I Am A Person who has IC & I Am An Individual With My Own Unique Biochemistry!

Is there and actually diet for IC patients? I have not seen a particular diet but, I have seen a list of foods which are maybe's, I don't understand why these list are being titled 'IC diet'. 

EACH ONE OF US IS A UNIQUE INDIVIDUAL possessing his or her own distinct biochemcial variations and functional capacities in the world; there is no set, rigid diet that applies to everyone. In order to develop an appropriate diet that gives maximum support to every aspect of our lives, we need to individualize it so that it is totally functionally on all levels.

Nutritional Balancing honors the fact that we are all individuals with our own unique metabolic blueprint. It involves a different paradigm than traditional medicine. Standard medical treatment is based on the naming of a disease or a condition whereby a remedy or treatment is then prescribed. With Nutritional Balancing, the naming of the condition is not as critical; rather, it’s the understanding of the nature of the imbalance and then the balancing one’s unique biochemistry that is the starting point for healing and true health.

Nutritional balancing draws from many branches of science. Incorporating knowledge from the fields of biochemistry, physiology, nutrition, stress theory, pathology and psychology, this science is a synthesis that draws together many ideas. It presents a new and expanded approach to healing. It involves a precise means of assessing and monitoring the condition of the body chemistry.

There is no IC diet only a list of foods that are maybe's. There is no one diet for anyone and I might add if any of these so called diets worked we'd all be feeling much better. The only thing our diets should have in common is - nutrient dense foods. When you shop for food or you sit down to eat a meal ask yourself the following questions?

• Does this food have ingredients in it that I do not recognize or chemicals that I cannot pronounce?

• Does this piece of meat come from grass fed animal or a corn fed animal? Has it been injected with hormones, antibiotics and steroids?

• Should I be eating or drinking foods that have addictive stimulants that wreak havoc on my adrenals and hormones.

• Should I be eating processed food that has little to no nutrients or should I eat whole foods that have not been processed.

• Should I be eating organic fruits and vegetables or are conventional/GMO foods that have been sprayed with up to 96 different pesticides and herbicides.

• Should I be drinking process juice or am I better off squeezing it myself?

• Ask yourself am I eating a well balanced diet that is nutrient dense?

The two biggest problems are pasteurized dairy products and grains, grains should never be eaten unless sprouted. Meat is another issue due to the corn (which causes inflammation) antibiotics, hormones and steroids, and most of us are eating portions that are double what they should be. None of us need to eat more than 4 ounces of meat per day. If we eat small portions we certainly can afford to eat grass fed meat. A clean whole food diet was a huge part of my recovery. I have done extensive research regarding food, chemical and diets and now could not believe how condition and misinformed we are about the food we eat and the food we should not be eating.

You may be sensitive to strawberries but it doesn't mean everyone is sensitive to strawberries. I may be sensitive to ginger you may not be. You may be sensitive to herbal teas I may not be. You may be are sensitive to fermented foods such as sauerkraut but I may not be.

We did not pasteurize milk until 1894 and we did not have steel mills to process grain until the early 1900's and since then we have quadrupled our use of antibiotics. We have watched autoimmune diseases, allergies and many other disease soar, including addiction. You may not think one has to do with the other but the when we take in food that is refined, processed full of salt, sugar, caffeine and chemical they affects us physically and mentally.

We need to avoid processed foods not Vitamin C. I cannot tell you the number of woman I consult with who tell me they are on the so called IC, Endo or Candida diet, and they are constipated, in chronic pain, lacking iron and many other nutrients.

Ask yourself is the so called IC diet helping you or your fellow ICer?

Join Gloria Prater and Elisabeth Oas each Thursday at 1PM, CST were we will discuss a variety of subjects including diet.

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Nightshades: Are They Contributing to Your Chronic Pain?

What are Nightshades?

The nightshades are members of an enormous family of plants called Solanaceae, represent a huge family of plants. The nightshades are members of an enormous family of plants called Solanaceae, represent a huge family of plants.

A particular group of substances in these foods, called alkaloids, can impact nerve-muscle function and digestive function in animals and humans, and may also be able to compromise joint function. Because the amount of alkaloids is very low in nightshade foods when compared with other nightshade plants, health problems from nightshade foods may only occur in individuals who are especially sensitive to these alkaloid substances. Since cooking only lowers alkaloid content of nightshade foods by about 40-50%, highly sensitive individuals may want to avoid this category of food altogether.

Nightshades are a diverse group of foods, herbs, shrubs, and trees that have fascinated scientists, doctors, and nutritionists for centuries. To give you an idea of the diversity associated with this group of plants, consider the fact that tobacco, morning glory, potato, and tomato are all classified as nightshades.

Which One Should We be Concerned With?

The ones that concern us in the Western diet mainly include: Potatoes, tomatoes, sweet and hot peppers, eggplant, tomatillos, tamarios, pepinos, pimentos, paprika, cayenne, and Tabasco sauce are classified as nightshade foods. The ones that concern us in the Western diet mainly include tomatoes, potatoes (not sweet potatoes or yams), eggplant and peppers—this means all peppers including chili peppers, habenero, cayenne pepper and paprika (not peppercorns, see sidebar). Paprika is a sneaky one, showing up in lots of flavoring mixes and often under “spices” on ingredient labels. Other nightshades include goji berries (the new darling of the antioxidant crowd), ashwagandha (an adaptogenic herb from Ayurvedic medicine), Cape gooseberries (not normal gooseberries), ground cherries and garden huckleberries (not blueberries).
I will admit right off the bat that I am biased against nightshades now that I am feeling the benefits of eliminating them from my diet. I used to eat a ton of foods in the nightshade family, but now I avoid them as much as possible. I am one of those who is very sensitive to these foods. My goal in pain is pain relief. So, I look for the cause and eliminate it. In my opinion, pain management—that is, long-term painkillers, without a goal of true pain relief—gets you nowhere. I was stuck in a vicious cycle of pain, infections and drug dependency, I felt like a dog chasing my own tail for many years. For me and many of people, nightshade avoidance has been one of the key components in relief from chronic pain.

It’s likely that you enjoy eating these foods and can’t imagine that they are bad for you in any way. Well, if you suffer from any type of inflammation and joint, avoiding nightshades will lessen your pain, whether or not the nightshades are the true source of the pain.

Are you sensitive to weather changes?

This can be an indication of nightshade sensitivity. Muscle pain and tightness, morning stiffness, poor healing, arthritis, insomnia and gall bladder problems—these can all be caused by nightshades. Nightshades can also cause heart burn or GERD—a lot of people already know they react this way when they eat peppers or tomatoes. It’s extremely easy to overdose on nightshades in Western culture, especially if you are a foodie. Let’s say you have salsa on your eggs at breakfast, potato salad at lunch, and eggplant with peppers along with other spicy dishes at dinner. This is a large amount of nightshades, eaten three times per day, in multiple combination's. It’s very hard to avoid the nightshades, believe me, it’s a lot of work! This can be easily demonstrated by reading the menu at any restaurant— nightshades have become ubiquitous. Nightshade sensitivity, in terms of the vigilance needed to keep them out of the diet, is almost as bad as gluten sensitivity!
For those of you who think you have tried “everything” for your "itis" pain, tried this and tried that but haven’t tried avoiding nightshades— in my opinion, it’s something you do need to try. I can tell you as someone who has suffered for years with chronic pain, I have tried many different remedies for my pain. Nightshade avoidance definitely decreased a percent of it. If you’re one of those people whose pain treatments (be it chiropractic, acupuncture, physical therapy, massage,, energy medicine, whatever!) provides only a day or two of relief, you’re quite possibly nightshade sensitive. The only way to find out try the elimination diet! A physical therapist once told me that if a patient isn’t responding to treatment, one of the first things to consider is nightshade sensitivity— there is simply nothing else that anyone can do to help somebody in pain when nightshade sensitivity is the cause—because once they eat some nightshades again, their pain will return as it was before. Elimination Diet A dietary approach to managing food allergies is the safest and most sensible step you can take for testing and for treatment. Eliminate entirely the allergens in your environment, whether in air, or drinks, or foods. Most people will resolve their food allergies by using the elimination diet. Start by eliminating the leading causes of food allergies, which are as follows: Animal products that are pasteurized and pumped full of antibiotics, steroids and hormones, (including eggs), chocolate, nuts, shellfish, fish, wheat, corn, citrus, processed foods, table salt, nightshades. The elimination diet allows you to eat the foods that are least likely to cause your allergic reaction. When you begin this diet, allow 14 days in order to completely clear the body of foods that were eaten before starting the diet. By the end of the 14 days, if their trouble was indeed due to their foods, most people will be relieved of symptoms. Foods to eat on an elimination diet:

• Starches - Sprout grains if you can tolerate them. I personal cannot tolerate most grains with the exception of brown basmati rice, buckwheat and quinoa.

• Most Green, Yellow, or Orange Vegetables with the exception of bell peppers, tomatoes, potatoes, and eggplant

• Fruits, with the exception of cranberries and citrus

• Beverages - water only, decaffeinated herbal teas, fresh vegetable juice (we recommend distilled drinking water)

• Raw dairy products and grass feed animal products

After 14 one days on the elimination diet, your food allergies should have ended and you should be feeling well. If this is the case, then you should begin to add grain, nightshade, citrus foods to the diet, but only one at a time, to determine if any of them causes your allergic reactions. For testing purposes, each "new" food should be eaten in large amounts three times a day for two days. If the food does not cause a reaction, you can conclude that it is non-allergenic. Most reactions occur within a few hours, but some do not show up for several days. Each food must be tested individually; do not introduce two new foods at once. When you do have an allergic reaction to a specific food, you must wait four to seven days before testing the next item. This interval gives you the time you need to clear your system of that allergy-causing food. Keeping a food journal is very important if you wish to have success!

And, for those of you with curious minds here is a bit of nightshades history.

Like soy, most nightshades are relative newcomers to European/Western diets. The tomato came to North America in the very early eighteenth century. It was termed the “love apple” and grown first as an ornamental. That means people grew it because it is pretty, yet they did not eat it. Why did they not eat it? They thought the tomato was poisonous. The leaves of the nightshade family are indeed overtly poisonous (livestock farmers know this well) and people avoided the fruit as well.

During a famine in 1782, Scottish highlanders complained of dropsy (an old term for edema or swelling, often associated with congestive heart failure) when they ate abundantly of potatoes.¹ Russian prisoners of World War II returned with advanced cases of dropsy, which was blamed on heavy potato consumption.² An old saying in New Hampshire in 1719 was that the white potato shortened men’s lives.

Eggplant was also first grown as an ornamental, a decorative plant. It was not eaten until relatively recent years in North America. According to Dr. Norman Childers, author of The Arthritis Diet, peoples of the Mediterranean area previously believed that the eggplant would cause insanity if it was eaten daily for a month, in fact, it had the nickname of “mad apple.”³ How many foods that you eat have a reputation like that?

1. Famine, Mortality, and Epidemic Disease in the Process of Modernization, by John D. Post © 1976 Economic History Society, http://www.jstor.org/ pss/2594505.

2. Childers NF. Arthritis-Childer’s Diet to Stop It. Nightshades, Aging, and Ill Health, 4th ed. Florida: Horticultural Publications, 1993; 19-21.

World Health Organization, Toxicological Evaluation of Certain Food Additives and naturally Occuring Toxicants, Thirty-ninth Meeting of the Joint FAO/ WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives (JECFA) WHO Food Additives Series, No 30; http://apps.who.int/bookorders/anglais/detart1.jsp Visit Our Website @

http://www.icanonymous.com

Have A Great Day!

Blueberries Promote Bladder Health

Blueberries are the Number One Antioxidant

Antioxidants are thought to help protect the body against the damaging effects of free radicals and the chronic diseases associated with the aging process. Fresh fruits, including blueberries, and vegetables contain many of these naturally occurring antioxidants such as Vitamins C and E. Blueberries contain 14 mg of Vitamin C and 0.8 mg Vitamin E per 1 cup of blueberries. In addition, blueberries contain anthocyanins and phenolics that can also act as antioxidants. Based on data from the USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging (Boston, MA), blueberries are among the fruits with the highest antioxidant activity. Using a test called ORAC (Oxygen Radical Absorbance Capacity), researchers have shown that a serving of fresh blueberries provides more antioxidant activity than many other fresh fruits and vegetables.


Blueberries help to prevent Urinary Tract Infections and Cleanse the Bladder

Urinary Tract Infection: The building of colonies of certain bacteria like e-coli along the lining of the inner walls of urinary tract is responsible for this infection, resulting in inflammation, burning sensation during in passage of urine and other complications. Here, Blue Berries can be surprisingly beneficial. It has a compound formed of big polymer like heavy molecules which inhibits the growth of such bacteria. It also has some anti biotic properties which adds to this effect. These heavy and big molecules almost wash-off these bacteria along the tract, thereby preventing the infection. So far, this compound is found only in Cranberries and Blue Berries.


Cranberries are not recommend for IC patient because they contain benzoic acid. Benzoic acid is a white, crystalline acid used in perfumes, dentifrices and germicides, and to season tobacco. Cranberries cannot be enjoyably used in their natural, raw state unless considerable amounts of sweetening are used, or unless combined with other sweeter fruits, such as oranges. Cranberries are classified as acid fruit, but are best excluded from the diet.

Additional health benefits:

• Blueberries keep away constipation (Of course, a single piece alone will not do. You need to eat a big handful of them), the vitamins, sodium, copper, fructose and acids improve digestion.

• Blueberries, being very rich in anti oxidants like Anthocyanin, vitamin C, B complex, vitamin E, vitamin A, copper (a very effective immune builder and anti-bacterial), selenium, zinc, iron (promotes immunity by raising hemoglobin and oxygen concentration in blood) etc. boost up your immune system and prevent infections.

• Blueberries keep you fresh, active, fit, sharp, close to nature and in a good mood, as they are very good anti depressants. You also need not spend a lot on medicines, neither are there any side effects. Here, there is an interesting thing to know. The deeper the color of the Blue Berries, the more they are rich in anti oxidants and other medicinal values.

read more here........ bladder cleanse recipe or research more blueberry health benefits click HERE!

Check out the I.C.A.F NEWS latest article - Why Your Body Rebels Against Certain Foods

Take care of you......remember......Your Health Is Your Greatest Wealth!

The Healthiest Foods

"Until man duplicates a blade of grass, nature can laugh at his so-called scientific knowledge. Remedies from chemicals will never stand in favor compared with the products of nature, the living cell of the plant, the final result of the rays of the sun, the mother of all life." - T. A. Edison

The Healthiest Foods include whole foods such as fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, whole grains and legumes. The Healthiest Foods are real foods, foods that are not processed with additional chemicals, preservatives, and additives.

The Healthiest Foods are those that are nutrient-rich. This means that they contain an abundance of nutrients including vitamins, minerals, fiber, omega-3s, and phytonutrients (nutrients only found in plants, many of which are antioxidants). Nutrients are important because the body needs them to grow, create energy and maintain its physiological functions.

Nutrients can also help to reduce inflammation; antioxidant nutrients protect your body from free radical damage, which can cause disease.

Research shows that those who eat the World's Healthiest Foods have less disease and therefore those who don't eat the World's Healthiest Foods run the risk of having diseases such as heart disease and some forms of cancer.

The plant structure of fruit is such that it contains its seeds. In biology, a “fruit” is part of a flowering plant that is grown from specific tissues of the flower, mainly one or more ovaries.

Does Fruit Make the Body More Acidic?

Many people mistakenly assume that acid in “acid fruits” will acidify the body. The chemistry of digestion demonstrates that this is not so. The mineral content of a food is the primary determining factor as to whether the food will produce an alkaline or an acid reaction in the body. Once the food has been digested, if acid minerals predominate as they do in MEATS and DAIRY for instance, the food will have an acid reaction in the body or will be acid-forming. Since alkaline minerals are dominant in almost all fruits, including the acid fruits, it is safe to say that fruit has an alkalizing effect upon the body. Fruits may not be as alkalizing as greens, but their reputation as acidifying foods is unfounded. We cannot, however, expect to eat acid-forming foods like cooked proteins, heated oils, and friend foods and remain free of disease.

You may have allergies to an acid fruit such as oranges. However, in most cases we can rid ourselves of this allergy once dairy/animal products are removed from the diet. After 6 months of ingesting no animal products, I was able to start introducing citrus fruits back into my diet with no bladder problems.

You can view a list of fruit by category HERE!

"Until man duplicates a blade of grass, nature can laugh at his so-called scientific knowledge. Remedies from chemicals will never stand in favor compared with the products of nature, the living cell of the plant, the final result of the rays of the sun, the mother of all life." - T. A. Edison
The Healthiest Foods include whole foods such as fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, whole grains and legumes. The Healthiest Foods are real foods, foods that are not processed with additional chemicals, preservatives, and additives.

The Healthiest Foods are those that are nutrient-rich. This means that they contain an abundance of nutrients including vitamins, minerals, fiber, omega-3s, and phytonutrients (nutrients only found in plants, many of which are antioxidants). Nutrients are important because the body needs them to grow, create energy and maintain its physiological functions. Nutrients can also help to reduce inflammation; antioxidant nutrients protect your body from free radical damage, which can cause disease.

Research shows that those who eat the World's Healthiest Foods have less disease and therefore those who don't eat the World's Healthiest Foods run the risk of having diseases such as heart disease and some forms of cancer.

The plant structure of fruit is such that it contains its seeds. In biology, a “fruit” is part of a flowering plant that is grown from specific tissues of the flower, mainly one or more ovaries.
Does Fruit Make the Body More Acidic?

Many people mistakenly assume that acid in “acid fruits” will acidify the body. The chemistry of digestion demonstrates that this is not so. The mineral content of a food is the primary determining factor as to whether the food will produce an alkaline or an acid reaction in the body. Once the food has been digested, if acid minerals predominate as they do in MEATS and DAIRY for instance, the food will have an acid reaction in the body or will be acid-forming. Since alkaline minerals are dominant in almost all fruits, including the acid fruits, it is safe to say that fruit has an alkalizing effect upon the body. Fruits may not be as alkalizing as greens, but their reputation as acidifying foods is unfounded. We cannot, however, expect to eat acid-forming foods like cooked proteins, heated oils, and friend foods and remain free of disease.
You may have allergies to an acid fruit such as oranges. However, in most cases we can rid ourselves of this allergy once dairy/animal products are removed from the diet. After 6 months of ingesting no animal products, I was able to start introducing citrus fruits back into my diet with no bladder problems.
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