When we come back from traveling, our cat’s litter box usually is a mess.
Sorry, I bring up this stinky subject – but it has relevance not only for cats and pets, but also for humans.
Of course, bodily waste products don’t smell like roses. But they also should not smell THAT disgustingly. If they do – in pets and people – chances are something is wrong with the digestive tract.
Now the hardest part is to compare your bowel movements with everybody else’s because we usually are discrete about our defecation results. We don’t know how other people smell or look … in the toilet bowl.
Feces definitely should not reek that it turns one’s stomach. The smell should make you want to flush the toilet – not to run away. And stool should not float, nor should it be excessively sticky, large, or gray-colored.
So, what had happens with our tomcat Otto when we travel? A kind neighbor comes over to feed him. To make it not too complicated for her, we switch to commercial – mostly dry – food. Commercial food contains all kinds of substances unhealthy for a cat, especially wheat and corn products. Predictably, every time our Otto gets extremely stinky on that kind of nutrition.
It takes only a few days and my self-cooked meals that his litter box s ias unobtrusive again as it usually is: His intestines heal, obviously.
What constitutes a healthy bowel? Once a day, at least, one should have a bowel movement. If you don’t have one every day, don’t reach for the laxative. Look instead into what you are eating. Do you eat enough vegetables? Leave out sugar, trans-fats and dairy. And don’t eat what your body tells you hurts it: Stomach pain, heartburn, bloating, cramps, diarrhea, constipation, sores in your mouth – they are not cause for embarrassment but they all are signs that something is wrong with your digestion.
SAD – the Standard American Diet – is not healthy for people’s bowels. And commercial pet food – even the so-called “natural” and “scientific” - are not healthy for your pets’.
P.S. Taking a probiotic does not make up for a lousy diet, but helps reestablishing bowel health. Read More
Blog: On Health. On Writing. On Life. On Everything.
Gluten-Related Symptoms and Diseases
September 24, 2010
Nearly one in one hundred people have gluten intolerance (gluten enteropathy, sprue, celiac sprue). In only fifty percent of them does the disease show with gastro-intestinal symptoms - the rest has non-intestinal symptoms.
Be aware that many of these symptoms can also have other causes - this list does not replace a doctor who sees you!
• Abdominal pain
• Acanthosis nigricans
• Addison’s disease
• Alcoholism
• Alkaline phosphatase (bone) elevated
• Allergic rhinitis
• Alopecia areata (patchy hair loss)
• Amenorrhea (absence of menstrual period)
• Anemia
• Anemia – iron deficiency
• Anemia - refractory
• Anemia - vitamin B12 deficiency
• Anti-endomysium antibodies (EMA)
• Anti-gliadin antibodies (AGA)
• Anti-tissue-transglutaminase antibodies (tTG)
• Antiphospholipid syndrome (frequent miscarriages and other problems)
• Anxiety
• Aortic vasculitis
• Apathy
• Aphthous ulcers (mouth sores)
• Appetite – poor
• Arthritis
• Arthritis – enteropathic
• Arthritis - juvenile idiopathic
• Asthma
• Ataxia
• Ataxia, progressive myoclonic
• Atherosclerosis
• Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder (ADHD)
• Autism, learning disorders
• Autoimmune cholangitis
• Autoimmune diseases
• Autoimmune hepatitis
• Autoimmune thyroid disease
• Balding – premature
• Bipolar disorder
• Bitot’s spots (foamy patches on whites of eye)
• Bleeding – unexplained
• Blepharitis
• Bloating
• Blurred vision
• Bone fracture
• Bone pain
• Brain atrophy
• Brain fog
• Bronchiectasis
• Cachexia (general wasting)
• Calcium – low
• Cancer - small cell of the esophagus
• Cancer (adenocarcinoma) of the small intestine
• Cancer of the esophagus
• Cancer of the pharynx
• Candida infections – recurrent
• Cardiomegaly
• Casein intolerance (cow mill “allergy”)
• Cataracts
• Cerebral perfusion abnormalities
• Cheilosis (cracked lips and corners of mouth)
• Cholesterol - low
• Chorea
• Chronic bullous dermatosis
• Chronic fatigue syndrome
• Colitis
• Common variable immunodeficiency
• Complications during pregnancy, labor, delivery and post-partum period
• Congenital anomalies
• Constipation
• Copper deficiency
• Coronary artery disease
• Cortical calcifying angiomatosis
• Cow mill “allergy”
• Cutaneous vasculitis
• Cutis laxa
• Cystic fibrosis
• Dairy intolerance
• Delusions
• Dementia
• Depression
• Dermatitis herpetiformis
• Dermatomyositis
• Diabetes Type I
• Diabetes Type II
• Diarrhea
• Disorientation
• Down syndrome
• Dry eyes
• Duodenal ulcers
• Dysmenorrhea (painful menstrual periods)
• Dyspareunia (painful sexual intercourse)
• Dysphagia (difficulty swallowing)
• Early menopause
• Easy bruising
• Ecchymosis
• Eczema
• Edema
• Enteropathy Associated T-cell Lymphoma (EATL)
• Epilepsy
• Erythema nodosum
• Esophageal motor abnormalities
• Eyes – dry
• Eyes - bloodshot
• Erythema elevatum diutinum
• Failure to thrive
• Fatigue
• Fatty liver
• Folic acid (folate) deficiency
• Food allergies - blood-mediated and cell mediated
• Food cravings
• Gall bladder – impaired motility
• Gas
• Gastric emptying – delayed
• Gastritis
• GERD - Gastro-Esophageal Reflux Disease
• Glucose abnormalities - too low or too high
• Grave’s Disease
• Growth retardation
• Gums – bleeding and swollen
• Hair loss
• Hallucination
• Headache
• Heartburn
• Heart disease
• Hemochromatosis
• Hemosiderosis - idiopathic pulmonary
• Hepatic granulomatous disease
• High blood pressure
• Homocysteine elevated
• Hyperactivity
• Hyperkeratosis - follicular
• Hyperparathyroidism
• Hypertension
• Hyperthyroidism
• Hypocalciuria
• Hypogonadism
• Hypoparathyroidism
• Hyposplenism (atrophy of spleen)
• Hypothyroidism
• Hypotonia
• Ichthyosis - acquired
• Pulmonary hemosiderosis - idiopathic
• IgA deficiency
• IgA nephropathy
• Impotence
• Inability to concentrate
• Infertility (in both sexes)
• Insomnia
• Intrauterine growth retardation
• Iron deficiency anemia in pregnancy - severe
• Irritable bowel syndrome
• Keratoconjunctivitis sicca
• Keratomalacia
• Kidney stones
• Lactose intolerance
• Lassitude
• Late menarche (late start of menstrual periods)
• Leaky gut syndrome
• Liver enzymes elevated
• Loss of memory
• Lymphadenopathy
• Lymphoma - B-cell non-Hodgkin’s
• Lymphoma - cryptic intestinal T-cell (refractory sprue)
• Lymphoma – non-Hodgkin
• Macroamylasemia
• Macrocytosis (red blood cells larger than normal)
• Macrolipasemia
• Magnesium low
• Malabsorption
• Melanoma
• Memory loss
• Migraine
• Miscarriage
• Monoarthritis – recurrent
• Mouth sores
• Multiple sclerosis (MS) – a possible link
• Muscle pain and tenderness
• Muscle spasms and cramps
• Muscle wasting
• Muscle weakness
• Nail problems
• Nausea
• Nervousness
• Neuropathy - peripheral
• Neutropenia (low white blood cells)
• Nightblindness
• Nosebleeds – unexplained
• Obesity
• Occult blood in stool
• Ocular myopathy
• Osteitis fibrosa
• Osteomalacia
• Osteomalacic myopathy
• Osteonecrosis
• Osteopenia
• Osteoporosis
• Pancreatic insufficiency (poor digestion)
• Panic attacks
• Parathyroid carcinoma
• Penicilllin V impaired absorption
• Phosphorus - low
• Pityriasis rubra pilaris
• Plasma proteins low
• Plummer-Vinson Syndrome
• PMS (premenstrual syndrome)
• Pneumococcal septicemia
• Pneumonia – recurrent
• Polyglandular syndrome
• Polymyositis
• Potassium - low
• Primary biliary cirrhosis
• Primary sclerosing cholangitis
• Progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy
• Prolactinemia
• Prothrombin Time prolonged
• Prothrombinemia
• Prurigo nodularis
• Psoriasis
• Psoriatic arthritis
• Puberty - delayed
• Purpura – idiopathic thrombocytopenic
• Rhabdomyolysis - hypokalemic
• Rheumatoid arthritis
• Rickets
• Sarcoidosis
• Schizophrenic Spectrum Disorders
• Scleroderma
• Seborrhea
• Short stature
• Sjögren’s syndrome
• Skin rash – itchy
• Small intestinal bacterial overgrowth
• Smell - loss of
• Sperm abnormalities
• Spina bifida
• Sprue - refractory
• Steatorrhea (pale, malodorous, floating, hard-to-flush stools)
• Stomach ulcer
• Stroke – premature
• Sugar intolerance
• Swelling
• Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE)
• Taste - loss of
• Tetany
• Thrombocytopenic purpura – idiopathic
• Thyroid disease - juvenile autoimmune
• Tongue – red and/or burning
• Tremors
• Tuberculosis - increased susceptibility to
• Turner’s syndrome
• Urinary tract infections - recurrent
• Urticaria - chronic hives
• Uveitis
• Vaginitis
• Vasculitis
• Vasculitis of the CNS (Central Nervous System)
• Vitiligo
• Volvulus (twisted intestines)
• Vomiting
• Weight gain – unexplained
• Weight loss – unexplained
• Xerophthalmia (dry eyes)
• Zinc - low
I will add to this list as I come across new links –keep checking! Read More
2 Comments
Soaking and Sprouting
August 2, 2010
“Give us our daily bread” is a prayer. If somebody is out there to listen to this prayer, He seems to prefer to listen to First-World supplicants; the Third World does not need to apply, apparently.
World hunger is appalling, but perhaps it is beneficial that not all people get to have their daily bread. Because our staple bread, surprisingly, contains ingredients that might hurt you.
All seeds – including grains, legumes and nuts – contain indigestible parts. It is a survival strategy for seeds: They don’t want to be eaten, they want to germinate and build new life.
About five to ten thousand (depending on where people lived) years ago, the agricultural revolution happened. Suddenly we were eating grains (the other part of the agricultural revolution was coaxing cows into give up their milk for human consumption). When people still were hunters and gatherers, grains barely ever showed up in their meals – grains then were trifling kernels, not worth the effort. Cavemen ate greens, roots, nuts, small fruit (big fruit are the result of modern hybridization), game, fowl and grubs – whatever was available. Not much was available, so famines and starvation were frequent – especially after mankind had successfully hunted to extinction the huge animals that populated the world in prehistoric times: huge deer, woolly mammoths, giants pigs, and so on.
Agriculture was a step forward. It provided more calories, and reliably so. More children could survive; populations slowly increased.
But grains come with a price: They contain antinutrients (such as lectins, phytates, protease inhibitors) that have negative health consequences. These ingredients interfere with the successful uptake of important molecules – mostly minerals, like calcium – and they are harsh on the gastro-intestinal tract. As they are indigestible, eating them can lead to upset stomach, bloating, diarrhea, even colitis.
But things are never easy: Polyphenols and flavonoids are also antinutrients, and we surely want those in our daily fare (though not in overdose).
Antinutrients can be destroyed or at least reduced by cooking, sprouting and fermentation. About fermentation and its benefits we have already talked. We also discussed raw foods-only diets, and that cooking makes more nutritional components available.
Soaking and sprouting is a method still not used widely enough. I can't marvel enough that the simple fact of adding water to a seed will make it easier to digest (be aware that for some people it is not enough to eliminate the digestive problems). Store-bought sprouts in the past have occasional had problems with germs, alfalfa and soy bean sprouts, for instance - a good reason to do it at home. Just keep your (simple) equipment clean. There are a few tricks for different sprouts from amaranth to Brazil nuts, from mung beans to lentils which I don’t want to discuss here – information is easily found on the Internet.
This is my stress-free methods: Soak in clean water overnight. There are plastic jars available at health food stores with sieves of different sized hole, for small and bigger seeds. One can also just (and perhaps healthier without plastics leaching out) use glass jars and paper towels and/or cheese cloth for straining.
Pour off the water next morning, rinse in clean water (repeatedly, if the water is cloudy) and let stand for sprouting (or beginning to sprout). Eat your sprouts during this day. For me it works – without being too meticulous about it. I like sunflower, flax, sesame, almonds. Make sure you start with seeds that have not been irradiated, roasted, salted or processed in any way; organic is preferable. Make sure you don’t let them sprout for too long, they might get bitter. Experiment with different soaking/sprouting times. Anything longer than two, utmost three days can lead to mold – discard it. Always clean jars and sieves thoroughly.
Add sprouted seeds and nuts to bean dishes, leftovers and as snacks.
If you seem to have “allergies” to every single nut or seed there is, try removing antinutrients by soaking and sprouting. After all, yours might not be a real allergy, you might just not be able to digest certain indigestible food ingredients. Which is determined by genetics. Read More