The Best Brain Inflammation Pain Energy And Detox Diet Ever
Try this diet. I think it is the best option for someone with chronic Lyme disease. It is designed to:
- improve brain function and grow nerve connections,
- prevent Alzheimers disease and Parkinsons disease which Lyme can trigger,
- prevent and treats yeast overgrowth in the intestines that could cause more inflammation,
- provide key vitamins, antioxidants, and dietary fiber for detoxification,
- and repair and grow cell energy factories called mitochondria found in every cell.
The diet is named the Mito Food Plan. It was developed by physicians and nutritionist from The Institute for Functional Medicine and is based on the latest science. This article includes numerous papers and articles that are printed here for you to download with permission of the authors.
Customizing Diet And Nutrition For Clients With Lyme
The dietary template outlined here can do wonders in helping your clients with Lyme disease experience symptom relief. However, Lyme disease patients are a complicated bunch, and some may require a more customized dietary approach due to digestive health issues, food sensitivities, and nutrient deficiencies.
Functional lab testing can help you tailor nutrition protocols to the needs of your clients, helping them get back on their feet faster.
I hope you find these nutritional strategies useful as you work with clients who have Lyme disease!
Support Your Gut Health
A healthy gut is crucial for Lyme disease recovery. The gut is the seat of approximately 70-80% of your bodys immune system. The gut is also an elimination route for bacteria killed off during Lyme disease treatment. An unhealthy gut can make for a difficult Lyme recovery. Eating a gut-supportive diet is another crucial element of an optimal diet for Lyme disease.
Poor digestion is just one way an unhealthy gut can hinder Lyme recovery. For example, suppose you are not digesting fats properly and cannot absorb sufficient vitamin D to support your immune system. In that case, your immune system may struggle to overcome Lyme disease until the fat malabsorption issue is resolved.
Many of the inflammatory foods I discussed earlier, including gluten and industrial seed oils, can harm gut health and should be avoided during Lyme disease recovery. Conversely, nutrient-dense plant foods, bone broth, and fermented foods can support a healthy gut, aiding Lyme disease recovery.
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The Lyme Diet Nutritional Strategies For Healing From Lyme Disease By Nicola Mcfadzean Nd
Reviewed By: Dorothy Kupcha Leland, LymeDisease.org
Improving diet may be one of the most important steps a Lyme patient can take on the road back to health.
Changing the way you eat can be difficult enough for people who are generally healthy. Trying to transform dietary habits when youre chronically ill might seem insurmountable. Yet, according to Lyme-literate naturopath Dr. Nicola McFadzean, improving diet may be one of the most important steps a Lyme patient can take on the road back to health.
In her book, The Lyme Diet: Nutritional Strategies for Healing from Lyme Disease , McFadzean examines what she calls three pillars of Lyme treatment. These are: killing bugs strengthening the body and reducing other stressors
Writes McFadzean: The role of nutrition is central not so much in the actual bug-killing, but in the underlying strength and resilience of your health. Immune support, inflammation management, hormone regulation and detoxification functions can all be vitally influenced by your nutritional intake.
The Lyme diet she recommends is first and foremost anti-inflammatory. According to McFadzean, the chronic inflammation associated with Lyme disease contributes to joint pain, swelling, fatigue, brain fog and headaches, and inhibits healthy cell function. She advises against highly pro-inflammatory foods like gluten and dairy, and in favor of good fats like fish and flax oil for their anti-inflammatory properties.
Is It Time To Get A New Diet For Lyme Disease
Youre looking for a new diet for lyme disease. What do you think? Its difficult to predict future price changes. If there are no signs of production slowing, it can be worth buying now to enjoy your investment sooner. But if output is declining and prices are predicted to rise, you might want to wait until the buzz has died down before making a choice.
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Five Principles Of The Lyme Disease Diet
The optimal diet for Lyme disease isnt a one-size-fits-all dietary approach. Its also not a fad diet, such as a vegan diet or carnivore diet. Instead, the optimal diet for Lyme recovery is an anti-inflammatory, nutrient-dense diet founded upon five nutrition principles.
There are five nutrition principles that comprise the optimal Lyme disease diet:
Lets start by covering the inflammatory foods that you should remove from your diet to facilitate Lyme disease recovery.
The Keto Diet And Lyme Disease
You know the drill if you have Lyme disease. You may have gotten a positive Lyme diagnosis, and youre in the process of finding the right protocol or treatment that helps you get back to normal, if you can. Perhaps youve caught Lyme early and your doctor goes the traditional route and uses Doxycycline or Rocephin to try to nip things in the bud. You may also know that by taking antibiotics for any length of time, youll start to create an imbalance of yeast overgrowth in your intestinal tract that needs to be addressed by counter-active measures like probiotics and some changes in your diet.
As a nutritionist who has late-stage Lyme, Id like to share some dietary plans and how they can assist with managing the Lyme bacterium and imbalances of yeast and potential fungus in your gut. You may also have co-infections like Babesia, and then you are dealing with not only bad bacteria but parasite overgrowth as well.
So what is the Ketogenic Diet exactly?
The keto in a ketogenic diet comes from the fact that it allows the body to produce small fuel molecules called ketones. This is an alternative fuel source for the body, used when blood sugar is in short supply.
How Burning Off Fat Stores Helps Get Rid of Lyme
The Lyme bacteria cannot survive because it does not have fuel, just like a vehicle will not run properly without gasoline.
Other Keto Benefits That Will Make Your Body Happy
What Exactly Do I Eat on Keto?
Keto and Lyme Disclaimer
Keep a Symptom Log and Food Diary
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Problem : Conventional Treatment May Not Be Sufficient
The conventional approach to Lyme typically includes 10 to 28 days of antibiotics. Then what? Well, nothing. That course of antibiotics supposedly kills off the bacteria. The problem with this is that some research suggests that as many as 25 percent of patients with Lyme disease still have some symptoms long after antibiotic therapy, suggesting that some bacteria lingers, or its effects linger in the body.
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Now, they say theyve identified 35 distinctive biomarkers that distinguish people with either type of Lyme disease from those without the condition. In a news release, researchers say they plan to use the biomarkers to develop a diagnostic test that could identify the condition in other patients.
A genetic test would be an improvement on current FDA-approved tests, which identify antibodies that can take weeks to emerge.
The research was conducted by scientists from the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York and the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. Earlier this year, several of the researchers from Johns Hopkins published a study along with scientists from the University of California at San Francisco announcing that they had developed a panel of 31 biomarkers that allowed them to accurately identify Lyme disease in 95.2 percent of patients.
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Whats Wrong With The Way Our Healthcare System Treats Lyme
So how does mainstream medicine diagnose and treat Lyme? Most of the time its done through lab work and a round of antibioticsbut thats only if you notice a bite or your doctor has been trained to recognize the many vague and mysterious symptoms of Lyme. And even if you do successfully treat Lyme, chronic Lyme can persist long after youve taken those antibiotics, a condition that is now referred to as post-treatment Lyme disease syndrome. Thankfully, post-treatment Lyme disease syndrome is gaining recognition, especially in the functional medicine community and with the support of organizations like the International Lyme and Associated Diseases Society.
As a Lyme-literate functional medicine expert, I take a multi-pronged approach to treating Lyme disease. This includes specific supplements, forms of exercise, and most importantly: using food as medicine â a focus on a successful lyme disease diet.
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Lyme Disease Diet Restrictions
Sugar
The biggest restriction for any Lyme Disease diet recipe is sugar. Sugar promotes inflammation in the body and wreaks havoc on the immune system. Cancer cells feed on sugar. And, so does the bacteria that causes Lyme Disease.
Sugar is a double-edged sword. Not only does the harmful bacteria feed on it, so, too, does yeast. Talk about a one-two punch to the gut!
Sugar is a big no-no for anybody with Lyme Disease. If youre prone to Lyme flare-ups, be honest with yourself. Ask yourself the following:
- Are you eating a healthy Lyme Disease diet?
- Do you avoid eating foods and drinks with added sugars?
- Is your fruit intake limited to a small-serving of berries and other low-sugar fruits such as avocados and grapefruit?
Grains can promote inflammation. You may not think of brown rice as an evil sugar like regular soda, but grains can be broken down by the digestive system into simple sugars.
If your gut bacteria ratio is not optimal, the yeast can feed off the rice, pasta, bread and other high-starch carbs. This yeast overgrowth can, in turn, promote inflammation in the joints.
Vegetable Oil
Another Lyme Disease diet restriction is vegetable oil. Vegetable oils are polyunsaturated fats that are high in Omega-6 fatty acids.
Omega 6s arent necessarily bad for health, but there are two problems with them. First, most people have an unhealthy ratio of Omega-6s to Omega-3s, consuming far too many 6s and not enough 3s.
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Swap The Sad Diet For Anti
When it comes to managing inflammation, diet is the perfect place to start. The foods you choose to eat can either help or hinder your recovery from Lyme disease by impacting your bodys inflammatory burden. The Standard American Diet, rich in refined carbohydrates and industrial seed oils, increases the expression of pro-inflammatory cytokines, immune molecules that trigger an inflammatory response. Many of the same pro-inflammatory cytokines triggered by the SAD diet are also triggered by Lyme disease and other tick borne infections.1 The SAD diet is also associated with an impaired immune response, which is the last thing you want when youre battling an infection.2 Other food groups, such as gluten and dairy, can also trigger inflammation and are best avoided by people with Lyme disease.
Conversely, eating an anti-inflammatory, nutrient-dense diet can accelerate your recovery process and create a foundation for long-term health. At CCFM, we recommend that most patients begin a Paleo Reset Diet. This diet is designed to reduce inflammation and improve digestion, energy, blood sugar control, and body weight. The Paleo Reset Diet is centered around the following foods:
- Non-starchy vegetables ideally 6-8 cups of vegetables across the color spectrum
Help Clients Recover From Lyme Disease With Diet And Nutrition
Optimal nutrition is essential for Lyme disease recovery. Read on to learn how you, as a dietitian or CNS, can help your clients with Lyme disease ease their symptoms and lead a healthier life with a nutrient-dense, anti-inflammatory diet.
Lyme disease, contracted from the bite of a black-legged tick carrying Borrelia bacteria, is one of the fastest-growing infectious diseases in the United States. At least 300,000 people are newly diagnosed each year in the U.S., and a shocking 1.5 million have chronic Lyme disease.
As a clinical nutritionist working with clients who have Lyme disease, Ive seen firsthand how a Functional Medicine approach based on simple dietary changes can boost energy, support cognitive function, and alleviate chronic inflammation, reducing the impact of Lyme disease on my clients lives. While nutrition cannot cure Lyme disease, it can ease symptoms and improve your clients overall health, complementing their Lyme treatment protocols and accelerating the healing process.
For people with Lyme disease, making simple dietary changes can help boost energy, improve cognitive function, and reduce chronic inflammation. Find out how clinical nutritionist Lindsay Christensen uses diet and nutrition to support clients with Lyme. #nutrition #functionalmedicine
Contents
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Tips For What To Eat When You Have Lyme Disease
Many patients write to me asking about what is commonly known as The Lyme Diet. Since Ive mentioned in previous posts that I stick to a low-sugar, gluten-free diet, people want to know why I do that, and what else they should eliminate.
The Lyme Diet can be defined in a few different ways. Most doctors would agree that it involves no sugar or gluten. This is because those foods can weaken the immune system, cause yeast overgrowth , and cause inflammation. Many doctors also suggest eliminating dairy, since it can be inflammatory. In her book The Lyme Diet, Nicola McFadzean , ND lists these foods as the biggest problems for Lyme patients. She also stresses food allergy testing, dietary supplements, sticking with organic foods, and creating an individualized approach for each patient.
In their book Coping with Lyme Disease: A Practical Guide to Dealing with Diagnosis and Treatment, Denise Lang and Kenneth Liegner, MD recommend a low-fat menu an abundance of fresh or frozen vegetables avoidance of caffeine avoidance of yeast-contaminating products adequate vitamin supplements and avoidance of chocolate, aged cheese, and broccoli for headache-prone patients. They also list nutritional supplements that they find helpful for Lyme patients.
Related blog posts:
References:
Lang, Denise and Liegner, Kenneth, MD. Coping with Lyme Disease: A Practical Guide to Dealing with Diagnosis and Treatment . New York: Henry Holt and Company, 1997 .
Move A Little Every Day
Yoga and Pilates are excellent but arent for everyone. The idea is to do something you enjoy. I also love taking walks and breathing in the fresh air and do this whenever I can get outside.
If youre stuck inside try some slow, gentle stretches or resistance training. And if you can do more and your doctor says its okay, then go for it!
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How Do You Rate The Importance Or Danger Of Animal Products In The Diet
Judy Rocher says: Animal products, so long as they are free range, grass fed and organic, can be excellent sources of protein, vitamins and minerals. Processed meats should be avoided, but otherwise, a palm-sized portion a few times a week can be helpful if liked.
Some people need to avoid pork products, but chicken or turkey may be easier to tolerate. Organ meats such as liver are highly nutritious, and provide good levels of B12 often deficient in vegan and vegetarian diets.
Fish, such as mackerel, sardines, anchovies, wild alaskan salmon, is a good source of essential fatty acids and protein. It is important to avoid fish high in pollutants like mercury which may be higher in canned tuna and swordfish and to look for line caught deep sea fish rather than mass netted fish.
Gilian Crowther says: A 2017 study associated red meat with higher levels of arachidonic acid, a mediator that promotes inflammation and ageing. It also elevates levels of hs-CRP , an indicator of inflammation.
Antibiotics are always used in the rearing of non-organic poultry, so organic chicken and turkey is always preferable.
Foods That Support Glutathione Production
A variety of whole foods have been found to support glutathione production. Cruciferous vegetables such as broccoli, brussels sprouts, cauliflower, and kale are rich in sulforaphane, a phytochemical that augments glutathione production. Plants from the Allium genus, including garlic, onions, and leeks, induce the activity of glutathione S-transferase and glutathione peroxidase, critical enzymes in the glutathione system.
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Polysaccharides To Refrain From With Lyme Disease Diet
Sucrose, fructose, lactose, alpha-galactose, mucilage less than 1gm per cup per serving
References:
- Moriya Ohkuma, Satoko Noda, Satoshi Hattori, et al. Acetogenesis from H2 plus CO2 and nitrogen fixation b an endosymbiotic spirochete of a termite-gut cellulolytic protist. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 2015 112:10224-10230. doi:10.1073/pnas.1423979112.
- Akatsu S. The Influence of Carbohydrates on the Cultivation of Spirochetes. The Journal Of Experimental Medicine. 1917 25:375-380.
- Phillips ND, La T, Pluske JR, Hampson DJ. A wheat-based diet enhances colonization with the intestinal spirochaete Brachyspira intermedia in experimentally infected laying hens. Avian Pathology. 2004 33:451-457. doi:10.1080/0307945042000260620.
- McKenna M. A meaty mystery. Biologist. 2019 66:18-21.
- de la Fuente J, Pacheco I, Villar M, Cabezas-Cruz A. The alpha-Gal syndrome: new insights into the tick-host conflict and cooperation. Parasites & Vectors. 2019 12:154. doi:10.1186/s13071-019-3413-z.
- McFadzean N. Nutrition and Lyme Disease. Townsend Letter. 2010 :64-65.
- Nieto-Patlan A, Campillo-Navarro M, Rodriguez-Cortes O, et al. Recognition of Candida albicans by Dectin-1 induces mast cell activation. Immunobiology. 2015 220:1093-1100. doi:10.1016/j.imbio.2015.05.005.
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Foods That May Cause Inflammation
Just as specific foods can ease the bodys inflammatory response, others can send it into overdrive. Here are some of the worst culprits:
- Processed foods: On his blog, Dr. Bill Rawls, a Lyme disease expert, recommends looking at your grocery cart and aiming to have the majority of items not need a nutritional label.
- Any type of fried food, including French fries and fried chicken
- Cakes, cookies, and other sweets
- Sugary beverages, like sodas
- High-fat dairy, such as whole milk, various cheeses, and butter
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