6 Things to Know About Dairy and IC

The products that are derived from milk can be  problematic  It’s based on who is taking them in when it comes to IC and the painful bladder syndrome these choices lead to inflammation  In the energy science world this is a dictum that is the premise to individualizing one’s food choices according to who is eating the food  All foods have the potential to make us sick if not chosen properly and this is particularly true with the IC bladder pain syndrome

For example when you look at the dairy selections at foodsheal.com you’ll find that the choices for dairy are quite broad for Pitta Vata(PV) but limited when comparing the foods with Pitta Kapha(PK)  There are two reasons for this  First the Kapha energy pattern(the energy of stability in the body) is easily congested with dairy due to the heavy quality and so dairy produces imbalance for Kapha people  However the energy of movement in the body(Vata)  due to its light quality is grounded by dairy

Overuse of Dairy Can Be Inflammatory

In general when foods are not digested well they leave behind poorly broken down molecules that cannot be absorbed and assimilated  These large molecules stay in the gut lumen and cause inflammation  This fact is particularly true for dairy’s large lactose and fat molecules(low fat milk or skim milk don’t solve the problem)

But the story gets worse as the years progress  The gut mucosa(lining of the GI tract) can in these cases become affected by this process such that it is not functional to other molecules like another large molecule gluten(there is a large crossover effect with gluten and lactose intolerances) and then the problme compounds itself

These innocent molecules of lactose and gluten get blamed due to our own poor digestion

What To Do?

Decide who you are energetically and eat according to your energy makeup  For example, consuming dairy twice a week is manageable if you’re a PK energy makeup; however, if you’re PV then daily dairy options are available

Digestive strength  The vast majority of people with lactose intolerance are not intolerant to the lactose molecule but rather have poor digestive strength which is the real problem  So the first thing to do in these situations is to build a strong digestion I’ve spent time in previous posts regarding this

Problems with Cheese  Although there are many cheeses available and it’s used in many different dishes, cheese due to its heavy, sticky, cold, liquid, and oily qualities is the worst food to take in when your digestion is not up to par  Soft cheeses may be used occasionally but the hard cheddar cheeses should be left alone since their acidity along with the above qualities make it doubly inflammatory

Ghee is clarified butter and is an excellent way to use dairy butter in IC  The qualities of ghee match those of digestive fire and therefore ghee helps aid digestion It’s also a great way to help the dry quality in the body particularly around constipation or early IBS

Ice Cream has the cold quality and makes this apparent good food for hot inflammation a great choice  Unfortunately the cold quality affects our digestive strength and leads to poor digestion

Yogurt  I’ve previously posted some information on yogurt  Suffice it to say that only homemade yogurt works  Store bought yogurt is too acidic and therefore inflammatory  And remember no fruit with yogurt due to the inflammatory nature of the combination

All the best in your journey     Love DB

5 Ways to Improve Digestion and Heal IC

It’s of no surprise to anyone who has the IC bladder pain syndrome or is involved with an IC support group that bowel symptoms are as common as the flares  As a matter of fact if I were a betting person I would say that there are often more common than the flares that occur

But the bowel symptoms are often overlooked because our tendency is to focus on the organ causing us the most problem, namely the bladder and pelvic symptoms

Step Back

As you have read in some blog posts all disease begins in the GI tract according to the Ayurvedic or energy science model

When you focus too much…..I know that’s hard since the bladder is screaming for attention…. you may lose sight of the fact that the bowel symptoms are there but the bladder is claiming the attention  At least 50% of people with IC have acid indigestion(heartburn) and/or reflux of acid into the lower esophagus and they resort to all kinds of different OTC(over the counter) remedies

It’s estimated that at least 50% of people with IC have IBS and I would say in working with patients that if you counted all their symptoms that it’s more like 100%  The reason I can go that far is that most people walking on this planet have unhealthy digestion

How the Bowel Gets Sick and Symptoms

The reasons for this unhealthy digestion are 2 fold  First the food choices made bring about imbalance of qualities in the GI tract and hence symptoms

But the second reason is probably more important  Poor digestion of food leads to unprocessed undigested food that clog the lymphatics of the gut and cover the surface of the internal lining of the gut interfering with proper digestion, absorption, and assimilation of foods ingested

Due to this “poor digestion” symptoms occur  Gas, bloating, feeling of heaviness lethargy or fatigue after eating, fever, irritability, alternating diarrhea/constipation, loud noises coming from the stomach, poor appetite, congestion in the sinuses, mucoid vomiting or mucous in the stools, having an underactive thyroid, and overall depression….who wouldn’t be with these kinds of symptoms?

Getting Your Digestive Strength Back

Getting your health…..particularly bowel health back….is a challenge but it’s at the heart of dealing with IC  Puzzling isn’t it?  Here you have this bladder problem but you’re being told that you need to really focus on the bowel  Well, it’s actually both BUT you must put some attention on the your bowel function if you’re ever to deal with this problem labeled as IC

Since poor digestion is at the heart of the matter here are four things that you can do  Remember don’t use dry ginger….only fresh

1 Use ginger appetizer to help clear the undigested debris hanging around in your gut  Thirty minutes before eating your biggest meal of the day at noon take a slice of ginger with rock salt, lime juice, and a little honey   (To peel the ginger use a spoon for taking the skin off..and slice an inch long piece of fresh ginger and place into a small container  It’s helpful if the container is small enough to carry in your pocket or purse so that you can take it out to eat with you or to work  Small jars can be purchased at health food stores or you can reuse glass supplement jars  To save time make enough for 2-3 days

2 Use agni tea  Quart of water with 2 handfuls minced ginger root pinch of cayenne (for Pitta disorders, a speck or omit entirely), 2 Tablespoons Sucanat or Maple syrup, and 1-2 teaspoons Rock salt   Bring all of the above ingredients to a boil  Boil for 20 minutes  Take the pot off the burner and cool for a few minutes  Add the juice of ½ lime   Do not boil the lime juice  Pour into a thermos and enjoy throughout the day!

3 Use CCF tea  see prior blog post

4 Chose one day a week to fast  This gives the GI tract a well deserved day off…..you get days off from work – why not do that for your ailing gut?  This fast can be with juice(don’t mix fruit with veggies) or for overweight people, water but some kind of restriction from having to digest  Why?  Because just like a campfire it gets stronger when you don’t put so many logs on the fire  Remember though that predominantly Vata people should only do light eating once every four weeks or they will weaken themselves even more

5  Explore digestive aids such as Betaine HCl or pancreatic enzymes but recognize this as a bandaid and not a fix for the gut  As you can see, relying on something externally forever to help with your digestion is not a long term solution

Best of luck in your journey  DB

Nuts and Seeds for IC

Interstitial cystitis(IC) bladder pain with flares can be amplified by the routine use of nuts and seeds of any kind and this includes their butters!!  Peanut butter, almond butter, cashew butter

Why?

Unlike the matter science(MS) nutritional information that fatty acids are good and bad, the energy science(ES) of Ayurveda states that all nuts are inflammatory due to these molecular fatty acids regardless of the “good or bad nature of them”   The reason for this is that the post digestive(small bowel) effect is heating therefore inflammation provoking

Seeds also can be problematic  Safe to say that all seeds should be used in moderatioin  So popcorn, flax, halva, and pumpkin can be used once every 2-3 days

The sweet taste of many foods covers the acidic nature of the foods itself and this is true of the nut category  This is why the ES nutritional information trumps the MS guesswork around nutrition and is why the anecdotal information of the MS nutritional realm is at times confusing hence flares and then no flares   What gives?   This also explains why various other inflammatory conditions are interrelated with IC such as fibromyalgia, IBS, chronic fatigue syndrome(CFS), GERD, prostatitis(did you know that PSA is a marker for inflammation?), and CPPS(chronic pelvic pain syndrome)

As an aside this sweet taste of nuts in general make them a great choice for building tissue since the sweet taste is anabolic

OK Then What Can I Use for Nuts or Seeds? 

Sorry to blow your day if you crave the mixed nuts but there is certainly a favorite guideline of mine and that is “There are no hard guidelines in the ES realms”  Know that if you use the foods that are provoking that you increase the likelihood of a flare   That use of inflammatory foods will keep you up at the ceiling of the curve below rather than allowing your mindbody to do the rebalancing as the curve progresses to the right(BTW the ascent from the left shows how we gradually get sick over decades by our own choices(Oh shoot, you didn’t have to say that did you?)

Soaked and peeled almonds(this is very important! or you can use slivered almonds from the bulk section of the grocery store if they have one ) are very helpful for their nutritive benefit but also for their cooling effect  Turns out that the skin of the almond holds enzymes that in and of themselves are inflammatory   Almonds are not actually nuts but in the end who cares

Charole(actually seeds like sunflower) is another nut choice  It’s a very small nut found in very few stores in the US(I know because Ive looked; let me know if you have a source that you would share with the community) and is heating but due to the size and its energetics is acceptable and does not provoke Pitta(more about this energy pattern in future blog posts)

And of course coconut because it’s COOLING!  The general energy science principle is this:  Plants that grow in hot climates are there for a very specific reason  Their job is to make the environment cold(well cooler) and so Momma Nature is always taking care of balancing herself

What about nut milks?  Almond Breeze is made from blanched and peeled almonds so a great drink  Coconut milk also is a very nutritious drink and both these “nut” milks make great date shakes  More about that in the future

Note that popcorn is full of air therefore aggravating Vata so should be used in moderation

3 Nut Alternatives

Here are three options for substitution without provoking inflammation or the Pitta energy pattern in the physiology

Use the above three recommendations and make your own nut butters from the slivered almonds

Sunflower seeds can be used by anyone anywhere anytime  Sooo..  sunflower butter sold at Trader Joe’s is an excellent proprietary product and the best tasting sunflower butter on the planet    Have tasted many and this by far is the closest to peanut butter with a nice sweet taste  Mmm good!

Give yourself “permission” to have a few nuts every once and a while if the craving is too great   The ES reminds us that food cravings are a result of imbalanced digestion so the faster we can improve our digestion the better it will be

Interested in a free ES consultation with me?  Just tap on this link

Or sign up to join our growing ES IC community!

Well enough for now  Until next time                                           To Health as a Skill  Love DrBill

New Release of Book: IC Bladder Pain Syndrome: The Energy Science Approach

I wanted you all to know that finally after 8 months of trying to get the book right, my book IC Bladder Pain Syndrome:  The Alternative Medical Treatment for Interstitial Cystitis in available at Amazon

As you know the book outlines the energy science approach to IC and contrasts the current traditional matter(molecular) approach to the problem

This is the first book that has taken the disease label of IC and shown how and why energy science principles can deal with this disease

And this is the first in a series of books dealing with the IC bladder pain syndrome  As you know IC is associated with sister diseases:  fibromyalgia, chronic prostatitis, IBS(irritable bowel syndrome), and GERD(gastroesophageal reflux disease, aka hyperacidity syndrome and acid indigestion), and chronic fatigue syndrome  It is unclear why these associated sister diseases occur with IC from a molecular approach  In the years to come I’ll deal with each one of these disease labels and show how they are intimately associated with IC

From an energy science point of view this association makes complete sense and I cover this relationship in the book

I also discuss the relationship between hysterectomy and menses and show why energetically there must be a correlation between IC and the female genital tract

So go over to this link and grab a copy   And please post a comment review to the home page

Your help is much appreciated     Best Dr Bill

The Power of Rituals in IC

When you think about it, all healing involves rituals   If the doctor gives you a pill for high blood pressure, you make a point during the day(preferably the same time every day) to take the pill  If you want to change your nutritional format to heal your IC, you put into place things that you do on a regular basis to change your pattern of choices

So painful bladder flares are no different than any other disease in responding to planned ritualistic behavior

But why does employing rituals work?

Rituals and Healing

Rituals are a way to grab our attention  When someone gets married, a wedding is held to grab everyone’s attention about the significance of a happening in two familys’ lives as well as the couple getting hitched  When you brush your teeth, it’s done out of a ritual that you’ve created called “getting ready for the day”  But when you think about it, this concocted ritual is really important for your health  It not only sets the tone for the day but there are health advantages such as clean teeth and bodily hygiene  The holidays that have just passed is another great example of ritualistic behavior

Some people create rituals around various health activities such as exercise

The characteristics of a ritual are: 1 they are done consistently, 2 usually best done when they are at the same time of day, 3 as above they are done to grab our attention that something important is being done

Hey,  Pay Attention

I’m sure you’ve experienced the “well worn rut” in your life where you feel that something has to change but instead of doing something different you continue on the same path as yesterday

A ritual has the power to break up the “same old” behavior patterns that may not be serving you very well and asks the bodymind to “Hey, wake up, pay attention to what I’m doing here…..it’s important!”

And the beauty about rituals is that they are done as a matter of a habit….just like the old habits that didn’t serve you very well  Think of it as replacing one habit with another  But the habit being replaced is usually not a well thought out pattern of behavior but something that has crept into your day somewhat by accident not by your permission

Things To Know About Rituals

Probably the hardest thing that you do in life is change behavior patterns that don’t serve you very well  This is why rituals can be so powerful

Many of the healing techniques in the energy science realm are those suggesting a shift in behaviors, such as eating differently(avoiding coffee, carbonated drinks, use of spices) going to bed early and getting up early to start the day, morning oil massage, use of mono diets on occasion based on your energy makeup, etc

But there are some things that you should know about rituals employed for health

1 Not a quick fix  It’s about the proverbial “drip on the forehead” that over time has the physical capability to make a groove in granite  So it’s the persistence and consistency that pays off with any health ritual  You may know of the consistency of exercise and its rewards but it’s the establishment of the exercise ritual that does the magic

2 Real healing takes time   Actually a corollary to the above is that any energy healing requires time and patience  This is particularly difficult to believe if you’re experiencing pain  After all the whole reason that you’re taking on the ritual to begin with is to reduce the pain that is causing havoc in your life

3 Ritual adaptation  At times the ritual may need to be adapted, modified, or altered to get the best result  This doesn’t mean that the ritual is dismissed but rather it is changed as it is experienced  For example, if you find fatigue with your new exercise ritual, instead of doing it every day in the week, reduce it to 6 times per week

Good luck in your ritual planning for 2014!   Love DB