Elimination Protocols
My psoriatic arthritis diet post and my medication diary are good parallel resources when reviewing my elimination protocol experiments.
Fall 2018
Psoriatic Arthritis Diet adjustments after reading The Keystone Approach by Rebecca Fett:
- Removing coconut oil.
- Reducing saturated fats.
- Re-focusing on darkly pigmented fruits & vegetables.
- Resuming fish oil supplements and switching to Nordic Naturals Ultimate Omega.
- Add Vital Proteins Collagen Peptide Powder
- Add Jarrow Bifidus Balance probiotic.
Summer 2018
Psoriatic Arthritis Diet adjustments after reading The Magnesium Miracle by Carolyn Dean:
- Successfully added Chelated Magnesium supplement without causing diarrhea.
- Reintroduced Zinc L Carnosine, which I took briefly following the Gut Health Protocol during the spring of 2017 (see below).
- Stopped Iron Glycinate because iron interferes with the absorption of calcium, zinc & magnesium. I am still healing from bunion surgery and bone health is the focus right now. It is difficult to space out all these supplements so they don’t interfere with one another. I took iron for about 10 years because I was borderline anemic. My iron levels are tested regularly when I donate blood so it will be easy to watch my iron levels and if I get low I’ll start taking it again.
Gut Health Protocol Early 2018
Prior to implementing my customized approach to the Gut Health Protocol by John G. Herron, I had completed the protocols below which included ZERO sugar, alcohol, gluten or dairy for 1 month in January of 2017. I significantly reduced alcohol, gluten, and sugar in my diet for the rest of 2017. I kept the following log of symptoms as I added supplements and then eliminated those supplements. This protocol was meant to kill parasites, disrupt the gut mucous lining to expose the harmful bacteria hiding there. Some of the supplements were meant to kill those harmful bacteria while others are meant to restore the healthy bacteria. Overall, I think this process had a dramatic impact on my gut and I will reimplement as needed. There are 2 supplements from this list that I am continuing to take. One is L-glutamine and the other is Zinc Carnosine.
| Date: | Food or Supplement: | Symptoms: |
|---|---|---|
| Jan 11 | Stopped sugar and alcohol. Only traces of gluten | |
| Jan 25 | Fermented food daily | Started this protocol during surgery recovery |
| Glycine rich foods-bone broth daily for 1st week | ||
| Anti-inflammatories in food/tea-Tumeric, garlic | ||
| Green Tea almost daily, some say best b4 meal | ||
| Eat meat as it helps keep stomach acid high | ||
| Feb 5 | Added Diatomaceous Earth | 1 Tbsp in cold water/day. Firmer BM |
| Feb 10 | Add Lactoferrin for 30 days | still no arthritis symptoms |
| BM’s firmer, as if taking more iron | ||
| Feb 14 | Add N-acetylcysteine (NAC) | still no arthritis symptoms |
| BM’s much firmer & possibly slowing transit time | ||
| Feb 17 | Add Klare Labs Interfase Plus | still no arthritis symptoms |
| BM at night (new) & morning | ||
| Feb 20 | Add Allicin(garlic) supplement-Kills bad bacteria | Slight arthritis but diet not as strict |
| Feb 21 | garlic & Interfase 2x/day | BMs not as firm anymore-prob diet |
| Sugar on 2 days | R wrist/ankle arthritis | |
| Feb 23 | Add Cinnamon Oil | Loose BM’s still |
| BM firmer | ||
| Feb 26 | Add Zinc Carnosine up to 40mg/day during kill/repair | |
| Mar 1 | Garlic only 1x/day | |
| Mar 8 | Check stomach acid with baking soda | Appear to have low stomach acid |
| Mar 15 | up to 5 Betaine HCl & still no symptoms | Have low stomach acid & need to address! |
| Add L-glutamine for healing between meals | ||
| Mar 18 | Stop DE | |
| Mar 19 | Add milk thistle, larch tree extract (arabinogalactin) | stinky toots |
| shifting to a focus on liver & possibly h.pylori | ||
| Mar 21 | Stop Lactoferrin | can suppress h. pylori, makes iron available |
| Mar 21 | Stop Interphase + | biofilm disrupting enzyme, don’t take long term as also disrupts biofilm for good bacteria & yeast |
| Mar 22 | Stop Cinnamon | can inhibit h.pylori |
| Maintain NAC | protect liver, can improve eradication of H. Pylori, reduce bad bacteria, non-enzyme biofilm disrupter | |
| Maintain milk thistle | for liver & blood detox & die-off, next time take from beginning | |
| Maintain larch tree | promotes beneficial bacteria growth, for liver, soluble fiber-prebiotic & antibacterial, protects from c.diff | |
| Maintain Zinc | gut repair, inhibit h. pylori, | |
| Maintain Garlic | SIBO, h. pylori, antimicrobial, anti-bacterial, anti-fungal, anti-viral | |
| Apr 19 | Stopped all daily supplements | |
| May 2018 | Explore stomach acid situation | Can take 6 Betaine HCl b4 I eat & no burning so probably have low stomach acid |
| June-Aug | Continued fermented foods and bone broth but no gut supplements | |
| July-Aug | Added back too much sugar, starch & alcohol |
Adjustments for foot surgeries
My primary diet adjustments while going through two foot surgeries this year have been focused on maximizing nutrients that are essential for bone health. Bone broth was easier to incorporate in the cold months after the first surgery, but I also had it fairly often in July after the second surgery. I deliberately ate fermented foods in the days right after the surgery as well as when I took antibiotics to give my gut the best jump start I could. After that, fermented foods have been more of an occasional food. After reading The Keystone Approach I added collagen to my supplements, more because of arthritis but I think it will probably expedite healing as well.
Whole 30 and Autoimmune Paleo Diet, January 2017
I spent the holidays of 2016 reading The Immune System Recovery Plan by Susan Blum and planned to follow her elimination food protocols in January of 2017. Then I stumbled on The Whole 30 by Melissa Hartwig & Dallas Hartwig at a Costco, purchased on a whim, and read quickly over the holidays. These two books were the beginning of my new lifestyle and my Psoriatic Arthritis Diet changes. Their recommendations are slightly different, but what is more important is how I implemented it! As I glance through my food log from that time period I am able to summarize my reality as follows. For 32 days I had ZERO alcohol and almost zero sugar. My food diary has a note when I suspected sugar in a sauce at a restaurant or that sort of thing. My diet included trace amounts of dairy, mostly in the form of cheese. There is an interesting observation as I look back and think about why I was eating dairy. It appears I was still in the “habit” of putting cheese on things that I no longer top with cheese-a couple omelets and salads. There is slightly more gluten than dairy because I see it in a breading on a food I ate repeatedly and in a homemade granola. It appears I had soy a couple times with sushi. The worst offender is potatoes-some diets recommend eliminating and I was clearly not yet at a place that I could eat many meals without potatoes so they show up more often than they should have. But all in all, I had about 45 days of eating that was a tremendous improvement over the way I was eating before.
2010
I recall one lent when I stopped sugar and alcohol and did Bikram Yoga for about 6 weeks. Based on the photos from that period I realize I lost weight and looked great. I did not maintain that lifestyle but it was hugely beneficial while I had the discipline to maintain it.
Young Adult Diets
I was fairly successful with Weight Watchers in my 20’s and lost weight, but it had nothing to do with nutrition. Grape Nuts were a staple at that point in life because they filled me up and eliminated the temptation to eat snacks, but I also remember struggling with gassiness during that time. I tried Weight Watchers again in my late 30s but the whole system had changed and the new points system didn’t work for me.
I’m finding it very beneficial to write down what I’m doing and how those changes impact my health. It helps somewhat while I am going through the protocol, but it is far more beneficial to look back over the information observing changes over months rather than days. I would love to hear what some of you have done to monitor and observe diet and health changes over time.