Over the past few years my efforts and experiments have gradually improved my psoriasis, to the point that nobody realises that I have the condition unless I show them the few very minor lesions that I have. I have written before on this blog about my testing methods and waiting patiently to see the results.
A few months ago my sister told me that she had been suffereing from vitiligo, a different skin condition that is also rooted in imbalances in the immune system, like psoriasis. She had done some reading about the use of Betaine Hydrochloride (Betaine HCL) to increase stomach acid and kill off a Helicobactor Pylori (H Pylori) bacteria infection. She was seeing good results.
There is much information on Helicobactor Pylori online but it seems that there is not much that is known about what it does, except that it does increase inflammation in some people, which can lead to cancer and immune system problems. Infection is in the region of 50% of people worldwide, with higher infection rates in developing countries, lower rates in Western countries and varying rates among different population groups. Although there is such a high incidence of infection, few people show signs of illness resulting from it. Some researches speculate that it is actually a beneficial bacteria that does a job inside the digestive system.
There is much info available online if you Google "Helicobactor Pylori & Psoriasis" or "Betaine Hydrochloride & Psoriasis". I won't go into it but my sister saw good results on her vitiligo by supplementing with Betaine HCL so I decided to try it also.
Within a few days of starting with Betaine HCL supplements I started to feel changes in my skin before I could see them. Unfortunately, the changes were itchiness followed by increasing redness and lesion thickness. I persevered with the Betaine HCL supplement for 5 or 6 weeks, on the assumption that, if an H Pylori infection really was the root cause of my psoriasis then I should suffer through the deterioration to kill the infection and reach improvements once the H Pylori was gone.
Unfortunately, the improvement didn't come for me. After two bottles of Betaine HCL capsules I stopped taking them and my skin is now gradually improving again. At no time during the process did my psoriasis become more than mild but it definitely was deteriorating. This is very much in line with my past experience that acid foods aggravated my skin.
So, Betaine Hydrochloride didn't work for me. That does not mean that it won't work for you. There are people who say that it worked for them. Read up on the subject for yourself, you may be one of the lucky ones who can be cured this way. Just beware of those who claim that they have the final answer to cure all psoriasis and other immune conditions for everyone. Such huge claims are normally a clear give-away of someone wanting to separate you from your hard-earned money.
Friday, September 6, 2013
Tuesday, July 2, 2013
Beware, Young People are Growing Older
We have all heard for years that the life-expectancy of modern man is continually increasing and in the future humans can expect to live much longer lives. We also read headlines in periodicals that proclaim that "50 is the new 40" and "60 is the new 50". This is because baby boomers are living healthier and longer lives than their parents did. Some scientists have said that we can possibly live 150 years and more in the future.
This may all be changing. I have read a brief but very interesting article titled "30 Is the New 45" in the June/July issue of ACAnews, the magazine of the American Chiropractic Association. Written by Dr William Morgan, it highlights recent research in Holland into modern adults, who have been followed for 25 years to monitor their health.
The essence of the article is that the trend of increasing lifespan and good health into old-age is changing and is likely to plateau and then start falling. This is all because modern young adults are not eating properly and not exercising enough. The research has found that their bodies are ageing much faster than their parents and even their grandparents. Their bodies at 40 years of age are the equivalent condition of their parents at 55. This is showing up in a massive increase in obesity rates and health conditions like diabetes and heart conditions. This is despite reductions in the number of people who smoke and continually improving medical care and technology.
Those conditions are developing much earlier than in previous generations so those people will die sooner and have more health problems to burden their shorter lives. I guess that a short and unhealthy life may be better than a long unhealthy life but isn't the best option a long life that is filled with good health and happiness?
The numbers are pretty bad and much more so among women than men. They show that obesity has increased 20% among men and a staggering 50% among women, when comparing generations. This latter fact is particularly disturbing because it is the woman of the family who takes care of the entire family and makes the major decisions about what her family will eat. If she can't make sensible food and beverage decisions for herself then what chance is there that she will make good decisions for her family?
I was at a trade show this past weekend and had the opportunity to observe the visitors for three days. Often there were families of three generations roaming around together. For many of them one can see the progression in those three generations, with mother more obese than grand-mother and the children obviously continuing the trend. If the children are being started off so badly in their pre-teens then they are destined to a short life that is filled with bad health.
At this trade show there were also many, many fit and healthy people, men and women who very clearly take good care of themselves, with plenty of exercise and decent food choices. As can be expected, their families looked good as well. Those are the people that can expect to live longer and much more satisfying lives.
What has all this got to do with psoriasis and arthritis? Plenty. Severely excessive body weight and bad food choices impact on all manner of health conditions, including psoriasis and arthritis. Both are conditions that are characterised by inflammation, which is aggravated by bad nutrition. Psoriasis is aggravated by perspiration and chafe, both of which are made worse by having rolls of flesh rubbing against each other. Arthritis is aggravated by the joints having to support more weight than they are intended to carry, wearing out the cartilages and bone surfaces sooner.
We all have to take decisions for ourselves about all aspects of our lives and then we have to live with the results of those decisions. We should not expect society to fix our lives or our bodies when we were just too lazy or too careless to do a proper job of it ourselves. Pumping our children full of absolutely trashy food and sodas because they want it or it is the least hassle for us at the time can only result in seriously diminished quality of life in the future. Why would anybody do that?
This may all be changing. I have read a brief but very interesting article titled "30 Is the New 45" in the June/July issue of ACAnews, the magazine of the American Chiropractic Association. Written by Dr William Morgan, it highlights recent research in Holland into modern adults, who have been followed for 25 years to monitor their health.
The essence of the article is that the trend of increasing lifespan and good health into old-age is changing and is likely to plateau and then start falling. This is all because modern young adults are not eating properly and not exercising enough. The research has found that their bodies are ageing much faster than their parents and even their grandparents. Their bodies at 40 years of age are the equivalent condition of their parents at 55. This is showing up in a massive increase in obesity rates and health conditions like diabetes and heart conditions. This is despite reductions in the number of people who smoke and continually improving medical care and technology.
Those conditions are developing much earlier than in previous generations so those people will die sooner and have more health problems to burden their shorter lives. I guess that a short and unhealthy life may be better than a long unhealthy life but isn't the best option a long life that is filled with good health and happiness?
The numbers are pretty bad and much more so among women than men. They show that obesity has increased 20% among men and a staggering 50% among women, when comparing generations. This latter fact is particularly disturbing because it is the woman of the family who takes care of the entire family and makes the major decisions about what her family will eat. If she can't make sensible food and beverage decisions for herself then what chance is there that she will make good decisions for her family?
I was at a trade show this past weekend and had the opportunity to observe the visitors for three days. Often there were families of three generations roaming around together. For many of them one can see the progression in those three generations, with mother more obese than grand-mother and the children obviously continuing the trend. If the children are being started off so badly in their pre-teens then they are destined to a short life that is filled with bad health.
At this trade show there were also many, many fit and healthy people, men and women who very clearly take good care of themselves, with plenty of exercise and decent food choices. As can be expected, their families looked good as well. Those are the people that can expect to live longer and much more satisfying lives.
What has all this got to do with psoriasis and arthritis? Plenty. Severely excessive body weight and bad food choices impact on all manner of health conditions, including psoriasis and arthritis. Both are conditions that are characterised by inflammation, which is aggravated by bad nutrition. Psoriasis is aggravated by perspiration and chafe, both of which are made worse by having rolls of flesh rubbing against each other. Arthritis is aggravated by the joints having to support more weight than they are intended to carry, wearing out the cartilages and bone surfaces sooner.
We all have to take decisions for ourselves about all aspects of our lives and then we have to live with the results of those decisions. We should not expect society to fix our lives or our bodies when we were just too lazy or too careless to do a proper job of it ourselves. Pumping our children full of absolutely trashy food and sodas because they want it or it is the least hassle for us at the time can only result in seriously diminished quality of life in the future. Why would anybody do that?
Tuesday, June 25, 2013
Nightshades and Arthritis
I have heard rumours for decades that nightshades may be bad for my psoriasis. I have always been willing to experiment with different foods, including those that may help my skin or excluding those that may aggravate it. Somehow I never did experiment with nightshades, possibly because the stories that I heard were just rumours and never backed up by personal experience from any of my friends who had the same health problems.
Most people have either never heard the word nightshade or have heard it but don't have any idea what it means. Nightshades are not the dinky little eye covers that long distance airlines give to their passengers on overnight flights. Nightshades are plants that fall into a group of 2800 different species in the scientific order Polemoniales. They include some fruits and vegetables that one never thinks could be related in any way, yet they all have some common characteristics. Primarily, they are all related to the tobacco family and all contain varying amounts of nicotine and other alkaloids.
Maybe you don't smoke because you know that nicotine is very bad for your health. Yet you are almost certainly unknowingly consuming nicotine every day in what you eat because of nightshades.
As for the other alkaloids, these are components of nightshades that vary widely in content in these plants but are the reason why all nightshades are considered to be drugs. Alkaloids can have bad effects on nerve-muscle function as well as the digestive system and joints of all animals that consume them. The amount of alkaloids in food are very small, so most humans are not affected. However, people who are sensitive to alkaloids may have very bad effects. Autoimmune diseases are generally rooted in the digestive system, so any food that can deteriorate the digestive system is likely to cause problems.
So, what vegetables are we taking about here, as nightshades? The most common ones are all types of tomatoes, potatoes (normal and sweet varieties), eggplant and all varieties of peppers, from sweet to chili and cayenne species. I have found over the years that tomatoes give me bad reactions with both psoriasis and arthritis but I have still eaten them because of the good effects of lycopene. One of my favourite dishes is an Afrikaner dish that I have cooked regularly in winter. It is a red meat, tomato and potato stew over rice. I always showed a deterioration the following day or two but this stuff is so good that I lived with the after-effects of a well-loved meal. Red meat plus two nightshades over rice, that is a big mix of bad ingredients for someone with psoriatic arthritis. In future I will keep that for the occasional treat instead of cooking it weekly in winter.
At my weekly surf club meetings many chili peppers are consumed by my friends. I have tried them a couple of times and found that the following day or two my skin breaks out a bit. I had read somewhere that some people consider them to be good for arthritis, so I tried two one evening just to see if they affected my arthritis. They did and not for the better, so I decided to leave them out of my diet.
Lets go back to the bad stuff in nightshades. The alkaloids can block the signals that go back and forth between the nervous system and the muscles. The nervous system is the network via which the brain controls the whole body, so blocked or intermittent signals can cause big problems. These include muscle twitching, trembling, paralyzed breathing and convulsions. They also cause inflammation in the joints and arthritis problems are the result of inflammation.
Follow this link to an excellent article on nightshades and their effects on arthritis.
It is only about 3 weeks since I stopped eating nightshades, so I am still testing the results. Last week I did a surfing/sailing/camping trip for 4 days. I slept on an uncomfortable folding bed and abused my body with long hours of surfing and sailing (3 hours of surfing and 4 hours of dinghy sailing in one day alone). I had not the slightest hint of arthritis pain in those 4 days. Consider that I am no spring chicken, I turned 64 last month.
As I have said elsewhere on this blog, I follow many strategies to help my psoriasis and arthritis. Overall they work. Some will be helping more than others but it can be difficult to sort the good from the really good. Leaving nightshades out of my diet is looking very promising to become one of the best decisions to improve my health and well-being.
Most people have either never heard the word nightshade or have heard it but don't have any idea what it means. Nightshades are not the dinky little eye covers that long distance airlines give to their passengers on overnight flights. Nightshades are plants that fall into a group of 2800 different species in the scientific order Polemoniales. They include some fruits and vegetables that one never thinks could be related in any way, yet they all have some common characteristics. Primarily, they are all related to the tobacco family and all contain varying amounts of nicotine and other alkaloids.
Maybe you don't smoke because you know that nicotine is very bad for your health. Yet you are almost certainly unknowingly consuming nicotine every day in what you eat because of nightshades.
As for the other alkaloids, these are components of nightshades that vary widely in content in these plants but are the reason why all nightshades are considered to be drugs. Alkaloids can have bad effects on nerve-muscle function as well as the digestive system and joints of all animals that consume them. The amount of alkaloids in food are very small, so most humans are not affected. However, people who are sensitive to alkaloids may have very bad effects. Autoimmune diseases are generally rooted in the digestive system, so any food that can deteriorate the digestive system is likely to cause problems.
So, what vegetables are we taking about here, as nightshades? The most common ones are all types of tomatoes, potatoes (normal and sweet varieties), eggplant and all varieties of peppers, from sweet to chili and cayenne species. I have found over the years that tomatoes give me bad reactions with both psoriasis and arthritis but I have still eaten them because of the good effects of lycopene. One of my favourite dishes is an Afrikaner dish that I have cooked regularly in winter. It is a red meat, tomato and potato stew over rice. I always showed a deterioration the following day or two but this stuff is so good that I lived with the after-effects of a well-loved meal. Red meat plus two nightshades over rice, that is a big mix of bad ingredients for someone with psoriatic arthritis. In future I will keep that for the occasional treat instead of cooking it weekly in winter.
At my weekly surf club meetings many chili peppers are consumed by my friends. I have tried them a couple of times and found that the following day or two my skin breaks out a bit. I had read somewhere that some people consider them to be good for arthritis, so I tried two one evening just to see if they affected my arthritis. They did and not for the better, so I decided to leave them out of my diet.
Lets go back to the bad stuff in nightshades. The alkaloids can block the signals that go back and forth between the nervous system and the muscles. The nervous system is the network via which the brain controls the whole body, so blocked or intermittent signals can cause big problems. These include muscle twitching, trembling, paralyzed breathing and convulsions. They also cause inflammation in the joints and arthritis problems are the result of inflammation.
Follow this link to an excellent article on nightshades and their effects on arthritis.
It is only about 3 weeks since I stopped eating nightshades, so I am still testing the results. Last week I did a surfing/sailing/camping trip for 4 days. I slept on an uncomfortable folding bed and abused my body with long hours of surfing and sailing (3 hours of surfing and 4 hours of dinghy sailing in one day alone). I had not the slightest hint of arthritis pain in those 4 days. Consider that I am no spring chicken, I turned 64 last month.
As I have said elsewhere on this blog, I follow many strategies to help my psoriasis and arthritis. Overall they work. Some will be helping more than others but it can be difficult to sort the good from the really good. Leaving nightshades out of my diet is looking very promising to become one of the best decisions to improve my health and well-being.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)