The Body Ecology Diet (BED)

November 19, 2008

Advanced Dietary Interventions:

The Body Ecology Diet ( BED ), developed by Donna Gates, was

developed to address the issue of systemic fungal infections, most

notably of candida albicans.

http://www.autismndi.com/news/display.asp?

content=news & shownews=20040721140600

The Body Ecology Diet (BED)

1.1 Body Ecology Diet summary by Ginger Houston-Ludlam (ginger@fron-

tech.com)

1.1.1 History

The Body Ecology Diet (BED), developed by Donna Gates , was developed

to address the issue of systemic fungal infections, most notably of

candida albicans. Ms. Gates herself had struggled with food allergies

for a long time, and had a massive candida infection due to long term

antibiotic use for acne. She studied a variety of dietary

interventions, including:

Macrobiotics (she graduated from the Lima Osawa Cooking School in

Japan)

Raw foods

Blood-Type Diet (she studied with D'Adamo—the current version is

being promoted by his son, D'Adamo)

Weston A. Price Diet

As she studied and tried these dietary methods, she found that each

diet helped a little, but did not bring complete healing. She then

came in contact with the work of Crook, and discovered the

candida connection. So, she extracted the principles from each of

these diets that worked, along with principles from both Western and

Eastern medicine, and combined them to form the BED.

The BED has been used to address issues of ulcerative colitis,

Crohn's disease, various autoimmune diseases, and immune system

issues including AIDS. Beginning in 2003, it has also been used

experimentally in the autism community. The first group of children

with autism who tested this diet all showed rapid and remarkable

improvement.

1.1.1 Theory

The developer of the BED views most chronic disease, including

autism, as a cascade of events. It is started by a fungal infection

in the gut and then the pathogenic organisms escape the intestines to

invade the rest of the body. The end result is essentially an

infected gut, and in the case of autism, an infected brain. The

wounded gut is unable to perform its job as the first line of defense

for the immune system (leading to various secondary illnesses), it is

unable to contain incompletely digested nutrients inside the gut wall

(leading to allergic reactions), and it is unable to properly absorb

nutrients to nourish the body (leading to nutritional deficiency,

weakened inner organs and biochemical dysregulation).

In an ideal birth process, nature goes through a very systematic

process of establishing the correct microflora in the intestines of

the baby. Shortly before birth, the cervix starts to dilate, and the

microflora in the mother's body begins to invade the sterile

environment that the baby has lived in during the pregnancy. This

establishes the beginnings of the ecosystem required for birth. The

baby is born with a small amount of microflora in place, and is

nourished by colostrum, which is high in fats, antibodies, and most

importantly, the correct microflora to prepare the baby to properly

digest and assimilate breast milk. It also is the beginning of the

establishment of the baby's immune system.

But for various reasons, this process is disrupted in our modern

world. Many people, and particularly mothers of children with autism

are often themselves dealing with unresolved fungal infections (often

displayed outwardly as autoimmune diseases), and the fungus can be

passed to the baby. The day of birth or shortly thereafter, the baby

is given vaccinations, weakening the immature immune system, and

assaulting the immature organs with toxins and heavy metals. For

mothers who are unable to breastfeed, the baby is then given formula

with sugars that feed the intestinal fungus. With the first ear

infection and subsequent antibiotic, the microflora needed to

establish a healthy and functional gut is completely wiped out. At

this point, the fungus has free reign to take over the gut. The

fungus then causes inflammation, pokes holes in the gut allowing

incompletely digested foods through, and produces mycotoxins which

can affect health and behavior.

When the gut is wounded, it is unable to properly absorb nutrients.

Over an extended period of time, many of the organs of the body can

become malnourished and stop functioning properly.

Further, approximately 85% of the immune system is located in the

gut, and the microflora are an integral part of keeping the gut

healthy and the immune system strong. If the microflora are not

properly established, the immune system is weakened.

The solution, then, is to first heal the gut by reestablishing the

correct gut flora, and then nourish and rebuild the body. The BED is

designed to do those two things.

There are a number of principles embodied in the BED . These are:

1. The Expansion/Contraction Principle: This is a principle from

macrobiotics, which looks at the energetic properties of food.

Certain foods are seen as contracting, such as meat, eggs and salt.

Other foods are seen as expanding, such as sugar. The BED encourages

primary food selection from the middle of this continuum, emphasizing

lots of vegetables.

2. The Acid/Alkaline Principle: This is a commonly understood

principle in alternative medicine/nutrition. The ideal situation is

where the blood is kept slightly on the alkaline side of the normal

range. This is thought to discourage the growth of systemic candida

and also discourage the growth and spread of cancer. It is suggested

that every meal contain 20% acid-forming foods and 80% alkaline-

forming foods.

3. The Uniqueness Principle: This principle acknowledges that one

size does not fit all in diets. Some people do better on a slightly

higher percentage of protein in their diet than others, and some

people seem to do better with animal protein than others. The

principles of the blood type diet can be used to help guide food

choices that might be better for one person versus another, although

Ms. Gates does not agree with all of the newer principles introduced

by the younger Dr. D'Adamo.

4. The Cleansing Principle: This principle states that we must be

continually cleansing to attain and maintain good health. Modern-day

living is full of exposures to toxins and these toxins must be

continuously removed. Regular bowel cleansing is recommended to

assist with this process.

5. The Food Combining Principle: This principle is taken from the

work of Dr. Hay, who discovered this principle in the

early 20th century. The basic premise is that different

macronutrients need different conditions in the stomach to be

properly digested. For example, protein requires a high-acid

environment. Starch, on the other hand, requires a more alkaline

environment to digest properly. If you mix starch and protein in a

single meal, the stomach cannot properly set the conditions to

digest, so it cannot do a good job with either component. By eating

fruit separately, and separating starch and protein into separate

meals, you increase the efficiency of digestion and reduce unwanted

fermentation.

6. The 80/20 Principle: This principle is taken from Oriental

medicine, which states that you should never eat more than 80% of

your stomach capacity in one meal. This leaves you with 20% of your

stomach empty, giving it room to properly mix the meal with enzymes

and acid.

7. The Step by Step Principle: This principle states that healing

comes in steps which happen in their own time and their own order.

When a person is really sick, they may not have the healing capacity

to handle a full-blown healing crisis. So the body will go through

cycles of progress followed by a rest period. Each step will get

deeper into the body and pull out toxins as well as heal the affected

organs.

By healing the gut, reestablishing the healthy microflora, providing

the body with nutritious foods, the body is then able to build itself

up to the point that it can then begin to detoxify. The liver

becomes " unstuck " and is able to do its job of removing the toxins

from the body. The gut will allow the nutrients through to feed the

brain, thyroid and adrenals to begin detoxifying and healing.

1.1.3 Specifics of Diet

The BED has several " magic foods " which are specifically aimed at

reestablishing the intestinal flora and healing the body.

The first therapeutic probiotic food introduced in the BED is Young

Coconut Kefir. This is made using the juice of the young coconut (not

to be confused with coconut milk, which comes from a mature coconut

and is nutritionally very different). This juice is then fermented

with kefir starter for 36-48 hours. The fermentation process eats up

the natural sugars in the juice, makes the minerals in the juice much

more bioavailable, and leaves a drink filled with probiotic organisms

and cleansing substances. The kefir starter, in additional to many

beneficial bacteria, also has probiotic yeast, which is much hardier

than the bacterial species, and is very effective at kicking the

detrimental yeast out of the body. The minerals are made available to

the body to help start the healing process, and the good bacteria are

escorted into the gut to gain a foothold. However, the gut is often

still inflamed at this point from the activity of the pathogenic

microorganisms, making it very difficult for the probiotic strains to

adhere.

The second therapeutic food introduced in the BED is raw butter.

Butter is made almost entirely of milkfat, with vitamins A, D, E and

a short-chain fat called butyric acid, which is very healing to the

gut. In addition, raw grass-fed butter contains large amounts of

conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) and an additional fatty substance

called " factor x " by Weston A. Price, which is particularly high in

butter from springtime milk. Butter is a 99% casein-free food,

meaning it does have a small amount of casein in it. This has been a

concern to many of the parents starting the BED from a completely

GFCF diet. It has been the experience of the BED staff that when

butter is introduced four to seven days after starting the coconut

kefir, that the small amount of residual casein does not usually

cause a problem In fact the butter seems to really jump-start the

healing process. But, the BED can be done completely casein free for

children who do react to a small amount of residual casein.

The BED also focuses on the use of healthy, natural foods kept as

close to their natural state as possible. It consists of large

amounts of vegetables, meats, eggs, good fats, and Celtic sea salt

and herbs for seasoning. The grains recommended in the BED are

quinoa, amaranth, buckwheat and millet. All of these grains are

gluten-free, and whereas other grains are acid-forming, these help to

alkalinize the body, another goal of the BED .

The experience of the BED staff who work with children with autism so

far has been that they come out of their mental " fog " around day ten,

about a week after introducing the raw butter. There is often a

noticeable dumping of toxins into the bowels, after which there is a

huge jump in overall function. It has also been very helpful to the

mothers of the children with autism, as the BED often helps them to

deal with their own deep-seated fungal infections and the common

complaints that follow, such as fibromyalgia, Chronic Fatigue

Syndrome and eczema.

The details of the diet can be found in the book The Body Ecology

Diet by Donna Gates , and additional information, including helpful

products for implementing the diet, can be found on

www.bodyecologydiet.com. For a table of foods allowed on the BED,

click here. To join a beginner support group for the BED, click here.

November 19, 2008

Thank you for posting this, Rose.

I am glad I could take a few minutes to read it because we are in

the middle of moving.

I think she also advises fermented veggies including kraut. There are

videos on youtube that show you how. Fermented veggies offer

enzymes, probiotics, lactic acid(important for colonization in the

large intestine) increased vitamin and mineral absorption. You can

also add kefir to the veggies for fermenting. From my reading,

everybody recommends using kefir grains and not the powder of frozen

versions.

I am very excited to learn all of this! I purchased Kimchee and I am

drinking organic kraut juice and I can already see a difference. I

am also taking Ohirrah's fermented probis.

When I get some extrta $ I want to buy kefir grains and a bunch of

jars to start fermenting.

I am glad people are starting to shun the modern diet...it is going

to kill us!

correy

On Nov 19, 2008, at 8:28 AM, rosemarypersi wrote:

>

> Advanced Dietary Interventions:

> The Body Ecology Diet (BED)

> The Body Ecology Diet ( BED ), developed by Donna Gates, was

> developed to address the issue of systemic fungal infections, most

> notably of candida albicans.

>

> http://www.autismndi.com/news/display.asp?

> content=news & shownews=20040721140600

>

> The Body Ecology Diet (BED)

>

> 1.1 Body Ecology Diet summary by Ginger Houston-Ludlam (ginger@fron-

> tech.com)

> 1.1.1 History

> The Body Ecology Diet (BED), developed by Donna Gates , was developed

> to address the issue of systemic fungal infections, most notably of

> candida albicans. Ms. Gates herself had struggled with food allergies

> for a long time, and had a massive candida infection due to long term

> antibiotic use for acne. She studied a variety of dietary

> interventions, including:

>

> Macrobiotics (she graduated from the Lima Osawa Cooking School in

> Japan)

> Raw foods

> Blood-Type Diet (she studied with D'Adamo—the current version is

> being promoted by his son, D'Adamo)

> Weston A. Price Diet

> As she studied and tried these dietary methods, she found that each

> diet helped a little, but did not bring complete healing. She then

> came in contact with the work of Crook, and discovered the

> candida connection. So, she extracted the principles from each of

> these diets that worked, along with principles from both Western and

> Eastern medicine, and combined them to form the BED.

>

> The BED has been used to address issues of ulcerative colitis,

> Crohn's disease, various autoimmune diseases, and immune system

> issues including AIDS. Beginning in 2003, it has also been used

> experimentally in the autism community. The first group of children

> with autism who tested this diet all showed rapid and remarkable

> improvement.

>

> 1.1.1 Theory

> The developer of the BED views most chronic disease, including

> autism, as a cascade of events. It is started by a fungal infection

> in the gut and then the pathogenic organisms escape the intestines to

> invade the rest of the body. The end result is essentially an

> infected gut, and in the case of autism, an infected brain. The

> wounded gut is unable to perform its job as the first line of defense

> for the immune system (leading to various secondary illnesses), it is

> unable to contain incompletely digested nutrients inside the gut wall

> (leading to allergic reactions), and it is unable to properly absorb

> nutrients to nourish the body (leading to nutritional deficiency,

> weakened inner organs and biochemical dysregulation).

>

> In an ideal birth process, nature goes through a very systematic

> process of establishing the correct microflora in the intestines of

> the baby. Shortly before birth, the cervix starts to dilate, and the

> microflora in the mother's body begins to invade the sterile

> environment that the baby has lived in during the pregnancy. This

> establishes the beginnings of the ecosystem required for birth. The

> baby is born with a small amount of microflora in place, and is

> nourished by colostrum, which is high in fats, antibodies, and most

> importantly, the correct microflora to prepare the baby to properly

> digest and assimilate breast milk. It also is the beginning of the

> establishment of the baby's immune system.

>

> But for various reasons, this process is disrupted in our modern

> world. Many people, and particularly mothers of children with autism

> are often themselves dealing with unresolved fungal infections (often

> displayed outwardly as autoimmune diseases), and the fungus can be

> passed to the baby. The day of birth or shortly thereafter, the baby

> is given vaccinations, weakening the immature immune system, and

> assaulting the immature organs with toxins and heavy metals. For

> mothers who are unable to breastfeed, the baby is then given formula

> with sugars that feed the intestinal fungus. With the first ear

> infection and subsequent antibiotic, the microflora needed to

> establish a healthy and functional gut is completely wiped out. At

> this point, the fungus has free reign to take over the gut. The

> fungus then causes inflammation, pokes holes in the gut allowing

> incompletely digested foods through, and produces mycotoxins which

> can affect health and behavior.

>

> When the gut is wounded, it is unable to properly absorb nutrients.

> Over an extended period of time, many of the organs of the body can

> become malnourished and stop functioning properly.

>

> Further, approximately 85% of the immune system is located in the

> gut, and the microflora are an integral part of keeping the gut

> healthy and the immune system strong. If the microflora are not

> properly established, the immune system is weakened.

>

> The solution, then, is to first heal the gut by reestablishing the

> correct gut flora, and then nourish and rebuild the body. The BED is

> designed to do those two things.

>

> There are a number of principles embodied in the BED . These are:

>

> 1. The Expansion/Contraction Principle: This is a principle from

> macrobiotics, which looks at the energetic properties of food.

> Certain foods are seen as contracting, such as meat, eggs and salt.

> Other foods are seen as expanding, such as sugar. The BED encourages

> primary food selection from the middle of this continuum, emphasizing

> lots of vegetables.

>

> 2. The Acid/Alkaline Principle: This is a commonly understood

> principle in alternative medicine/nutrition. The ideal situation is

> where the blood is kept slightly on the alkaline side of the normal

> range. This is thought to discourage the growth of systemic candida

> and also discourage the growth and spread of cancer. It is suggested

> that every meal contain 20% acid-forming foods and 80% alkaline-

> forming foods.

>

> 3. The Uniqueness Principle: This principle acknowledges that one

> size does not fit all in diets. Some people do better on a slightly

> higher percentage of protein in their diet than others, and some

> people seem to do better with animal protein than others. The

> principles of the blood type diet can be used to help guide food

> choices that might be better for one person versus another, although

> Ms. Gates does not agree with all of the newer principles introduced

> by the younger Dr. D'Adamo.

>

> 4. The Cleansing Principle: This principle states that we must be

> continually cleansing to attain and maintain good health. Modern-day

> living is full of exposures to toxins and these toxins must be

> continuously removed. Regular bowel cleansing is recommended to

> assist with this process.

>

> 5. The Food Combining Principle: This principle is taken from the

> work of Dr. Hay, who discovered this principle in the

> early 20th century. The basic premise is that different

> macronutrients need different conditions in the stomach to be

> properly digested. For example, protein requires a high-acid

> environment. Starch, on the other hand, requires a more alkaline

> environment to digest properly. If you mix starch and protein in a

> single meal, the stomach cannot properly set the conditions to

> digest, so it cannot do a good job with either component. By eating

> fruit separately, and separating starch and protein into separate

> meals, you increase the efficiency of digestion and reduce unwanted

> fermentation.

>

> 6. The 80/20 Principle: This principle is taken from Oriental

> medicine, which states that you should never eat more than 80% of

> your stomach capacity in one meal. This leaves you with 20% of your

> stomach empty, giving it room to properly mix the meal with enzymes

> and acid.

>

> 7. The Step by Step Principle: This principle states that healing

> comes in steps which happen in their own time and their own order.

> When a person is really sick, they may not have the healing capacity

> to handle a full-blown healing crisis. So the body will go through

> cycles of progress followed by a rest period. Each step will get

> deeper into the body and pull out toxins as well as heal the affected

> organs.

>

> By healing the gut, reestablishing the healthy microflora, providing

> the body with nutritious foods, the body is then able to build itself

> up to the point that it can then begin to detoxify. The liver

> becomes " unstuck " and is able to do its job of removing the toxins

> from the body. The gut will allow the nutrients through to feed the

> brain, thyroid and adrenals to begin detoxifying and healing.

>

> 1.1.3 Specifics of Diet

> The BED has several " magic foods " which are specifically aimed at

> reestablishing the intestinal flora and healing the body.

>

> The first therapeutic probiotic food introduced in the BED is Young

> Coconut Kefir. This is made using the juice of the young coconut (not

> to be confused with coconut milk, which comes from a mature coconut

> and is nutritionally very different). This juice is then fermented

> with kefir starter for 36-48 hours. The fermentation process eats up

> the natural sugars in the juice, makes the minerals in the juice much

> more bioavailable, and leaves a drink filled with probiotic organisms

> and cleansing substances. The kefir starter, in additional to many

> beneficial bacteria, also has probiotic yeast, which is much hardier

> than the bacterial species, and is very effective at kicking the

> detrimental yeast out of the body. The minerals are made available to

> the body to help start the healing process, and the good bacteria are

> escorted into the gut to gain a foothold. However, the gut is often

> still inflamed at this point from the activity of the pathogenic

> microorganisms, making it very difficult for the probiotic strains to

> adhere.

>

> The second therapeutic food introduced in the BED is raw butter.

> Butter is made almost entirely of milkfat, with vitamins A, D, E and

> a short-chain fat called butyric acid, which is very healing to the

> gut. In addition, raw grass-fed butter contains large amounts of

> conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) and an additional fatty substance

> called " factor x " by Weston A. Price, which is particularly high in

> butter from springtime milk. Butter is a 99% casein-free food,

> meaning it does have a small amount of casein in it. This has been a

> concern to many of the parents starting the BED from a completely

> GFCF diet. It has been the experience of the BED staff that when

> butter is introduced four to seven days after starting the coconut

> kefir, that the small amount of residual casein does not usually

> cause a problem In fact the butter seems to really jump-start the

> healing process. But, the BED can be done completely casein free for

> children who do react to a small amount of residual casein.

>

> The BED also focuses on the use of healthy, natural foods kept as

> close to their natural state as possible. It consists of large

> amounts of vegetables, meats, eggs, good fats, and Celtic sea salt

> and herbs for seasoning. The grains recommended in the BED are

> quinoa, amaranth, buckwheat and millet. All of these grains are

> gluten-free, and whereas other grains are acid-forming, these help to

> alkalinize the body, another goal of the BED .

>

> The experience of the BED staff who work with children with autism so

> far has been that they come out of their mental " fog " around day ten,

> about a week after introducing the raw butter. There is often a

> noticeable dumping of toxins into the bowels, after which there is a

> huge jump in overall function. It has also been very helpful to the

> mothers of the children with autism, as the BED often helps them to

> deal with their own deep-seated fungal infections and the common

> complaints that follow, such as fibromyalgia, Chronic Fatigue

> Syndrome and eczema.

>

> The details of the diet can be found in the book The Body Ecology

> Diet by Donna Gates , and additional information, including helpful

> products for implementing the diet, can be found on

> www.bodyecologydiet.com. For a table of foods allowed on the BED,

> click here. To join a beginner support group for the BED, click here.

>

November 19, 2008

I forgot to add...

From what I learned, it is important to stay away from fermented

products that the end result contains alcohol( example, when using

molasses and grapes etc). Also, staying away from fermented

products that use vinegar....