Even as a small child I had skin and digestive issues. I never imagined there could be a link between the two. This past November my stomach began hurting almost non-stop. I had constant, low-grade pain. Over the past few years my dermatologist mentioned gluten-free diets and had given me a few fliers outlining the diet. My current and past skin issues include, eczema, reynauds, chilblains, basil-cell carcinoma, and most recently melanoma. In January I finally went and saw a naturapath regarding my stomach. She too mentioned avoiding products with gluten (wheat, barley, and rye).
Melody was also looking into grain restrictive diets and helped me find a few sites and diet plans (The Specific Carbohydrate Diet (SCD), GAPS Diet (Gut & Psychology Syndrome), and The Maker's Diet) http://www.kitchenstewardship.com/2010/10/27/the-comparison-the-specific-carbohydrate-diet-scd-gaps-diet-gut-psychology-syndrome-and-the-makers-diet/.
I am surprised almost daily with the information I find regarding elimination of health problems and allergies when people use specific diets that increase healthy fats (this includes animal fats) and decrease sugars and grains.
Some of my recent health surprises, schizophrenia and depression treated with omega-3's http://www.drmirkin.com/morehealth/8259.html , autism treated with a gluten-free diet (I even talked to a special education teacher who has an entire classroom of students who have autism, she has watched kids transform), milk allergies treated with a short-term grain free diet, and lastly my dermatologist believes most of her patients will recover when gluten is eliminated.
Melody, my Mom, and I have begun the Maker's Diet. The diet is grain restrictive and lasts 40 days. I am only eight days into the diet and although it is challenging, my stomach feels wonderful. I believe a lifestyle change is most likely necessary (past the 40 days), but very much hope I can alleviate my milk problems and decrease my skin related illnesses.
I encourage you to look into diet solutions if you too have medical issues that seem relentless.......................
According to the federal government these are the monetary costs of digestive problems in the United States.
Prevalence: 60 to 70 million people affected by all digestive diseases1
Costs: $141.8 billion (2004)2
$97.8 billion direct medical costs (2004)2
$44 billion indirect costs (e.g., disability and mortality) (2004)2
Have a great week!
Great news (sort of?)! Coincidentally, I recently changed my diet to Paleo-Zone over the last month and feel amazing. I've lost over 20lbs while my energy level and strength have gone through the roof. I've been doing Crossfit for about a year and seeing moderate gains, but changing my diet has given me a step function improvement in performance.
ReplyDeleteTo be more specific, I eliminated all dairy, grains, and legumes and increased my protein and fat intake. I also started taking ~3 grams of high grade fish oil to increase my omega-3 intake. I've been reading Robb Wolf's Paleo Solution and am dumbfounded that I've been suffering through a carb centric diet for my entire life. Now every time I have a "normal" meal I feel instantly like crap. In case you're interested, here are some sites that have been eye opening for me:
http://whole9life.com/
http://performancemenu.com/recipes/index.php
http://robbwolf.com/faq/
http://www.thepaleodiet.com/faqs/