Re: Avoiding supplements for a day - anyone else feel better with th

[Guest guest]

Kat

Both

my experience and my research have confirmed that the most important thing we

can do for our health is restore our gut ecology. A lot of our health

problems stem from our gut dysbiosis, so if we just focus on that for a while –

and it does take months if not a year or two – many other issues will

resolve themselves.

Unfortunately

many supplements contain illegals, forms of carbohydrates that feed the

too-strong microorganisms in our guts, synthetic additives and preservatives

that just hamper our body’s ability to stabilize our microorganism

colonies. If you take multiple supplements with multiple ingredients, not

only does this affect the body in myriad ways, but how can you identify which

one is the problem? My personal experience is that supplements cause more

problems than help, especially when you’re starting off with a compromised

digestive and immune system.

Of

course there are some minerals and vitamins or hormones that individuals have a

critical need for, especially with malabsorption issues due to the disturbed

gut ecology. But in order to improve our gut ecology and give our immune

system a chance to handle things, it is sensible to keep the vitamin and

mineral supplements to a minimum. It is OK in most cases to cut out all

the other supplements. I’m not referring to the hormones or

antidepressants or other prescriptions that your doctors feel are critical;

those you continue to take, although you might ask your doctor if it is OK to

stop one or more of them for a month or two just in case they are delaying healing

in some fashion.

Taking

a probiotic is important too, as is taking magnesium or boosting your

electrolytes for muscle cramps. So is Vitamin D and a multivitamin and a

B-Complex. But you might go a week or two without them until you feel

your symptoms are improving. You may not need such large doses,

either. Our bodies only absorb about 15% of oral doses; the rest are

eliminated, taxing our kidneys. Perhaps a smaller dose, taken less often,

will be more effective. Perhaps switching to liquid forms (like mixing

magnesium in water for muscle cramps) will be more effective.

It

just makes sense to me to focus on my gut ecology, and keep any supplements to

a bare minimum. And if I’m flaring, I pull the supplements first,

so I can focus on just foods and any prescription meds. I’m taking. And

as my gut ecology is restored, many of my health issues have stabilized, so I

don’t need as frequent supplementation or as large a dose of the ones I

still need. That is what has worked for me, anyway. I still need to

supplement probiotics, vitamins and minerals, since I have neuropathies and my

body just can’t absorb or utilize enough from food sources. But I

just take small doses, and not every day, so my immune system doesn’t react

and the rest of my body can deal with the ingredients stress-free. I

still spend time finding a brand, dosage and delivery system for the vitamin

and minerals my body requires so they don’t trigger reactions, as my body’s

needs change and the formulas in the supplements change.

Just

some ideas.

Taking

garlic with food instead of alone with a supplement will still be effective,

and has the advantage of not triggering an immune response. Regularly

using an antifungal with food is just as effective over the long-term, and has

the advantage of causing less die-off stress.

Kim M.

SCD 6 years

Sphincter of Oddi dysfunction 6+ years

neurological & spinal deterioration 3+ years

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Right

now I'm prescribed to take about 16-20 different capsuls a day (some more than

one of one kind, e.g. 4-6 multivitamin capsuls to get the full dose). If I did

want to cut them all out for a few days, I'm concerned about my Vitamin D

(since there is hardly any sun in Seattle this time of year), and lose

nutrition that I might really need, like my 4 B-complex pill/day to absorb iron

better and boost my immune system. I am also taking boulardii, and I feel like

I should keep taking that since I have thrush - so an overgrowth everywhere

probably.

Has anyone gotten sicker after taking out supplements for a while? Or lost

stamina, energy, etc? I guess it's hard to believe that I could get enough of

what I need from food alone when my diet is so restricted (avocados, blueberries,

cabbage, zucchini, pears, applesause, olive oil - carrots and bananas only

every few days due to yeast elimination diet). Can these foods plus

meat/fish/eggs really be enough to make up for all the B vitamins, vitamin C,

D, A, E, omega oils, etc? Probably, I'm just still skeptical.

I am also wanting to start adding garlic to my diet for the yeast, and of

course rotating it with other anti-fungals. Does that have the same effect as

taking supplements when it's in food form?