How to rebuild the gut to resolve skin problems

[DianaLynn]

If you experience flushing or fatigue after meals, food sensitivities, skin rashes (rosacea), or constipation, you likely have a compromised gut. Antibiotics, poor eating habits and stress contribute to digestive problems.The link between rosacea and gut issues is not new. Eliminating specific foods, sometimes is not enough if the gut has been populated by invasive bacteria or yeasts like Candida, or has serious damage.
I used the a combination of "The Body Ecology Diet" by Donna Gates and Pitchfords book "Healing With Whole Foods," to resolve a 3 year Bout with Rosacea. The Body Ecology Diet is an entire book that will serve you well as a stand alone tool.
Here are the factors that make the diets work:
* Raw fermented vegetables, ( lacto ferment, AKA raw sauerkraut) easily made at home) and / or kefir
* Eliminate sweets including fruits until symptoms are gone
* Eliminate all grains except millet, quinoa and amaranth, and preferably sprout these for easier assimilation( they are anti-fungal grains)
* Drink Pau de arco tea to kill pathogenic yeasts and bacteria
* Food combining refining: eat proteins only with non starchy vegetables, and grains only non starchy vegetables, (not protein).
* Avoid potatoes except red-skinned ones, also avoid Yams.
* Avoid nuts until digestion improves, some seeds are OK.
(More info. In the diet guidelines, this is just a rough outline)

You can also start the diet with several days of nothing but steamed vegetables and add in foods that are included in the diet one at a time to see which ones cause a reaction. You will eventually be able to eat these again once your digestive system restores. Give it at least 3 months. But my flushing ceased entirely within 3 weeks, and i started to tolerate foods that made flush initially by the end of the same 3 weeks.
Don't skip the the kefir or fermented vegetables, they are the best delivery of probiotics you may find. They increase peristalsis, eliminate constipation, reduce inflammation, increase immunity and energy by restoring the proper ecology to the gut.
The food combining is designed to maximize digestion.

You can buy these books used if you just want to make one purchase go for the Body Ecology Book, it has more details.

[Meemz]

Hi DianaLynn,

I really like the book you suggested and It has so much valuable information. I still don't know if I have Candida or not, but it seems that I'm experiencing most of the symptoms that the authors talked about. Actually my score in the Candida questionnaire is pretty high.

My questions are: Did you have this Candida disease? If yes, are there some tests that could be done to know if you have or not? Lastly, If you had this disease, did you cure yourself by only following the diet? or there were other things that you did?

[Mistica]

Diana,

I would like to know how you initially reacted to fermented foods?
Did they increased your flushing?