Every few weeks some supposed authority puts out a release about how there is no cure for IBS. It never ceases to fascinate me how people can repeat something that they've heard somewhere else and then call themselves an expert. Well, the experts are at it again.
This time it's out of England. Experts there are now claiming that online advice for IBS is unsafe. They fail to mention what exactly is unsafe about it, or specifically how it has harmed people, but apparently it is very unsafe.
This is in direct contrast to the conventional approach to IBS, which involves absolutely no treatment what-so-ever, or ineffective treatment, or unsafe drugs that are eventually removed from the market (ex. Zelnorm). Or, if you are really lucky, you do actually get some relief, but you are only treating the symptom, not curing the problem.
Of course, there are an awful lot of ineffective treatments and products out there on the internet, and probably some unsafe things that I'm not even aware of. But when the medical system leaves people with no alternative, then what do they expect people to do? Give up?
I don't give people IBS advice on the internet, because there are hundreds of different causes for IBS, and each case is completely different. Making it even more difficult for the public is the fact that the lab work for sorting it all out varies tremendously in quality and reproducibility, making it all the more important that you are working with someone who really knows what they are doing.
The idea that there is no scientific research into the multitude of issues that cause digestive problems is ludicrous. It means that people aren't looking for the answer, or think that IBS is a single entity and is something more than it really is, which is a useless diagnosis that doesn't help people to get better. We follow the research on this topic extremely closely, and we post it at http://www.innatehealthfoundation.org/5_c.htm.
If you'd like to see the article from the Daily Mail out of London, it's available at http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-1265555/Sufferers-Irritable-Bowel-Syndrome-rely-internet-sites-help-But-trust-advice.html. About the only thing that I agreed with in the article is that IBS can be extremely debilitating. The rest is a waste of time, unless you like to read about how there is no hope for you if you have IBS. It's your call, but it certainly doesn't jive with my experience treating people with IBS.
I love this bread!
Last week I received a package from Canyon Bakehouse. I hadn't heard of them before, and chances are you probably haven't either since they are a relatively new company out of Loveland, Colorado.
I received three of their breads: San Juan 7-Grain Gluten Free Bread, Cinnamon Raisin Gluten Free Bread, and Mountain White Gluten Free Bread. Each is very good, and I was particularly impressed with two of them. The 7-Grain is the heartiest and one of the best gluten free breads I've had. And the Cinnamon Raisin is very tasty and takes me back to my childhood when I used to really enjoy toasted raisin bread. In fact, if my memory serves me well, I think it's probably a lot better than most wheat based raisin breads out there, and it doesn't have that chemically taste I remember.
Right away I must disclose that all of their products have eggs in them. I know that this is disappointing for many of my patients, because dairy and egg are the top two allergens that I seen in conjunction with gluten. I'm hoping that more people will continue to work on producing good gluten free products that are also free of dairy and egg.
On the plus side, they don't have any dairy in them, and they use agave syrup. But they also include some cane sugar, or at least I assume it's from cane, since it only says "sugar" on the ingredients.
Regardless, things are obviously getting more competitive in the gluten free world, which can only mean good things for those of us who are customers. Even my wife was impressed, and she's a gluten eating bread lover.
Canyon Bakehouse products still aren't widely distributed across the country, but there appear to be pockets popping up in various states. I'm not aware that they are available in the Seattle area yet, but I noted online some places in Colorado, Arizona, and Utah had them.
You can also order their bread online. To do that or to learn more about Canyon Bakehouse products, visit www.CanyonBakehouse.com. And while you do that I'm going to go have another slice of their raisin bread. Yum!
I received three of their breads: San Juan 7-Grain Gluten Free Bread, Cinnamon Raisin Gluten Free Bread, and Mountain White Gluten Free Bread. Each is very good, and I was particularly impressed with two of them. The 7-Grain is the heartiest and one of the best gluten free breads I've had. And the Cinnamon Raisin is very tasty and takes me back to my childhood when I used to really enjoy toasted raisin bread. In fact, if my memory serves me well, I think it's probably a lot better than most wheat based raisin breads out there, and it doesn't have that chemically taste I remember.
Right away I must disclose that all of their products have eggs in them. I know that this is disappointing for many of my patients, because dairy and egg are the top two allergens that I seen in conjunction with gluten. I'm hoping that more people will continue to work on producing good gluten free products that are also free of dairy and egg.
On the plus side, they don't have any dairy in them, and they use agave syrup. But they also include some cane sugar, or at least I assume it's from cane, since it only says "sugar" on the ingredients.
Regardless, things are obviously getting more competitive in the gluten free world, which can only mean good things for those of us who are customers. Even my wife was impressed, and she's a gluten eating bread lover.
Canyon Bakehouse products still aren't widely distributed across the country, but there appear to be pockets popping up in various states. I'm not aware that they are available in the Seattle area yet, but I noted online some places in Colorado, Arizona, and Utah had them.
You can also order their bread online. To do that or to learn more about Canyon Bakehouse products, visit www.CanyonBakehouse.com. And while you do that I'm going to go have another slice of their raisin bread. Yum!
Active vs. Inactive Vitamin D
There are two kinds of vitamin D out there, and you might be surprised at which one is easier to get.
Vitamin D is a fat soluble vitamin, as I mentioned yesterday. You also produce vitamin D when your skin is exposed to adequate sunlight. However, most of us in the northern half of the United States have deficient levels of vitamin D for at least 6 months out of the year because we don't get enough sunlight and we don't eat many fatty foods that are high in vitamin D.
Doctors are now catching on to this issue and it is becoming fashionable to test peoples vitamin D levels, and rightly so. Of course it's very exciting for everyone when they come back low, because, for the average person, so few lab tests actually ever come back abnormal.
Improving your vitamin D level is always a good thing if it's low, although it's unlikely to dramatically change how you feel the next day. Vitamin D is usually something that takes time to have it's effect.
Doctors often get very excited about the prospect of having something to prescribe for you, and so you may get a prescription for vitamin D. The problem with this is that the prescription is for vitamin D2, and vitamin D2 is the inactive form of vitamin D that must be converted by your body into vitamin D3. This is a very inefficient process, and thus you will likely be prescribed 50,000 IUs of vitamin D2. Vitamin D2 often doesn't work very well, and you'd be better off just throwing out the prescription. However, that doesn't that you shouldn't take vitamin D.
What you should do is get vitamin D3. You don't need a prescription for it, and you certainly don't need 50,000 IUs of it. You can find it at most any health food store, and quality aside (read yesterday's blog entry), it's a much better option than taking vitamin D2. And you'll only need 1,000 - 5,000 IUs per day, depending on your levels. Definitely don't take 50,000 IUs.
Or you can stand outside naked in the sun. This will be good for giving you rosy cheeks, but in the winter it still won't improve your vitamin D status. And if you live in the Pacific Northwest like I do, it isn't even an option.
It's also a good idea to retest your vitamin D status after a couple of months of treatment. It's unlikely that you'll overdose on it, but it is possible. Thus ends our lesson for today on vitamin D.
Vitamin D is a fat soluble vitamin, as I mentioned yesterday. You also produce vitamin D when your skin is exposed to adequate sunlight. However, most of us in the northern half of the United States have deficient levels of vitamin D for at least 6 months out of the year because we don't get enough sunlight and we don't eat many fatty foods that are high in vitamin D.
Doctors are now catching on to this issue and it is becoming fashionable to test peoples vitamin D levels, and rightly so. Of course it's very exciting for everyone when they come back low, because, for the average person, so few lab tests actually ever come back abnormal.
Improving your vitamin D level is always a good thing if it's low, although it's unlikely to dramatically change how you feel the next day. Vitamin D is usually something that takes time to have it's effect.
Doctors often get very excited about the prospect of having something to prescribe for you, and so you may get a prescription for vitamin D. The problem with this is that the prescription is for vitamin D2, and vitamin D2 is the inactive form of vitamin D that must be converted by your body into vitamin D3. This is a very inefficient process, and thus you will likely be prescribed 50,000 IUs of vitamin D2. Vitamin D2 often doesn't work very well, and you'd be better off just throwing out the prescription. However, that doesn't that you shouldn't take vitamin D.
What you should do is get vitamin D3. You don't need a prescription for it, and you certainly don't need 50,000 IUs of it. You can find it at most any health food store, and quality aside (read yesterday's blog entry), it's a much better option than taking vitamin D2. And you'll only need 1,000 - 5,000 IUs per day, depending on your levels. Definitely don't take 50,000 IUs.
Or you can stand outside naked in the sun. This will be good for giving you rosy cheeks, but in the winter it still won't improve your vitamin D status. And if you live in the Pacific Northwest like I do, it isn't even an option.
It's also a good idea to retest your vitamin D status after a couple of months of treatment. It's unlikely that you'll overdose on it, but it is possible. Thus ends our lesson for today on vitamin D.
Hidden Ingredients in Vitamins D and E
Vitamins are not all created equal. In fact, vitamins can vary tremendously, even if on the surface they look exactly alike on the label. Two excellent examples of this are the fat soluble vitamins D and E.
Fat soluble vitamins means that these vitamins are found in .... you guessed it, fats. Vitamin D, all the rage right now, is purchased by supplement manufacturers as a raw material. But most manufacturers purchase it as a premixed dilution, meaning that concentrated vitamin D is already mixed with other substances, making it easier for the manufacturer to work with large quantities that need to speedily flow through tablet or capsule making machines.
What is in those premixed dilutions? Sometimes what they don't say on the label is just as important as what they do say. They don't have to list those diluting agents on the label, and they can be anything from lactose to preservatives such as BHT, BHA, sodium benzoate, and sorbic acid.
There is only ONE dietary supplement manufacturer that I know of that buys pure undiluted vitamin D and makes their own vitamin D dilution. And then they list everything on the label of their supplements. That company is Thorne. You are welcome to use them as well and can find their vitamin D on my website here.
Vitamin E has other issues. Vitamin E is derived from mixed vegetable oils. This generally includes soy. Therefore, if you have a soy allergy then you may be wondering if you should be taking vitamin E. The good news is that during the distillation process for extracting vitamin E, any soy component is lost. The bad news is that soybean oil is often used to dilute the vitamin E before it is encapsulated.
Again, who's got a super high quality vitamin E, without any hidden ingredients? Thorne does. And if you'd like us to get it for you, just call our office at 206-264-1111 or 1-888-546-6283.
If you've read "Healthier Without Wheat" then you may remember our conversation about vitamin D. There is much more to say about vitamin D then I've mentioned today, so stay tuned. This is something that we'll talk about tomorrow.
Fat soluble vitamins means that these vitamins are found in .... you guessed it, fats. Vitamin D, all the rage right now, is purchased by supplement manufacturers as a raw material. But most manufacturers purchase it as a premixed dilution, meaning that concentrated vitamin D is already mixed with other substances, making it easier for the manufacturer to work with large quantities that need to speedily flow through tablet or capsule making machines.
What is in those premixed dilutions? Sometimes what they don't say on the label is just as important as what they do say. They don't have to list those diluting agents on the label, and they can be anything from lactose to preservatives such as BHT, BHA, sodium benzoate, and sorbic acid.
There is only ONE dietary supplement manufacturer that I know of that buys pure undiluted vitamin D and makes their own vitamin D dilution. And then they list everything on the label of their supplements. That company is Thorne. You are welcome to use them as well and can find their vitamin D on my website here.
Vitamin E has other issues. Vitamin E is derived from mixed vegetable oils. This generally includes soy. Therefore, if you have a soy allergy then you may be wondering if you should be taking vitamin E. The good news is that during the distillation process for extracting vitamin E, any soy component is lost. The bad news is that soybean oil is often used to dilute the vitamin E before it is encapsulated.
Again, who's got a super high quality vitamin E, without any hidden ingredients? Thorne does. And if you'd like us to get it for you, just call our office at 206-264-1111 or 1-888-546-6283.
If you've read "Healthier Without Wheat" then you may remember our conversation about vitamin D. There is much more to say about vitamin D then I've mentioned today, so stay tuned. This is something that we'll talk about tomorrow.
Beware of Your Trainer
So you want to get in shape and lose some weight? One of the things that people commonly do to help them achieve these goals is to get a trainer. There is nothing wrong with this approach, and a good trainer can help you to create a balanced workout and a meaningful exercise program. But what they don't know about food allergies can really come back to bite you.
One of the most common practices for people who are getting serious about working out is adding more protein to their diet. This is a reasonable thing to do, but often it involves protein shakes. Trainers love to recommend that you include a protein shake in your diet, and this is where things often start to go very wrong.
There have been so many people who've told me that their digestive problems started or got worse when they started doing serious workouts that I can't remember them all. And what do many of them have in common? Most of them started using protein shakes to supplement their daily diet.
What's so wrong with that? The problem is that protein shakes almost always involve whey protein. And whey is from milk. The second most common protein ingredient in protein shakes is egg protein. The problem with these two ingredients, dairy and egg, is that they are by far the two most common allergens that I see in my practice. And when you suddenly increase the amount of those proteins, then you are much more likely to not only experience the symptoms of your food allergy, but also to increase those symptoms.
And what are those symptoms? They could be almost anything. Digestive problems such as IBS are certainly common, but so are fatigue, headaches, joint pain, and even the inability to lose weight, to name a few.
If you've been feeling worse since you hired your trainer, or since you changed your diet to supplement your workout routine, then that isn't just a coincidence. It is very possible that you are doing as much harm as you are good. And if you aren't sure, these types of food allergies almost always shows up on good lab work.
It isn't that more protein is bad for you. But the type of protein can make a HUGE difference in how you feel. And just because dairy proteins are, from a pure nutritional standpoint, superior to other proteins, or because you've got some fancy enzymatically predigested protein powder, that doesn't mean that it can't be an allergen for you.
You can always try other types of protein powders, such as soy, rice, and even new ones such as hemp. And if you want to get really creative or see even more options, visit www.trueprotein.com.
Be smart, and have a great workout!
One of the most common practices for people who are getting serious about working out is adding more protein to their diet. This is a reasonable thing to do, but often it involves protein shakes. Trainers love to recommend that you include a protein shake in your diet, and this is where things often start to go very wrong.
There have been so many people who've told me that their digestive problems started or got worse when they started doing serious workouts that I can't remember them all. And what do many of them have in common? Most of them started using protein shakes to supplement their daily diet.
What's so wrong with that? The problem is that protein shakes almost always involve whey protein. And whey is from milk. The second most common protein ingredient in protein shakes is egg protein. The problem with these two ingredients, dairy and egg, is that they are by far the two most common allergens that I see in my practice. And when you suddenly increase the amount of those proteins, then you are much more likely to not only experience the symptoms of your food allergy, but also to increase those symptoms.
And what are those symptoms? They could be almost anything. Digestive problems such as IBS are certainly common, but so are fatigue, headaches, joint pain, and even the inability to lose weight, to name a few.
If you've been feeling worse since you hired your trainer, or since you changed your diet to supplement your workout routine, then that isn't just a coincidence. It is very possible that you are doing as much harm as you are good. And if you aren't sure, these types of food allergies almost always shows up on good lab work.
It isn't that more protein is bad for you. But the type of protein can make a HUGE difference in how you feel. And just because dairy proteins are, from a pure nutritional standpoint, superior to other proteins, or because you've got some fancy enzymatically predigested protein powder, that doesn't mean that it can't be an allergen for you.
You can always try other types of protein powders, such as soy, rice, and even new ones such as hemp. And if you want to get really creative or see even more options, visit www.trueprotein.com.
Be smart, and have a great workout!
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