Gut health

My GI system was a wreck before starting Temazepam a couple months ago and my naturopathic doctor recommended a powder called Designs for health GI Revive. He says there’s nothing in it that can rev me up. Ingredients are l-glutamine, chamomile, glycine, marshmallow, slippery elm, cats claw, msm, mucin, aloe Vera extract, stevia, natural flavors, okra extract, quercetin, n acetyl glucosamine, prune powder, zinc carnosine. I told him I was nervous to try it but I did anyway yesterday. Felt a bit weird with burning behind my nose at one point a couple hours later. When taking my med at night (only time I take it) I felt way more calm set in quickly. Not sure if this is good or bad. I have OCD related to health stuff so my questions about it will probably just come off as hypervigilence to him. Thoughts? Or suggestions on other things to try?

Benzos were wrecking my GI too. I started with something like that thinking I had just GI problems ( a month later discovered benzos were my devil).

Be careful with it....

 

Chamomile hits gaba. some do ok with it and some don't.

"Natural flavors" is a food industry cover up for MSG - not good for us.

L glutamine(an amino acid) is a precursor to gaba ...this can go good or bad just like the chamomile.

 

So Its prob not placebo that you felt some "calm".

 

So this product is great if you haven't had benzo damage. Exercise caution. you will know soon enough if its not right for you. I stopped taking mine bc the calm I felt with mine reminded me of the benzo calm a bit, and I didn't want anything screwing up healing my gaba receptors.

 

I used food to heal my GI. Do a mix of foods that are probiotic and prebiotic in nature. However, even though fermented foods are awesome for GI health, I do not advise using them right now as they have alcohol in them due to fermentation, which affects gaba too. I accidentally drank kombucha one d ay and felt it not in a good way. Same thing with a brined pickle. And be careful of vinegars as well.

 

I am happy to say i can handle small amounts of vinegars again in salad dressing and ate a bit of brined pickle and did not have the response I had before.

 

Organic raw veggies and certain fruits will heal your GI. Cut out sugars bc they fed the bad bacteria in your gut. Many new studies are showing links to our mental health and our gut health.

 

Hope this helps:)

Celery juice every morning before breakfast saved my gut. All natural and healthy. Give it a try.

What Pam said.

 

First, if my diet overwhelms you, that's fine. My family has always eaten like this. Take it in pieces you can live with. You don't have to completely change everything at once. And "whole" food is expensive.

 

I have always eaten very clean and healthy, my family was way ahead of the curve before health food became a thing. With wd my GI is trash. I never had pizza, fast food, boxed cereal store candy or Chinese food growing up. Hence, I was "weird. We made our own sweets, bread, and bought meat from the butcher fresh off the farm. To this day, myself and my 3 siblings don't like chocolate. We never had it growing up. It's not a bad food, but, we never developed a taste for it.

 

I avoid supplements like the plague. Did you know that supplement providers do not have to have their products verified by any agency. If your taking fish oil capsules, they could  be corn oil. There are no requirements for supplement makers to prove their product is what it claims to be.

 

I avoid powdered protein/ health products. No way. They often contain items that are cross tolerant with benzo's. And, with my diet, I don't need a supplement.

 

The only tea i drink is green tea. But then, again, grew up having it as a child, developed a taste for it. It is a powerful antioxidant.

 

I plan my meals around whole foods that give me the nutrition my body requires, At least half of what I eat is raw.

 

I only eat 100% organic vegetables, fruits, cheese, crackers and anything else. This was not a big jump for me, as I have always done this. No additives, hormones are antibiotics in any food I buy.

 

CHECK LABELS

 

KATSUP has SUGAR in it. Once you start reading those labels, you will be appalled. Most store processed food has sugar in it Here is a huge list of "sneaky" names for sugar in food products. You will be disgusted. It's cheap, and makes the food addictive. That's why it's added.

 

https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/56-different-names-for-sugar#Theres-no-need-to-avoid-naturally-occurring-sugars

 

I found out I have gluten intolerance. I was like ????. I thought that was just a trendy thing. I never ate bread, but now I make sure my crackers are gluten free. I have a hunch it will go away once I am well off benzo's.

 

I have always been a not strict vegetarian, but am now even more careful. I only buy meat products right from our local farmers, or have my kids bring me Halal animal products.

 

Most supermarket meats come from animals with numerous additives (The big 3;antibiotics, hormones, dyes.) I get my animal protein from Kosher/Halal (the Muslim equivalent of kosher). I do like some beef, fish or lamb from time to time.

 

My grown children all buy their meat products in bulk from the Halal store in Denver and keep them in a freezer. I don't have space for a freezer, so just have them bring me a few meat products when they visit. They are 4 hours away from me.

 

I now put my emphasis on "clean/power foods," as 90% of my diet. By thinking about what I can eat, rather than not eat, it makes it much easier. The 10% is when I allow myself to be naughty. A naughty pleasure food once or twice a week is OK. For me, it's usually potato chips, I love those things. Or cheesecake. My GI will survive.

 

Some great foods:

 

Fresh ground almond butter (I grind it myself.) It is a "magic," food. Good healthy fats and protean.

Here is a great list of the top 30 healthiest foods (some of them I don't like, or they irritate me, so pick what you enjoy.):

 

https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/50-super-healthy-foods#veggies

 

In spite of this, I still have GI problems. Benzo belly, dyspepsia. achy stomach, heart burn.

 

Also, watch your soap, moisturizer, hair products, etc. They can set you off. If you can't find hygiene products with no additives, get as close as you can.

 

The smell of perfumes makes me feel ill. Same with air fresheners. And, then we have skin irritation. Those dyes and additives are being absorbed through our skin.

 

Some really bad foods: Processed sugars, Chinese, fast food, candy, hot dogs, bacon (Any meat that is highly processed is loaded with triggering chemicals.)

 

If you don't want to give up bacon, or something else that is hard on our GI tract, use that as your twice a week "naughty," food.

 

Whenever anyone travels abroad, they purchase food off of vendors in the morning (No crap added.) I guarantee, America has the worst food health wise in the world. When my daughter went to Rwanda after the massacre, she said the avocados were the size of melons, and were amazing. My husband grew up military, traveling around the world. He takes an international trip almost every year. He loved the quality, cleanliness and flavor of  foods in his two most recent trips: Nicaragua and Cuba.

 

It can be done here if you live in the right place. In Seattle, you can buy fresh fish products in market stalls.

 

I know this ca be overwhelming. Pick one or two things at a  time. Ease into it as much as you can. And if you can't be as strict as I am, no shame. As I said, I grew up eating like this, so it's not a stretch for me. 

 

Most of all, Have fun with it! If it's a pain, you wont follow through.