On Fasting

I used fruit fasts in the early days when I started experimenting with the No Starch Diet. Fruit fasts (or to be more precise, fruit mono-diets) worked wonderfully for me. By the 3rd or 4th day I would be completely pain free without the need of any medication. Normally I would just drink water and eat pears, grapes, apples, and maybe some orange or mandarin too.

Citrus fruits should only be had in moderation whilst on a fast from my experience, whereas pears and grapes could be eaten without restriction. Unfortunately apples will need to be tested for starch using iodine tincture as some farmers like to pick them whilst still a bit unripe, this is particularly true for fruits that are not in season.

Doing fruit fasts really helped me to understand the diet and reinforced the diet --> inflammation link. Afterwards, on eating normal food again, it was also useful to plan what foods I wanted to try first as any reactions / changes in my body would be very informative post-fast

Making of Natto

My neighbour said that she doesn't add anything at all to it in terms of culture. The soybeans are of course boiled and then strained (possibly by hand, in which case flora could arrive from her body). The beans are then placed in a special device (I don't know what to call it, looks a bit like a rice cooker, lets call it an incubator for now) which she brought from Korea that keeps the beans at a stable temperature between 35-40c. It is left to incubate over a few days.. 2-3 days I think she said. 

Actually B Subtilis is an extemophile and its spores can very easily survive being boiled, so it is quite possible that the culture is still present on the beans and in her incubator. 

I don't know if I could possibly ask her if it touches her hand when she strains the beans - she is an elderly Korean lady, and it might offend or cause too much embarrassment (?). But perhaps I can ask her husband after explaining why I need to know..

Mycotoxins :: The Fungal Connection

I was discussing this with another friend and thought I should share it here:

So many of my little health problems are turning out to be fungal related (and that includes Candida). From my notes the following improved whilst taking an anti-fungal :

 Prostatitis, Proctitis, night dehydration, sinusitis, brain fog, coordination, hand writing, energy levels / stamina, and jock itch

Mycotoxins 

The majority of these problems will be due to mycotoxins - which are incredibly potent poisons. Alkaline salts (calcium carbonate, baking soda) disable 90-94% of these toxins when added to corn [ http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nixtamalization ]. 

One very simple way to disable these toxins is to drink bicarb - half a tsp of baking soda mixed in a cup of water. Must be drunk on an empty tummy when there is no hunger otherwise it will react to what is in your stomach and become a useless salt. A good time to drink it is in the middle of the night or first thing in the mining. 

Lufenuron

Taking Lufenuron has been a highly informative exercise.. It was ok as a short term solution to fungal issues but I don't want to use it long term. Baruch recommended a probiotic called Prescript Assist for my Proctitis and that is working nicely - but I need to take quite a lot and it is expensive. Also it appears to be helping my night dehydration too. Good flora killing off & crowding out the fungus. Again it all comes back to body flora. 

Remission revisitted -:- Natto, or is it?

Hi guys,

Here to share something important about my Ankylosing Spondylitis remission.

The following was originally posted by me on kickas.org:

I can still eat starch without issues. There have been a few moments where a teeny bit of inflammation crept in - peanuts are one thing that come to mind here. But each time the very modest amount of inflammation would be gone by the morning.

My neighbours are very kind, and keep me well supplied with Natto.

-- Is it B. Subtilis? Or maybe something else? --
My neighbour has an unusual way of making her Natto - she doesn't add any culture at all. Bacteria will be getting into the soybeans from her skin, the environment, and possibly her breath. So there is no guarantee that this is in fact Bacillus Subtilis that is keeping my condition at bay, it could be some other flora from her or from the environment..  B. Subtilis is a super tough critter though, and should be quite ubiquitous in the environment (it is found in soil) so I still think it is highly likely to be the beneficial species.

With all that in mind, I made sure to freeze samples of her Natto - just in case.

Dehydration at Night

This problem, in my case, is almost certainly caused by a fungal infection. This became evident when taking Lufenuron stopped this problem for the duration of treatment. I have had this problem for so many years! It is a very difficult microbe to get rid of, probably living in some hard to reach recess of my body ... maybe in the gut.



-- Helps ease symptoms: --

• Prescript Assist (very effective). Thanks Baruch for putting me onto this! There are sure to be other probiotics that help, but so far this is the only one I know of for certain.
• Apple Cider Vinegar (very effective). Use 2tbsp mixed with water. I need to rinse my mouth with mouthwash before hand though as the acidity hurts my teeth even when diluted. Aldi brand mouth wash works fine.
• Fruit fast (effective)
• Turmeric? (maybe?)- need to take quite a lot (6-8 pills). I make my own pills using the raw spice.
• Water flush (moderately effective). Drink 2 or 3 cups of water on an empty tummy.
• Massaman curry (somewhat effective).. Worked well for 3-4wks, only worked whilst it had a laxative effect.
• ++ Rest. Lots of sleep and rest. Don't watch late TV or read late at night. Avoid stressing (esp at work). Light physical exercise but not to exhaustion.
• Lufenuron (seemed effective) - an antifungal
• Laxative. Try Epsom salts
• 1tbs cumin +3xStrength ginger tea
• raw juice - pineapple apple ginger beetroot (celery carrot)
• Polygodial ? (Mountain Pepper) - I suspect this was helping due to antifungal properties. I use half tsp or more followed by water. Problem is this remedy only works in the short term (maybe 3 weeks or so).

-- Worsens symptoms: --

• Tired / Going to sleep too late (significant problem). Weakens immune system / liver?
• High Glycemic Index Foods - Jasmine rice for example
• Cheese
• Yeast products 
• Vinegar (except  for ACV)
• Preservatives. 220 & maybe Benzoates too. Herx reaction?
• Alcohol /preservative 220/yeast (champagne & sweet wines are high in preservatives). worse in 30-60min

Thread
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