These diets apply to those who have leaky gut issues and food allergies. (I myself suffered with food intolerances to just about anything I ate.) If this is you, and you’ve been struggling for a long time with food intolerance issues that only seem to get worse, please see the “leaky gut / Candida” page. Rapid relief is possible. Many of my food intolerances disappeared within the first week of using the correct therapy. But, in the mean time, a food rotation diet can be helpful for those that are “pan-allergic,” or allergic to everything. It’s a pretty ingenious idea for controlling your symptoms, and for many it may be your ONLY option. It is certainly not a cure, but I found it to be very helpful when things were at their worst. When you consume a food that triggers that all too familiar fatigue, headaches, nausea, achy joints that seems to last for days at a time, that’s an immune response by your body. It’s attacking food proteins it sees as a foreign invader. It’s important to get this rectified because it could potentially develop into some kind of auto-immune disease. If you eat a particular food you are sensitive to, say broccoli, three or more times a week, you will notice your reaction increases in severity. With a food rotation diet, you are rotating food groups so that you only eat from a particular food group once every 4 or more days. This way, the immune system becomes desensitized to that particular food; thus your symptoms are reduced and become much more manageable. Foods are grouped into their respective botanical families because they contain similar antigens, and its best to rotate entire groups of food every four days. I have put together a list of foods and their respective food groups.
I intentionally left out the meat / fish / poultry food groups because they did not tend to cause me problems. Vegetables and fruits are some of the most highly allergenic foods and should be rotated. If you happen to be particularly sensitive to meats, then those should be rotated as well. But do try to limit fruits as they can cause irritation and contain lots of sugar.
by Kent Rieske
Kent Rieske is very knowledgeable and a very interesting guy to speak with. Although, I’ve never actually spoken to him, I have had brief email correspondence with him. His website is a great reference for just about anything from diet recommendations to alternative energy sources to Jesus. His diet is one which stresses high protein and fat consumption, with minimal carbohydrates and fiber. He explains how meat is often overlooked as an essential source of nutrition, and discusses primitive societies that live perfectly healthy disease-free lives on an all meat diet.
His website is also a great source for expelling many of the myths surrounding “proper” nutrition as outlined by the USDA and FDA. I particularly enjoyed the myths surrounding ketosis, which Kent clears up as being a perfectly normal biological process, again referencing the many primitive cultures that sustain themselves on an all meat diet. I followed this diet for about three months with great success at first. I had my cholesterol levels checked, and blood nitrogen levels checked after several monthss, and all fell within normal ranges for a 26 year old male.
One problem I had was the lack of emphasis placed on fiber and vegetables. His stance is pretty radical for most people. The idea is that fiber can be aggravating to a sensitive intestine and should be limited. Which I agree with; initially one may want limit fibrous foods, or cook them thoroughly, until bleeding and inflammation have subsided. But fiber is a necessary component for healthy intestines as it provides sustenance for good bacteria in your gut, and promotes motility.
Kent is a big fan of red meat, and so am I. It tastes great, and is satisfying. But don’t go out and eat red meat three times a day if you have a bowel disorder, especially if you’re limiting your fiber intake to the recommended 3 grams a day. It will stop a flare dead in its tracks. But at the same time it made me feel uncomfortable, it saps your energy, and makes you feel slightly more toxic. Believe me I tried it.
ordan Rubin gives an in-depth account of his personal journey with Crohns and the toll it took on his life mentally, physically, and emotionally- It nearly killed him. Through diet, supplements, and the love and support of his family, he was able to heal himself of his disease, and he is now in the business of helping others with their IBD / IBS issues. Appropriately titled the Makers Diet, it’s essentially a broad collection of the foods that were consumed during biblical times. Basically you can eat whatever foods were allowed by our Creator. Jordan spent a lot of time, meticulously scouring the pages of the bible for foods that are “appropriate” according to the word of God.
He outlines a 40-day diet program with the beginning of the program being very strict with the foods you’re allowed to consume, and towards the end of the 40-days, you slowly incorporate more and more foods into your diet as you can tolerate them. Explicit instructions and food recommendations are given.
The first two weeks are definitely a struggle, as your food choices are very limited, but Jordan claims it’s a necessary step to eliminate the infections in your gut. The last two weeks of the program are a little more liberal, as complex carbohydrates are introduced. This is definitely a sound approach, however, he strongly encourages the use of Homeostatic Soil Organisms (HSO) as a form of probiotic, which I’ve read elsewhere that they are not the safest way to balance intestinal flora. HSO’s can be extremely aggressive and difficult to eliminate. Yes they are great competitors for pathogenic bacteria and yeast, but there are too many questions abound regarding their safety.
However, I do strongly encourage the use of probiotics, as they are essential for a rapid recovery, just not the HSO type. For more information regarding their use, please see “link to probiotics page”. Also, at the end of the 40-day program, he is a little too lose with grain consumption in my opinion. I prefer to just stay away from complex carbs until symptoms disappear entirely. They can be rather tantalizing and generally caused my symptoms to flare.
Description: The primary focus of this diet is to eliminate all sources of complex carbohydrates- grains, including corn, starches, potatoes, bread, pasta, and any supplements containing hidden starch fillers. This book revealed to me how important our diet is for altering and maintaining healthy intestinal flora.
The theory is that complex carbs consist of polysaccharides, or complex sugars, and are not readily absorbed by your intestines like the simple sugars found in fruit and honey. These complex carbs then travel through your gut in an undigested state feeding pathogenic bacteria that normally reside there. Over time this will alter the symbiosis in your gut and create an overgrowth of bad bacteria and yeast. These harmful pathogens will then ferment the undigested carbohydrates in your gut excreting harmful byproducts damaging the sensitive lining of your intestines.
The simple sugars in fruit and honey however, are absorbed very quickly in your intestines and are not available as a food source to the pathogenic bacteria in your gut. Hence, fruit and honey are allowed in ample quantities on this diet.
Many people do very well with this diet, it is very nutritious and she provides a lot of great recipes with a lot of variety. However, I simply could not tolerate a lot of the foods allowed on the diet. Fruit is loaded with sugar, which can irritate a damaged intestine, and also contributes to blood sugar fluctuations throughout the day. Nevertheless, it is a good read, and a good place to start. It has a lot of great information in it. Most people start with her diet and quickly realize that fruits and honey need to be controlled as well.
Written by two doctors who have dedicated themselves to helping thousands of people heal their IBS / IBD as well as a host of other illnesses using a low carbohydrate diet. This book is a must read for anyone suffering ANY chronic health condition. If I could strongly recommend one book, this would be it. These doctors have one simple rule to follow: do not consume more than 60-72 grams of carbohydrates per day. Instead obtain your calories through a high protein and high fat diet. They also go on to explain that sugar is an unnecessary dietary component, and that your body can manufacture all the glucose it needs when given sufficient fat and protein through a process called gluconeogenesis. They provide evidence of this fact by measuring blood sugar levels of patients who have been following there diet for sufficient time, only to show a perfectly constant blood sugar level with little to no fluctuation.
They also discuss the evolutionary aspect of our digestive system, and how we as humans are not biologically fit to consume the typical Western diet high in grains and refined carbohydrates, without suffering the consequences of chronic disease.
This may sound counter-intuitive to what we’ve been taught about nutrition for the last thirty years, but the truth is we all will be much healthier by following a low carb, high fat, high protein diet. It’s undeniable at this point. The science is out there. If you are skeptical, the book provides plenty of clinical proof, and will have you medication free in no time.
