Schizophrenia & Wheat

[Jeff Heaton]

Raw vegetables and rice cure schizophrenia

I have been on a low fat vegan diet for fourteen years. I went on the diet originally because I had a very serious deep lung cough that would not go away. I also suffered from chronic diarrhea, swollen glands, sore throats, fevers, fatigue, herpes etc. With in 24 hours of going on a low fat vegan diet my deep cough cleared up as well as a majority of the other symptoms. When ever I go off my diet even to a small degree my deep lung cough comes back immediately. My new diet included oat meal, fresh wheat bread made with out oil, sugar or animal products; lots of fruit, rice, potatoes and cooked vegetables. I found that even most beans and nuts are too high in fat and protein for my digestion and cause my symptoms to return.

About 4 years ago I developed a sever case of bi-polar disorder. In the winter time when the sun light was low I would become extremely manic as well as experienced hallucinations. I was forced into a mental hospital six times over three and a half years. The illness devastated my finances and relationships. I tried medication but after five months the medications ultimately caused my condition to worsen.

Several times when I was in the hospital I mostly fasted since the staff could not figure out how to feed me a vegan diet. In general the staff was more concerned with sticking to routines such as charging me $250 to take my blood pressure everyday rather than feeding me food that did not make me sick. The last time I was released from the hospital I continued to experiment with changing my diet in different ways. Finally after more than three years of becoming increasingly desperate over how I might solve my health problem I discovered that when I eliminated bread from my diet I felt much better and did not experience going into a bi-polar array in the winter time. I began to research the concept of candida, allergies to wheat gluten, sugar and schizophrenia. One of the major symptoms of candida is bi-polar disorder. Once I had this information I eliminated all wheat flour, products that contained yeast, all fruit except apples, as well most cooked vegetables and even oatmeal from my low fat vegan diet.

Possibly a candida condition caused the yeast in the fresh bread I ate every day to effect my nervous system. Wheat gluten, milk lactose and sugar have all been found to cause schizophrenia in numerous studies and research. Of course none of the doctors or staff in the hospitals I was sent to ever mentioned any of this information. I also read that not only the yeast in bread but the fungus in mushrooms can promote candida. I once ate some button mushrooms and became very stoned soon afterwards.

I noticed from experimentation that many cooked vegetables, raw fruits and even oatmeal are high enough in natural sugar and refined carbohydrates that they caused my blood sugar to drop and hence trigger a physiological depression and occasional night sweats. I also discovered that eating raw steel cut oats caused me to hallucinate. Possibly the steel cut oats where contaminated or over time I developed an allergy to oats as well.

I modified my vegan diet by switching over to eating finely chopped low fat raw vegetables such as onions, celery, carrots, cabbage, spinach, peppers, corn, ginger, cilantro, tomatilos, cucumbers, radishs and tomatoes. I also add organic brown rice, cooked potatoes, cooked whole rye and a modest amount of split peas to my raw vegetable salad which I always top with fresh lemon juice. I often wrap the rice and raw veggie salad in toasted sea weed paper. I have read that sea weed is beneficial for the thyroid. In between meals or as a desert I eat slices of apple. The proportions are about half raw vegetables and half cooked rice and to a lesser degree/whole rye/potatoes/peas mixed as a large salad in the morning and eaten many times a day.

It is to great delight I can report that after eight months on this new variation of a low fat vegan diet I continue to be clear of major bi-polar symptoms and I never even catch a cold or flu.

But about four months I was working very hard in the rain for several days and I started to develop chronic soreness or arthritis in my left elbow and to a lesser degree in my back and right elbow.

I then researched further and found out that night shade vegetables such as potatoes, tomatoes, peppers and egg plant can cause a biochemical reaction that can contribute to arthritis. At the time I was eating one or two very hot peppers a day as well as a high percentage of potatoes and tomatoes. Some researchers also believe that an allergy to grains like corn and rye can also contribute to arthritis. As a result I have since cut way down on the night shade vegetables as well as corn and rye. After doing so my back and right elbow recovered from the chronic morning stiffness, but to date my left elbow is still experiencing a lot of stiffness and pain.

Since illness is mostly caused by stress, it is a common experience that when a serious illness is cured a less serious illness will result. Over all I am very happy with getting my life back and am very grateful to have discovered that in my case a mostly raw vegetable and rice diet is a cure for bi-polar disorder.

I continue to be amazed by the fact that twice in my life I have been able to clear up a very sever and chronic conditions through a simple change of diet. It is upsetting to think that millions of people are forced to be addicted to mind altering and health destroying medications as well as endure dangerous surgeries and other invasive treatments because of conditions that I believe for many can be cured literally in days through a change of diet!

My advice to anyone with a health problem is to keep experimenting with changing your diet in the direction of simple low fat plant based foods until you find a balance that works for you. And of course keep up with other healthy spiritual practices such as mediation, natural exercise and service to others. zangotango@yahoo.com

[Jnkmnky]

Well, that was a heck of a story! I'm glad you're feeling so much better. I believe gluten may have caused my last bout of arthritis pain and brain fog. You can't have rye, though, if you want to be gluten free. Not just cut back on it... you can't be having it at all. Do you have a good source of protein? Veggies and rice aren't going to give you much protein.

[Carriefaith]

I'm glad that you are feeling better. Gluten makes me depressed, irritable, anxious, and nervous and I also can get severe brain fog. I am interested to know what you eat everyday for meals since you had to eliminate so much food.

[bluejeangirl]

Just last year I noticed symtoms of bi-polar with me. I wouldn't sleep hardly at all and have a hard time sitting down to watch a movie or relax, and my mind would race. Then I would go into a depression which I never had to that extent. I also started getting stiff joints in my left hand and hips every morning. I knew I could also relate all these symtoms to what I was eating because that has been the story of my life. I went to several doctors in the late 80's with candida and food allergies. It got to be expensive and it seemed I was allergic to everything. I stopped after awhile because I wanted to live my life like a normal person and I felt confined to this diet. But I continued to eat mostly veggies and low fat meats and limited my high starches and no sugar. I gave it to God and stopped fearing and obsessing about it. I got better and better by just working on my attitude. Well this lasted for 12 or so years, then like I said started to go down hill again so it led me to elliminating all gluten. Did this over christmas last year and I feel better again. All the depression is gone most of the sore joints and muscle aches, and little things like gas and bloating and sweats at night. Its crazy isn't it. I'm glad your feeling better. These boards are great for inspiration and when your feeling like your the only person with these problems.

Gail

[Fiddle-Faddle]

Thank you so much for sharing your story and the information. I'm learning much, much more from this board than I ever could from doctors.

[eKatherine]

I eat wheat, and my joints hurt like crazy for about 18 hours, especially my right foot, which has bone spurs. I've been told this is sign of an allergy to wheat.

[Jeff Heaton]

Well, that was a heck of a story! I'm glad you're feeling so much better. I believe gluten may have caused my last bout of arthritis pain and brain fog. You can't have rye, though, if you want to be gluten free. Not just cut back on it... you can't be having it at all. Do you have a good source of protein? Veggies and rice aren't going to give you much protein.

Your right. After reading up on celiacs disease I have decided to cut out the rye completely.

I discovered my own cure for schizophrenia because I was looking for away to cure the chronic sores on the sides of my mouth. My lips would break open, scab over and heal up every few weeks. I have a mustache so they were never too noticeable. But an embarrassment just the same since I am an avid tango dancer. At one point after coming out of the nut house I tried a new variation of my low fat vegan diet by eating only fruit and soup made with all sorts of tasty veggies and spices. After about two weeks on a fruit and soup diet the sores went away. It was amazing that after three years of chronic sores on the sides of my mouth they would go away on an all fruit and veggie diet. But the fruit and soup diet was very unsatisfying. Eating a whole bunch of bananas and apples all day long did not cut it. I needed something less sugary and more crunchy. And when I reintroduced the bread, even briefly, the sores would come back. So that is how I figured out the bread was causing a problem. Then I remembered hearing something about candida and did more research. After that I focused on eliminating the yeast, mushrooms, sugary fruits, etc. I was also influenced by all the talk about raw food. It wasn’t until a few weeks later that I realized that the cure for my sores was also a cure from my bi-polar illness.

Since discovering years earlier that I needed to live on a low fat vegan diet to cure my chronic deep lung coughing, my diet has tended to be very simple and repetitive. So eating the same kind of SemiFreddies bread every single day may have been the chief problem.

As far as the protein is concerned, I have been unable to eat any substantial sources of protein for many years. I think the belief that one needs to eat foods high in protein is a myth fostered by the meat and diary associations. The human body does just fine on plant based foods that contain very moderate levels of protein and fat. Those who have an illness that is based in an inability to absorb or digest high protein or high fat foods need to eliminate them and not worry about it. I work very hard as a contractor and am generally in good shape. But I am very thin possibly due to the damage done over the last fifty three years by undiagnosed celiac disease.

Now I have a new challenge to face. My fifteen year old daughter is in a mental hospital for attempting to over dose on prozac. It really upsets me that the medical authorities have no clue about celiac disease. I had to point out to them that based on my personal history and experience that she needs to be tested. They are considering my request. But in the mean time they want to put her back on medication. They are saying that they can not treat her unless she is on medications that have been statistically shown to cause suicide. Talk about insanity. They are saying that she is suffering from post traumatic stress disorder, yet they have not even attempted to use EMDR or somatic body work which have both been shown to be a great benefit to people with PTSD.