Since tomorrow it is Sunday in Floria and I won't be able to parachute I thought I would give a mini update.
I've previously reported that my 15 years of joint pain is gone since going GF. The big news is 10 years of escalating anxiety is also gone! I was probably 6 months out of needing prescription anti anxiety meds b/f I got CC. I'm 50 but now that the anxiety is gone (and I still have a stresstul job) I consistently feel 35-30 years old. This may be TMI for the men but I've been wearing "thong" underwear for 5 months and the ladies will understand that "thongs" don't give us much protection.
I still have some things to work on. Despite the fact that I worked out in the gym all last year (albeit lighter) workouts I had a fair amount of muscle atrophy so I'm working on getting my strenth back. My energy levels are I would say 75% - 80% of what they were pre CC but I think that will come back with time.
Question for Tex.....In my 40's I chalked up the anxiety thing to being "periomenopause." If you go to any parties american women in their 40's are munching on edamame because the Japanese women don't have menopause issues compared to western women and in the popular culture the reason given is b/c Japanese women eat more soy. I'm wondering....just a WAG....if Japanese women have lessened periomenopause issues....like anxiety....because they don't eat the heavy wheat diets of western women. Japanese women eat rice, fish, veggies, and yes some soy but I think they eat a lot less wheat compared to western women. Just curious if you had any thoughts even though I know you like to stay out of "womens issues."
Brandy
Sunday in Floria, the fountain of youth, a positive read
Moderators: Rosie, Stanz, Jean, CAMary, moremuscle, JFR, Dee, xet, Peggy, Matthew, Gabes-Apg, grannyh, Gloria, Mars, starfire, Polly, Joefnh
HI Brandy,
I think pain by itself dramatically increases anxiety. The medical center I worked for as a clinical psych had a pain clinic and anxiety was one of the things they addressed. We also learned that what is really problematic for people with chronic pain is their fear of future pain. That makes a lot of sense-- what could be more anxiety provoking than feeling like you have no control over pain and you are destined to suffer more? You've been able to have a positive impact on your condition by successfully adjusting your diet and that gives you control. Feeling and being in control always reduces anxiety. This may be the relationship between the GF diet and the reduction in anxiety, in addition to other physiological effects.
As you said, as positive post-- it's all good, when we can reduce pain and anxiety with the same action.
Take care--
Carol
I think pain by itself dramatically increases anxiety. The medical center I worked for as a clinical psych had a pain clinic and anxiety was one of the things they addressed. We also learned that what is really problematic for people with chronic pain is their fear of future pain. That makes a lot of sense-- what could be more anxiety provoking than feeling like you have no control over pain and you are destined to suffer more? You've been able to have a positive impact on your condition by successfully adjusting your diet and that gives you control. Feeling and being in control always reduces anxiety. This may be the relationship between the GF diet and the reduction in anxiety, in addition to other physiological effects.
As you said, as positive post-- it's all good, when we can reduce pain and anxiety with the same action.
Take care--
Carol
“.... people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” Maya Angelou
Brandy,
That law sure restricts Sunday activities, doesn't.
You're definitely getting there. Quite a few of us have found that after we adjust our diet, and do some healing, we truly do feel about 15 or 20 years younger.
If you look at the history of soybean use, prior to WWII, the only significant use in this country was for livestock forage and green fertilizer. During the 1940's, farmers began to harvest the beans and feed them to livestock, and production continued to expand rapidly during the 50's, 60's and 70's. Somewhere about the1980's, food manufacturers discovered that soybeans could be used in a lot of foods, and human consumption increased significantly. In 1991 the National Soybean Checkoff went into effect, (where a small percentage of each bushel sold by farmers went into a soybean promotion and development fund), and the National Soybean Board was formed to administer the funds, and after that point, the use of soybeans in food processing became ubiquitous. This amounted to a government-enforced tax, used to promote sales of soybeans and soybean-based ingredients and products, and it has really paid off for the soybean producers and processors.
I'm not sure if the estrogenic effects of soybeans were/are transmitted in the meat of livestock, (beginning in the 1950's, and increasing with each passing decade), but somewhere along about the time that soybeans began to be used extensively in processed human foods, the trend toward earlier sexual maturity, (especially in females), began to become obvious. I don't know what the mainstream medical community's opinion might be on this topic, but it's pretty clear to me that the trend toward early puberty is associated with the escalating use of soybeans in food.
It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that if the hormonal effects of ingesting soybeans can cause early puberty, then surely certain other developmental aspects, (which are dependent on hormonal balances), will almost surely also be affected, at various other stages of life. Prior to about 2 generations ago, soybeans were not a part of our diet. Orientals ate them for centuries, but they cultivated a different type of soybeans than those in common use now, and they only consumed them in fermented form. (I'm just guessing, but I'll bet that fermentation destroys the estrogenic effects of soybeans.) Now we eat soybeans almost from cradle to grave, so that they have the opportunity to affect our hormonal balances throughout our lifetime.
IMO, two major dietary shifts have occurred during the evolution of homo sapiens that have had extremely detrimental effects on the overall health trends of the species.
1. The tragic mistake that our ancient neolithic ancestors made when they adopted the cultivation of wheat as the "staff of life", rather than rice or maize (corn), roughly 10 or 15 thousand years ago
2. The adoption of soybeans as a widely-used food ingredient during the past 30 or 40 years
After several hundred generations past the neolithic changes, it's already painfully clear how adversely those changes have affected our robustness and overall health. At only a couple of generations into the widespread use of soy, it will probably be a long time before medical science recognizes the full extent of damage that this mistake has imposed on our genome. (Heck, they still haven't recognized the extent of the problems with wheat, yet.)
I suspect you're right about Japanese women faring better because wheat is not a prominent part of their traditional diet. IMO, wheat trumps soy, any day.
I can't help but wonder what will happen to Japanese women, as the younger generations incorporate Western diet trends into their own diets, especially now that soybean imports from the U. S. have skyrocketed, in response to the production problems that Japan has encountered after the nuclear fallout issue. I have a hunch that after a generation or two, their hormonally-influenced life cycle symptoms will more closely resemble Western conditions.
Speaking of stress -- Carol is probably familiar with the article cited in the post at the following link, but for anyone who hasn't read it, this article provides a lot of insight into the insidiousness of stress. The entire article is still available online.
http://www.perskyfarms.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=12478
Tex
That law sure restricts Sunday activities, doesn't.
You're definitely getting there. Quite a few of us have found that after we adjust our diet, and do some healing, we truly do feel about 15 or 20 years younger.
If you look at the history of soybean use, prior to WWII, the only significant use in this country was for livestock forage and green fertilizer. During the 1940's, farmers began to harvest the beans and feed them to livestock, and production continued to expand rapidly during the 50's, 60's and 70's. Somewhere about the1980's, food manufacturers discovered that soybeans could be used in a lot of foods, and human consumption increased significantly. In 1991 the National Soybean Checkoff went into effect, (where a small percentage of each bushel sold by farmers went into a soybean promotion and development fund), and the National Soybean Board was formed to administer the funds, and after that point, the use of soybeans in food processing became ubiquitous. This amounted to a government-enforced tax, used to promote sales of soybeans and soybean-based ingredients and products, and it has really paid off for the soybean producers and processors.
I'm not sure if the estrogenic effects of soybeans were/are transmitted in the meat of livestock, (beginning in the 1950's, and increasing with each passing decade), but somewhere along about the time that soybeans began to be used extensively in processed human foods, the trend toward earlier sexual maturity, (especially in females), began to become obvious. I don't know what the mainstream medical community's opinion might be on this topic, but it's pretty clear to me that the trend toward early puberty is associated with the escalating use of soybeans in food.
It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that if the hormonal effects of ingesting soybeans can cause early puberty, then surely certain other developmental aspects, (which are dependent on hormonal balances), will almost surely also be affected, at various other stages of life. Prior to about 2 generations ago, soybeans were not a part of our diet. Orientals ate them for centuries, but they cultivated a different type of soybeans than those in common use now, and they only consumed them in fermented form. (I'm just guessing, but I'll bet that fermentation destroys the estrogenic effects of soybeans.) Now we eat soybeans almost from cradle to grave, so that they have the opportunity to affect our hormonal balances throughout our lifetime.
IMO, two major dietary shifts have occurred during the evolution of homo sapiens that have had extremely detrimental effects on the overall health trends of the species.
1. The tragic mistake that our ancient neolithic ancestors made when they adopted the cultivation of wheat as the "staff of life", rather than rice or maize (corn), roughly 10 or 15 thousand years ago
2. The adoption of soybeans as a widely-used food ingredient during the past 30 or 40 years
After several hundred generations past the neolithic changes, it's already painfully clear how adversely those changes have affected our robustness and overall health. At only a couple of generations into the widespread use of soy, it will probably be a long time before medical science recognizes the full extent of damage that this mistake has imposed on our genome. (Heck, they still haven't recognized the extent of the problems with wheat, yet.)
I suspect you're right about Japanese women faring better because wheat is not a prominent part of their traditional diet. IMO, wheat trumps soy, any day.
I can't help but wonder what will happen to Japanese women, as the younger generations incorporate Western diet trends into their own diets, especially now that soybean imports from the U. S. have skyrocketed, in response to the production problems that Japan has encountered after the nuclear fallout issue. I have a hunch that after a generation or two, their hormonally-influenced life cycle symptoms will more closely resemble Western conditions.
Speaking of stress -- Carol is probably familiar with the article cited in the post at the following link, but for anyone who hasn't read it, this article provides a lot of insight into the insidiousness of stress. The entire article is still available online.
http://www.perskyfarms.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=12478
Tex
It is suspected that some of the hardest material known to science can be found in the skulls of GI specialists who insist that diet has nothing to do with the treatment of microscopic colitis.
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Gabes-Apg
- Emperor Penguin
- Posts: 8332
- Joined: Mon Dec 21, 2009 3:12 pm
- Location: Hunter Valley NSW Australia
Brandy
my MC Dx was a 40th birthday present, i totally get your statement about underwear!! it has taken me over 2 years to give up on the idea that i will ever wear 'sexy' underwear again and only a couple of months ago i threw them all away....
and in line with my immune/inflammation post, i have worked damn hard to improve wellness, energy, etc and it has felt like a constant battle, as i deal with one symptom, something else comes along.
I agree totally with Tex and his statements regarding soy.
there are other elements at play
geneology, our genes predispose us to IBD's
lifestyle, the changes in lifestyle, foods, meals, over the past 50 years have damaged alot of cells in our parents, and then continued within us - once the damage is done there is limited scope to reverse it all.
it would be quite difficult to turn back the clock and live a lifestyle free of all those damaging elements. (as I type that I wonder if the yiddish have IBD's autoimmune conditions)
my MC Dx was a 40th birthday present, i totally get your statement about underwear!! it has taken me over 2 years to give up on the idea that i will ever wear 'sexy' underwear again and only a couple of months ago i threw them all away....
and in line with my immune/inflammation post, i have worked damn hard to improve wellness, energy, etc and it has felt like a constant battle, as i deal with one symptom, something else comes along.
I agree totally with Tex and his statements regarding soy.
there are other elements at play
geneology, our genes predispose us to IBD's
lifestyle, the changes in lifestyle, foods, meals, over the past 50 years have damaged alot of cells in our parents, and then continued within us - once the damage is done there is limited scope to reverse it all.
it would be quite difficult to turn back the clock and live a lifestyle free of all those damaging elements. (as I type that I wonder if the yiddish have IBD's autoimmune conditions)
Gabes Ryan
"Anything that contradicts experience and logic should be abandoned"
Dalai Lama
"Anything that contradicts experience and logic should be abandoned"
Dalai Lama
Hi Tex,
Thanks for your interesting update on soybeans! I spent some time cleaning out my kitchens cupboards this weekend and soy is in a ton of foods that you would never think of. I was amazed that soy is ieven n cocktail sauce. Soy must be a really inexpensive filler/extender and flavoring agent for the big food companies. The boyfriend made out as he went home with a bag of food stuffs containing soy.
Thanks for the thread on stress also, I'm going to try to read the whole article.
Brandy
Thanks for your interesting update on soybeans! I spent some time cleaning out my kitchens cupboards this weekend and soy is in a ton of foods that you would never think of. I was amazed that soy is ieven n cocktail sauce. Soy must be a really inexpensive filler/extender and flavoring agent for the big food companies. The boyfriend made out as he went home with a bag of food stuffs containing soy.
Thanks for the thread on stress also, I'm going to try to read the whole article.
Brandy
Hi Brandy,
LOVE your positive post - so happy for you!!! ....... LOL about the "thongs". Wishing you continued success with your MC management.
Kari
LOVE your positive post - so happy for you!!! ....... LOL about the "thongs". Wishing you continued success with your MC management.
Kari
"My mouth waters whenever I pass a bakery shop and sniff the aroma of fresh bread, but I am also grateful simply to be alive and sniffing." Dr. Bernstein
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MaggieRedwings
- King Penguin
- Posts: 3865
- Joined: Tue May 31, 2005 3:16 am
- Location: SE Pennsylvania
Brandy,
I'm so happy for your continued progress. I totally agree with Tex about soy. It is slowly killing us. I'm beginning to wonder whether it may be behind the massive amount of peanut allergies among kids - since legume allergies tend to be cross-reactive. Regarding hormones, I'm afraid soy may only play a small role in the "estrogenization" of everyone. Sadly, parabens, BPA and many other industrial chemicals that we are exposed to daily in our cosmetics, food and environment, are "endocrine inhibitors" and add tons of synthetic estrogen to our bodies. As much as I'd like to believe hormones in milk and soy are causing early puberty, I'm afraid the problem is more sinister than that. I think the fact that autoimmune diseases affect women 9x more than men, also indicates those of us with more estrogen receptors are more at risk from toxic environmental estrogens. It's totally depressing.
I sometimes see young, pretty women glancing longingly at my toddler -- I can see in their eyes they would love to have a cute little girl of their own someday. I wish I could tell them all to treat their bodies like a temple now, and use only natural body products, eat organic, no soy, etc. It's imperative to produce healthy babies. Women need to detox somehow before getting pregnant, then watch every exposure and meal during their pregnancy!
I'm so happy for your continued progress. I totally agree with Tex about soy. It is slowly killing us. I'm beginning to wonder whether it may be behind the massive amount of peanut allergies among kids - since legume allergies tend to be cross-reactive. Regarding hormones, I'm afraid soy may only play a small role in the "estrogenization" of everyone. Sadly, parabens, BPA and many other industrial chemicals that we are exposed to daily in our cosmetics, food and environment, are "endocrine inhibitors" and add tons of synthetic estrogen to our bodies. As much as I'd like to believe hormones in milk and soy are causing early puberty, I'm afraid the problem is more sinister than that. I think the fact that autoimmune diseases affect women 9x more than men, also indicates those of us with more estrogen receptors are more at risk from toxic environmental estrogens. It's totally depressing.
I sometimes see young, pretty women glancing longingly at my toddler -- I can see in their eyes they would love to have a cute little girl of their own someday. I wish I could tell them all to treat their bodies like a temple now, and use only natural body products, eat organic, no soy, etc. It's imperative to produce healthy babies. Women need to detox somehow before getting pregnant, then watch every exposure and meal during their pregnancy!
Gabes - may I ask who "the yiddish" are? There are no Yiddish. There are, or were, Yiddish speaking Jews, but Yiddish as a language, is dying out, though many universities are offering Yiddish literature as a subject to prevent it's death.
Many words now used in conversation have Yiddish at their roots.
I am Jewish, and while I don't know the percentages of Jews with MC, there are a few of us on this board. Those who keep Hanukka and eat potato latkes; and keep Passover and eat matzohs, are Jewish, though many people nowadays like latkes and matzoh balls.
Aren't hormones in meat also guilty of causing preternaturally early development in young kids, especially girls?
Z - I really understand what you are saying. I wish someone could tell them.
Brandy - I am so happy for you. I so wish that would happen to me. I could do with feeling younger than I do. I am 67, and feel every day of it, and sometimes more.
Many words now used in conversation have Yiddish at their roots.
I am Jewish, and while I don't know the percentages of Jews with MC, there are a few of us on this board. Those who keep Hanukka and eat potato latkes; and keep Passover and eat matzohs, are Jewish, though many people nowadays like latkes and matzoh balls.
Aren't hormones in meat also guilty of causing preternaturally early development in young kids, especially girls?
Z - I really understand what you are saying. I wish someone could tell them.
Brandy - I am so happy for you. I so wish that would happen to me. I could do with feeling younger than I do. I am 67, and feel every day of it, and sometimes more.
Ugh, check out what the highly-respected Dr. Sears (high-profile pediatrician) has to say about soy.
http://www.askdrsears.com/topics/family ... o-good-you
http://www.askdrsears.com/topics/family ... o-good-you
I reckon it doesn't pay to "ask Dr. Sears".
That page reads as though it might have been written by one of the lobbyists for the American Soybean Association.
Tex
That page reads as though it might have been written by one of the lobbyists for the American Soybean Association.
Tex
It is suspected that some of the hardest material known to science can be found in the skulls of GI specialists who insist that diet has nothing to do with the treatment of microscopic colitis.