This salicylate free diet (sal-free) is unbelievably difficult. It has been rewarding, but challenging. I am finding lots of hidden sources of gluten in places I never expected, having trouble assimilating water (this has always been an issue, but didn't resolve like almost everything else did), and starting to react to amines. Unfortunately, since I have been eating more carbs (gluten free carbs are have a much higher carb load), my candida is coming back with a vengeance. This catch 22 leaves me unable to eat lots of meat because of the amines and unable to eat lots of carbs because of the candida. I'm pretty much allergic/intolerant to dairy (casein intolerance), soy (soy intolerance), veggies, nuts and fruit (the sals) and I certainly can't just drink oil. So whats a girl to do?
All that being said, I'm tolerating all this pretty well and am in really high spirits. My brain is functioning again at levels I haven't seen in years, AND the dyslexia is gone. My mood is much more stable as well, to the point that my therapist thinks that since I am "pseudo-bipolar" and don't have a true bipolar phsycho-anatomy, I might be able to get away with behavioral modification to manage it during my recovery from Bipolar, instead of meds AND behavioral modification. yippie!
One thing that is unique about my brain is that I have an abnormally fast processing speed. (I know this because of all the damn psych tests they put me through to see what is making me sick) Being sal-free actually has made it go even quicker. The past month or so I have been so sick and stressed, and grieving, I haven't been able to do any homework or concentrate on my school work at school. But we have been doing review in all of my classes for final exams and since going sal-free, I am literally absorbing 5 weeks of material in less than 4 hours of class time. I'm piecing together 60+ bones, plus the geography of every bone, nearly 100 muscles, their corresponding actions and attachment sites, and 60+ acu-points, their functions and locations, and how all of the above interacts with the entire human anatomy and physiology (and I have had to learn both western and Chinese systems) and how it can be used to diagnose and treat any disease, injury or imbalance known to man (of which I have had to memorize over 300 so far) and the corresponding proper treatment via massage, bodywork, energywork, herbs and nutrition. It's pretty crazy! In my spare time I have been studying how the emotional, spiritual, and psychological systems interact with all that we have learned in class, as well as researching the biochemistry and molecular biology of the human stress reaction, certain food/nutritional/absorption interactions, and how music can modify and change our emotions and vibrational frequencies. I love learning, and I LOVE BEING SAL-FREE!!!!!! I love thinking! My only problem now is balancing my life and brain so that I am not thinking all the time, cuz my insomnia and panic attacks are starting to come back. It makes sense though, because my bipolar med was a major sedative, and now I am not on them.
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Gluten Free Recipes for Easter
5 weeks ago
2 comments:
Hello,
Very interesting blog -- very well written, especially for someone dealing with salicylate/anxiety issues.
I'm going through the same extreme reactions depending on what I eat, and so have been examining the various 'diets'. I don't mean diet in the traditional sense at all, because I need to GAIN weight. I've had CFS for 13 years now and have lost muscle the past six months.
Anyway, looking back on some of your November posts, I noticed that you (I think on Day 2 of the sal diet) you were actually eating quite a bit of high-salicylate foods. The veggies -- can't remember them now, but that could've caused some problems.
Also, (again, there are so many different diets out there recommending conflicting advice) but perhaps you might need to cut down on certain types of carbs and/or grains for awhile, as they can feed/stir up the bad bacteria, which can increase H2S levels, which then lead to leaky gut, etc.
I haven't tried either yet, but friends are recommending both the SCD diet, and also the GAPS diet. The SCD seems to be getting the best or fastest results, but the GAPS diet (with healing bone broths, etc) seem to really help heal the gut, so that one can eventually go back to eating a much wider variety of foods.
It's my understanding the salicylate problems stem from (hello!) basically eating way too many high-sal foods for too long -- so that the liver doesn't have the factors needed to detoxify them -- like glycine and sulfate, etc. So backing off for awhile allows those levels to build up, and the sulfation pathway works better...
As for amines -- it's again my understanding (I'm certainly not a doctor) but my understanding that amines form on 'old' meat -- leftovers, etc. , and that fresh meat is actually low in amines.
???
Anyway, just my two cents. I hope you'll respond. I'll try to read more of your blog...
Dan
thanks for you advice about my diet! Yes, I am aware that I was eating high-sal foods. I actually don't follow any diets. I use trial and error to design my own. The reason I do this is because the human body is very complicated and every person is so different that if I relied completely on a diet designed for someone else, I will inevitably eat something that doesn't work for me. I do use diets as a rough guide though. It is working for me!
You are right that an overload of sals can trigger a sensitivity in someone, but from my understanding of biochemistry, the overload is somewhat analogous to the straw that broke the camel's back. The true cause is much deeper and obscure, and in most cases people never figure out what that cause is. Hence, why salicylate sensitivity is idiopathic.
Amines actually are a chemical that forms is all meats and fermented foods. The older the substance is, the more amines that are there. But amines are what gives the rich flavor to so much of our food!
thanks for reading my blog! Please share with others if you get a chance. :-)
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