About one year ago I woke in the middle of the night with severe pain in my right kidney area. I broke into a sweat and was in pain for about 20 minutes or so. The pain subsided and my body calmed down. I changed clothes and went back to bed. Nothing happened after that, so I just chalked it up to muscle spasms.

Back in March, my right side kidney area flared back up and this time it lasted for a few days. It was very uncomfortable but with ibuprophen and heat, it subsided and life went back to normal.

Three weeks ago, I started having painful urination and my wife and I thought it might be a urinary tract infection or something similar. After a weeks worth of antibiotics the pain had went away but came back even worse within a few days. That’s when the pain in my right kidney area came back. I then went to my doctor to get a urine test which showed blood in my urine. My keytones were high too, but with the O diet, that is to be expected. I started drinking way more water and cranberry juice to see if it would help the possible infection. The extra fluids did the trick but I was urinating every 20 minutes and very urgently at that!

After a couple of days of that, things seemed to get better. The kidney pain died down and the level of blood in my urine dropped to the point it was no longer painful to urinate.
With all of that, we decided to find out if I had a kidney stone and set up a catscan for this past Tuesday to find out for sure.

Well I found out I have a kidney stone that has made its way into my bladder. That would explain the improvement, but I’m not out of the woods yet. I now have to “filter” my urine to try and catch the stone so it can be tested to see what kind of stone it is.

All of this begs the question, why am I making stones? I’ve been following the O Diet for over 12 years now so what could be going on? I might be consuming too much protein which is one of many causes for stones. I do consume my fair share of Sea Salt that I use in my trail mix and put on my burgers. That can also be a cause. Uric acid stones can happen too, but I doubt that is the reason.

If it is because I am consuming too much protein, I am going to have to cut back by 25-50% which is going to complicate my daily food consumption routine. The problem is that when I don’t eat enough protein I get hungry faster and usually make poor food choices. I am weighing my options at this point, but I don’t have any ideas on something that’s easy to make and can take with me for the day for my small frequent meals.

I will report back when the stone passes or something else changes.

Los días otoñales, fresco y chispeantes ya se dejan sentir, recordándonos intensificar nuestro sistema inmune, siguiendo los protocolos para lograr posicionarnos en "modo de lucha".

Pronto se aproxima la bien conocida temporada de gripe y resfriado y tomando algunas medidas preventivas reducimos de manera positiva nuestra probabilidad de contagio.
• Todos sabemos que la inmunidad comienza en nuestro intestino. Ingiriendo aquellos alimentos adecuados y benéficos de acuerdo a su fisiología, están ya tomando un paso importante para mantenerse saludables. Intensificar el consumo de alimentos benéficos, eliminando aquellos a evitar en su dieta.
• El estrés merma la inmunidad. Resulta difícil evitar el estrés, pero tomarse unos momentos para relajarse – encontrar 10 minutos al día para únicamente sentarse y cerrar los ojos, hacer algunas respiraciones profundas alternando el lado izquierdo luego el derecho de la nariz, así como la meditación, han demostrado ser medidas útiles y eficaces.
• El ejercicio aumenta la inmunidad! Encontrar una actividad que sea la adecuada y practicarla rutinariamente. Dar una vuelta a buen paso por la tarde en este clima fresco otoñal es una excelente manera de terminar el día relajado y disfrutar de la belleza de esta temporada.
• Evite los azúcares refinados y grasas saturadas. Aunque usted este comiendo de acuerdo a su tipo, a veces estos encuentran la manera de colarse en nuestra dieta – estar atentos y sobre todo, aprenda a leer ingredientes en todo lo que compra con empaquetado llamativo y con leyendas que engañan.
• Tome sus vitaminas y sus minerales, sin aditivos o derivados químicos así como productos comprobados científicamente para elevar su sistema inmune como ARA o ProBerry.
• Siga los lineamientos de etiqueta en cuanto a toser o estornudar, cubriéndose la boca y la nariz. Lávese las manos con frecuencia y evite tocar su cara.

El sistema inmunitario, cuando se encuentra en perfecto funcionamiento, tiene una capacidad notable para luchar contra la gripe y los resfriados. Incluso si una infección se llegara a manifestar, su sistema inmunitario fortalecido, contra ataca de manera eficaz al poco tiempo!

Desde la antigüedad, el saúco ha sido utilizado en el combate a la gripe. En experimentos realizados, el saúco realmente ha demostrado poder inhibir la réplica de toda cepa de virus de influenza humana, tanto la A como la B.

En estudios científicos utilizando extracto de la fruta del saúco se demostró su eficacia en el tratamiento de la influenza tipo B. Dicha investigación mostró que las personas a quienes se les administro el extracto de saúco mejoraron mucho más rápido que aquellas a las que se les administro un placebo.

¿Por qué funciona el saúco? Pues bien, los investigadores encontraron dos razones realmente. La primera es que las personas que tomaron el saúco fueron capaces de producir títulos más altos de anti-hemaglutinación para la influenza B (lo que significa que su sistema inmunitario funcionó mejor y ahora tienen un nivel más alto de reconocimiento en caso de que les volviera a dar "gripe").
La segunda razón es que el saúco inhibe la neuraminidasa (sí, exacto, la misma neuraminidasa contra la cual los científicos están gastando millones de dólares en el diseño de medicamentos).

Una importante pregunta que no ha sido debidamente contestada aun:
¿Sera igualmente eficaz el extracto de saúco contra las cepas de la influenza A?
La respuesta definitiva se basa en su método de acción, su capacidad en vitro y las observaciones clínicas, que ha venido realizando el Dr. D'Adamo, por medio de su suplemento Proberry y la respuesta seria probablemente que sí. Sus pacientes tomando el suplemento Proberry, mezcla de saúco, concentrado de arándano, cereza y manzana, parecen transitar fácilmente a través de la temporada de "gripe".

La palabra de precaución con que dejarles seria que a la hora de suplementar a diario el Proberry, más no siempre es mejor. Altas dosis pudiesen llegar a producir náusea. Si está tratando de evitar una "gripe" una pequeña dosis diaria podría ser muy efectiva. El Dr. D'Adamo recomienda el Proberry a todos y en especial a las personas con sangre tipo B y AB debido a su alta susceptibilidad al virus en general.

Por lo tanto, ahora que se aproxima la época de "gripe" recuerde su benevolente saúco!

I just talked to my Dad and he told me about his latest Doctor’s visit. My Dad is 83 years old and is in relatively good health for his age. He lives alone in Washington state and has a part time job at his church. My Mom died almost two years ago and had been disabled due to a stroke the two years prior to her death. My Mom had always taken care of the bills, the meals, and the cleaning. So after her first stroke my Dad had a lot to learn. He taught himself how to cook and pay the bills (the cleaning he’s never gotten very good at, but neither was my Mom ).

After my Mom passed, my Dad got more interested in his health. Like me he’s always leaned towards alternative healing, like vitamins, herbs, and foods that help the body. I haven’t been able to get him interested in the blood type diet, but I try to make suggestions when the topic of food comes up. Now back to his recent Doctor’s visit.

He was put on blood thinners a while back to help with his heart. I have my own opinion about that prescription, but we’ll let that go. He’s been on them for at least a year and they test his blood regularly to make sure his dose is correct. This week they found out that his blood had thinned too much and so this is what they told him to do.

• Stop taking the medicine for one week

• Start eating dark green vegetables to help thicken the blood (these had been removed from his diet when he started the blood thinners)

• Stop eating berries (that help thin the blood)

• Next week once his blood has thickened back up, start taking the medicine again

Am I the only person that thinks this is ridiculous? I mean if your blood thinned because you were eating well and taking helpful supplements, as he’s been trying to do. Why not just stop taking the medicine altogether? Why thicken the blood to only thin it again with medicine? I can’t help but wonder what his Doctor’s thought process was.

I wish I could interfere, but I know my Dad will do what his Doctor asks of him. And it’s not my life or my decision. So I just listen and hope that he continues to eat well. Thanks goodness they didn’t ask him to stop his supplements, which were probably helping.

An update on my health: I have really turned a corner the last four months. There seems to be a big change in my health (I’m being treated for Chronic Lyme disease). My pain has decreased greatly and I’m able to work and think better than I have in years. My strength is good but my stamina is still lacking (due to the trouble with my heart) although it has also improved. I can walk farther than I use to and I can garden longer. I’m feeling cautiously optimistic about getting well! But who knows, this disease is very tricky and takes a long time to recover from. And some of us have permanent damage, but I’m better than I was a year ago and so much better than I was two years ago. I owe much of my healing to the Geno Type diet (I have a personalized Swami) and the help I’ve received from others on this wonderful site. Thanks again to Dr. D and all the wonderful posters on the forum.

How many times do mothers tell their children, "If you do that, you'll break your neck." I know I said those words many times. I'll never forget the day when my Strong Son, a 7th grader at the time, came into the kitchen with his head cocked to one side. He had to confess that he had been jumping on his bed - something that was absolutely against the rules. He couldn't straighten his head. I took him for x-rays, and the radiologist was afraid to make the call. They sent the x-rays to a neurosurgeon who said his vertebrae were fine, but the muscles in his neck were in spasm. The doctor prescribed muscle relaxers, which didn't help his neck but had some weird side effects. So we stopped the medication and he wore a padded neck brace for several days. One morning he woke up and everything was back to normal.

Now I can smile when I think of that story. But my Honorable Husband's mother was not so fortunate.

A week ago she fell in her home and cracked two vertebrae in her neck. Fortunately she was not paralyzed. But she is in lots of pain. She was in the hospital for 5 days. During that time they observed that she was having trouble swallowing. After tests, they put her on a diet of pureed food and thickened liquids. No one knows whether the swallowing is a result of the neck injury or something unrelated.

She has terrible headaches. No one is sure whether the headaches are caused by the fall, the neck injury, or too few calories (because she does not like pureed food). She takes pain medication every 3 hours.

She was released from the hospital to a rehab center where she will get 3 months of physical and occupational therapy. She will also see a speech therapist who will work on her swallowing techniques. The therapists are optimistic about her chances for a full recovery - if she eats enough to keep up her strength and if she works hard in therapy.

HH and I went to stay with her in rehab for 6 days. He was there in the daytime. I was there at night and in the morning. That way we made sure we got to talk to all of the doctors and therapists.

Here are a few things I want to remember as I get older. Perhaps they will help you or someone you love.
* Don't be too ashamed or too busy to use a walker. HH's Mom is 91 and has arthritis. She has a walker. She uses it almost the time. But that particular day she decided to walk across the den without it.

* Pain medication is a mixed blessing. Without it she cannot make it through a therapy session. But there are side effects - noticeably anger and repetitive behavior.

* Nurses and nurses aides respond to kindness. When she smiles at them and says thank you, she gets better care than when she complains. She got better care because family was there to take on a lot of duties ourselves - like feeding her and standing by while she went to the potty.

* A strong, healthy 59 year old woman (like me) is not strong enough to support the weight of a helpless 91 year old. I had to call for assistance when she needed to be moved. I was very aware of the danger that I could wind up in the room next door if I was not careful with my own legs, neck, and back. Injuries can happen fast - and have serious consequences.

* It would be really, really hard to come anywhere close to the BTD diet in a hospital or nursing facility. Everything is sweetened - sometimes with sugar; sometimes with NutraSweet. The theory is that the patients will eat more if sugar is added to the food. There are wheat products everywhere. On the pureed diet, they smash up rolls, pancakes, noodles, cereal, and more. The pureed bread must be pretty bad - HH's Mom usually loves bread, but she refuses to eat it pureed. The thickener in the water and juice is made from corn starch.

Having experienced how much better I feel, and how much faster I heal when I eat right, I'm afraid I would seriously clash with hospital dietitians.

SIL is a seminary student studying to be a minister. He has been called to pastor of a church in a rural community. There are many, many exciting things about this position. One is that the church members are so warm and encouraging to both SIL and DD. The other is that they have a parsonage!

The house has been vacant for about a year - since the former pastor moved out. So there were lots of bugs to be killed and lots of dust to wipe away. Because this will be their first home, they want to make it cute and special. They decided to paint...and to retile the bathroom...and to put shelf paper in all the cabinets. They had a very ambitious project list and not very many days before they had to be out of their apartment.

SIL's family came one weekend and got about half of the house painted. My Honorable Husband and I went last weekend. DD and I tackled the kitchen. HH and SIL laid the tile and continued painting. We worked hard, but it was fun because we were working together.

DD cooked for us Friday night. They have a George Foreman Grill, and she used it to make chicken. I was impressed. The chicken was tender and juicy. She used two salt free Mrs. Dash seasoning mixes on the chicken. One was spicy and the other was mild. Both were delicious. She also served curried green beans, turnip greens with ghee, a relish tray, and millet cornbread.

For lunch on Saturday she had tuna melts. She did a variation on a recipe I used to make which was popular with my children and their friends. She mixed tuna, cilantro, an herbal seasoning, and a neutral creamy dressing. I had always used mayonnaise, but SIL likes dressing better. You put the tuna mixture on top of slices of sprouted bread and top them with grated mozzarella cheese. You put them in the broiler until the cheese melts and starts to bubble.

Saturday night we were all tired and dirty. We drove into town for Mexican food. I had the second best taco salad I've ever eaten. On Sunday we got to hear SIL preach, then had lunch at an Italian restaurant. My chicken Caesar salad was outstanding. They are blessed to have at least two BTD friendly restaurants in their small town.

We worked a little more Sunday afternoon. At the end of the weekend when we looked around, we were amazed at how much progress had been made.

SIL will commute to seminary one day a week and take the rest of his classes on line. DD will continue to work at her job in marketing. She says, "I've been spending 30-45 minutes a day in heavy traffic. Now I'll be spending 45 minutes to an hour driving through the countryside."

Las personas con enfermedad renal crónica (ERC) incluyendo un gran número de no dependientes de la diálisis demuestra en la experiencia de la tasas de mortalidad son bastante altas, entre los predictores que más ayudan al diagnóstico. Son los estudios de los marcadores de deficiencia nutricional y/o inflamación los cuales han sido ampliamente estudiados en pacientes que reciben tratamiento de diálisis y en conjunto se formo el concepto de “malnutrición-inflamación-caquexia”.

Debido a la naturaleza compleja de los procesos de la desnutrición y la inflamación y la nomenclatura se ha adoptado el término de emaciación proteico-energética (PEW), que indica e manera uniforme la constelación de hallazgos asociados a la deficiencia nutricional y el síndrome de desgaste.

La emaciación energético-proteica es altamente común en los pacientes con etapa final de la enfermedad crónica, sometidos a diálisis asociándose a una mayor mortalidad. Existen varias valoraciones que se pueden aplicar para verificar el estado del paciente una de esa y la más fácil es la valoración global subjetiva, aunado a los biomarcadores podría favorecer a un mejor diagnostico y tratamiento en los pacientes.

Encontramos también que esto pacientes maneja dislipidemias principalmente hipocolesterolemia los estudios para medir el colesterol son bastante accesibles en varios aspectos, costo efectividad, cuando la concentración de colesterol, es demasiado alta, puede acumularse en los vasos sanguíneos, esta acumulación puede estrechar los vasos y ocasionar obstrucciones hasta llegar a un infarto.

Entre las personas con enfermedad renal crónica la enfermedad coronaria es muy común. Se recomienda que las personas con insuficiencia renal crónica se hagan análisis para el colesterol por lo menos una vez al año.

Además de las concentraciones altas de colesterol LDL que pueden verse reflejadas en los resultados el riesgo para la enfermedad cardíaca aumenta con; fumar, obesidad , alta concentración de glucosa en sangre, baja concentración de colesterol HDL la edad en los hombres mayor de 45 años y mujeres mayor de 55 años de edad, hipertensión arterial, diabetes mellitus , antecedentes familiares de enfermedad cardíaca, y otras formas de enfermedad que condicionan a los vasos sanguíneos . Los factores de riesgo para las persona con insuficiencia renal son más notorios en: gran ingestión de calcio con la dieta o en medicamentos, concentraciones altas de fósforo en la dieta, concentraciones alta de hormonas paratiroidea y de homocisteina, inflamación generalizada.

Todo lo anterior puede reducir si el estilo de vida del paciente cambia, aumente actividad física, elevar colesterol HDL, reducir colesterol LDL, reducir la presión sanguínea, mejorar el control de la diabetes, obtener un peso saludable , y el plan de alimentación sea el indicado para cada paciente y sus características personales por medio de un reporte SWAMI, diseñado para usted. No deje pasar mas tiempo, la prevención y la salud esta en sus manos. Es su responsabilidad el quererse, respetarse y procurarse, para lograr un bienestar sostenido y mejor su calidad de vida.

Today I had a booth at a local event to once again promote ERFYT!
I managed to speak to about 25 people and had a good time.

Two of the people I talked to were from a nearby booth. After the daughter went back with the "All About You (A)" brochure, the mom came over a little while later. The first thing out of her mouth was: "What's this I hear that wheat is bad for me?"

I smiled and explained that the protein in wheat called a Lectin first damages your intestintal lining, gets into your blood stream and clumps up your red blood cells. It also gets into your joints causing inflamation and damgage, mimics insulin - causing insulin resistance and fat production. It even gets to your thyroid causing damage. The lectin in wheat is so strong it can even bind to things that almost look like your blood type like cancer!

The mom then asked if she coud have an A brochure too! I gladly gave her one and answered a few more of her questions.

I was hoping for a larger turnout compared to last year but any time I can potentially help someone turn their health around, I'm good!

Rosh Hashana, the Jewish New Year, is almost upon us. This holiday is celebrated with special prayers and the blowing of the Shofar (ram’s horn) in the synagogue. Equally important are the observances that take place at home, around the dinner table. Blessings are made over wine and bread, like we do on Shabbos. But we also eat a number of symbolic foods.

Apples are dipped into honey to represent our wish for a sweet new year. Pomegranate, with its many small seeds, symbolizes the numerous blessings we hope to receive in the coming year, along with the good deeds we hope to perform. Carrots are cut into circles to represent coins, to show our hope for prosperity in the coming year. Many other symbolic foods are used, many of them puns in Hebrew or Yiddish. The foods used vary, as some add in new symbols that are puns in English, while others use puns from other languages. A new one we started a few years ago is to eat raisins with celery for “a raise in salary.”

We’re supposed to eat lots of sweet foods and no bitter ones. Many traditional Rosh Hashana recipes use lots of sugar and other unhealthy ingredients. Over the past few years, I’ve developed healthier, more compliant versions of these foods. I make a honey cake that uses only honey for sweetness, not a mixture of honey and white sugar, and it uses rice flour instead of wheat. My daughters may or may not also make one with spelt flour.

As an O nonnie, many of my “sweet” food choices are limited. I’m fine with the sweeter vegetables, but I’m not supposed to have apples or honey. I’m sure I could make a “honey cake” using just molasses and agave, and dip pears in agave to symbolize a sweet new year, but I don’t plan to do either one. I’ll have one or two apple slices each night of Rosh Hashana, and eat the honey cake made with real honey. I will serve pomegranates to my type B son, even though they’re an avoid for him. The holiday symbols are important to me, and we only have a few bites of each one.