I don't read the posts that many of you share, but, recently, it has come to my attention that many of you are going by Weston Price or GAPS type sugestions.
For every imbalance there is a different way in which to approach it. It isn't one for all, as nothing in life is one for all or one size fits all.
There are many things in the GASP diet that are highly inappropriate for those of you having IC and will actually cause more pain than help it, and, as much as I am passionate about many Weston Price philosophies, the same goes for some of it's philosophies as well. However, with WP, things like bone broth, undeniably very healthy, will cause many problems with increasing inflammation and making your symptoms worse. The reason for this is that the high amounts of b vitamins and gelatin (an herb we use all of the itme in Chinese medicine) will trigger inflammation instead of reduce it.
With IC, and many other types of chronic inflammatory conditions one must approach their condition in steps and stages. I always use the analogy of: you can't go in and start using furniture polish in a house that has been abandoned for years. It is unclean and must be first cleaned and organized before you can go in and beautify it. OTehrwise, you seal in all of the dirt. When you seal in the dirt so to speak with IC, this increases the inflammation.
Another way of looking at this is that b vitamins make you stronger, they help all of your physiological functions. Well, they do that for the inflammation as well-making it much more viscious.
So these are things that are healthful later, but only when the inflammation is under control and your body can use it correctly. The same is true for cultured foods like yoghurt, kiefer, sauerkraut, et.... These will increase inflammation and not decrease it for similar but not completely the same reasons as the broth. PRobiotics are criticial to health, but, when they are used too aggressively, they will backfired and increaset he inflammation instead of reducing it.
I have been meaning to post on this subject for a while anyway, but, it has come up suddenly with a few things said to me privately, so I amy sound like I am rambling a bit on an unprepared post. But, I wanted to get this message out to people ASAP just in case.
Latly, reminder--no coconut oil either-this will cause huge problems for all of you until much later down the line.
IC is a very difficult condition. When I first started treating it, there was literally nothing going on short of tortuous procedures and the state of affairs was quite a mess. Through the years, things have progressed beautifully, and with the right treatment lives are changing. but, it does take time, effort, discipline and tenacity. And most of all, steps and stages. This cannot be fought out of sequence, it is very important to understand this fundamental idea.
For those of you who do not know anything about Chinese medicine, I highly recommend picking up a few books on the subject. IT may be helpful to illuminate the concepts of imbalance and ways in which to approach them. Also, how different people can be from one another despite having similar signs and symptoms.
Dr.M
Comments
Chicken Noodle Soup
Hi! For years I have made my chicken noodle soup by boiling an organic chicken in water with veggies for a few hours. Then taking out the carcass and re-adding the meat with some rice noodles. Does this qualify as a "bone broth"? Should I discontinue making it this way?
Thanks for the clarification,
Katie
I still do chicken soup this
I still do chicken soup this way, instead i add basmati rice. Sometimes i wouldn't add the chicken back to use it in something else, and thinking the water itself becomes the protein, but probably i am wrong on this. Hopefully, i wasn't just consuming starch alone by doing this!!!
Super Basmati
The grains of basmati rice are longer than most other types of rice.SUPER BASMATI RICE. One of nature's finest products draws its unique aroma and taste from the special soil & climate conditions found only in the mighty,Super Basmati
Wooops
Wooops, I have been eating a lot of bone broth. Thank you for letting us know, I will stop for now and wait til I get better and until after my body has healed. Thank you!
Many thanks for this post,
Many thanks for this post, every thing makes more sense now. I think it should be clarified or corrected in the recipes section as well, some mentioned chicken broth made with a whole chicken. I'd love to know if that applies to fish as well.
THANK you so much for
THANK you so much for clarifying this! I was literally just thinking about this stuff this morning! I came across a post on another health board- totally unrelated to IC- and someone was saying that they felt worse in multiple ways while consuming bone broth every day. They brought up some of the "good" things in bone broth and how they could be adding to some chronic issues. This made me pause since again- it set off a red flag of-" BALANCE" which is key for us with IC. I was a total fermented food person right before my IC reared its ugly head. This helped pushe me out of balance for sure.Boy- I thought I was smart!
THANKS! This helps a lot. We are so so fortunate to have you.
SHould we not be having any homemade soups at all? Or is this a moderation thing? I just cooked up some stock and was planning on it for dinner!
edited to add: I found the thread I was talking about on Mothering and someone mentioned that Gout- an inflammatory disease- was a disease of the rich French Aristocracy because they were the only ones who could afford rich stock based dishes every day. Apparently gout is exacerbated by the purines in the broth.
Bone Broth
I make chicken broth with the entire chicken, including the bones. I just made beef brother with bones that had the marrow in them, along with some stew beef and vegetables. I seemed to do okay on the broth. Is there a problem with making soup out of bones? I am not trying to do the GAPS diet, I am just trying to make a pot of soup I can safely eat.
No idea!!
Hi matia,
Thankyou so so much for this.. Wow It explains whats been happening to me! I had no idea the bone broth caused inflammation. Ive had amazing progess with you this year and was so dismayed as the last 2 weeks i,ve started to flare again.. The penny has just dropped.. Over christmas i found some old bones in the freezer ( left over from my v. Painful & destructive gaps diet before i came to you). I boiled them up & have been adding the stock into my soups every night.. Although ive probably set myself back i am So relieved to read this and realise where the problem lies.
Thankyou again. X
Bone Broths
Okay, then how are we supposed to make soups? I can't imagine the canned broths from the store do not use bones when they make the broths.
Store broth
is much weaker and is ok to use for most people. It is similar to yoghurt-if it is homemade-it is too strong, if store bought it is very weak.
I see
Thanks Dr. Brizman, I was wondering about this myself. I read Dr. Prices Degenerative Diseases book, and he has some good points. However, I think he neglected to take into account one very important fact ... a womans body is unique. While the diet probably works very well for men, I could see it causing problems for women. We are blessed with a urethra that sits in close proximity to the bacterial/yeast ridden colon. All those critters coming out can cling to the urethra and cause all sorts of inbalances/problems. Anyway, this just goes to show we need more women like Dr. B in alternative and mainstream medicine.
What Broths are allowed for list 1 & 2
Matia,
I was making my own broths because I could control the ingredients in them. Are the broths on the gentle products guide approved for list 1 & 2?
This one seemed more like a later list due to the carrots and spices.
Imagine Organic Free Range Chicken Broth: Organic Chicken Broth (Filtered Water, Organic Chicken), Organic Onions, Organic Celery, Organic Carrots, Sea Salt, Natural Chicken Flavor, Organic Spices, Organic Expeller Pressed Canola and/or Safflower Oil, and/or Sunflower Oil. (No Msg or Hvp).
Whole Foods 365 Organic Veggie Broth
I couldn't find the ingredients to this broth on-line. Do you know if it is approved for list 1 or 2?
Imagine Broth
As far as I know, noone has reacted poorly to this broth, it is a really good one. And, like many store bought versions of food, it is not strong enough to cause problems as often as the real home made version. This is also true of things like yoghurt and kiefer, and sauerkraut.
Thanks
Thank you, that is the one that I buy.
Bone Broth
Okay Matia, but I usually dilute my broth down pretty good after I cook it. I add about another gallon of water in addition to the gallon or gallon and a half of broth that is left after I cook it down. Is that okay? Also, the store bought canned broth has a lot of added spices that bother some people.
CLueless
Talk to me personally. This really depends on where you are in treatment.