IC and Yogurt: 7 Ways to Optimize Digestion

From an energy science point of view the IC bladder pain syndrome( interstitial cystitis, vulvodynia, chronic prostatitis, IBS, GERD, and fibromyalgia)  is a Vata and Pitta provoked disease, that is, too much hot and mobile qualities in the urinary tract – an imbalance created by the foods consumed   So the obvious first step is to reduce those foods that are Pitta and Vata provoking  When first getting started to get some relief from the burning sensation you can begin with just a Pitta pacifying nutritional format as at icdiet.com but as you progress using a format that is appropriate for you energy constitutional makeup can be found at foodsheal.com after taking the test

One particular thread that I have seen come up is the question about IC and yogurt   How should it be used and whether it is safe in IC, that is, whether it is Vata and Pitta provoking, causing bladder pain

Yogurt is an amazing food and many ethinic cultures on the planet use fresh yogurt and kefir as health promoting foods in their nutrition   And there are very good reasons for doing so but due to the Pitta aggravating nature of yogurt, freshly made is the only way to go in moderation

Helping Restore Imbalanced Agni

The value of yogurt is that it serves when freshly made a rich source of probiotic which is a population of “good bacteria” that reside in the bowel  “Bad” bacteria at times overgrow the gut flora leading to poor digestion, absorption, and assimilation so it’s important that the good flora flourishes and the bad are kept in check   As I’ve alluded to in the past, bacterial growth is a major part of our digestive strength that needs to be nourished

This is particularly important if you have GERD, IBS, and fibromyalgia associated with IC since the digestive fire is significantly compromised in these dual conditions

Regular use of freshly made yogurt insures that the “good” bacteria are consistently replenished  Agni is always compromised in these conditions and since the bacterial flora is part of agni it’s important to supplement with probiotic foods such as yogurt  SIBO(small intestinal bacterial overgrowth) is commonly thought of as the root cause of many bowel diseases but from an energy science perspective it’s just saying that agni is disturbed

You may have heard of yeast overgrowth and this is yet another factor that can lead to poor digestive fire(eliminating yeast laden bread products is a good idea in that it gives us more  than we need so flatbreads are best or at least toasting yeasted products)  This candidal imbalance in bowel flora much like SIBO is a result of poor agni  So building up agni is one of the central therapeutic themes in the management of the IC bladder pain syndrome

Bowel flora is important in the concept of digestive fire and aids in bowel digestive function as well as providing important nutrients for our nutrition

Pasteurized yogurts should be avoided as pasteurization kills off the beneficial probiotic component of yogurt

Making Digestion Easy By Predigestion-Optimizing Digestive Strength

The value of yogurt comes in the predigestion of lactose and casein which we talked about a couple of days ago  Hence the bacteria during the incubation phase of creating yogurt use the sugar lactose and break down the protein casein  The lactose then doesn’t bother the lactose intolerant and the casomorphin derivative from casein digestion can be less, hence affecting us less

Why freshly made?  From an energy science view the build up of acidity occurs with aging yogurt even if refrigerated becomes inflammatory and thus Pitta provoking   You also get the maximal amount of probiotic in the yogurt(some bacteria die off after 4-5 days)

Even though fresh yogurt is not very acidic(sour taste) it still can be Pitta provoking if used daily   Hence home made yogurt has its consumption limitations

So Some Guidelines

1 Based on the foodsheal.com food combining list, don’t use fruit with yogurt

2 To really inhibit the negative sour effects of even freshly made yogurt, the use of Sucanat or Turbinado(crystallized cane sugars) can be important because the sweet taste helps balance the aggravating sour taste

3 Always use yogurt in moderation, that is, 2-3x per week

4 Store bought and therefore processed yogurt is too acidic and will provoke IC

5 Diluting the yogurt with water reduces its acidity

6 Keeping in the fridge after it comes from the incubation phase will help get the yogurt firmer

7  For best results use whole mil

How to get started

Buy a yogurt maker(Donvier is a French brand or other various manufacturers can be found on Amazon)   Using fresh starter each time ensures that the bacterial count of the yogurt will be rich  The small amount of starter is not enough to aggravate Pitta

And yes, it does take some time to make your own yogurt but after doing it, in a short time you can do a batch in about 15 minutes(total time; heating the milk and cooling it can be done while doing other things)

If the yogurt is curdly and clearly not smooth in texture it means that there’s probably too much cooking going on and that the incubation times are too long  So try 10 hours instead of 12 hours with the Donvier

YouTube has several videos on how to make your own yogurt

It’s best not to use dry milk powder as the milk product as it is provoking to Vata Pitta

Here’s a link for directions on making your own for trouble shooting

The greatest value is making your own yogurt is that you participate in your own health and this is a small but significant step in assuming responsibility for our health

IC and Mast Cells: 3 Acute Ways to Inhibit Formation and Pain

Mast cells are part of the immune system and are found throughout the body particularly in areas of inflammatory reaction  It has been found that those with IC and bladder ulcerative changes(<5% of the IC population) have 5x more mast cells than others with IC  Thus those with the IC bladder pain syndrome(interstitial cystitis, vulvodynia, chronic prostatitis, IBS, GERD, and fibromyalgia) may have a common pathway through excess mast cell production  The reason that this becomes important is that the mast cell produces many irritating molecules that may mediate the pain complex that is present

Why Do Mast Cells Concentrate in the Bladder Wall?

There is a functional relationship between mast cell production and the autonomic nervous system which is the part of the nervous system that causes the bladder to function  If the nervous system becomes hyperexcitable or extra nervous then this will in and of stimulate mast cell arousal  This begins the cascade of molecular events that leads to the release of NGF, TNF, histamines, endokrines, and other modulating molecules that cause irritability

So the next question is “Why does the nervous system become irritable in the pelvic area?”  This becomes a problem from the matter science point of view because the model cannot hold the space to allow an answer  But the energy science model can explain the origin of the nervous system behavior based on the qualities that emanate from the lower rectum and come to reside in the pelvic nerves, both somatic and autonomic

This becomes a big deal as it gets to the heart of the origin of the IC bladder pain syndrome

3 Ways to Influence Mast Cell Production by Affecting the Pelvic Nerve Complex

In the energy science of Ayurveda there is a dictum that there is no pain without the Vata energy pattern  So it’s not surprising that all pain syndromes have Vata involvement energetically mediated molecularly through the nervous system

1 Basti downregulates mast cell production by changing nerve plexus irritation  This is a time honored way to deal with Vata imbalance which disturbs nervous tissue  There are many forms of basti both internal and external  Internal basti is done by placing herbal decoctions with oil, usually sesame, into the lower rectum by enema bag  Many people with IC have been poked and jabbed by instruments or tubes going into the bladder  Why would a comfortable placement of a tube into the lower rectum through the anus be such a big deal? So self done enemas can be a major step toward controlling the imbalance in the pelvic nerves and in so doing influence mast cell production and the symptoms of fatigue, cognitive disruption, sleep disorders, mood disorders, and general malaise

2 PeaPure or palmitoylethanolamide (PEA) is actually a glial cell modulator(nervous system immune cells) that impacts mast cell formation through its interaction with NGF  Its mode of action is more than likely by affecting the nervous system which induces the mast cells to begin with  Due to the work of Nobel Price Laureate Rita Levi Montalcini who was the first to identify PEA as a mast cell inhibitor in 1993  Based on her work PEA has been extensively used as a analgesic and anti-inflammatory compound since the last decade, especially in the countries were PEA is available, Italy, Spain and the Netherlands  It’s available as a nutraceutical in 400mg tablets

3 LDN(Low Dose Naltrexone) has been shown to be effective in forms of chronic pain syndrome  It is a novel anti-inflammatory agent in the central nervous system, via action on microglial cells and may represent one of the first glial cell modulators to be used for the management of chronic pain disorders  As a daily oral therapy, LDN is inexpensive and well-tolerated

IC and Blockage of Prana: 7 Ways to Get Prana Moving

The energy science of Ayurveda uses the VPK(Vata Pitta Kapha) paradigm as a way of talking about the mindbody as a biologic energy field  In the energy field model of the energy science health is enjoyed when there is free flow of this biologic energy throughout the physiology and dis-ease is recognized when there is abnormal flow of this biologic energy  In this model energy is called prana  Prana is a general term for the biologic energy but VPK are types of biologic energy  In other energy models prana is called chi, qi, ru, or ruha  Regardless we notice things are not right when this energy flow is in some way compromised or obstructed

In the IC bladder pain syndrome(interstitial cystitis, vulvodynia, chronic prostatitis, IBS, GERD, fibromyalgia) prana gets stuck in the pelvic plexus of nerves  This pranic blockage of Vata is due to the buildup of the Vata qualities of cold, light, mobile, dry, rough, subtle, clear; pranic blockage can occur with the buildup of Pitta qualities of hot, light, spreading, sharp, liquid, oily; and prana is significantly blocked with the Kapha qualities of heavy, slow/dull, cool, slimy/smooth, liquid, dense, hard, soft, static, cloudy/sticky

Ama and the Flow of Prana

When these above qualities accumulate they slow down the flow of prana through the GIT(GI tract) and affect agni  When agni becomes disturbed food is no longer digested well and the result is undigested unprocessed food called ama  When these qualities of VPK leave the GIT and go into the pelvic nerves(IC bladder pain syndrome) they carry this ama with them  You can see this ama on your tongue when you scrape it in the morning during your morning ritual  This is a great way as to check your progress when you are regaining your health

This ama blocks the energy channels as well as the qualities of VPK mentioned above So as you can see one of the major ways to clear the channels and hence improve the flow of prana is to augment or improve your own digestive fire or agni

Enhancing Pranic Flow by Improving Agni

The beauty of the energy model is that it not only helps us understand how disease originates but it gives us multiple ways to fix it  One of the major problems in the matter science medical model is that it does not have any understanding of this concept of agni  Even though it speaks about metabolism in a molecular way due to the model it has no way of treating the metabolism about which it speaks

The energy science offers several ways to clear obstructed channels in the mindbody some of which you are familiar with

1 Teas CCF tea….cumin, coriander, and fennel

Fresh ginger, cardamom, cinnamon tea

Agni tea….fresh ginger, pinch of cayenne pepper, and sucanat

2 Use of ginger pickle will stoke agni

3 Following a nutritional format for your mindbody energy constitutional makeup…seems strange that a nutrition not appropriate for your energy makeup would obstruct prana but think about it….if the qualities that you bring into your body are already in excess that will disturb digestive fire which will build ama which further obstructs the channels of flow

4 Pranayama  This is a powerful way to augment agni if done on a regular basis and get prana moving

5 Asana.…certain yoga postures can enhance agni…for example naukasana(boat pose) and flow sequence such as sun salutation

6 Herbs...specific herbs used in the kitchen can improve agni such as  CCF, fresh ginger, turmeric, black pepper, garlic  The last 2 can be too heating especially if Pitta is provoked or during the hot summer season

7 Herbal forumla.…all formulae should be written to address agni with common herbs such as chitrak, haridra, pippali, aloe, manjistha, neem, bhumy amalaki, and kutki

IC and Homeopathy: Making Sense Out of the Alternative Medical World

For the general health consumer trying to figure out where to turn when the standard treatments are not helping, a deep troubling confusion begins to occur because they enter a world of the unknown  Not only is their disease and its management unknown in the traditional sense but the world of healing is unknown to not only them but their MD’s who have become their trusted medical advisors   So there is a very difficult environment of confusion created

However it may surprise many to find that in the treatments used by the energy science of Ayurveda that both the homeopathic and allopathic principles are held dependent on the situation being treated and what is being used

All Healing Under One Roof

The homeopathic principle of treatment of using like to cure like is one of the foundational treatments in disease management also called an agonist approach  Diarrhea is treated by homeopathic natural formulations in small dosing of plant based material that in higher doses would cause diarrhea  Ayurveda at times will use materials that in small doses will stop diarrhea but in larger dosings produce diarrhea  And at times will suggest no treatment of the diarrhea and allow the toxins to leave the body

The allopathic discipline which is used by most doctors in the West treats like with the opposite or an antagonistic approach  A classical example is the use of antibiotics(anti or against + bios or ‘life or organisms) to treat infections(bios or organisms)  This principle is also used in Ayurvedic treatment management of disease

So the energy science uses all principles of healing in coming up with a solution for a particular disease based on the patient and her condition  The way this occurs is through the magic of herbs  In some situations the complexity of the herb will be agonist to some qualities of the disease whereas the same herb may be antagonistic to other certain qualities in the same disease

Herbs as Homeopathic and Allopathic

Let’s see how that plays out with our IC herbal friend aloe vera  Aloe vera is clearly cooling and so it would be antagonistic for the hot quality but agonist or similar to the cool quality of the Kapha energy pattern that may play a role in the IC bladder pain syndrome(interstitial cystitis, vulvodynia, chronic prostatitis, IBS, GERD, and fibromyalgia)  The same applies to our commonly used CCF tea for  ICPBS, heating and cooling at the same time

Just by this knowledge one can have some solace that the principles of treatment are the same….different tools but same principles  This is the beauty of the energy science tradition

Update on Acid Indigestion and IC : 5 Sustainable Ways to Go Beyond Prelief

As part of the IC bladder pain syndrome(interstitial cystitis, vulvodynia, chronic prostatitis, IBS, GERD, and fibromyalgia) acid indigestion as manifested in hyperacidity syndrome(HAS) or gastroesophageal reflux disease(GERD) would not be surprising  This is because from an energy science point of view the hot quality(Pitta energy pattern) is a major contributor to the imbalance that creates interstitial cystitis(IC)…the burning on urination, vaginal burning are related to this quality  The other IC imbalancing quality is the mobile quality of the Vata energy pattern

The Spectrum of Disease

All physiologic disease shows up as an array of symptoms from not so bad to terrible  Patients with occasional heartburn can then begin to have it all the time  This makes it eligible for the disease label of HAS  If it progresses to a sour taste in the mouth or a burning in the chest then it advances to GERD  And if GERD progresses then it can become the disease label of Barrett’s esophagitis

But notice that in all these advancing disease labels one thing remains constant  The hot quality  So in the end these disease labels are related to the increasing intensity of this quality  But wait there’s more from an energy science perspective  The Pitta energy pattern displays the hot quality when out of balance in its functional seat, the liver

So again from an energy science point of view the liver imbalances due to Pitta must be addressed if a patient is having problems with GERD

Reducing the heat

There are a number of ways to go beyond Prelief which like all its molecular relatives( such as over the counter Prevacid and various expensive pharmaceuticals) represent pharma bandaids  From an energy science treatment perspective the alternatives not only provide relief but done properly with other allied therapies become permanent solutions, not bandaids

Wouldn’t you rather have something that is sustainable long term instead of relying on a pharmacological bandaid?  Here are some basic energy science treatments that can bring about control of this Pitta energy pattern of transformation

Avipattikar  This herb combination is an excellent way to get control of raging hot Pitta in the stomach reducing the hot quality

Aloe vera gel  This herb is not only cooling to the small bowel therefore reduces the Pitta energy pattern but because it is effective for Pitta disorders in general it is a good liver protectant  This makes it a valuable herb overall in treating Pitta disorders  From an energy point of view aloe is special because it falls into a special group of herbs called rasayana  This means it is a tissue rejuvenative and restorative of bodily tissues  There are no Western pharma that can make that claim

However there has been consumer concern regarding food additive carrageenan to the aloe gel products on the market  I have gone on record two years ago as saying “not to be concerned” but the below should be of concern

In their report, they explained why even food-grade carrageenan is dangerous, yet how many food companies have continued to unscrupulously add it to their products  According to Cornucopia, animal studies show that “food-grade carrageenan causes gastrointestinal inflammation and higher rates of intestinal lesions, ulcerations, and even malignant tumors”. It can also cause cancer, because food grade “undegraded” carrageenan is contaminated with “degraded” carrageenan (the kind that’s not considered “food grade”)  The World Health Organization’s International Agency for Research on Cancer and the National Research Council of the United States have both determined that degraded carrageenan is a carcinogen. So, it clearly should not be in our food

So I’m can no longer support aloe products with carrageenan and suggest that you look at products particularly tablets but buyer beware  Any readers that have suggestions, please leave a comment!!

Psyllium husk  Using this herb may sound strange as it is used as a laxative but 1t at bedtime mixed with fresh yogurt or with warm water will absorb Pitta in the small intestine and stop the colonic wall irritation

Nutritional format and incompatible food combinations We can take all the herbs in the world but if we continue to take into our bodies the same imbalancing qualities then no gains will be made  It’s like 2steps forward and 3 steps back  If there is HAS or GERD then no doubt the person is a strong Pitta and these conditions would be the ways that they might go out of balance  One should follow a Pitta pacifying diet At the very least one should follow the PK or PV formats at foodsheal.com 

Kefir milk  When Pitta is out of control and the hot quality is raging, the microbiome or the gut flora becomes affected  Since the gut flora is an important aspect of agni it’s important to replenish and support this vital aspect to our health  Kefir does this by providing new healthy bacteria to our gut microbiome population  You can get it in the stores or make it yourself by finding some Kefir granules from someone willing to share

Like all energy work it is subtle and the healing shifts occur slowly over months but the good thing is that they are sustainable long lasting effects

IC and the Invisible Nerve Irritant: Vata Qualities And 3 Things To Do

Those who have followed this blog on the IC/PBS(IC Bladder Pain Syndrome) are well aware of the fundamental energy science principle that mostly all disease in the body(except for trauma) originates in the GIT(gastrointestinal tract)  From this location energetic qualities or vibrational frequencies(they are one and the same) disseminate from the GIT to locations and/or organs in the body to produce symptoms of disease  This is true for chronic prostatitis, fibromyalgia, IBS(irritable bowel syndrome), GERD(gastroesophageal reflux disease), and interstitial cystitis which are all part of the IC/PBS

Qualities(Vibrational Frequencies) Producing Disease

When excessive these qualities produce disease  They are grouped into the energy patterns of VPK(Vata Pitta and Kapha)and are associated with specific physical symptoms or manifestations 

Vata, the energy of movement, is associated with gas in the body  We most notably experience gas as flatus or belching
Due to its mobile vibrational frequency Vata qualities easily relate to the nervous system which is the most active mobile system in the body

Pitta, the energy of transformation, is associated with the hot sensation in the body  We experience this energy pattern as burning

Kapha, the energy of stability, is the most physically expressed and we experience this pattern as mucous

When the Vata group of vibrational frequencies become progressively excessive in the colon the qualities of cold, dry, light, mobile, and rough begin moving out of the colon and usually seeks out the nervous tissue that it is most like

Traveling Uninvited Guests in the Pelvis

The stage is now set for these vibrational frequencies to extend to peripheral adjacent tissues  Since these frequencies have an affinity to nervous tissue which has similar frequencies, they increase in amount in the pelvic plexus of nerves around the rectum, vagina bladder, and prostate

The increase in vibrational frequencies in the pelvic nervous system brings nerve irritability with “nerves that are screaming”  These irritated and hurting nerves send signals to the organs innervated such as the bladder, prostate, vagina, sciatic nerve, and even the pelvic floor  Literally the “nerves are killing her”!

This pelvic floor involvement can at times lead to pelvic floor spasm leading to discoordinated efforts of voiding or eliminating stool, pain in the perineum, and/or spasms

3 Things You Can Do

1  Stop taking in these unwanted vibrational freqeuncies  This is why the energy science nutrtional format is so important  It gives you guidance as to what foods are good to use and those foods that are not so good as choices

2 Basti  When herbally medicated fluid is placed in the lower rectum it eliminates excess vibrational frequencies from the lower rectum  This creates a negative pressure in the lower rectum and there is a return of these frequencies from the involved pelvic nerves to the lower rectum for elimination with subsequent basti

3 Use of herbal formula   Each of the imbalances created in us are unique because there are so many aspects to the imbalance  A formula specifically tailored to the individual’s imbalance is helpful in maintaining the flow of excess vibrational frequencies from the body

To Health as a Skill          Best DB