Definitely carbohydrate related

[simpleguy]

Hi everyone - long post apologies,

I have been waiting a while to post this because I wanted to confirm what I was starting to come to understand. I have come to the conclusion that my rosacea is being caused by carbohydrates. I know this isn't news for many of you out there who have already come to realize this. But I have been paying close attention to my diet and no longer have any doubts. And I have been keeping track of everything I eat using a food diary.

I have read several posts on here regarding the carbohydrate link and diet changes so a few weeks ago I started a low-carb protein diet to see if I noticed any difference. I noticed that new p&ps stopped appearing within a day or two. So I stayed on this diet for a week. The redness was clearing up, the p&ps were going away. Definite signs of progress. Then I was prescribed doxycycline and started the first couple of days on a 200mg / day dosage, then moved to 100 mg / day. I was still no carbs for the first few days and found that I could go an entire day without using any topicals.

Then I started adding carbs back to see if I noticed a difference. New p&ps appeared the first night. The next morning new p&ps were starting so I cut the carbs mid-day and by the evening everything was clearing up again. The carbs are some sort of p&p on-off switch for me. I can completely shut off p&ps by taking carbs out of my diet. So far so good.

I saw the new derm earlier this week and he did the demodex test (negative) and took a blood sample. Because I am a new patient he is doing all the initial tests just to get an idea for my situation. I told him what I had noticed about the carbs. He noted that it could be a connection, but he wants to just see about my blood test first. Anyway I will follow through with him next week.

Then my rifaximin arrived in the mail. I stopped the doxy and started on the 10 day rifaximin experiment. This drug isn't available in Japan.

So back to the low carb / high protein diet. I am able to eat white rice. I tested this last night and this morning. No new p&ps with plain white rice (Japanese starchy type). Also, it seems like small servings of bell peppers / broccoli mixed with my meat / eggs is fine. Even cheese (cheddar) and yogurt seems to be ok at the moment. But what is questionable is oatmeal, maple syrup, peanut butter, and dried fruits. These are the carbs that I added back in to test if new p&ps would appear. So for now those are all out again. I am going to just add one back at a time and see if I can pinpoint which ones are causing trouble. Or maybe it is more to do with the amout eaten at any given time.

Now that I know this is carb related, which could still have a connection to SIBO, what if the rifaximin doesn't change anything? Do I start approaching this as some sort of carb intolerance? Does anyone know much about these types of food intolerances? Who should I discuss this with? Are there any cures for these things or am I just stuck with it?

I don't want to get too far ahead on this food intolerance possibility yet. I want to wait and see how the rifaximin does. So right now I am on day three. I haven't had any issues with the medication so far. I don't feel any better / worse.

P.S. regarding this rifaximin, does anyone know when I should add the probiotics into the mix? After I complete the 10 day course or during? Seems that the antibiotic will just kill any probiotics I add to my diet right now.

[christine123]

Hi simpleguy: I, too, noticed that when I went on a no-carb diet for two weeks, my redness went down to almost nothing near the end, and my face actually looked smaller and less swollen- I barely recognized myself! Because I also can't eat dairy, this kind of diet leaves me terribly calorie-starved, so I'm trying desperately to keep some carbs, but I'm almost 100% sure that oats are absolutely out.

Regarding rice, it's interesting you are able to eat it with no problem. Perhaps it isn't necessarily carbs as an entire food group you're having a problem with, but gluten, or opoid peptides. When I reacted to oats yesterday, despite having a horrible reaction, I immediately felt addicted and wanted to eat more. The same thing absolutely happens with wheat for me. Maybe the other gluten grains, although I have not tested them yet.

Take a look here -> http://failsafediet.wordpress.com/th...i-reacting-to/
and see if any of your symptoms match up. Maybe you need not cut out all carbs, but only gluten, or opoid-like peptides. A good idea may be to go completely carb-free for two weeks so your system is cleaned out and then introduce one carb in at a time, in as pure a form as you can get (for instance, whole-wheat pasta made only with semolina wheat, or oatmeal with the only ingredient being oats, rye crisps which only have water and a little salt added, etc).

P.S. Embarking on a carb-free diet is something certain people do for health-reasons, and they state it could take up to two years, but after that time your gut should be healed enough to withstand at least some carbs. Take a look here:
http://pecanbread.com/p/

'SCD' refers to the 'Specific Carbohydrate Diet', seeking to eliminate all carbs that are at least partially indigestible to your gut and feed harmful organisms in your intestines. When you stop feeding the organisms, they slowly die off and your inflamed, damaged gut can heal and start absorbing nutrients the way it should. Over time, any leaky gut syndrome should be resolved and supposedly the person could go back to eating whatever they wanted without problems. If they even want to do that and risk the same thing happening down the line.

[christine123]

Hi simpleguy: I stumbled across this particular article on the RPAH Failsafe website. It contains some *very* interesting theories.

http://failsafediet.wordpress.com/ab...plant-lectins/

Feel free to read the entire thing, but the gold lies in the paragraph titled, 'What Are Plant Lectins?' In a nutshell, the paragraph explains that plant lectins are toxic to the body and bind to essential sugars the body uses for normal function. They are mainly found in legumes, grains and the nightshade family of vegetables. I realized after reading this article that during my diet which was the only one I found success with, I had completely avoided all three of these food groups.

This definitely might be something worth looking more into. A quote from the text:

"A well-known lectin, phytohaemagglutinin (PHA), is found in kidney beans and other legumes in the kidney bean family (black beans, pinto beans, etc). PHA binds to many essential sugars; it agglutinates white blood cells, reacts with mast cells (immune system cells) causing excessive histamine release, binds to the insulin receptors of fat cells mimicking insulin, and is highly toxic. When eaten in significant quantities, PHA causes gastrointestinal upset identical to food poisoning."

[simpleguy]

Hi christine123,

Thanks for the long reply. I am glad to hear from someone who understands my situation like you do. For now all carbs are out except for tiny bits of veggies here and there. My face has improved better than any medicine I have ever tried. This time I am off the carbs long term, including rice. I don't have the energy to keep fiddling with my diet trying to track down the cause right now. I have too many other things to focus on that rosacea has been doing a good job of distracting me from.

I will start reading through these sites that you sent me. Thank you for passing along this information.

[Hammer88]

I have tried eating only fish (high fish high protein no carb diet) for 3 full days. 3 times per day.
- Result: horrible, worsening of symptoms.


I also tried eating only cashew nuts, almonds, and coconut oil for 2 days.
- Result: worse.


I tried an exclusive Basmati rice diet (high carb) for 14 full days. Only organic basmati brown rice.
-Result: Small improvement that quickly went away...nothing significant.


I tried fasting for 7 full days (did not cheat, only drank the same bottled water and absolutely nothing else).
- Result: Besides surprisingly having the sleep less and less (not sure why), the face did not improve more than with the exclusive rice diet.


My known triggers:
Maple syrup, honey, cheese, kefir, yogourt, butter (goat and/or cow), dried fruits, raisins, grapes, saeukraut....

[Brady Barrows]

I don't think that carbohydrate is the cause of rosacea but it definitely is a trigger for some, just as valid of trigger as any other rosacea trigger.

[Ghost]

Hi simpleguy: I stumbled across this particular article on the RPAH Failsafe website. It contains some *very* interesting theories.

http://failsafediet.wordpress.com/ab...plant-lectins/

Feel free to read the entire thing, but the gold lies in the paragraph titled, 'What Are Plant Lectins?' In a nutshell, the paragraph explains that plant lectins are toxic to the body and bind to essential sugars the body uses for normal function. They are mainly found in legumes, grains and the nightshade family of vegetables. I realized after reading this article that during my diet which was the only one I found success with, I had completely avoided all three of these food groups.

This definitely might be something worth looking more into. A quote from the text:

"A well-known lectin, phytohaemagglutinin (PHA), is found in kidney beans and other legumes in the kidney bean family (black beans, pinto beans, etc). PHA binds to many essential sugars; it agglutinates white blood cells, reacts with mast cells (immune system cells) causing excessive histamine release, binds to the insulin receptors of fat cells mimicking insulin, and is highly toxic. When eaten in significant quantities, PHA causes gastrointestinal upset identical to food poisoning."

Hi Christine! How are you?

I missed this post back in April (I think I started reading here intensely a few days later that month). It's really interesting. But it does make me wonder what I should be eating! Sounds like avoid soy (which I do now), avoid night shades except for shiitaki, do eat the fruits and vegetables containing mannose and xylose and a few others. And I see garlic is in a bad category, especially for type O people.

What I have noticed is that foods that I can chew a long time (e.g. Fletcherize) and still enjoy the taste of are the ones that agree with me.

I think some people may actually gulp food to *avoid* its taste, and so it's not the quantity of the foods they are eating that are causing indigestion and such (leading to other diseases) but the foods themselves.

So, it might be best to keep it simple: eat what you truly enjoy in the oldest, atavistic sense. Pretend you had to forage for it and chew it to get all the good stuff out of it. If you feel you can't do this with a particular food then it is not good for you.

Does that make some sense to you?

(My primary computer is broken. But I'll try to find your reply!)

[christine123]

Hi Ghost! I'm doing alright, but my skin isn't atm. I've been completely off of any semblance of a diet since my fiance was up here in the middle of August. Also am going out to visit relatives, my birthday coming up and my family insists on taking me to a restaurant and a party lined up early this month means that I won't bother starting a new one until the second week of Sept. *sigh*

I've figured out what I want to do with it though. I'm going low carb and the only carbs I'll eat will be starchy veggies like sweet potato, carrot, squash, etc. I've also started a colon cleanse/parasite cleanse today and at the end of the month will do a kidney and liver cleanse. I read that a lot of allergies are caused by a congested liver and when I went to a naturopath that was one of the danger areas for me when they did a body reading along with the kidneys, adrenals and skin (toxins anyone?) . It makes sense since if the liver can't efficiently produce/expel bile because of a buildup of stones/debris, food cannot be properly digested and there is large amounts of undigested food matter in the intestinal tract which can pass through the walls of the intestine (due to leaky gut syndrome, which I'm also sure I have). Also, since the liver is the primary means through which the body detoxifies, if that's not working up to par the body will use another organ (eg. skin) to push the toxins out.

I'll also oil-pull with coconut oil every day since the bacteria in the mouth can cause toxins to be swallowed or push into the bloodstream through inflamed gums, further causing stress to the liver. I also think I have candidasis so might look into anti-fungal natural supplements.

So I guess in a nutshell, here's the lineup for my new anti-rosacea regimen for the next month:
Low-carb/no grain or fruit diet. Also will avoid any foods on my intolerance list and nightshades.
Oil pulling w. coconut oil
Colon cleanse/parasite cleanse
Honey mask every second day
Probiotics
Possibly anti-fungal supplements

And at the end of the month:
Kidney cleanse
Liver cleanse

It's sure going to help that I don't have work all this month. At any rate, when I get going on this full-fledged, I will keep a diary and let everyone here know the findings if I see any positive results (or if I see no results, which is important too). I've started the colon cleanse already, but can't start the diet (the most important aspect, imo) until the middle of Sept, so will start the diary then.

Lectins are an interesting theory behind various illnesses in the body (they are more commonly known as anti-nutrients or enzyme inhibitors). I agree with you 100% though that gulping food cannot be good for anyone since chewing is pre-digesting the food to some degree so it has an important role. I heard that one should chew a mouthful of food until it is paste in the mouth.

Personally nightshades cause me a lot of problems. The solanine in them gives me arthritic pains in my hip which, if bad enough, can be quite debilitating.

[Ghost]

Hi Christine, sounds like a good plan! I know you want to do it as quickly as possible -- and since you're not working you'll be able to REST while doing all the cleansings. And you'll have time to do them fully.

I found cleansings to be effective. But what really put me over the top was the diet. Are you blood type O? I am and we don't get along with wheat at all. You probably know all about this from your reading about lectins. Dropping wheat was the best dietary change I ever made.

You can still do OK in restaurants. I find no one really pays attention to what other people are eating as long as everybody is eating. Have you seen the book Eat Right 4 Your Type? You can just zip through the food section and find what not to eat easily.

What sort of liver cleansing will you do? The olive oil and lemon kind is just awful, but so very effective. I recommend it :-)

And the day after I recommend very strongly a professional colonic.

You note anti-fungal supplements, I found garden of life Yeast FREEze to be wonderful.

I was pulling oil, too, but it got me wondering whether it doesn't start digestion and so wastes enzymes, because you're chewing, but nothing is going into the gut. What do you think? I couldn't find anything on this idea. I put it out at curezone, but haven't seen anything written back.

BTW I probably won't have a real computer for another week. So, please indulge me if I'm slow here. Send me a quick ping in PM or otherwise so I'll know you wrote back (if you had time!).

In the meantime, have a lovely reunion with your beloved/time off/cleansing/and a happy birthday!

:-)

[Brady Barrows]

This definitely might be something worth looking more into. A quote from the text:

"A well-known lectin, phytohaemagglutinin (PHA), is found in kidney beans and other legumes in the kidney bean family (black beans, pinto beans, etc). PHA binds to many essential sugars; it agglutinates white blood cells, reacts with mast cells (immune system cells) causing excessive histamine release, binds to the insulin receptors of fat cells mimicking insulin, and is highly toxic. When eaten in significant quantities, PHA causes gastrointestinal upset identical to food poisoning."

Christine,

Not familiar with the lectins, but I am familiar with carbohydrate and sugar. To state that there are essential sugars as the above quote says triggered my interest. While glucose and fiber are essential, in the sense of what this word means, 'essential' for life, which is true, but there are no other sugars essential for life. In fact carbohydrate, in the strict sense, which is carbon plus water, is not essential for life. I have collected together many reputable quotes on this subject by clicking here. Carbohydrate is simply different forms of sugar and is not essential for life. There are no minerals, vitamins, or anything in carbohydrate essential for life. Nothing essential. The reason for this is simple. Fat and protein are essential for life. You can obtain glucose, which is essential for life (brain cells die from a lack of glucose, not to mention other cells in the body) from either protein or fat. If the body needs glucose it can break down protein or fat into glucose. It takes a lot more steps to do this, of course, and it is way easier to obtain glucose from carbohydrate but in the strict sense your body does not need carbohydrate for life. Carbohydrate is simply a perk that makes life enjoyable. If you were on an abandoned desert island, moon or planet and you had to only choose two of the three food groups and you chose carbohydrate instead of fat or protein you would not survive. If you choose fat and protein you would survive. The quote above mentioning 'essential sugars' is misleading. Yes, indeed, sugar does combine with amino acids (glycoproteins) but the glucose does not have to be obtained from carbohydrate since it can be processed from fat or protein. Contrary to popular opinion carbohydrate is not essential for human survival. What we need to survive is fat, protein, vitamins, minerals, fiber, and water. When you posted this quote and it mentioned 'essential sugars' it really sent out a red flag to me.