Day one of my Candida program

Hi everyone, I got my copy of Linda Allen’s book about how to get rid of Candida once and for all, called Yeast Infection No More. It is a substantial book with a lot of information, and I had a couple of “A ha” moments reading it.In fact I had to stop reading for a [...]

Girl With Spoon Girl With Spoon

Candida yeast solutions

Do you suffer from a bloated especially soon after eating a meal? Especially after having bread or pizza? It could be that Candida Albicans is the culprit.  Do you crave sugary food, and it sometimes still makes its way into your mouth even after you decided to go sugar free. Do you have difficulty in [...]

Candida diet Candida diet
Girl With Spoon

Day one of my Candida program

September 1st, 2011 improveyourhealth Comments Off

Hi everyone,

I got my copy of Linda Allen’s book about how to get rid of Candida once and for all, called Yeast Infection No More.

It is a substantial book with a lot of information, and I had a couple of “A ha” moments reading it.In fact I had to stop reading for a while , to give myself time to digest the information so to speak.

Fortunately she has a accompanying recipe book to help get you started, which is exactly what I need, since I tend to get bogged down with too many details and then I don’t  do anything to use the information because I don’t know where to start.  Hopefully this will be a thing of the past once I get rid of the Candida, because it actually causes you to have brain fog.

This morning I took the first step, by starting with glass of warm water and lemon and a teaspoon olive oil. This helps the liver to detoxify, and I realize that the liver actually has a big role in the Candida puzzle.

I had some eggs and millet and mixed vegetables for a start. This is not exactly the right combination what is recommended in the book, but hey I have got to start somewhere. I am used to having oat cereal and hot milk for  breakfast.

My stomach was very bloated last night and tender to the touch. I am hoping to see big improvement in this area as I follow the program. I also have red dots on my skin form liver congestion, and have adrenal exhaustion.  Another thing is that my forehead sometimes get lots of little bumps. It get worse sometimes and sometimes it diminishes, but I know it is related to what I eat, I just could not pinpoint exactly what causes it. I also hope to improve my sleeping habits during this time.

I’ll keep you posted.

 

 

 

 

 

Enhanced by Zemanta
Candida diet

Candida yeast solutions

September 1st, 2011 improveyourhealth Comments Off
Do you suffer from a bloated especially soon after eating a meal? Especially after having bread or pizza?

It could be that Candida Albicans is the culprit.  Do you crave sugary food, and it sometimes still makes its way into your mouth even after you decided to go sugar free. Do you have difficulty in concentrating and feel foggy and tired a lot?

Well all of these symptoms is what has bothered me for a long time, no after a second C-section, with my stomach muscles a little stretched, it is even worse. The bloating causes my stomach to be so distended it looks like I am 5 months pregnant again.

Looking for solutions I found a book Yeast Infection No More that described all of my symptoms and also provides a solution to candida problems, written by a nutritionist, Linda Allen.  Best of all if you purchase her book you get 3 months of free counseling by email with her.

I decided to give it a try, and I am going to blog about my results here.

Enhanced by Zemanta

Review of Ancient Minerals

August 22nd, 2011 improveyourhealth Comments Off

The first supplement I decided to buy from Body Ecology. was Ancient Minerals.
It supports your thyroid and adrenal glands in particular.

My adrenal exhaustion was my biggest concern since it affected my mood and interaction with my family. I was tired of the sudden outbursts that came so suddenly and surprised even me.
The next main issue was my inability to sleep at a decent hour, felling tired throughout the day and then in the night I would be full of energy and be up until 2 or 3 am. I also had my 2 year old daughter that kept me up at night, but sometimes when I could get her go back to sleep, I would still be unable to sleep soon.
In the mornings I noticed that I had to get up slowly or I would be extremely dizzy. I never put two and two together , but when I read Dr Bobs book on balancing female hormones it showed me that these were all due to adrenal exhaustion. The adrenal glands regulates your blood pressure to and if you stand up from sitting or lying position, it has to adjust your blood pressure.
If the glands are busy metabolizing sugars, it has less power to deal with the other functions it has to do, like regulating hormones and blood pressure.

So Ancient Minerals was the first on my list to get from Body Ecology, because it supports the adrenal glands. When I first got it I took the recommended dose of 3 capsules at night time. I noticed that I felt very sleepy that night and I slept soundly. You know how you sometimes feel like there is sand in your eyes when you are very sleepy, this is how I felt for the first time in a long time.

I took the Ancient Minerals the next day as well during the day, just two capsules. It did not make me drowsy in the day, and I noticed I felt a little more balanced and calm, handling stress better.

After taking Ancient Minerals a few days I realized , hmmm I don’t feel so dizzy anymore if I stand up suddenly.

I am very pleased with the results, Ancient Minerals made a real difference in the way I feel and sleep.

I am thinking back now to when I was on Amazon , looking at reviews of the Body Ecology book, and I remember one reviewer said that the book was just to promote the supplements from Body Ecology. I delayed my purchase of the book for a while, but because I was desperate for something that can help my digestive system, I eventually bought it.
The book has real substance , in fact you have to read it 2 or three times and keep it as a resource handbook, highlight with your marker what is important to you. They focus on food first and the way you combine your food, the types of food to avoid, and what to eat. It has a lot of recipes too. The recommendations for the supplements are there because the supplements makes a tremendous impact on your health, helping you to get better faster.

I can recommend Ancient Minerals. if you have any issues with your adrenals.
Also I am using the Celtic Sea Salt now, to improve my salt content. I was eating low sodium food and never put extra salt on my food. Now I realize
your body and adrenals need salt to function properly. You do not want the table salt, NaCl. That is what is not so good for you.


Starting the body ecology diet

August 1st, 2011 improveyourhealth Comments Off
vegetables

Image via Wikipedia

I have found the answer to my question about what to eat that will help my body heal and not make it worse. I am so relieved, because I tried all sorts of eating plans and because I have food intolerance and candida nothing really worked. I have started to make a list of foods that don’t agree with me, and my list just got longer and longer and I was running out of options about what to eat.

The answer is in the Body Ecology diet book by Donna Gates. This book focuses on using food to overcome candida and related problems.

I am reading the Body Ecology diet book for the second time, using my yellow highlighter to highlight information that I found useful for me personally. There is a lot of information in there.

When I read it the first time I was so anxious to start, that I just read it quickly, not taking notes. I started to make cultured vegetables and kefir. These probiotic foods are very helpful for digestion and repopulating your gut with friendly bacteria.
I also tried out one of the vegetable soups, with cauliflower and carrots. I ate that as breakfast or a snack in the day. I really liked it and the way I feel when I eat the soup.

I did not change my food too much yet, and though the cultured vegetables and kefir made digestion better, I still had issues with bloating.

Now going through the book a second time, I realize the importance of food combining and acid and alkaline foods.

You have to create a alkaline environment in your body for the beneficial bacteria to flourish. You do that by eating 80% vegetables and 20% protein in a meal, or 80% vegetables and 20% grains in a meal. This is where food combining comes in, you will notice that you do not eat your protein and grains together. That is what I have been doing all along, and I think that caused all the bloating I had.

So for me, my first step is to focus on the combining of foods and to eat more vegetables with each meal, and eat some cultured vegetables at the end of each meal.

I also want to try the ginger ale recipe with stevia, because the most sugar comes in the form of drinks. My problem is that I will drink juice or soda just because I do not have an alternative. I want to make some and put in my stainless steel water bottle to take along when we go out.

I also got my Celtic sea salt, and use it on eggs in the morning. That will help restore my minerals, and help my adrenal glands.

Related articles
Enhanced by Zemanta


How to make cultured vegetables

July 4th, 2011 improveyourhealth Comments Off

I have received my Body Ecology Diet booka few days ago, and read it through cover to cover. It has so much information and wisdom from author Donna Gates.

It is a book about how to regain your health if you have been suffering from candida related problems. Now if you have a problem with sugar, it is more than likely that the cravings are fueled by candida overgrowth in your body.

One of the best was to replenish good bacteria is to make cultured vegetables at home and eat it with every meal. You should also follow the Body Ecology diet which eliminates sugar and gluten. This will starve the candida and make you well sooner.

I started out with cabbage as my vegetable to make sauerkraut.

Body Ecology Culture Starter
You chop the cabbage fine, add some to your blender with filtered water and make a brine. You add some of the Body Ecology cultured vegetables starter, to warm water with some sugar or honey. Don’t worry, the sugar will be consumed by the bacteria.
After it sat for 5 minutes add to brine mixture. Add the brine mixture to the chopped cabbage leaves. Then fill the clean mason jars with the cabbage mixture. Roll a cabbage leave on the top and seal the jar. Let it sit out on the counter top at room temperature for 4-5 days.

The bacteria will break down the nutrients in you vegetables , making it more available for your body. You will also gain the benefit of getting friendly bacteria in your digestive system, which will help break down food, and get rid of yeast.

The vegetables will have a sour taste. It is full of vitamin C, and I like the taste. The sour taste apparently takes away the craving for something sweet after a big meal.


Gluten-free Chocolate Cake

July 1st, 2011 improveyourhealth Comments Off

gluten-free chocolate birthday cakeWow, it took a couple of failed attempts to finally get a recipe that taste as good as a normal birthday cake. I made one for my husbands birthday that unfortunately fell apart coming out of the cake pans. It tasted gritty and not soft at all.

I tried another recipe from Gluten-free on a shoestring book, this time weeks ahead of my son’s birthday. It tasted ok, but was very dense , I think as a result of sour cream and the method overall. So I went back to a recipe I remember from Barefoot Contessa.

Her recipes always come out well and she has only the best recipes that works on her show. So I decided to change her original recipe, to suit my criteria of eliminating gluten and reducing sugar.

This one came out soft , moist and spongy with a good flavor. It holds together well and comes out of the pans easily.

I have used Better Batter for this recipe, I think it is well suited to cakes and muffins and that type of thing.

Gluten-free Chocolate cake

1 3/4 cups Better Batter Gluten Free Flour 5lbNutrition Bars)

1 cups sugar
3/4 cup cocoa powder
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp kosher salt
1 cup milk with 1 tbs white vinegar
1/4 cup vegetable oil
2 extra large eggs at room temp
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 cup brewed coffee
1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
4 tbs brown rice syrup

Put some coffee in the coffee machine to brew in the mean time.

Preheat oven to 350 F. Wait at least 10 minutes after the oven says it is at the right temp to ensure the temp is correct.
Butter two 8 inch x 2 inch round cake pans. Butter and flour the pans. If you want you can add parchment paper at the bottom, and then butter and flour. If you don’t have parchment paper, it will be ok, just make sure to put enough butter all around and sprinkle with flour and shake it to cover all the butter.

Add a tbs vinegar to a cup of milk. Let stand while you are doing the dry ingredients.

Sift the flour, sugar and cocoa, baking soda, baking powder and salt together.
In another bowl , mix two eggs together and add vanilla and oil, and the milk with vinegar.
Add 1 cup of the brewed coffee and mix everything well, either by hand or with mixer.

Pour batter in pans and bake for 35-40 minutes until cake tester comes out clean.
Cool in the pan for 30 minutes, then turn out on a cooling rack to cool.

This cake can be enjoyed without any frosting, like my son likes it.

You can use your favorite frosting to frost it, or sprinkle with icing sugar.

How to make kefir.

June 18th, 2011 improveyourhealth Comments Off

I have tried many diifferent types of probiotics capsules and have yet to find something that worked for me. Now some did help a little, but sometimes I had to take two or three at a time to feel any affect.

I have tried Culturelle, they have capsules and little packets for children. The packets for children has a better affect on me than the capsules. If I take one a day, I don’t feel that gas or bloating is much diminished. If I take three or more in the evening I can feel a difference in the morning, I wake up and feel clear and awake.

I wondered how I could increase my probiotics, in a way that is more cost effective.
I read that Kefir has many health benefits, and provides a lot of probiotics to your body in a way you can enjoy. Rather than buying the Kefir in the store, I decided to make my own. I did not want to have the sweetened kefir, since I do not want to eat sugar anymore.

I bought the Kefir starter online a while back, and decided to make it.

You just have to bring some milk to almost boiling point at 180F, then let it cool down to 73-77F. Add the starter to a little of the cooled milk in a cup. Mix well, and add back to the pot. Pour the milk into clean Ball jar. Let sit on the counter at room temperature overnight or for 24 hours. It will thicken some.
Then you can put it in the fridge. It says on the instructions to leave it for 8 hours in the fridge to stop the process.

You can drink the kefir alone or put it in a smoothie. I think it makes a great addition to breakfast. I drink a little after lunch too.

I thought it might be a good idea to have some before I go to bed, but I think it kept me awake, so I will limit it to day time. The word Kefir actually means “Feel good” , because it gives you energy. It is full of protein and is great at breakfast.

I just ordered a book “The Body Ecology Diet” from Body Ecology. it is all about how to reclaim your health by improving you digestion with the use of probiotic food. They have a cultured vegetable starter product which I will try out next. I can’t wait. If you go and buy the book from their website you get free gifts as a bonus, and can enter the competition to win a lot of their products.

Gluten-free pancakes

June 2nd, 2011 improveyourhealth Comments Off

gluten-free pancakes with Pamela's baking mix

This is the third time already I am making these pancakes. I started out with the recipe on the Pamela’s Baking Mix bag, and then adapted it to my taste and more importantly to my children’s taste. I added some salt, palm sugar, and vanilla essence. We do not eat pancakes with lots of syrup poured on, so it is important that the pancakes taste good on their own so that my children will eat them.

I double my recipe, to have enough for everyone and to save for later. It saves me time in the kitchen too.

2 cups Pamela’s baking mix.
1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt.
2 tablespoons Palm sugar
1 teaspoon alcohol free gluten free vanilla extract like Singing Dog Vanilla Pure Vanilla Extract Alcohol Free, 2-Ounce Bottles (Pack of 3)

2 eggs *update* use 4 eggs for more protein )
2 tbsp oil ( I used safflower oil, you could use melted butter, or canola oil too)
1 1/4 cup water – *update* replace half of the water with almond milk for more substantial pancakes

Mix dry ingredients together. Mix two eggs in separate bowl, add vanilla extract and oil. Add water.
Pour wet ingredients slowly on dry ingredients, mix as you go along to prevent lumps.

The batter has dark specs in it, from the almond meal in the baking mix. Don’t worry, you wont see it in the finished product.

Heat pan on medium heat and add a little butter or oil in the pan. Pour in the batter 1 – 2 tablespoons at a time for each pancake. Wait until first bubble come to surface and flip. Let cook for half minute or so on other side.

The pancakes will be a nice golden brown color.
Let cool a few minutes and enjoy it as is or with some raw honey.

Gluten free bread with Pamela’s bread mix

May 28th, 2011 improveyourhealth Comments Off

gluten free casein free bread

I have decided to change my diet to gluten free for the sake of my own health and that of my son. I heard someone say that they have so much more energy since going gluten-free because now all the nutrients is readily absorbed in the intestines. I know many of my symptoms of low thyroid, anemia and adrenal fatigue is related to nutrient deficiencies so it is high time I try this.

The first obstacle down this road is bread. I just don’t find any gluten-free bread in the shops. I decided to try out his gluten-free bread mix I found : Pamela’s Gluten-Free Bread Mix. This is gluten-free as well as milk free, if you make it with water. You can substitute milk for water if you want.

Pamela’s Bread Mix

Ingredients: Sorghum flour , Tapioca Flour, White rice flour, Sweet rice flour, Brown rice flour, Organic evaporated cane sugar, Chicory root, Millet flour, Molasses & Honey, Rice Bran, Sea Salt; Xantham Gum; Yeast Packet (active dry yeast).
You need to add 1/4 cup oil, and 2 eggs , and warm water to the mix.

I made it as per instructions in my bread machine, you can use the conventional oven too.
I had high hopes and it smell just great while baking. I used the Breadman Ultimate Plus, on White Bread, Medium crust. The specify not to use the gluten free setting.

It did not turn out looking like I thought it was a little rough on top, but it had a nice crust.
The texture was nice and you can slice nice thin slices. It is not crumbly at all, but has the texture of bread. However, it taste a little yeasty to me, and maybe a little too dense. It tastes good, since it has added sweeteners like sugar , molasses and honey.

I think I will probably try another recipe next, as I am not totally satisfied with the outcome. Maybe I had a wee bit too much water in.
Also I did not realize there were added sugar to the mix, and I want to eliminate plain sugar from my diet too.

Signs of gluten intolerance in children

May 23rd, 2011 improveyourhealth Comments Off

How do you know if a child has a problem digesting gluten? It is difficult to find out gluten is the problem, since there are often problems with other foods as well such as casein in milk.
As a baby he had colic, very bad, crying non stop. Mylicon did not work.

His speech developed slowly, he had only said a few words at 2 and half, and my daughter is speaking sentences at the same age.

I have noticed that my son who has a very sunny disposition normally , would become aggravated easily and have a scowl on his face, and have rage.
At this point any noise or other children will cause him to have a complete meltdown.
Now that he can articulate how he feels at 4 years, he will say “Mom I don’t feel mad anymore.”

When he was younger , about 3 , he was terrified at the parades in Disney World. We had to skip all the indoor shows, because of the low light and loud sound. He was totally terrified of elevators.

Do the have trouble to be potty trained? My son was often constipated, and thus he screamed whenever we tried to get him on the potty.

I have found a enzyme product Tri-enza which helps to calm the symptoms.
It contains enzymes that can break down casein and gluten. It helps to make potty time easier too.

I have also decided to go totally gluten free. It is a bit daunting , but I am going to take it step by step.

« Older Entries
ads ads

  • Featured Video