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My 2003 Journal

Here is a journal that I kept over the last year chronicalling the descent of my health (sorry, that sounds so depressing!). I don't know if anyone will find it interesting or not - it's pretty long but it covers all the things I have tried (much of the journal is written before I had ever heard of candida) and I thought that it may bring comfort to someone who really needs a story to relate to. Sorry that the formatting is all off, as well.

July 2, Wednesday Very interesting finds - had a very good day yesterday and the day before. Ate salmon on Saturday night. Apparently edema is lessened by omega 3 (as it was the past two days) but is raised by other types of fat(omega 6). I was taking flax seed oil and supplementing with canola oil. Canola oil is high in omega 6, flax seed oil is high in 3 and 6. These must have cancelled each other out and as well put a stop to the good streak. The good streak was over today. For the record - I ate sea salt everyday since sunday night. I ate figs sunday night then again today. Multivitamin each day. I briefly ate vegetables before meals but not much anymore. The Omega 3 thing makes sense but my only question now is, why was there no response to Salmon oil capsules I was taking before? Maybe they were also high in omega 6? Omega 6 and 9 are very abundant in the diet I eat so I am not going to worry about them. Instead, my goal is to raise my Omega 3 fats without raising any other fats. What was I eating that would explain the good time in OAC?? Maybe we were eating alot of fish at that time? Web sites suggest a ratio of <5:1 of Omega 6 to 3. I am going to try to surpass that. July 5, Saturday Still no more good times. SOMETHING made everything work for Canada day. Allergies? I am going to get another shot today, it will be interesting to see if things get better the days that follow. I have eaten figs everyday, so it may not be that (alkalinity). I have begun eating fresh vegetables before meals again (as of last night). I guess it could be that. I stopped sea salt a few days ago but had continued it through the bad times with no improvement. So it is probably not that. I have been taking an omega 3 fatty acid supplement for a few days now with NO improvement. This is interesting because the Salmon night showed some improvement by Monday. I am going to try and eat ALOT of salmon tonight and see if it helps. Have been taking multivitamin and begun taking Chromium again last night (big dose - 1200 mg). Chromium was present just before good time in high dose, so it could be responsible. Why did salmon help and flaxseed did NOT? Tuna apparently has alot, too. Why did it not help when I was eating alot? I am ready a report right now that suggests up to 10 grams of Omega 3 per day. My capsules only supply 0.6 grams each. I could try a huge dose of them to see if they help. I read that flax seed oil is more effective than flaxseed and needs to be refrigerated. I think I may just be getting to little omega 3 each day to make a difference in my health. But where was I getting it in OAC? Some kind of butter? This is the site suggesting more omega 3s than I am taking: http://www.yafferuden.com/html/omega-3s.html I just read that flaxseed is actually a BAD source of Omega 3 as the human body cannot convert it well. http://www.wellnessfoodnet.com/Web_First/WF.nsf/ArticleID/SENN-5DMR77 This explains flaxseed in 2nd year. According to one website, the amount of salmon I ate (500 g) contained about 5.5g - 6g of omega 3. One CAN of salmon only contains 1.7 g of O3. That is why the can I ate did not work. I need ALOT of omega 3. The omega 3 pills I bought only contain 630 mg of omega 3 per pill. I would have to eat 9.5 pills to get the same amount. There are only 60 pills in the bottle. This is not an effective way to gain the omega 3 I need. Would a bottle of flaxseed oil be all I need (the website said omega 3 was hard to obtain from whole and ground flaxseed). Apparently, just one teaspoon of flaxseed oil has 2.5 grams of omega 3. BUT flaxseed oil also contains omega 6 oils. July 23, Wednesday Interesting finds. I have been eating salmon (real, not canned) every two days but had to stop because of persistent dizziness (seems to occur for days after eating any large amounts of meat/protein-rich foods). During that period, skin became alot better, circulation and redness on knuckles improved as did skin hydration. Edema did not improve, however. About four days ago, I stopped eating salmon and in its place, began taking Cod Liver Oil supplements in doses that exceed the EPA/DHA levels of the salmon I was consuming. The benefits I had noticed from the fish itself have been diminishing. As well, about a week and a half ago, I jam backed 20 Omega 3 oil pills that had pute EPA/DHA in them and also saw no result. SO, there must be something in salmon that is helping that is not EPA/DHA. This conclusion leads me to think it may be Co-enzyme q-10 which is a vitamin found in fish. As well, I have been supplementing lately with chromium, sea salt and vitamin E. About a week ago, chromium and salt supplementation lead to the elimination of dizziness (at least I BELIEVE it was these supplements). I am curious that something in mom's vitamin cabinet might be the cure because during that time when I stayed over at Jody's (2nd year) things were good and it was after a night of dowing all the pills I could. I am going to try a vegetable only diet with no water consumption during meals to see if I can just narrow it down. It might just be a straight digestive problem. July 28, Monday Liver health? Body odor, protein synthesis. For a healthy liver: 12 glasses water, broccoli, cabbage, brussel sprouts (anti-oxidants), vitamin c, vitamin e (800 I.U), co-enzyme q-10 120 mg, green tea and ALA. Three day juice fast every 30 days. Why - did salmon seem to help but that huge dose of EPA and DHA pills did NOT? Why did that huge dose of Cod Liver Oil NOT help, either? Could it be that EPA and DHA is not the answer? Coq10 is in various foods but in miniscule amounts. Salmon has a higher reserve of it as does broccoli. July 29 - I have eliminated bread and maybe the vitamins that come along with bread are what is causing my anxiety - these vitamins in bread - thiamine, riboflavin, niacin and folic acid, magnesium, phosphorous, manganese, calcium. phosphorous iron Aug 1, Friday Could it be diabetes? Stench, sugar, high carb diet? Good times were brought about after some refraining from normal foods. That time I fasted and it didn't work - maybe because I ate baked potatoes afterwards? It might be a combo - diabetes, allergies and gluten intolerence with diabetes being the source of edema? Aug 12 I started taking probiotics. BIG differences. Edema died down, eyes look better. The problem is, it doesn't last long. Drinking of chlorinated water kills helpful bacteria though which made me wonder - why did so much water during good week help? I think it may have been something to do with the fibre I was eating also as fibre absorbs water in the bowel. I am going to majorly increase my fibre intake, maybe it can scratch off the sides of the bowel and help out. Aug 17 Well, I guess it should have been obviously, but the final result, the big answer this whole time I think was anti-inflammatory compounds. When I think back, OAC I was taking tetracycline twice daily (50 mg). That is why hot water worked. Then I stopped taking it towards Christmas, and everything went awry. Then in second year, I ate salmon. The massive sources of EPA and DHA came threw and once again, everything was fine. But then it faded away and I was stuck with nothing. Then in third year, I think I consumed many salmon oil pills and had a good week. Then that died down too. Then I ate salmon again in the fall - November 29th good time. Everything was good again and the hot cloth worked. Then that died down too. This summer, when I ate salmon regularly before, I had pretty good times. But I had to stop eating salmon because of protein dizziness. The pills I consumed in large amount were of such little quality that I didnt notice a difference. The Cod Liver Oil I purchased was also of such poor quality that it did not even state its content of EPA and DHA because they were not present. Probiotics have helped because they have helped my ailing digestive system. I think a combination of probiotics and EPA DHA (REAL cod liver oil) should do me just fine. Aug 20 I bought a bottle of EPA/DHA mix that contains 60 mg of EPA per teaspoon. I took four tablespoons today (16 teaspoons) roughly equal to one gram of EPA. Salmon contains 0.69g EPA per 100 grams of salmon. I was eating abuot 500 grams and was therefore getting about 3.5 grams of EPA. To reach this amount again I would have to consume 14 tablespoons! Aug 25 It is back, not strong, but it is back. I took 6 tablespoons of this disgusting EPA/DHA mix (lemon stuff) yesterday (is not high potency) but I am hoping it wasn't that because I took 2 tablespoons (twice=4 tablespoons) of olive oil today which is supposed to raise HDL. Good time started after I took it. Started to drink a little more water. I thought it might just be low monounsataurated fats that was causing problems because of first time in third year when all I ate for a bit was nuts that were high in monounsaturated fats. Anyways, other stuff - eating meals with a bit of everything, lots of fruits, some fat, some protein for carbs - the "omega zone" diet. I am NOT taking probiotics anymore and good time still happened. Aug 29 High potency fish oil came today. I am going to start with just one tablespoon per day (providing an astounding 3.4 grams of EPA and 2.24 grams of DHA - 500 grams of salmon has 3.45 EPA and 7.25 grams DHA, so we'll see if this helps). What I am most worried about now is that the oil has been flavored with sugar as many problems occur when I consume sugar. However, today there are no problems so anything that somes from here will be from the oil (unless that piece of gum I chewed yesterday causes something). September 10, Tuesday Very interesting discoveries. Consuming ALOT of monounsaturated fat (4-5 tablespoons of olive oil, sometimes twice a day) and getting great results. Skin is clear and soft, hair is INCREDIBLY soft and light, redness in knuckles is gone. For Saturday and Sunday, I was taking olive oil with fish oil and getting great results but the resutls diminished on Monday and today. On these days, I continued to take olive oil but not any fish oil. However, I think the decline in results may NOT be coming form lack of fish oil but from the MAJOR increase in cheese consumption (which is high in saturated fats). I have been eating a ton of cheese yesterday and today, amounts that I think may offshoot the benefits of the mono. Looking back to good time in third year, I was only consuming high amounts of nuts and therefore receiving just mono fats and nothing else (besides protein and carbs). I think I need to limit my fat intake to mono. I also tried introducing some polyunsaturated fats last night which made my hair feel incredibly soft today but it was not a good day, though. I consumed two tablespoons of fish oil today but for the next few days, I am going to go it alone with the mono fat and see if it is the cure. September 15, Monday New discoveries. Continuing to consume 4-6 tablespoons of olive oil before classes with still great results. Also started drinking alot more orange juice, particularly before cardio exercise which seems to enhance everything as well (I heard it is great for increasing HDL and decreasing LDL). Eating a fairly low carb diet but had to cut back on protein because of dizziness. Completely stopped taking fish oil (about a week now) with no change. Drinking on average a beer or two per day which is also supposed to help. I am going to try and consume some hazelnuts which are 80% monounsaturated fats to maintain goodness throughout the day. I cut back on saturated fats as well which seems to be helping alot also (diminished the "greasiness"). Hazelnuts/1 ounce Total fat (g) 18 Saturated fat (g) 1.3 Monounsaturated fat (g) 14 Polyunsaturated fat (g) 1.7 Dietary fiber (g) 1.7 Protein (g) 4 Carbohydrate (g) 4 September 18 Bad day yesterday and today. Had 8 tablespoons olive oil yesterday and still bad (plus felt very nauseous). It may be the eating of poly, salt and saturated fats as I ate cashews yesterday and the day before and some cheese too. Ate some raisins. I think when too much carbos are eaten as well as too much saturated fat, times go bad. I am going to stick to salads, olive oil and protein (in controlled amounts) and see if times get better. September 24 Running 30 min everyday. I think there may be a link between olive oil working and vegetables (particularly the fibre in vegetables). I am going to try and increase my fibre intake to see if that helps. Also, I read that probiotics have a direct effect on lowering LDL because they clean it off the intestinal walls (that is why they were helping). So I am going to increase fibre, continue exercising and continue taking probiotics and oil (and vitamins). Fibre levels in particular foods: 0.5 cup broccoli - 1.3 grams fibre 0.5 cup green pepper - 0.9 grams fibre 0.5 cup carrots - 1.7 grams fibre Today I ate many vegetables and not very much protein. I think that this shift in my dieting habits (more carbs, less protein than last week) has hindered my results. Although I have continued high fat intake, the added carbs and the missing protein may be the reason good times are not as plentiful. Added protein is supposed to level out HDL and other shit. September 27, SAturday I added flaxseed meal to my diet yesterday which is VERY high in fibre. Looking back, I still think that high fibre was present at every good time. As well as monounsaturated fat. In second year, my diet was just nuts, bran flakes and water and things were great. So maybe the added fibre, coupled with the monounsaturated fat will show some great results. September 28, Sunday Just woke up and a really good time. So, I am gong to write what I have been eating the past few days. I have been consuming ALOT more fibre. (34+ grams per day) Thursday - chicken ceasar salad Friday - apple, shrimp ceasar salad, perrier water, handful of baby shrimp, bowl of spaghettis sauce (meaty kind), nuts/raisins (not too many), bowl of flaxseed oatmeal, drank alot of water. Saturday - bowl of flaxoatmeal, bowl of chili with salad and four tablespoons of olive oil and orange juice, few various vegetables (broccoli, beans, etc.), another bowl of chili, 4 beers, lots of water. I am going to try and get my protein from beans from now on because I think meat may be having some adverse effects (heat). Sunday - Flaxseed meal with pear, coffee, salad with beans lettuce, and opther stuff, chicken, brussel sprouts, some orange stuff (like squash), lots of water, I have also been taking vitamin C and multivitamins the past few days as well. I am thinking this sudden good time may be the result of the probiotics and not so much the fibre (although I'm sure the fibre has helped too). And now that I have refrained from the flaxseed meal, the temperature has gone down. So I am going to try and get the majority of my daily fibre from bean salads (not to mention a healthy dose of protein). September 30, Tuesday Ate alot of chicken last night (a whole baby chicken) and ate 3 chicken breasts today. This very high protein may be causing a sort of winded look which I may be able to label with all meats. It maybe necessary to obtain my protein from a concentrated, sugarless protein powder which would also control fats. Added orange juice again todya and red knuckles went away. I am going to start a diary of how much carbs/protein/fats I am eating and how they are affecting me. So yesterday's was carbs - 50 g protein - 45 g mono - 40 g poly - 5 g sat - 5 g Today: carbs - 135 g, protein - 60 g, mono - 40 g, poly - 10 g, sat - 10 grams. face gotten a little oilier (sat) and warm (protein). During good week in third year, a typical day had lots of carbs because of raisins. Very weird. Meal for tomorrow - my goal is HIGH mono fat, medium protein, low carbs. Breakfast - salad, 1/2 cup broccoli(4g carbs), 1/3 cup onion (3g carbs), 4 tbl olive oil (40 g fat), 1 cup orange juice (27 g carbs) Breakfast total - 44 grams carbs October 1, Wednesday I had a great day today and I think it was partially related to orange juice from yesterday. I was determined to eat low carbs all day today and I did until I got home. Started with a mostly lettuce salad, water, 4 tbls olive oil - later, another salad, chick peas, cottage cheese, some sunflower seeds, a beer, chili from burger king - got home, another big bowl of mom's chili, a cup and a half of peanuts, green tea, water. Orange juice was drunk in intervals yesterday which is what I think made it effective. I think the key here is to limit carbs (except for orange juice which shall be drunk in interals), maximize mono fats (olive oil), include probiotics after breakfast and dinner, limit protein (which I think is starting to cause heat), keep up with multivitamin and vitamin c and continue to drink water. With the addition of orange juice, I will not get light-headedness in the afternoon and by minimizing protein, there will not be the need for so much fibre supplementation, as well the heat should go down. Although, heat may be related to those stupid little bacon bits at restaurant that may have gluten or the chili at Burger King (actually, there really is not any heat, VERY subtle redness, I am probably just paranoid). Meal plan for tomorrow (everything): breakfast - salad (few veggies and lettuce), one fruit (orange - 15 grams carbs, apple - 20 carbs, pear - 25 carbs, banana - 26 carbs, grapes (10) - 10 carbs), 4 tbls olive oil with 1 cup orange juice, 1 vitamin c, 2 multivitamin, water, probiotics, water lunch - orange juice (a bottle), salad with cottage cheese, veggies, a few chick peas and sunflower seeds, water dinner - 3/4 chicken breast, more veggies, two cups orange juice (1 glass), 2 multivitamin, 1 vitamin c, probiotics, water snack (not too close to bed) - 1/4 cup peanuts (7 g carbs, 5 of those grams is fibre), 1 1/2 cup orange juice, some lettuce with mustard October 14, Tuesday I had an absolutely amazing night about a week ago from last friday (the 3rd?) but things recently have not been so good. I am thinking this may be related to the carbs from vegetables. Plus this past weekend I had to eat alot because I was out with friends (lots of carbs from fruit, fried chicken and fries). Anyways, here's what I ate recently that should maybe be avoided - throughout the weekend, particularly the days before, I drank a TON of orange juice, eating peanuts throughout the time, ate a bunch of raisins before going to friend's on (friday?), sunday - woke up and had orange juice with 5 tbls olive oil, had a huge plate of fruit, felt like I was going to pass out all day (protein from day before, i think), then 4 chicken wings and some french fries, water and orange juice throughout day, 5 beers, monday - a pear, orange juice, salad with olives and mustard, tomatoes, ham with applesauce and salad, turkey with some vegetables, water, orange juice, Today - orange juice and 4 tbls olive oil, salad with olives mustard and tomatoes with orange juice, salad with orange juice, then big salad at dinner, lots of water. From the looks of it, it seems that the past little while I have been eating more carbs. Bad times are definitely related to this, I bet. I am going to try and restrict this again and increase my fat intake (include avocado in salads). October 15, Wednesday Had doctor appointment and he could not find anything wrong. But protein is DEFINITELY causing anxiousness, depression, fatigue and what feels like a wall blocking all my thoughts. I am so certain of this - even just recently after eating too much protein over the weekend and experiencing this trauma for 2 days, my return to simple, fresh vegetables and fats has made it go away completely. I was very happy today and felt a hundred times more alert. Protein problems seem to be much worse after foods like nuts or tofu, and more mild after chicken. I am being sent to a dietician so maybe they can make sense of this 10 month long (actually, even longer if I remember correctly) problem. I have read that it can be due to ammonia poisoning - some people's bodies do not remove ammonia created after eating protein. Bad day today. I was shocked to see that the enzymes I was taking contain maltodextrin, and obviously caused problems. Much oilier than usual. I have begun to think that maybe why I did not have a reaction during good time in second year was because the wheat fibre did not contain any of the things I had problems with - ie maltodextrin, dextrose, etc. and maybe that wheat itself, completely alone does not cause the problem. Anyways, I am not going to take that chance. I have restricted carbs today as much as possible, but towards the end of the night gave into some squash and carrots because I felt faint after running. Also I ate about 20 grams of psyllium, which is simply fibre, and should pass through. Heat today was related to enzymes, I guess, although I ate them yesterday. But that makes sense, heat seems to return a day after as well. October 17, Friday I have an idea why olive oil has not been working lately, it may have to do with what circumstances I take it under. For example, a few weeks ago, I remember it NOT working when I took it by itself. The past few days (and on other occasions) I have take olive oil by itself, then showered, then ate something very light (lettuce salad). I think that eating first something filling (salad with carb vegetables like broccoli) then right after taken oil, should make a difference. This seems to be what I was doing during good times. I think the oil gets absorbed too quickly when it’s eaten first. Getting that “winded” look which must be a sign of something. Also, going to trybt eh lots of orange juice before workout. I have been drinking orange juice at regular intervals as before, but it’s not doing all the work by itself, so something is missing. When I look back to my meal plan made before very good night a few weeks back, the olive oil is administered after the meal, this may be something. I have found that carbohydrates do indeed directly lower HDL so more protein is needed. I am hoping that supplementing fats whenever I eat protein should keep the anxiety away. I had an idea why second year worked – there was a balance of fat, carbs and protein. Maybe this entire thing is about RATIO. Right now, my fat and carbs are high but my protein is low. The past few days, my carbs were very low, my protein was nothing and my fat was still high. Today, carbs and fat are high. In both instances, not good results. I think that there needs to be some protein at each meal (half a chicken breast in morning, half in evening). Hopefully dizziness and fatigue wont set in. October 19, Sunday Bad times still, but it may be good to see what is going wrong. I think that because I cut out all the protein for this week that is why bad times have come. I read that anxiety is caused after protein if your body does not produce protease so I have purchased some digestive enzymes that I will supplement anytime I am eating something with protein in it. For a second I thought that maybe lack of orange juice would also be creating bad times but as I recall, I was drinking a lot of it over the past week but I stopped because we ran out of it. Anyways, each meal must be a balance of protein, low carbs and fat with enzyme supplement and probiotics. Orange juice must be consumed in intervals and no more than a cup at a time except before running when it should be about 2 cups. I had this feeling that the olive oil I was using was not as pure as it could be so now I have the good stuff again. I remember eating quite a bit of protein during good times (chili, cheese, chicken, some nuts, etc.). Also, during bad week, I was still taking vitamin c and multi vitamin. October 21, Tuesday Bad times continue. I ate a lot of chicken yesterday and the day before thanks to the enzyme supplement but no improvement. I have not had a movement in about four days so I was thinking that maybe this is all due to inadequate fiber. I reintroduced psyllium tonight and added broccoli to my diet again (which was missing from it all last week, curiously). Broccoli is a good source of insoluble fiber. My thinking is maybe the fiber clears the walls of the intestines allowing the olive oil to do its thing. Drank A LOT of water today and yesterday to bulk up the fiber. Hopefully this will all help. Sunday I ate (all I can remember is dinner) – squash, 5 green beans, some radishes, some green pepper, 3 baked onions. Yesterday I ate salad with broccoli, tomato and lettuce and chicken three meals (x3), today I had salad with broccoli, lettuce, tomato and a little bit of green pepper, same for lunch and dinner was chicken breast with broccoli and some cauliflower and 2 baked onions. I am going to have some more cauliflower and broccoli tonight. October 23, Thursday I think the main fight here is one concerning HDL cholesterol. My LDL levels are fine. HDL is directly lowered by consuming too many carbs. Yesterday, I ate a salad (broccoli, tomato), water, olive oil, same thing for lunch, then spinach and 1 cup black beans for dinner with chicken breast (definitely causing heat and redness). Yesterday was a better day but got terrible by the evening. Today, I have eaten a salad (broccoli, lettuce, cucumber) took two multivitamins, two chromium and one vitamin c, had olive oil 5 with orange juice. I think I am going to start to add onions to my salads as they are low in carbs and are supposed to raise HDL significantly. It all may have something to do with the large amounts of sodium I have been consuming lately. Better time yesterday may have been due to the increased water, flushing it out. I think sodium also lowers HDL as well. Just why would the technique work 2 weeks ago and NOT work now? I am still leaning towards possibly not enough fiber. I took a shit yesterday, that was the first one in 5 days and I took these little nothing ones today. All that chicken is probably backing me up and not helping the technique. I must get things back to normal. October 31, 2003 Another Halloween ruined. Ate 3 egg omelet with cheese today and I think the massive amounts of cholesterol in it messed mine up. Olive oil is needed. But it doesn’t work alone (as I have seen). Almonds seem to help and I am curious about something called phytosterol found in sunflower seeds and soy (not cooked soy, though). Had a few ok days the past few days and I think it was due to the addition of almonds. Ate a few walnuts and omega 3 oil but both seemed to not really make a difference (hence, omega 3 may not be important). Had half an onion today, 6 tablespoons o.o., lots of orange juice, started added psyllium back into the diet (supposedly lowers LDL). I think the ratio is very important and maybe something I have been overlooking as I have been focusing much attention to raising HDL. I am trying to get the majority of my protein from non-animal sources to avoid additional problems of cholesterol content and lack of dietary fibre. I ate many almonds and peanuts yesterday (maybe a cup of each). I had half a cup of almonds today and maybe a third of a cup of sunflower seeds (not quite that much) throughout the day). I think I may be in store for good times ahead but I have definitely made my mistakes today. November 1, 2003 Bad times I think can be attributed to hamburger meat from two nights ago and eggs w/ cheese yesterday. Ate all those peanuts, too, which I have just found have a lot of saturated fat. In total saturated, I ate peanuts (10g), hamburger meat (6 g+), cheese (3g), 3 eggs (6g), almonds (4g/cup) and sunflower seeds (2g/third of a cup) over the last two days (Thursday and Friday). This is 31 grams and does not include fat from olive oil. I’ll have to better manage saturated fat in the future. November 9, 2003, Sunday I have candida. I fit all the symptoms and the candida spit test came out positive. On Tuesday evening last week (November 4), I began taking very large doses of vitamin C (25+ grams per day). Sweating and odour have died down but I thought that maybe vitamin C may actually be encouraging the yeast to grow so I stopped taking it today. On Wednesday of last week, I started taking grapefruit seed extract a few times throughout the day which is also supposed to be great for killing candida. Began taking 8+ multivitamins about two days ago and have continued. I starting taking regular doses of garlic (6 pills a day). I feel better than I did but my head is still very spaced out. I am getting less white discharge in my mouth in the mornings which has to be a good sign and the spit test revealed no trace of candida the other day which is good. So maybe I am just going through die off. I have continued probiotics and yogurt everyday and psyllium three times a day although I missed taking psyllium today. I am really torn whether to continue vitamin C or not. I read that it can create an acid environment in the gut that allows candida to grow but it is such a good immune system boost… November 11, 2003, Tuesday I stopped vitamin C on Sunday and just began taking it again. It caused good times regardless of olive oil. Odour is gone (but feels like there is a bit left that needs to be sweat out). I have been taking roughly 9 grapefruit seed extract pills (125 mg each), 6 garlic pills, and just starting taking Echinacea yesterday which looks to be about 8 pills per day (500 mg a pill). As well, Threelac came in the mail yesterday and I am going to do two doses per day. However, even before I started this, I have been feeling very content, satisfied and happy (a nice change from anxious, depressed and hopeless). I am convinced this is due to my supercharging my immune system with pills and is part of the reason I am enthusiastic about reintroducing large amounts of vitamin C into my diet. I also feel that sweating has helped tremendously in ridding my body of the terrible toxins associated with this nasty disease and will continue to run for a half an hour per day. I have also been consuming a lot of yogurt with helpful bacteria but have not had a chance to pick up a new bottle of Udo’s probiotics (so I am using the second-grade type). November 12, 2003, Wednesday The past few days have been good despite no almonds and I think it’s directly due to multivitamins. I did not take as many multivitamins today (ran out) and I think my health was down a bit. The connection between the two that I see is a high content of magnesium, a mineral lost from those suffering from candida. November 14, 2003, Friday TERRIBLE muscle weakness yesterday and today. Felt like I could barely get myself out of bed. I have not been eating any probiotics lately which I think may be the direct cause for my lapse in progress. Yogurt is unfortunately high in protein so if I am to maintain any energy at all, I can not consume any yogurt. I am going to buy two bottles of high quality probiotics today and reintroduce them into my diet which has not changed beyond their removal. Started high-dose vitamin C yesterday, taking roughly 20 grams. I’ve been sleeping A LOT lately (10+ hours per night). I just read that grapefruit seed extract wipes out everything (good and bad) bacteria so it is imperative that I start taking probiotics again. Positive feelings are gone. I am trying to continues mantras to help but it is much harder than before. So, I am going to spell out the big diet that gave me so much progress over the last week: Breakfast Few vegetables, some rice, water, psyllium, high quality probiotics, Threelac, vitamin c, grapefruit seed extract (3 pills), garlic (2 pills), multivitamin (3 pills), Echinacea (1-2 pills) and magnesium (1-2 pills). November 17, 2003, Monday Energy has been completely drained the last few days. Hard to get out of bed, TERRIBLE cramps in my calves in the morning. I have been trying to start consuming vitamin C again but my immune system must be so low that I can not achieve bowel tolerance! I have taken already more than 25 grams today with little to no results. I took 4-6 pills of Echinacea, started probiotics again on Friday (with great benefits) had 5 tbs olive oil today, had a terrific salad full of immune system enhancing foods (broccoli, red/green pepper, celery, red cabbage, two things of garlic, small onion, oregano. I had some psyllium and v8 and water as well followed by probiotics, multi-vitamin, magnesium (100 mg), more vitamin c. 20 November 2003 Starting to get a very positive feeling again, a general happiness and feeling of fulfillment. So what have I been eating – I started taking coconut oil two nights ago and had a terribly anxious day yesterday which I think may have been die-off. I’ve been having maybe about 4 tablespoons per day. Been having some vitamin c lately but not too much. Slowed down on Echinacea and only taking about 4 multivitamins the past few days (but about 6-8 in the days before that). Having psyllium after each meal along with probiotics and Threelac and grapefruit seed extract (3 pills 125 mg each). Have also been eating a lot of raw garlic, maybe 3-4 pieces per day but I am stopping that because I have been told I am starting to smell like garlic! Vegetables: V8 juice, celery, green/red/yellow pepper, broccoli, lettuce, cabbage, a little chicken the other night – that’s about it. I had some brown rice with melted cheese yesterday and a few days before that but no other starches besides that. I have this strong feeling that it is the coconut oil that is helping me so much. It is supposedly 50% Lauric acid which is supposedly stronger than Caprylic acid (the acclaimed supplement). I just put an order in today for a product called Formula SF 722, an acid said to be extremely strong (5-6 times stronger than Caprylic acid). It wasn’t that expensive but because it’s coming from the states, conversion and delivery charges jacked the price to $50! It better help… Karen Tripp wrote me back and encouraged the use of some acid supplement with each meal – which I now have been doing using coconut oil. So maybe this is why things are going well right now? 21 November 2003 I know that I said it was probably the coconut oil helping, well I actually think it may be the garlic. I had A LOT of coconut oil yesterday and some this morning with no “die-off” effect. But today I just had 3 pieces of garlic and am getting major brain fog and spaciness which is a good sign, I guess, if not very pleasant. I can’t concentrate at all. 23 Novermber 2003 Extreme fatigue setting in despite no dietary protein. I think candida is in my muscles which I read can happen and cause this. I also read that candida can be caused by low stomach acidity which may also explain problems with digesting protein. I hope that treating candida with formula sf-722 then supplementing with hydrochloric acid will rid myself of this forever. 27 Novmber 2003 Here are some excerpts from sf-722 usage: I took SF-722 as well as extra calcium, and Betaine Hydrochloride as well as Parathryroid extract since I was not making acid and so was not digesting protein properly. Dr.Piller figured this out by performing muscle testing on my body. You will see that Tripp's website had some detail on kinesiology/muscle testing too. That's why I firmly believe that it's necessary to see Dr.Piller PERSONALLY and that he cannot tell what else other than candida is bothering you. It may be, though, that you will need other supplements that MUST be taken for the SF-722 to work. I did. The SF-722, the Betaine, the parathyroid, extra calcium, and a daily multivitamin. And the candida diet. That's all I took. I had one episode when I was at Universal Studios in Hollywood when I became dizzy and nearly fainted. But that was it. I was VERY CAREFUL with my diet and did what the doctor told me to do. I think it was worth it. November 30, 2003, Sunday Haven’t made an entry in a bit. I have been taking 6 pills of sf-722 each day since Monday with improving results. Unfortunately, I’m getting night sweats every night now but I feel that this is part of the detoxing. I am continuing to take grapefruit seed extract, vitamin c, 5-6 multivitamins, probiotics after each meal and now I started taking enzymes – 1 pill by itself in the morning, three before protein at dinner, and one before bed without food at night. This really seems to help protein-anxiety. Have also been taking Threelac twice daily with meals. I still don’t feel as though this is helping but I’ll keep it up until the can is done. Another thing I have noticed since I started taking the sf-722 was that the white coating on my tongue has returned each morning. When starting it, I got some die off (which actually maybe attributed to the raw garlic/ginger I was eating then). But now I don’t get any die-off and my mood because MUCH happier after I take the pills. Armpits are still a little sweaty but odour has definitely died down although I am still very self-conscious about it. Continuing to exercise and started taking hot baths which really seem to help the detoxing. With added protein, weight-lifting is starting to show results again. Here’s a helpful testimonial: This is just a bit of advice for Candida sufferers as I use to be or am on the very tale end of being one. Below are the things that I did and what I think helped me beat it. However, I still am having some liver problems (Over toxity and congestion due to liver/gallbladder stones and Candida) but the cleanses are doing wonders to finish the last ailment of my Candida condition. First I did a Parasite/Candida cleanse (30days-Called Paragone) **** Second I did my first liver cleanse **** Third I had 4 colonics (2 back to back one wk & then 2 back to back the next wk) ***** Fourth I had all along been taking Vitamin C, B complex, enteric coated acidophilus, drinking unsweetened cranberry juice or using the tablets - the other well known Candida fighters were in the Paragone - garlic, carylic acid, grapefruit seed extract etc... Probably one of the most important things I found was called SF722 (Olive oil based) a powerful Candida fighter. I found out about this after having to take antibiotics for a bladder infection which came after I had completed the Paragone. SF722 is cheap and works wonders. You will start seeing the Candida come out in the toilet. Fifth - I have done 3 more liver cleanses and I am about to do my 5th this weekend. If I had to recommend what you all could do it would be SF722, vitamin c, b complex, acidophilus, colonics and liver flushes. If you do this for 30-60 days you no doubt can beat Candida as I have. Although the liver flushes will take a little bit longer since they are done every 2 weeks. I believe once I clean my liver of all the stones that will be the last vestige of where candida can hide as I think that is what is inhibiting my weightloss. Incidentally olive oil kills candida and we sure drink enough of it when we do the cleanses. Other than that I have virtually no sign of candida. I now can eat cookies, cake, icecream and carbs all in moderation if I so choose. However prior to Candida I never was a big fan of those things anyone. I do my cleanses drinking 3 quarts of apple juice, grapefruit juice and a liver juice I make in my juicer with no Candida reaction at all, no brain fog, no bad breath, etc. All those things were indicators to me before and they are gone. Now I have to concentrate on detoxifying my liver and hopefully with a clean liver free of candida I can now metabolize food better and shed some pounds. I believe it has to be my liver as I exercise and eat right religiously. If anyone has any information on weightloss and candida that would sure help me. Again sorry the message is lengthy but I just wanted to give long time candida sufferers some hope. AND HERE’s THE RESPONSE: I have tried the Formula SF722 before and you're right, you can actually see the candida being flushed out of your system (so to speak). I have tried so many products over the years but I think I was being too impatient and expecting to see results too soon. With my first liver flush I felt the results almost immediately! I am thinking much more clearer, I seem to have more energy and stamina, and next week I will go for flush #2 ! I hope I feel even better after the second one, and better after the 3rd, until I have my health back. As far as candida and weight gain are concerned, I think candida's ability to make us crave sweets and carbs may have something to do with it. Add to that the lethargy and lack of ambition it can cause. Also, with that, it's slimey coating on the intestinal walls which inhibits absorption of essential nutrients. This slime (or mucous) is what you see floating on the water after taking the Formula SF722. Since I am not a scientist I really can't prove that weight gain is caused by candida, but I honestly think it is a contributing factor. I know that I've always had trouble maintaining my weight and I've had candida since childhood. 5 December 2003 No journal entries for a while - Have been taking SF 722 (6 pills per day) and I think odour is pretty much gone although I get underarm sweat pretty badly and I am getting terrible night sweats. Have been running half an hour everyday although the last week or so I only got 2-3 runs in (exams) but I have managed to continue lifting weights everyday. Yesterday I decided to once again make my diet simple, raw vegetables as I had been cooking them before. Consuming olive oil again and warm water. As well, I have been taking multivitamins, c, e, calcium, probiotics, Threelac everyday and I started taking high doses of psyllium again (5-6 tablespoons spread throughout day). Still drinking water regularly and practicing relaxation techniques (which really help). “Everyday in everyway, I am getting stronger and stronger and better and better”. Another bit I came across: Hi there. It seems to me that you are already doing some great things to overcome your candida problem. You have kicked your chemical sensitivities and allergies due to getting the candida down to low enough levels to stop the majority of the autointoxification caused by the by-products of candida. If you want to FULLY get rid of candida, I will show you what to do. First, you need to know what REALLY causes candida. Candida is a result of altered intestinal environment. When the intestinal tract is acid, properly breaking down nutrients, and gets good blood flow for repair of the whole GI tract, candida cannot survive. It is when blood flow is restricted, and regeneration of the GI tract is not complete that causes candida to proliferate. So, your GI tract turns from acid to alkaline, the normal "holes" in your intestinal tract become enlarged and inflammed and you develop Leaky Gut syndrome, candida, and virtually any other symptom in the book. So, in order to FULLY get rid of candida, you need to change the environment in which candida lives. You can't simply just KILL the candida. So, your candida issue stems from a process known as "chronic bracing". This is when blood flow is restricted to the GI tract for long periods of time. Bracing (restricted blood flow), is caused by stress. plain and simple. It is more specifically the stored stress in the hypothalamus that causes the problem. See, when we are constantly stressed out, even at very low levels, we are unable to let it go. It gets stored in the hypothalamus. So, the result is, you are in a constant low level "fight or flight" mode. The blood goes to your muscles and your GI tract is starved. After all, your GI tract consumes the most amount of blood when resting than any other organ in your body. So, look at how candida develops. Chronic stress leads to chronic bracing of the GI tract. When, the GI tract no longer regenerates properly, the environment changes to that favorable to candida. You develop leaky gut, allergies, arthritis, fibromyalgia, or any other symptoms in the boook. Now, to treat, you have to get to the cause!! Chronic bracing! By practicing a technique called Skilled Relaxation (SR), you can reverse the stored stress in the hypothalamus and return blood flow to your GI tract. The environment will change and candida can't survive. Look in the archives here for info on SR. You would need to practice it 2x a day for at least 20 minutes each time. It is best done first thing in the morning after waking and not within 2 hours of going to sleep. SR is powerful. 20 minutes of deep SR is like 24 hours of sleep. Once you are reversing your chronic bracing with SR, there are other things you can do to get well quicker. You are doing most of them. You may need to add an antifungal (herbal) to your regimen. Grapefruit seed extract may be good for you right now because it doesn't harm beneficial microbes. Another product called DC3 may be of help. It accomplishes the same thing. I would tell you NOT to use probiotics right now because they tend to be useless when one has a scortching case of candida but you seem to have gotten the level down to low levels. Which brand of probiotics are you using? They are not all created equal. The Homemade Kefir is a great idea. Don't use fat-free milk. The probioics need fat to flourish. Use whole, organic milk or 2%. There is a probiotic called "Primal Defense" that will be good for you right now. Go to www.crohns.net for info on it. It is the most powerful probiotic I have ever come across. It is the only probiotic that will implant in the colon REGARDLESS of the current environment. Most probiotics cannot survive in an alkaline colon like yours but Primal Defense (Soil-based bacteria) will implant regardless of this and help you get better quicker. Your diet seems good to me. You may want to take it a step further and do some research on Metabolic Typing. Info is in the archives. I think I may need to try harder to change the environment. December 9, 2003 Terrible brain fog is lifting tonight. Studying has been almost impossible. Had some very positive feelings yesterday which I attribute to the hot bath I had the night before. Cutting back of SF 722 two three pills per day because I am worried that I may get some die-off at a terribly unfortunate time (like DURING an exam). Been posting at curezone.com and had some interesting replies: Hi everyone - I get these terrible "brain fogs" (difficulty concentrating). I have never done a liver flush before - I was wondering if there's anyone out there who found that liver flushing helped with brain fog Thanks! Hiya Ethan! Absolutly. The liver is the filter for everything and when it's clogged the brain just doesn't get what it needs. I had the worst brain fog in the world when I had systemic candidiases, so I wouldn't stop wtih the liver/gallbladder cleanse but also research into whether or not you have candida overgrowth. Those little yeasties eat all sugars and create alcholol, stressing the liver immensely. If you've taken antibiotics, esp. more than once, chances are you have it. Hi shelleycat, thank you very much for your response! In fact, I DO have candida =( and have been eating an extremely strict diet (water, broccoli, lettuce, green peppers, multivitamin, few other raw veggies) for a few weeks now along with taking probiotics, threelac (just ran out - I don't think it helped, though) and sf-722. I get absolutely TERRIBLE brain fog and as a uni student, am finding it next to impossible to successfully study for exams! (they're almost done for Christmas, though). Well, that's definitely encouraging to hear that the liver flush may help with the brain fog. I'm going to try enemas and a bit of fasting of the holidays, too. Happy to hear that you successfully treated your candida! How did you do it, if I may ask? Consider a series of colonics as well to jump start your progress in normalizing the gut. Wow, I thought my diet was strict! LOL! For three months I ate nothing but hot cereals (my health food store had tons of great stuff from Quinoa to whole oats to mixes of multiple non-wheat grains) with rice milk, brown rice syrup (my only sweetener), cinnamon, one apple a day, occasional hamburger (only of the highest quality) and salmon, and veggies, stir-fried or in soup or juiced. I overdid carrots and turned a bit orange LOL! I also ate a lot of an Indian dish called Kichadi, made of basmati rice and mung bean with tons of garlic, ginger, garam masala and whole cumin, which is very good for neutralizing blood PH and encouraging the digestive system to cleanse. I supplemented with probiotics, herbs for the liver, did plenty of deep enemas with an enema bucket set up, and colonics, and took P&B shakes. During the last stage I found a great shiatsu massager - the electric kind - and saw a chiropractor, to make sure no subluxions were impeding circulation/organ health. I only did one flush back then. Now whenever I get feeling icky - and I've let myself get to a pretty icky place recently due to stress - I go back to this regimen. Unfortunately my body type (Vata) doesn't do well with complete fasting, so the limited diet and a single day of lemonade fasting is all I can do. HERE”S ANOTHER ONE: Sorry if I spelled it wrong. Does anyone have any info on how the Clark liver cleanse might effect fibromyalgia? Anything would be of help. It is for a dear friend who has suffered with SEVERE chemical allergies, fibromyalgia, and cancer twice now. She is very interested in what the clease might do for her so I'd like to offer her any info I can. Thanks again, Amazed Absolutely! A lot of what we call fibromyalgia is actually referred pain from various organs. I had near-constant pain in my shoulders, upper right arm, low to mid back, and an arthritic ankle. After one flush the pain is gone. My ankle is still a bit bothersome but only when I overdo. :) Your friend should also research into candidiasis. If she has any of the symptoms - recurring yeast infections, foggy-headedness, irritability, food sensitivities, acne, to name but a few, then chances are she has a systemic yeast infection, which can also cause fibromyalgia and stress the liver. I direct my friends with various issues to this site to educate them: http://www.sensiblehealth.com/ ONE MORE: Hi everyone! I truly admire the supportive atmosphere of this forum - I just purchased my first jar of epsom salts and am all ready to do my first cleanse next week! I was wondering if any of you could possibly give me some advice - for the past year, everytime I eat ANYTHING with even moderate amounts of protein (yep, basic protein), I get this terrible brain "fogginess" and my thinking just gets really warped to the point that I can not communicate properly. On top of this, I get muscle weakness throughout my body making it difficult to climb stairs and do basic things. These symptoms alleviate when I cut protein out of my diet, though. I am only 22! I have approached 5 different doctors but they all say that it is either "in my head" or "well your charts say you're healthy so get out of here!" For a while I just avoided protein but I became more and more sensitive to it, so now even trace amounts (like 10 almonds, 1 egg, a small piece of tofu, spoonful of salmon or cottage cheese) set me off. Anyways (sorry for the long story) I was wondering if any of you thought a liver cleanse might help? Or have any of you experienced the same protein sensitivity? ANY information would be greatly appreciated as I am at my wit's end. Could my liver be malfunctioning and in need of a cleanse (I read that the liver is central to proper protein digestion)? Thanking you in advance - take care and happy holidays! Ethan Liver cleansing helps all health conditions. Back it up wit colon cleansing and a nutritious wholefoods diet and you'll really help the body reset itself. Some people are not meant to eat animal protein. You may be one of these people even thought you "got away with it" for many years. You may have hit the wall. It may be benificial to utilize both digestive and systemic enzymes to help your situation. Bring your question up to Andreas Moritz in his forum here at Curezone for another perspective. 19 December 2003 Just saw this reply to one of my postings: Subject: Re: Strange reaction to protein...please HELP!From: richidoo | All richidoo's Messages | Date: 09:34 Dec 10 2003 (9 days ago) Hi Ethan. You are right that the liver is responsible for the symptoms you are feeling, but the protein itself is not the cause, since many people can eat protein foods with no problem. The problem is your inability to digets the protein, meaning your digestion is too weak to break down the whole protein into its absorbable components which are amino acids. Foreign protein in your blood is likely the cause of your reactions, they being immune responses to the foreign protein. The only proteins which should be in the blood are ones that your body manufactures to do specific jobs, like hormones and your own living blood cells. Any other protein in the blood is a problem. The reason you have foreign protein in your blood is poor digestion. This is probably a combination of factors which can be treated in a natural way and have you back in good health in a few months. The first step in protein digestion is chewing, which I assume you are doing, since it is hard to swallow chunks of meat whole. But while you are in "Therapy" to fix this, go overboard with your chewing, and do like my grandfather used to tease me, "chew each mouthful 50 times before swallowing." You may not make it to 50 because there is nothing left by then, but that is the result you want, chew to liquid. If it takes too long, pick another food. The other important preliminary to eating protein foods is to drink a full glass of pure water about an hour before eating. This improves digestion a lot and protects the stomach from strong acids. The last simple thing to add is sea salt to your protein. If you like the taste of salt, put a lot on there. Dietary salt is the primary precursor to making stomach acid, and it also is good for balancing the intestinal flora. Mortons or diamond is a toxic chemical, use Celtic brand salt which you can buy on the internet. You will need a grinder to use the cheapest kind, but it is lifetime investment which will pay off right away. If you are interested I can give you more to read about salt.Now that you have well chewed salty protein in your fully hydrated stomach, you are ready for the next step. HCl acid secretion, along with trypsin, the stomach's high acid digestive enzyme. This could be one of the steps which is flawed with you. Salt will help here, as does the well chewed food, allowing the trypsin to digest much more of the liquified protein. If you are low in acid or enzyme, you might pass whole protein into the intestine, where only pancreatic enzymes are left to break down the protein, but these are more polishers, than sanders. You need the stomach reaction to do most of the demolition. Consider supplementing your stomach with Hydrochloric acid with Betaine pills temporarily, just to see if stomach acid/trypsin is your problem. If so, you can use the acid pills as a crutch until you are able to address the orginal cause of the problem. Eat a regular mouthful of fully digestable protein like lightly cooked salmon which would normally give you the reaction along with one pill of acid. While this is a large dose for only one mouthful of food, the water you drank an hour ago will protect the stomach. Braking the pill in half would probably be good idea too. Do not chew the pill since it can dissolve your teeth. If the problem is gone, you have your crutch until you can restore your acid through natural healing mehtods. If not, then forget the acid pills altogether.If the acid pills don't work, take a good quality digestive enzyme pill with your next test mouthful. Rainbow Light is a good brand which "cured" my father's hay fever and digestive allergies, of course he still has the cause of problem, but the digestive load is helped, so the symptoms don't come out. The enzyme pill is meant for a whole meal, having enzymes for fat, cellulose, protein and starch. This will substitue for pancreatic digestive enzymes which break down the protein suspension into actual amino acids. If pancreatic enzymes are lacking, the enzyme pill will help. One pill with the test mouthful of the same kind of protein.The last step which happens concurrently with the pancreatic enzyme release into the food is bile. Bile and pacreatic juices work together to finish the digestion part of the job. Bile is released whenever fat or acid is sensed in the duodenum. Protein will trigger both of these since fat is always present with protein. A liver or gallbladder congested with cholesterol stones will reduce or totally block the flow of bile into the food. This will prevent the stomach acid from being neutralized which then damages the intestinal villi further down in the intestines. Damaged intestine wall will allow whole undigested proteins to enter the blood, and cause your allergic symptoms.Water, Chewing, salt, HCl, and digestive enzymes will help reduce the presence of whole proteins in the gut, lessening the amount which get into the blood. But there will still be some which get it if you have leaky gut. Liver cleansing will allow the bile to flow again, repairing the intestine and better digesting the protein with pancreatic enzymes.If you have lessening of the symptoms with the supplements, then you have a hint of what is happening., which you can investigate further by researching digestive action and remedies. If there is no change, you may have an absorption problem in the intestines which I am not familiar with, but those are usually less related to protein than with grains, or dairy. If you have no problems with these foods, you may have an easier time fixing it than with Crohn's or colitis. Liver is also responsible for filtering out undgested protein, so the fact that you get reaction to protein in the blood tells us that your liver is indeed congested and can no longer filter and neautralize protein. Congestion of the intrahepatic bile ducts with cholesterol stones is the cause of this reduction in liver function and can be removed with a series of liver cleanses.In a way you are lucky to have this opportunity to learn about how to care for your body at such a young age. You can parlay it into a long happy life if you follow it. You can also help many people who will get liver related problems.I would try the digestive enzyme first, then the acid, then both in three different tries. Make sure you fully recover from each before you try again. One other option is to try a processed protein to keep you going while you do your cleansing and improve your digestion. There is a predigested protein product called Seagest made from white fish which is directed towards people with the problem you have. See the link below. Brewer's yeast, bee pollen, blue green algae, spirulina all have easily absorbable protein but may not be appropriate for irritated intestine. Bee pollen itself is indeed a superfood, but it can create all kinds of symptoms if your body is not meant for it. It is a loose cannon for sick people.Buy a copy of Andreas Moritz' book on liver cleansing called, "The Amazing Liver Cleanse", available in paper or PDF from 1stbooks.com. This will explain the digestive process much better than I can. It is a great book and you will use it to do your liver cleansing. His is the only program designed to remove stones from the liver as well as the gallbladder.Good Luck Ethan!Rich o Re: Strange reaction to protein...please HELP! by Andmor 34 sec ć Subject: Re: Strange reaction to protein...please HELP!From: Andmor | All Andmor's Messages | Date: 16:49 Dec 11 2003 (8 days ago) Dear Ethan,Since Rich has already provided you with excellent information on the protein issue, I will just add another insight to it for your discrimination (my book The Key to health and Rejuvenation discusses this subject in gre4at detail). 1. The reason nature didn't provide human breast milk with protein (only a fraction of it, 1.1.%, is protein) is because externally supplied protein is not required to grow a newborn baby into a healthy strong child. As you may know, the first year in a person's life is the most important for physical development). Given milk protein or other proteins to the child during that period can severely impair its health duirng that stage and years later (diabetes, heart disease, cancer, etc). The potential damage can be this pronounced because the body's protective mechanisms (immunity) is not yet developed in a baby's physiology. If you have been given protein foods such as milk, cheese or meat during your first year, your body may try to reject it later in life.2. If you are Pitta or Kapha body type (see The Key to Health and Rejuvenation, www.1stbooks.com), you may have a natural lack of enzyme systems to digest protein foods. The reason for this is that your body doesn't require them. If you eat them anyway, they are likely to putrefy and damage your blood vessel walls (see illustrations and and explantions in The Amazing Liver Cleanse and The Key...).3. Unless you eat protein foods in raw form, you cannot derive protein from protein foods. If you cook an egg, its proteins in the egg yolk coagualte. If you cook, fry or heat meat or fish your coagulate the protein. It other words, you destroy it and make it useless for the body. What it will do for you is trigger an immune response (meat is a stimulant) that provides you with energy and makes you feel stronger. How often you can repeat this response depends on your constitution. A typical Kapha type can live with it for 40-50 years before he develops heart trouble or diabetes as a result of depositing excessive protein in his blood vessels. I am Pitta type,a and like so many other Pitta types, developed heart disease, arthritis and liver problems while a child. Once I stopped eating all protein foods over thirty years ago, my arrythmia and arthritis vanished within months and my liver/gallbladder problems ceased after I cleaned them out. If you are a Vata type, your tolerance for protein is higher, although it is not unlimited. 4. Animal protein such as meat, fish, poultry is derived from carcasses. This means that there is no more oxygen supplied to the cells of the animal. By design, enzymes present within all cells (including ours) begin to destroy the protein that makes up the cells within minutes of their death. Hence, meat that is not treated with preservatives (carcinogenic chemcicals) looks grey-greenish, not pink or reddish. This causes "degenerate protein" which the body recognizes as "damaged" and tries to eliminate as quickly as it can (immune response). Of course, most protein foods people eat are cooked and coagulated. Many lymph-related diseases result from ingesting degenerate proteins. Makes you wonder why some "uncivilized" tribes or people in different places in the world eat fish, worms, insects, etc. alive. 5. Our body has only about 20 Percent of the hdrochloric acid avaialable that a carnevorous animal has to to digist the same kind of meat. Our body has a 18-ft long small intestine, about 20 times longer than that of lion. Meat is not supposed to stay in the small intestine longer than 1/2 hour. In the human body, though it takes a minumum of 8-24 hours. This unavoidedly leads to putrefaction of the carcasses. Parasites thrive in such an environment. It is, therefore, natural for the body to develop a major immune response, making you feel stronger and more grounded, at least for a while.6. To regularly being exposed to foreign DNA weakens the immune system and causes disease. If you give cows animal feeds they develop brain disorders. They cannot digest animal proteins. Why would they need to? Elephants, gorillas, and the incedribly strong giraffs don't eat protein to make their strong muscles. They make it, like we do. Most of our and their protein comes from amino acids that are manufactured in the body. All amino acids are made from nitrogen, oxygem, carbon and hydrogen molecules. These, in turn, are ingested through inhaling air (air is composed of these four elements). Hence these super strong animals don't run out of protein. And hence you and I never run out of protein either unless we develop congestive lung problems and run out of the building blocks of amino acids. For the same reason, human breast milk doesn't contain protein, babies make their own from the air they breathe. There are many other others than these why the human body can develop resistance to protein foods, but the above may give you an explanation why your body's reaction is not necessarily a sign of imbalance but a healthy, protective reponse of survival.With kind regards,Andreas 27 December 2003 Interesting finds lately. Started taking celtic sea salt with each meal about a week ago and protein reactions are not nearly as severe. Still have water weight but I am beginning to think it may be directly linked to carbohydrate intake as I read that a surge in insulin may cause water retention. Anyways, now that I actually can consume some protein, I have been getting back into the working out and also cutting back on carbs. 20 January 2004 I am completely at my wits end. All I read on the internet is people who have contracted this problem in their early twenties and are still battling it into their thirties. I am afraid that this is now just a part of who I am. I ran out of SF-722 (undecyclinical acid or whatever) and haven’t bothered to buy anymore. Brain fog is now constant. Having trouble talking to people. On top of all this, I am trying to complete my teaching certificate which involves a lot of public speaking, which has been embarrassing to say the least. Anyways, here are some posts I came across: Hello canuckguy, I think I have a lot of experiences about prescribed medication. First, my OG gave me Fluconazole 150mg for 2 days. Better, but recurrent. So I took 50mg every day for 3 weeks. Better, but came again, I took Ictraconazole 400mg 1 day followed by 200mg for 1 month. More better, but came again without stopping medication, so i changed to Fluconazole 150mg for 6 weeks. Better but you know? Than my Phycision gave me Fluconazole Injection (IV) 200mg everyday for 2 weeks. After that nearly ok, but after few days, came back again. So I took Amphotericin B oral for 6 weeks, better, but without interruption medication came again. During all these courses, I was taking Amphotericin B, Nystatin and Miconazole oral suspensions together with strict diet. I heard that taking Ictraconazole or Limasil for long term, about 1 year will cure this, but it is very important that you need serial liver monitouring, you know they can cause liver failure. I also heard that Amphotericin B Injection cure this kind of illness, but too risky, so most of doctor don't want to give it. Now, newly found one called Cancidas (Caspofungin)is very good, but very expensive. You can fine it in internet. Emrald Cyprus And another: When I first began treatment I found a Nurse Practioner who had me on Nizoral and Diflucan for a long time. It only helped some. Both of these are dangerous for the liver. Unfortunately the liver is already so overburdened trying to filter out all the toxins going through. I had a strange attack around that time and the right side of my face got numb and my eye would not close. I went to neurologist and they could find nothing wrong-just said it was Bell's Palsy and would go away. It did not fit classic BP symptoms and I think my liver was screaming! Anyway I think I would be very careful. If you decide to go that route, have your practitioner check your liver enzymes regularly. Mine never did. This is a hopeful reply I came across: Hi, I don't know that what is causing your difficulties is the same as was causing mine, but I had many of your same symptoms. I found that the main root cause was a rather serious pH imbalance. Once I got that headed back on track everything just faded away. If you don't mind spending a little time discussing the details, then shoot me an email and we can talk further and try to determine if this might help you too. My email address is mslarsen@wisc.edu . I'm 26 and a grad student so I know what it's like to work with a small group and can immagine just how difficult this must be right now. Take care and talk to you soon, Mike Here’s another good one about colonics: "Yes. You will find that in many cases a colon cleanse will purge old emotions and attitudes stored in the intestines. Consider this case: Jessie, 20, was a vegan yet was bothered by digestive problems and candidiasis. Candidiasis, or the overgrowth of Candida albicans in the intestines, is a condition often reversed by an intense colon cleanse. During the first two weeks of the cleanse, Jessie began feeling better, but the turnaround came in week three. Jessie passed what looked like three white cotton balls (presumably Candida masses lodged in her colon), and thereafter had no more candidiasis symptoms. In addition to her physical improvements, Jessie had an emotional benefit as well. She felt an increase in will power, a clarity in her feelings, a new desire to be of service to others, and a release of long-held resentments. +++++++++++++++++++++++++ End quote. Well, ONE thing I have never tried in the past (God knows why, since it now seems to be such an obvious first step to any cleansing)was getting the colonics (I have gotten two sessions in last week and felt FABULOUS!!!) My question is - has anyone actually seen or experienced something like the described scenario? (disappearance of candida this simply and effectively). Maybe I am now in a search of some "magical bullet", but then again, doesn't the Course in Miracles say - there is no order of difficulty in miracles?. At this point in my life, I am so tired of all the approaches and diets to "control the candida" (sounds a lot like the alopaths model, doesn't it, they basically "control" every condition known to mankind, since that's all they can do), I would love to believe, that the real healing could be this simple. January 22, 2004 More interesting finds from same guy that emailed me: Hi, I was asked just a little while ago by a gentleman I met here on curezone what my whole story was, so I'm just going to copy that email and make some modifications. Feel free to use the contact info at the bottom to get a hold of me if you have any specific questions I can help with one on one. Here you go: Hi, yeah, I'm a grad student at UW-Madison. I don't know that I had any experiences that I would call die-off. I seemed to more or less just continue to improve right from the very beginning. Let me try and go through the details of my experience and that of the rest of my family. I do need to preface all this by saying that Dr. Young's approach is not just for candida, or just for any other particular illness, it is a general approach to good health, and is thus very applicable to a whole host of aliments as my family and I have found. (For my take on all of that see my post down bellow, "repost of personal note on pH") When I started I was already running about 2-3 times a week to try and keep in shape and lose some weight. I also hoped it would help to increase my energy which was dragging. I had small improvements, like I lost 10 lbs. in the first 6 months, but my energy was still pretty low, and I kept getting really bad shin splints which kept me from running as often or as long as I might have liked. I also was pretty slow recovering from the running. Then about three months before I started Dr. Young's program my eczema flared up. It's always there, but not always so bad, and it used to only flare up for a few weeks. This time was bad though. My hands cracked open and bled, and my face was always a little red and blotchy. I also had trouble with different areas of acne, the strangest one was on my chest. And no matter how long I slept at night, I always woke up tired. I was sleeping 9-10 hours some nights, and just couldn't get rested. My mom was about 80 lbs. over weight and gaining, so to help here I started to do some more reading and research into health and weight loss. That's when I came across Dr. Young's first book "the pH miracle." It started to change the way I looked at health and illness, and the balance of the body. Specifically the importance of the pH balance in all the fluids of the body. But it didn't have enough of the scientific or historic background to really satisfy me (I'm a 4th year physics grad student, I need the details). So I found out he had another book out called "sick and tired? reclaim your inner terrain" and I read that too. It has a greatly expanded section on the historical background and scientific basis for his opinions and approach to health. Including some of the details of his own research (he is an active micro-biologist and nutritionist). So then I contacted a lady named Linda who is a distributor for the innerlight products, which is the company that produces and distributes the supplements that Dr. Young designed. Turns out he still oversees their productions to be sure that they always contain what he originally intended them too. Linda explained that she had been as skeptical as I was about the program when she first started, but she had given it a shot. As a personal experiment she had started by just adding the supergreens with prime pH to her diet and stopping drinking coffee. For two months she did not change anything else in her diet or add any exercise. At the end of those two months she had lost 27 lbs. and her cholesterol had gone from about 350 down to 245. She lost a leg in a motor cycle accident years ago, and now that she lost the weight she could finally start to exercise a little by walking with here prosthetic. Well that was enough to get me to try it for myself. I ordered a month and a half worth of the supergreens and prime pH for both myself and my parents. Linda convinced me that to save money on the order it would actually be cheaper to sign up with the company as a distributor like she did (costs $35, but I saved about $60 on the first order with the 25% discount). So for the first two weeks all I changed was to add the supergreens and prime pH to my diet. The first day I only had two quarts at half strength, and I had a dull headache for about 4-6 hours. Linda explained that it is an initial sign of the detox process beginning. But the headache left and has not returned, in fact I cannot think of a time when I have had a headache since in the last 6 months. Well, after two days I was up to 3-4 quarts per day at full strength. Now I'm at 4-5 quarts a day. I decided to really give it a test, so I started running every day to see how long I could go before the shin splints got too bad to continue. Dr. Young had claimed that the supergreens would help to replenish the alkaline stores in the body and improve it's ability to eliminate excess acid such as lactic acid from exercising. Lactic acid build up is one of the major causes of shin splints. Well I ran 8 out of the next 9 days and never had a hint of shin splint pain. Also, my recovery time had improved incredibly. I was recovering within about an hour of every run. I covered 27 miles in those runs. Within a matter of a few weeks I had increased my longest run from 4.5 miles to 8.5 miles. My times for a particular distance were dropping every time I ran, by minutes at a time. So I was pretty happy about all that. Then there was the eczema. Well, Dr. Young had also mentioned in his book that one way the body tries to get rid of excess acid is by passing it off through the skin. This can irritate the skin causing a whole range of symptoms including eczema, acne, boils, etc. So I decided to test these claims and see what would happen if I stopped putting on any moisturizer when I started drinking the supergreens. Now prior to then I was putting on moisturizer (which had been effective for me in the past) 12-15 times per day and still could not keep my hands from cracking open and bleeding. Well just 5 days after starting with the supergreens all the cracks on my hands had healed over, with no moisturizer. Now the eczema was certainly still there, but the worst of it had faded, and without any creams or anything. After two weeks I started to use some moisturizer again after showers and washing dishes and such. The skin has a 7 week long cycle, so for it to totally heal takes a long time, but I can happily say today that it's really just gone. Now to the question of energy and fatigue, which based on my reading, and a few spit tests, I think was due to a candida overgrowth. This to me was one of the most impressive things. Just 5 days after starting with the supergreens I woke up that morning before my alarm. I had only been asleep for 7 1/2 hours, but I was totally awake and felt refreshed. A feeling I had not had in a long time. I got out of bed and there was no rubbing of the eyes or yawning and dragging myself around the apartment. I was awake, completely. I tried to keep track for a while, but it seemed from then on after about 7 or 71/2 hours of sleep I would just wake up on my own refreshed and rested. Within seconds of standing up I would feel totally awake and ready to go. Even found my self practically skipping through the apartment to breakfast and such. I also noticed that the mid afternoon energy drain was fading away, and my energy level was more consistent. The mental changes are more difficult to pin point and say for sure, but I think my memory has improved, almost back to the way it was when I was a kid, and my focus is better. I was really unmotivated and dragging my feet at work before, but now I have my drive back, and want to work hard. I also started losing weight. In about a month after starting I was down to 212. After another month I had settled around 206-208, and have pretty much stayed there ever since. That is my ideal weight as far as I can tell. My scale says I'm at about 17% body fat, which is in the good range. My acne basically completely faded away after a couple of weeks, except for one spot on my chest which took a little longer. The red blotchy spots on my face were gone within a week, and even my girlfriend commented that my skin overall is healthier and smoother. Unlike every other winter I have not had a single day of illness that kept me from doing all my regular stuff. Nothing has been much worse than a moderate cold. This too was predicted by Dr. Young. I have since then added a few of his other supplements to my regiment including the super soy protein powder to help with rebuilding tissue and muscle, and the biolight for higher energy production efficiency. I have also started to work through some other cleanses. Right now I'm about half way through a parasite cleanse, which has been going pretty smoothly (actually that was then, I'm now done with that cleanse). next I'll start going through the major organs to make sure they are all in peak health. Oh yeah, I forgot to say that after two weeks I also started to work on bringing my diet in line with Dr. Young's suggestions. I'm no where near perfect all the time, but have make some pretty distinct improvements and have seen the benefits. The other project I'm working on now is bringing down my blood pressure and heart rate naturally so that I can stop taking the beta blockers I am currently on. Well, other than giving you all the months of data I have taken on pH levels, blood pressure, heart rate, and body weight, I guess that's about it for me. I'll be more brief in describing my other family members' experiences. My Mom has gone from gaining 12 lbs. in the three months before starting, to losing 10 in the first 6 weeks after. She also noticed the decreased pain and recovery time from exercising and said that it made her nails stronger. She used to have terrible migraine headaches that would incapacitate her for days at a time. She would usually get at least two bad ones every month. Now she says she hasn't taken a single pain pill for a headache in months, and they have improved 500%. The ones she does get she says are so mild they don't even disrupt her day. Soon I hope they will have completely faded away. My dad lost 25 lbs. and has been working on getting his strength back up. He really had not problems to speak of before, and is really just focused on good health than any thing in particular. My Brother is working on bringing down his blood pressure as well as improving his sleep to help reduce some of the problems with his ADHD. This has only started recently and I don't have any solid evidence to make any statements yet. My sister in-law has been using the supergreens to help lose weight after having her baby and to help firm up her skin. She also says that it has taken away a lot of the pain from exercising. I think she has lost 5 or 10 lbs. so far. Another gentleman I met on curezone is currently trying it out to see if it will help with his eczema as it did with mine. He really wants to be able to exercise again. I am getting him the same 25% discount that my family and I get so that he doesn't have to pay any more than necessary. I certainly don't mind helping out any way I can. he only started a couple weeks ago and I have not heard from him about it yet. Well I think that pretty much sums up what I know so far. If there is anything else I can help with please let me know. And feel free to call anytime if you want to talk directly you can email me at mslarsen@wisc.edu . Take care, Mike January 24, 2004 The answer, I hope: Treating Candida with Diet and Colon Therapy by Dr. Jerry Glenn Knox BA, DC from the COLON THERAPY JOURNAL June, 1999 published by Lifeknox Publishing PMB 293 7904 NE 6th Ave. Ste B 293 Vancouver, WA 98665-4733 Candida has been treated successfully with diet and colon therapy. However, self diagnosis and treatment can be dangerous. Do not use these treatments without first checking with your Chiropractor, naturopath, MD or other physician licensed and qualified to advise you in these matters. The following information is given to help educate and share the truth about candidiasis. It is not a prescription for treatment. The separation of reality and what exists in the real world has never been so contorted from what really is as it has become in health care within the last century in America. If you have candida, in almost every case, you are eating antibiotic laced foods or taking, or have taken antibiotics. It is that simple. If you would get rid of it, eat correctly, eliminate all these unnatural additives. Only take antibiotics when you have an infection that life threatening or can do you serious harm if you don't take them. Antibiotic pills and shots cause candidiasis. More drugs won't correct this problem. Believing that you are and can be well, then living correctly will cure candida. We have all lived in darkness a long time. Millions of pounds of aspirin are sold each year to ease pain, that is there to tell us we are doing something wrong. Hundreds of millions of dollars are spent each year on treating candida, a disease which cannot be cured by treatment, but only by living correctly. Health is a state of being free from disease. The appropriate way of overcoming it is not seeking a treatment for candida, but seeking a way of life that is healthful. We can come from the dark into the light. You have the chance on seeing the way to be much more than well from a malady. You have the opportunity to be well. Candida causes discomfort, not death like cardiovascular disease and cancer, but discomfort. Medicine can give you a pill to relieve the itching, or a drug to suppress the pain. Yeast infections, are a common disorders. It is a disorder of a normal colonic flora constituent growing outside the colon, and can be related to any disorder in any system or organ in which candida albicans is growing, and should not be growing. At the turn of the century it was a rare disease. It was reported a few times in terminal patients in hospitals and in other patients with obviously failing immune systems, but otherwise was unknown prior to World War II. The rates of candidiasis and other diseases like cancer, diabetes, heart disease and others have grown explosively during this century while deaths from infectious diseases have dropped off the scale. Most commonly candida is thought of as relating to vaginal yeast infections, it can be much more. Acne, sinusitis, bronchitis, urinary tract infections, ear infections, sensitivity to smoke and fumes, chronic fatigue syndrome, depression, various mental problems and dysfunctions, athletes foot, constipation, diarrhea, coughs and various other problems have been related to candidiasis. Yeast infections are now so common that almost everyone is aware of this problem. They are very routine, troublesome and difficult to treat. Modern medicine has had almost no success treating this disorder. A big part of the difficulty is that this disease, along with most chronic disorders associated with aging, viral diseases, cancer and autoimmune disorders, does not fit or respond well to the modern medical paradigm. It is a disorder caused by allopathic treatment of disease and cured by right living. Modern medical treatment is had its greatest successes from following the theory that disease can be cured by destroying a microbe that has invaded the body. Modern medicine born on the battlefields of Europe and America has a distinctly military view of life. It is a them versus us mentality. When the them is a specific microbe, a specific treatment applied to destroy the invading enemy. This is the basis of almost all modern pharmacology and modern allopathic medicine. As long as this is the dominant model and all diseases must be treated within those confines of allopathic theory, there is no real hope that orthodox medical physicians will cure candidiasis. The first thing to do is to completely rethink our view of the problem. Candida albicans is the organism blamed for the problem. It is a normal resident of the body. If you do a stool culture on a perfectly healthy person, you will find candida albicans. If you do a culture on a person with a yeast infection, you will find candida albicans. This has been part of the controversy about this disease. In the medical model, if the villainous microbe is present, there is disease. Treating doctors say— see here it is, candida, that is the problem. Let's kill it and that will cure the disease! Other doctors say candida can't be the problem. It is always there! They claim since we all have candida in our systems that it can't be a problem, because in the allopathic view all diseases are caused by other life forms are not meant to be in the body. The entire way of thinking of allopathic medicine is to find a guilty microbe and annihilate it. You can't do that with candida. It is always there. If you could get rid of it, it would come back. So you run into two problems. One, many physicians won't admit that candidiasis exists because it does not fit their paradigms of thinking about disease. Second, other physicians admit that it exists, but try to treat it by eradicating the candida following allopathic theory, which cannot be done. They are right in recognizing the disease, but the standard medical way of thinking still dominates their approach in treatment. They fail in treating it because they still view the world by the medical model which fails to consider symbiosis and natural balance. If these factors are not foremost in the doctors thinking while treating candidiasis, failure is virtually guaranteed. Other physicians using other paradigms of viewing and treating candidiasis have had total success in restoring their patients to health. It is a matter of proper perspective. As a measure of having this model of balance with nature built into thinking, what does your doctor do with antibiotics? When he or she gives you a prescription for antibiotics, do they also give you a prescription for normal intestinal flora to take when the course of antibiotics is finished to restore normal flora? If they don't, they are not considering the necessary balance of nature in your body. Proper thinking regarding this balance of nature is not a common consideration in modern American medical practice. If we are to successfully treat candida, it is imperative that we look at our model of how life and diseases work. We must look objectively at this disorder and its causes. If this model fits then we develop the treatment based on the model. No universal model exists in health! Life works on many planes and uses many mechanisms. We must change models for different types of problems. There is no unified field theory that covers all the possibilities, as exists for physics. Albert Einstein finished the details of this uniting electromagnetic, nuclear and gravity forces into one model at the beginning of this century. Albert was noted to have been a fairly bright physicist, and even his theory has some difficulties in application. The science of physics has not legislated one school of thinking into dominance by law. We have been able to make changes in Einstein's theories as needed to make physical models fit with reality. We have not been so fortunate in health care. In health there are fundamental differences in the models of disease and health held by various schools of healing. There has never been a movement in Western medicine that has made any significant inroads into the dominant theories of the different branches of physicians. Allopaths, Medical Doctors, have continued to maintain political dominance and rely on prescriptions to kill disease organisms. Chiropractors have continued to rely on balancing the nervous system to restore normal function. Homeopaths have continued to stimulate the body to respond to conditions by providing very small doses of toxins which stimulate the body to react to the disease state. The allopathic system has been great at curing infectious disease. It does not work at all on other illnesses like candidiasis. The system that works for treating candidiasis works great for dealing with organisms that work in symbiosis with the body. It may not work as well with pathogens that are not in symbiosis with the body. First, candida is always present in the body, particularly the colon. A healthy colony of candida can always be found there. Diphtheria and other fatal disease organisms that allopathic treatments work so well to correct are not normal in the body. They are not meant to be there. Candida is. Having a massive colony of the fungus growing in profusion there is not normal, nor is it in other locations. It is meant to be in balance with the body's other flora. Why does this overgrowth of candida albicans happen? In understanding why it happens, we can see how to approach curing it. Until we gain this understanding, all the treatments are no more than wild guesses. Where the underlying premise is wrong, these guesses are doomed to the total failure we have seen in modern medicines handling of this disease! The surest way to check a physician's understanding of this disorder is to ask how they are going to treat it. If they drag out their prescription pad to give you a potion to kill all the yeast, you know that they do not understand the disease. When this happens you know you may have met the type of physician, defined by Descartes over two hundred years ago. "A physician is a person that treats a patient until they die, their money is all gone, or they are cured by nature." A doctor that does not understand the physiology of candidiasis is likely to be of very little use to you, and may do more harm than good. The normal anatomy, physiology and balance of life are where this disease has its origin. Balance is the key word. In our bodies we have billions of our own cells. We also have billions of rambling microbes and other fellow travelers. Some of these are not harmful or helpful. Some are crucial to life. Others, if given the chance, can kill or make us sick. Streptococci can damage us. Millions of types of "bugs" can make us sick, from colds to most infectious types of disease. Medicine has shined in eradicating or controlling those diseases that specific pathogenic microbes cause. This is particularly true where these organisms are not normal residents of the body. If it is a specific microbe or a bacterium that causes the disease, then we develop antibiotics to single out and attack that life form. It dies, and the body recovers very rapidly. This is great. I am alive because of antibiotics. I would have died as a little kid from pneumonia, had I not had antibiotics. So I think they are great--- when used appropriately! I have referred hundreds of patients for such therapy, when it was appropriate. For pathogenic bacteria and other disease causing wee beasties antibiotics are THE cure. They don't work on viruses, most fungi and a host of other disease causing life forms. Yet billions of prescriptions are written each year to give antibiotics to patients suffering from viral infections. This is a useless treatment! It has contributed to the increase in antibiotic resistant microbes making this terrific form of cure less and less effective in even curing infectious disease! Some other life forms are just sort of neutral. They cause no harm, they are just there doing their thing within our bodies. Candida is one of those. It is not a microbe. It is a fungus. It is interesting that they are one of a very large kingdom. We think of things being animal or plant. There are other kingdoms as well. Funguses are a separate kingdom. There are more types of fungus than there are mammals. They are more different than mammals as well. There are more differences between types of fungus than there are between elephants and mice for example. Fungi include all the mushrooms, lichen on rocks, mildew and athletes foot fungi, etc. One is candida albicans. All of this life form are not animal, they are more like plants, except they do not have chlorophyl. They like animals live off other living or dead things. They get their energy from metabolizing foods created by other living things. We all are indirectly or directly dependent on plants and chlorophyll containing life forms to live. Only chlorophyll containing organisms can take energy from the sun and convert it to chemical energy. All other forms of life on the surface of the earth depend on chlorophyll containing life forms for fuel for their lives. Both the animal kingdom and the fungus kingdom live off these chlorophyl containing energy sources. Most funguses live off dead things or plants. Others live off and in living animals and plants. Every animal species developed in close proximity to these fungi. As we became who we are, they changed and adapted as well. Candida Albicans is a specific fungus that lives on a human host. Many other living things like Candida, living within each of us are specifically developed for us. Within our bodies, within each cell in our bodies, is a specific type of bacterium. Mitochondria are bacteria that long ago developed to live within our cells. These bacteria, which are not really considered bacterium, but organelles and a vital part of each cell, are essential to life. They create and make all the energy of life for us, and pass from parent to child. We think that since babies grow within the body of the mother, that the inoculation of this form of bacteria is more from the mother rather than being an equal mix of inheritance from the mother or father as are most characteristics. The type and genetics of the mitochondria affect the energy use of the offspring. Obesity is partially from the type and amount of mitochondria that you may have. If they are active and in large quantities, and you have "brown" fat you will be thin. Brown fat is a special type of fat that is brown, and burns energy rather than storing it. When you over eat, then your body automatically burns excess fat taken into the body. If you have this type of fat cells in abundance, gaining weight is difficult. We all have known people like this. They are thin, no matter what, or how much they eat. Most of us are like this when we are young. As we age, if we abuse them by bingeing on food constantly, these cells may die off with time. This is one reason why many people have difficulty gaining weight when they are young, and difficulty not gaining it by middle age. Others look at food and seem to gain weight from infancy on. This is one factor in weight control. Those people do not have good levels of brown fat or more sluggish mitochondria tend to be overweight. When they consume excess calories, they do not have billions of these little bacteria in their fat cells that are actively burning off the excess. They store it and gain weight. The only way they can maintain a lean figure is to carefully balance their intake and use of energy. Many other examples of specific synergistic life forms are incorporated into our being. Every cell of our bodies contains a number of mitochondria. Other organisms have maintained an independent state and live within us in a symbiotic relationship. In the colon we all start our lives with the implantation of L bifidus acidophilic bacteria. We get this from our mother's breast when we begin nursing. It is the type of bacteria present on her breast in good health. These bacteria are vital for good health, and are the first colony of bacteria that sets up in our colons. It is present on our mother's breast because it is a bacterium specifically developed to help digest her milk. We do not get this essential to life bacteria from pasteurized of other sterilized foods. As we eat other raw foods in a natural state, we get the bacteria and other living things that are meant to be consumed with our food. As babies grow they ad bacteria that are specific to beans, broccoli, squash etc. This happens if they eat some of these foods in a living state. If we cook everything, establishing good digestion may be difficult. It may be impossible. To completely digest food it is necessary to have healthful, friendly flora to complete the last phase of assimilation. The presence of synergistic bacteria, yeast and other life forms within and on the foods themselves as they grow and develop in nature are important to duplicate within our digestive tracts for complete digestion. Nature never designed us to eat cooked or sterile foods. These may be safer in the short run. No harmful microbes are consumed. Still, in the end it causes chronic disease by causing a deficiency of essential friendly flora in the digestive tract. It is a modern adaptation of man to eat cooked foods. This was made necessary when man began to consume animal-based foods. We have trouble with animal products, our digestive tracts are not designed to consume animal proteins other than mother's milk as babies. Our teeth are not fangs as are carnivores. Our colons are much larger and longer than carnivores just as are other herbivores. We do not have the necessary acid in our stomachs to digest meat. To live on these foods we must alter them to make them digestible. Meat and other animal products are unhealthful to eat raw. When we eat the flesh of an animal, we must usually cook it well done. Our stomach acid will not break it down or destroy the harmful bacteria as a carnivore's stomachs would do. Cooking it well done is better, if you are going to consume meat products. The cooking denatures the proteins making them easier to absorb and causes the bacteria and most other life forms to die helping to prevent disease. Cooking of vegetable source foods in not usually necessary or good. We conceived the idea of disease being spread by raw foods over thousands of years. The notion is based on consumption of animal-based foods. Animal foods do carry disease. I bought a large set of 1913 internal medicine practice texts. In those texts they described various types of food poisoning. Food poisoning and how to treat it from fish, pork, meat, poultry, milk products etc. is described. No forms of food poisoning listed from plant sources. Those of us who become living foods vegetarians quickly learn that we just don't get food poisoning, unless we are unfortunate enough to eat in a location in which the restaurant or host prepares salads or raw veggies following the preparation of animal source foods on the same preparation area contaminating the vegetables. This is not to say that a vegetable can't be rancid, poisonous or unhealthful to eat. It is just that with adequate use of the nose and a little common sense the risk was considered not worth mentioning in older medical texts before modern food processing could hide toxic food odors, tastes and appearances. In living using a diet that is closer to nature as is a raw, living vegan diet our natural instincts honed over billions of years of development come fully into play. We select wholesome, ripe, non diseased fruits and vegetables. We reject things that are rotting or look, smell or feel bad. Our eyes, noses and senses of touch guide us to healthful appearing food sources. It is not as easy to do this when we cook these foods and change their nature by cooking or using flavor covering spices. It is almost impossible to be guided by our instincts if we use animal products in our diet. It is not a good idea to take into our bodies the organisms that are trying to digest the meats of other animals. Those bacteria with a little encouragement will also consume us. Clearly cancer viruses are such organisms. As all vegetables contain on and in them the necessary organisms designed by nature to return them to the soil on their deaths, so do animals. We are by design meant to consume vegetables and those organisms that come with them. In our digestive tract we, in the colon, have a large region designed for these organisms to live and help us with the digestion of the foods we eat. The forms of disease that kill plants are not often the same forms of diseases that kill animals. Plants have cancer viruses. Animals have cancer viruses. These viruses are generally very kingdom specific. It is very rare for a plant virus to attack an animal. We are specifically designed to live in harmony with them. It is much less likely that a plant virus will be designed to attack us. It is well accepted that viruses that are usually fairly species specific can make the jump between animal species. This is particularly true if the species are close relatives. AIDS is an example of this. It is a common virus of chimpanzees, and seems to cause them no harm. It made the jump to man, and is fatal to us. Others that may be more closely related carry even more dangerous diseases. The Europeans were very successful in colonizing the Americas and not at all successful at colonizing most of Africa and Asia. All sorts of reasons have been given for this. Only in the Americas and isolated island cultures did white man virtually drive the indigenous peoples into extinction. This is constantly presented in a military sense. However, our military conquest had little to do with it. American Indians tend to have very little resistance to white man's diseases. More Indians died from swine flu than all other causes. Others died from pneumonia, diphtheria and other diseases. The contagious diseases carried by Europeans inoculated into what had been an isolated human culture within a few decades erased whole cultures from the earth. So that white men came to dominate North America and most of South America both in numbers as well as by conquest. We fared much more poorly in Asia and Africa. The diseases of those areas were more lethal to us than they were to indigenous populations. In whole regions of Africa, populations were cleared off. Settlers were sent to colonize. Within a few generations the white settlers were extinct and the local populations had regrown due to the inability of Caucasians to survive in those climates with the local diseases. We all carry life forms within us. We spread them in our waste, breath and just by our very presence. We also carry them in our flesh. Long ago all successful cultures gave up eating human flesh, as a bad thing to do. There was far more than just moral reasons for this. The diseases of other humans, their cancers, etc., are very likely to be transmissible through consuming their flesh. I can think of no cannibalistic culture which we note for good health or long life spans. It would be a natural selection that cannibalistic tribes would be displaced by more healthful tribes not practicing this diet. Serious diseases specific to cannibals are found no place else. Kuru Kuru is such a disease in New Guinea, where people die of this serious brain disorder, passed from generation to generation by consuming virally infected human brains. Similar neurological diseases are found among meat eaters. There is a brain disease among sheep that has been found to transmit to some mutton eaters. Mad cow disease is another one of these brain diseases that is transmissible to man via consuming infected meat products. Cancer viruses are not the only things that can come to us through the animal products we consume. Parasites come from other animals. As similar creatures these disease causing life forms may make the jump to us when we eat their original host. Each animal has their own fellow travelers. When we die, we are returned to the soil by life forms we have within us for designed for just that purpose. We also tend to carry those chronic disease causing life forms, that when our useful purpose here on earth is done, are intended to remove us from the living. Cancer is a universal plant, human and animal disease. All animals, and all living things for that matter, have a designed maximum life span. If war, famine, accidents or other cause of death beyond the control of the immune system fail to take us with them within an appropriate amount of time, the immune system turns off allowing cancer or some other disease we carry within us to develop and remove us from life at the appropriate time. No reliable records of anyone living much beyond 120 years have been found. On examination most patients of great age do suffer from some form of cancer as they approach this natural limit. One theory is that we carry with us the cancer viruses that are meant to take us away when we have reached beyond our useful life span. Another theory is that we catch cancers in some way from the environment. We have shown cancer to be a virus in all animal studies. For each cell in the body there are on average at least two viruses. The introduction into the body of viruses and life forms not native to our species may alter the natural design of things, creating chronic or fatal diseases long before the normal design of nature. The Bittner virus associated with breast cancer may be such a virus. It is often present in the milk of mammals.. Eating the virus containing bodies or body products of other animals if one way to very effectively introduce them to our bodies. In consuming animals we consume viruses and those can enter our bodies. If they are harmful, then there is a chance of developing that viral disease. It is no surprise that the rate of cancer is much higher among meat eaters and milk drinkers than it is among vegetarians. Some of it has to do with the general higher level of health of vegetarians due to higher consumption of fiber, no cholesterol in the diet etc. Another part of this is that vegetarians do not have the exposure to cancer viruses that meat eaters have. The risk of consuming an animal is greater if that animal is a closer species since all the life forms in and on that animal are by nature closer to those that effect us. In this system disease can be passed via milk and milk products rather easily. The rate of breast cancer for example is very low in non milk consuming cultures, and high in societies that drink milk. To eat another mammal or their body products exposes you to potentially carcinogenic viruses. This applies most specifically to tissues, such as milk from infected breast tissue causing breast disease via viral infection in susceptible hosts who consume milk. To eat a bird is of less risk to breast tissue. They do not have breast tissue. Fish are even less of a risk generally. Fish are even less similar to man with greater variation in tissue types. Their viruses are less likely to be viable in the human body. Never, however, is the consumption of animal flesh or products as safe as getting nutrients from vegetarian sources. Understanding this model helps to understand many diseases. However, candidiasis was not common in vegetarians nor meat eaters a few decades ago. Now it is more common in meat eaters and milk drinkers and less so in vegetarians. It is just important that we begin to think in terms of other organisms living in harmony or non harmony within our bodies based on a natural order of things. In all the eons that man has been consuming meat, candidiasis was a very rare disorder until after the 1940s. Something changed during that decade that caused this disease to become common. If we keep looking at normal function, we will begin to see why. With each raw food eaten we inoculate the colon with bacteria and other life forms which work in symbiosis with using this food source. When we kill it by chewing and destroying the life force within the food, we open the door to those symbiotic life forms designed to digest this food and return it to the soil. We have a system in which we break down sugars in the mouth. Acid in our stomachs breaks down proteins. In the small intestine various solutions and enzymes are added to break down and absorb most of the rest of the nutrients. This is not complete without the final stage of digestion in the colon! We can survive without a perfect synergetic colony of life forms in our colons. We will not feel as good. We will not be as healthful. Nevertheless, we can live a shorter, more pain filled existence. Other organisms cannot do this. Termites cannot digest wood. They live by eating wood. Within their digestive tracts are wood digesting bacteria. Without these bacteria they cannot live at all. One of the sure fire ways to kill termites is to give them an antibiotic that kills these bacteria. They then die of starvation surrounded by and filled with their natural food. We on the other hand can digest most of the things we eat tolerably well with our own digestive juices. We do not die if our colonic flora is off balance. We just do not live as long or as well. Every vegetable or other food you put in your mouth will have residues reaching the colon. Nature intends us to greet these residues with a healthful colony of bacteria designed to complete the digestion process. There will always be residues however that will not digest without this helpful flora, and I have no idea how many of mankind's serious illnesses are directly related to imbalances in this flora. I am sure there are many. Candida is one. No herbivore or omnivore digestive system is designed to break down all the nutrients in the food. The consumption of raw not sterilized foods is important to create and maintain this second line of digestion in the colon. In the colon these residues of our foods go through a final sweep to remove nutrients and manufacture others for our use. How we do this is that there is supposed to be a healthful colony of bacteria in the cecum which breaks down the food still further and makes products useful to the body from these residues. The effect on health is shown by explaining a common misconception about vegetarians. It was taught earlier in this century, that vegetarians could not be healthful because they needed meat to get all the necessary nutrients to survive. This has not proven true at all. However partial vegetarians or those who do not have healthful flora in their colons do need supplementation. Vegans, who consume no animal products, do not. The use of products containing antibiotics kills some essential flora in the colon. Without that flora surviving as a vegan is impossible. One essential nutrient is vitamin B-12. This is not a vegan vitamin, and our own bodies do not make it any more than termites make the enzymes necessary to digest cellulose. It was taught in our health universities and colleges that unless vegans took B-12, they would develop pernicious anemia and die. Then along came the 60s and 70s. Thousands became vegan, eating no animal products. I myself have not had any animal source foods for more than six years nor have I taken any B-12 supplements. If we did not have, nor could not make B-12, all of us should have developed deficiency symptoms. In fact the exact opposite happens. Those of us who are living foods vegans rarely have any nutritional deficiency symptoms. The key to this is that friendly bacteria in the colon make vitamin B-12. We absorb this B-12 into the body. We develop no deficiencies of this vitamin due to a symbiotic relationship with the bacteria in our colons. Perhaps we have more in common with termites in our digestive needs than we realize. We also almost never have candida infections, unless our doctors give us antibiotics and we fail to restore normal balance following this therapy. This was one of the first great clues as to the cause of candidiasis. Living foods vegans can get it— but only if exposed to exogenous antibiotics. It just doesn't happen with us unless there is a cause in our environment that is not usually there. Another clue was the timing of the introduction of antibiotics to allopathic medical care. Antibiotics were developed and began to be commonly used in medicine in the 1940s. This was just when candidiasis first became more than a very rare medical occurrence. Then in the 50s and beyond, a tidal wave of women's yeast infections began. That epidemic continues today with even more symptoms attributed to candidiasis. What changed? Well, first, obviously, the introduction of antibiotics paralleled the rise in yeast infections. In fact initially a prescription for antibiotics directly preceded almost all yeast infections. Yeast infections followed a course of antibiotics by a few weeks. It was not until much later that women and others began to have yeast infections when their physicians did not give them a course of antibiotics. If we look first at the first cases, we will understand the main mechanism. What do antibiotics do? They kill bad microbes. Well, they kill microbes, good and bad. When as a child, I was dying of pneumonia, my doctor gave me penicillin shots, I was well and back at school playing with my friends in a few days. Those shots killed the pneumonia bacteria in my lungs. I lived. Viva antibiotics! I like it here, and in no way oppose proper antibiotic therapy. What else happened when I had these antibiotics? One thing was that I had an increase in abdominal discomfort. My allergies got worse, etc. Antibiotics have ranges. Most antibiotics don't just kill pneumonia causing bacteria, they kill all sorts of related bacteria. Penicillin was a very broad scope killer of bacteria. It kills them everywhere. Where would these bacteria be? Many live in the colon. Normally several pounds of healthful bacteria live there waiting for food to be broken down. When you take antibiotics many of these are killed. All antibiotics, to the best of my knowledge, do kill some colonic flora. They always cause an imbalancing of the natural process in this area. Following a course of antibiotics you should always take acidophilous and eat a lot of raw veggies to restore this lost bacteria. Antibiotics imbalance the flora in the colon. Candidiasis is a disease caused by this imbalance. What they do not kill is yeast. Most fungi are very resistant to antibiotic therapy. So that when you take antibiotics the other bacteria are killed. The candida albicans, which is normally present in a small quantity, survives antibiotic therapies. Nature abhors a vacuum. If you destroy all the other bacteria, then what is left multiplies and grows to fill the void. This is why candida infections follow antibiotic therapy. It is only slightly more complicated than this. The candida in the colon multiplies because we need it to digest foods present in the colon. The ratio of candida to other bacteria becomes very skewed. This is in the colon. If it remained there digestion and colonic function would be altered, but the vaginal infections would not be such a big deal. However, the immune system and the candida also have a relationship. When they exist in a small quantity in the colon, the immune system sort of tolerates them there, but does not allow them to grow well in other locations. However when they profusely take over the colon, this alters the response from the immune system. The immune system is sort of like an analogy of the calvary and the red men. Out rides the calvary looking for Indians to round up. They can't find any on the US side of the border, so they slip across into Canada. An Indian pops up on the top of a hill wearing a red coat and yelling disrespectful remarks about the soldiers. The commander sends two men to get him. He disappears over the hill, followed by the troupers. A few minutes later he is back, yelling again. The commander dispatches ten troupers to get him. The same thing happens. Then over the side of the hill crawls back one of the troupers shouting---- "Go back, there's a bunch of Canadian Mounties over here, and the Indian is one of them!!!!" This is followed by a quick retreat back to the US side of the border and a general order to stay on US soil and leave that Indian and anyone else in a red coat alone. The immune system puts up a huge fight against foreign invaders of the body. It tends to make a general respond, like sending in a few troupers, to small invasions unless a mug shot of the invader has been filed from a previous engagement. If such mug shots exists, then the immune systems command centers make decisions. If the mug shot is of a known bad guy, it starts an all out attack. If it is of someone to leave alone, like the Indian in a red coat, it stops all the responses. It also tends to give up if there is a message from some monitoring station that there are too many invaders within the body too fight off. This happens if there is just too much infection or a growth is too large to handle. Another situation is that the body sets levels of tolerance. The example of the Indian in a red coat is appropriate. We as a nation do not round up Canadian nationals in Canada. Treaties are involved. We get in all sorts of trouble if we ignore their laws in their country. The immune system may mount a huge response no matter what the local situation, if it is within the jurisdiction of the body. However if the body views the situation as being on foreign soil the situation is different. The immune system is no different. We have to set different levels of response depending on the situation and the situation both within and without the body. We also have an area of foreign territory deep with our bodies. The body has set up a system in which the immune system controls its responses based on the activities within and without the body. The skin and external organs are loaded with immune tissue and maintain an active and hostile response to all invaders that enter the body through these unauthorized channels. Then there are internal immune stations that respond to internal situations. The colon is major among those monitoring stations. It is very rich with sensing membranes that check all the proteins in the colon and report these back to the immune system command centers. This is a very special point of interpretation. The colon is the end of the production line for general discharge of the bodies by products and indigestible waste. The anatomy of this area is very clear, as is the design of the immune tissue. The relationship of this to immune response has been observed by many colon therapists and alternative doctors, but has not been the subject of that much paid scientific investigation in recent history. Dr Otto Shellburg MD, past president of the New York Medical Association's book on colonic irrigation written in 1923 has not been improved on that much in the intervening years. His description of colonic flora is as complete as any modern texts I have read. Most of us in clinical practice having practiced colon therapy have clinically observed activation or deactivation of immune responses following colonic irrigations. It is why many of us believe the colon is an important key to health. It is why its function has such an important effect on the treating of infectious, allergic, abnormal tissue growth and other disorders related to immune system dysfunction. The colon immune system is sequestered. It generally has no incoming contact with the outside world. The colon is on the end of the digestive tract. It is not naturally in contact with the environment. The body has processed the contents of the colon and these are ready for release. Checking its contents is a good diagnostic indicator of the function of the body, just as checking the exhaust in an automobile tells how the car is running. The contents of the colon are very much an indicator of how efficiently the body is working and whether it needs a tune-up. Setting the response of the immune system from this rear echelon position makes this a logical place for setting the response levels of the immune system. It is also an area that is within the body, but is also excluded from the body. Any thing that has made it thorough the GI tract to this point is not very susceptible to attack by the digestive system. So it is a good monitoring system for the body to judge what level of response is appropriate to proteins found in the colon. The walls of the colon are lined with an extensive system of immune system monitoring cells. These cells report back to the control systems of the immune system all the bioactivities in the colon, but do not try to police them as they would if they were within the tissue of the body. Candida being there does not mean it will be tolerated in other locations. The problem is that when an overgrowth of candida in the colon reaches a certain, reporting cells send the message that they are being overwhelmed. At that point rather than fighting back the immune system tends to say— hey, there are too many of them. It turns off its response to that particular bio entity. When the body does this it also does it in other areas, including the tissues of the body the immune system stops destroying candida. Our Indian friend in a red coat can then safely move about and set up colonies in Canada or the United States. At that point the body develops the disease of candidiasis. It is not the result of candida albicans being present in the colon. It is the result of TOO MUCH candida albicans being present in the colon. So that our physician friends that said here it is, it is the cause of the disease, were partially right. The physicians that say the presence of candida albicans cannot be blamed for the disease were right as well. It is the quantity that makes the difference, not the presence. Frankly other than doing a colonoscopy with scrapings of the colon, I can't think of a way to do a good analysis of just how much and where this overgrowth of candida in the colon must exist in order to trip the switch and turn off the immune systems response to this life form. What is much easier, and less costly, is just to treat it. It is one of those diseases in which the cure is both less harmful, and cheaper than spending the money to diagnose it. If in fact you have candida, or a yeast infection based on this fungus, treating it is easy. You should get better in a few weeks. If the diagnosis is wrong, you will just be healthier for having undergone the treatment. It is one of those wonderful treatments that just generally makes you healthier, and is a good idea to do even if you have no symptoms. It takes us back to the first law of good heath care. "Physician do no harm." The treatments I use and recommend for candidiasis have no negative effects. I have never seen a patient have any negative reactions to our treatment of this disorder. Every patient has had an increase in vitality and good health as a result of the treatments! A large part of why we have been involved in this treatment is that the colon is the key to treating this disorder. The immune system centers a large part of its tuning or response setting mechanism here because it is at the end of the line of the bodies assimilation and elimination system. It is not supposed to be exposed to the outside world. Normally everything flows down and out through the colon. However, there is an opening. It can be quite open to invasion from below. Reflex, and conscious thought protect it. We all resist the invasion of our hinder most parts unless we make a conscious decision to allow this. It is very possible to choose to alter the contents and function of the colon by rectal infusions. The colon is designed to be easily filled and washed by artificial means. In doing this we can consciously change the levels of bacteria and the ratios of these bacteria. We can remove, most, but not all, of the flora and encourage a new beginning. Those who use enemas or colonics to treat disorders like candida, colds or allergies notice an almost instant alteration of symptoms on clearing the colon. This is how we treat candida! I, when I owned a colonic irrigation clinic, accepted referrals from several medical doctors for treating this disorder. In every case we treated we had good results. However, the treatment is only part of the cure. We had a simple routine of diet and colon cleansing. Every patient so treated was better within two weeks if they followed instructions. If you had candida and came to my office, we could help you get over the symptoms and get rid of your current episode of candidiasis. Those symptoms could return at any time if you did not change the causes in your own life that were the cause of the problem. So that the treatment part of this is of much more minor importance once the system has been restored to optimal than is the correction of lifestyle. How did I, a chiropractor, with a colonic machine, have a total change in symptoms for my patients when the great halls of medicine consistently fail with treating this disorder? It has to do with the paradigm of healing we spoke of earlier, and a more comprehensive understanding of the physiology of the GI tract and immune system. It was never my purpose to prescribe a pill which was intended to kill all the candida. I never intended too, nor ever did sterilize all the evil fungus from any person. My paradigm of healing is to help the patient live in balance with nature. Restoring balance and balance function is a common goal of most chiropractors. It underlies the philosophy of chiropractic adjusting. We adjust the spine to allow better communication with the peripheral and central nervous system. The body then has better communication with the body. It responds more correctly to the environment. All chiropractors who have mastered the art of adjusting have seen this happen many many times. We adjust the spine and arteries that were causing migraine headaches by being over dilated, and not performing as designed, contract, and the headache goes away. We adjust the spine and feeling returns to limbs that were numb because of nerve impingement, or pain goes away, or the bronchi of the lungs open. We know what to expect from a specific adjustment but there is a ripple effect. We never know exactly what will happen over the next few days following an adjustment, except that those changes will be positive. We do know that whatever we do in freeing nerve pressure on the intervertebral foramen. We know that the body will take that improved function and do what it wants to bringing itself into better alignment with nature. This same paradigm of healing applies to treating candidiasis. The goal is not to destroy bad guys. It is not to eradicate candida. It is to restore balance and function, so that the body can take that new balance and heal itself. In fact the most common reason patients came for treatment of candidiasis was persistent vaginal yeast problems. I never did any treatment of the vagina, which was the source of their complaint. I only sought to balance the flora within the body. The patients own body corrected the vaginal problems once the balance of nature was restored in the colon. We never examined or directly treated any vaginal yeast infections, but they all subsided following treatment because the body returned to its normal state. Our treatments consisted of diet and colon cleansing. The diet of sixty years ago did not cause any significant incidence of candidiasis, whether the patients were meat eaters or not. This is no longer true. We know that antibiotics cause yeast infections by destroying normal flora and allowing the overgrowth of candida albicans. It is that simple. However, the boys down at the chicken farm did not get the message. From the 1950s on yeast infections began to occur in people who were not taking antibiotics from their doctors. You don't have to take antibiotics in pill form any more! All you have to do is drink milk, use dairy products or eat domestic animals! After World War II, some enterprising veterinarian, thought to themselves, "If antibiotics kill and prevent bacterial disease in humans, what about animals?" They do work to prevent disease in animals. Chickens and other animals placed in coops or stock yards, packed in like sardines, are rather susceptible to disease. In fact, animal-based foods were too expensive for massive consumption, in earlier generations because we could not raise them in such close proximity. Chickens and poultry for one, required a lot of space because they tended to catch diseases and die if packed too tight. The use of antibiotics on whole chicken farms and other locations, in which animals were packed together, made it possible to raise large concentrations of animals on very little land. This is why we can eat more animal-based foods in our nation than any other people have done in the history of the world, outside the arctic regions. However, that meat is treated with antibiotics. Never has such a food been consumed by humankind before. Well, actually, it may be treated with antibiotics. Poultry is the most common source of antibiotics, but it is very erratic. The FDA says that farmers are allowed to introduce a specific amount of antibiotics to their flocks in their feed. They are supposed to add this each day and measure it carefully. If you ever find a farmer that does this, let me know. We could build some sort of monument to him or her. What farmers do in practice is watch their flocks. If they are healthful, they ad no antibiotics to the feed. If they start to get sick they ad buckets of antibiotics to the feed until they are infection free again. This is the most sensible way to do it. If you do it routinely then the tenancy to develop antibiotic resistance strains of disease organisms increases greatly. This is done with all domestic animals to some extent. The problem is that you may eat chicken for a year and have no problem. Then you eat one piece that contains enough antibiotics to kill all the bacteria in Los Angeles, and you get an out break of vaginitis or other candida problems. There is no way to know when that is going to happen, so I promise my patients that if they continue to eat domestic meat or milk products that candidiasis will return. Sometime it will just happen, when they buy that one piece of chicken or carton of milk loaded with antibiotics. Step one eliminate all milk and domestic animal products. I personally am a strict vegan and do not eat fish, sea food or wild meat. It is just too high a protein food to be healthful, and against my religion generally. Still, wild food does not have antibiotics in it. It is permissible when you are considering only candidiasis. The elimination of all this range of foods and being sure that the patient is not on a prescription for antibiotics at the moment, insures that they should not be killing off the flora as we try to rebalance it. This rebalancing requires the consumption of as much of our diet as possible in a living uncooked form. Vegetables and fruits consumed in their living state have all the friendly bacteria on them to establish colonies of good bacteria in the colon that will aid in their digestion when we eat them. If we must cook them, we should at least eat some raw, to help inoculate the colon with these bacteria. This is especially important with those foods commonly eaten, as the colon must constantly deal with these. Another way to be sure that the colon has healthful bacteria is to predigest some foods in their own juices, there by growing a larger colony of these bacteria before consuming them. This is kraut. Old German and Eastern European kraut is fixed just this way. Cabbage, etc., is digested in its own juice and eaten fermented. This food contains a great deal of healthful live bacteria and should be taken occasionally, especially if still consuming cooked, dead food. I make my own, and will share my recipe: Please try this at your own risk. I use it for myself and my children. I guarantee that it contains bacteria! Bacteria can be harmful. If you do this and something goes wrong, it can. Don't eat it if is doesn't smell like kraut. I do not make any representation as to its safety as considered safe by the allopathic model of a safe food and most local and state regulations regarding safe foods! I take a starter. You always need a starter that is an old jar of kraut in which the bacteria are well developed. I save one from my last batch each time, and mix this in. Without a starter you may have some strange bacteria take over the kraut. Again use your nose. If it doesn't smell like kraut, assume it is bad. What I do is to take a reasonable amount of fresh cabbage heads. I use both red and green cabbage. I shred these in a food processor, along with dill weed. I put in cucumbers sliced and quartered to make small identifiable pieces. The bacteria you are seeking to develop are acidophilic. They like acid. So if you do not acidify the mix it may go bad by developing another bacteria. To acidify it I use lemons. I use as many as a dozen or more lemons, depending on how much I am making. I juice these, peel them and throw in the white pulp, minus the seeds. Then we mix this thoroughly in a large container. I use a diaper pail, unused for its designed purpose of course. The top of this is about right for a large plate to fit in the top and go down into the diaper pail a few inches. After this is all mixed, you ad water to cover the mix. It is very important that you use no chlorinated or other water containing any chemicals. The purpose of this whole exercise is to grow healthful bacteria. If you kill the mix with chlorinated or unpurified water, just throw it out! A little too much cleanliness here, can ruin the whole thing. If you want to sterilize jars for holding that is fine, just be sure that all the chlorine, etc., is well removed before filling them. DO NOT STERILIZE THE KRAUT! This includes cleaning the containers etc. Do not use any antibiotic cleaners or chlorinated water to scrub the kraut containers or anything that is to be used to prepare the food. Ok now after adding spring, purified, or distilled water to the mix to cover the kraut. I put a plate on top and mash it down so that the water comes over the plate. Then I put a heavy jar or rock or anything to hold the plate down so that the water level stays above the plate. The bacteria that are healthful in the colon are anaerobic. That means existing in the absence of oxygen. By covering it with the plate and then weighting it down this forces all the air out of the mix, and the plate, which needs to be a close fit with just a little space around the edge so that carbon dioxide and other gases can escape, makes an air seal. I put a cloth over the top to keep out insects etc., being sure that it is not in the water, but covers the top of the diaper pail. I usually add a little more water on top and sit this aside. It is a guess when this mix is ready. You want the kraut to "soften" but not rot before you bottle it. It will develop a sweet krauty smell as it brews and the bacteria grow. It bubbles as anaerobic gasses are released. The first day or two, I tend to go push on the rock to ad pressure and watch the bubbles around the plate. Make sure that the water stays over the whole container. Sometimes it will swell the first day or two and rise out of the water, you want to prevent this by leaving enough room for expansion at the top of the pail. Ad more spring water if it tries to rise over the next few days. In cold weather in the kitchen it seems to take about a week to ripen. In warm weather it takes about three days. Again, it is not how much time it takes but when it ripens. I would begin to worry if it takes over a week. My key has always been when it seems right, or the rock sinks. When it gets really soft, I always use a gallon jar of something in water, when the kraut ripens and softens my jar sort of falls in. When this happens, bring it out, take off the top plate etc. Throw away the top layer and the water over the plate, and a little below it to be sure that any kraut that may have been exposed to air is discarded. Usually any area that is bad will discolor. Then take the healthful bacteria rich kraut, put it in quart or whatever size jars you want and seal them, put them in the refrigerator, and they will last up to a year. When bottling be sure to mash the kraut down and put more spring water if needed to fill the jars and cover the kraut so there is no air visible in the kraut. Kraut it alive. It generates carbon dioxide, so it is naturally carbonated. If it gets warm it will expand and push out gas, and juices. If the tops of the containers cannot be pushed up it may break the bottles. Refrigeration prevents this. They must always be refrigerated once cured. This stuff tastes great with baked potatoes. It is a bit strong straight, but can be eaten that way. Consuming it occasionally is healthful for everyone. It is a raw, living food. Again I ad no salt to my kraut when preparing or storing, but I do salt it with sea salt before I eat it to taste. Salty kraut taste good, but if you ad it during preparation, this inhibits the growth of the bacteria. If you have candida this will give your intestines a good dose of healthful bacteria. If you have to take antibiotics, be sure to eat this in quantity when the course of pills is done, and throughout the course, so that the colon may function as normally as possible. This will load the colon with friendly bacteria when the antibiotic treatment is over, and is a great way of preventing candidiasis. I believe, most healthful cultures use some sort of fermented vegetable kraut as part of their diets. Again if you are a living foods person, you are probably doing fine without it, but it is good to have it when you are sick, or are using any sort of antibiotic medications. If you cook foods or especially if you eat any animal products consuming living kraut on a routine basis is very important. It cost about a dollar or two per quart to make this kraut. It you want to buy it there is a zing kraut from a manufacturer in Santa Cruz, California, that I think is great. I use this as my starter. You can buy it at some large health food stores. In order to maintain a healthful colonic flora, it is necessary to keep restocking the pond. These living foods are a vital way to accomplish this. Next, before the jug is filled, it must be emptied. I never try to eliminate all the candida albicans. However, I do want to bring the quantities down, and replace them with healthful flora. The medical model is to do this with Nystatin, an anti yeast prescription medication. I don't personally favor this. Those patients I had referred to my office for colonics by their medical doctors were on nystatin. They got well. So did the ones that were not on nystatin. The single key that I found to be needed was not a bio-chemical killing of the candida, but a physiological removal of the bulk of it. The colon is the main site of candida albicans. It may be present in the rest of the body, but it is possible for pounds of it to be present in the colon. If this is removed and replaced with normal flora, the body's own immune system should turn on and remove the candida from other locations like the vagina. Colon cleansing is very important! The colon is wonderfully designed to be at once sequestered from the environment, and capable of being painlessly washed out with injections of warm water. If you just change your diet and eliminate the sources of the antibiotics you should get better. This can take years, as normal flora battles it out with the large colony of candida albicans in the colon trying to reestablish itself. If you want to shorten this recovery time and go back to a normal life in a few days or weeks rather than years, it is necessary to remove the candida from the colon. The overgrowth is always in the cecum or the far end of the colon just where the small intestine empties into the colon. To remove the mass of this material, it is necessary to wash this area. To do this it is necessary to fill, dilate and gently stretch the cecum with a good fill of water. You can do this with a large warm enema, and repeat it taking at least three good enemas per session, or you can do colonic irrigations. I strongly recommend the colonic irrigations for this. Many things can be done by enema. Unfortunately most of us have difficulty taking a good cecum fill alone in our bedrooms or bathrooms. Long before we ever develop personal values of courage and valor, we all learned the importance of holding the contents of our bowels. Toilet training comes before almost everything else. A brave soldier that will hold his or her position when the onslaught of enemy soldiers threatens their very lives, will often turn and run for the safety of the toilet seat when their enemas are only half done. It is a natural response. Half-done enemas cannot treat Candida. It is very important that the colon be completely filled. If you have a spouse of friend to administer these enemas, their help may make a huge difference. Most people do not have the will power to take such an enema without the encouragement of a coach or nurse. It is important as well that that nurse understands the process and sees to it that it is carried to completion. It requires a pact between nurse and patient before the water begins to flow that the enema will continue until the colon is well filled. Only then, when the cecum is well dilated and filled with water does the treatment via removing the candida overgrowth begin. An enema fills 4/5ths of the colon but does not stretch and dilate the colon in the lower right quadrant is not effective in treating this disorder. Alone this may be difficult to do, and for some patients it seems impossible with enemas. Colonic irrigations real shine in the treatment of candidiasis. The therapist works you, filling you gently and emptying you as they wash the entire colon many times during the forty-five minutes to an hour that you are on the table. I have read that a bad colonic is worth a dozen good enemas. In treating candida, I believe this is absolutely true. What you want to do in treating candida is thoroughly wash the cecum and colon. It is necessary to remove as much of the contents of the colon as possible. Nothing does this as efficiently as colonic irrigations. In doing colonics for more than twenty years, I know colonics. In my clinic, we start with the patient on their side and give them about three good fills with much pumping to remove the feces from the lower bowel. Then they turn on their back. I fill them until they are absolutely full, then release this water into the drain. I should point out that the biggest physical difference between a colonic and an enema is that with a colonic, you don't have to rush to reach the commode after being filled. With colonics the hose has an outflow and an inflow. You fill. Then with a flip of a lever all the water is drained out. You have all the excitement of struggling to hold it as an enema. This is followed by the pressure being completely gone and your colon being empty! Following washing out the rectum, sigmoid and descending colon you are on your back, we massage your colon while the water fills it. Most patients blow up like a water balloon, then empty profusely into the outflow. I do this about four to six times with 103 degree Fahrenheit warm water, then switch to cool, 80 degrees. I do a single large fill with this water. This cool water causes the colon to contract and further cleans the walls more than you could ever hope to do with an enema. We bring the temperature rapidly back to 103 for about three more good fills, then it is over. A typical colonic involves a dozen or more full fills of the colon in one session as compared to one with a good enema in less than an hour. The effect of removing the bulk of the candida albicans is significantly better with this form of colonic than it is with enemas. This is the ideal way to remove the candida from the colon. It is, in my opinion, more powerful than a good series of enemas. All the cases of candida I treated had three colonic irrigations a week for two weeks. All of them got better. I had one patient that had symptoms for two years with erratic results even though he was on a good diet. On barium enema examination we found that he had a pocket in his colon at the cecum. This pocket apparently held a colony of candida albicans that he developed following a course of antibiotics several years earlier. He had constant relapses. We did a barium enema which showed the pocket, then took care to fully fill his colon, massaging and emptying the area of this pocket during his treatments. He completely recovered within two weeks. The cleaning of the colon through use of enemas can be done, but again, it is requires reaching the limit of the colon's capacity. It also requires a series of enemas at least every other day, having a series of three good full filling injections in a session, for three days a week for the two weeks. I do not guarantee as good a result as would be had with the active care of a skilled colon therapist. As well you will need to schedule at least two to three hours for these sessions, rather than an hour if you must do the cleansing via enema. It takes about ten minutes do get your enema in. You will need to hold it for another ten. After that it can take up to half an hour to fully expel a good enema. It is common to let most of it out, then walk around a little and go back for more expelling. This leaves a few minutes to rest between enemas. You should have some juice to keep your mineral balance up. Enemas in series tend to be tiring. It seems they shouldn't be. All you have to do is lay quietly on your side while your nurse fills you, then continue to lie quietly for another few minutes, then sit on the toilet letting it run out. It doesn't seem like much effort. It is. Finishing a series of enemas feeling absolutely wonderful, at peace and exhausted is typical. After the enemas it is common to lay down for a short rest, only to wake up hours later. Colonics are just as exhilarating, but not nearly so tiring. If you cannot use a colon therapist, read my chapter on how to give an enema. This is posted at my web site, http://www.lifeknox.com/sample.html. Better yet have your spouse, other family member or friend read it and give your enemas. I do not recommend the solo enemas in treating candida unless this absolutely necessary. My recommendation is to go to a skilled colon therapist. If you cannot do this find someone that is willing to give you good maximum capacity warm enemas. Before you start you can both agree that the treatments will be a good full filling enemas, and will not end until your colon is comfortably and completely full. I think that these treatments have a bonding value with families. Enemas are usually the terrain of the mother in the home. In a family the giving of a good enema is a very loving and motherly act. A child having taken and released a good enema should always feel mothered, cared for and loved. It can also be the act of a loving and caring husband, other family member, or friend. The same is true with colon therapists. During their care of patients a trusting relationship develops with most patients. I don't know how many hundreds of times a nervous frightened patient entered the office unable to make eye contact. Then we chatted and they opened up during and after the procedure. They left smiling with that same soft look in their eyes that one has for an old friend known since childhood. The clearing of the colon peals through all the layers of growing up to reach that early age of holding on to please mommy. It can reach memories of begging her to stop at the next filling station so you can go potty. These emotions can reach very deep. The effect on candida is very clinical and efficient. The effect on the home in which the wife's or husband's yeast infections are obliterated with the steady comforting hand of their mates encouraging the through filling of their colon takes them to a place of trusting them to care for their bodies as if they were a two-year-old attempting to earn their first training pants. It can deepen trust on many levels. Shared colon therapy can help a family become closer on every level. As well the loss of the yeast infections these treatments and the changes in lifestyle that families must make to bring back health, often restore love. Candida is a personal disorder that can devastate marriages. It can leave gentle loving people wild and unbearably irritable with the itching of this disorder. It is a disorder created by one of our most effective medical treatments and its massive over use. It is also very treatable simply by returning to a healthful diet. Raw food vegans again don't seem to have the disease, or many other diseases common to modern man. Simple treatments known to man for thousands of years like colon cleansing are effective in the relief of many conditions. We live in a strange world. The more complicated things get, the simpler the solutions are sometimes. You just have to have the right paradigms. Sometimes in our modern world we educate ourselves so far from the truth that we cannot see simple facts. And the more educated the person is, the more often they seem to be unable to see these simple truths. We adopt paradigms, like modern allopathic medicine, in which pills or surgery replace food, simple therapies like enemas and colonics and right living. This is obviously wrong thinking. It is the reason that candida is so curable by simple natural measures, and a total enigma to so many highly educated physicians. In this article as well as my others, I have always been critical of the modern medical paradigm of allopathy. I should here make sort of an apology to those who hawk this system. I think it is wrong in many settings. I think it is useful in emergency room medicine and the treatment of defined infectious disease, etc. I do find the way of thinking useless in the treatment of most chronic disease, and those diseases that are now the great killers and disablers in the first world. Pills, drugs and dope are the expected thing to do. They are what sells. Those who sell the most pills drive the best cars and have the nicest homes. Teaching people how to care for their own bodies and those of their loved ones really doesn't pay very well. I believe it is partially a conspiracy with massive marketing and "educational" pressure to convince the people that pills are the answer, that pills, drugs and dope are the way to feel good and be healthful. The buyer still has to beware, even in today's society. Our medical doctors in pushing prescriptions to kill the candida are in essence doing only what the market demands. The farmers pouring millions of gallons of antibiotics into the food sources of this nation are doing only what the market demands. If you line up with your children in front of the drug vendors buying them pills for every complaint as well as having a medicine cabinet full of pills and potions yourself, then you are contributing to the problem. It is because we as consumers buy these things that those that sell them have the power and the money to drown out the truth about every other form of therapy. If you have candida, get well. Go natural. Quit buying pills that won't work to correct the problem. Quit buying meat and dairy products that cause the problem and get well! When you go to the pharmacy for help, go right past the pills, vitamins and elixirs and go to the enema bags. They still have these in most American drug stores, hidden down on a bottom shelf. You will probably have to ask a sales clerk where they are. It may cost you as much as $16.00 to buy a good enema bag. Buy two— the good fills needed for treating candida rarely take less than two quarts so your nurse will have to switch bags mid fill. So for $32 and a box of baking soda you have the cure for your candida in hand. As well for the next ten years you can treat the majority of the other ails that may hit your self or your family---- at no additional charge. This is pretty cheap when you realize that the last time you went to the doctor for an infection, you may have paid that much per pill for the privilege of developing the candidiasis in the first place! This works not only to help you get better. It works to change the world. When the idea of doctors washing their hands between patients was discovered, there was resistance. During the last century women strongly resisted going to the hospital to have their babies. They had good reason for doing this. A very high percentage of maternity patients died of infections when they had hospital births. It was far safer to have babies at home, in the street, almost any location other than a hospital. A Hungarian doctor, Dr. Ignaz P. Semmelweis MD, observed in 1847 that if he washed his hands between patients, that this infection rate dropped. The accepted medical practice at the time was to go from patient to patient with the surgeons hands dripping with blood and other body fluids. It is quite easy to see how this lack of cleanliness would spread pelvic infections in maternity wards now. In the 19th century the modern medical practitioners did not recognize it at that time. They were rather displeased with this hand washing idea and eventually had Dr Semmelweis put in a mental institution where he died of an infection from a cut. Fortunately the cat was out of the box. Patients had learned that if they made their doctors wash their hands it stopped infections. They forced medicine of that era to adopt sanitary techniques in treating patients by electing to go to doctors that would wash their hands. If you vote with your dollars to buy treatments that work— the professionals will follow. Enemas and colonics have been opposed by modern medicine just as they once opposed washing their hands between patients. Neither of these resistances to simple cleansing measures by contemporary physicians have had any scientific support. They opposed washing hands between patients because it was a new idea, not profitable and inconvenient. They have opposed enemas and colonics because they are an old idea, not profitable and inconvenient. Public opinion forced a change in the thinking of physicians regarding cleaning their hands largely because scientific understanding of microbes and disease followed the clinical observations of Dr. Semmelweis and others. Enemas and colonics are very necessary treatments in relieving candida and many other conditions. Earlier physicians knew this from clinical observations. However, they did not have the knowledge of physiology, microbiology and the function of friendly bacteria to support their observations. Now we do. We must continue to practice colon therapy. It corrects hundreds of conditions, as it does candida. Eventually when enough people set up a howl demanding better quality colon care from their doctors, there will be an interest in learning about colon therapy and colon care for better health by the medical profession. As new ideas which are not really profit motivated like cleaning of hands and equipment can come from new knowledge and force medical institutions to change, so can old treatments like enemas and colonics. Our understanding of diseases and health is expanding. As it does, the case grows ever stronger for the proper use of colon therapy in promotion of health and treating disease. Now is not the time for complacency in this, however. It has been more than sixty years since medical doctors have been trained doctors in this area. In their lack of knowledge in claiming to be experts in this area, they have been responsible for some rather unscientific and illogical actions. In California in the early 1990s the medical association thought the time was right to make it a felony to give an enema, or for a non medical physician to give a colonic irrigation. Had they succeeded in this, the most effective way of treating candida would have been illegal. The resulting political back lash ousted the state representative who proposed the bill from office. This happened even though she had received a substantial donation from the medical association to her campaign fund. Some state legislators said this was the largest public outcry they had seen in many years. We have seen no more such foolish legislation proposed since then, because this one political test showed that the people use enemas. The people opposed making them illegal! The use of colon therapy can grow and become important again if its clinical uses are known, and we reject ineffective treatments. If we as a people continue to reject antibiotic soaked meat products, or better yet just stop buying animal products altogether, there will be an outcry. There will be increased subsidies to keep these farmers and their supply lines in business, but eventually, they will wash their hands and enter new industries. We will all be the better for it. No one needs to have candida. With changes in diet you can forget ever having had it. If we as a society reject the causes of the disease, your children and their children may not even recognize the word. Reprinted from Colon Therapy Journal, June, 1999 Dr Knox has also written a 425 page book on Enemas & Colonic Irrigation entitle "Love Thine Enemas & Heal Thyself." And a little more: HOW TO GIVE AN ENEMA Chapter one from the 344 page book Love Thine Enemas & Heal Thyself © Copyright 2000 by Dr. J. Glenn Knox BA, DC This book is intended for use as an informational source. It is not intended as advice for self diagnosis or prescription of self treatment. Enemas have been used for thousands of years with very few serious consequences. However, both enemas & colonics can be painful or dangerous if used incorrectly or with patients with some conditions. Use professional primary health care provider advice in treating any condition. Order it Now!! $4.95 E- Book $19.50- Soft cover $28.50- Hard back To order online click here Lifeknox Publishing POBOX 65130 Vancouver, WA 98665 USA Enemas fill the colons of people from every creed, culture and socioeconomic background. As far back as man has used tools to make his life and health better there is evidence that healers sought to unplug and let flow the waste from their patients. Giving enemas to treat the sick dates back to a time before writing. Water flowed from the gourds of medicine men and women into the bowels of the ancients as it still does today. The euphoria that commonly follows a good enema and the level of health that accompanies good elimination is known now as then. The cleaning of waste from within the body with an occasional washing is healthful and not to be poo pooed--- well, may be poo pooed, but at least not underestimated. Enemas relieve constipation, diarrhea, dysentery, painful menstruation, depression, toxicity, colitis, diverticulosis, common migraines, tension headaches, acne, allergies and fevers. They stimulate the immune system in infectious disease. The enema is used in preparation for child birth, for internal cleansing, as preparation for religious rites and experiences and more. Although it is not a very commonly asked question, most people would admit to having their rectums visited by an enema nozzle at least once. With all this history, experience and success, the enema is yet to be studied with any degree of rigor. This is unfortunate. The simple enema is one of the least expensive, proven therapies in the modern medicine chest. Even with the frequency of its use and benefits, it is not talked about or written about. This is unfortunate on two levels. First, many people who would greatly benefit from having two or three cents worth of warm water correct their problems, instead take more dangerous, expensive, unnatural cures. Second, the enema is not entirely safe in the hands of the uninformed or not so smart. The giving of enemas requires knowledge. Giving enemas requires an understanding of the body. For those things that we take in by mouth, the Lord was wise enough to give us warning systems to detect danger. We can feel cold, heat, burning and cutting in the mouth. We can taste bad things. Still, with all these warning systems, we manage to poison and injure ourselves occasionally. The colon and introduction of liquids by way of rectum is not so safe. The colon has no taste, cold, heat, burning or cutting nerve sensation. It only responds to stretching such as gas pains. The colon is also much less defended by the immune system from the invasion of microbes and parasites. For this reason enema equipment should never be shared. Every person, even in one family, needs their own bag. The standards of cleanliness of this bag are more important in preventing spread of disease than the dishes from which you eat. Shared bags mean shared germs. Unclean nozzles, tubing and bags mean bacteria cultures. A familiar site in many homes is the family enema bag hanging on the back of the bathroom door. This tradition has probably been with us as long as there have been bathroom doors on which to hang these bags to dry. A group of bags hanging up drying would be better, one for each person on the receiving end. This time honored tradition has a good reason. Its presence there is much more than just for the amusement of your brothers, sisters, school chums, neighbors, etc., that see it there. A little drop of water hanging from the draped nozzle tells all passers by that it has recently been in someone's fanny. The bag once used should not return to the privacy of the linen closet until it is clean and dry for some very good reasons. Most mothers and nurses, before the age of knowledge of germs, were concerned about the condition of the bag. Wet bags, left wet, crack and deteriorate more quickly. We now know more important reasons for drying them. I was chatting with an internist the other evening. He pointed out something new. Although in the many billions of enemas given over the years, to my knowledge, no incidents of toxic reactions to contaminants from enema bags have been reported. This is true in the medical literature during the era when enemas were very common. It is possible now with a focus on eliminating safer alternative forms of treatment in favor of more profitable treatments that such data could be published in "scientific" journals funded by drug companies, with or without scientific merit or reliable proof. Real concerns do exist. His particular concern was mildew. Bags or tubing put away wet could quickly contain mildew. So the old family bag hanging on the door with its tubing draped over it does have a good purpose. Dry bags and tubes don't mildew. Dry bags and tubes fill all their nooks and crannies with air and are aerobic. They are filled with oxygen. Most disease pathogens are anaerobic. They don't like oxygen and die when dried out in open air. It is important to dry and clean enema bags after use. In hospitals before the seventies there were a room for drying enema cans and similar instruments. While this doctor's logic, particularly in this age in which we fear all bacteria beyond physiologic reason, does come in line with current medical thinking. It does not square with observed fact. In many billions of enemas administered during this century, few if any problems relating to this have ever been noted. I have seen no articles published on this in any scientific medical journal. Many people are highly allergic to mildew. If mildew were even a rare problem in the administration of enemas, it would have been observed. Allergic reactions to hospital administered enemas during the many decades of using the standard stainless steel enema cans and rubber hoses would have been reported in the literature. Still concern with sterile technique is the current vogue, and worth observing. Now in hospitals enemas used are all disposable. This is safer. Hospitals charge to give an enema, so throwing away used equipment is no big deal. The insurance companies, patients or tax payers will pick up the bill. Those, who don't want to buy a new bag every time an enema is needed, need to know how to keep it clean. Fecal material reaching the bag is possible and common. This can be prevented in two ways. One, hold the bag high enough to keep the pressure above that that can be applied from pressure in the patient's colon. The second, is to stop the flow before the bag is completely empty, or to hold the bag up for the last few ounces and then close the clamp before lowering the bag to prevent back flow. Dropping the bag while the clamp is open and attached to the patient, insures that the bag is contaminated The tubing and hose are another matter. Normal surges in pressure in the patient's rectum during the enema make it almost a certainty that the tubing will have some back flow of fecal material into the tubing. This is why I strongly recommend running a bag full of chlorinated water through the bag and tubing after use. This will remove most of the contamination. There is no way to be certain that this area of the tubing is completely clean and disease free. They designed all the old bags and hospital enema equipment for years of useful service. Cleaning the equipment and protecting the patient, were designed into the structure. After use, the last of the water can be emptied with the hoses still attached. This flushes fecal material that may have back flowed into the tubing. The hospital enema cans or open top syringes made this particularly easy. Hot water bottles require more effort. Rinsing both the bag and tubing with a bag, or few bags full of tap water is a good idea to be sure it is clean.. Washing out as much fecal material as possible is important. Then, dry the bag to protect it and the patient during future use. Some simple and yet effective techniques in safeguarding the health of more healthful patients are worth practicing. One thing I do that should help keep all this safer is the use of a little baking soda in the water. On drying it leaves an alkaline coating on the inside of the bag and tubing. This also helps prevent the growth of bacteria, or mildew, and is not toxic as would be many other bactericidal additives. If the bag is rinsed and dried well and used by only one person, any bacteria or pathogen introduced into the patient will probably already be present in their own colon or they will already have developed resistance to it. This avenue easily transmits parasites of others and could share bacteria. If the recipient, user of this bag is in any way immune system compromised, either use disposable equipment, or ask your health care provider about methods of sanitation or sterilization. The presence of a piece of fecal material remaining in the tubing or bag is impossible to totally avoid. I mentioned earlier that in billions of enemas have been given to patients with this type of equipment over this century in America. No one has shown me any records of this causing problems in unshared equipment. However, immune system failures, such as AIDS are common now. This type of disease was very rare before the 1980's. Failure of the immune system is also a problem near the end of life. During the last few years of most people's lives that die of "old age," their immune systems function increasingly poorly. The use of sterile techniques with these patients may be indicated in postponing the inevitable. Some infection or virus usually claims them with even heroic efforts. It is possible for them to be very susceptible to infection from common bacteria. Certainly most of this contamination comes to them via mouth. It could come via colon. You do not want you and your enema bag blamed. Use uncommon caution with fragile patients. The health and well being of an enema patient is very much in the hands of the person holding the bag. Reasonable care is necessary. A healthful colon can be damaged by too much heat or cold or chemicals in the water. The unhealthy colon is more vulnerable. Only give enemas to patients with colon disease or serious health problems on the advice and consent of a chiropractor, medical doctor or other trained health professional. Do not give enemas to others for any health problems unless you understand those problems and the effects of filling the colon with water on those problems. Patients have died in hospital from electrolyte (salt) imbalances from excessive enemas. Patients have died from ruptured colons due to too much water injected with excessive pressure or punctures with an enema tube. Patients have died from infection, alcohol poisoning and other reactions to foreign substances used in enemas. That being said the enema is a very common home treatment. Given with simple precautions and common sense, enemas are less dangerous than most over the counter non prescription drugs. It is important that the administrator have a respect for the uses and misuses of the enema. It is a simple thing to fill an enema bag, attach the hose. It is a simple thing to empty the bag when someone else's colon is being filled as has been done since before the first block was laid for the Great Pyramid. The protection of those left holding the contents of the bag is important. Seek advice when needed. Congestive heart failure and kidney disease may make it difficult to deal with the water loads put into the body by taking enemas. Patients suffering from these diseases may also greatly benefit from having enemas. Seek the advice of a chiropractor, doctor or other person knowledgeable in these areas of health and disease. The purpose of a chiropractic or medical physician is to be a resource. Their years of training give them knowledge of specific diseases that nurses, mothers and lay enema practitioners are not expected to have. For example, some diseases such as multiple sclerosis may affect the colon by allowing it to be filled with an enema, but not allowing the contraction of the walls of the colon to expel it. The patient will absorb this water. This can cause an electrolyte imbalance. A healthful person can have their heart malfunction and die if they succeed in rapidly drinking a large enough quantity of water to imbalance their electrolytes (salts in the blood). The colon absorbs water very much more rapidly than the stomach. This makes this problem more acute when administering an enema. A healthful person on taking and absorbing too much enema will feel sick, weak or dizzy. They usually let you know they feel bad. I have found this to be a common problem with patients with abnormally large colons. On the one hand they need enemas because they do not have good elimination. On the other, they hold and absorb more water creating a danger of electrolyte imbalance. Babies, some old people and others that lack the ability to communicate their feelings can become over hydrated and suffer heart failure from absorbing too much water. The use of exotic solutions has been and continues to be a problem in the administration of enemas. Soapy enemas are recommended by many old text. Castile soap continues to be supplied by disposable enema bag vendors. I do not use or recommend soap in enema water. Soap is a decided irritant to the bowel. A good bowel movement can be obtained without the use of soap. I believe the historical and continued use of soap is just that we relate washing to soap and water. The colon and the skin differ in their needs to be washed. The skin is a protective barrier to the outside world that is fairly resistant to irritation and directly smelled by others. The bowel is a water absorption and holding organ that has some special functions. It is not intended to be washed like a dirty face. It will never be free from odoriferous bacteria or feces. These are the normal contents of the colon. The function of enemas is to remove most old waste or have some therapeutic effect. This does not require soap. Plain water, when only one or two injections are required, is usually perfectly acceptable. However, never forget that the standard of purity of the water is much higher than that required for drinking. If there is concern about electrolyte imbalance adding one level teaspoon of table salt or baking soda per quart of water is a good idea. Also, the more exotic enema liquids are not without high risk. Coffee enemas are given for specific therapeutic purposes and are highly useful for the diseases and conditions for which they are used. However, I do not recommend their use unless specifically called for in your doctor's instructions. Coffee is a stimulant and stimulants are counter indicated in many conditions. It is also an organic substance. It will set up a medium for bacteria to grow in the bag used for the enema, possibly making the enema bag unsafe to reuse. The injection of any substance via rectum bypasses the body's defense systems and has risk. The use of any other substance than plain water, or isotonic water is questionable. One substance that has caused some severe injuries and deaths is alcohol. The colon absorbs water many times faster than the stomach. This is good when rehydration or absorption of electrolytes or medications is needed. If the colon is filled with wine or other alcohol this also is absorbed much more rapidly than if it is drunk. Those that take wine enemas get very drunk, very quickly. They can also, and have died of alcohol poisoning. Giving these kinds of substances is no more difficult than ordinary cleansing enemas but can change a safe, innocuous procedure into a very dangerous one. Giving an enema to a conscious cooperative patient is not that difficult. Every day totally untrained patients help teach the procedures to student nurses and nurse's aides. Teaching home health care is part of the mission of many nursing programs. The appropriate use of the home enema historically has been a part of that mission. Given that encouragement the home enema's benefits are often shared with families. A former patient and mother may sit reading the instructions written on the box containing a combination syringe. Then she takes the bag out of the box. A wide-eyed son or daughter begins this process sitting on the bed beside her looking at the picture of the kind faced nurse looking right through them out of the empty box. Twenty minutes later their mother holds the bag up and coaxes the last few ounces into their bowels. Their first enema churns within them. Mother smiles empathetically. Receiving enemas is a very common experience. From teaching hospital, to x-ray room, to maternity ward and may be even to an upstairs bed room in her mother's house, she has been there. She smiles for two reasons. Now she has just given her first enema. This chapter is to give a foundation in the physical methods of giving and receiving enemas, for that no doctor's degree is required. The enema is a warm wet filling experience that is neither painful nor unpleasant if given properly in the absence of disease. Giving them is not so common or so readily learned by all that are taught. This has caused much misinformation and fear of the procedure. The use of the enema is only vaguely broached in nursing education. The procedure accounts for rarely more than a few pages in most nursing text. It is almost unmentioned in medical education. Our young mother having read how to from the drug store box and successfully given an enema is probably as well prepared to give enemas as many professionals. This is especially true since she has experience on the other end of the procedure. Receiving one requires even less training. Those that are bright enough to be able to remove their panties, have good sphincter tone and lie quietly for five minutes usually do quite well. The success or failure of the procedure depends patient cooperation. The first principle is gentleness and a respect for the dignity and apprehensions of the patient. Receiving an enema does not require great intelligence. It does require a bare bottom and sharing the function of the bowels with another person. Many people are quite embarrassed by this and the whole process. Communication, reassurance and a kindly manner help. Preparation of the patient involves first informing them of what is to be done and gaining their cooperation. They should urinate and attempt to have a bowel movement before the enema. Preparation includes having a warm place to receive the enema. A patient that is cold will usually have difficulty in receiving a good enema. Temperature should be at least 72 degrees, and if there is fever or chills warmer would be good. Having an enema in a sauna is a good location. Most enemas are given in bed with feet kept warm under blankets and sheets protected by a water proof pad. The bed, treatment table or floor may be used so long as it is comfortable. If given on the floor, a mat or blanket will make the surface more palatable and avoid chilling the patient. A floor can drain the heat from a person when the room is quite warm. On the bed or treatment table, protect the surface with towels or if possible a vinyl or rubber sheet covered with a towel. Not all patients hold their enemas equally well and cleaning a bed can be difficult. Treatment tables can vary extremely. Most are flat massage tables and work very well. I particularly like the chiropractic high-low table for the positions it allows. The advantage of a high-low table is the position of the patient. It is possible to elevate the hips, take the weight completely off the stomach and let the patient lie face down in a very comfortable position. The table could also be difficult to clean, but it is a great place to have an enema. Patient positioning involves one principle. That is that water does not run up hill. Any position for an enema that requires water to run up hill will require a very motivated patient with a strong sphincter muscle to be effective. The effective administering of an enema requires that the nurse not make such unnecessary demands of the patient. Let water flow down hill. The chiropractic high-low table elevates the hips and the weight of the body is removed from the abdomen. Water flows in and if there is no obstruction and the patient relaxes and the entire colon fills with the rectum remaining virtually empty until the end of the enema. The relaxed patient will have little or no sensation of having to evacuate until the colon fills completely. If they do a short stopping of the enema and a little encouragement is all that is needed. Most people do not have such equipment available, and it is unnecessary. All that is necessary to remember is that the point of putting the water in should be higher than the rest of the colon. The various positions that accomplish this are the knee chest, in which the patient rests their chest on the floor or bed and stands on their knees. Obviously the rectum and bottom are above the rest of the body. Any variation of this is good. Being taken over the knee has the same advantage of elevating the buttocks above the rest of the colon. This works for children and those intimate and small enough to be comfortable over the knee. It is also important that the abdominal muscles be relaxed. Any position that requires muscular effort to maintain will be self defeating. Gravity will contest with muscle tone and may in the short run lose resulting in a less than adequate enema. Lying down is a chosen favorite. As a famous actor said in an interview I watched many years ago, "If you can walk rather than run, walk. If you can stand still, stand still. If you can sit down, sit down, and if you can lay down lay down." Lying down consumes very little muscular effort. However lying on the back puts the rectum lower than the rest of the colon, but is a very good position if you have a patient that leaks. You can pour away while they drip into a bed pan and still have a moderately successful treatment. Lying on the right side also puts the rectum below the sigmoid and descending colon and requires water to flow up hill. Lying on the left side makes half of the colon below the rectum and is a good position. It also keeps the weight off the abdomen. Lying on the stomach puts the rectum above the colon in most people, especially women whose hips are hopefully larger than their midsections. It does have the disadvantage of compressing the abdomen. I have found on many patients having been prepared in Sims' position for having a barium study, that many take more water on their stomachs than on their sides. The classic position to receive an enema is Sims' position, presumably named after a patient named Sims that required many enemas. One would hate to think that all that was worthy to note about a physician is that he discovered lying on the side, but that is probably the case. Most procedures or diseases are named for the physician that discovered them. In any case Sims' position is most easily achieved by having the patiently on their stomach with any clothing pulled up to the level of the waist and removed from there down. Then lift the right hip and bend the right leg until the thigh is at about 90 degrees to their body. The left leg should have the knee bent a few degrees also. This position puts the colon lower than the rectum. At worse the cecum and ascending colon are at about the same level as the rectum. This position removes their weight from their abdomen. This position is the best for giving an enema on a flat surface with the patient completely relaxed, and is standard in most nursing manuals. Positions that are recommended in others, but defy the rule of water not running up hill are: sitting up to receive an enema, standing or any other position that puts the abdomen and colon above the rectum. However if you are comfortable with these positions and can fill the colon, do not be dissuaded by logic. All scientist and theorist strive to describe the workings of complex things like anatomy and enemas to those that know from experience what works best for themselves. What works for you is right for you. You may want to experience orthodoxy, and see if there is validity to our arguments. If you can take more water comfortably, then change. If not, use the procedure that you know works for you. Whatever the disadvantages of forcing water to flow up hill, taking an enema in one of these positions is a great test of the holding power of the patient. The rectum fills to capacity from the beginning and the urge to release the enema should be unremitting. Now you have the enema tube in hand. You are ready to pour it into your patient. Now you have to do your part. The patient has undressed, gone to the bathroom. They are in position. They are waiting to have the most private part of their body exposed. They are waiting for an enema hose to slide in. They are waiting to be holding on while every nerve tells them that they should rush to the toilet. They know they will have a massive diarrhea like bowel movement. It is up to you to keep putting more enema into them until they "take hold of as much water as possible." If the enema is really effective, they will take hold until they really can't take any more. The goal of a good enema in a healthy patient is just that, a colon filled with a water and comfortably stretched to the point that it cannot hold more. This is the goal of the enema the patient and nurse achieve it together. I have given many enemas. Patients are usually pleased with themselves when they have taken a good enema. It is the goal that they have literally put their fannies on the line to do. After the patient has assumed the position, they need to relax to have a good enema, but the rest is up to the nurse. You begin by inserting the tube or hose. Lubricate it with olive oil, Crisco, KY jelly or any other inert lubricant. A small tube or hose will usually pass easily with little lubricant. Most people have large enough buttock muscles to hide the anus, so you lift the upper buttock away. You can lift with the fingers of your non dominant hand and spread their lower cheek with your thumb. After you get a good view of the anus, gently insert the tube into the center, avoiding any hemorrhoids. The direction with most patients is toward the umbilicus (belly button), but people vary, aim in and use no force. The tube will slide in with no resistance. If it doesn't, you are going in the wrong way or there is an obstruction. Change the direction, or move the tube to another spot. The internal sphincter muscle may resist, if it does very lightly hold the tube and wait for it to relax. Once the tube goes in, a standard enema tube will go in a couple of inches. It is not wise on necessary to go any deeper than that. The colon is not designed to take impact of hard objects. Force can rupture the wall of the bowel. Hospital patients have died as the result of enema tubes being forced into the abdominal cavity. The safe way is very gentle insertion just into the rectum. Deeper insertion while dangerous does have the effect of making the enema unfelt. Inserting water deeper in the bowel causes only the sensation of bloating until the rectum fills. The feeling of urgency that is the hallmark of enemas is due to the rectum being filled and then the water flowing deeper with the short insertion. It is this sensation that lets us know we have to go to the bathroom and with the enema commands the patients whole attention. While having an enema, most people focus on the happenings within their rectum. There is usually some shyness or other interaction on beginning the enema. After the rectum fills the patient usually forgets all their worries, except holding the enema. I have given hundreds of enemas. I can remember only one person that read a book during a 4-quart enema. At this point the patient is ready to fill. As I said earlier the enema is not painful or unpleasant, but the patient should have the colon filled. This means that the healthy patient should usually receive enough water to fill the colon to the cecum or end of the colon if a complete clearing or systemic therapeutic effect is sought. To this end if you know the person, and have occasion to administer a number of enemas to them you will become conversant with what that quantity is for them. As in the example of our young mother earlier, mothers who give good enemas usually know the exact capacities of their children and family members whom they treat. If you don't know the patient's capacity, it is usually best to continue filling them until they tell you to stop. If you notice they are having urgency that does not pass if you stop the flow for a few minutes, if may be time to stop. People vary a lot in their responses. Most will obediently take water to their limit for a nurse. They may protest more with a member of their family or someone with whom they feel less inhibited. A few will protest during the entire procedure while continuing to take the enema, and a few will insist on stopping. Much the difficult in giving a good enema is technique. To give good quantities once you are beyond the dynamics of psychology between nurse and patient there are two usual reasons for good or bad enemas. The temperature and flow rate determine just how comfortable and effective an enema is. Normal temperature of a person is 98.6 degrees Fahrenheit, correct? No. That is oral temperature. The rectum and body core is 99 degrees. So the enema to be neutral to the body must be slightly above 99 degrees Fahrenheit. This would tend to the higher side in fever. I usually use 103 degrees Fahrenheit for the enemas I give. This is my guesstimate of what the average inter colonic temperature should be. In case of sickness, in which I want to stimulate the immune system I will move to 107 degrees. In cases of atonic colons or overheating, I will move to 95 degrees. When attempting to give a full colon it is important to remember that heat relaxes and cold spasms. A small cold enema can cause the colon to empty itself by reflex spasm. However to fill the colon the use of heat is best. Too high a heat can over relax the colon and allow it to stretch to the point of injury by giving too much water. Muscles, including colonic ones can't contract at over 115 degrees, so anything above this heat may cause rupture, not to mention burning of sensitive tissue. Tissue proteins also derange at 115 degrees. So I strongly recommend against using anything near 115 degrees. The administration of a 107-degree enema makes the body warm this should be the maximum ever used. In poor health don't assume a hot enema will restore warmth. In heart failure and the associated chills it will likely make the problem worse, possibly fatally worse. In any case our discussion here is for a healthy patient whose condition is usually a simple one. Do not give enemas unless you have a bath thermometer, and can get exact temperatures. These are available from medical supply houses. They should be sold with every enema syringe. Too cold an enema will be difficult for the patient to hold and basically ineffective. Too hot, and they will take a great enema, then suffer for days due to the injuries from the heat. Just right temperature, from my experience, 103 degrees Fahrenheit, and the patient will have neither chills, cramps nor sweats and will have a full colon when done. The second factor is rate of flow. In a truly perfect enema, the heat sensitive cells in the anus feel the change in temperature of the enema nozzle. The colon fills with almost no sensation in a steady stream. The colon has no heat, cold, burning or cutting sensation. It responds almost solely to rapid stretching. This is what gas pains are. If you use a large caliber hose and tube and hold the enema bag high up, the patient will usually have cramps. This can tear the colon if the pressure is too great. The standard tubing and tubes available in drug stores is great. It reduces the flow rate to a tolerable level, unless the bag is hung too high. The level of the bag is recommended to be 18 to 24 inches above the level of the anus. This is a good height. At this height the flow into the rectum is almost imperceptible. The patient properly positioned may not even realize the enema is in progress until they feel the warmth of the water through their abdomen or the tube between their cheeks change temperature. Holding the bag higher makes for a quicker enema as the water flows in faster. This adds to the excitement of the enema as the patient has waves of pressure in the rectum and feels the imminent need to visit the toilet. Hospital nurses are notorious for being in a hurry with the enemas and lifting the bags up to speed the process. It is difficult to take a good enema at rapid flow, but the effort is usually memorable. Despite protest, most remember the rapid fills as good enemas on review. It is in the nature of humans to like some forms of roller coaster rides. Some of the old text compromise by pouring away then stopping a minute to let the rectum empty its liquid into the deeper recesses of the colon, then pouring away again. It also adds a bit of excitement for both the patient and nurse. The enema patient nurse role is one of parental power. It is one of the situations in life where there is no question of who wears the pants, or at least the underwear. Once they are off and the bag is dangling above a bare bottomed recipient whose role is to not go potty until permission is given, the nurse plays the role of parent. He or she has parental power and authority. The holding high of an enema bag is an ensign of power. The patient's legs quiver and goose bumps makes every hair stand on end. A torrent of water fills their rectum. They squeeze and hold on with an intensity not often remembered since toilet training. The enema nurse plays a role taken from Freud's anal phase. Few people in their usual occupations control the bowels of another. Commonly mothers reserve this role for themselves. Virtually every mother of young children does. Taking a patient to the edge of losing control of their bowels for the first time since they were two years old and continuing to fill them peels away the stages of life leaving the emotions and thoughts of the toddler within each of us. Patients from all levels of life become as young children again. It places the patient in a childish position, begging to go potty. Few generals or presidents ever exercise such personal power as a nurse and her enema bag do in controlling the bowels of a patient. Those patients that had good relations with their personal toilet trainer in their time of shortness and training pants often revel in pleasing their enema nurse. They rarely turn down the offer of a good enema. Those that fared less well with their personal toilet trainer and have significant emotional blocks to this activity are emotionally challenged by the process. The nudity and filling of the bowels reaches these levels with all that hold the tube in the end. The joys or challenges that patients feel in having enemas are as internal for them as the enema itself. In giving hundreds of clinical enemas I have observed that almost all patients quietly take their quarts. Whatever they feel, if anything, is rarely expressed. For those that hold the bag it is less clear. There is usually empathy with the patients. For the nurse there is less psychological exposure. Nurses give enemas in uniform. Mothers give enemas in slacks or dress. Early childhood enemas usually occur over mother's skirted knee. This makes the giving of enemas a safe introspective role for the giver. The patient quivers and may beg. As they beg, the nurse is quiet at ease. She stands and encourages. With the flick of a finger she controls the flow. So long as her patient holds the enema, she has no exposure or stress. The only psychological aspects of nursing enemas are within the mind of the giver. She may enjoy giving as she was given. She may enjoy controlling as she was controlled. Whatever she feels it exist within her mind. Most nurses have experienced the enema and identify with their patients. The giving of enemas has been a mother's role for most children. The identity of the mother with the enema nurse is strong with most patients. A desirable trait for most enema nurses is the assumption of that role. Most of us desire a motherly nurse when sick. When she gives an enema, this is especially true. The real experience of the enema is the patient's. Only vicarious satisfactions occur for the nurse. It is as it is for the mother who in presenting regular panties to her 3-year-old shares the joy but not the experience of being dry. Enemas are for health as are many other routine health procedures that all can have psychological aspects. The purpose of the enema is to promote health. A third note on quantity, what is a good enema for some is inadequate for others. The size of colons is as variable, perhaps more, than the size of people. In hundreds of barium studies we have had the opportunity to evaluate many colons for size and structure. While it may be true that the average colon can hold about two quarts, that is only an average. We have seen a few people that had one and half quart colons. We have seen many that hold about three quarts and a number that hold more than four quarts, and are healthy. These larger colons tend to lead to constipation, and are best treated by increased roughage to give enough bulk to make them work. When this fails, as it often does, a few sessions with the enema cleans the colon and gets it working again. Laxatives for these people create new problems in the rest of the digestive system while not getting directly to the colon. To clean the colon and have a good enema each person's needs are different. A person that has a small colon may leave a standard syringe bag partially full and be at their limit. A person with a larger colon can drain it flat and not have a good enema. When you are determining how much enema to give, always bring plenty of water. With a new patient I always prepare four quarts of water and keep pumping until they are full. The majority of people need to stop at about one and three fourths quarts and after a short break take a little more. When you reach the point that each time you start to give more they are too full, you have probably reached the end. Others I have pumped in the whole four quarts and there is no urgency or discomfort. For enemas for these people they need to take four or more quarts for a good enema. Although there are people with large healthy colons, there are others that can take a large amount of water because they have a problem with their colons. Hospital and drug store syringes are bags or cans of about one and one half quarts capacity. I don't feel that this is an adequate amount to give an enema to most adults. The enema should reach the cecum, and it won't unless the colon is filled. However, in giving larger enemas, do be careful. If the patient becomes dizzy, or feels bad after a large enema, stop the process. While almost all healthy people can benefit from a larger enema there are some counter indications. Multiple sclerosis or other diseases in which there may be paralysis of the colon, large amounts of water may be given, but not released. This water absorbs into the body. This can be very dangerous since it can throw the person into electrolyte imbalance and possible shock. The procedures of fully filling the colon should only be used on patients with healthy bowels and a general state of good health. It should never be used on young children or others that cannot communicate how they feel or that may have an impaired sense of what is going on in their bodies. Also the presence of colonic tumors, or cancer, creates a potential danger. Cancerous masses can rupture and bleed easily. They will spontaneously do this. This may be hastened by the pressure of an enema even though it is more likely to occur from constipation. It is often wiser to not give a treatment that may be questioned by others, than to be blamed for giving the treatment. To use standard enema bags, I recommend that you buy a combination douche enema syringe that is an open topped bag with the hoses connecting to the bottom, or a hospital enema can. Prepare a pitcher or container of water and have it close by when giving an enema. After you have almost emptied the bag, close the cut off and pour in another bag full. Keep repeating this until your patient has to stop because they are unable to hold any more enema, as I described above. There should never be any pain on this procedure. They will either tell you they have to go or they will tense up. Stop and wait a minute, talk to them, or massage their stomach until it eases, then give them more until they have to stop again. At the end of a good enema as soon as you start to put a little more water in, the patient's rectum will feel full and they will be uncomfortable. At this point you quit. A technique that I use in giving enemas that helps me gage how the patient is doing is that I hold the tubing without touching the patient. I keep it in place with one hand. Being a chiropractor and always adjusting backs, I massage the low back during the enema, or gently rock the hip to aid the flow of the enema. This relaxes the patient and helps them have a good enema, and it also lets me gage how they are doing without constantly asking. When they tense up after being relaxed, you know they are having trouble holding it. If you ask a person having an enema if they are full, they will invariably say yes whether they need two quarts more or not. This was brought home to me by a patient with large colon. I got an inadequate colon X-ray on and had to repeat it because I hadn't given her a large enough enema. I told her we needed to do another x-ray that she needed more barium. She said that I shouldn't have asked, but just filled her till she had to stop. I did and got a good film. Other techniques for giving the enema are patient instructions. This begins when you tell them they are going to have an enema. When a neighbor drops by and has a problem that you offer to fix with a good enema, it requires a bit of salesmanship. When they drop by and ask you if you would help them with an enema, a simple OK will do. In a position of authority a simple statement will do. Many enemas are given in hospitals. These are preceded by a simple "You are going to have an enema now." The drapes draw, and in a minute you are bottom side up without any question of whether you need or want it. If you are to give a good enema, you must assume a role of authority. If you are to receive a good enema, you must submit to it. The first instruction is to go to the bathroom and urinate and defecate. A full bladder makes taking an enema very difficult, and fecal material in the colon makes it hard to fill. The less there is in there to start, the easier and more comfortable the enema will be. While the patient is in the bathroom prepare their place to have the enema. Protect the bed. Get some blankets, etc. After they come out, advise them of the enema dress code. Contrary to school codes in which no dress above the knee and long pants are required, it is difficult to be underdressed in the enema dress code. All clothing should be loose, with nothing below the waist. In clinics gowns are provided with suitable frontal modesty and suitable posterior immodesty. Panties or underwear around the knees is not such a good idea, unless the enema is given in the bathroom so that it is a short step to the toilet. These can get tangled around the ankles, and foil a perfect run to the bathroom. Having an enema is an experience that is difficult for many people as it damages their modesty. Be sensitive to the person. Unless you are dealing with a husband, wife or lover, and even then, respect their modesty. Cover the patient with a sheet or blanket to reduce their exposure. After they return from the bathroom go in and prepare the enema if you haven't already done so. It is also a good time to go yourself if you have a one bath home. Good enemas often result in frequent and lengthy trips to the bathroom. A constipated person once well filled may make frequent and long trips to the toilet as the dam of material flows out over time. The rules of etiquette always state the a person having just received an enema has priority on use of the bathroom. Then bring all the enema equipment into the treatment room and explain the process to the recipient, if they don't already know it. The first timer is usually, as in all such events nervous. Explain that it doesn't hurt. They will feel the need to go to the bath room, but that they will relax and breathe deep and it will pass. Tell them that the enema will make them feel better or whatever end the procedure is to accomplish. There is usually no need to spend much time on this initially. You can talk as they are having the enema. Put the patient in position if you haven't already done so, hang the enema bag. Insert the hose or nozzle and open the valve. Be sure that in the bathroom you drained some water through the nozzle, otherwise you will inject a slug of air, and air can cause gas pains. Tell the patient to breathe deeply through the mouth and keep encouraging them to relax. Coaching skills are necessary to a good enema nurse. Pour new bags full of water as necessary until they have had a good enema. When they have the enema in, have them roll on their back and gently massage the abdomen in a counter clock wise fashion to distribute the water to the cecum. The patient should hold the enema for five to 10 minutes to allow the water to be most effective then go to the toilet. The enema is a multiple word. It doesn't really mean just one injection of fluid into the rectum. It describes an enema session. Though cleaning of the colon may take several enemas. Often in preparations in hospitals, enemas are ordered until clear, so that the patient has one good enema, a rest and another and another until the colon is cleaned completely. I feel that this may be the best way to have occasional enemas. Remember the caution I have already given on being careful not to imbalance the body's salt by allowing the patient to absorb too much water. I would not recommend it more than once per week unless under a competent chiropractor, or other doctor's direction. If you want to have a clean colon, it certainly makes sense to spend an evening or morning taking a series of enemas until the more undigested food from the cecum washes out. This also applies to constipation and illness and is a necessity, in my opinion, in the treatment of Candida. An enema series can be tiring, but it is very refreshing and beneficial for many conditions. It is time consuming. It has been my experience that the fastest rate one can give enemas is about one every half an hour. It is probably much better to give them each hour, to allow a rest time. This is also an area when having enemas administered makes more sense than self administered. I have found that most people have difficulty giving themselves "good" enemas. It requires a great deal of will power. It is even more difficult to take a series. A helping hand makes it easier to continue. Taking a good enema, requires rolling over, taking off your underwear and relaxing. If you are having a series, why put them back on? When you go back to rest cover up with a blanket. When your next enema is ready, you roll over and take it. It takes much less will power to motivate yourself to make the walk to the toilet after an enema. As a patient the five minutes spent squeezing a gurgling enema nozzle with your sphincter is only the beginning. This is followed by five to ten minutes of holding it. Then comes the run to the toilet, often followed by more runs to the toilet. This can easily take half an hour or more, and is tiring. After that you are ready for some juice or mineral drink to balance your fluids again and a nap. Giving a series of enemas is not that time consuming or tiring for the nurse. Once the enema bag and other apparatus are out and waiting it should take less than seven to ten minutes an hour to give hourly enemas. One nurse in a clinical setting can easily keep a ward of patients bottom up or on their bedpans for hours. The filling the enema containers should take no more than a minute. Carrying them to the bedside, another minute. The patient is undressed. The bed is made for the occasion. A quick roll over, insertion and five minutes or less discussing the urgency of their need to visit the toilet and they have had their enema. By this time the nurse has insured the urgency and can be preparing the bag for its next use. If there are to be more than two or three enemas, a glob of Vaseline on and in the anus is nice. Repeated enemas tend to make the anus sore. Again more than a single morning or evening a week of two or three enemas is not recommended unless it is ordered by someone trained and knowledgeable in the procedure and its purposes. Enemas are a very common treatment. They are used for many conditions, constipation, diarrhea, painful menstruation, headaches, dysentery, depression, toxicity, colds, parasitic infections, flu, sore throats, premenstrual syndrome, fever, dehydration, preparation for child birth, etc., as well as just to maximize health. Used with common sense and gentleness they are not unpleasant. They leave a sense of euphoria and clearness. Having an enema is like having a bath, when you have one and are dirty, cold, hot or tired, you feel better. If you have a bath and don't need one you still feel better and possibly smell better. Enemas are the same. Not used to excess or wrongly they are just cleansing when given to a person in basic good health and really have few counter indications commonly seen in the general population. This concludes the first chapter in the book, Love Thine Enemas & Heal Thyself. This book is must reading for anyone seriously interested in the use of enemas or colonic irrigation. Buy it now! $4.95 E- Book February 5, 2004 What is common between these things: salmon, olive oil, probiotics, nuts (almonds) and bran, orange juice First time with olive oil – there was not a lot of orange juice – fiber? February 9, 2004 Other things that could be contributing: Vitamin B12 deficiency (lack of stomach acid, leads to body odor), calcium deficiency (leg cramps) February 10, 2004 Here are some tips from Shelleycat off of curezone.com These are tips for people who cannot handle a lot of raw veggies, have chronic gas, bloating, flatulence, constipation or even diarrhea or alternating. It helps brain fog, fatigue, bloating, abdominal pain, indigestion, acid reflux, etc. If you constantly have jagged cracks in your tongue, or lots of toxins coating it each morning, or candida, you need to know this stuff. To increase the power of digestion, here are some excellent things to do and options. Whatever sounds good to you, give it a try. If something seems strange or not good for you, check the list again in two weeks. If it still seems wrong for you, chances are your intuition is right on. Only eat as much food as you can hold in both hands in a single meal. This is very important. Never drink cold water with meals, stop drinking fluids 30 minutes before meals and up to 1 hour after. If you must drink, drink herbal tea or plain warm water. The stomach digests best with 1/3 air, 1/3 food, 1/3 gastric juices. Watering down your stomach dilutes the enzymes and acids that digest food. If food gets into the colon partially digested, bacteria goes to work to break it down. This causes gas, microbial imbalances, and over time, mucoid placque. Try to have at least 4 hours in between meals. Eat regular meals at regular times. Avoid snacking as much as possible. DRink warm tea in between meals, spicy herbal tea - not black - is best. Have your main meal at lunch rather than dinner. Don't eat after 8:00 pm, digestion is weakest at night. Try to eat a diet that is 40% veggies, 30% grains and legumes, nuts and seeds, 20% protein from fish and poultry, 10% fruit. Digestive enzymes are an excellent option, including pancreatic enzymes and HCL betain. If you don't want to take HCL, then take lemon juice with some salt. It amounts to the same thing. Just add salt to a glass of lemon water or lemonade and enjoy! Avoid greasy foods. Eat plain foods and add your own olive oil. Don't be afraid to eat olive oil, it won't make you fat! and will help maintain balance. Avoid deepfried and other very dead foods (refined) with none of their own live enzymes. Supplemnt with a super-green food such as Perfect Food and probiotics such as Primal Defense. Try to use proper food combining techniques. For instance, eat fruit alone as a fruit meal, never with dairy except the occasional cottage cheese or yoghurt. Eat grains alone or with milk substitutes like almond milk or rice milk. Don't combine meats with potatoes - major no-no. Eat your steak with a salad, no bread either! :) Try eating just a little bit of something pickled, vinegard, and/or spicy before your main meal, such as Kim Chee (pickled cabbage), or pickled ginger (like what they give with sushi), sunamomo (cucumber salad wtih vinegar) or umeboshi (Japanese pickled plums. Very healthful and healing to liver/gallbladder). This aids digestion and proper bowel flora. Consider eating lots of veggie stews and soups with onion, lentils, garbanzo beans and spices rather than the usual protein surrounded by starch and bread meals. That way the water is reserved with all the goodness of the veggies, and you can add cumin, ginger and paprika and cayenne pepper to make them tastier and better digested. OR you can steam them easily by putting the cut up veggie in a med pot with a tight lid, 1/4 cup water and 1 tbls olive oil. Put on high heat for 4 minutes then check for crisp-tender. Spice and eat. Try to eat only 3-4 types of veggies in a single meal, or less. Consider putting them through a blender. Most of your veggies should be cooked, as you need a strong digestive system to move to raw diet, but the occasional veggie juice is okay. (weak spleen = persistent colds = chapped/peeling lips) Broccoli, cabbage and brussel sprouts are often gas-producing. IF you can handle raw veggies, then go for it. Some body types do best with raw, some need to switch gradually and always limit. Only eat beans and lentils if they have been soaked before cooking, or at least slow cooked, and are eaten with carminative spices and not with sugar (baked beans have sugar with them, that's why they're the magical fruit!). Try to eat more spinach, kale, beets, carrots. They have healing action on the entire digestive system. You need more bitter and/or pungent, herbs and veggies to increase Agni (Digestive Fire). Options besides those already listed are: 1. Swedish Bitters before each meal. 2. Drink more spicey herbal tea, such as Yogi tea's India Spice, and Fennel. 3. Drink this homemade tonic before bed: 1 cup or so of milk simmered for 10 minutes with 1 stick of cinnamon, 3 cloves, 1/2 inch ginger root, 1-2 cardamon seeds. As long as the milk is cooked it shouldn't feed candida too much. Consider eating a mono-diet of nothing but Kichadi (basmati rice and mung bean stew) for one week. Ask for recipe if interested. Consider a warm water fast for one day, or long enough for tongue to become clean. (several days great for Pitta, only 1 day for Vata types). Can drink veggie broth too. Triphala, an Ayurvedic remedy, is good for all body types and aids constipation, is rejuvenative to the entire digestive system. It acts like a laxative but causes no dependency. It strengthens the colon and helps to clear away mucous. It has anti-fungal properties. Had a second colonic yesterday and feel MUCH better mentally. Clearer thinking. I am debating whether to go out and buy an enema bag tonight or not and do some enemas. Maybe I should just wait. It’s hard to tell what to do because sometimes things cloud my mental abilities (i.e. enema with baking soda) possibly due to die-off. I think odor is getting a little better but hard to tell. Still retaining water like crazy. Terrible gas as well. Had night sweat last night. Like a fool, I drank some milk and had some spaghetti sauce (tomatoes) last night which may be why there is a very small odor today. Looking at Shelleycat’s notes, it shows that broccoli may be causing the gas and I sure to eat a lot. Feb 18