Tag Archives: candida diet

Questions & Answers

Ten Thing To Know About The Fodmap Diet

FODMAP refers to fermentable oligosaccharides, disaccharides, monosaccharides, and polyols. The FODMAP diet was developed by a doctor several years ago in the belief that it would be helpful for people with irritable bowel syndrome.

I’m not a big fan of the diet. Many patients that I’ve worked with have been on FODMAPs. I’ve seen some successes, but they’re very limited. I’ve seen more failures than anything. Here are ten things to keep in mind about the FODMAP diet.

1. The FODMAP diet is not a cure-all for IBS or any other kind of gut problem. What you would be doing is taking aggravating carbohydrates out of the diet. You are removing a trigger but not the underlying cause.

2. The FODMAP diet is not a gluten-free diet. Some people seem to think that the FODMAP diet is gluten-free. That’s incorrect.

3. You don’t’ need to eliminate all fiber on a FODMAP diet: Some people think the point of the FODMAP diet is to reduce your fiber intake as much as possible. But fiber is not really the issue; it’s the sugars. However, many FODMAP foods are also high in fiber, so when you cut them out, you lose out on that valuable component of the diet. Make sure you get enough fiber while you’re on a FODMAP diet. For example, kiwi fruit, a small amount of oats, pumpkin seeds, and quinoa are all allowed on the FODMAP diet and can provide the fiber that is so important to your GI tract.

4. The FODMAP Diet should be a short-term approach. Do not go on the FODMAP diet for months at a time. When it was first introduced, it was designed as a two to six-week solution to reduce IBS symptoms.

5. Oils and fats are permissible on the FODMAP diet. I still get emails from people who have come to believes that being on the FODMAP diet means taking butter, oils, and other fats out of the diet. FODMAP is not a low-fat diet.

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6. Think about social events and plan in advance, so you know there will be food for you to eat.

7. If you’re considering going on the FODMAP diet, don’t do it until you’ve had a comprehensive stool analysis. In my experience, over 50% of IBSD cases have levels of harmful bacteria that need to be addressed. It could be Citrobacter, Klebsiella, or Pseudomonas. There could be a problem with yeast as well. Clean up your gut, and it may be that you don’t even need to go on the FODMAP diet.

8. Don’t become the FODMAP police. That means don’t walk around telling people what they should or should not be eating.

9. Work out was causing the IBS before going on a FODMAP diet. Was it too much alcohol? A stressful lifestyle? Antibiotics?

10. Customize the FODMAP diet to your likes, dislikes, and symptoms. If you’ve treated the findings on the stool test and still have symptoms, a trial of the FODMAP diet is a reasonable option. But, focus on removing the foods that give you the most trouble. It’s fine to be on a partial FODMAP diet if that’s what works for you.

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Questions & Answers

Why Your Stomach Growls

Let’s talk about stomach growling.

What the heck causes all that growling coming from your stomach? Does it mean you’re hungry all the time?

People sometimes jump to the conclusion that something bad is happening if they feel sensations in their gut.

It turns out the growling and movement you feel in the stomach have nothing to do with hunger pains. The noise is being generated by the migrating motor complex (MMC). The MMC is a collection of nerves responsible for the wave-like peristaltic movements in your GI tract. The smooth muscle in your gut is contracted, creating a sweeping-like action that clears out the contents of the GI tract between meals.

Growling is a good sign. It means that your body is doing the proper “housecleaning” of the gut. Automatically jumping to the conclusion that a growling stomach needs food is not a good idea. It interferes with the valuable actions of the MMC. Throwing food into your GI tract prematurely means that the passage of food slows down, allowing for gases and toxins to be produced. It can even give harmful bacteria and yeast the opportunity to significantly increase in number and trigger the beginnings of SIBO.

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Be careful not to misinterpret the actions of the MMC as evidence of hunger.
When you get growling and the sensation of movement in your abdomen, rejoice. Your body is working as it should. Many of the clients with constipation that I saw over the years never really had the sensations associated with a working MMC.

Often people with constipation will try and take something to get the bowels working. But the best thing to do for constipation is to be patient, wait, drink some water, and wait some more. The MMC will kick in, especially if you’ve got good levels of beneficial bacteria in your gut. The MMC is very effective if you have a three or four level of lactobacillus and bifidobacteria and a generally balanced microbiome.

A good way to keep the MMC in working order is to not constantly snack on food throughout the day. The best idea is to have a regular breakfast, lunch, and supper. If you need a snack, a piece of fruit is the best option.

So, there you have it. The growling sensation is a sign that the body’s housekeeping system is in working order. If you want to live a long, healthy life, you want a healthy MMC.

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Questions & Answers

What Type Of Alcohol Is The Healthiest?

I’ve been asked so many times, “What’s the best alcohol to drink if I want to say healthy?”
I wouldn’t call any type of alcohol “healthy,” but in my experience, vodka and gin have the most minimal effects on the GI tract.

Vodka has been filtered so many times through charcoal to clean out the impurities, and it tends to have the least effect on the small and large bowel – although this isn’t necessarily true for the stomach.

Of course, vodka and gin in excess are going to be hard on the body in general.

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Beer has to be amongst some of the worst types of alcohol for the gut. The same is true for high FODMAP wines. Some of these wines contain loads of sugar. Dessert wines, muscats, and some pinot noirs are very high in sugar.

To keep your intake of alcohol in the “healthy as possible” range, I’d recommend limiting it to one drink for women and two drinks for men at any one sitting. Some people argue that there is no amount of alcohol that is healthy. However, I do know some people who have had very moderate intake for their entire adult life and are in excellent health.

For those people who aren’t able to stop at one or two drinks, they are best avoiding alcohol altogether.

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Questions & Answers

How To Chose A Naturopath

If you’re looking for a naturopath, you’ll be happy to hear that there are a lot of excellent practitioners out there.

I recommend working with a naturopath with formal credentials rather than someone who is entirely self-taught. Be very careful, because in some countries anyone can hang up a shingle and say that they’re a naturopath. It’s a very unregulated field area in many countries.

In the U.S., New Zealand, and Australia, at least, they’ve become very strict about who can and can’t call themselves a naturopath. But, in many other countries, anyone can call themselves a naturopath.

Once you have confirmed the naturopath is well qualified, I would check to see how long they have been in practice and their areas of particular expertise. If you have digestive problems, it makes sense to see a naturopath with a specific interest in that area. I also think you’re better off working with someone who has a real passion for what they do.

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Being able to communicate effectively is a crucial skill for any health care provider, naturopaths included. You want to feel that you are being heard and understood.

Empathy is another vital skill. And I think it’s very valuable for the naturopath to know both alternative and conventional medicine. You will want your naturopath to understand prescription medication and possible interactions with both natural and prescription drugs.

Often you’re better served by a naturopath who is a bit older. A 22-year-old naturopath knows less about inflammatory bowel disease than one who is 35. It may be completely fine to see a young naturopath about mild constipation, but a serious illness may be better managed by one with more experience.

Naturopathic organizations and associations often have lists of practicing professionals. These groups may be able to direct you to a naturopath with expertise in your area of concern.

Be sure that your naturopath is well versed in stool testing. And hightail it away from anyone who comes up with a snap diagnosis. I’d also watch out if they recommend twenty or thirty tests and thousands of dollars in treatment despite having just met you.

Use your common sense and gut instinct as well.

Look for someone who can see you regularly. I recommend at least monthly appointments until your health has clearly improved.

Remember, there’s the medical doctor, and there’s the naturopathic one. It’s good to have both in your life.

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Questions & Answers

Will Lemon Tea Help You Lose Weight?

Is lemon tea good for weight loss?

Lemon tea is healthy, but it’s not that effective for weight loss. If you want to drink tea known to increase metabolism and fat burning, you should reach for a cup of good quality green tea.

Lemon tea may stimulate digestion and help with the stomach and small intestine function. I also like lemon, lemon juice, and lemon tea is because research tells us that they all inhibit bacteria. Lemon has a nice cleansing effect on the small intestine as well.

A 2010 study published in the American nutrition journal involved giving obese people four cups of green tea per day for eight weeks. The researchers compared the weight loss results of the tea drinkers to people who were drinkings four cups of water per day. The tea drinkers lost five pounds, and the water drinkers remained the same.

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It is thought that green tea helps with weight loss through its caffeine and polyphenol content. Lemon tea, in contrast, doesn’t contain caffeine.

I’m not opposed to including caffeine in your diet. Just don’t drink twenty-five cups of coffee per day. But one good cup of espresso in the morning is a delight.

Even though lemon tea doesn’t seem to facilitate weight loss, I still highly recommend including lemon in any form in your diet. Both lemon and lime improve gallbladder function. Lemon can also help with bowel movements and with oily skin. There’s probably a hundred and one uses for lemon, but rapid weight loss isn’t one of them.

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