hugs to shiela
please read below to see if any of this will help you ok. hugs 
bettyg, iowa leader
yeast & candida Lymetoo/TUTU’s links:
********************************************
Candida diet and elimination:
Lyme symptoms list compared with yeast symptoms
Yeast Infection, The Silent Epidemic from dentist, docdave, 8-07
http://flash.lymenet.org/scripts/ultimatebb.cgi?
ubb=get_topic&f=1&t=068288#000001
CANDIDA,,,WHAT LLMDS ARE MISSING by Bugg, .7.7.08..excellent!
http://flash.lymenet.org/ubb/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;
f=1;t=068694b
DIETS FOR LYME BY SMOKITO/AMANDA, RN 4.1.10
Start with a healthy balanced diet and go from there. No added sugars. No processed foods. Don't eat any foods you are intolerant/allergic/sensitive to (e.g. dairy if you are lactose intolerant).
Interesting facts about digestion & immune system (this may help explain the importance of diet):
1. Animal experiments with sterilization of the gut found that when beneficial bacteria living on the intestinal epithelium (lining) are removed, the cell renewal process of the intestines gets completely out of order.
This results in less cells (enterocytes) being born, and less being born healthy, resulting in abnormal cells (and the potential to become cancerous).
The microvilli degenerates and results in malabsorption, nutritional deficiencies, food intolerances, and colitis/inflammation (think of a lawn scraped by a snow plow).
2. Gut flora is essentially the housekeeper of the digestive system. Without healthy flora, the body is unable to digest food properly.
For example: Milk & Wheat protein (a problem with many Lyme patients) are digested as follows:
First in the stomach the digestive juices split the proteins into peptides. Then these peptides move into the small intestine where pancreatic juices get involved. Thirdly, at the small intestine wall, they must be broken down by enzymes on the microvilli.
In patients with damaged enterocytes, the wheat and milk proteins get absorbed into the bloodstream unchanged and cause problems in the body. (in particular, interference with brain & immune system function.)
3. It probably isn't new to you that the beneficial flora/bacteria in our GI tract perform a good chunk of digestive functions.
Lactose in particular is mostly digested by E. Coli (non-pathogenic strains). Other beneficial bacteria actively synthesizes various nutrients.
4. Essential bacteria in our GI tract engage a part of the immune system: the lymphoid tissues of the gut wall and are part of the production of large numbers of lymphocytes and immunoglobulins. (Bifidobacteria is one good example of this.)
5. The last big important fact that I must mention is toxins & medications. Painkillers in particular stimulate growth of hemolytic (destroys blood cells) forms of bacteria & Campylobacter in the gut which are capable of causing disease. Steroids are notorious for causing Candida overgrowth (oh, the list goes on .)
Healing the gut involves the obvious step of cutting out foods and substances that are counterproductive to healing (aside from necessary medications).
These foods include: wheat, gluten, casein, grains, sugars, and starches.
Starches is one particular food type that many diets don't cut out so I will explain a bit more about why this is necessary.
Digestion of starch requires quite a bit of work for the digestive system. In healthy people some starch goes undigested due to the complex structure.
Aside from the issues of having undigested food in your gut, starch that is digested is broken up into Maltose, which is a sugar that cannot be absorbed without being split up into monosugars by the enterocytes (see where this is going). Damaged enterocyte=undigested, unabsorbed.
Now, most fruit, particularly unripe, contains a double sugar. It is very important to eat ripe fruit for this reason. The small amounts of starch and sucrose (double sugar) in fruit and non-starch vegetables are tiny compared to the grains, starchy vegetables and table sugar.
Fats are very important for healthy nerve function (in particular). Fats are very easy for the enterocytes to absorb, however if the gut flora is substandard, mucous production by the GI lining will be extreme (protective measure).
This will result in fat not being able to reach the enterocytes (for absorption) and pale, greasy stools.
When starches and table sugars are cut out of the diet for a long enough period, the mucous production normalises and absorption improves.
The last big food type that should be eliminated is: soy
Soy impairs iodine absorption and reduces thyroid function. The processing of soy includes large amounts of aluminum. Soy beans have high concentrations of phytates which bind to minerals and block absorption.
Soy allergies are very common. And last but not least, the natural estrogens in soy, while useful for menopausal women, are not so useful for others.
This is not set in stone. It just explains why some of these foods are cut out. Not everyone needs to cut out all of these foods. Remember, the bacteria is stealing nutrients from you that you need, so you can't stop taking in those nutrients to starve the bacteria. It would starve your own cells as well.
Post edited by: smoxito, at: 04/01/2010 01:51 PM
