The Alternative Road - Diet

One of the major elements that has helped to manage my chronic illness is diet.  I began dieting back in 2006, when my father (also a physician) suggested that I might have Celiac Disease.  After eliminating gluten from my diet, I felt noticeable improvement but not complete relief - so my experiments with diet expanded.  After eight years, I have come to the conclusion that two specific diet modifications are worthy of attention for anyone traveling the alternative road.  The first modification entails eliminating any foods that caused inflammatory symptoms.  The second modification entails increasing the consumption of foods known to help the body deal with inflammation.      

REDUCING INFLAMMATION

Since 2006, I have dabbled in a number of fad diets and food restrictions. The fad diets included a Paleo Diet, a Vegan Diet, a Vegetarian Diet, a Raw Foods Diet, a Candida Diet, and the Grain Brain Diet.  Each of these diets have merit.  However, none of these diets eliminated all of the foods that I now consider inflammatory - in fact most of these diets emphasized many of the foods that I consider inflammatory.

The most useful tool in reducing inflammatory foods was a series of food restrictions that can be adequately described as an elimination diet - a modification of food habits with the intent of identifying foods that trigger inflammatory symptoms (headaches, night sweats, blurry eyes, brain fog, fatigue, etc.).  My elimination diet took eight years to develop, partly because I did not have a template to follow and partly because I didn't want to give up foods that I enjoyed eating.  It took years of ill-health to steer me away from some of my beloved foods.  Ultimately, my decision to minimize exposure to inflammatory foods opened my eyes to a world of food alternatives that are just as satisfying. 

INCREASING FOODS THAT FIGHT INFLAMMATION

To function properly, the human body needs vitamins, minerals, enzymes, fiber, and other items historically provided by food.  However, the modern western diet is largely a high-calorie, low nutrient diet, potentially resulting in nutrient and vitamin deficiency.  For thirty years, I was guilty of consuming many more simple carbohydrates and sugars than high nutrient foods like whole fruits and vegetables.  The result was a body ill-equipped to deal with inflammation.  Increasing consumption of whole fruits and vegetables is recommended by virtually every health care professional that I consulted with on my road.  And though I personally was unable to attribute specific improvement of symptoms to this modification, I do believe that my general level of health (energy level and ability to focus) improved as a result.          

IF YOU ARE SUFFERING

If you are suffering from symptoms that are attributed to inflammation (including headaches, night sweats, blurry eyes, brain fog, fatigue, etc.), I can't more highly recommend trying an elimination diet and increasing your consumption of whole fruits and vegetables.  Specifically, if you have any autoimmune disease (or symptoms that correlate to an autoimmune disease), I am confident that this diet will help alleviate some of the symptoms.  And I also believe (largely through anecdotal evidence - though in the case of neurological and heart disease there is scientific evidence) that this diet has the potential to help those suffering from other ailments that currently do not have a cure through western medicine including but not limited to Autism, Alzheimer, Dementia, ALS, Cancer, heart disease, and obesity.  I do not intend to imply diet can cure these items, only help alleviate some of the symptoms. I will provide guidance in a future post for those considering an elimination diet; and I will provide recipes and recommendations of resources in a series of future posts to help you feel satisfied while on the diet and beyond.

WHAT THE MEDICAL COMMUNITY SAYS

Sjogren's Syndrome Foundation

 

Celiac Disease & The Beginning of Food Therapy

June 2006, San Diego -

I had been ill for about a year. Multiple courses of drugs had been unhelpful. A long-shot potential diagnosis - Celiac Disease. No insurance. No blood test. No problem.

Celiac Disease is an autoimmune disease. The way it works - man ingests gluten(a protein found in wheat, barley, rye and oats), immune system attacks gluten, intestine is damaged in the ensuing battle, damaged intestine can't absorb nutrients, nutrient deficiencies produce illness.

The treatment for Celiac Disease - diet. I was desperate. I stopped eating all things gluten. Two weeks passed. I did not feel well, but I did feel better. My teeth stopped aching. My muscles stopped aching. The night sweats were less. It was the first relief I experienced. It was the beginning of my experimentation with food therapy, the only therapy to have any effect on my health in the five years of illness.

The Limitations of Western Medicine

Tests that I've had: Abdominal CT Scan with contrast, Abdominal CT Scan without Contrast, Pelvic CT Scan with contrast, Pelvic CT Scan without contrast, Abdominal MRI with contrast, Abdominal MRI without contrast, Pelvic MRI with contrast, Pelvic MRI without contrast, Prostate Exam, neurological exams, blood tests, stool tests, urine tests.

Things I've been tested for: Lyme Disease, Diabetes, Celiac Disease, Food Allergies, HIV, RPR, Chlamydia, EB virus, Typhus, RMSF, West Nile Virus, Ehrlichia, rare bacterias, Giardia, Cryptosporidium, and more.

Drugs I've taken: Ciproflaxen, Metronidazole, Levaquin, Flagyl, Zithromax, and Doxycycline.

All of this could not cure me. While I do believe that western medicine is one of the greatest tools in diagnosing and curing ailments, it is not without limitations. A few of these limitations include but are not limited to (1) Diagnostic tests can have false positives and false negatives, (2) All ailments are not defined, (3) Treatments have not been developed or proven for numerous ailments, (4) Existing treatments are not 100% effective, (5) Some treatments cause more problems than they solve, and (6) The economics of diagnosis and treatment is sometimes prohibitive.

My diagnosis and treatment was not limited by economics; nor was it limited by physician resources; it was limited by knowledge. My father ran out of illnesses to test for and specialists to consult. All medical tests that I've had been subjected to over the past couple years have pronounced me a normal, healthy 30-year-old male.  It took years for me to contemplate and rationalize why western medicine pronounced me healthy when I was anything but.  In an attempt to help shorten that time frame for others who are suffering, I have started a new series in this blog titled The Limitations of Western Medicine, which will expand on particular reasons why western medicine fails.

The Phantom Illness

I had been ill for nearly five years. With what I do not know. My symptoms, many. Confirmed diagnosis, none. It's not for lack of trying. My father is a physician, one of the best in the world in my opinion. When I fell ill in 2005, I received the best medical treatment available. I had blood and other tests galore. I was referred to some of the best specialists around. At long last, I was clinically diagnosed with Lyme's Disease and Giardia. Just to be clear, a clinical diagnosis is not one that is confirmed by blood or other testing; it is a one based on the best available data, which in my case was circumstances plus symptoms.

The Circumstances: Long-distance hiking on the Appalachian Trail, multiple deer tick bites, symptoms consistent with Lyme's Disease.

The Symptoms: Brain fog, fatigue, achy joints, frequent urination, muscle twitches, abdomen pain, insatiable thirst, blurred vision, depression, muscle tightness, aching teeth, tonsil stones, sun sensitivity, night sweats, chills, uncontrollable hiccups, stomach aches, bloating.

But after a few months and multiple courses of drugs, I was still ill. A new potential diagnosis - Post Lyme's Disease Syndrome. Untreatable. Another potential diagnosis - Celiac Disease. The treatment - stop eating wheat. I stopped eating wheat. There was some improvement. I stopped eating dairy. A bit more improvement. I stopped eating most of everything else. A bit more improvement. But not total improvement. I was still unable to function like a normal human being. My energy levels remained low. It was almost impossible for me to make it through an entire day without needing a nap. I didn't have enough energy to socialize or do anything after more active than lay on the couch after work. My abdomen hurt. My thirst was not quenched. Tonsil stones were still present. I was not better.

Then, life became more difficult. My wife and I went on vacation to New Zealand. Two days in, I got a virus, passed out on my way to the bathroom, and slammed my head on a table on my way to the ground, sustaining a concussion. I was now unable to walk more than a half mile without getting a headache and nausea. I was fatigued. I was unable to focus without getting a migraine. Work was nearly unbearable. My back ached constantly. Then, a new issue - my stomach started to hurt. I loathed food, and yet I ate more. I went to see my doctor. I told him all of my ills. He asked minimal questions. He tested nothing. He offered no suggestions for therapy or treatment. He only asked me to come back in a few weeks for a check-up. I felt abandoned.

My thirtieth birthday came. I spent it in a dark room on the floor. I had eaten too much for breakfast. I felt greasy and bloated; I didn't want to eat; I was hungry and full; my body was conflicted.

My disgust with on that day led to an unusual decision. I decided to do a 72-hour water fast. Nothing to eat but water. That night, after an uncomfortable dinner, I started. The next day, I stopped. My day had been good until sometime after lunch, when a headache kicked in and stayed and got worse. I had dinner. I felt worse. I began my fast again. This time, I had a significant amount of energy on the first night of my fast and was not tempted to eat. But on the second night my headache returned. But feeling that I had accomplished what I set out to do (cure my stomach pains), I returned to food that night, first liquids (some chicken broth and apple juice), then raw foods (a piece of celery). As hoped, my stomach pains were gone. My energy level skyrocketed for a few days. And for the first time in nearly five years, I gained a glimmer of hope for future health.