I’m not coeliac, should I not eat Gluten?

I’m not coeliac, should I not eat Gluten?

by | Digestion, Gluten, Nutrition

If you’ve read my blog on Gluten you will have learned that it is a type of Lectin.  A lectin, is an anti-nutrient, its job is to provide protection in and around a plant seed to stop them from being eaten by bugs or get a fungal growth.  As a protective agent and not a nutrient, they are predominately indigestible by us as the structure can’t be broken down by the enzymes we make for digestion.

Because of this, they can irritate the wall of the intestines and can influence our immune system, by getting through the cell wall by splitting the cells apart, termed leaky gut, or they can actually go through the cell to get to the immune system on the other side and set off a response.

It is this immune response that can trigger a cascade of tissue responses.  The Wheat Germ Agglutinin (WGA) is the most researched and problematic.  The antibodies to wheat germ agglutinin can also bind with the skin, mouth, stomach, intestinal wall, colon, thyroid, cartilage, liver, pancreas, kidneys, prostate, muscle, heart, breast, eye and brain.

So you can start to understand that it doesn’t just affect the gut, but has systemic effects.

The most serious effect on the gut is Coeliac disease where the body has an auto-immune response to Gluten.

Then there is non-coeliac gluten sensitivity (NCGS), where people experience symptoms similar to those of coeliac disease but instead of an auto-immune response, it is what is called innate immune response.  This is the first response the immune system has towards invaders, so when you eat gluten, it stimulates a leaky gut. This is where the joints that hold the cells together loosen and allow gaps for the gluten to cross the gut barrier and may instigate cross-reactivity on the other side of the gut lining.

Here’s where it’s important for those with Auto-Immunity, especially Hashimoto’s and those with Thyroid disorders.

In Hashimoto’s disease, you have antibodies to anti-thyroid peroxidase (TPO) and these antibodies can be set off by eating foods that you think are unrelated to the thyroid. However, wheat germ agglutinin cross-reacts with the TPO antibodies!

‘Molecular mimicry’ is a term that is used when the way a molecule or pathogen that enters the body has a similar pattern of make up (amino acids) that already exists in the body with an antibody made to it. This may activate an antibody immune response towards both tissues, creating cross-reactivity.

In 2017, 210 foods were tested again thyroid hormones T3 and T4 for cross-reactivity and many were found to have this cross-reactivity see table below:

Table1.

So, if you know you are a coeliac, you have antibodies to gluten. These antibodies trigger inflammation in other tissues of the body including the thyroid, brain, joints, heart and neurotransmitters.

If you know you are NCGS, you may be reactive to Gluten.  By consuming, you may be activating the cross-reactivity and inflaming the thyroid hormones.

If you don’t think you have an issue with gluten, you may unknowingly have issues with WGA that stimulates TPO antibodies or have molecular Mimicry to T3 or T4 thyroid hormones.

I know all of this information can be overwhelming and confusing.  The good thing is, that there are simple solutions available and you don’t have to stress about how to remove gluten from your current eating because I have that all covered with my gut restoration and whole food nutrition methods, that are adapted for weight loss, hormone balancing or thyroid support.

If you’d like to know more about this or other topics, you are welcome to join my free membership on face book. Thyroid, Metabolic, Hormone Harmony Hub. 

I’d love to see you there

Inspiring Wellness

 

Beth

 

References:

Lambert J, Vojdani A (2017) Correlation of Tissue Antibodies and Food Immune Reactivity in Randomly Selected Patient Specimens. J Clin. Cell Immunol 8: 521. doi: 10.4172/2155-9899.1000521

Vojdani A, O’Brayn T, Kellermann GH. The Immunology of Gluten Senstivity Beyond the Intestinal Tract: Immunosciences Lab. Received October 16, 2007 – Accepted January 18, 2008 European Journal of Inflammation. Vol. 6, no. 2, 49-57 (2008) 

Killilea DW, McQueen R, Abegania JR. Wheat germ agglutinin is a biomarker of whole grain content in wheat flour and pasta. J Food Sci. 2020;85(3):808-815. doi:10.1111/1750-3841.15040

Vojdani A, Afar D, Vojdani E. Reaction of Lectin-Specific Antibody with Human Tissue: Possible Contributions to Autoimmunity. J Immunol Res. 2020;2020:1438957. Published 2020 Feb 11. doi:10.1155/2020/1438957

PreviMedica Group L.L.C., 2018 https://cellsciencesystems.com/pdfs/Lectins.pdf

Ballantyne, S 2013, The Paleo Approach, Victory Belt Publishing Inc, USA

Diagram

https://fabflour.co.uk/fab-flour/how-flour-is-milled/attachment/grain-anatomy/

Table 1 Recreated from:

Datis Kharrazian, Martha Herbert, Aristo Vojdani, “Immunological Reactivity Using Monoclonal and Polyclonal Antibodies of Autoimmune Thyroid Target Sites with Dietary Proteins”, Journal of Thyroid Research, vol. 2017, Article ID 4354723, 13 pages, 2017.

 

What is Gluten and should it really be eaten?

What is Gluten and should it really be eaten?

by | Digestion, Gluten, Nutrition

When I went Gluten-free due to health issues over 25yrs ago, virtually food that replaced a gluten form had to be made from scratch with the result being usually quite a dry, crumbly mess. I remember the rice bread was like a solid block of concrete and was best toasted to reconstitute any sort of texture of toast because it really wasn’t very nice in its natural form.

These days, though, the aisles in supermarkets are lined with GF options, with restaurants and fast food outlets often catering for GF, some of course better than others.

While that is awesome that we have these alternatives readily available we still need to consider what ingredients are being used and as they are still heavily processed, I’d recommend that they are treated as a special occasion food.  

To begin to understand what Gluten is, I need to first explain what a lectin is.  If you have not heard of lectins, they are proteins that are found in grains and their job is to bind carbohydrates. 

These essentially are toxic, however, with modern agriculture, we grow and harvest crops of grains and turned their lectins into foods that are highly consumable and eaten many times in a day.  If you are not eating an animal or dairy protein, root, or leafy vegetable, you are most likely eating a lectin!

They are hard to digest and interact with your gut lining that is only one cell thick, causing damage not only directly to these cells but also influence the pulling apart of a healthy gut lining, and this is referred to as leaky gut.

Once these lectins go beyond that one cell wall lining, they cause havoc with our immune system, and can potentially flare autoimmunity.

A Lectin can be further classified into Grains, Legumes, and pseudo-grains. 

Table 1

To make it more confusing, Lectins are then further divided into prolamins or agglutinins.

Prolamins can also be called Glutenoids.  When you take a grain apart, there is the smaller portion, the germ, and the endosperm which is the larger, starchy, and protein part of the grain.  This is the food source for the germination and growing of a new seed. 

In the endosperm of the grain (the larger portion), the proteins are called prolamins, mainly because they are made up of proline amino acids.

Common prolamins include gliadin (wheat), hordein (barley), secalin (rye), avenin (oats), zein (corn), kafirin (sorghum), and orzenin (rice).

Our digestive system is not good at breaking down prolamins as they contain an inhibitor to protease, which is our enzyme that breaks down proteins, so they simply don’t want to be eaten!

They want to pass safely through your gut to make a new plant in some hearty fertiliser that you generously surrounding it when passing out the undigested grain.

While the main culprits are Gliadin in Wheat, Hordein in Barley and Secalin in Rye (especially for Coeliac), Avenin in Oats also may be an issue for the individual Coeliac, the behaviour of the other prolamins are very similar, so it is good to have an awareness about them and your consumption of them.

What about fruit seeds? Yes, they also have prolamins but because the seeds of fruit such as berries, banana, kiwi, cucumber, and zucchini (yes, they are fruit!) are small enough to ingest without chewing, they happily travel through your intestine in pursuit of finding fertilised ground in which to grow.

But if the seed is big enough to bite, you might consider removing it before consuming i.e. cucumber and zucchini seeds. 

Legumes also have prolamins and the main issue here is with the bean or seed, less so with the sprout. The legumes considered safe are rooibos tea, carob powder, and those that are normally eaten raw, being peas, green beans, snow peas, sugar snap peas, and runner beans.

As its name implies, agglutinin is a type of lectin and can cause red blood cells to clump together and become sticky. This is part of a seed’s external defense mechanism from fungi and insects.

It’s really interesting that these plants have the mechanisms so they don’t get eaten.  Genetically modified foods have added agglutinins to assist the crops to be more robust against insects, however, this makes them indigestible.

The most well-known agglutinin is wheat germ agglutinin (WGA). The germ is the part of the grain that houses all the nutrients needed to grow a new plant. It is usually removed during milling, with the WGA percentage used as a biomarker for how much a wheat product is whole grain.

WGA is difficult to break down in the gut and, as it travels through, it irritates the gut lining, setting off the leaky gut and aggravating the immune system.

Because agglutinins are stable at high temperatures, they need to be cooked for long periods of time and at high temperatures. Kidney beans, cannellini beans, common beans, and broad beans (fava beans) all need to be soaked and cooked really well. Peanuts and soybeans are also on the list of agglutinins.

Some sources say that agglutinin may not be deactivated by cooking which is why it is best avoided where there are autoimmunity and gut issues

Interestingly tomatoes are lectin-rich and therefore also stimulate the immune system via increasing leaky gut due to agglutinin.

If you cannot live without beans, soak these and other legumes in filtered water overnight for a minimum of 8 hours. Drain and rinse. Cook in fresh, filtered water at high heat: 100o C for at least 10 minutes or 95o C for 60 minutes. Slow cooking is not a good option due to the reduced temperatures of slow cooking. 

If you sprout your beans, it can reduce lectins by 59%. If fermenting, as in the case of tempeh, lectins can be reduced by up to 95%.

Lectins can be reduced in wheat products, such as pasta, by cooking and processing however it is best not to consume these at all.

I know all of this information can be overwhelming and confusing.  The good thing is, that there are simple solutions available and you don’t have to stress about how to remove gluten from your current eating habits, because I have that all covered with my gut restoration and whole food nutrition methods, that are adapted for weight loss, hormone balancing or thyroid support.

If you’d like to know more about this or other topics, you are welcome to join my free membership on face book. Thyroid, Metabolic, Hormone Harmony Hub. 

I’d love to see you there

Inspiring Wellness

 

Beth 

References:

Lambert J, Vojdani A (2017) Correlation of Tissue Antibodies and Food Immune Reactivity in Randomly Selected Patient Specimens. J Clin. Cell Immunol 8: 521. doi: 10.4172/2155-9899.1000521

Vojdani A, O’Brayn T, Kellermann GH. The Immunology of Gluten Senstivity Beyond the Intestinal Tract: Immunosciences Lab. Received October 16, 2007 – Accepted January 18, 2008 European Journal of Inflammation. Vol. 6, no. 2, 49-57 (2008) 

Killilea DW, McQueen R, Abegania JR. Wheat germ agglutinin is a biomarker of whole grain content in wheat flour and pasta. J Food Sci. 2020;85(3):808-815. doi:10.1111/1750-3841.15040

Vojdani A, Afar D, Vojdani E. Reaction of Lectin-Specific Antibody with Human Tissue: Possible Contributions to Autoimmunity. J Immunol Res. 2020;2020:1438957. Published 2020 Feb 11. doi:10.1155/2020/1438957

PreviMedica Group L.L.C., 2018 https://cellsciencesystems.com/pdfs/Lectins.pdf

Ballantyne, S 2013, The Paleo Approach, Victory Belt Publishing Inc, USA

Grain Diagram

https://fabflour.co.uk/fab-flour/how-flour-is-milled/attachment/grain-anatomy/

Table 1

https://www.longdom.org/open-access/correlation-of-tissue-antibodies-and-food-immune-reactivity-in-randomlyselected-patient-specimens-2155-9899-1000521.pdf

Gut health in Hypothyroid and Auto-Immunity

Gut health in Hypothyroid and Auto-Immunity

by | Digestion, Thyroid

What kind of body are you living in?  If it is a hypothyroid one, you will be slow functioning and perhaps auto-Immune.  Both conditions are affected by each other moment by moment.

The thyroid is trying its very best to keep the body regulated when it is being besieged by antibodies and the antibodies and the inflammatory cascade is like a run-away train because the body doesn’t have the resources to calm it down.

Let’s bring in a major player in both of these instances, and that is the gut.  I’d like you to take a moment and think about what you ate yesterday and how you woke up feeling today?  Were you alert and ready to leap out of bed and nail your day, or were you sluggish, a little sore and feeling ‘off’, or worse, you hardly slept are very sore and in pain, and have to really push yourself to face another day?

I’m going to make the assumption that there that you are not jumping out of bed feeling awesome, because you wouldn’t be looking for resources, like mine to help you feel better.

Or, the second scenario (you are sluggish, a little sore, and feeling ‘off’) is typical of sluggish metabolism and potential auto-immune brewing or early stages of it, and the final scenario (very sore and in pain and have to really push yourself to face another day) is where that inflammatory cascade is most likely creating physical change and damaging as we speak.

These things don’t just happen overnight.  They take years, even decades to develop.  Thyroid antibodies can take 7 years to develop and show up in blood tests. 

Back to my question earlier, what did you eat yesterday?  Unfortunately, this is where it gets really tricky, because while yesterday’s food may not trigger your symptoms, (but maybe the most obvious) it’s the day before, or even the week before may have as well, so it makes working out which foods are activating your immune system really difficult and challenging.  

Then, what starts to happen we can start to eliminate foods in a desperate bid to find that offending food.  I know how difficult this is because when I had my bad flares of Psoriatic Arthritis, I did the same. Have you ever done that? Taking out healthy foods from your diet, becoming even more reactive to foods that once you could eat? You think that you are getting healthier, but instead, you feel like you are getting sicker and sicker, and you most likely are, as you are eliminating major sources of vitamins and minerals, to keep your body working.

So, what’s going on the inside?

Simply, the digestive tract is a big long tube from beginning to end.  That tube lining is similar to the skin covering your body but it’s on the inside, and it is made from different types of cells in each zone.  For example, the stomach’s cells can handle the strong hydrochloric acid, that your hands could not and the small intestines are almost porous-like and dynamic, and flexible to be able to move and absorb the digested food particles floating past.

When you think about it, those tissues are exposed to the outside world, so not only do they have their methods of selectively absorbing nutrients to enter the body, they also have to have some protection.

If you think of them as being rows of gates, with the guard behind the gate to make sure access via the gates is being opened and closed to the right nutrients.  Having a guard at the gate is your immune system.

The gut has an army of immune cells just hanging around on the inside wall of the digestive system, just keep watch and making sure nothing untoward is coming in.

So, you may have heard of ‘leaky gut’, this term is used quite freely and coined ‘really bad’ if you have it. Well, we all do to a certain extent, the cells need to pull apart sometimes just to let some larger particles come through, like curcumin.  But we want it to close again once we have accepted that larger particle.

Unfortunately, by eating the wrong foods for a long time, we can inadvertently have allowed the connections of the cells to become weak.  Consequently, normal good food can escape into where the immune system is and be seen as ‘baddies’ and we have an immune attack quickly on our hands.

When this happens for long enough, we can trigger an auto-immune response in our body because normal tissue is mistaken for problems.  The most common food trigger is gluten for Hashimotos.

Rheumatoid and other autoimmune diseases can be flared or activated by the imbalance of the gut being constantly activated by food – and in many cases it can still be good food, which is really unfortunate because then we start eliminating these items, and soon we are missing out on essential nutrients we need to operate our body.  Before long our friend cortisol begins to take over the driving force of our body and be begin to live in the stress response, our blood sugars become unbalanced, we are tired, feeling low, unmotivated, sore, and over time, become more anxious and susceptible to the hits of life.

Ideally, to get out of the pattern of inflammation, the first thing is to put healthy food into the system.  Of course, eliminate the troublesome foods that you know aren’t working for you, but then work on the gut.  Because it is not the food, it is the environment. 

Long-term restoration is key, if you have an auto-immune issue, while a probiotic will help, it’s not going to change your gut microbiome long term and calm down that inflammation to the extent that you need it to. Certainly not if you keep inflaming the environment with food that is not conducive to your health.

There are so many gut irregularities to go into, along with awesome gut support nutrients, but I have seen over and over, that eating a nutrition plan that is matched to your body through your own blood has amazing outcomes.  Then backing that up with supporting the gut helps regulate and calm the immune system at the front line so to speak.

If you’d like to know more, you are welcome to join my free membership on facebook. Thyroid, Metabolic, Hormone Harmony Hub. 

I’d love to see you there

Inspiring Wellness

Beth 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Why you may not be ‘letting go’ so easily

Why you may not be ‘letting go’ so easily

by | Digestion

My nudie almost 3 year old was running around the house …… singing
”Let it Go……..Let it go” in an off-key shrill voice..…..and it got me to thinking how relevant that is when it comes to passing fecal matter.

Why you may not be “Letting go” so easily

 

1. Are you eating enough

Stand up for a moment and place your hands on your hips. Now put your right hand above the hip on the soft part of your waist, that is about the area when your large intestine begins, then trace your hand up to your ribs (ascending colon) to below your ribcage then go across to the left side of the ribs (transverse colon) and straight down (descending colon) to where your left hand is on your hip. It is about 1.5 metres long.

This large tube is a succession of pouches called Haustra. Visualise the Roman Blinds with the cords that when you pull, the curtain goes up and forms pouches.

Two types of movement propels the semi-fluid mixture called chyme (say KIM) along to its’ final destination.

The first is when these pouches are filled up enough, the distention causes the walls to contract and the contents are pushed onto the next pouch. The second is the muscles of the intestine (like the cords in the roman blinds) that provide contractions along the whole of the large intestine squeezing the chyme along called peristalsis.

Can you now understand why you need volume for this process to work? The large intestine requires that distention of the walls for the contraction to propel the chyme along.

 

2. Are you eating regularly?

Peristalsis, mentioned earlier, is initiated by food in the stomach. During or after a meal a mass pertistaltic action takes place which quickly propels the sitting chyme from the transverse colon (the part of the colon going across from right to left) down to the end of the colon to the rectum.

 

3. Are you drinking enough water?

If you are not passing a stool daily, straining or sitting on the toilet too long it may be due to lack of fluid.

My textbook tells me that about 9.3 Litres of water enter the small intestine each day coming from ingestion of liquids 2.3 Litres and other gastrointestinal secretions (7.0 Litres).1 Did you read that………. “Ingestion from liquids 2.3 Litres.” Do you drink that much? Do you drink extra water for every coffee or tea (herbals okay) that you drink?

The body’s secretions in a day are 1 litre for saliva, 2 Litres for gastric juice, Bile 1 Litre, Pancreatic juices 2 Litres, Intestinal juice 1 Litre, Small Intestine a whooping 8.3 Litres and Large Intestine 900ml. Total 9.2 Litres. Only 100ml is excreted with faeces. 1

You don’t get good results by cleaning your dishes in minimal dirty dishwater, why treat your body that way. Drink fresh filtered (no plastics please) water.

By the way, dehydration has already occurred before the sensation of thirst is noticed. 1

 

4. Are you toilet trained?

Do you listen and act on your urges? Are you rushing out the door and don’t have time or hate going anywhere but to your own toilet.

As you are aware you can control when to open the bowel. If you do not ‘go’ when the green lights say too, the stool will sit back and wait until you are ready. This can cause excessive water re-absorption causing hard dry stools which make the end result take longer and may cause haemorrhoids from straining.

Pick a time of a day that suits and routinely take time to retrain the bowel.

 

5. Are you exercising?

Regular physical activity tones up the muscles and reflexes and keeps peristalsis active.
6. Do you take Medications?

Some medications that may be causing constipation are 15

Prescription – Opiates, Anticholinergics, Tricyclic antidepressants, Calcium channel blockers, Sympathomimetics, Antipsychotics, Diuretics, Antihistamines.

Over the Counter (OTC) – Antacids, especially calcium containing, Calcium supplements, Iron supplements, Antidiarrheal agents, NSAIDS.

 

7. Are you getting enough fibre?

There are two types of fibre, soluble and insoluble.

Soluble fibre has a gel consistency and tends to slow the movement of digested matter through the tract. Examples are beans, oats, barley, broccoli, prunes, apples and citrus fruits.1

Insoluble fibre is structural parts of plants which tend to sweep through the colon unchanged and increases the speed through the tract. Examples are fruit and vegetable skins and bran coating around wheat and corn kernels. 1

 

8. Are you holding on to emotions?

Louise Hay writes that for every condition in the body there is a NEED FOR IT. Otherwise, we would not have it. The symptom is only an outer effect. We must go within to dissolve the mental cause. Work on the WILLINGNESS TO RELEASE THE NEED for constipation, prior to begin the new thought pattern affirmation. 8

Her interpretation of Constipation is “Refusing to release old ideas. Stuck in the past. Sometimes stinginess.” 8

Affirmation: As I release the past, the new and fresh and vital enter. I allow life to flow through me. 8

Annette Noontil in her book The Body is the Barometer of the Soul, So Be Your Own Doctor II, writes that constipation is “A bottling up of what you want to say, and not saying it. 9

 

9. What can I do to improve my bowel action?

Eat more foods that lubricate the Intestine. 3

Alfalfa sprouts
Almond
Apple
Apricot
Banana
Beet
Carrot
Cauliflower
Honey
Peach
Pear
Pine nut
Prune
Seaweed
Sesame seed/oil
Spinach
Walnut

 

Eat more foods which promote bowel movement. 3

Asparagus
Black sesame seed
Bran from oats, wheat or rice
Cabbage
Castor oil
Coconut
Fig
Papaya
Peas
Sweet potato

 

Eat more Flora enhancing foods. 3

Acidophilus
Chlorophyll-rich foods – wheat grass, dark greens, micro-algae (wild blue-green and spirulina) and alfalfa greens
Dairy yoghurt
Kefir
Miso
Rejuvelac
Sauerkraut
Seed yoghurt

 

Try these probiome enriching Recipes

Lactobacillus Starter Culture – Whey Derived. 11

Ingredients
• 1 litre milk (biodynamic, organic, unhomgenised, unpasteurised)
Instructions
It is critical to use unhomogenised, unpasteurised milk to make your culture, as these processes kill the friendly bacteria which you need to make whey.
Place the milk in a warm place away from direct sunlight. Leave the milk for 2-4 days. The milk will curdle and separate, giving you half curds and half whey.
Whey is the clear yellowy liquid. Strain the mixture through a strainer lined with cheesecloth, muslin or a clean tea towel.
Gather the cheesecloth up and tie some string around it and hand it up so that whey strains out. (You can use the curds as a delicious soft cheese by adding a pinch of celtic sea salt).
Store the whey in the fridge as needed. It will keep for up to 6 months.
They whey is your lactobacillus starter culture, from which you can develop your own healthy lactobacillus drinks, supplements, vegetables and ferments.
** You can also purchase potent probiotic cultures to obtain natural and friendly bacteria.
** With all ferments, if they start smelling bad, discard them. Bad Bacteria smell – Good bacteria don’t!

 

Rejuvelac 12

To make approximately 3 Cups

1 Cup Wheat berries (organic wheat)
3 Cups spring or filtered water
A container – a glass jar with a wide mouth

1. Wash seed by rinsing well and scrub seeds with hands to remove any out residue in a bowl. Allow dead seeds to float to top and skim them off and discard – they will not promote fermentation.
2. Place the wheat in the large glass jar and fill with the filtered water
3. Soak the wheat berries for the first time for 48 hours. (The seed is becoming porous)
4. Cover the jar with a sprouting screen top or muslin
5. Keep in a dark quiet place. You will start to notice that the water water will get cloudy and little bubbles will start forming.
6. After 48 hours pour off your rejuvelac. Use for that day. It needn’t be refrigerated, but will keep several days if it is.
7. Pour another 2 cups of spring or filtered water into the jar. Allow water to ferment only 24 hours before pouring off.
8. Repeat 24hr cycles for 3 days, so wheat berries are soaked a total of 3 times.

In summer the warmer temperature will increase the fermentation time. Reduce the first 48 hours to 36 and the following 24 hour cycles to 16 hours each. You may like to experiment with millet, oats, rice, barley, rye, buckwheat etc.

 

Simple Sauerkraut 11

60 Minutes Total Time

Ingredients
• 2 Kilograms cabbage (2-3 kg of shredded cabbage)
• 2 Tablespoons sea salt
Instructions
You will also need: Mason jars with airlocks.

Finely shred the cabbage and place it in a bowl in batches, sprinkling each batch with a layer of sea salt. When you are finished with the shredding, use your hands to massage it well until it breaks down and becomes soft (about 10 minutes). Pack very tightly into jars, pushing all of the cabbage down until it is completely submerged by liquid.

Tighten the lid and ensure the airlock is installed properly. Let ferment on the countertop for 3-4 weeks, at which point you can remove the airlock and put a regular lid on it. It will keep for a few months in the refrigerator.

Variations: The possibilities of fermented vegetables are endless – you can use different types of cabbage, carrots, beets, garlic, ginger, and many other vegetables in different combinations to make a rich array of probiotic foods.

 

Avoid these foods 3

All products with baking soda/powder, alcohol, tea, yeasted breads, refined white foods – white flour products, white sugar, white rice

This is a general guide, those with coeliacs or non-coelic gluten sensitivity should avoid gluten in oats, barley and bran coating on wheat and corn kernals

Other Remedies to check out if you are still ‘stuck’

 

Powerful Laxative (Cathartic) herbs

Cascara bark – acts on the peristaltic movement 4
Rhubarb root – taken in small doses it tones the intestinal wall, promotes appetite and can disperse any developing gas 4
Senna – promotes peristalsis movement via the blood stream rather than local irritation 6
Aloe – In small doses, it gives tone to intestinal muscle. In larger doses, it becomes a strong purgative, increasing colonic secretions and peristaltic contractions in the large intestine. It is harsher on the system than other anthraquinone laxatives, such as cascara and senna. 15

The above herbs should be used in extreme cases and under qualified supervision.7

They are not to be prescribed for long term use and Contra-Indications may apply.

 

Bulk Catharthic Herbs

These work by absorbing fluid, creating bulk and thus stimulating fecal movement.7
Slippery Elm – is also a source of water soluble and insoluble fibre5
Flax, fenugreek13 and psyllium – are highly nourishing demulcent seeds.3
Mix equal portions
Soak 3 Tblsp and eat once or twice daily
If you just have one of the seeds then do the same as above once or twice daily
These are a preferred option to dependence on bran. 7

 

Living Flower Essences

Dampiera “The freedom of letting go”
Physically – apply to lower abdomen to relieve constipation, oral doses for chronic problem. 10

Red Beak Orchid – Embracing wholeness
Red & Green Kangaroo Paw – The quality of closeness
Start’s Spider Orchid – The direct approach
Used in combination on the Ear (Auricular) – Acu point for constipation 10

 

Homoepathics indicated with Constipation symptom 14

Alumina – (Oxide of Aluminium) – Hard, dry knotty, no desire
Apis Mellifica (The Honey-Bee) – feels as if something would break on straining
Arsenicum Album (Arsenious Acid) – Burning pain and pressure in rectum and anus, stool small, offensive, dark
Bryonia (Wild Hops) – stools hard, dry, as if burnt, seem too large
Calcarea Carbonica (Arsenite of Lime) – stool large and hard, stool at first hard, then pasty, then liquid
Causticum – soft and small, size of goose-quill, hard, tough
Graphitis (Black Lead) – large, difficult, knotty stools united by mucus threads
Lachesis (Bushmaster) – offensive stool
Lycopodium (Club Moss) – stool hard, difficult, small, incomplete
Natrum Muriaticum (Chloride of Sodium) – stool dry, crumbling
Nux Vomica ( Poison Nut) – incomplete and unsatisfactory, with frequent ineffectual urging, feeling as if part remained unexpelled
Opium (Dried Latex of the Poppy) – obstinate, no desire to go to stool, round, hard black balls
Phophorus – very fetid stools and flatus, long, narrow, hard, like a dog’s, difficult to expel
Plumbum Metallicum (Lead) – stools hard, lumpy, black, with urging and spasms of anus
Sepia (Inky Juice of Cutlefish) – large, hard stools, feeling of a ball in rectum, cannot strain
Silicea (Silica) – always before and during menses
Thuja (Arbor Vitae) – with violent rectal pain, causing stool to recede
Zincum Metallicum (Zinc) – hard, small, constipated stool

Homoepathics taken singularly are usually prescribed constitutionally. That is the remedy is best suited to the whole person, not just one symptom. However taken at 30C, a physical dose may help for the short term. Prolonged use of the incorrect homeopathic or a higher dose may see other symptoms of that remedy emerge, however, these will stop once the remedy is no longer taken. Often, retail homoepathics are combinations of many remedies and are designed to treat a symptom, not the whole person.

Oh and to close, in case you were wondering what is faecal matter actually is

Chemically faecal matter consists of water, inorganic salts, sloughed off epithelial cells from the mucosa of the gastrointestinal tract, bacteria, products of bacterial decomposition and undigested parts of food. 1

The colour comes from a by product of bile which is produced by the liver and breaks down fats. The main colour of bile is bilirubin that gets recycled and eventually finally broken down in the intestine. One of the by products of that process is stercobilin which is the colour of the feces. 1

If you’d like to know more about this or other topics, you are welcome to join my free membership on face book. Thyroid, Metabolic, Hormone Harmony Hub. 

I’d love to see you there

Inspiring Wellness

 

Beth  

 

References

1 Totora GJ & Grabowski SR (1996) PRINCIPLES of anatomy and physiology (8th
Edition) USA: Harper Collins
2 http://www.medicinenet.com/constipation/page2.htm
3 Ptichford Paul (1993) HEALING with Wholefoods Berkeley, California: North Atlantic Books
4 Hoffman David (2002) COMPLETE Illustrated Guide to The holistic herbal London: Element Books Limited
5 www.mediherb.com
6 Fisher Carole, Painter, Gilian ((1996) MATERIA Medica of Western Herbs for the Southern Hemisphere Australia
7 Anderhuber Ricki (2002) HERBAL Therapeutics Course notes for students of Herbal Medicine Perth WA
8 Hay Louise (1984) HEAL your Body NSW Australia: Specialist Publications
9 Noontil Annette (1998) THE body is the barometer of the soul II Australia: McPherson’s Printing Group
10 Barnao Vasudeva & Kadambii (1997) AUSTRALIAN flower essences for the 21st century
Perth: Advance Press
11 www.victusnutrition.com
12 Wigmore Anne (1978) RECIPES for Longer Life Anne Wigmore and Hippocrates Health Institute USA
13 http://naturalagroproducts.com/fenugreek.html
14 Kent James Tyler (1998) REPERTORY of the homoeopathic materia medica and a
work index New Delhi: B. Jain Publishers Pvt Ltd
15 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK10506/