Message for sweetjade

[SweetJade1]

Awww, Karl and Prometheus....you guys are good. I read your posts and I feel so at peace. You both seem like inspirational speakers and we can definately use that when confusion or emotions starts to run high =)

I think everyone brought up a good point about what the Heck is a Low Carbohydrate Diet? I will be honest, I have several books and I'm looking to purchase more that are all FORMS (different titles, still same premise) of a low Carb diet (mainly for hard copies of recipes). However, I think that sunfell and prometheus are correct that while some of these low carb diets will HELP, they MAY not get you 100% clear. If someone's goal is to get 100% clear through diet, it will probably be a bit harder for them, then it is if say, you only wanted to get 95%- 99% clear from diet.

Unfortunately this is society's fault, not ours, especially when we knew nothing else. I understand why they had to alter our foods, to make them last longer or to enhance their flavor (MSG = neurotransmitter), but it's not neccessary if we go back to small farms or small batches, etc. It's really their fault that most people continue to eat this way, because they've made eating poorly and sometimes unknowingly unhealthy EASY. It's all around us. It's easy to grab. It's Affordable. There's plenty of it. If you ask me, it feels like These foods have us boxed in and changing our diet is the key to freeing us! We DESERVE to have CHOICES! Who says that just because it's in abundance or "everybody is doing it" that it's Right??? Where would we or this world be with that kind of mentality?

I've also noticed that some people feel they don't have to eliminate something because they "eat it all the time and their acne never gets worse." Hmm...what's wrong with that statement? Could it be that they are eating a specific something ALL THE TIME and for some reason they STILL have acne ALL THE TIME??? While that can be a valid argument, wouldn't it be better to say, "I eliminated that 100% and I still had acne all the time"? Personally, from my own experiences and others, chances are if it's one of your favorite foods or you eat it on a daily basis, you are more than likely going to have to give up at least ONE of these items. It's some odd addiction thing that the mind/body can have for foods that are bad for it. Of course, it certainly doesn't help when our natural instincts are to eat sweet foods (whether you taste the sugar or not) since this is our bodies' fuel source.

Now, I was a bit younger and certainly wasn't fully thinking when I did some of my earlier eliminations (involving dairy), but if you truly want to know if something bothers you, you should fully eliminate it. That means, for example, no form of Dairy Products, if you think Milk is a problem. That means no foods cooked with Milk ingredients, no cheese, no ice cream, no yogurts, etc. I certainly didn't do that, I only eliminated Milk (3 months) and deemed it wasn't a problem for me, even though I was aware that I was still consuming it in other forms. Just like now I consume Organic milk, yet I know when I'm out or at someone's house, I'm not consuming organic milk. So I truly have no idea how Dairy products effect me because I never entirely consumed them in organic form or fully eliminated them!

While it's not always neccessary to do this to see some sort of result, the BEST way to do so, is to just eliminate ALL of it 100%. That means in as many forms, derivatives, and byproducts (as your aware of) and at ALL times! Otherwise, how do you really know?? I know that sounds tough, but that way you get 100% clear and you can work your way BACKWARD and reintroduce foods, ONE food at a time, and see how each one affects your skin. Who knows you may be able to handle certain "no no" foods and/or certain derivatives (whey, lactose, malt, starch,etc) of these foods. Of course, if any of you are like me, you can also gradually ease into and eliminate as you find neccessary (its a teeny bit harder, but you get more to eat starting out).....

I know some people like to do diaries, but that's not me. However, here's a quick summary of how I figured things out:

My Road to 95% Clear Skin:
Take myself, I got 95% clear within 3 months (probably took less time, but that's when I actually noticed) and I did that just by eliminating Gluten Grains! During this time I was like a kid in a candy store. I was buying all sorts of (naturally) Gluten Free Products, or "substitute foods". I was having fun experimenting and trying out these foods and most of them were pretty tasty and some of them were BETTER than the stuff I grew up eating! During this time I was eating dried fruits, fruits, nuts, seeds, poultry, seafood, pork, beef, and vegetables. I was drinking Organic Milk (for cereal or cooking) and Water (90% of the time). Changing my diet just took away my already waning cravings for sweets. I didn't want 100% fruit juice (that's when my mom actually started to buy it...lol). I also wasn't drinking much tea or coffee (but I'm not heavy drinker on these ). I was eating "junk" too! Artifically flavored buttered popcorn (cuz it tastes better...and still do) almost daily. Rice Cakes, (Organic) Potato Chips, GF Granola Bars, GF Muffins, GF Cookies, GF Donuts , GF Pretzels, French Fries, (Organic) Flavored Chicken Wings (like at Wingstop or Wing Works), (Organic) Baked Chickens (some stores like SAMS, like to rub wheat on it so just......peel off the skin.), (organic) yogurt, Breyers Ice Cream, etc. That got me 95% ;-)

My Road to 99% Clear Skin
Sigh...this is where it became a bit tougher for me. I was doing fine, my menstrual pain had STOPPED and my skin was looking better and better every month! So I started experimenting and decided to try "all natural" soda, since I'd been avoiding this for 10 years. Turns out, all natural soda is no better (for me) than regular soda, within a few days, it broke me out...in CYSTS! Yet, I never would have caught that had I not eliminated Gluten first, isn't that odd? I suppose not though, Wheat, etc caused me more hormonal problems than these others, but it still wasn't enough to get me clear. That's also how I discovered that bananas (cysts in my armpit), etc caused me problems. I didn't actually ever do an official test/reintroduction on any foods, just tested them out as I suspected they might be problematic.

It's actually easier to see a pattern when you eat the suspect food daily for 3 - 5 days. That way you are able to pin point what you ate (unless you keep a diary), otherwise, you won't understand why "all of a sudden" your skin was clear or improving and then you started breaking out (worse). I found this to be true when I was forced to eliminate my other favorite fruit (loved bananas) this past summer...Cherries. Since they are seasonal (get them from mexico in the winter though), I hadn't had one since changing my diet until May. I had been eating these for nearly 2 months and for a month I was breaking out constantly in cysts only. As soon as I stopped....so did the cysts...oh well.

Another pattern to look for when you are trying to catch these culprits, is if you are breaking out in the same spot or with only certain types of acne. Since I don't consume GF Substitutes often, that includes commercial (refined) cereals, whenever I would eat cereals (every few months, a bowl a day til box was empty) within a few days I would breakout with pimples and tiny cysts in AND around my earlobes. That was something NEW (you'll notice that you may breakout out in new areas too) and I still have one of these little buggers and it's been over 4 months! Now was it the milk or the cereal or the combination I don't know. I ate Rice Crispies, Natural Rice puffs, Corn Pops, Frosted Flakes, and some organic varieties as well. However I only noted with the Commercial brands (cuz their cheaper and easier to obtain), but since I'm eating corn and rice on a daily basis and this isn't happening, so I figure it has to be the way these cereals are processed..

[SweetJade1]

My Current (or when I feel like it) Road to 100% Clear Skin:
Hey, I'm human and just because I have all these facts backing this up, doesn't mean that I'm going to just instantly change my diet. Incorporating my diet into my social life has never been a problem, but rather finding the time, ingredients, and money to prepare these foods has been. That's actually why I opted to go the long route and as you can see above, my eliminations were all gradual, as I noticed them, and only because it was NECCESSARY. I want ultimate health, but I don't want to starve in the process, so I chose to do this at my own pace. I started this in July 2002 and it will probably be July/August 2004 before I'm done. 2 years on the Right Path vs. 10+ years on the wrong...not a bad deal at all ;-) If I had the money, POOF! I would give away what food I currently have in my house and completely overhaul my kitchen. However I also live with 2 other people (my parents) and one of which (my dad) is trying to do some form of Low Carb as well. Mom though, eats fruits and vegetables more than anyone in the house & doesn't eat "bread", but she's a sugar addict that loves to pick up candies and cookies, etc and it's not even organic/natural baked goods, it has all that junk in it =/

I still eat all of the above foods under the 95% section, but I did eliminate others. I would like to add that because I dropped 80% - 90% of packaged foods (frozen, canned, boxed), due to wheat being in practically everything, my protein intake actually dropped. So you don't neccessarily have to Carb Count or even Load up on Lots of protein to see improvements. So anyway, if I tally up what I'm naturally avoiding ( in foods I elminated or I don't crave) or I've intentially eliminated, this is what I get:

*Gluten Grains and derivatives (wheat, barley, rye,etc) - 100%

*Soda, Pop, Soft Drink (whatever you like to call it) - 100% (never liked the carbonation anyway)

*Peanuts and Cashews (legumes) - 100%

*Cherries and Bananas - 100%

*Candy & Gum (not counting dark chocolate) - 90%

*Oatmeal (is it gluten or not? No one can decide) - 95% [today I bought some Gluten Free, Milk Free, AND Hydrogenated Oil Free "Oatmeal and Raisen" Cookies from Country Choice....lets see what happens]

*All other Grains except Corn and Rice - 90% (don't really have the desire to eat the substitute bread products)

*Dairy - 80% (mainly from prepared food, yogurt, and an occasional taste for ice cream)

*Oranges & Orange Juice - 75% (some reason I stopped consuming these as often and I'm not certain if they are a factor...citrus bothers my dad)

*Beans/Legumes - 60%

*Hydrogenated, etc. "bad" Oils - 50%

The above diet is a combination of the Whole Foods, Paleolithic, Gluten Free, and Anti-Inflammatory Diets (like Perricone's Acne Prescription) =) Considering all the places that I can breakout, I'm very happy right here, plus I've got much smaller pores and less oil production. However as a female, I've had problems with my hair growth and Birth Control, Spironolactone and Avandia, never improved things for me. My current diet has helped some, but I know that since I'm EFA deficient and recently learned that Hydrogenated oils can cause this problem , that's probably what I need to eliminate next, along with supplementing with Fish Oils. Nonetheless, there's a few possibilites as to why I've still got 1% to deal with :

*IT could be because I haven't eliminated dairy products 100%.

*It could be because I haven't eliminated Partially Hydrogenated/ Hydrogenated/ Trans Fat Oils 100%.

*It could be because I'm still consuming one of the top allergens on a daily basis...Corn. In case you're wondering, Wheat, Soy, Dairy, Corn, Shellfish, Peanuts, Tree Nuts, etc are among the top 12 allergens....starting to see a pattern?

*If I really want to be strict with myself, It could be because I haven't eliminated all grains 100%.

They are all valid arguments when it comes to this whole low carbing - hormone mess. If that's what it comes down to, in time (gotta learn to cook) I know I can do it. I've researched this and found books, recipes, and "substitues," so I can definately live off of no grains. Of course, no matter which of the above or combination I eliminate, if I want cake, cookies, a sandwich, pizza, pancakes (yes there are OTHER flours)...chances are I'll be using a mix or cooking from scratch about 90% of the time. In that sense, for some, I think it's easier to just give up certain tendancies, but if you can (learn to) cook...you've got the whole world of gourmet & delicacies in your hands. Oh and of course, much improved health and CLEAR skin. ;-)

In fact, Karl, here's a thread I actually started with the purpose of showing people what they can eat [url]http://www.healthboards.com/boards/showthread.php?t=132048&page=1&pp=5[/url] . I'll bump it and hopefully some people will add recipes or foods they like to the list. Including their specific Dietary Regimen with a listing of the types and brands of foods that they are capable, and most importantly, do eat regularly. That way it will be easier for people to visualize ALL the foods that they too can eat, despite changing their diet.. I must go finish some wrapping and baking (peppermint and toffee bark...giving most of it away, but I've gotta start cooking somehow) now, but I hoped that helped some people feel less overwhelmed or discouraged about this. What you said makes sense and I'll think about some sort of regimen including dietary suggestions, etc. I honestly think it can be very fun, especially when you have support...I guess that's why we have this board.


Take Care
=)


P.S. Karl, eat Gluten Free Bread if you must. It's good that you eliminated wheat, but Rye is another top Gluten Grain. Others seemed to have done well with Spelt (bumped into some spelt cookies today) but it is also a gluten grain. You might find that you'd have better progress eliminating all gluten grains. If you are clear now though, your skin will definately let you know of you are staying on the right track or have veered off ;-)

P.P.S. Today I also bought some Pecan and Smokehouse Flavored Almond Nut Thins (made from rice, nut, and potato flours) from Blue Diamond (Growers Co-op). I must admit they taste much better than the Chedder Rice Crackers, but....I still don't really like the texture so ...won't be a 2nd buy.

[Karl2]

Thank-you for all that Sweetjade; I know we all chew up a lot of your valuable time, so thank-you, sincerely. Merry Christmas to you and your family Sweetjade, and to everyone else out here on the board.

[prometheus]

I agree Fruit. Fruit is good! so very good for you. I think that there are good carbs and there are bad carbs. Fruits and vegetables are good carbs and people should eat more of these. No one gets type 2 diabetes from fruits and vegetables. For people who have already developed problems with sugar, because of bad carbs, then fruits high in these sugars can cause problems, so a low glycemic diet is beneficial, but there are low glycemic fruits that should be eaten in abundance always like berries! I think if anyone wants a real change they will get rid of the bad carbs and the refined sugars, and eventually things will readjust.

You can get organic salmon online. Organic farmed raised salmon is pretty good as well as wild alaskan salmon. Technicaly both are organic.

[prometheus]

Sweetjade, I have no idea what is the deal with these foods. I know what is the problem with the obvious ones like refined sugars and hydrogenated oils. I think it is just a lot of things put together overwhelming a system. I know the liver plays a huge role in the digestion of foods, so that is where you can tie in food intolerances and difficulties digesting proteins like gluten and casein and these lectins you describe. Not everyone has the same strengths. Some people have weak livers or weak hearts. Then there are the hormones in meat and dairy, even organic. Eggs are sticky in the intestines, and I think if someone eats eggs every day then it puts extra pressure on the liver. For people with acne, this is not good. Peanut butter also overwhelms the liver, but commercial brands are filled with hydrogenated oils and refined sugar. So it could be both, or either.