My Gut Crusade

[Beyond]

I am just going to reduce my nut intake to the kind of levels I had before a recent increase and a recent deterioration in gut function and associated symptoms. As a vegan I have limited options for low-carb snacks. I had made a number of dietary changes prior to the deterioration and am trying to identify them and correct them.

What do you have for snacks?

Hmmm apples. Sometimes bananas. Sometimes dried figs. Rarely nuts and chips. You can get away with eating moderate amounts of nuts or dried fruit every now and then but they are clearly detrimental for an inflammed gut.

 

[Beyond]

Beyond, have you tried soaking the nuts (and seeds) overnight? I've been doing this for years, soaking gets rid of an enzyme that prevents us from digesting and absorbing the nutrients properly.

Yeah I tried! With almonds. They were much softer. I think some sprouted? I don´t remember if this helped much with the digestive problems with nuts (basically they appear undigested in the toilet, especially the hardest like almonds). I stopped doing it because it was pretty annoying. I might try again, thanks for reminding!

@MeSci soaking and sprouting could help you to keep nuts.

 

[MeSci]

Yeah I tried! With almonds. They were much softer. I think some sprouted? I don´t remember if this helped much with the digestive problems with nuts (basically they appear undigested in the toilet, especially the hardest like almonds). I stopped doing it because it was pretty annoying. I might try again, thanks for reminding!

@MeSci soaking and sprouting could help you to keep nuts.

'keep nuts' - was that a typo? I think I've been nuts for most of my life and I don't intend stopping!

I like eating the nuts as they are. Soaking them doesn't sound very appetising! But my gut was fine when I was eating a smaller amount of nuts, so I am optimistic that a reduction will suffice.

 

[Beyond]

Haha! No typo, I meant, to keep eating nuts.

I know what you mean, and now I remember THAT was exatcly the reason I stopped soaking nuts. No pleasure, no gain. I like nuts to be crunchy as well.

 

[Mij]

'keep nuts' - was that a typo? I think I've been nuts for most of my life and I don't intend stopping!

I like eating the nuts as they are. Soaking them doesn't sound very appetising! But my gut was fine when I was eating a smaller amount of nuts, so I am optimistic that a reduction will suffice.

Sci, they taste so much better after soaking. I let them dry completely on the kitchen counter and then add sea salt. I love soaked walnuts, they taste sweet without that bitter after taste.

 

[Mij]

Haha! No typo, I meant, to keep eating nuts.

I know what you mean, and now I remember THAT was exatcly the reason I stopped soaking nuts. No pleasure, no gain. I like nuts to be crunchy as well.

The crunch comes back after you let them dry completely. It takes several hours to dry though.

 

[Beyond]

Well, in fact they taste different, personally I find it worse than normal, but is not an unplesant flavour at all. I have tried soaked almonds and walnuts.

Update about progress with my gut crusade. My nose eczema is much improved and almost non existant. This is, of course, a sign of leaky gut healing. Hmm my sleep is super shitty still, easily 4 wakings per night, but I look better. Still haggard, but a handsome chap! lol Energy is allright, depression is rather strong at times and moderate in general. Fatigue and depression feel the same for me, in the sense that depression makes me "tired" (no motivation, feeling of heaviness).

 

[MeSci]

Well, in fact they taste different, personally I find it worse than normal, but is not an unplesant flavour at all. I have tried soaked almonds and walnuts.

Update about progress with my gut crusade. My nose eczema is much improved and almost non existant. This is, of course, a sign of leaky gut healing. Hmm my sleep is super shitty still, easily 4 wakings per night, but I look better. Still haggard, but a handsome chap! lol Energy is allright, depression is rather strong at times and moderate in general. Fatigue and depression feel the same for me, in the sense that depression makes me "tired" (no motivation, feeling of heaviness).

I do like nut roast (I make a rather delicious one, though I say it myself. Happy to admit that my culinary skills are generally mediocre!). So I guess that will be a bit like soaking nuts, as I chop them fine, along with sesame seeds, and add stuff that makes the whole thing into a damp mixture before baking/roasting. But for snacks I have roasted, salted cashews and pistachios. In fact I am stuffing my face with them now and forgot to go slow! I am closing the container NOW...for a while.

I tend to find that my mood is lower in dull weather, when I haven't slept enough and when my ME symptoms are increased.

 

[Beyond]

Bananas are a no-no for me! They have gaven me almost diarreah. Oh my god, I know perfectly fruit is no good for me, but my diet is already too stricted and I just can´t psychologically handle not eating anything really satisfying. One skinned apple a day might be OK...

 

[MeSci]

Bananas are a no-no for me! They have gave me almost diarreah. Oh my god, I know perfectly fruit is no good for me, but my diet is already too stricted and I just can´t psychologically handle not eating anything really satisfying. One skinned apple a day might be OK...

I seem to be OK with one apple a day. A thing that seems really good for my gut is cabbage, and there seems to be a lot of evidence for cabbage's benefits generally.

I've reduced my nut intake and my 'output' seems much better, ditto my sleep. May be coincidence but I'm sticking with it.

What are you avoiding at present? I know what you mean about a need for something satisfying. For me in particular I have to have something I can chew. Well-roasted potatoes, corn crackers and gluten-free toast help to satisfy that need, as well as nuts and sesame sticks.

 

[Beyond]

Cabbage is super loaded with natural glutamine. It must be pretty good for the gut! I stopped juicing and eating it (let´s be honest, I didn´t eat cabagge yuck haha) because I realised it is goitrogenic and I already have HPTA issues confirmed. Sometimes I wonder if that matters though. The BEST I have been since been ill was one year or so ago, when I was jucing almost a liter of day of brocoli, red and green cabbage, carrots, lettuce, celery and some more. I even started working out a bit. And then I became sicker again. Maybe I overexerted. Certainty I did some things that harmed my gut, coffee enemas and recently that trial of free raw propolis in chunks from the beekeper that was disatrous (it tasted and smelled like tree resin, and propolis capsules do not).

Now I only juice cucumbers, carrots and lettuce. I had an horrible reaction to celery too and now I cannot imagine drinking it again.

Well done re nuts. They are addictive I know but we have to draw a line. I avoid roughage, which means things like lentils or apple peel, nuts, fruits... And of course corn, gluten, casein and soy (except in supplements like the Jarrow Gamma E which has plenty of soybean oil...). BTW maybe that is to blame for my recent worsening! Damn soy!

I have decided to do a trial of organic probiotic yogurt, an specific brand that I remember clearly the last year; I drank one liter of it one day (yep I´m hungry) and I had the best BM of years (I am not exaggerating). This is very strange, maybe the harm of dairy is overcame by the goodness of Streptococcus Thermophilus and Lactobacillus Bulgaricus.

 

[MeSci]

I have decided to do a trial of organic probiotic yogurt, an specific brand that I remember clearly the last year; I drank one liter of it one day (yep I´m hungry) and I had the best BM of years (I am not exaggerating). This is very strange, maybe the harm of dairy is overcame by the goodness of Streptococcus Thermophilus and Lactobacillus Bulgaricus.

I think that the yoghurt-making process does make it more tolerable.

Funny what you say about your BM - when I had my first healthy one for years after starting my palaeovegan diet I wanted to take a photo and tell everyone! As this is not generally acceptable in society I had to celebrate alone.

 

[Thinktank]

@Beyond, if possible try to make your own homemade yogurt with starter, imo it's superior to commercial store-bought yogurt. That stuff did wonders to my gut when i started to have mild IBD. I used a starter with bulgaricus and thermophilus.
Only dropped it because i seem to be extremely intolerant to dairy by IgG testing, also the casein might be a problem although it gets denatured when prepared correctly.

 

[Beyond]

LOL MeSci I thought I was the only one. From outside it is awkward, but for the sufferers it is completely logical to feel like celebrating when their body starts to work properly.

Yeah I want to start @Thinktank doing my own probiotics again. I have done homemade water kefir, milk kefir and fermented veggies in the past and the experiences were positive, especially with milk kefir I would say. I stopped exactly because of the same concerns as you.

I tell you what. I´ll stop caring about IgG and the evil casein if after this trial of yogurt my stools look better. THAT is the real way to know how you are doing. And also nose/face for me. Pretty much I have confirmed with medical literature that atopic dermatitis means "leaky gut". Right now I barely have, neither intestinal discomfort, so I know that my gut is improving, but digestion of certain things like I assume FODMAPS (fructose) is still very bad.

 

[Beyond]

It is now empirically confirmed @MeSci , I ate the other day two small breads of spelt for first time in months and began taking eggs again and sure enough, my almost dissapeared flaky, reddish, itchy patches in the nose sides came back! I find my eczema particularly helpful as a tool to gauge the level of autoimmunity that food items provoke and the efficacy of leaky gut supplements (aside from obvious improvement in intestinal pain or digestion).

Let´s see how the yogurt affects the eczema.

 

[MeSci]

It is now empirically confirmed @MeSci , I ate the other day two small breads of spelt for first time in months and began taking eggs again and sure enough, my almost dissapeared flaky, reddish, itchy patches in the nose sides came back! I find my eczema particularly helpful as a tool to gauge the level of autoimmunity that food items provoke and the efficacy of leaky gut supplements (aside from obvious improvement in intestinal pain or digestion).

Let´s see how the yogurt affects the eczema.

I was already sure, from my own experience. The dermatitis on my palms which I had suffered from for maybe 15 years or more, and which was not alleviated by any creams or lotions, prescribed, over-the-counter or internet-bought, apart from very brief relief, completely cleared after I had been on my leaky-gut regime for a while. It had been getting worse and worse, and for the previous years my skin had been splitting and bleeding and causing severe pain at times. Then suddenly my palms were completely smooth again!

Recently I have had a worsening of gut function, lasting a few weeks until I finally think I corrected it again through diet. BMs are at last healthy again. The dermatitis had started to creep back, but I am optimistic that it will die down again now.

 

[Beyond]

I ran out of Seacure and Propolis and I am already feeling this (in around one week I will have 2 months worth of those two and tons of colostrum!). Taking the probiotic goat yogurt since a few days and I am feeling definetely worse when waking up and during the day I get annoying amounts of smelly gas plus large loose sticky bowel movements that only happen every two days.

I don´t know if this is some kind of herx or just the evil casein and the InulinFOS leftovers that I took these days in large doses (they do give you a lot of gas, at least they work as a prebiotic lol). Will start with VSL-3 again as safer probiotic if they still have it in the same place of my city that I went last year. Or maybe I make yogurt with it to get trillions! Will see.

 

[Beyond]

Figured out all by myself (and the beloved Internet) that I suffer from steatorrhea and fructose malabsorption. I might have ileitis as well which causes the steatorrhea because of disrupted bile acid absorption. What causes fructose malabsorption? Maybe inflammation. From now on, no fruit for me. Pray for my soul, a vast, cold and grey paramo of months of non-satisfactory eating extends over my fatigued eyes.

It could be worse, though. I don´t really have IBD in the sense that I don´t have multiple bowel movements and diarreah is rare if not eating fruit. I am more into the IBS league. Personally for me IBS is just the anteroom of IBD and certainty a pathetically spurious diagnosis that can hid anything...

Waiting for the supps!

 

[MeSci]

Figured out all by myself (and the beloved Internet) that I suffer from steatorrhea and fructose malabsorption. I might have ileitis as well which causes the steatorrhea because of disrupted bile acid absorption. What causes fructose malabsorption? Maybe inflammation. From now on, no fruit for me. Pray for my soul, a vast, cold and grey paramo of months of non-satisfactory eating extends over my fatigued eyes.

It could be worse, though. I don´t really have IBD in the sense that I don´t have multiple bowel movements and diarreah is rare if not eating fruit. I am more into the IBS league. Personally for me IBS is just the anteroom of IBD and certainty a pathetically spurious diagnosis that can hid anything...

Waiting for the supps!

Who needs guinea pigs when we have @Beyond?!

Seriously - shame about the fruit.

I eat very little fruit but still get apparent steatorrhoea at times. Had it for about a week or so recently, having previously abolished it. Seem OK again now. I think that something as simple as overexertion can cause it sometimes, perhaps exacerbated by dietary mistakes. Perhaps via hyperlactaemia? That puts a strain on the liver, for example.

You're making a lot of changes in a short time, aren't you? Could make it hard to identify any possible errors. Sometimes errors in supplement or diet can take a while to produce symptoms, so any problems that appear may not always be due to the most recent thing you are trying.

 

[Beyond]

Yeah I have done lots of things, some of them pretty stupid, like 2 weeks of water fasting that I ended eating something that gave full GI tract inflammation for a week.

About what causes problems... Right now I am not in any supplement, so that is not a problem. I have known about my inability to digest fruit (I assume from fructose malabsorption) since more than a year, back then I had a series of colonics and undigested chunks of apple and banana appeared in appaling amounts.

Still, any attempts from my part to avoid fruit have ended with me going bonkers and enjoying a good piece of it. This time I am going to be very strict, because it is obvious that for now fruit is an obstacle for my gut healing, as it only helps to feed dysbiosis because arrives the colon undigested.