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Elemental diet

IreneF

Senior Member
Messages
1,552
Location
San Francisco
My doc brought up something called an elemental diet, which he said "tasted like dog food". It has been described as "predigested", which turns my stomach just thinking about. I have no gut issues, thankfully, so I'm not sure why he thinks it could help me, other than that he's grasping at straws.

Has anyone tried this? Did it help?

Thanks,

Irene
 

wdb

Senior Member
Messages
1,392
Location
London
It doesn't sound like a crazy idea, digestive problems can be quite common in ME/CFS. I know I feel a lot lower on energy after after big heavy meals than I do after smaller lighter meals, but as you say if you have no gut issues it might be a bit of a long shot. Also you might want to try something more palatable like a Gastroparesis Diet before going for the full on tastes like dog food diet.
 

IreneF

Senior Member
Messages
1,552
Location
San Francisco
People with Crohn's disease or a seriously inflamed gut are typically the ones who use the elemental diet. I don't think what he's suggesting has anything to do with the stomach. More helpful for the intestines and microflora.

I might try natto for it's probiotic qualities. That's got it's own yuck factor.
 
Messages
759
Location
Israel
After Dr Myhill gave me EPD injection in 1995, I got severe digestive problems that continue to this day. Nowadays I am on a restricted diet and camels milk which helps it. But back then I was just trying to eat normally so had horrific stomach pains and constipation lasting weeks. I had malnoutrishion. I was in a (bad) UK hospital and eventually a doctor suggested "elemental diet", then to slowly reintroduce foods one at a time. The dietician there said that "elemental diet" was something very unpalatable that came in the form of a drink in that hospital. (In some places they give it as infusion, I heard.) While they offered it to me in the hospital, I saw Chrohns patients being mistreated around me and I saw the hospital was in such a mess that they probably would make it up wrong or make my malnutrition worse so I refused. The next day another doctor said they did not believe in M.E and they weren't there to treat "IBS" and discharged me I sometimes wonder if I should have taken the elemental diet then. It might have helped.

Dr Pimental recommends in for IBS in his book. The food molecules go straight to the gut for digestion so it keeps you nourished while any bad bacteria in the gut die. It also gives the digestive system a rest.

I don't understand why your doc brought if up if you have no gut issues.

Maybe he thinks it will build you up (?)
 

IreneF

Senior Member
Messages
1,552
Location
San Francisco
After Dr Myhill gave me EPD injection in 1995, I got severe digestive problems that continue to this day. Nowadays I am on a restricted diet and camels milk which helps it. But back then I was just trying to eat normally so had horrific stomach pains and constipation lasting weeks. I had malnoutrishion. I was in a (bad) UK hospital and eventually a doctor suggested "elemental diet", then to slowly reintroduce foods one at a time. The dietician there said that "elemental diet" was something very unpalatable that came in the form of a drink in that hospital. (In some places they give it as infusion, I heard.) While they offered it to me in the hospital, I saw Chrohns patients being mistreated around me and I saw the hospital was in such a mess that they probably would make it up wrong or make my malnutrition worse so I refused. The next day another doctor said they did not believe in M.E and they weren't there to treat "IBS" and discharged me I sometimes wonder if I should have taken the elemental diet then. It might have helped.

Dr Pimental recommends in for IBS in his book. The food molecules go straight to the gut for digestion so it keeps you nourished while any bad bacteria in the gut die. It also gives the digestive system a rest.

I don't understand why your doc brought if up if you have no gut issues.

Maybe he thinks it will build you up (?)

I think he brought it up because I'm not responding to his current treatment, and he has another patient who had good results. I would definitely give it a go if I had gut issues.

I think you can buy the stuff over the counter. I'm surprised that no one has said they've tried it, considering everything else people have consumed.
 
My son has Crohn''s disease. (I am not part of this forum b/c of any illness that I have, at least not at this point.) He is 6 y/o and has moderate level autism, the Crohn's, and a few other formal diagnoses.

My son has been on diluted GcMAF injections from Dr. Jeff Bradstreet MD since Sept. 1st, 2012. The GcMAF (anti-viral tx) is clearing up my son's diarrhea, which he has experienced 2-5 times per day since the summer of 2007. The only other treatment that helped my son's Crohn's was steroids (Prednisalone).

My son has been on very, very strong probiotics since July of 2009. Dr. Bradstreet has stated in his blog that, he does not think that probiotics are necessarily good for intestinal issues, since probiotics like an aerobic environment, and the intestines are anaerobic. I still give my little boy probiotics a couple of times per week. They have never seemed to help his stools. Perhaps they have helped with other things like stomach pain or gas, but I am not sure.

Note: Dr. Bradstreet is not publishing anything about GcMAF helping GI diseases, probably b/c he does not have enough evidence yet. He has said that several other parents of autistic children are reporting the same thing as me regarding the bowel disease.

Madison

PS My autism parent friends are mostly doing the Specific Carbohydrate Diet, GAPS, or the Paleo diet. I am only doing gluten free and casein free for my son and myself. So far, I have found that I have a low T3 to reverse T3 ratio (4.6...it is supposed to be between 10-12), and taking gluten out has helped my biggest GI problem, which was constipation.
 

tyson oberle

Senior Member
Messages
210
Location
tampa, florida
After Dr Myhill gave me EPD injection in 1995, I got severe digestive problems that continue to this day. Nowadays I am on a restricted diet and camels milk which helps it. But back then I was just trying to eat normally so had horrific stomach pains and constipation lasting weeks. I had malnoutrishion. I was in a (bad) UK hospital and eventually a doctor suggested "elemental diet", then to slowly reintroduce foods one at a time. The dietician there said that "elemental diet" was something very unpalatable that came in the form of a drink in that hospital. (In some places they give it as infusion, I heard.) While they offered it to me in the hospital, I saw Chrohns patients being mistreated around me and I saw the hospital was in such a mess that they probably would make it up wrong or make my malnutrition worse so I refused. The next day another doctor said they did not believe in M.E and they weren't there to treat "IBS" and discharged me I sometimes wonder if I should have taken the elemental diet then. It might have helped.

Dr Pimental recommends in for IBS in his book. The food molecules go straight to the gut for digestion so it keeps you nourished while any bad bacteria in the gut die. It also gives the digestive system a rest.

I don't understand why your doc brought if up if you have no gut issues.

Maybe he thinks it will build you up (?)
hi redrachal76,
I would like to try camel milk. I read that camel milk is the closest milk to human milk and that it helps heal allergies and gut issues. How has camel milk helped you? And how do you take it, raw, pasteurized, powdered, freeze dried, etc.? And where do you get it from?
 

tyson oberle

Senior Member
Messages
210
Location
tampa, florida
I think he brought it up because I'm not responding to his current treatment, and he has another patient who had good results. I would definitely give it a go if I had gut issues.

I think you can buy the stuff over the counter. I'm surprised that no one has said they've tried it, considering everything else people have consumed.
I've tried an elemental diet for a few days. I felt so uncomfortable with feelings of low blood sugar and I also felt more nasal congestion. I may try it again, but with a different type with different ingredients.
 
Messages
759
Location
Israel
hi redrachal76,
I would like to try camel milk. I read that camel milk is the closest milk to human milk and that it helps heal allergies and gut issues. How has camel milk helped you? And how do you take it, raw, pasteurized, powdered, freeze dried, etc.? And where do you get it from?

I take it raw. I live in Israel Tel Aviv and the camel milk farm is called Lotan about 4 drive hours away (They deliver because I am housebound alot). It improved my IBS constipation a lot. I also put on a bit of weight on it which is rare for me.
I seem to have slightly less bad reactions to food. It's not perfect or cured but there was a significant improvement.

While I can testify that it is brilliant for my IBS-C, I am not sure about IBS-D. My Mum who has a completely healthy digestive system accidently drank my glass of milk once and got diaroahhear.
Sorry if this is written badly. I have bad cognitive problems today.

BTW It is said to be worthless if it is pasteurised. I read on the facebook camel milk forum of someone who improved on powdered milk. I can give you the forum address if you like although it focuses on autism not M.E.
 

tyson oberle

Senior Member
Messages
210
Location
tampa, florida
I take it raw. I live in Israel Tel Aviv and the camel milk farm is called Lotan about 4 drive hours away (They deliver because I am housebound alot). It improved my IBS constipation a lot. I also put on a bit of weight on it which is rare for me.
I seem to have slightly less bad reactions to food. It's not perfect or cured but there was a significant improvement.

While I can testify that it is brilliant for my IBS-C, I am not sure about IBS-D. My Mum who has a completely healthy digestive system accidently drank my glass of milk once and got diaroahhear.
Sorry if this is written badly. I have bad cognitive problems today.

BTW It is said to be worthless if it is pasteurised. I read on the facebook camel milk forum of someone who improved on powdered milk. I can give you the forum address if you like although it focuses on autism not M.E.
thanks redrachal76,
I also have constipation and I also need to put on weight. I have been gluten-free, grain-free, dairy-free, soy-free, sugar-free for about 3 years and yet I still feel about the same as always.Recently, I also have avoided fruits (except avocados, zuchinni, green pepper), high fructose vegetables, and illegal vegetables according to the SCD diet and although I definitely have less bloating I still have the same pain and fatigue level as I always have had. I feel I need to somehow find a protein I don't react to and/or I need to fix my gastrointestinal system. The proteins that seem to cause the most problems for me are all types of seafood (even cold water fish), all nuts/seeds (whether sprouted, raw , roasted), and cow/goat dairy (raw or pasteurized). I will probably try hydrolyzed whey or the whey in an elemental diet powder and I may try raw cow milk yoghurt again. Since camel milk is supposedly similar to human milk I guess I will try that also. I found a website that sells a freeze dried camel milk powder.
 

Fogbuster

Senior Member
Messages
269
Anyone tried an elemental diet?

If you seem to "react to everything" and cant make any progress on a elimination diet eg GAPS, it seems that maybe finding something like raw camels milk (which hopefully you wouldn't react to) would help soothe and nourish your damaged gut and help relieve some sensitivities, making the introductory process of the elimination diets easier.

Any thoughts?

Jamie