Teachers were requesting a specific thread to discuss issues related to their diet.

So, here it is...ready to go....feel free to chat away!

All blood types and genotypes are more than welcome to come here and post....
and learn from Teachers or share with us but I want to say something about my one week as a Teacher... A Teacher with a SWAMI.

As I've said before on other threads, I spent 18 months (by measuring incorrectly) as a Warrior.

I am a Teacher after measuring correctly.

So for about a year on the Warrior diet I was walking around in a state of anxiety....I was
taking so many supplements like Tranquility Base and Cortiguard and anything NAP sold so
I could feel calm.  I bought a lot of CDs to meditate.....I learned all sorts of deep breathing
exercises.....I was doing yoga...The problem with all of this is that I was taking Warrior supplements and focusing on issues that weren't Teacher related.  And nothing I was doing
was working from hour to hour.

And so, I went to see an acupuncturist in May. She kept telling me my stomach meridian was stagnant.. put needles in my head, played soft music and the aromas of herbs in the room would make me calm....I'd be calm leaving..calm driving home..I kept waiting for the calm to stay
with me.... However, hours later, I'd be home and start hyperventilating again.

My acupuncturist has been in China for the past 3 weeks...which almost gave me a nervous
breakdown when she told me a day before she was going with no advanced notice that she'd be back mid August...I had only seen her 8 times and wasn't ready for her to leave me "hanging".

Fast forward to last week...when I got my husband to help me measure myself so I could enter
information into the SWAMI.... gift I got (for trying three months of Warrior supplements).

And to my shock and surprise, my measurements call me a Teacher.

At first, I wasn't believing this...because although I measure as a Teacher, I don't see huge
bulging tendons on my wrist.  I mean, they're subtle on my wrists but the rest of my body isn't showing protruding tendons...(the way I perceive it should look)

But I wanted to believe I was a Teacher and start the diet...I ordered all the NAP products suggested for me....High on the list with many more stars than others is the Teacher Genotype supplements.  Remember, I'd been taking Warrior supplements and eating Warrior foods.

I wake two mornings later and my Teacher supplements are at my front door.  I pop down
one of each....I start my breakfast off in a completely different direction.  Before this, egg
whites were emphasized for me....but I start my day with two whole eggs cooked in ghee and
for the first time, coconut oil.  I am in taste bud heaven with the coconut oil.

I find some blueberries and add yogurt to them...This is my breakfast.  I wait for results.
Too soon.

Lunch that first day was anything I could find in the refrigerator that matched anything on my
diamond list....Too soon to even thing of geno harmonic foods.

I head for the health food store....load up my cart with lots of diamond fruits and veggies..

It's not so much of a major drastic change in the way I was eating before...It's just that new
foods are slowly making me feel different.

I notice within about 48 hours that my heart isn't racing.  I'm not hyperventilating when I lie
down to go to sleep. I don't wake up in the middle of the night having to do alternate
nostril breathing.

Something shifted in my nervous system within a mere 48 hours on the right diet that hadn't happened to me when I was on the Warrior diet...Not that the Warrior diet causes anxiety in
Warriors...but it might in a Teacher, or at least it did with me.

See what the right diet can do?  Even in 48 hours?  

I'm still blown away...because the real benefits of eating the right foods and taking the
right supplements are probably somewhere far deeper than what I can see or feel....but the immediate effects I had were feeling calmer and more centered...My breathing slowed
down naturally....Before last week, taking a deep breath was too easy and letting out the air
was too difficult.  It's all balanced now.

I am surely a happier camper!

That's great Chloe. I was wondering if you had seen some benefits. I have felt some major benefits in terms of my digestion as that had REALLY worsened even though I was eating lots of fiber-rich food to avoid getting diverticulitis again (which I had 2 years ago).

Like you, around 18 months ago, I mistyped myself as an Explorer. While I was eating a lot of turkey, a diamond food for a Teacher, I was also eating a lot of Explorer cheeses. I also wasn't fully committed to the Explorer diet and so was drinking milk, eating some sugar, etc. But even though I am religious about being gluten-free, I was finding that my digestion was simply messed up to the point that I thought I had developed diverticulitis again. The specialist I went to said it was really spasm and to take some antispasmodic drug. Well, when I read about the side effects, my husband and I both agreed it sounded like an awful choice. At that time, while being much more compliant on the Explorer diet for a couple of weeks, I wasn't losing and definitely wasn't feeling well, so I decided to revisit what type I am. I identified an error I had made in measuring myself and was really a Teacher, which fits me so well in terms of personality and also health concerns. (I had cancer almost 10 years ago.) Like you, I don't have distinct tendons--not like my Dad who was likely a Teacher too.

Another thing that has been going on is that even though I am gluten free and have had some healing in my nerves (I get neuropathy from my celiac disease), my feet had been bothering me more this year. When going to NYC in April, my feet hurt me more than I expected and than had happened in previous visits. My hands have also felt weaker. I have to say that it appears my nerves are getting stronger. This weekend, my sister and husband said their feet hurt when we were at a crafts fair on our feet for a long time, but I had to say that mine didn't! I am feeling sensations throughout my body that are in line with that, as I have gone through the process of nerves healing when I went gluten free 4 years ago.

Now that you mention it, I was experiencing hyperventilation at night--essentially panic attacks--quite a bit in the last couple of years. I can't remember the last time that happened. And I have been sleeping rather deeply.

So I continue to improve. I'm in my 7th week of the teacher diet.

I do plan to get the SWAMIXpress in the near future. It sounds great.

You sound like you're making great progress in just 7 weeks.  Are you taking
the Teacher supplements?  I find they feel right to me...whereas the Warrior supplements still left me deficient in the nutrients I needed most.

Teachers are supposed to be calm by nature, which is what I believe the Teacher diet
did for me in just a week.........and when I realize that balanced Teachers are calm
by nature and have a positive outlook on life, it was for sure I was walking around
as unbalanced as a Teacher could possibly get!

It took me close to a year to heal my nerve pain...horribly severe...could barely
walk up or down a flight of stairs...I'll be off gluten 3 years this October...Don't
have nerve pain anymore..Still think my gut has a way to go...I need Teacher foods!

I'm curious, how many whorl fingerprints do you have?

My nerve issues are now more weakness than any pain. I think a certain amount of nerve issues were due to the celiac disease, but clearly my intestinal issues were worsening recently and so I have ended up with additional nerve issues. It's easy how things can be happening and we just get used to it, but it's nice to know there are ways to improve things. I'm glad your nerve issues cleared up.

I haven't taken the Teacher supplements but am getting most what is recommended in the book through other supplements. I will probably add one of them.

I haven't done the fingerprinting, but just looking at them, I think I just have 2 and the remainder are loops. I'll get the genotyping kit when I get the SWAMI. I know I want to check whether I'm a supertaster.

I wanted to share this.  I suppose if you've read your SWAMI you'd have seen it, but
it stood out just now as I was going through my SWAMI again.

I lost 3 pounds on the Teacher diet in a week...and I've just realized that it's mostly
likely a weight loss from toxicity.   Not that I've eaten meat in a long long while but
on occasion my son's famous spare ribs would wind up on my plate....(maybe twice
a year, however my gut is my weakest link anyway)

So, Dr. says this about our digestion.

The Teacher Diet and Digestion

Their ancient heritage of farmers has genetically disposed Teachers to metabolize a wide variety of fresh foods, grains and seafood. Conversely, they lack the enzymes to properly digest and metabolize animal fat. The ideal Teacher diet is vegetable and seafood based, with small amounts of other low-fat proteins. Unlike the other GenoTypes that gain weight from excess calories or inadequate exercise, Teachers gain weight from excess toxicity. When their diets are excessively meat based, they gradually develop a buildup of bacteria in the digestive tract, which can act as a powerful block on their metabolism and immune system. The result is a range of stomach and intestinal problems, including gastritis, which causes extreme discomfort in the upper abdomen, nausea, and in severe cases dark bloody stools. The wild bird that best personifies the character of the Teacher is the crane. In addition to being great fishing birds, cranes perch for lengths of time on one leg.

I don't yet know that I am a teacher - I'm waiting for my book and Taster test to arrive... but when I read descriptions of the health issues of Teachers, so many of them sound like me.

Is it common for Teachers to have nerve problems, no matter what the cause? I have chronic, active Shingles with nerve/muscle damage all on my left side.

I finally did all the measurements (husband always too busy; got my mom to measure me yesterday), and found out that I'm a teacher. Which is what Ribbit guessed for me when I asked her last time I saw her. Haven't read further in the book to see what that means for me, but I'll be following this thread and seeing what happens as I get into the teacher foods. Curious to see what has changed for avoids & beneficials from plain ol' Type A....

I think the toxicity issue would explain why when I went from diet to diet, I would lose a little for a couple of weeks and then find weight loss would stall. I probably needed more protein than I was getting on the type A diet--although I should have eaten more fish to solve the problem! So then I moved from diet to diet that had more protein and either fewer carbs or low-glycemic carbs, but never found anything was right. The Teacher diet includes enough protein for me and it seems like the right kinds for me. For quite a while after doing the A diet, I was eating a diet with more cheese, but I was probably having quite a lot of the wrong cheeses for me. I also was deemphasizing eggs. I wasn't eating much soy, but I still wasn't including milk. I have never eaten much beef or pork since first trying the A diet (about 10 years ago)--nor really before that--and knew I should keep my proteins "light." Still, I never found the right balance. It seems quite right with the Teacher plan.

I do remember that the first time I tried the A diet, which I only did very briefly before trying Weight Watchers and then returning to it more earnestly around a year later, I lost 3 pounds right away. I couldn't figure out what I had done to have that happen. Maybe it was a release of toxins.

I'm not sure if nerve problems are often a problem for the Teacher, but I would think that if our type is marked by digestion problems and we are thus assimilating nutrients poorly, our nerves could really suffer over time. I have a feeling that my father, who passed away last year from cancer and who was rather lanky/sinewy, was a Teacher. I know his blood type was A. He ended up with neuropathy in the later years of his life. It's possible he had celiac disease like me, but also it's possible that his lifetime of eating a SAD (where his wife made beef quite regularly) would end up affecting his digestion and, potentially in turn, his nerves. Someone on my husband's side of the family was built the same way as my dad and he too had neuropathy. Neither one had diabetes so the cause of the nerve problems was unknown. My Dad did develop Bell's Palsy a few months before he died. He was 87 and was battling prostate cancer for more than 20 years (though it was in remission on and off for quite a while).

Quoted from Katsy

I finally did all the measurements (husband always too busy; got my mom to measure me yesterday), and found out that I'm a teacher. Which is what Ribbit guessed for me when I asked her last time I saw her. Haven't read further in the book to see what that means for me, but I'll be following this thread and seeing what happens as I get into the teacher foods. Curious to see what has changed for avoids & beneficials from plain ol' Type A....

Welcome Teacher...I'll tell you what changes to expect from the type A diet to the
Teacher diet......You get to go to cheese heaven, that's what!

But alas, my SWAMI removed a lot of those cheeses for me...

Are you going to get SWAMI'D?

Quoted from Chandon

I think the toxicity issue would explain why when I went from diet to diet, I would lose a little for a couple of weeks and then find weight loss would stall. I probably needed more protein than I was getting on the type A diet--although I should have eaten more fish to solve the problem! So then I moved from diet to diet that had more protein and either fewer carbs or low-glycemic carbs, but never found anything was right. The Teacher diet includes enough protein for me and it seems like the right kinds for me. For quite a while after doing the A diet, I was eating a diet with more cheese, but I was probably having quite a lot of the wrong cheeses for me. I also was deemphasizing eggs. I wasn't eating much soy, but I still wasn't including milk. I have never eaten much beef or pork since first trying the A diet (about 10 years ago)--nor really before that--and knew I should keep my proteins "light." Still, I never found the right balance. It seems quite right with the Teacher plan.

I do remember that the first time I tried the A diet, which I only did very briefly before trying Weight Watchers and then returning to it more earnestly around a year later, I lost 3 pounds right away. I couldn't figure out what I had done to have that happen. Maybe it was a release of toxins.

I'm not sure if nerve problems are often a problem for the Teacher, but I would think that if our type is marked by digestion problems and we are thus assimilating nutrients poorly, our nerves could really suffer over time. I have a feeling that my father, who passed away last year from cancer and who was rather lanky/sinewy, was a Teacher. I know his blood type was A. He ended up with neuropathy in the later years of his life. It's possible he had celiac disease like me, but also it's possible that his lifetime of eating a SAD (where his wife made beef quite regularly) would end up affecting his digestion and, potentially in turn, his nerves. Someone on my husband's side of the family was built the same way as my dad and he too had neuropathy. Neither one had diabetes so the cause of the nerve problems was unknown. My Dad did develop Bell's Palsy a few months before he died. He was 87 and was battling prostate cancer for more than 20 years (though it was in remission on and off for quite a while).

Continuing to eat gluten grains if you've got celiac can lead to nerve problems.
It happened to me......and I lived with sciatica for over a year before it slowly went
away when I stopped eating gluten.

I was starting to feel the cheese was setting off a slight twinge of nerve pain in my right leg again, so I quit eating it after a week of thinking I was going to tolerate it.......but I also got other strange symptoms from the dairy...little bumps
on my butt....on my upper chest....back ache...stiff hips...fluid retention...and when I decided not to eat dairy, I got a withdrawal headache. Plus two days off dairy
and I was peeing non stop.  It's when I saw I lost 3 pounds.  I hold onto fluid
when a food is causing toxicity in my body.

So back to that toxicity issue.  I think it can come from any food you don't tolerate.
Doesn't mean that not tolerating something now that's good for a Teacher wouldn't
change for the better once our guts are healed.

Ribbit had gluten and dairy issues and can eat them now..

That's a hopeful sign.

Do all of you have a lot of white lines?

I read in another thread that the vertical lines aren't indicative of gut issues, but the horizontal ones are. I do have some horizontal ones. I'm not sure if I have a lot or not. I haven't done the fingerprinting yet.

I'm still noticing my feet feeling stronger at the same time that I am noticing less and less irritation in the left side of my colon, which had been very irritated right before starting the diet. As I had mentioned before, I was thinking I was developing diverticulitis, although my doctor said it was spasm. The CT scan showed distention not diverticulitis, but I do feel there could have been an infection brewing, just as one would get with diverticulitis, but in the area of the distention. It's such a relief that all of this is resolving.

Quoted from Chloe

Welcome Teacher...I'll tell you what changes to expect from the type A diet to the
Teacher diet......You get to go to cheese heaven, that's what!

But alas, my SWAMI removed a lot of those cheeses for me...

Are you going to get SWAMI'D?

I'm thinking about it. I'd like to, but at $70, it's a lower priority for me now. After reading the list of things taken away from me that I could have on the plain BTD, I'd like to get SWAMI'd just to see what got added back. Of course, even more might get taken away...  

Looking at the list of new avoids -- no CHOCOLATE??? stands out the most -- I was regretting reading the book and doing the measurements at all!   Also, since my teeth "shovel", I was figuring I'd be one of those rare A's that could eat beef. Now I can't even eat chicken!! And I lost corn & popcorn too??

Well, I'll probably feel better about it when I go on it strong for the 3-6 months, and then I can add back in some of the other things. I do have white lines, so I know I need some healing, even though I'm pretty good at rollin' with the punches.

Quoted from Chloe

Do all of you have a lot of white lines?

I have some white lines. Not sure if it was due to sloppy fingerprinting (too much ink) or worn-out fingerprints, but they were hard to read. I did see *some* white lines but not "a lot."

Quoted from Katsy

I have some white lines. Not sure if it was due to sloppy fingerprinting (too much ink) or worn-out fingerprints, but they were hard to read. I did see *some* white lines but not "a lot."

Mine were impossible to read from a printing, due to white lines, but I used a magnifying glass to see some of them and for the really difficult ones, held my fingers up to a 10x magnifying mirror and was able to determine the amount of whorls I had. I still have two fingers I can't really read at all..The prints seem to be
totally gone.

Why can we have soy and soy products, but not soy milk? What if it's home-made soy milk, which is basically soy flour boiled in water?

P.s. -- I'm also seriously bummed about the no maple syrup, molasses, or sugar.  

Quoted from Chloe

Mine were impossible to read from a printing, due to white lines, but I used a magnifying glass to see some of them and for the really difficult ones, held my fingers up to a 10x magnifying mirror and was able to determine the amount of whorls I had. I still have two fingers I can't really read at all..The prints seem to be
totally gone.

This is one thing that is odd to me -- I only have one whorl. In fact, all but one of my 10 fingerprints are loops. Which is not indicative of teacher; but my measurements are.

I guess we are all unique so we might not carry all of the visible characteristics of the genotype. The key things in the advanced typing test tell us how we fit into one of the genotypes in the book; then the other factors that get entered into SWAMI help in creating our own individualized SWAMI diet. So I don't seem that classic, as I am short, pear shaped, and not so sinewy. If I were leaner, I would seem to be more of an ectomorph than I do now. Nevertheless, the diet is helping.

home made soy milk is fine, without the gums and additives and carageenan, etc

Thanks, Lola! That's good to know. Soy milk, here I come!

Quoted from Katsy

Why can we have soy and soy products, but not soy milk? What if it's home-made soy milk, which is basically soy flour boiled in water?

P.s. -- I'm also seriously bummed about the no maple syrup, molasses, or sugar.  

See this is where a SWAMI helps because I could have barley malt as a diamond , (except it's got gluten and I'm gluten intolerant)...And molasses, maple
syrup and agave are neutrals.

But honey is a superfood for me...white lines and all.  And black dot sugars
are brown and white sugar, rice syrup, dextrose and fructose, although they're
not something I'd regularly be eating anyway.  My diet is really devoid of
concentrated sugars.  Dates are great for sugar cravings.  Easy to soak dates
to soften then...and then mix them with some almond or peanut butter..And
I've discovered that carob mixed and rolled into balls is almost like eating healthy
candy!  

Oh, that sounds *yummy*!!

I'll need to find some carob...

I lent my mom my book today, figuring that since I have my SWAMI I wouldn't really need it, and that it would be really good for her.  We measured her as a teacher and the descriptions fit, but I thought her carbohydrate list had a couple of wheat products as superfoods.  Am I not remembering correctly?  It's really bugging me.  Her fingerprints are so bad you can't tell she even has any by looking at her fingers!  The only ridge detail you can see at all is on the sides of her finger pads and she's got zillions of horizontal lines all over her fingertips.  She can't make any prints on paper, but if you look at he fingertips after they've been inked you can see that a couple have whorls on them, if you look really closely in the light.  It was scary!!!  If this is caused by gluten, why would there be any acceptable wheat products allowed at all?  Or am I just remembering the list incorrectly?

not all teachers need to be gluten intolerant as your mom....

Thanks, Lola.  So, she should avoid ALL wheat products?  After her gut is healed should she be able to eat the ones on the superfoods list, or should she just avoid them forever?

I d let gluten rest and find her compliant GF substitutes.....
check deflect, ara, intrinsa, polyflora to heal all the damage done to her gut.

Quoted from Lola

I d let gluten rest and find her compliant GF substitutes.....
check deflect, ara, intrinsa, polyflora to heal all the damage done to her gut.

I just wanted to add that the Teacher Activator formula has specific probiotics in it
that are most like to help the Teacher's gut....and that Polyflora A although great
for type As was available before the GTD was created. So I just think that
the most appropriate probiotics for a Teacher is in that Activator supplement,
even though Polyflora A might be helpful.

I felt that after a week taking the Teacher Supplements, my stomach felt a lot better.
http://www.4yourtype.com/prodinfo.asp?number=GT3ACT

I also want to recommend Larch powder.
http://www.4yourtype.com/prodinfo.asp?number=NP001

I just need a confirmation here:  oatmeal is a neutral, right?

I make mine from steel cut oats and I mix it with fresh blueberries.  I love a nice, warm cereal in the morning.

Thanks.  

Sounds like comfort food for you

yes it is a neutral for us.  Oat flour and oat bran are superfoods.  I used to cook oat bran for cereal, it tastes great and cooks in a flash.  

When I make steel cut oats, I put them in the rice cooker the night before and ask it to have them ready for me in the morning.  

All of the oat things are diamonds on my swami, so I will have to start eating them more often again.  It will be nice in the winter.

I don't have any whorls in my fingerprints at all, which was one reason I bypassed teacher on my first read-through, but I already had a cancer scare at age 37 -- a fast-growing precancerous lesion on my arm. At least I think it was pre-cancerous; the doctor did not actually tell me, he just said it was "urgent" to get it removed, and told me to carefully check every month for other lesions.

I also don't have any white lines. I thought I did, but it turned out to be peeling skin on my thumb. Does this mean I can tolerate gluten?

Quoted from Gale D.

I don't have any whorls in my fingerprints at all, which was one reason I bypassed teacher on my first read-through, but I already had a cancer scare at age 37 -- a fast-growing precancerous lesion on my arm. At least I think it was pre-cancerous; the doctor did not actually tell me, he just said it was "urgent" to get it removed, and told me to carefully check every month for other lesions.

I also don't have any white lines. I thought I did, but it turned out to be peeling skin on my thumb. Does this mean I can tolerate gluten?

I'm wondering if you could be an Explorer...Maybe you should find out your
secretor status.  Are you left handed?  Do you know if you're rh positive or negative?

Well, I find that my thumb peels if I touch cat food (or other food) that has gluten. It took years to figure out that it was gluten that caused it to peel. Also, certain paper towels have gluten and cause it. That's not to say that your peeling has to do with gluten. It is just possible. I have celiac disease. I don't think I have a ton of white lines, but maybe I used to have more. I eat a completely gluten-free diet and have for about 4 years (of course, sometimes I accidentally consume a little gluten). I think the white lines can relate to more than gluten. I had cancer at age 35 and have 2 whorls. It sounds like more whorls mean a higher risk of breast cancer in particular.

I am A-Positive.

Can you be a Type A and be an Explorer? Nothing about my measurements and answers fit Explorer... but I will re-check and re-read, just in case.

The peeling area on my thumb is right next to my nail. It has been hardening and re-peeling down to blood almost every other day. It's really bugging me, so I keep nattering at it. I can't figure out what it is, but it is a new development, so probably not gluten-related.

Quoted from Gale D.

Can you be a Type A and be an Explorer?

Yes

When you look at the advanced tables in the back of the book,
would being a secretor or nonsecretor switch you GenoType?

It may be that you are teacher either way.

I find that if I don't eat enough protein I can get some peeling near the cuticles. Also, it's possible to get a fungal infection near the nail, especially if the cuticles are not healthy. For me, the gluten issue makes the area itchy too.

Is your torso longer than your leg? (or visa versa)

Are your index fingers longer than your ring? (or visa versa; or inverted hand to hand--one of each)

I am a teacher: A+.  I have no whorls, but my torso is longer, my tendons show, i have inverted hand to hand finger measurements, the extra molar cusp...  I don't have the "andric" shape according to the legs, but I have small hips which I believe fits the andric type criteria.

I had a hard time measuring the legs--it is hard to discern just where the bone is on the side AND when the knee is in a 45 degree angle, the groove of the kneecap is hard to find as well, but given the finger measurements for an A+ with a longer torso, it doesn't matter.

It would be nice if there were somewhere to go with experienced measurers.  

have you checked the utube videos?
all is very well described there.

I am pretty sure I am a teacher.  Like I said, I have a longer torso and my index is longer on one hand and shorter on the other; that pretty much nails it for an A+.

However, if I had to rely on the other measurements, it would be difficult (and I did watch the measurement videos).

my problems with the leg measurements are:  when you do find the bone on the outside edge, below the knee, it is hard to discern exactly where to start the measuring tape.  I find the best way to do it is to draw a small circle around the bone and then put a dot in the center of the circle.

As far as the kneecap thing:  I find the best way is to extend your leg out in front of you and then relax it.  With your two thumbs, locate the ridge of the kneecap and then slide the edges of your thumbs to the edges of the kneecap and then, keeping your thumbs in place" put your leg in the position to measure (on the floor at a 45 degree angle) -- have someone mark the line where your thumbs are (at the edge of the kneecap) and then measure.

good luck

Teachers, I hope many of you catch this post and trust that what I'm sharing with
you is the absolute truth.....After two weeks eating as a Teacher,
I'm starting to see the light...... Much is very subtle change..but still it's change for the better.  I'm starting to feel different..think differently...being motivated by an internal inner voice that is attempting to champion my cause.

This is vastly different from how I felt just two short weeks ago!

I guess many of you know that I'm a newbie Teacher having mistyped myself
as a Warrior and followed the wrong diet for 18 months.  Waiting patiently for results, eating the wrong foods and taking the wrong supplements which left me feeling disappointed about my poor results...Following the wrong diet for so long  and never really experiencing any of the benefits of the right genotype diet, I was left with the attitude that perhaps the entire concept of genotyping was a fantasy based on  a lot of wishful thinking.  And given my age, (not that time is
running out) but who wants to waste time when they're reaching towards
better health!

Well, I'm here to tell you that I'm really starting to notice a difference in just 2
short weeks.

I didn't realize that this would be a lifestyle....Well, yes I did, but I didn't realize that each suggestion given, from the calming exercises of tai chi or yoga or meditation
would need to be incorporated as diligently as the foods..  The Warrior diet made me feel very anxious,
unabalanced and irritable for way too long....and now what  I needed most was
all the the tools I could find to turn this around.

Many days were confusing...not having the right foods in the house....being almost angry
at seeing foods like mackerel on my fish list....where to find it....why do I have to find
it....talking to myself....arguing with myself....many days saying "I don't want to do this
at all"....only to wake up the next day and go back to work trying to become
a better Teacher.

Allergy testing a decade ago showed me allergic to dairy and eggs.  Do I dare eat
dairy and eggs?  Day #1 on dairy...major headache...stuffy nose.  No, I won't eat
dairy...But dairy is what helps my gut....Back to dairy.

See, between my body/mind and spirit I was juggling more "stuff" than I could possibly
juggle...and then of course my real life...A close friend died...people share
bad news...storms that made our dog upset and vomit for a week...My husband wanting to take me to restaurants that didn't serve any of the foods I wanted to eat...I didn't want to wreck his life while trying to improve my own...Time will tell if he'll let me measure him and inform him he has no choice but to eat for his genotype....That's for another day.

So how does a Teacher stay calm in the middle of real life?

My mind was fighting this while my body kept saying "do it"....

Do it how???  I can't find freakin' mackerel....I can't even find freakin' blackberry juice..
the items that are repeated so often in my geno harmonic food combos..

And then suddenly for some crazy reason, while stuck in a pattern of negative thinking,
something shifted in my mind...something shifted in my body...In just two weeks,
I was now becoming super pro active (although not quite "calm" but could start to see in teensy sound bites just how all the little bits of information would fit together...It's not just finding the right foods.. It's finding the time to relax and meditate and do the calming exercise..and go do it the minute you think you
need to do it....not wait and procrastinate because feeling calm while eating
well is just as important to overall well being as the food itself.  

Today I typed in  a google search  for"canned mackerel"..(given that fish markets
locally didn't have any)
Bingo...Vitalchoice.com...They have it...I want it...I ordered some.....I found blackberry concentrate online...I have been spared from my own negative thinking
simply by making everything I'm doing tie into my one goal...To be more of
a Teacher and reap the benefits of the whole GT program!

And thank you Mayflowers for mentioning chi gong to me....I went on youtube to watch
and try a few moves....so calming.  So perfect for a Teacher....I ordered a book from
Amazon about it to read.....will have to see if there are teachers within my reach...
but for now, I've got a plan...a better roadmap.

Change is so difficult...especially since I was first on the BTD, then the Warrior diet
and now the Teacher diet all in 18 months.  A bit frantic...I wanted to start my
healing....

OK, so back to how this is going....So although I know myself to be "allergic" (which
I'm now doubting in relation to following the GTD because I was tested when I wasn't
eating like a Teacher)....I've now decided "who cares if I'm allergic"....I'm eating what
I'm supposed to be eating...and changing my attitude about the outcome.

You know, how you perceive an outcome makes a huge difference.

I am mentally eating for better health....and as I chew the foods I've chosen from
my superfoods, I'm seeing re-methylation taking place in my body....

It's also a mental process when you make changes....that you agree with your own
goals...that you act as if you're already there....even by saying to yourself "I feel
healthier, stronger.....I am the best me I can be"...Maybe eating like a Teacher
is changing my attitude...I'm supposed to be having a positive outlook on life..

This is the shift that has started to take place in me within the past two weeks.  I
probably was by nature a very calm person when I was a child...but due to all sorts
of external and internal influences, I lost my patience and seemed
to turn on a panic switch when anything went wrong.....I always liked to do
things slowly....but often the pace of real life is just too frantic in a world that
moves too quickly and often doesn't allow the time to find peace and tranquility.
I'm learning to block out time specifically for me.....  Yes, I'm an artist...I do have the soul of an artist...I do appreciate the beauty in people and in things...but often I'm just negative and impatient.... it's easy to morph into some other reality when
everything in your body and mind isn't in  harmony with who you are at your
core...your genotype. (If this is sounding like an informmercial, know that I am not being paid to endorse anything)

I hope you all understand what I'm saying and please share if you feel a switch turn on inside yourselves that allows you to understand how it feels to finally be on the right path, eating the right foods even if some lab told you you're allergic to something. I'm eating cheese and eggs pretty often and if I'm allergic to either of them, I'm not living as if I might be...I'm living as if the right cheeses and eggs are simply my medicine.

More to say at another time.  Just wanted to let Teachers know to anticipate a shift
in consciousness along the way....as we all calm down and feel comfortable standing
in our Teacher shoes.

And just as a PS....If you're on the fence now and haven't found out for sure
that you're a Teacher, SWAMI is more than worth the investment to know for
sure and get a completely customized diet.....and I think the Teacher supplements are so worthwhile......I was taking a whole lot of stuff that was completely wrong for me, things that weren't helping...In the long run, it's cheaper to just take
what you know you really need.

I guess I should have known I was a teacher because my favorite exercises are yoga and tai chi. I've been doing yoga for many, many years, but I became more into it in the last couple of years. I had a lot of stress in my life, so I needed it. Last fall when I had extra time on my hands at work, it dawned on me that I've always wanted to take tai chi and that I MUST find a class. So I did and am so happy that I did. Tai chi is a form of chi gong. Either one is perfect for a teacher. I just got back from my tai chi class tonight. It is amazingly strengthening--as is yoga--and, of course, so relaxing and grounding.

My husband is much more energetic than me--an O most likely. He is encouraging me to get more aerobics in my life, but I am never drawn to it. I am doing some aerobics on a regular basis, but slower/less intensely than he does! And yes, I love meditation.

There is something totally different about following the right genotype diet, as you say. When I was thinking I was an Explorer, I bought some of my foods, but the diet didn't keep my focus because it clearly didn't make me feel better. Boy was my digestion worsening. And I was gradually feeling worse and worse mentally as well. Being compliant in a complete way wasn't something I was drawn to.

I am known for being a very calm person, especially in a work environment, but I was probably driving my husband crazy with my irritability while being on the wrong diet. Now on the Teacher diet, I am motivated to cook a lot, shop for my foods, choose new things for variety, and be compliant. It's easy to stick to it because I become more and more motivated.

Like you, Chloe, I'm really enjoying this lifestyle.

Chloe, your message was very inspiring. Staying away from 'avoids and black dots' really helps a teacher. Its a sort of conversion, I went through. lot of health issues are solved. Still lot more to resolve. I had major constipation problem. I have lot of white lines on all my fingers. Becoming glutten free helped me have regular motion once a day at least.

Quoted from kawaikx15

Chloe, your message was very inspiring. Staying away from 'avoids and black dots' really helps a teacher. Its a sort of conversion, I went through. lot of health issues are solved. Still lot more to resolve. I had major constipation problem. I have lot of white lines on all my fingers. Becoming glutten free helped me have regular motion once a day at least.

I am gratified to hear you say this...Thank you..

One thing I thought about last night after reading your post and writing mine is that following the right plan becomes FUN whereas there is no joy in a plan this isn't right. I wonder if other types experience that; I would think so. I love the Teacher foods--is it because of the foods they are or because they are so right for me?  

Quoted from Chloe

I am mentally eating for better health....and as I chew the foods I've chosen from
my superfoods, I'm seeing re-methylation taking place in my body.....

How beautifully said !!!!! gives a practically meaning to a tough medical term - methylation.. made me revise the GTD book...
I think meditation is re-methylation in a way !!!!!!!
I have got an idea, to use guided imagery technique for re-methylation...

thanks chloe..

I was looking more closely at my fingers and believe I have 4 whorls, not just 2. I haven't done the fingerprinting yet. I have a feeling I don't have SO many white lines. But I do think that just a week ago, I may have had MORE white lines, than now. I may have an inkpad somewhere at home. I'll try to find that and make some prints.

I think I'm feeling a total mental shift for the better and noticed this as my first primary change while following the Teacher diet.  Even for just two weeks...  Is it because the right foods bring balance to both the mind and body and help restore our basic "Teacher" psychological qualities?  Is settling the gut enough to calm the mind? Restore the soul?  Change thoughts and feelings?  I keep thinking about the soul....because it's mentioned that the Teacher nature is to have the soul of an artist and to have a deep relationship
with nature...But I was thinking...to be in the moment means we have to stop and
notice where we find ourselves..to recognize that we are in this very moment
and that in this very moment, all is well.  I never could do that before.  And remember that just a mere two weeks, ago, I was eating as a Warrior where the psychological profile referred to those individuals as people who needed to learn to relax....that they were choleric and occasionally bad tempered.  How completely unlike a Teacher...How far away from my soul my body has been!

This is all starting to feel like a transformation to me....Last night I was meditating..when it suddenly occurred to me that I felt grateful...grateful for being in the right place at the right time.....having the teacher appear when I was a student asking for guidance.... being shown the right path...and knowing it felt right.

I really can't wait for all the Teachers to be noticing how they're starting to feel
just like the psychological profile says we should feel when were balanced..
straight out of the GTD book......"At our Teacher's best we
should have a natural exuberance and a calm, steady way of looking at the world."

Is that a great concept? We are going to feel exuberant when balanced!

And we're supposed to have powerful spiritual energy!  Yes, this is exactly what
I want and need in order to be happy!  I am being drawn to all things spiritual
right now!  My soul is leading the way.  I am confident my body will follow the
path.

And I get to eat cheese!

Are we happy to be Teachers or what!  

I'd say so! I do feel so much more exuberant. I definitely am drawn to the spiritual and have been much more so in the last couple of years but at the same time a cloud of negativity was hanging over me. I thought it was perhaps that my father was dying and then he passed away, and it was terribly difficult to handle. I also had a job where it almost seemed like then environment was evil. When I found a different job last fall where the atmosphere was totally different, this cloud did seem to lift a little, but I became even more troubled earlier this year. Then, my health seemed worse with my digestion being so terrible, to the point I thought my diverticulitis returned. My feet had begun hurting more and feeling weak. That can really drag one down.

Now I feel like I am healthier and it is freeing, and so I feel my psyche is much more in tune with what it should be.

It's amazing how our diet of cheese, eggs, poultry, fish, and soy/nuts/beans, plus many great fruits, veggies, grains, fats, and other things can make such a difference.

That's great, Chloe, how you are feeling this wonderful transformation.

I was wondering if you were on the A diet consistently before the Warrior diet and what it was like for you.

The "A" diet was a plan I followed just to follow a healthy path....and I didn't stray far for a number of years...And like you Chandon, I had a lot of external issues surrounding me that cast a dark cloud over my head.

I wonder if Dr. D anticipated the wonderful emotional benefits of the Teacher diet
that we are both noticing.

Because I think if you think happy thoughts, your body has to feel happier too!

I'm glad you're doing so well..

Thanks. I'm glad you're seeing such a turn-around as well! That must have been difficult, following the warrior diet. I guess I wanted to hold onto the idea that I needed more meat than most A types when I followed the Explorer diet.

It's interesting that thiamine is so good for us. People with celiac disease can get deficiencies of thiamine, although the deficiencies people get with gluten problems can vary from person to person. I know that there was a House MD episode where someone had celiac disease. She had terrible mental problems, which turned out to be a severe thiamine deficiency. I started using St. John's Wort earlier this year. Maybe I don't really need it if I get this extra thiamine. I do think St. John's Wort is rather healthy for an A to take, though.

I do plan to get the SWAMI, but I'm not sure if I should wait another month while beta testing is going on. I really like my Teacher diet! But who knows, maybe I'd like the SWAMI one better or just as much.

Quoted from Chandon

I do plan to get the SWAMI, but I'm not sure if I should wait another month while beta testing is going on. I really like my Teacher diet! But who knows, maybe I'd like the SWAMI one better or just as much.

You can run the software now and start benefiting from the results right away.  

If you purchase the software now you can run it again later after any additional bugs are corrected. Then make any fine tuning adjustments that are indicated by the revised report.

The software is run online, so if the program is corrected you get all the benefits of software updates that may occur.

You may also rerun SWAMI if you find out additional information (health conditions of relatives, secretor status, ...).

Quoted from Chandon

It's interesting that thiamine is so good for us. People with celiac disease can get deficiencies of thiamine, although the deficiencies people get with gluten problems can vary from person to person. I know that there was a House MD episode where someone had celiac disease. She had terrible mental problems, which turned out to be a severe thiamine deficiency. I started using St. John's Wort earlier this year. Maybe I don't really need it if I get this extra thiamine. I do think St. John's Wort is rather healthy for an A to take, though.

St. Johns Wort did nothing for me but make me feel sleepy. It's supposed to have
anti-viral activity but I got no benefits from it at all for depression.  My mood has
been really great on the Teacher diet. I love my SWAMI.  Wait till you see how
you feel on geno harmonic food combinations.  I love the customization of having
a SWAMI...

Interesting about the thiamine/gluten connection.

I've been using a SJW that is actually more stimulating than some others; as a result I take 1-2 of the pills rather than the full dose (3). It guarantees a certain amount of hyperforin in addition to the hypericum that's in SJW. Maybe I'll get the SWAMI sooner than later!

just one day on teacher's supplement and feeling great difference in bloating !!!! do you take supps along with all three meals or just two times?

Quoted from kawaikx15

just one day on teacher's supplement and feeling great difference in bloating !!!! do you take supps along with all three meals or just two times?

So happy you're feeling better.  That's great news

I take them twice a day with meals.....The bottles are a 30 day supply of pills.

alright...
just discovered I have calculus [mineralized plaque accumulation].. I had been very careless about my dental health.. this calculus thing had been there for years, and I never realised its seriousness.. I think this is the another link in the baceteria overgrowth chain.. need to work on it now  

Quoted from kawaikx15

alright...
just discovered I have calculus [mineralized plaque accumulation].. I had been very careless about my dental health.. this calculus thing had been there for years, and I never realised its seriousness.. I think this is the another link in the baceteria overgrowth chain.. need to work on it now  

When I found out that bacteria overgrowth is responsible for bad teeth my life made more sense. My father's did as well. When he grew up he had nearly an ideal Teacher diet for the circumstances, but as soon as red meat and potatoes from the Navy got in his diet his teeth, weight, and health went downhill progressively.

The Teacher diet appears to be amazing for sustaining low overgrowth bacteria, and repairing the intestines. However I think there should be a bacteria taming protocol, especially since the response is almost immediate.

I have been eating cinnamon and yogurt with my choice of nuts/nut butters and honey. I am losing weight like you would not believe and feeling so much less stressed. My dental health seems better as well. My digestion is improving with other beneficials for rebuilding.

I realize I am preaching my own story, but I would never recommend it to anyone else other than a Teacher. Plus I do other things like low amounts of soy to help the process go quicker (even though I think a package of tempeh should be consumed maybe weekly, or some sort of soy, for the amazing benefit it does for filtering, at least for me). I am kicking my need for so much meat this way too! Nuts and nut butters seem to do more for me now. I still think I am allergic to Pecans though haha.

hi Chole, whenever I sit for eating my lunch and dinner, I face the problem of not able to concentrate on eating.. rather, mind is running here and there... I am eating food, while something else is going on inside my mind.. do you also have same problem?
I found this wonderful link on why mindful eating is required  :
http://www.dadamo.com/wiki/wiki.pl/Pepsin
this article mentions of vagus nerve... more on vagus nerve :
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vagus_nerve
vagus nerve innervates [stimulates] the stomach and induces gastrointestinal perstalsis.. it innervates the G-cell in the stomach that produces gastrin hormone that further stimulates the production of gastric acid..
so can we say digestion starts in mind?????  

I need to ask Teachers some questions.

Do any of you have candida?

Or did you ever think you might have?

And are any of you experiencing any die off on the Teacher's Diet?

Reason I'm asking is that I'm starting to feel like my gut is a lot better...but joints
are somewhat worse. I don't want to even consider that it's the dairy....because I know
that die off symptoms from fungal infections/candida/other microorganisms can
cause a lot of aches and pains.

Just wondering now that some of you have done SWAMI for a few weeks, is anyone
noticing any new or strange issues that might relate to die-off of toxins?

First I didn't think I tolerated the cheeses....they stuffed up my sinuses...gave me
a headache...and then suddenly, no sinus problems at all...but this week, achy knees
and hips....I'm eating really well.... very compliant....even eating geno harmonic
food combinations at least 3 times a week...

Just wanted some feedback from newbie Teachers....or newbie SWAMI uses who are Teachers.

Thanks

I've wondered if I might have mild candidiasis. While I feel better when eating according to the BTD/GTD, I can't say that I've seen any change that I would credit/blame to candidiasis infection or die-off. But I do just feel better in a hard-to-describe way. I'll have to keep on the look-out for the symptoms you describe. Over the summer I didn't stick to the BTD, and just recently got onto the GTD, so we'll see. I have been dealing with a cold and the sinus stuff that hangs on afterward (or so I think -- maybe it's the candida?). If it turns into achy joints, I'll wonder about the candida!

Quoted from Katsy

I've wondered if I might have mild candidiasis. While I feel better when eating according to the BTD/GTD, I can't say that I've seen any change that I would credit/blame to candidiasis infection or die-off. But I do just feel better in a hard-to-describe way. I'll have to keep on the look-out for the symptoms you describe. Over the summer I didn't stick to the BTD, and just recently got onto the GTD, so we'll see. I have been dealing with a cold and the sinus stuff that hangs on afterward (or so I think -- maybe it's the candida?). If it turns into achy joints, I'll wonder about the candida!

Sinus problems can be fungal...and candida related.

http://ibdcrohns.about.com/cs/candida/a/candida.htm

I think the implication is that most Teachers have bacteria overgrowth in their
intestines and that many of our symptoms might have been gut related.  Mine
issues usually wind up in my joints and muscles.  More water and lots of green
tea seems to be helping.

candida seems to be a problem with all teachers virtually... thats what we teachers do.. lose balance of good and bad bacteria..

I think I have candida. The reason I did so well on the Explorer diet was because it was so easy to be so very alkaline.

Thinking I was an Explorer due to Candida
Whenever I have switched back to the Teacher diet I lose weight fast and feel real good but then everything stops and reverses. This I believe is due to Candida being expressed larger. I think once I did kick it, maybe, eating like a Teacher but had other problems that scared me away again. I did discover a few things though.


Stuff I think I now know
First I need to feed myself good probiotics. Yogurt and Ghee seem to be doing good. Coconut oil seems good as well. I would not overlook those as a teacher like I did. I did need a fair amount of carbohydrates to get back on track too. However in feeding myself more carbohydrates in the form of rice, along with peanut butter, nuts and cheeses etc... I brought back the candida that was nearly gone from eating like an Explorer very alkaline.

Now I am concentrating on good bacteria, probiotics, and being very alkaline. This so far means.

My plan to solve the problem
Quinoa, very little anything else (an alkaline carbohydrates)

Yogurt the only dairy I eat much of, molds can cause problems with candida and are found in aged cheeses. Yogurt unsweetened is also neutral for alkalinity.

Almonds and chestnuts are the nuts I will stick too, especially for my yogurt mix with honey and cinnamon (I might still keep in walnuts and/or flax seeds though, just omit the peanut butter, add chestnuts).

Good honey is the only sweetener I will use.

Eat lots of fruit (this mostly means dates, but I love apples, hm some pineapple too) with the exception of blueberrys and cranberries in very strong moderation (both are acidifying).

Lots of lemon juice in water.

Tempeh will be a new presence since it is alkalizing (barely).

Things I am watching out for

Coffee while I love the cortisol affect - it puts me on another world - is bad for candida.

Dates are very sugar heavy and can feed candida if you are not alkaline.

Yes it kind of sucks

I love peanut butter and brown rice. I feel like brown rice is the best carbohydrates for me, when it is not feeding candida. I do enjoy cheese on some thing too.

How do you feel when you eat fresh raspberries, Destroyer? I keep finding I get a lot of nausea, which I feel is from some die-off of candida or perhaps whatever else I might have in my intestines. While it's uncomfortable, I feel it is filling a needed function. Sometimes I get that feeling from pineapple, but not lately.

What about buttermilk? Maybe those cultures would help. I sometimes use it in smoothies.

I always love rasberries... They have never done anything bad to me. However I have never consumed them while not being alkaline.

Candida would feed on the sugar in them, but not if you are alkaline. They do help with getting alkaline too.

I feel pretty darn good about my intestines at the moment. The two nights before last while sleeping I was really itchy (multiple places) but that was gone last night after eating very alkaline. I think being alkaline does the most for me in this respect because of candida. However yogurt and cinnamon brought down the over bacterial growth so my stomach shrank and my ability to process nuts and fats returned. I will report back on how being alkaline on teacher diet does for me and digestion. The truth is I digested everything but fats best an explorer but I think it was due to alkalinity. I did not however do well with fats or nuts as an explorer and started having all the bacterial overgrowth issues.

I will report back on this if there are any changes.

Well, for me, I seem to get die off symptoms, and I am stimulated to "go" just as I am with pineapple. I don't know that what is being killed is candida, as we can have too much uphelpful bacteria and also parasites.

I think I am pretty alkaline, whereas my husband seems acidic. I am basing this on the smell of our sweat, I guess.

The rice I've been making is brown basmati. I figure it must be the lowest glycemic of brown rices. I do think quinoa is great.

General rules for alkaline foods.

All meat is not alkaline. Eggs are not alkaline unless it is just egg yolk poached or raw. No grains are alkaline except the exception of amaranth, quinoa, and millet all in grain form (acidic when flour). All nuts are acidic with the exceptions of almonds, chestnuts, fresh coconut, and Pignolias. Unless sprouted then seeds are acidic. All dairy is acidic with the exception of fresh unsalted butter (I am sure Ghee is alkaline or neutral). Coffee is acidic. White vinegar is very acidic.

All vegetables are alkaline. All fruit are alkaline with the exception of blueberry, cranberry, plums and prunes. Soy, Lima, Peas, Snap, Green, and String beans are alkaline everything else is acidic. All oils are neutral except olive is slightly alkaline. Fruit and vegetable juices along with tea are alkaline. Spices are alkaline except mustard and nutmeg.

Do not feel limited it is all up to you to control portions, not just eat alkaline

As long as you consume more alkaline things than acidic you will be alkaline. The idea is not to surpass Turkey, Fish, or most nuts and beans. The idea is to just consume more alkaline things.

Dr. D already has portions for this, 4-5 cups of vegetables a day, and at least three servings of fruit. On top of that as teachers we can eat soy and lots of almond/almond butter. We can eat lots of Quinoa too! The diet has it built in. However if you are like me, you might have trouble with portions a little bit day to day so you may want to think about increases the alkaline content. I will still eat fish and turkey, and some brown rice bread but will concentrate on mostly quinoa, soy, and almonds.

Do not judge with sweat

I could be extremely alkaline but my sweat would smell bad and be heavy if I ate ice cream, for example.

Dr Andrew weil "Natural health, Natural medicine " Page 271 - 'Candida is a wonderful example of a fashionable disease....Ten years from now, it may be out of fashion'

has any teacher ever tried white vinegar and found it good?

Well, not to be gross, but if there were a really hot/humid night and my husband I were sweating, you would find my side of the bed would be "sweet" and my husband's would be "sour." Another reason I feel our pH levels are different is because bugs love to bite me and they don't bite my husband much.

Have you taken the spit test for candida, Destroyer? That is one way to track it.

While doing the Teacher diet, I am finding so much benefit in terms of my intestines seeming to heal as opposed to previously having gotten distended, bloated, painful, and with symptoms of diverticulitis when I mistakenly did the Explorer diet. Those cheeses were totally wrong for me. But the process takes time. I'm just going with the flow and working to keep faithful to the lists and the servings, sticking mainly with superfoods and diamonds. At first I was definitely eating more fat than I should, so I am keeping an eye on that.

I'm going to get the SWAMI in the near future, I hope, so I can tailor the diet more to me. I do feel like I'm a classic Teacher, particularly in terms of the fact that I have already had cancer and have recently begun having worsening digestive problems, but who knows what SWAMI will say! The range of proteins seem right for me as I feel better when I get plenty of animal protein, but I can also feel worse when those proteins aren't the right ones. Also, I know that the A diet with less emphasis on protein made me feel on the weak side, but not having any soy in my diet on the Explorer diet wasn't good either. So it feels good to get a combo of soy, eggs, cheese, fish, and poultry in the amounts that are recommended.

I seem to feel much better without any vinegar in my diet, kawaikx15. I know ER4YT doesn't recommend fermented foods for A types, but Chloe has pickle juice--as from brined pickles--as one of her genoharmonic foods. I'm not drawn to fermented foods--except I do like wine and yogurt.

DoS,
here again, we need to determine the acid /alkaline content of food, depending on BT physiology.
this as well isn t a one size fit all.....
what seems acidic to you might be alkaline to a different BT s diggestive system.

vinegar is toxic for teachers.....

I am waiting for my SWAMI to arrive to tell me personally what is good what is bad..I found right4eu.com slow in dispatching the stuff..

I feel my digestive system is very poor in breaking down protein stuff and produces lot of methane gas in that process   which is so unpleasant to pass   I would not blame candida all the time. I am strictly on teachers diet for past 4 months now.. But methyl gas production has not reduced..

Any other teacher has the same problem?

slow?
try http://www.mybloodtypestore.com/ and wait a while longer!!

Quoted from Chandon

Have you taken the spit test for candida, Destroyer? That is one way to track it.

What is the spit test?

lola are you from right4eu.com   sorry if I offended you, do send my stuff

just received my SWAMI.. lola you are great.. what an instant delivery !!!!  

White vinegar makes me depressed. Apple cider is fine however it seems.

When I do the explorer diet my intestines seem ok somewhat but become fat intolerant after they build up bacteria.

I too benefit a lot in energy with animal protein. I have to eat lots of vegetables and fruit at the same time but it does have an affect that vegetables and fruit alone do not!

Lola those are from the Alkalize or Die book. I think in general they hold pretty true. Also Dr. D's recommendations of portions would hold them to be pretty true too. Simply to say Dr. D. clearly recommends more vegetables and fruit than anything else, daily. I do believe some different foods have affects in different ways for alkalinity, but the general idea seems right, and the general foods work with all the GTD in mind.

http://www.adhdrelief.com/CandidaTest.html

This describes the spit test. You might find it mentioned on this site as well.

Yes, as Lola says, I don't think a given food reacts the same in each blood type.

Hello Fellow Teachers,

I too have only just recently converted to teacherhood after switching between Warrior and Explorer for over 3 months. It seems as though when I measure my fingers with my palms upright it became apparent that my ring finger on my right hand was longer by over 2 mm. The strange thing is that when I use the method suggested by the book, measuring from the webbing, they come out equal.

Unfortunately for me I have due to my misdiagnosis gained about 3 to 4 kilos in the last 3 months. In alI fairness to the GT diet, I have been unable to exercise for about 5 weeks due to being inundated with work. I was wondering if anyone has still managed to lose weight woithout excercise? Or is combination of GT diet and excercise an absolute must for weight loss.

On a completely different and yet important topic. Does anyone know whether hydroponic vegetables are to be avoided. Nowadays it is really hard to find lettuce that is not hydroponically grown.

those are fine!
if you want to get the swami, you can have it compute your genotype, inputting all the right measures and data!

Quoted from kawaikx15

I am waiting for my SWAMI to arrive to tell me personally what is good what is bad..I found right4eu.com slow in dispatching the stuff..

I feel my digestive system is very poor in breaking down protein stuff and produces lot of methane gas in that process   which is so unpleasant to pass   I would not blame candida all the time. I am strictly on teachers diet for past 4 months now.. But methyl gas production has not reduced..

Any other teacher has the same problem?

Sometimes getting rid of the bad bacteria isn't enough.  Replacing the good
bacteria is necessary.

Are you aware that you'd be able to get a more customized Teacher specific probiotics combination (good bacteria) from taking the Teacher Activator supplement:

Saccharomyces cerevisiae, lactobacillus plantaru, Lactobacillus bulgaricus: These probiotics and healthy yeast strains enhance proper microbial balance in the digestive tract and help remove metabolic toxins and endproducts of excess bacterial overgrowth.

It's found here:

http://www.4yourtype.com/prodinfo.asp?number=GT3ACT

Well, last Friday, I woke up *********extremely********** dizzy -- so much so that I was actually nauseated almost all day, and threw up a few times when I moved my head too quickly. It started easing up when I started eating food [no, I'm not pregnant -- everybody has asked me that], but really only went away when I started massaging my neck, and it finally got gone when my husband got home from work and really rubbed my neck. Was that candida die-off settling in my neck joints? or was it sitting at the computer too much and getting a stiff neck? Who knows.

I did the spit test several months ago, and it was nearly clear, with just a tiny amount of speckles in it -- whereas my husband's was really gross, with everything they said *might* come up if you have candidiasis. (Speaking of which -- is that something a husband and wife might pass back and forth, either through casual or intimate touch? Because I'm sure he has it, and if he could give it to me, then even if I tested "clear" before, I could get it now. Of course, he's thought he had candida well before we got married and never did anything about it, so if I could get it from him, I would have likely gotten it from him years ago.) But I ought to pay more attention to the acid/alkaline thing and see if I can get that in line.


@Ffantazsia -- the spit test is... first thing in the morning, spit into a glass with room-temperature bottled water in it. If you have candida, your spit will look gross -- speckled, or stringy (like "legs" hanging down), or cloudy. My husband's was all three of those when we did it, while mine was basically clear.

Quoted from Chloe

Saccharomyces cerevisiae, lactobacillus plantaru, Lactobacillus bulgaricus: These probiotics and healthy yeast strains enhance proper microbial balance in the digestive tract and help remove metabolic toxins and endproducts of excess bacterial overgrowth.

Using brewer's yeast daily is also good.

Destroyer, did you establish for sure that you are a Teacher? I think at some point you had a question mark.

I have an idea. I will let all of you GenoType me. I am A(-) (been double checked).

Measurements
Torso > Legs (if I lost all the fat on my body it might be even, but I am not sure about reversing)

Upper Leg > Lower Leg (tried measuring this to get it to change, it really is what it is)

L&R Ring Finger > L&R Index Finger (could measure it a million times any way you want, it will always be that)

Strength Test
#1. Caffine when I was a child bothered me more, now it just makes falling asleep a little difficult even if I have three strong cups in the evening (might make other things happen though).

#2. I do not know of any cognitive diseases.

#3. My grandpa has heart issues and his brother has diabetes. My grandpa typed out as a Teacher or Explorer and he really looks more like an Explorer. He also is chemical sensitive and responds extremely well to lots of fruit juice and juicing vegetables. He said he felt best on vegetables, grains aside from wheat, and some meat. However he has not lived like that in a long time. He loves to change perceptions! Also muscular with a very broad head.

#4. My brother had cancer at 1 years old, and my grandma had bowel cancer that eventually killed her. My other Grandma has battled candida at least once from what I know.

#5. My dad has Crohn's, considers himself to be somewhat chemical sensitive, and have allergies. However all those things did not develop until he started to regularly eat red meat, potatoes, etc, away from his childhood almost vegetarian diet. As children him and his brothers might get a cold or something but that was about it they where healthy and lean. He also never gained weight until after the military. Basically everything speaks towards an overgrowth of bacteria. His teeth also did not get bad till later in life, again a bacteria thing probably at culprit. He is the only one I know of with an autoimmune problem.


Finger prints. I have nothing but loops.

#6. I have white lines. Wheat does make me hungry but I think that is due to candida perhaps, and the white lines due to lectins perhaps. My father has a problem with wheat, again I think it did not develop until he began to regularly consume red meat though. (bacterial issues)

#7. Yes they are all loops.

#8. No they all match.

#9. No, normal old righty.

#10. My knees touch, maybe in part due to low arches which are building up but under too much fat. If I was skinny I might have clear gaps between my legs, my body is sort of wide, not real wide, but wider than an AB tall Nomad ectomorph that could almost blow away in the wind.

#11. No large openings but hey I am overweight.

#12. You can see one tendon for 3 inches really clearly. However if I start to move my hand around you see more. You see them on my neck big time, at my elbows, etc, but I am overweight so they are not super clear. I am WAY THE HELL MORE SINEWY than my Gatherer roommate.

#13. Yes I have shoveling teeth.

#14. No no extra molar cusp that I can detect.

Body Type
Well I can easily touch my Thumb and middle finger, if not overlap a little.

I am sort of a meso-ecto I think. If not then I am ecto. I have muscle, clearly, but my limbs are not thick like my mesomorph friends at all and my muscle pertains primarily to things I have developed. I have a big chest and and my pelvic bone pokes out a little toward the front on the two top parts.

I have a square jaw shape (close to 90)

From what I can tell I have an ideal hip to waist ratio. My waist might be a tad smaller than hip.

Elongated head

According to the online quiz thing I might be a super taster. I am at least a taster for sure. Broccoli and black strap molasses are bitter. Black strap is too bitter for me to enjoy straight. I need to get some food dye to try the counting thing.


Strength test

GT3 Strength test = 14 (maybe 19 with prop test)

GT4 Strength test = 8 (maybe 13 with prop test, or does the caffine thing count? it only makes it hard to go to sleep, that would be 13, and maybe 18 with prop test)

History etc

As a child the only sickness I ever got besides some annoying nose bleeds was sinus infections, mostly ear infections. The colds and flue happened. I never had any serious problems except they threatened to take out my tonsils once.

Chemicals... as a child for awhile smoking bothered me a lot but I seem over that now. I can be around it, not enjoy it, even smoke several, and get nothing but a little flem at most. Non-natural laundry detergents do make me itch, but Teachers are also sensitive on the skin, that can be me!

Allergies, you bet! They use to bug me a lot. Although as of more late they do not do much at all. The started to come back when eating like an Explorer for awhile, and the infections. However it all seems related to Candida, which I probably have had since a small child. I was diagnosed as allergic to dairy for a long time. Eventually I started to be able to handle it better. However any type of cream or milk can make me drenched in sweat if I get remotely hot. The last two hikes I have been on I had a little problem with that, but I think it might be due to having trouble digesting vegetable protein.

I use to pound wheat products. There was nothing I loved more than bread. I ate lots of red meat too. I was real overweight in high school. I tried the Atkins and lost all the muscle on my body. I am not sure I lost much if any fat at all. I did not eat like any vegetables, but was happy to lose weight. My parents talked me out of it due to the appearance of blood.

Stress destroys me and my body. I do not lose weight, my muscle get screwed up and I get micro tearing in my heels. I do like Yoga and Pilates. As a child I was pretty flexible, I mean not extremely, but decently. My upper body is still very flexible. My legs are getting better especially with Omega 3, fish, alkaline, and no red meat.

Coffee has a strong affect sometimes in that it relaxes me and makes me kind of care free (cortisol, Type A thing).

Comparison between GT3 and GT4

GT3: I love love love to have certain types of artistic creation. It changes my life and makes it good. Unfortunately drawing rarely has that affect unless it is for special people in my life. Being creative (hard to feel that way a lot of the time, Candida I think) makes me just feel amazing. I am not short though, is 6' to 6'1" moderate? I look at things calmly when I am calm and feel well. My childhood fits the Teacher to a T with infections. I am pretty good at collecting lots of data and analyzing stuff, myself and dad are mechanically inclined, good trouble shooters (meta-analysis). The problem areas for a teacher, the first paragraph could not describe me more.

GT4: I am pretty sure I have above average intelligence! (giving myself that one no matter what) I am RH (-). I think I would of developed diabetes by now if I could have it. I have eaten way more that enough sugar and bad stuff in my life. I do have Spanish influence in my blood line. I love to think outside the box (but maybe to be creative, not so much I am just "different"). I am a little asymmetrical but no where near anyone else that is that I have seen. No one would ever think I am. One nipple is a little different from the other, a mole on one side of the face. Everything on my face does no line up 100% but very close. I have one eye that has a stigma, lightly these days. my rib cage and pelvic bone are not small, but everything other than my feet certain is not big. My shoulder have bones that stick out the back towards the side when standing still (really ectomorphy). All blood test for everything have always shown me to be healthy, no blood count problems or anything.

Can someone tell me about the "palm upward" way of measuring finger length? I've searched and searched, but didn't find anything. The search function of this site ...  

Quoted Text

Another way of measuring is to start with your hand palm up.  Line the ruler up with the line on the finger crease and then look to the tip to find the finger length.

I was measured back in TN this way by Dr C

Quoted from DoS

I have an idea. I will let all of you GenoType me. I am A(-) (been double checked).

Measurements
Torso > Legs (if I lost all the fat on my body it might be even, but I am not sure about reversing)

Upper Leg > Lower Leg (tried measuring this to get it to change, it really is what it is)

L&R Ring Finger > L&R Index Finger (could measure it a million times any way you want, it will always be that)

Secretor makes you a teacher.

I have not been tested for secreter status, I just leave my shield that way based on what GTD diet I am on because it looks nice   .

I just got some Brewer's Yeast supplement. After taking it at the store (yes I can swallow stuff dry, large horse pills sometimes) I found on my bike ride home feeling VERY relaxed all of a sudden. Now I feel relaxed and I could pretty much feel it move through my gut. I could flatulate later, who knows, but seriously it like moved through me! I hope that was sort of the missing bacteria that I needed to digest protein better (in vegetable form, non-green). Too much meat just does not seem like the answer. I got some beets on the stove too! They always make me feel like a champ.

Does any teacher have problem with Aluminum toxicity? I have been using aluminum utensils all my life. Today, on advice of Dr Andrew Weil, I switched to stainless steel..

http://home.earthlink.net/~joannefstruve/_wsn/page3.html

Just thought I'd share a list of aluminum toxicity symptoms because without being tested,
kawaikx15, I'm not sure any of us would know if we were having a problem.

Quoted from kawaikx15

Does any teacher have problem with Aluminum toxicity? I have been using aluminum utensils all my life. Today, on advice of Dr Andrew Weil, I switched to stainless steel..

Start cooking with cilantro, supposedly it helps clear heavy metals.

I love love love cilantro. I use it every day.

Here's some recipes and information.
http://www.mnwelldir.org/docs/detox/cilantro.htm

great article chole..
cilantro and metal toxicity   can you throw some more light on it

it s an effective metal chelator......less invasive

here are more threads on chelation and cilantro
http://www.google.com/custom?q.....itesearch=dadamo.com

I think Teacher sounds like it fits better than Explorer and it would be more likely for you to be a secretor. Of course without that info, we're just guessing. I guess you could also look at the foods that Teachers get that Explorers don't and vice versa. For example, Explorers shouldn't have soy, almonds or peanuts, dates, eggs, yogurt, cinnamon, and vanilla, to name a few, and beef if neutral for them. It seems like beef isn't so neutral for you (nor me) and you do well on the foods I listed (as do I). So, really, it seemed odd to have to limit those and also odd to not have to care whether I ate beef, when I was on the diet. Also, the Explorer can have even white rice, tapioca, and so many more sweeteners than the Teacher. That also didn't seem right for me. How was that for you? One food I started to have problems with in larger quantities was ricotta cheese. It started to make me feel sickened. All the while, I began feeling less well and my digestion became more messed up.

Maybe your problems stem from your time as an Explorer and you need to give yourself time working with the Teacher diet with all its variety to reap its benefits. Since I have spent so many years trying to impose rules on myself, combining his program with that, I am using this diet on its own and trying to UNLEARN all the rules that have gotten me in the messed up state I ended up in. Of course following the Explorer diet didn't help, but the problems were really already there to be exacerbated.

Wow, I'm impressed you can eat brewer's yeast straight, Destroyer! I find the taste SOOOOOO REPULSIVE! I thought that might make me a supertaster, but I'm a taster. I mix it with drinks and yogurt with carob.

They are pills, the brewer's yeast. Now nutritional yeast I could easily eat a spoonful of!

The foods I do really well with on the Explorer list are the detox fruit. The vegetables are very easy for me to enjoy too, like Kohlrabi. I love lamb but obviously red meat gives me that bacterial overgrowth.

The ricotta actually may of been responsible for me feeling like I had more regular digestion. However with the switch to Ghee also, and the bacteria increase it may of done nothing. I always felt like I should limit it though, and only ate it when I felt like I was not digesting well. Even on the Teacher diet I do not feel care-free with dairy. I think it is influencing my sinus infection that is very pestering. I think it might be lingering because I am losing weight fast, or so it seems, and my metabolism is through the roof. I guess candida could be contributing to the situation though.

I am doing better with some foods that were questionable on the Teacher diet, after taking brewer's yeast. Dates are one of them. They can still give me a little of a head rush at certain times.

It's interesting and encouraging for me to note that there is such a large number of Teachers with negative blood types, non sinewy and non andric like myself.

Aside from the negative bloodtype, I originally genotyped myself as an Explorer due to my Basque ancestry, mentioned in the book as the origin of Explorers.

Just wanted to ask a couple of quick questions.

Would whole meal or whole grain breads be a neutral for teachers?

There is a probiotic drink called Yakult. Would anyone know if this is good for Teachers?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yakult

On the Avatar preferences there is a choice of type 1 or type 2. Could someone kindly explain the difference?

Thanks