Balanced Health Bioenergetic Testing

Spring is here! And, I'm finally back to blogging (I know it's been awhile) and I have a special offer to share at the end of this post.

I'm always stoked when I have something helpful to share and I'm especially pleased to be writing about the subject of bioenergetic testing. This post might sound a little out there, but bioenergetic testing has been a useful modality I've found for solving pieces of my health puzzles. What is bioenergetic testing? Also called electrodermal screening, or bio-resonance testing, it's an energy medicine modality based on the premise that the body has energy points where the health and function of different organs and systems can be measured via electrical frequencies/resonance.

In the case of bioenergetic testing, these points are tested by running an electrical current through a wand that touches the point (usually on the hands and feet), and runs energy through the meridians and measures bioelectrical resonance. Each resonance is compared, in a computer program, against the recorded resonance pattern of a healthy organ or system to see if that organ indicates stress or hypo-functioning. Another function of bioenergetic testing is measuring the resonance of nutrient deficiencies, substances like foods and environmental factors that resonate as "sensitivities", pathogens, hormones, and toxicity. Once all of this is tested, then the resonances of different supplements are tested against it to see what brings balance and resolution.  This article gives a good overview of the history and process of the technology.

I've had bioenergetic testing done over the years when I was having mystery symptoms that seemed viral and it was very helpful in identifying pathogens. One odd symptom that I was able to resolve was tooth sensitivity that had no apparent cause. It was determined to be stemming from my submandibular lymph nodes, where a virus had apparently taken up residence. Lymphatic drainage provided some relief, but taking the remedies that scanned as appropriate was what resolved it quickly.

In the fall of 2016, I was approached by Balanced Health, a long distance bioenergetic testing company, to try out their Full Scan Kit, where you submit a saliva and hair or nail sample and they're able to use those to scan from. This is different than hair mineral analysis or saliva testing. I wasn't sure if this particular way of doing it would be legitimate, but I was curious to compare it to my past bioenergetic testing experiences and I rarely pass up a free chance to try something intriguing. They made it clear I was under no obligation to write a review, so this is not a sponsored post, just my honest, personal experience with the product. The Full Scan includes a lot of information, including the resonances of system/organ performance, nutrient balance, hormones, pathogens/toxins, and food/environmental sensitivities, as well as a regimen of recommended remedies. You can check out an example of a full scan here. 

Note: bioenergetic testing is not a replacement for traditional blood tests and diagnostics, but can provide helpful info in addition to traditional functional medicine testing methods. I was curious to see how the info it generated would match my known issues and past blood test results.

Here are some of my first scan results, from September, 2016. 

At the time, I had started having the tooth sensitivity issue again, after years of no issues. I was impressed to see that it pinpointed "teeth and jaw drainage" as one of my resonating issues. My adrenals have always been a weak area and, having Hashimoto's, it's not surprising that my thyroid showed up. My system showed a lot of chronic stress and weakness. 

Here is my most recent scan, from the beginning of February:

You can see that there is improvement across the board! In every scan I've had, my endocrine and nervous systems have been the slowest to improve, indicating that those are deep seated issues for me, which is not surprising, considering that I have an autoimmune endocrine disease and I've always had a sensitive nervous system, with an imbalanced parasympathetic response according to my EEG brain mapping back in my neurofeedback tech days. At the time of this scan, I had a little respiratory thing going on, which is reflected in my reduced lung energy score.


One area I was very curious about was what energetic food sensitivity resonances would show up. All of my scans have consistently shown soy, dairy/casein, and gluten as resonating sensitivities (these have also been confirmed as actual IgG sensitivities by Cyrex Labs tests), and various legumes always show up. They change slightly every time, but the pattern is there that indicates my body doesn't jive with legumes. Corn also always shows up and oats have frequently shown up. No nightshades, gums, spices, nuts/seeds have ever resonated as sensitivities and, indeed, I haven't had issues adding these back into my diet after AIP. Balanced Health states that if foods you haven't eaten in a long time show up consistently, they are likely more long-term rather than transient sensitivities.


Here are the sensitivities from my first scan:

Here is my recent scan:

I always test as benefitting from digestive enzyme support, so I've been faithfully taking Now Super Enzymes with meals, and the resonances of vitamin and mineral imbalances have disappeared, leaving just a few fatty acids and rotating amino acids that appear.



Balanced Health has a variety of scans and scan packages to choose from. The Full Scan, as well as the Balancing Scan (which has less info than the Full), and Remedy Scan (no info- just remedies) all come with a remedy protocol generated uniquely for you, based on which remedies bring about energetic resonance balance. I've found the remedies to be effective (especially the adrenal formulas I've used). I get most of the products directly from them, as the homeopathic and herbal blends are very specific and can't be found in other brands. If a simple supplement like a single amino acid shows up, I usually buy it elsewhere to save money, taking care to match the dosage. You can schedule a follow-up phone consult to discuss your results and answer any questions you might have. The consultants are the nicest folks and I always enjoy the consult and they will also ship kits overseas and work with you to find supplements locally.


I've been really pleased with the health progress I've made since utilizing the scans and remedies. I still have ups and downs, but have had more ups and seem to bounce back much faster. I recommend starting with a Full Scan to get a baseline measurement and you can alternate with less expensive scans like the Remedy Scan to make continuing the protocols less expensive.

I can say that I highly recommend Balanced Health and have had a great experience with them. I'm pleased to be able to offer my readers an affiliate discount code for $20 off of any scan- this code is ongoing, so you can use it any time you order a scan, not just the first time. :) The code is "prettyinprimal"


I hope that that you've enjoyed this post. I look forward to posting again sooner than later.

-Erin

Summer Catch-Up + News

Image from Still Blog

It's been such a long time. I haven't abandoned the blog, though. I'm still here. Summer is crawling by here in the South. We've had more rain than usual, so everything stayed greener for longer than it usually does. It's been nice to have slightly cooler spells after the rain to get lots of walking in. Now that the heat is back, it's hard for me to get a walk in unless I'm up super early or wait until sundown. I really do think there's something magical about walking that helps improve health on many levels.


I have to admit that I'm not a fan of heat and humidity, and my insomnia loves to kick into high gear every summer and I wake up with the sun, despite going to bed usually around midnight. I had great luck for awhile resolving it through addressing circadian issues. Making sure to get morning sun first thing, and making sure to wear my blue blockers from 9 pm on as well as turning off my computer and not watching TV past 10 made a huge difference. I now at least fall asleep much more quickly and I was able to stay asleep. For awhile... Now I'm waking up early again, but it's different this time. I seem to not be able to sleep through the night without waking up to pee. And lots of peeing all day (am I even absorbing any of the water I'm drinking?)! Super annoying.

You know I like to figure things out using Traditional Chinese Medicine, so judging by my symptom profile and the look of my tongue, I could use some Kidney Yang boosting. So, I ordered some Rehmannia Eight formula. This formula is also known to be good for hypothyroidism, the adrenals, and hormone balance. However, many Chinese herbal blends are specific to defined patterns of imbalance, so, unless you know what your pattern of energetic imbalance is, don't go taking a formula willy-nilly. The good folks at Eagle Herbs (in the link) do email consults and can help you to choose an appropriate formula.


Now on to some fun news~

I just finished testing a new interactive online brain health course! I'm really excited about it. I think it's going to be an amazing tool for people who want to take greater control of their brain health and correct issues they're having now, as well as prevent future neurodegeneration. It takes you through steps to determine your level of brain function/dysfunction, which areas you're having problems with, a self-neurological exam, and what steps to take to correct things. I can't emphasize how important this stuff is! Neurodegeneration starts decades before it's every diagnosed and early identification and treatment can make a world of difference down the road AND in the short term.


Another thing I'm excited about is that in the near future I'm going to be participating in a small, online group based around the mind-body/emotional aspects of healing autoimmunity and chronic illness. I really look forward to delving deeper into this area and sharing my journey.


I'm gearing up for my annual summer vacation to northern Michigan, which is very late this year due to being timed around a friend's wedding. I'm so looking forward to being at the beach, hiking through the woods, and taking advantage of all the lovely farm-to-table restaurants. It's such a rejuvenating and healing place for me.


I have more neat things to share in the near future and look forward to writing again.

-Erin

March Update + Handling Spring Allergies

Just thought I'd rattle off a little update while I'm being a lazybones on this gray Saturday. Last time I checked in, Nashville was in the midst of the (hopefully) last gasp of winter. It has warmed considerably since then and some trees are sprouting buds. I'm happy for the warmer weather and spring in Nashville is my absolutely favorite season- it's so beautiful once all the flowering trees burst into bloom. But, for me, there's a dark side to spring: allergies. Nashville is an allergy hotspot and they say that if you don't have allergies before you move here, you eventually will get them. I didn't believe it when I moved here in '97 but, true to the warning, I did develop them after a few years of living here. They've waxed and waned over the years depending on my state of health and whether I've done any acupuncture for them. I've even managed to give them the slip a few years.

When my spring tree pollen allergies hit, they usually hit me like a ton of bricks. I get somewhat atypical symptoms. Instead of sneezing, itchy, watery eyes, or sinus infections, I end up with whole body fatigue which feels akin to being drugged, often a scratchy throat, headaches that extend way beyond my sinuses into my neck glands, and a vaguely wheezy in my lungs. Basically, I always think I must be coming down with something and then realize that it's just allergies.

Having had worked in supplement retail for 10+ years, I've had the opportunity to try many natural allergy remedies, but only one kind has worked well for me: Biollers homeopathic formulas. The formulas contain traces of the allergens that they're targeted toward and you can switch out formulas seasonally if you're unlucky enough to suffer from multiple types of allergies. The Tree Pollen formula is for spring, summer is Grass Pollen, late summer and autumn are weed pollen (Pollen/Hayfever formula is for this), and Mold can be any time. I've found that the best way to use it is once per hour until I feel relief when my symptoms first come on, and then first thing in the morning, before I have a chance to go outside and breathe any pollen. I usually only have to take one or maybe two more doses throughout the day if I dose first thing in the morning. A couple of helpful anti-inflammatory supplements to reduce sinus pressure are CurcuminRich and Serrapeptase.




Flare Update:

On to the update. In the post about my recent flare, I had detailed my blood work results. I had my D and CRP-hs retested recently and they were both back in good ranges, thank goodness. I've been quite fatigued lately, though- in fact, I mostly haven't been getting my usual second wind in the evening but feeling quite tired instead, so I suspected I might have some adrenal fatigue going on. I took the adrenal quiz in The Adrenal Reset Diet and scored "crashed." The book has some interesting recommendations for dealing with different stages of adrenal dysfunction, such as when to use light box exposure, how to reset sleep rhythms, herbs for each specific stage of adrenal dysfunction, etc. Because I'm still doing AIP, I'm not going to be eating according to the diet, but I have adopted the macronutrient timing outlined in it (basically, less carbs in the morning, a bit more at lunch, and the most with dinner). Incidentally, this is what I seem to do best with. Adrenal fatigue can definitely cause allergies to worsen, and I think that's the case with me right now, since I hardly had any last year (I think AIP helped a lot).

Why are my adrenals tanked right now? I suspect it has to do with sleep quality- i.e. excess dreaming and lack of slow wave deep sleep, and sometimes just waking up too early and not being able to fall back to sleep. I go through seasonal cycles of sleep issues; my spring sleep issues being liver energy related. I'm working on these with some herbs recommended to me by an L.Ac. who deals with Hashimoto's. I also have this weird thing where two of my bottom molars (same one on each side) have a sharp twinging pain when I chew, which comes and goes. I've had this symptom before from having some sort of pathogen hanging out in my parotid lymph nodes and causing inflammation in the tooth nerves. The twinges lessen or disappear when I do lymphatic drainage massage along my jaw and down my neck. So, maybe whatever it is is also putting a strain on my adrenals...

I had been taking melatonin for a few months because it was so helpful in aiding my night-owl self in falling asleep quickly, but I was recently informed that it can act as a TH1 immune stimulant, which is exactly what I don't need. So, it may have also been contributing to my flare.

In the midst of all of this, although I have my moments of resentment, I have to say that my mood has overall been really good. Usually low energy = low moods for me, but my neurotransmitters seem to be hanging in there (I credit TMG for that). Practicing mindfulness and gratitude also really help. I'm still in the midst of my 100-day qigong challenge and I find that if I'm feeling not so good, a qigong session usually helps me to feel at least a little better. Epsom salt baths with essential oils (geranium and vetiver are my favorite restorative EO's) also work wonders when I'm feeling really depleted.

So, that's how I'm doing right now. Hopefully I'll be able to report better news soon. In the meantime, I welcome Spring, even if it brings me allergies.

-Erin

Chicken Pot Pie (Autoimmune Paleo)

I don't know about where you live, but here in Nashville, it's still winter. STILL. WINTER. I don't remember ever having snow this late in the season. We have a few inches of snow at the moment, which is really quite pretty because we don't get much snow here (and often get no snow during the winter), but I'm feeling ready for more sun and warmer temps.

In the meantime, comfort food is just the thing to get me through the end of winter. When being on a restricted diet, I think the importance of "soul food"- foods that taste and feel comforting and satisfying as well as nourishing (to both body and soul)- is hugely helpful for maintaining an attitude of positivity toward food. I try to consciously cultivate good feelings toward my food, rather than focusing on what I don't tolerate or can't eat at the moment. How we frame things is not to be underestimated in the scheme of health, healing, and happiness.


I'm excited to share this recipe for chicken pot pie. It's not complicated and everyone I've served it to loved it and asked for the recipe, so I feel I can safely say it's a winner. The crust is yummy and flaky. I always joke that I'm a sucker for anything involving a pie crust and it's true. So, this recipe makes me very happy. The hubby and I often make it on Sunday evenings before we curl up and watch all our PBS shows and it's become a cozy weekly ritual. The crust is an adaptation of this fabulous AIP crust from The Paleo Partridge.


Chicken Pot Pie
(makes 6 servings)

Filling:
1 cup diced carrots
1 cup diced celery
3/4 cup diced onions
1-1/2 cup diced mushrooms (I prefer cremini/baby bellas)
3/4 tsp. chopped fresh rosemary
1/2 tsp. garlic granules
1-1/2 tsp. salt
1-1/4 cup coconut milk
2 TB arrowroot
2-1/2 cups cooked, diced chicken
Cooking fat for sauteing (I prefer olive oil or organic palm shortening)

Add carrots, celery, onions, and mushrooms to a large pan with the cooking fat of your choice and saute on low-medium heat until starting to soften. Add the rest of the ingredients, whisking the arrowroot into the coconut before adding to the pan and continue cooking over low until the sauce thickens up. Add to a 9 inch round or 11 inch oval casserole dish.

Crust:
1/2 cup coconut flour
2 TB arrowroot
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. garlic granules
1/2 cup melted organic palm shortening (this gives a flakier crust than other oils)
3 TB water

Combine the dry ingredients well and whisk in the melted shortening. It will have a liquid consistency at this point. Add the water and mix well (it will magically thicken and form a soft, but crumbly dough). Press out small pieces of dough in your hands and piece them together on top of the filling. It will be messy and rustic looking which works nicely for pot pie.

Bake at 330º for 28-30 min. or until the crust is golden brown.

Enjoy!
-Erin

New Year, New Flare

Hello 2015. How is the New Year finding you? It's finding me on the mend, after a slow and insidious autoimmune flare-up. The thing about autoimmunity and flare-ups is that you can be sailing along feeling fine and then suddenly, you're dashed against the rocks and everything falls to pieces. Or, alternately, you don't realize that your ship is sinking until it becomes very obvious. The second type of scenario is the one that has been more frequently my experience and that was my recent experience.

Sometime last fall, my hair started shedding. It wasn't a big deal and I waited a bit to see if it was merely seasonal shedding. But, it wasn't. It kept shedding and shedding (I counted 90 hairs after a shower one day!). And around Thanksgiving, some insomnia started happening- the kind where you wake up after 5 hours and can't fall back to sleep. My skin wasn't quite as clear as it had been. Even my cellulite seemed to make a slight comeback, despite not having gained any appreciable weight (why does THAT have to be on of my inflammatory symptoms? Not fair.) My typing deteriorated and my word recall was a little off.

Other than these symptoms, I didn't have the sort of intense fatigue I often get during flares. I had days here and there, but no large blocks of major fatigue. Or any very acute inflammation, save for a few days that my neck and shoulders were inexplicably sore. When I become noticeably inflamed, my shoulders seem to be the main target and sometimes my hips/thighs.

I finally had some blood work done right around Christmas and it came back showing functional anemia- my iron wasn't super low, but certainly low enough to affect my health. My red blood cells were enlarged (megaloblastic anemia, caused by low B12, folate, or both). The anemias are most likely due to inflammation affecting absorption, or gut damage, OR gastric autoimmunity flaring up (I make parietal cell antibodies, which produce hydrochloric acid and intrinsic factor). By the way, if you have any sort of anemia, it's a pretty big deal-breaker for healing, since you need healthy and abundant red blood cells to carry oxygen throughout your body.

My C-reactive protein was very high, and my HDL was at the top of the range (yes, you can have too much "good" cholesterol). My doctor informed me that these two together indicated inflammation and an active autoimmune situation (as opposed to inflammation from an acute infection). My D levels had also climbed too high, but I'm positive that that was due to some mega-dosing I'd done in Nov. and Dec. fighting off some colds. Oops. Time to back off on the D3...

My thyroid numbers weren't too remarkable- I had hoped they might show something obvious, but they didn't. However, inflammation can cause thyroid hormone resistance at the cellular level, so that could certainly be at play. Finally, my kidneys weren't quite doing their job right, which was kind of alarming. My doctor assured me that it wasn't at the level of actual pathology, but that we still needed to do something about it, so she recommended I do a 5 day kidney detox, which she informed me had worked well for many of her patients.

---------------------------


As you can imagine, I wasn't too thrilled with these results, and they were a good nudge to get back on full Autoimmune Paleo again, which I did on New Year's Day. What do I think caused this frustrating flare? Honestly, I don't know for sure. My main guess is that something I re-introduced wasn't something I should've been eating. Potato is the main suspect, as I had tested positive for IgG antibodies to it last spring, but I hoped enough time and gut healing had passed to be able to tolerate it. Or maybe I encountered some gluten cross-contamination on vacation last Aug. but the symptoms took awhile to show up. I don't really get GI symptoms, so it can be hard to tell. I wish I knew the exact cause.

So, I immediately put myself back on methylcobalamin B12 lozenges (which I hadn't been taking), and added methylfolate to the mix to be on the safe side. My doc had me add a DHA fish oil supplement, as she was concerned that phospholipid antibodies, which can cause hair loss, could be acting up. Because they attack the cell membrane, DHA, which is found in the cell membrane is important and has a protective effect. Plus, it's also anti-inflammatory and important for the brain. I didn't want to supplement with iron, but I did start using a bit of organic blackstrap molasses, which so many people swear by for correcting anemia. I think it works so well due to all the other minerals/cofactors it contains. I also ramped up my gut health support.

My hair is still shedding somewhat, though not as severely, but I've actually been feeling pretty good this past week. My energy levels have been much more consistent and downright good, as opposed to just ok or off. My skin has cleared up a lot since being back on AIP. The best part is that my hubby decided to do it with me (he's THE. BEST.). He's even getting into some of the cooking! I've also lost the couple of pounds I gained from having Thanksgiving, my birthday, and Christmas all in a row. Two pounds were no big deal, but it's still nice to have them gone. My sleep is still spotty, but I am having more good nights with 8 hour stretches of uninterrupted sleep.

I've used this flare as an opportunity to step up my self care and commit to a 100 day "gong." A gong is a discipline that you commit to for 100 days and if you miss a day, you have to start over from the beginning. I chose qigong as my daily discipline, because I know that the more I do it, the more the health benefits will accumulate, especially in areas like energy, hormone balance, and sleep quality. I'm annoyed with myself that I wasn't doing it consistently before, but I'm also proud of myself that I'm making it happen. I'm now over a third of the way through my challenge and it's become a true part of my routine.

To keep myself on track, I made a list of all the things I'm doing right- I think it helps to remind yourself that you ARE doing a lot right- and also a list of things I could stand to do more of because I know I benefit from them. I look at this list daily, and it really helps. So, I'm on the upswing. I hope I keep improving. I'm going to be watching my symptoms like a hawk.

I will keep you posted.
-Erin

A Little Check-In

Just thought I'd pop off a quick post to say hello and check in. This morning I awoke to a light dusting of snow on my fence and holly tree. How pretty! It's not quite wintery yet in Nashville- some trees still have colorful leaves- but it's finally cold and it feels like winter is encroaching.

I'm still trucking along on my functional medicine protocol. I'm not full autoimmune paleo, as I continue to test the waters with different foods and watch for symptoms. Some happy news: I can now tolerate chocolate without any sign of IBS, which is such a relief! I haven't been stuffing my face with it, but it's been heavenly to make a nice mug of hot cocoa or have a square of dark chocolate here and there. I've also added small amounts of almonds and walnuts back, but I haven't been eating many nuts in general. I find I don't seem to crave them as much as I used to. I've only occasionally been eating a small amount of nightshades. I don't think they affect me adversely. As for grains, I've mostly steered clear of them and plan on continuing to do so.

I still have the occasional minor skin breakout (though my skin remains much improved), so I have to troubleshoot the details there. My progesterone still looks to be low, so I have added a vitex product (Nature's Way Femaprin).

A neat discovery I accidentally made is that my body really likes SAM-e (S-adenosylmethionine). I had originally been taking 5-HTP to support serotonin, and then a bit of Seasonal Affective Disorder started to hit me, where I'd feel sad on dark or cloudy days. I did a little research and found that switching the timing of taking my 5-HTP to between 3-4 pm and then again at bed really made it work better.

Then, I ran out and I happened to have a bottle of Cell Food SAM-e liquid (which I had mistakenly ordered, thinking it was Cell Food liquid oxygen) and I remembered that SAM-e is used for mood disorders, so I thought I might as well save myself some money and try it for serotonin support. Well, not only did it help with that, but I quickly found myself feeling WAY more motivated and downright cheerful. As I have a history of low dopamine symptoms, this is so very welcome. I've been on dopamine support for ages, and it does help, but the SAM-e has had a dramatic effect. It has also given me more mental clarity. I hope it keeps working because my house is staying so much cleaner and I'm getting a lot more done.

And, finally, I'm reading a really cool book about the mind/body connection called "You Are The Placebo" by Joe Dispenza. It's fascinating and the premise is that if your mind can create placebo-based physical effects, then in understanding that process, it can be used to create healing. It makes sense: if our negative emotions and stress states can trigger inflammatory compounds and harmful epigenetic expression, can we mitigate these and reverse them by actively seeking to change the way our mind is wired so that positive mental and emotional processes produce healing epigenetic and hormonal signals? Just reading about the history of the placebo effect alone is fascinating.

I will continue to keep you posted and I have some autoimmune paleo recipes that need a little nailing down, but that I look forward to posting.

Cheers!
-Erin

PIP Goes AIP (Autoimmune Paleo)

Happy September!
When I last posted back in the beginning of April, I'd just started the Autoimmune Paleo Diet (AIP, for short), and I'd also just started working with a functional medicine practitioner. This whole process has been so interesting and encouraging for me. I'm now nearly 5 months into the process and I've seen some big improvements that weren't happening on Paleo/Primal. I needed to dig deeper into my autoimmunity and blood work and my diet needed some tweaking. This post is a longer one, so sit back and dig in.


Functional medicine lab work time!

It had been a long time since I'd had any labs run, so the first order of business was doing some comprehensive blood work, as well as a series of Cyrex Labs arrays to look at my gut lining, gluten sensitivity, potential gluten crossreactive foods and food sensitivities, chemical/heavy metal autoimmunity, and multiple tissue autoimmunity. It cost me a pretty penny, but I'm absolutely glad I did it. I also filled out extensive symptom and neurotransmitter profile questionnaires.

My blood work didn't reveal anything too scary: an electrolyte imbalance, and high-ish iron (not hemachromatosis), which my doc felt indicated inflammation. However, she was concerned with my low blood pressure. My blood pressure has always been pretty low and no doctors or practitioners, holistic or otherwise, have ever mentioned that it's not a good thing. My doc explained that when blood pressure is too low, nutrients and glucose aren't able to be effectively delivered into the tissues (perfusion), and extremities (like my brain) might not have sufficient circulation. In fact, she felt that my neurotransmitter questionnaire indicated poor brain circulation resulting in lowered neurotransmitter levels. Poor circulation can be the main cause of cold extremities and brain fog. Read more here.

She put me on a supplement to increase circulation and endothelial nitric oxide (eNOS), which also works to modulate the immune system, which she has me take first thing in the morning, along with an adrenal supportive cream, and then do a few minutes of intense exercise to produce an opioid response (which dampens inflammatory cytokine production) and increase circulation/perfusion. So, there really is something to the idea of "getting your blood moving!"

I am also on a general immune modulation regimen involving curcumin/resveratrol, glutathione cream, and a formula to help the body recycle glutathione, as well as neurotransmitter support for GABA, serotonin, and dopamine. And, of course, there are gut health supplements and probiotics. I won't go into the particulars of all of the supplements because they're particular to me and might not be right for someone else.

We're working on my circadian rhythms, which, admittedly, I've never been the best about. In the morning, after taking my supplements and doing a few minutes of intense exercise to increase perfusion/circulation, I go outside and get some sunshine and take some time to read, do qigong, hang out with my cat, get my bare feet on the earth. In the evenings, I turn down the lights and, if I'm watching tv, I wear some blue-blocker glasses to reduce blue light exposure, which can tell your brain not to release enough melatonin.

The Cyrex tests helped me to troubleshoot my diet. Even though I already knew gluten was a problem for me, the Wheat/Gluten Proteome array, which is the most comprehensive gluten test available, showed that I had antibodies to gamma-gliadin, and transglutaminse 2 and 3, so it's an autoimmune gluten reaction- not something to mess around with. It's kind of nice to have the lab tests to prove gluten sensitivity, with all the gluten-free backlash going around.
I also learned that I cross-react to casein and whey proteins as if they were gluten. About half of people with gluten sensitivity also react to casein because the proteins are so similar in structure. Thankfully, the rest of the foods tested didn't show many sensitivities- just potato and soy.

The chemical and metal autoimmunity panel came back fine, as did the leaky gut panel (I'd been on Seacure for awhile), but the multiple autoimmunity panel showed all kinds of things going on. It was kind of like opening Pandora's box and seeing where you could potentially develop future disease. Pretty intense!

I had low level ("predictive") antibodies to a lot of tissues: thyroid (not surprising, as I have Hashimoto's), parietal cells, phospholipids, osteocytes, synapsin, ASCA/ANCA (anti-saccharomyces yeast antibodies, found in Crohn's and Ulcerative Colitis), and fibulin.
I also had much higher levels of antibodies to platelet glycoprotein, and alpha/beta tubulin, (the second one is commonly found in Hashimoto's). Whew!

It was a little overwhelming (and scary) seeing all of this, but if you know this information when the antibodies are only in the predictive range (which can indicate future disease development up to 10 years out), you can hopefully thwart the process from progressing. That's the thing about autoimmunity: it's progressive and rarely sticks to just one tissue, as my panel most definitely showed. I can't stress this enough: if you have any kind of autoimmune condition, you're likely to develop more if you don't intervene.



Now, on to the Autoimmune Paleo Diet front.

I started AIP at the beginning of April and I went all in immediately. I'd been dragging my feet about doing it, so having my doctor tell me to do it was a good thing. I'm much more compliant if the orders are coming from someone who is not me ;) For the first few days, I had a weird kind of fatigue and a hungry-no-matter-what feeling. It felt as though I was having food withdrawals (I'm going to guess from casein). It passed quickly, though. I got into the routine of not eating any dairy (except cultured ghee), eggs, nuts, seeds, alcohol, chocolate, and nightshades (grains and beans were already not something I ate on a regular basis). It was more of an adjustment than I initially realized, because so many condiments and spices I was used to using were now off limits. I've done Whole 30, but, let me tell you, Whole 30's got nothing on AIP! AIP is a whole other level of food vigilance. You get really used to it, though.

In order to cope with the restrictions and be kind to myself, I decided to add in some foods I don't normally eat a lot of- starchy foods like green and ripe plantains, more fruit than I'd normally eat, as well as a bit of dried fruit, which is something that normally never occurs to me to eat. Dried figs became my treat when I needed a treat. Or ripe plantains sauteed in casein-free ghee with cinnamon and homemade coconut milk caramel sauce.

After four solid months, I'm now in a phase of playing with some reintroductions. Some have gone well (black pepper, coffee, a few seed-based spices, small amounts of wine, and eggs), and some haven't. I've learned that chocolate, which I never noticed to be an issue before AIP, has consistently induced IBS symptoms the following day after every attempt I've made with it. Doesn't matter the form it's in- if it's chocolate, my gut will be rumbling the next day. This is disappointing, not to mention weird, since I've never had IBS before, but chocolate is on the list of IBS trigger foods. Sometimes you really have no idea how a food affects you until you haven't eaten it in months and your system has had a chance to settle down.

When I was on vacation a month ago, I jumped protocol and ate a lot of nightshades in a short amount of time due to eating out (not recommended, though!). I didn't notice any reactions to them, which was surprising because I also had my annual summer insomnia bout happening. For me, lack of sleep usually increases muscular inflammation, but I didn't notice any. I'd still like to give nightshades a proper reintroduction, though.

I hope that as I continue to heal I'll have more successful reintroductions. I was encouraged after chatting with some other AIP'ers who told me stories of failed initial reintroductions only to later be able to eat those foods with no problems. Maybe there's still hope for me and chocolate...



Improvements and progress:

So, after all of the tweaks, am I seeing improvements in my health? Why, yes, I am! I still have a way to go, but the improvements have been substantial enough that it's been more than enough motivation for me to continue on this particular path. Here are the improvements I've experienced:

-Better skin. My skin has always had some degree of breakouts and, though ditching gluten and going paleo eliminated my cystic acne, it didn't eliminate my breakouts, though they were certainly diminished. I felt ok about my skin, but there was room for improvement. On AIP, my skin clarity has improved quite a lot. I now rarely break out on my shoulder blades or across my chest (not that these were bad breakouts, but they were fairly frequent) and the breakouts I do get are so minor- just a tiny little blemish here and there- no angry red monsters.

-Weight loss. This has been really thrilling! Over the autumn and winter, I'd slowly gone up in weight and size and I wasn't eating any differently than I'd been eating. This followed the big autoimmune flare I had at the end of last summer. Even though I've never been truly overweight, when my weight starts climbing, I know it's usually related to my Hashimoto's. That's a scary thing, knowing that your weight is being controlled by your immune system and that little gland in your neck, rather than diet and exercise. So many of you with Hashimoto's know what I'm talking about! Anyway, this extra weight was not budging easily, despite adding more exercise.

After starting AIP, the weight slowly but surely melted off, at about a pound a week, without watching what I ate or even exercising much. Granted, it's not the fastest weight loss ever, but it was so exciting to feel like it was happening because my body was working better! As of today, I'm down 17 pounds, most of which I lost in the first 3 months. I've especially lost a lot of belly fat, which is where I tend to gain. I've lost 3.5 inches of belly fat. Whoohoo! Even though I have a little vanity belly fat I'd still like to lose, I'm now at a size and weight that feels good to me.

-Cellulite. Ok, so this one's pretty exciting. I've always had some cellulite, but it never bothered me until my late 20's when it suddenly got more severe. After going paleo, I was disappointed that I wasn't one of those women who magically lost their cellulite. In fact, it seemed to be getting more severe and spreading across a larger area of skin for the past couple of years. Even the skin on my inner forearms would dimple if I squeezed it. Having slender arms, this was disturbing, as if maybe there was an inflammatory process going on (my forearms certainly didn't have excess fat). I wondered if my collagen was breaking down, or if it could really be myxedema accumulating beneath my skin, or if my fat cells were just inflamed.

Anyway, even before I lost a significant amount of weight, I noticed that my legs were looking smoother. They've continued to improve to the point that now I'd say my cellulite is pretty mild. I feel so much better about it. My inner forearms no longer dimple when I pinch the skin. I don't know exactly what caused the improvement, but I'd guess that the combination of eliminating dairy and other inflammatory foods, weight loss, and collagen supportive foods like bone broths and collagen hydrolysate powder have all worked their magic together.

-Better muscle tone. This one is fascinating to me. I've never had naturally great muscle tone. I'm a classic ectomorph, long and lanky at 5'9". I've definitely been skinny-fat or just plain skinny. Muscle tone has always taken some work to come by. Switching from vegetarianism/veganism to paleo made it easier for me to gain muscle, which was nice. Now, for some reason, I seem to have better muscle tone despite infrequent workouts (though I do a fair amount of walking). I have muscle definition that I've only ever previously had after months of working out. I've never really had a line of muscle definition down the outside of my thigh before, and now I do! My guess is that my muscles weren't getting enough nutrients due to poor profusion and maybe poor absorption (remember those parietal cell antibodies? They attack HCl-producing cells in the stomach). At any rate, I'm really enjoying my sudden muscle tone.


-Energy. This is still touch-and-go, but I've started to have more energy. I noticed an increase after adding a thiamine (B1) supplement to my regimen, based on this article by Dr. Izabella Wentz, detailing a study that found that thiamine relieved fatigue in Hashimoto's patients. I still have off days and random drops in energy, but I've also had more really good days. I'm learning to monitor what kinds of things are likely to drain my energy, such as sitting in front of the computer too long, not eating enough calories, having draining conversations, stress, etc, and which are helpful for increasing my energy (time outside barefoot on the earth, getting to bed earlier, qigong, doing an inspiring activity...).


Room for improvement:

I'm committed to this path long term, which has really helped me to surrender to the process and let go of feeling like I should have reached a place of balanced health by now. I have my impatient moments and bad days, but it's ok.

As I progress, I'm hoping that my hormones will improve. I can tell I'm still low in progesterone by my often short cycles. There is still room for improvement with my sleep quality- it's not terrible, but I'd like to sleep more soundly. My doc thinks that some midbrain overactivation is probably at play regarding that. Even though I have nothing close to the kind of brain fog I used to have, my brain's clarity still could use a boost at times. Maybe once I stop making synapsin antibodies, my synapses can do their job properly.

Digestion/elimination is the final area I'd like to see more improvements. I am doing gut/brain exercises that restore signalling to the vagus nerve, which connects the brain and gut. These include gargling, singing loudly, and gagging (fun, I know!). All of these can get those signals moving again. I just have to remember to do them daily, which is easy to forget.


I'll be writing more about autoimmune healing and lifestyle in upcoming posts and I'll be posting recipes and reviewing some great books that I've read in recent months, including The Autoimmune Paleo Cookbook, and Why Isn't My Brain Working. Stay tuned!

-Erin

Garlic-Thyme Mahi With Balsamic Fennel Sauté (Autoimmune Paleo)

Happy Spring!
I've been gone from the blog since December, but now I'm ready to get back to it. A week ago, I started the Autoimmune Paleo diet, at the request of my new functional medicine doctor. I'd been thinking of trying it for a long time, but had been dragging my feet about jumping all in. My doctor's orders coincided with receiving a copy of The Autoimmune Paleo Cookbook in the mail, generous courtesy of the author, Micky Trescott, (review soon to come!) so it was the perfect timing to start. I was kind of surprised by how intense my withdrawal symptoms were for the first two days: headaches, fatigue, ravenous hunger no matter what I ate... Thank goodness that didn't last long.

It hasn't been too much of a learning curve adapting to the food restrictions, but I definitely miss my eggs, grass-fed butter, black pepper, mustard, and almond butter! And chocolate, of course. I'm getting the Cyrex Labs Array #4 done soon, so I'll know for sure which foods I cross-react to as if they were gluten. Although you can reverse a lot of food sensitivities by healing your gut, gluten cross-reactivities are a whole other thing, since they happen at the gut level and actually cause leaky gut. You have to avoid those foods since it's a much more serious immune reaction.


Anyway, back to cooking. Last night I made a lovely and easy autoimmune paleo compliant entree that was just plain yummy and super easy and, for once, I'm posting it in a timely manner! As per usual, I didn't measure anything, but I doubt you can screw this one up too much. The balsamic fennel adds a gentle sweetness and crunch that pairs nicely with the seasoned mahi.



Garlic-Thyme Mahi with Balsamic Fennel Sauté

Serves 4
Ingredients:

Aprox. 1 lb mahi-mahi fillets
2 fennel bulbs
Solid cooking fat (I don't recommend coconut oil)
Balsamic vinegar
Salt
Granulated garlic (not garlic powder)
Dried thyme
Fresh Italian parsley (optional)

Notes: I cooked the fennel first, as it takes slightly longer than the fish.

Slice the fennel bulb into thick slices (as if you were slicing celery). Heat cooking fat on medium and add fennel and sauté until softened. Sprinkle with a little balsamic vinegar to taste at the end of cooking. Set aside.

Pat the mahi fillets dry and season generously to taste with the garlic, thyme, and salt. Heat cooking fat in a pan on med-high heat cook the fish until just cooked through (usually just a few minutes on each side). Serve atop the fennel and finish with minced parsley.

Enjoy!
-Erin

End of Summer

I haven't blogged all summer, so I thought I'd do a catching up post. It's been a pretty good summer for me, with the weather in Nashville not being quite as oppressively hot and humid as usual. Yay for that.

I'll tell you about some of the things I've been up to all summer:
-picking blackberries
-making the delicious blueberry crumble from Balanced Bites
-reading Why Isn't My Brain Working? (review to come)
-helping my hubby with his first short film
-building dense muscles with Physique 57
-helping a friend start a business (more on that later)
-taking my annual trip to northern Michigan (lots of glorious beach time!)
-eating loads of good food in MI (highlights were 9 Bean Rows and The Towne Plaza)
-picking horsetail in my childhood woods
-going to my first pow-wow
-having an autoimmune thyroid flare (Good times. Not.)
-finally making it over to a delightful tea and herb shop in town

I'm still sort of recovering from the flare, though I'm feeling much better. I believe it was due to a Chinese herbal formula I had started taking. Gotta be careful with herbs when it comes to autoimmunity!

Anyway, I'll be back to proper blogging soon.
Hope you also had a good summer!

-Erin

A Peek Into My Current Supplement Regimen

I believe in getting nutrients from food whenever possible. I also believe that it's sometimes easier said than done due to things like soil depletion and genetic glitches, and sometimes certain health situations warrant a little help from our supplement pals. So, I take supplements based on my specific health issues.

I'm always curious about what supplements other people take (I often compare arsenals with friends!), and I thought you might be curious about what I'm taking.
So, here's a look at my current regimen (please note that this information is for educational purposes only and isn't intended to tell you what you should take!):


-Natural Factors Methycobalamin 5000 mcg

I have a history of megaloblastic anemia and symptoms of low B-12. I'm not sure if it was from being a vegetarian for so long, from autoimmune disease, or if I lack intrinsic factor. But low B-12 isn't something you want to mess around with because it really impacts your brain and eventually results in neurological damage. Methylcobalamin is one of the active, methlyated forms of B-12, and in sublingual lozenge form it's ready to be absorbed right into the bloodstream and go to work. I take 10,000-15,000 mcg.


-Health From The Sun Evening Primrose Oil 500 mg

Some people are terrified of any form of Omega 6 fat, but we do need some. And not everyone converts O-6 into Gamma-Linolenic Acid (GLA) efficiently. GLA inhibits the formation of inflammatory prostaglandins, which translates to things like relief from menstrual cramps and help for skin conditions like eczema.
Sources of GLA like Evening Primrose and Borage Seed oil can be helpful in many inflammatory conditions. I take Evening Primrose to help with hormone balance and for hair issues related to Hashimoto's (autoimmune thyroid disease). My dosage varies with my menstrual cycle and is between 500-1500 mg.


-Jarrow Selenium Synergy

Selenium is important for thyroid hormone conversion and, in the case of Hashimoto's, for managing antibodies. Selenium is also a great antioxidant, reduces cancer risk, and is involved in reproductive health. You can also get selenium from brazil nuts, but I don't always feel like eating brazil nuts.


-New Chapter Wholemega fish oil

Fish oil quality can be pretty iffy due to the manufacturing process which often includes distillation, subjecting the delicate omega 3 fats to heat. Heat, oxygen, and light = oxidized, rancid omega 3's.
I like this one because it's not nearly as refined as most and contains some naturally occurring astaxanthin for extra benefits. I don't usually take it on days that I eat salmon.


-Natural Factors CurcuminRich

This curcumin is THE. BOMB. It's the most well absorbed form on the market and you don't need as big of a dose as other brands. I use it to keep my autoimmune response balanced and, if I injure myself, I take extra to reduce the inflammation. I think it also helps with menstrual cramps. Curcumin is an all-around fabulous preventative supplement.


Jarrow N-A-C Sustain

N-acetylcysteine (NAC) is an amino acid that increases glutathione production. Glutathione is a powerful antioxidant, detoxifier, and a deficiency is present in autoimmune thyroid disease. I've also found it helpful for fighting off colds.


-Natural Factors D3 drops

This is vitamin D3 in olive oil and nothing else. The main reason I take D3 year round is that it's an important immune modulator. My dosage fluctuates seasonally. Right now I'm taking 3000 I.U.



-Nutricology Magnesium Chloride liquid

We all need magnesium. You've probably heard that it's involved in over 300 essential metabolic reactions in the body. It's vital for the absorption of calcium and it's essential for proper vitamin D utilization. The chloride form is well absorbed and this product is nothing but magnesium chloride, water and lactic acid- no fillers. I like it because it's easier on my G.I. tract than mag. citrate and I don't need a big dose to feel the effectiveness. My dosage varies according to symptoms like muscle soreness, but I usually take 1/2- 1 tsp.


There you have it- my current regimen. I use other things here and there like gelatin powder, dessicated liver powder, and undenatured, grass-fed whey protein, but I consider those to be more like foods than supplements.


Hope you enjoyed a little glimpse into my arsenal!

-Erin

My Story

I love reading people's stories (especially success stories!) They give me hope and encouragement. They motivate me. They give me ideas. It recently occurred to me that I've never told my own story and one of my Facebook friends asked to hear it. It's something I've been meaning to write about for a long time but it just kept slipping my mind. So, here is my story.


In The Beginning...

I was born in 1977 near Detroit, Michigan. My parents had the good sense to move out of the Detroit suburbs and up to the north woods of northern Lower Michigan (Michigan is comprised of two peninsulas, in case you're confused: the Upper and Lower peninsulas.) We moved near the little finger area of the mitten.

I spent the first eleven years of my life in the woods, in a little house with a woodstove next to a river. My mom was fairly "health conscious", so my family ate a lot of whole wheat bread, brown rice, hot cereal, whole grain cold cereal (and no sugary cereal), alfalfa sprouts, yogurt, honey, dried fruit and mostly whole foods (including venison and fish that my dad hunted and fished). How many people's moms served barley as a frequent side dish? Mine did! I will say that I was probably exposed to a much wider variety of foods than my friends were. Who else, outside of California, in the early 80's was eating steamed artichoke?
Other than recurring ear infections (the bane of my childhood existence!), I wasn't sick much. I had lots of energy and spent most of my time in the woods with my younger brother (our property was adjacent to state forest land) building forts and exploring in all seasons.

After my parents divorced and my mom remarried, I moved a few hours south to the shores of Lake Michigan where I spent my adolescence. When I was 12, I had started to have a lot of issues with my left leg (esp. my knee), which has a large birthmark running the outside length of it (it looks like spider veins and faint, blue veins). It would slightly swell and become so painful that I couldn't walk.

By the time I was 13, it was bothering me frequently, so I had tests done and vein abnormalities were found. I had major knee surgery right before my 14th birthday to remove the offending veins. My surgeon at the time had never seen my condition before and it would be another 12 years or so before my condition was diagnosed as Klippel-Trenaunay Syndrome, a rare congenital vascular deformity. I basically have twice as many veins in my left leg and internal (in the muscle) varicose veins that can pool with blood, causing the muscle to stiffen and the tissue to swell. In normal veins, blood flows in one direction. In my veins, it's a free for all; a vascular clusterf*ck.

I recovered from the surgery well and it did help to greatly reduce my discomfort, but in retrospect, I think it was the beginning of adrenal fatigue for me. I lost a lot of blood and it was a pretty invasive surgery, with my knee being taken apart to get at all the veins and then put back together. My health never quite felt the same after that.


The Problems Begin...

In the years following, I developed hypoglycemia, low blood pressure (I'd often see stars or start to black out if I stood up too quickly) menstrual problems (horrible cramps and simultaneous IBS), and general feelings of fatigue. I had bad bronchitis every winter. I just didn't feel good anymore. I discovered my mom's stash of old nutrition books from the 70's and 80's, including titles like "Are You Confused?", "The Vegetarian Guide to Diet and Salad", "Fit For Life" and Adelle Davis books.

I began to experiment with nutrition and herbs, eventually dropping meat from my diet when I was 15, after reading an Utne Reader article on factory farming. I still ate a little fish once in awhile, but for the next 16 years or so, I would eat a largely vegetarian (and at times, vegan) diet. I even got a part-time job at the little health food store in my town. I became one of those health-nut types.

I ate lots and lots of "healthy" whole grains in the form of sprouted Ezekiel Bread veggie sandwiches, oatmeal (nearly every morning!), brown rice, tortilla chips, etc. Lots of salads. Lots of rice milk (because dairy was bad, of course!) And lots of Soya Kaas, though not a lot of fake meat, because those were the days when fake meat was really awful and variety was limited.
Being vegetarian wasn't cool or mainstream yet (I was the only vegetarian I knew!) Those were the days before T. Colin Campbell and "Skinny Bitch". The days when Dean Ornish was just getting started and Dr. McDougall still ruled the (low-fat/low protein) vegetarian roost.

I went through phases of being dairy free and then wheat (but not gluten) free in hopes of curing my wicked menstrual cramps (to no avail). My mom worried about me being too legalistic about my diet, every time I decided to drop a food for awhile. I was hungry all the time and had frequent low blood sugar, so I took chromium (it didn't help that much). I got lovely cysts on my chin that took forever to heal. I felt spacey and frequently unfocused. As I got closer to 18, I suddenly started to gain some weight. It was such a bummer, as I had formerly always been skinny and never had to think twice about what I ate.



Into The South (where things went further south)...

When I was 19, I moved to Nashville, Tennessee along with my mom and sister. I had decided to move here and my mom, in the midst of a divorce and wanting a change of scenery, decided to also move, so we all moved together. That was the summer that my hair started falling out.

Hair sheds in cycles, but when your hair really starts to shed excessively, you know that something is wrong. The shedding eventually abated, but in the following year, I developed some fairly severe fatigue. I was working in the kitchen of a macrobiotic vegan restaurant at the time and I'd come home and have to lay down and nap for an hour to even be functional. It didn't help that I had to work at 7 am and that I was a night owl and therefore never seemed to get 8 hours of sleep.
It also didn't help that my free lunch (and lots of take-home leftovers) consisted of soy, grains and beans galore. I was SO tired (and scared that someone so young could be so tired!) and in the winter my hands and feet were freezing all the time! I'd be at work, prepping lettuce for the salad bar and my hands would just ache every time I had to put them in the sink of cold water. They'd ache to the point of making me grouchy.

In my search for health, I discovered that I had a whole lot of hypothyroid symptoms. The hair loss, fatigue, weight gain, cold hands and feet all fit the bill, so I went to the health food store and got a thyroid supplement. It did help with somewhat with the fatigue, hair loss, and body temp issues, but it didn't cure me of all my ills.

After the restaurant job, I got into supplement retail and stayed there for the next nine years. In those nine years, I learned a whole lot about and experimented with tons of vitamins and herbs (I also met my lovely husband and got married right before I turned 26). I read a lot of nutrition books, but I was pretty much only reading things that supported my veg-centric philosophies.

It never occurred to me that my "healthy" diet could be the root of my still persistent health issues (by this time I had developed hay fever. Great.) I had insomnia (thank you acupuncture and understanding hubby for helping me get through that!) My short-term memory was like a sieve. I also had a lot of fatigue and no matter which herbs or vitamins I took, I didn't have energy. I had barely enough energy for work- it was challenging being on my feet all day- and then none left over when my workday was done. I sometimes felt vaguely achy. I had a nagging feeling that I was teetering on the edge of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome or something along those lines.


Raw Food: Lessons Learned...

Somehow or other I got into raw food. I didn't jump all in at first. I experimented, I did little bouts of raw and when green smoothies became all the rage, I drank a blender full every day. Eventually I decided to go all-in to see if I could heal myself. I began seeing my acupuncturist shortly after going raw and she was very frank with me. She told me that I was infertile (I had already been diagnosed with Luteal Phase Defect and low progesterone by my gynecologist) and so depleted of energy that it could take several years to heal. Crap!!! I realized that the stress of my job was working against my healing, so I decided that I had no choice but to quit my job (I had SO wanted to quit it, but it took a real wake-up call to give me a reason). My husband was extremely understanding and his career was now solidly on track, so we could afford for me to quit.

I really thought that acupuncture + raw food would heal me in record time. Imagine my disappointment when I didn't improve. Where was the "raw" energy and the glow I was supposed to have? Why wasn't my skin clear and why did my periods still hurt? Why did my skin suddenly seem to age (I was 30 at the time).
I was eating so many green smoothies, salads, superfoods, veggies, nuts, fruit, fermented foods, sprouted raw bread and hemp protein. My acupuncturist would take my pulse after a treatment and shake her head in confusion. No improvement. No energy. Weak digestion (food was going right through me!) In fact, I had started to lose muscle (and I didn't have a lot to begin with). Not cool.

I diligently read my favorite raw food forum, looking for tips on tweaking my diet to make it more successful. I met a lot of great people on the forum (many of whom I'm still friends with and most of whom now eat animal products;) One day, one of them who suffered from similar health issues as me confided that her new acupuncturist told her that she absolutely had to eat meat in order to heal and that she was going to try it. She was one of the most experienced members of the forum and the most knowledgeable and had tried every raw diet out there. I think her being brave enough to change planted the seed for me to change. I started reading the stories of failed vegetarian/raw diets on a site called Beyond Vegetarianism. I was realizing that raw and vegan diets seemed to be problematic for a lot of people. Could my own diet be keeping me from healing?

Then the dreams started. In the first dream, I was getting an acupuncture treatment and the doc said, in a stern voice, "Are you REALLY willing to do whatever it takes to get better?" When I woke, I had a sinking feeling that he was referring to eating meat (I was still raw vegan and hesitant to eat meat at that point). In the second dream, I was eavesdropping on two Chinese medicine doctors talking about me and one said to the other, while shaking her head in frustration "She NEEDS to eat meat!!". Ok, ok, subconscious! I was starting to get the picture!
In the final dream, I was outdoors and before me was a large table piled high with slabs of meat, fish, veggies and tubers (I can't remember if there was fruit). Sound familiar? It was the food eaten by a very tall, strapping, fit man and I was supposed to write it all down and analyze it. It was Paleo food. I didn't even know much about Paleo diets at the time.



The Home Stretch...

I was still keeping in touch with my now meat-eating former raw foodist friend and she had begun to tell me more about Paleo and Primal diets. She was healing and doing much better, so I decided I'd take the plunge into meat eating. I decided to go big- big as in BISON! My reasoning was this: what kind of animal embodies the strength and vitality that I'm so lacking in? Bison! So, I had my hubby cook me a bison patty and I was so nervous about taking the first bite. Would I gag? Would I get a stomach ache?
None of those happened. I took a bite, it was awesome, I ate the whole thing and then had to restrain myself from eating a second (I didn't want to push my luck with the stomach ache thing!) I didn't look back.

I went a few months eating an omnivorous diet, feeling a bit better and gaining back the muscle that I had lost. Little warts that I had on my fingers for nearly 2 years magically vanished. I decided to give acupuncture a break and try Medical Qigong treatments (of which I had heard great things) for my adrenal fatigue. Wow. They truly got me over the hump, so to speak. I had some energy again! That was also the beginning of my fascination with (and eventual training) in Medical Qigong, but that's a story for another time.

It was sometime shortly after that that I read "Primal Body, Primal Mind", at the suggestion of my friend. A thousand light bulbs went on in my head! It all clicked! OF COURSE I hadn't been able to heal my adrenal fatigue while eating so many blood sugar spiking grains! I decided to drop grains and immediately. I had big improvements in my energy and mental function (at least for a time). It was wonderful.
I fell in love with cooking again (partly because I had enough energy to even want to cook!) I also discovered a whole host of Primal/Paleo blogs (see my blog roll). What a fun time that was! My skin really improved. It stopped breaking out so much (I can't remember the last time I had a cyst on my chin) and it also started to look younger. I lost a little weight without trying (I had gotten skinny when I was raw but quickly gained some extra weight back in my omnivore phase). My menstrual problems also really improved. My digestion improved tremendously, too.

I was feeling much better, although I still had symptoms of hypothyroidism and hormone imbalances (you can't have balanced hormones if your thyroid is messed up.) There were still some missing puzzle pieces. I had finally figured out that thyroid issues are complicated and not something that you can treat on your own. I think it was my aforementioned friend who turned me on to the book "Why Do I Still Have Thyroid Symptoms When My Lab Tests Are Normal?".
Reading the book was so eye-opening! It rocked my world. I'd read so many books and articles about hypothyroidism over the years and this book was telling me things I'd NEVER heard! I learned that the majority of thyroid problems are autoimmune in nature (Hashimoto's Thyroiditis) with GLUTEN being a main culprit (I was eating Primal but still "cheating" by eating bread once in awhile, like while on vacation). Could this be why I was still having issues? Why my brain function had devolved back into brain fog after initial improvements? Could I have an autoimmune disease??

I decide to steer clear of the gluten from then on. By sheer coincidence, I happened to find a functional health practitioner in Nashville who was using the protocols outlined in the book and so I went and got a thyroid antibodies panel. It came back positive. No more guessing; my immune system was attacking my thyroid (and probably other things as well!) So, we determined which part of my immune system was being overactive through a supplement challenge and I was put on a regimen to dampen the overactive side (by avoiding substances which stimulate cellular immunity) and stimulating the underactive side with specific supplements. More info on how this works HERE.


I started to feel better within a few weeks. I started to feel normal again. That was nearly a year ago. I've had minor setbacks (always after a virus- it seems to throw my immune system out of whack) but I've gotten back on track every time. I've had more periods of "normal" in the last year than in my entire adult life. I keep discovering more little pieces of the puzzle (like a neurotransmitter deficiency) and I keep improving. I keep on healing. Even though it's felt at times like my progress was happening at a snail's pace, it still happened. When I run into people I haven't seen in years, they ask me what I'm doing differently and tell me I look so much healthier and alive than I used to. It's nice to finally be walking among the living.

-Erin

Hello, Spring! Hello, Pollen!

The real title of this post is "Hello, Spring! Screw You, Allergies!!"

Spring is by far my favorite season in Nashville. It's not oppressively hot yet, the bugs are minimal and, unlike the Michigan springs of my childhood, it's blooming and vibrant rather than cold and muddy. The dogwoods, forsythia, redbuds and saucer magnolias are exploding into bloom right now. I love it!

However, there's a huge downside to Spring in Nashville: the allergies. Nashville is legendary for inducing allergies even in people who have not previously suffered from them. I was warned when I moved here 13 years ago- "Just wait a few years and you'll develop allergies!" I didn't believe it, but it happened. First, it was in the autumn (ragweed) and then over the years, I also started suffering in the spring (tree pollen). See that lovely picture above? Well, that's my archenemy, the Bradford Pear tree.

Anyone who has pollen allergies knows that they're no picnic. My variety of symptoms are downright miserable. Yes, there's some sneezing and some itchy nose (no itchy eyes or sinus infections, thank goodness!) but then there's the sore throat and the intense full body fatigue and heavy head that makes me feel like I've been drugged and makes it almost impossible to think clearly. When I first developed them, I went for a few acupuncture treatments and they cleared up for a number of years. Later, I no longer had group health insurance that payed for acupuncture so I turned to natural allergy supplements. I would still recommend acupuncture in a heartbeat, but I know that not everyone has access to or can afford it.

Not wanting to resort to Benedryl, which DOES make me so drugged up I can't think straight (not to mention it blocks the neurotransmitter acetylcholine, which is essential for memory function, among other things) and not wanting to use over the counter or prescription allergy meds, I've tried many natural remedies over the years.

I tried a variety of herbal, homeopathic and nutrient formulas, such as nettles, eyebright and quercetin (I worked in the supplement dept. of Whole Foods, so I had access to so many things). I didn't try the famed neti pot because I don't have the kind of symptoms a neti pot is used for (although they are supposed to be great and I know multitudes of people who love their neti pots!)
The only thing that worked for my set of symptoms were the Bioallers Formulas, which are homeopathic formulas containing minute amounts of specific allergens. People love to bash homeopathy or chalk it up to a placebo effect. Well, I think that's a load of BS. If that were the case, I doubt Bioallers would have worked better for me than the other formulas I tried (many of which worked great for my coworkers), but they work very well and I have a number of friends who also swear by them. I love that they have no side effects or contraindications.

I use the Tree Pollen formula in Spring and the Pollen Hayfever formula (for weeds and ragweed) in autumn. Thankfully, I don't need any of the other formulas for grass pollen (summer) pet dander or mold. The first day I take it, I dose every hour until I feel better. From there on out, I dose first thing in the morning, before pollen exposure so I'm one step ahead. It's easier to prevent than to reverse a reaction.

I've had people tell me that using these formulas will over time desensitize you to your allergens. There may be some truth to that- mine did seem to get less severe over the years and last autumn, I had none at all! That could be in part because of my diet (although I still had allergies my first year of Primal eating).

I actually think I had no allergies last fall because of some allergy clearing treatments my holistic chiropractor did on me around that time, because, lo and behold, I've had NO ALLERGIES so far this spring (and this is the time of year I really suffer!)

So, what were these magical allergy clearing treatments? I went through a series of NAET treatments. I wasn't doing them for seasonal allergies, per se, but rather as part of my autoimmune treatment protocol, to resolve leaky-gut induced food sensitivities. They seem wacky and out-there, but they work. They have a great track record even for serious (and extensive) food allergies.

Balancing the immune system, in and of itself, addresses allergies, since allergies are an autoimmune inflammatory reaction.

Anyway, I'm really jazzed not to need my allergy formula this time of year. Now I can be fully present and fully enjoying the beautiful Nashville blooms:)

-Erin

Whole30/Paleo Challenge Mid-Point Update

Hey, everyone! I thought I'd do a Whole30 mid-point update so my readers can check in with me. So, how am I doing? Still good and even better. I'm really taking to eating this way.

I would say that it's totally worth it to give something like this a try. Often, the little things really add up in ways we don't see (or choose to ignore) and if you aren't quite where you want to be, health-wise, you owe it to yourself to experiment, even if that means a little (perceived) deprivation. Is that nightly glass of wine doing you any favors? Maybe, maybe not. Is that cheese making your weight loss progress plateau? Why don't you cut it and find out?


When I started Whole30, I was not looking forward to dropping butter, grass-fed cream and cheese from my diet, but I also wanted to see what would happen if I did. I also wasn't looking forward to not having any alcohol, even though I only infrequently drink. But, of course, the minute you can't have something, you want it, right?

So, the first week was the hardest, but truly not that hard. I've been able to be very compliant (but maybe that's the oldest child part of me not wanting to let my readers down;-)
I had fatigue and some sugar cravings, but the cravings have subsided and I have more energy now, although my energy issues run deeper than most people's as mine are thyroid and adrenal related and I still have more work to do in those areas. They are a 'work in progress', so to speak.

Cutting out dairy has been a big deal. When I first went Primal a year and a half ago, I immediately felt better and lost some weight. Recently, due to some thyroid issues coinciding with the holidays, I gained a few pounds and they wanted to hang out and not go away. Not cool!! What a relief to find that cutting the dairy also ended the plateau. I've done some reading and it seems I'm not the only one: Mark's Daily Apple had a recent article on the insulin secreting properties of dairy. In other words, for many people, the cheese CAN make or break your otherwise low carb diet and halt the weight from coming off.

So, cutting dairy has resulted in my pants fitting nicely again. When my experiment is over, I will add butter/ghee back in and some cream, though maybe not as much as I used to eat (these don't trigger an insulin release like milk/cheese/yogurt do) but I think I will leave the cheese out, for the most part.
The other reason I wanted to cut dairy was to see if my autoimmune issues would improve. So far, I can't tell a big difference like I could when I cut gluten out of my diet.

Reducing my intake of fruit and sugars/starches hasn't been a big deal- this is how I used to eat for a long time on Primal, but then all the starchy veggies of autumn came into season and I perfected my sweet potato fries and... you get the picture!
Right now, I'm more than satisfied with a half cup of blueberries, a spoonful of hazelnut meal, some coconut flakes all topped with thick coconut milk, cinnamon and sea salt. Super yum (and no blood sugar spikes/crashes or carb comas!)

I still need to up my workout frequency. I've been great about walking on a nearly daily basis (even when Nashville was snowbound, I was out there walking every day!), but I want to do more strength training. I want arms like Cameron Diaz!
I'm getting to bed later than I ought to (naughty me!!) I swear, getting to bed is my Achilles heel. I KNOW better! I'm positive that my energy and hormone balance would improve a whole lot if I did go to sleep earlier, before the nightly cortisol spike kicks in.

Here a some extras I've been doing to 'pimp' my program:
-fresh lemon in water in the AM- great for the liver.
-dry brushing before showers- great for healing the skin, releasing more toxins through the pores and stimulating collagen.
-ending showers with a few minutes of cold water- increases circulation and strengthens the vascular system, strengthens the immune system and boosts the metabolism. Not fun while you do it, but you feel like a million bucks afterward!

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Since this program seems to be working out well for me overall, I've decided that I'm going to extend Whole30 for a few extra weeks to give my body extra time to heal. I think I'm finding that for me, a little less wiggle room is a good thing. I will never be one of the Paleo ascetics but I realize that I need a shorter leash when it comes to diet than some people do. If I didn't have an autoimmune condition, that would not be the case, but I have to work within reality. It's strangely freeing in a way, not having to seesaw about food choices.

I hope everyone else who has chosen to do a January Paleo challenge, Whole30 or even just a gluten-free challenge is learning a lot and reaping the rewards. And for those of you who are just contemplating doing this kind of thing, I hope it encourages you to take up the challenge!

I'd love to hear from some of you about your own goals!

-Erin