boosted its protein content.”

Also an article found at http://www.kipnews.org/2012/01/16/modern-wheat-really-isnt-wheat-at-all/ states:

“Plant breeders have changed wheat in dramatic ways...once more than 4 feet tall, modern wheat (the type grown in 99 percent of the wheat fields around the world) is now a stocky 2 feet tall plant with an unusually large seed head. Dr. Davis says accomplishing this involved crossing wheat with non-wheat grasses to introduce altogether new genes, using techniques like irradiation of wheat seeds and embryos with chemicals, gamma rays, and high-dose X-rays to induce mutations...Intense crossbreeding created significant changes in the amino acids in wheat’s glucoproteins, a potential cause for the 400 percent increase in celiac disease over the past 40 years. Wheat’s gliadin protein has undergone changes, with what appears to be dire consequence. ‘Compared to its pre-1960s predecessor, modern gliadin is a potent appetite stimulant,’ explains Dr. Davis. ‘The new gliadin proteins may also account for the explosion in inflammatory diseases we are seeing’.”

The Dr. Davis mentioned above is a preventative cardiologist, Medical Doctor, and author.

But there is a different opinion on the matter supplied by Sarah at http://www.thehealthyhomeeconomist.com/hybrid-wheat-not-the-same-as-gm-wheat/ :

“In the case of wheat, strains that are high in gluten have been favored...does this mean that hybridized wheat is bad for your health? Not at all... The real crux of the problem is the complete mess that westerners have made of their gut environment with all the processed foods, sugars, antibiotics and other pharmaceutical use. An imbalance gut environment will most assuredly not be able to digest wheat that is high in gluten and then undigested food rots in the gut producing excess gas, bloating, growth of pathogens, and breakdown of the gut wall that results in “wheat belly” as well as autoimmune symptoms, such as food allergies or gluten sensitivity.”

She also says that hybridized wheat is different than genetically modified (GM) wheat, while the article that quotes Dr. Davis says that modern wheat used commercially nowadays is both a hybrid and a product of genetic manipulation. There are many different opinions on the matter, but the fact of the matter is that the protein particle of wheat has still changed from the original specimen that our bodies have evolved to handle. This applies to other food as well. There is no knowing the effects that foods changed from the original format that we were evolved to digest, will have on the human body.

This also brings to my mind a diet that my friend told me about called the Paleo Diet. It involves only eating foods that our ancestors from 10,000 years ago or older would have eaten, thus avoiding the very problem that modern wheat poses to us. It avoids all pastuerized dairy products, artificial sweeteners, grains or grain-like foods, highly processed oils, soft drinks, iodized salt, fruit juice and legumes. See more details here: http://www.paleoplan.com/resources/paleo-plan-food-guide/

Sounds healthy to me! I would love to hear anyone’s thoughts on these articles and any suggestions on additional research would be highly welcomed!

Book Review: Along the Healing Path

I have heard a lot about this book Along the Healing Path: Recovering from interstitial Cystitis by former IC sufferer Catherine M. Simone. I now have it in my possession and I have read up to page 30 (about 1/4 – 1/3 of the book). The first thing that strikes me about the author is how she establishes the extreme contrast between how most people not suffering from IC view IC, versus what us sufferers actually deal with. She says “it is very upsetting to read articles and talk with the doctors who seem to minimize IC...IC is pain...it’s about feeling nauseated because you’re in so much pain that it is making you sick, especially when your bladder is full. Its about having a deep, burning pain that pain medications can barely touch. It’s about sharp shooting pains and dull aching pain 24 hours a day for many of us. It’s about the constant discomfort on top of this pain...It’s about feeling as though your body is falling apart and that there is just one thing wrong after another...And its about dealing with family and friends who don’t understand how you could be “not well enough to attend...IC is an invisible disease...It’s about having family and friends look at you like you’re a hypochondriac or a wimp.”

BAM! I feel like somebody just slapped me and hugged me at the same time. I think I tend to ignore the overall sense of emotional stress that living with IC causes, because if I didn’t I would be overwhelmed all the time. But if I contain it to small outbursts and protect myself by forgetting how painful it is to have my pain condition passed off as mere “discomfort”, then I feel less like I want to scream all the time. I am so glad that someone speaks out about the trauma we all face in day to day life. Yes, I said TRUAMA. As the author goes on she discusses how it is only recently that IC sufferers are not treated like liars or crazy people because doctors cannot find a cause for the pain. To be told you are just making it up that you are suffering from pain, when everyday it rips you up in body and mind, that is traumatizing.

There are two conclusions that the author lists early on:

1.      IC is NOT just a bladder disease.

2.      IC patients have a toxic body.

The author clearly states that this is only her opinion and in no way is she a licence medical practitioner of any kind. She says that she has gotten this opinion from extensive research, experience and talking to many other IC sufferers.

“We are exposed to toxins in our foods (e.g. food colorings, chemical additives, preservatives, artificial sweeteners, hormones, antibiotics, and pesticides), in our water (e.g. lead, arsenic, chlorine), in our air (e.g. exhaust fumes, perfumes, cigarette smoke), and in our environment (e.g. chemical cleaners).” I think she makes a pretty good case for toxicity. “Some are on prescription medication for years and never consider that they are sources of chemical toxins to their body”.

Another conclusion the author comes to:

1.      The toxic body of an IC patient is the perfect environment for fungus and bacteria to thrive.

 She says that “Bacteria are present in, on, and around the body all the time. It is when the body is weakened that it will become vulnerable to infection. The more toxic the body, the more likely that the IC patient will have bacteria, fungus, viruses, etc. involved in their IC.”

This could to be why many people believe that IC is caused by autoimmune issues. Many symptoms connected with IC seem like the body attacking itself: IBS (Irritable Bowel Syndrome), allergies, depression/anxiety, skin irritations (rashes, etc.). All that I have just listed are problems that I personally deal with, but there are many more that I know of and which this author lists: “Sensitivity to environment (chemicals, perfumes, exhaust fumes, paint), mucous membrane problems, muscle aches and joint pain, bloating, back pain...” the list goes on and on. This book is chalk full of information, but it is in a very legible format.

The next item of importance that pops out at me is this:

1.      IC patients are not absorbing nutrition.

The author believes this to be the cause of some symptoms associated with IC. This makes sense to me. When I first noticed that I was having IBS symptoms (just like my mum) at about the age of 20 (I am now 26), my mum (who has researched a lot on IBS) said that due to spasms of the colon in people who suffer from IBS, they do not absorb as much nutrition as they should. Also because IBS sufferers are sensitive to what they take into their body they can become allergic to certain foods, thus creating nutrient deficiencies.

In reading this book so far, I feel enlightened by the information she puts forth. She lists outside sources of research and authors of other books to back up her opinion. Not only that, but the fact that she brings it with the perspective of a fellow sufferer and shares her experiences with the reader. In the following chapters it looks like she provides options as how to actually treat your symptoms naturally. She does not promise relief for all but this is a logical and natural approach that worked for her. You do not have to buy expensive treatments, but you do have to change to way you look at they way you live and how IC can be treated.  I highly recommend this book and look forward to reading more.