* Please take note I have not used the english langage for a while. It may be arduous to decipher what I remember to be the written form of words and structure of sentences.
During the last two years I failed miserably to bring back my energy to an acceptable level. I did progress here and there, but I never achieved to maintain a good level of mental and physical energy for more than a few days. It just came and go, without following any logic I could understand.
Before going any further, be advised I am me, meaning I have a specific set of genes which is not a perfect copy of yours. Thus, my own successes and failures could only have the strenght and relevance of the anecdote.
Yet, it is possible I stumbled upon something that will be beneficial to some, maybe not.
Please remain critical of my experiences and hypothesis.
A: Overview of the last few months
Recently, I tried a few different diets to observe my personal reactions :
a) Very low level of sugars, which seems to be the most advised diet against Candidasis or parasitic infection (plently of vegetables, meat and nuts).
b) Very high levels of fruits and vegetables (only traces of meat, grains and nuts).
c) Mostly fruits and vegetables, good amount of meat, but very low level of fat (5-8% of my global intake).
None of these diets were effective to relieve me of my most enduring symptoms, but improving the global proportion of fruits and vegetables did enhance my mood and energy.
Also, I believe lowering the amount of grains I consume had a positive impact on my digestion.
B: Trying something different
Hell, I thought, instead of limiting the variety of my diet following uncertain "truths" and ideological biases, why not try to be the perfect omnivore human seems to be ?
Thus I decided to eat a bit of everything : fruits, grains, vegetables, meat, leaves, legumes, etc. But most importantly, I chose to vary extremely the "elected" food items for each category.
- About 50 to 65% of my calories come from fruits and vegetables. There is a LOT of variety. I do not eat 30 bananas, ten carrots, or whatever. A bit of all vegetables and fruits I can get around where I live.
- About 10 to 20% come from grains, lentils and legumes , which also offers some important variety (corn, millet, buckwheat, quinoa, wild rice, brown rice, etc.)
I never eat flour, only the complete grains or legumes.
I also don't eat wheat products, it really messes me up even though I ain't celiac or anything. I guess the farmers played too much with the genes of wheat to be edible for me.
- About 5 to 15% come from different meat sources (snails, fishes, eggs, lamb, beef, etc. ) I tend to prefer eating fish, because of how farm animals are «grown» and the substances they are injected with.
I cannot consume dairy products, my body rejects them. Lacking a protein to digest them or something. A lot of people have difficulty with those.
- Whatever remain is divided among chocolate, nuts and seeds.
The key word is [b] variety [/b]: I'll always eat small portions of a food item, eating more items rather than consuming a larger intake of a few selected items.
I've been going strong for a week now, and my overall condition is vastly improved (physical and mental conditions alike.)
C: My Profile
Maybe this, uh, "highly omnivorous" diet only work for me because of certains genetic dispositions.
I'll summarize crucial points about my person.
1) I weight 54.4 kilos for 1,6 meters. (We use metrics around here.)
I cannot - for the life of me - gain any weight, except by improving my muscular mass. Doctors consider I am healthy, yet I tend to be skinner than most of the population here (which tend to be a little/moderately overweight, even my close family.)
2) I am 23 years old, male.
3) I'm not very active, but I always travel by bike and foot. Also, I never use elevators.
4) I live south of Montreal, the biggest city in the province of Quebec in Canada.
5) I am not subject to anxiety or depression. My family and myself does not have any money-related problem. Doctors and health ressources are ROUGHLY free here, though it is a situation which may change depending upon the politicians in power(austerity, debt, privatization of the common goods, yada yada.)
6) Never done any tests for candida or parasites, but my blood tests all come back perfect even though I was severely lacking energy.
D: Other habits
They may or may not have had an effect upon my improving health.
a) The only habit I'm pretty positive about its usefulness: using a potent antifongic.
I eat coconuts from time to time, brew fresh origano leaf into a hot tea and I chop garlic in tiny pieces that I ingest with water. Origano seems to be the more potent of the three from experience.
b) I'm also taking extracts of Olive leaves. Supposedly, arabs, greeks, egyptians and other mediterranean characters praised its health-boosting properties.
Cannot say if it is useful with candida or parasites, since I have not run any test by myself and the Internet being a torrent of shady informations.
c) I drink everyday a tea of differents plants growing in my neighbourhood : thyme, bee balm, origano, dandelion, nettle, common plantain, strawberry leaves. I add fresh ginger to the concoction. Delicious and probably very rich in certains nutriments/minerals.
d) I tend to eat fruits away from my meals, about thirty minutes before/after. Seems easier to digest that way for me.
e) I drink plenty of water, 2-3 liters a day.
f) I masticate very thoroughly my food to savor it.
E: In conclusion
Since I've been "excessively omnivorous" for only a week, I will probably go through more improvements, or reach a dead-end. We'll see.
If you've got any questions, shoot.
Any bits of information you wish to share will be gladly welcomed.
Cordially,
Sam
Thank you, I know my english to be okay, although it lacks polish through practice.
Seems I can't edit my initial post anymore, so here's an addendum :
The main argument to why I am eating a bit of everything is that I read in a few places that trace minerals such as molybdenum and selenium are useful to suppress the toxins coming from candida/parasites.
Since it is a pain to seek and try foods that have a reputation of being high in this or that mineral, I chose to eat a bit of everything.
Also, since it is unsure whether the body absorbs elements and minerals just because they are said to present in a specific food item, I find safer (and kind of clever) to eat the highest number of items as possible.