"body Ecology Diet" - Anyone Done It?

[BRUMI1968]

I am contemplating the "Body Ecology Diet", which is mostly a candida elmination diet. Anyone here tried it?

[Green12]

I am contemplating the "Body Ecology Diet", which is mostly a candida elmination diet. Anyone here tried it?

I did. It basically is all about healing the intestinal lining and clearing out the yeast. The diet is pretty restrictive and there is some out of the ordinary foods that make up the bulk of the diet, i.e. keffir and cultured vegetables.

[BRUMI1968]

Did you find it helped? It is similar to the paleo diet, which I like, but I'm finding I'm still bloated. So I thought maybe yeast might be the problem, and looked for a cleansing diet.

I'm day one w/o any sugar or fruit, and I'll admit that my bloating has diminished quite a bit already. I already hadn't done grains for ten days, so that was easy enough.

Anyway, any luck with the diet? Did it help at all?

[Green12]

Did you find it helped? It is similar to the paleo diet, which I like, but I'm finding I'm still bloated. So I thought maybe yeast might be the problem, and looked for a cleansing diet.

I'm day one w/o any sugar or fruit, and I'll admit that my bloating has diminished quite a bit already. I already hadn't done grains for ten days, so that was easy enough.

Anyway, any luck with the diet? Did it help at all?

Well, hard to say. I only followed it for about 3-4 months. It was hard for me because I couldn't do the keffir which is one of the main healing components, and I tried making cultured veggies and they didn't turn out, she (Donna Gates) wants you to make them often and eat them daily, again another one of the main healing components of the diet. I did buy some veggie zing at the health food store and ate it for awhile but it got hard to stomach it because it is really potent stuff. She's big on cultured foods, probiotics, greens, sea vegetables, food combining....

Donna also allows quinoa, millet, buckwheat and red skinned potatoes, so there are starches in her diet (as long as you food combine properly). These in her opinion are very healing to the digestive tract.

She also pushes her products for the success of the diet, her supplement blends, green drinks, keffir starters, cultured veggie starters, oils, etc.

Do you have the book?

[BRUMI1968]

Yeah. I've read the book. I just ignore her whenever she starts trying to sell me some of her products.

Here's what I figure I'm going to do. Go on her version of the diet for two weeks (the absolutely no fruit and sugar part). The add back some fruit. I think fruit is healthy.

I'm undecided on the kefir. I don't do dairy right now, and I have no idea where to find young green coconuts or how much they cost. So the jury is out on this part.

I bought some jars to do the veggies in and I'll give that a try. I usually follow Ayurvedic medicine (from India) and I'm a Pita (body type), which means no fermeted foods of any kind. On the other hand, I see the logic of the fermented foods. I might ask my Ayurvedic doc what he thinks.

Well, in the end I think I'll focus on killing the yeast, and see if that helps. Already my bloating is gone (which I've been struggling with since I quit gluten 2 months ago).

Thanks for your help.

[rinne]

I'm curious to know more about this diet but I am leery of any diet that appears to rely on products the promoters of the diet are selling.

I'm also feeling overwhelmed with the various diets about what to eat and what to avoid. Lately I have been trying to just listen to my body and what it is saying and it is saying vegetables, fish, meat, and fruit but I wonder about the fruit and whether I should cut it out for a couple of weeks. I do have some bloating but not much.

I find what she says about the fermented vegetables very interesting and am curious how people have done with making them. I'm a little hesitatant to make something when I don't know what it is supposed to taste like. Does anyone know if organic saurkraut falls into the good category for intestinal health?

[BRUMI1968]

The gal who devised the diet doesn't like store-bought sauerkraut due to the salt. However, she does have, on their website, an approved brand...not hers, but one that she likes.

I will say that after 36 hours my bloating is substantially less. But I've lost 3 # in the last week or two, and I don't really have that to lose. I am only now adding land animals back into my diet after 15 years (today had two slices of chicken meat), so maybe once I get going with that, my weight will balance back out.

I will say that the ZERO grains thing has really helped me out quite a bit.

Anyway, I can keep you posted. I certainly don't think the diet has merit as a long-term diet, at least not in its stringent form. I am just trying to see if it was little yeasties in my guts that were causing my bloating - and am going to do my best to starve them out. This is WAR!

[rinne]

Please do.

I know I am in denial about my maple syrup addiction and suspect it is time to cut out sugars.

[BRUMI1968]

My addiction is maple syrup too. Actually, having gone the 10 days w/o grains of any kind is making the no sugars of any kind a bit easier for me I'm sure. Plus, this Stevia crap isn't too bad - it makes your tea taste sweet, though you can't put your finger on what kind of sweet, which I normally enjoy (honey sweet, maple syrup sweet, turbinado sweet, etc.)

Anyhoo, I'll keep you posted.

[Green12]

Good luck with the diet

[Green12]

Actually, you got me thinking....

I am considering revisiting some of the principles of this diet. My skin never looked better while on the diet. It doesn't look all that bad now since I have been slathering on a special salve at night the last few years, but there was a healthy glow that came from deep within the gut, I believe, and this diet was responsible. Not that my skin is the main goal, but healthy skin is a sign of a healthy system.

I think the key was the cultured foods that balanced the intestinal flora (above and beyond what capsuled or powdered probiotics can accomplish) allowing a great deal of healing to take place. I did try making the cultured veggies as I mentioned before and it was a pain and they didn't turn out, but you can buy them at the health food stores. The recommended brand is Rejuvenative Foods, here's the link:

Open Original Shared Link

I used the Veggie-Delite Veggie Zing Salad, *warning it smells and tastes like

H E L L, but it works

Also I liked the Kim Chi.

[BRUMI1968]

Yeah, I'm having real good luck with it on day 3. I probably eat more nut butters and more oil than she suggests; for the most part, I don't have trouble digesting it. Tomorrow I am going to try to make the veggies - I bought some of her starter to get me going, but then will transfer juice from old jar to new jar, that is provided that it works. I hope it does cause the store bought stuff is spendy.

Did you ever try the kefir? If so, did you go green coconut, raw cow's milk, or raw goat's milk. I'm thinking about trying to add the kefir when the one month mark rolls around, though I'm planning on adding back some of the less sugary fruits in a couple weeks.

Lastly, did you lose weight? I seem to be losing 1/2 pound a day even though I don't have it to spare. I figure it will even out once I add more meats into the diet (so far have only added chicken after 15 years of vegetarianism + salmon), like hamburger patty made from grass-fed beef, etc.

I visited the farm today where I buy my grass-fed beef and chickens and eggs and pork. It was so great. It's about 30 miles from my house, but they also sell their stuff at my local food co-op.

Anyway, we should keep each other posted as to how we're doing.

[Green12]

Did you ever try the kefir? If so, did you go green coconut, raw cow's milk, or raw goat's milk. I'm thinking about trying to add the kefir when the one month mark rolls around, though I'm planning on adding back some of the less sugary fruits in a couple weeks.

Lastly, did you lose weight? I seem to be losing 1/2 pound a day even though I don't have it to spare. I figure it will even out once I add more meats into the diet (so far have only added chicken after 15 years of vegetarianism + salmon), like hamburger patty made from grass-fed beef, etc.

I visited the farm today where I buy my grass-fed beef and chickens and eggs and pork. It was so great. It's about 30 miles from my house, but they also sell their stuff at my local food co-op.

Anyway, we should keep each other posted as to how we're doing.

I'm going to have to go to the library and get the book, I sold my editions (I had 2 of the editions) in a garage sale I need to reread and refresh my memory as to some of the main principles and allowed food list and see if it will work for me.

I never tried the keffir. At the time I did the diet she was only doing cow's milk and goat's milk keffir, the cocunut keffir came later as her diet and knowledge evolved. I do recall it was recommended you add the keffir in later and slowly as some people react strongly to it (it is supposedly a very potent and powerful body cleanser).

I think the main reason I stopped doing the diet was I found the food list too restrictive and since I didn't do the keffir and I couldn't do the greens (it contains lots of gluten grasses) and so much of the other basics, I didn't have much to eat.

I didn't lose weight, I didn't have any excess to lose at the time. I do remember the biggest change was my skin tone.

I am still not 100% sure I am going to do it, but I am definitely going to add in the cultured veggies for starters.

But, yeah, keep me posted as to your progress and I'll check back in once I have reaquainted myself with the plan.

Good luck

[chris hudson]

delete

[rinne]

I bought Karthein's Organic Unpasterized Sauerkraut with carrots and ginger and it is delicious. Here's their site: Open Original Shared Link

According to them unpasteurized Sauerkraut is...

1.high in digestive enzymes. Enzyme rich foods help support the pancreas and increase digestive strength.

2.one of the best ways to establish various beneficial lactobacilli cultures (and others) in the digestive tract. It is a less expensive alternative to probiotic supplementation.

3.very high in naturally occurring lactic acid. Lactic Acid helps maintain a healthy acidity in the large intestine - an environment that is hostile to parasites and yeast but comfortable for good bacteria.

4.very high in vitamin C, a powerful antioxidant.

5.helps to maintain the acid/base balance of the body - especially useful for toxic, acidic conditions.

6.highly recommended for healing candidiasis (Candida Yeast overgrowth.)

7.high in acetylcholine, a compound known to regulate the bowels, calm the nervous system, improve sleep patterns, and lower blood pressure.

8.contains dithiothiones, indoles and sulfur, all of which are recommended by the National Cancer Institute for cancer prevention.

9.supplies the body with easily assimilated, predigested nutrients. Most people who ordinarily experience difficulty digesting cabbage or other raw vegetables, have no trouble eating small amounts of Unpasteurized Sauerkraut.

10.helps to regulate blood sugar levels making it useful for hypoglycemic and diabetics.

I will include sauerkraut in my diet and I am slowly getting away from starches though I am temporarily hooked on "banana ice cream". (In a food processor blend a chopped frozen banana with 1 or 2 T almond butter and 1 or 2 T of maple syrup, eaten right away it is like soft icecream, freeze till firm and pour more maple syrup over it and some toasted almonds and voila - a sundae , glad there is another out there with the same addiction).

I found what you had to say about your skin interesting Julie. I know that my skin looks pretty good these days but I don't feel I have that vitality that is real health shining through, I want it.

Okay, I confess to just realizing I am not only an addict, worse than that I want company in my banana habit, this is the second time I posted that recipe. Sooo embarrassed.

[Green12]

Okay, I confess to just realizing I am not only an addict, worse than that I want company in my banana habit, this is the second time I posted that recipe. Sooo embarrassed.

rinne, you crack me up!

Great info about the sauerkraut, thanks for sharing!

[rinne]

Hi Chris Hudson and welcome, I'm new too and sorry but I don't know so much. This place is a great resource and no doubt someone will come along and give you more information than I can but in the meantime if you haven't explored past threads I have found that there is a lot of information in them.

And Julie, Tee Hee.

[BRUMI1968]

Please help.....I'm new, and just started eliminating wheat and gluten. It's very difficult to understand were gluten is hidden. I still can't find the delphi list. I've read in this forum about gluten free items, but it seems not everyone agrees. Is there a sure way to fing out? Do you call each manufacture? Any help would be greatly appreciated. I'm looking for gluten free soymilk, pudding, cereal for less than 4.00 a box, and some alcohol. oh....and were is spell check, and how do I post my own thread? I have three kids...each one zapped some brain cells Also I tried atifungal, yeast cleanse and dr. crook's diet (the yeast conection), great book if you are trying to eliminate yeast. I checked it out at our library. There is a yeast free diet at www.candidapage.com

Hi. The person you need to PM (private message) is Nini. If you look up "members", hit N, then you'll find her. Ask her for the "newbie kit". She is happy to send it along.

I call any manufacture of stuff I question, like "natural flavors" or "caramel color". I want to hear it from the horses mouth that they don't contain gluten. Since I've quit eating almost anything made by anyone other than God/Nature, I don't have to do it very much anymore.

Beware of soy when you're starting out - it can bother quite a few folks. There are no doubt gluten-free soy drinks, but I'm not in the know there. As to cereal that's less than $4 a box - what are you, stuck in the 1960's. Sorry...just kidding, it's just unbelievable as to the price of cereal. One that I ate B4 giving up all grains was Crispy Brown Rice with fruit by Erewehon. Also for hot cereals you can do cream of rice, buckwheat, and Bob's gluten-free that has those plus corn I think.

Tequila is the only alcohol that is not from grain - but most alcohols are fine for Celiacs provided they don't have mash added back again. Because they are distilled. YOu should think about vinegar - for example, cheap balsamic vinegar often has additives like sugar (or wheat-derived sugars) and malted vinegar is definitely out. However, the concensus is that distilled things don't have gluten left over. There is some controversy, but it sounds mostly solved.

Anyway, thanks for posting and the link to the candida thing. You'll get the hang of the board and if you're like me, you'll spend at least two hours a day checking in and whatnot. New hobby I guess. Glad I have a laptop and can do it in the sun.

[Green12]

Please help.....I'm new, and just started eliminating wheat and gluten. It's very difficult to understand were gluten is hidden. I still can't find the delphi list. I've read in this forum about gluten free items, but it seems not everyone agrees. Is there a sure way to fing out? Do you call each manufacture? Any help would be greatly appreciated. I'm looking for gluten free soymilk, pudding, cereal for less than 4.00 a box, and some alcohol. oh....and were is spell check, and how do I post my own thread? I have three kids...each one zapped some brain cells Also I tried atifungal, yeast cleanse and dr. crook's diet (the yeast conection), great book if you are trying to eliminate yeast. I checked it out at our library. There is a yeast free diet at www.candidapage.com

Welcome Chris, sorry I didn't spot your post earlier.

I don't have any info about anything soy, I can't handle soy products/soy ingredients. Nor alcohol, I'm not a drinker.

As far as the pudding Cozy Shack is a brand of prepared puddings that are gluten-free. You can find them in most health food stores and even some main stream grocery stores in the U.S..

You can check out the other categories on this board like "Gluten Free Products" for cereal possibilities. I don't eat boxed cold cereal, but many others do and they will have suggestions.

Sorry I can't be of more help.

[sketchfreevegan]

I went on the body ecology diet last summer, yes it was hard but I did see results very quickly. I'm always bloated, like always. So it was astounding to me that after 2 weeks on this diet my tummy was flattening, meaning I wasn't rentaining as much water, and just generally didn't feel puffy.

It's supposedly the candida that can cause this reaction.

The thing with me is that I LOVE food and love to cook, so the restrictive ingredients kind of got me down.