Increasing Your Energy Level
In This Chapter
▶ Thinking about your thyroid gland
▶ Getting a feel for glucose abnormalities
▶ Understanding what’s in your gut: abnormal bowel flora
One of the most common health complaints is a lack of energy. So many people are tired, and they just don’t feel like they have the get-up-and-go that’s necessary to keep up with their busy lives. If you’re suffering from a lack of energy, take heart in the fact that you’re not alone, and rest assured that you can take steps to improve your energy level and put that much needed pep in your step.
Many complicated biologic states can cause a lack of energy, but a few issues are really common and can be fixed with conventional medicine, natural therapies that involve detoxification, or a combination of both. Two of the top issues are thyroid problems and blood sugar problems, both of which I cover in this chapter.
Amazingly enough, the bacteria that you carry around in your gastrointestinal tract can also contribute to a lack of energy. You have more bacterial cells in your gut than in all other parts of your body combined. When the delicate balance of that bacteria is disturbed, several of your organ systems can be affected, and profound fatigue is a common result. The good news is that you can take steps to make sure that the balance of the bacteria in your intestines is right where it needs to be, and you may be surprised how much of a positive effect that change can have on your energy level. The bad news is that you’ll have to put some thought into what’s living in your belly, which can rank pretty high on the gross-out scale.
So if you’ve been feeling low on energy, hang in there and summon the zeal to flip through the pages of this chapter. You’ll be doing back flips in no time! (Okay, maybe you’ll just be energized and ready to get up and go each day — you’ll have to find another book for the back flip instructions.)
Taking a Look at Your Thyroid
Your energy level is determined by your metabolism, which is controlled by hormones that your thyroid gland produces. If your thyroid is acting up, chances are you’re seeing some pretty dramatic effects in your energy level.
If you’re incredibly tired or wired all the time, you could very well have a thyroid problem and you should make an appointment to see your doctor. (If you’re in need of a doctor or in the market for a new one, flip back to Chapter 5 for some tips on how to find and work with good doctors who are well versed in natural treatments like detoxification.) If you’ve already been diagnosed with a thyroid ailment and you’re weighing your options for treatment (or already receiving conventional treatment), you may want to consider augmenting your progress with detoxification.
In this section, I dig into the details of the toxins that can affect your thyroid gland and what you can do to rid your body of those toxins (and keep them out). I also offer a quick look at some of the things that your thyroid gland has to have in order to function correctly, and I let you know where to find those things in foods that fit in with a detoxification diet.
While I focus on the dangers of mercury and aspartame in this section, you should know that fluoride also affects your thyroid in a negative way. Fluoride can attach to thyroid hormone molecules and prevent them from working in your tissues, but the hormones will still be counted in the standard blood test for thyroid function. In other words, the thyroid test will show that you have plenty of thyroid hormone, but the hormone doesn’t work.
If your thyroid’s function is just a little out of whack, you can probably make quite a bit of progress toward remedying the problem with natural means (diet and supplements are a couple examples). But if your thyroid is seriously misbehaving, you need medical treatment. You need to consult with your doctor to determine whether your thyroid problem is a minor or major one.
Mastering mercury
When it comes to thyroid-damaging toxins, nothing is more harmful than mercury. Mercury basically makes it impossible for your thyroid gland to successfully produce good hormones, and without hormones from your thyroid, your metabolism is terribly slow and your energy level goes crashing through the floor.
Considering an alternative thyroid test
Sometimes people suffering from low energy levels get a blood test — the standard test used to screen for thyroid problems — and the results indicate that their thyroid is normal. If that happens to you but your symptoms persist and you’re still not convinced that your thyroid is working like it should, you may want to check your thyroid’s function using the basal body temperature method. It’s a relatively easy process that you can begin at home on your own.
1. Get a basal thermometer. A basal thermometer is a specialty thermometer used to measure human body temperature. You can buy one at your local drug store or through many online retailers.
2. Measure your body temperature in your armpit as soon as you wake up — before you get out of bed — every day for ten days. Record the temperature measurement for each day.
3. Average the temperatures. If your temperature is where it should be, you’ll get an average of 97.2 to 98.2 degrees Fahrenheit.
4. If your average temperature is below the range specified in step 3, consult a physician. You’ll need to make sure you find a physician who is willing to treat you for a thyroid problem based on symptoms and basal body temperature. A good source for these types of physicians is the American College for Advancement in Medicine (ACAM). You’ll also find that ACAM members are more likely to treat you with natural methods and products.
You can find a listing of physician members of the American College for Advancement in Medicine at the organization’s Web site (www. acamnet.org). You may also want to check out the Web site of the International College of Integrative Medicine (www.icimed.com).
In addition to being extremely damaging to your thyroid, mercury is also a particularly problematic toxin because it’s extremely powerful — the second most toxic substance on the planet, after plutonium — and it’s found all over the place in our environment. (I fill you in on the details shortly when I explain how you can work toward limiting your mercury exposure.) To give you an idea of how toxic mercury is, consider that the amount of mercury in an old glass thermometer is enough to poison a 26-acre lake.
If you want to enjoy healthy energy levels, you need a fully functioning thyroid. And if you want your thyroid to perform at its best, you need to rid your body of mercury.
Getting rid of the mercury in your body
You can choose among several good ways to get rid of the mercury in your body. At the top of the list is a process called chelation. Chelation is a detoxification method that involves introducing a substance into your body and allowing that substance to attach itself to toxins, which are then carried out of your body in urine or feces. Chelation is a precise procedure that must be performed by a doctor. (I cover plenty of chelation details in Chapter 18.) For eliminating mercury, the best chelating agent is DMPS, which is administered using an IV.
In addition to DMPS, DMSA is also used as a chelating agent for mercury. DMSA is administered orally, but there’s some debate among experts on whether or not DMSA can carry mercury into the brain.
If you’re not too keen on chelation, don’t dismay: You can use other methods to help eliminate mercury from your system on your own, at home. You can get started with a tincture of cilantro (also known as Chinese parsley), which is a solution made from the normal kitchen herb that you often find in salsa and pesto. You can buy tincture of cilantro at most vitamin stores. Tincture of cilantro mobilizes mercury, moving it to your liver where it’s deposited in your bile and then moved to the intestines.
That’s the first step, but if you stop there, your intestines will simply reabsorb the mercury and you’ll be back at square one. To prevent that from happening, you need a binding agent that will bond to the mercury and hold it in the intestines until it eventually works its way down your digestive system and out of the body in your feces. For mercury detoxification, the best bind- ing agent is a green algae called chlorella that you can buy in powder form.
Here are the details for using tincture of cilantro and chlorella to help clear the mercury out of your body:
1. Take two drops of tincture of cilantro two times a day, and gradually increase the dosage over a period of days until you reach the point where you’re taking ten drops, three times each day. You can do this easily by making a simple tea with ten drops of the tincture mixed up in a cup of hot water. Take this dosage for a week, take a two-week break, and then do it for another week.
2. While you’re taking the tincture of cilantro, make sure you’re also using your chlorella. Start with one gram of powder four times a day and increase that amount to three grams, four times a day.
3. Continue taking the tincture of cilantro and chlorella on the alternating schedule (on for one week, off for two weeks) for six months.
If you get an upset stomach during the process of detoxifying with tincture of cilantro and chlorella, your first reaction may be to take less chlorella. Don’t do that! Instead, increase your dose of chlorella to three grams five times a day or more. Your upset stomach is a sign that you’re removing a lot of mercury from your system, and you need more chlorella to keep that process moving in the right direction.
Steering clear of mercury exposure
After you’ve made an effort to get rid of the mercury in your body, what can you do to keep it out? Unfortunately, it’s not an easy task.
Despite the fact that mercury is one of the most toxic substances known to man, it’s surprisingly ubiquitous in the world today. If you’re striving to limit your mercury exposure — and you should be — you need to be aware of the following sources of mercury:
✓ Fish: If you include fish in your diet, chances are you’re also including mercury. Fish and the waters they inhabit are extremely susceptible to mercury contamination, and when fish are caught and eventually end up on your dinner table, the mercury is transferred to you. Because fish are native to and farm-raised in a variety of environments, the mercury
levels in fish can vary widely. If you want to add fish to your dinner table but you’re not interested in also adding a dangerous toxin like mercury, try using Alaskan salmon, which generally contains less mercury than many other types of fish. You can also buy fish that has been analyzed and certified safe by independent lab testing.
If you’re pregnant, be extremely cautious about eating fish. The mercury risk is high: The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently issued a warning for pregnant women that even one 3-ounce portion of swordfish, shark, king mackerel, or tilefish during the entire pregnancy can contain enough mercury to cause fetal brain damage.
✓ Flu vaccines: Vaccines for influenza have become increasingly popular in the past decade, but most doses of flu vaccine still contain mercury.
A mercury-containing chemical called thiomersal (commonly called thimerosal) is used in vaccines as a preservative.
Mercury-free flu vaccines are available in limited amounts each year, so if you’re planning to get vaccinated, ask your doctor about obtaining a vaccine that doesn’t contain mercury.
✓ Dental fillings: The amalgam fillings (commonly referred to incorrectly as silver fillings) used by dentists can contain up to 50 percent mercury.
Many people in the dentistry community suggest that amalgam fillings are harmless, but in my opinion that’s hard to believe when you consider that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) requires that when dentists remove amalgam fillings they treat the material as toxic waste.
If you need a filling, ask your dentist about alternatives to amalgam that don’t contain mercury. Several options are available, and the choice is yours!
✓ Coal: Coal contains mercury, but chances are you don’t often come in contact with coal. The problem arises when trillions of tons of coal are burned in coal-burning power plants across the globe each year, and the mercury that was contained in the coal is released into our atmosphere. The further you live from a coal-burning power plant the better, but if you’re like most people and you can’t let proximity to a power plant be the deciding factor when choosing where you live, consider using some of the air detoxification techniques I describe in Chapter 3.
✓ Compact fluorescent light bulbs: In an effort to conserve energy, many people are now installing efficient compact fluorescent light bulbs in their homes and businesses. The bulbs are extremely energy efficient, but unfortunately they contain mercury. When you dispose of compact fluorescent bulbs, place them in a plastic bag with a tight seal and take them to a nearby household hazardous waste collection site.
If a compact fluorescent bulb breaks, take special care to limit your mercury exposure. The EPA suggests that you immediately open all nearby windows and carefully sweep up the pieces without touching them with your hands. Then use a paper towel to remove all of the broken glass — do not use a vacuum — and place everything in a sealed plastic bag for disposal at a household hazardous waste collection site. You can read more at www.epa.gov.
Assessing the risks of aspartame
The sugar substitute aspartame is used in a wide range of processed food products, from diet sodas to chewing gum, and unfortunately there have been numerous implications that aspartame can have some harmful effects on the human body.
It’s important to note here that aspartame was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for use in food products. But anecdotal evidence and some clinical studies have suggested that for at least a portion of the population, aspartame could be responsible for negative health effects. Some of the anecdotal evidence points to the fact that aspartame can cause or contribute to thyroid problems, so if you’re suffering from a thyroid ailment you should consider taking action to reduce the amount of aspartame you’re introducing into your body. At the worst, you’re looking at a “can’t hurt, might help” scenario.
Detoxifying for aspartame
At this point, no detoxification methods focus specifically on removing aspartame from your body. But you can see some related benefits by adding lots of high antioxidant foods to your diet. The following are just a few of the many kinds of foods that are loaded with antioxidants:
✓ Artichokes
✓ Blackberries
✓ Cranberries
✓ Pecans
✓ Russet potatoes
✓ Walnuts
You can dodge this substance by paying attention to what you’re eating. It’s simple: Just read the ingredient lists on food labels!
If you’re keen on sugar substitutes, I recommend trying stevia, which is a natural sweetener partly derived from a shrub that’s native to South America. It has been used as a sweetener in Japan for more than 30 years. You can find stevia at almost all heath food stores, and it comes in many forms.
Giving your thyroid what it needs to succeed
Your thyroid needs a few minerals in order do its important work. The list below shows you the minerals that are critical to healthy thyroid function and includes suggestions on the types of foods you can eat to make sure you’re getting enough of the important minerals.
✓ Iodine: Get iodine from sources like seafood (fish and shellfish) and sea vegetables (such as kelp, dulse, bladderwrack, and alaria).
Many people get their iodine from iodized salt or from tap water. Be wary of both sources. Iodized salt usually has sugar added (dextrose) and can contain the toxin aluminum. And tap water has many toxic drawbacks, as you can read about in Chapter 3.
✓ Copper: Your thyroid needs copper, and you can make sure you’re getting enough copper in your diet by eating plenty of eggs, legumes, nuts, and raisins. And no, you can’t just toss in a handful of pennies with your garden salad.
✓ Zinc: Zinc is important for maintain healthy thyroid function. You can boost the amount of zinc in your diet by eating more oysters, dried beans, spinach, seeds, and nuts.
✓ Selenium: This mineral is particularly helpful in taming overactive thyroid glands. You can get more selenium by eating raw Brussels sprouts, cabbage, broccoli, and cauliflower.
Grasping Glucose Control
Maintaining healthy glucose (also known as blood sugar) levels in your body is a great way to ensure that you’ll have the kind of energy that makes you feel like jumping out of bed in the morning, ready to take on the day. The amount of sugar that you bring into your body is almost entirely dependent upon your diet. If you make smart choices about the sugar you consume, you’ll take an important step toward feeling good and staying healthy.
The problem, of course, is that sugar is delicious! And in a world full of sugar- filled, processed foods, it can be all too easy to let sugar creep into your diet in unhealthy and dangerous amounts. To help keep your hand out of the cookie jar, remember that in high enough amounts, sugar actually has a toxic effect on your body. In this section, I explain how sugar can act as a toxin, and I clue you in on how you can take steps to make sure your blood sugar stays at a level that makes you feel energetic but doesn’t take you down a path that leads to diabetes and other sugar-related ailments.
Recognizing sugar as a toxin
When you look at a piece of candy, a soft drink, or a jelly donut, do you immediately think toxin? I know you may find it hard to believe, but the sugar that makes up a huge part of those types of sweet treats can have a toxic effecton your body’s systems. A spoonful of sugar may help the medicine go down, but keep in mind that the reason you may need medicine in the first place is because you’ve had way too much sugar over the years.
High levels of blood sugar in your body have an inflammatory effect on your blood vessels. When you have high blood sugar, your body produces additional insulin (a hormone that helps your body move sugar into the tissue where it can be converted into energy). But if you have too much insulin in your system, the result is also inflamed blood vessels. In that respect, sugar and insulin can act just like many other toxins because the inflammation
of your blood vessels is the start of a long, nasty process that includes the buildup of plaque, a decrease in blood flow, and damage to your organs. And I haven’t even mentioned the many dangers of diabetes, which affects more than 20 million Americans. (If you’d like more information on diabetes, check out Diabetes For Dummies, 3rd Edition, by Dr. Alan Rubin [Wiley].)
But you do have to keep your blood sugar levels high enough to provide the fuel you need to keep your body working properly and leave you feeling energized. The brain does not keep any stored sugar reserves and operates directly off of the blood sugar, so maintaining constant blood sugar levels is extremely important. How can you tell when you’ve got the right amount of sugar in your system, and when you need to cut back on your sugar intake or risk damaging your health? For a few simple ways to keep tabs on your blood sugar; keep reading.
Keeping an eye on your sugar
A blood sugar level of 70–100 mg/dl (milligrams per deciliter of blood) is considered normal and healthy. If you keep an eye on the amount of sugar in your diet, you should have no problem staying within that range. Unfortunately, it’s virtually impossible to accurately gauge your blood sugar levels based on how you feel. Luckily, though, you can use some very common tests to measure your blood sugar, including tests you can do your- self and tests that a doctor should administer.
Doing it yourself
If you’d like to monitor your blood sugar levels at home on your own, you can do so very easily with a blood glucose meter. You can buy a meter at your local drug store or from a wide variety of online retailers. Although each meter includes slightly different instructions for use, the basic steps are usually the same.
These instructions give you a general idea of what to expect if you choose to use a do-it-yourself blood glucose meter. But please be sure to read all the instructions for your meter because differences exist between devices that you’ll need to take into account to ensure safety and an accurate reading.
1. Turn on your meter.
2. Wash your hands with soap and warm water, and be sure to thoroughly clean the finger you plan to prick with the lancet (needle).
3. Insert a test strip in the meter and prick your finger with the lancet.
4. Put a drop of blood on the test strip and wait for the meter to display your results.
If your blood sugar level falls in that ideal 70–100 mg/dl range, you can rest assured that you’re doing a nice job of eating the right amount of sugar, and your energy levels should be good. If your blood sugar is in that range and you’re still pooped all the time, be sure to read about the other possible causes for a lack of energy that I detail in this chapter.
If you’re overweight, sedentary, or have a family history of diabetes, you should buy a blood glucose meter and check your levels periodically. If you don’t eat anything for eight hours and your blood sugar is over 126 mg/dl, or if your blood sugar is over 200 mg/dl when you test two hours after a meal, you could have diabetes and you should make an appointment with your doctor immediately.
Getting tested by your doctor
In addition to the blood glucose meters that make it easy to keep an eye on your blood sugar levels by yourself, you can also visit your doctor for an even more accurate, comprehensive test. Scheduling a yearly hemoglobin A1c (HgbA1c) test is a good idea. This test shows you what your average blood sugar level has been for the previous three months. Your doctor should be happy to discuss the results with you, but keep in mind that you want your measurement to be less than 6.1. If you make that cut, you shouldn’t be experiencing a lack of energy because of blood sugar concerns. However, keep in mind that a good test result doesn’t guarantee you’re not at risk for diabetes in the future.
If you visit your doctor for a blood glucose test, ask her to give you both a fasting and a two-hour postprandial blood sugar and insulin test. (The former is a test that is administered after you haven’t eaten for eight hours, and the latter is administered exactly two hours after you eat a meal.) This combination of tests will give you a nice, full indication of your blood glucose and insulin levels and whether you have diabetes. Believe it or not, the fasting and two- hour postprandial insulin tests can detect sugar problems up to ten years before you become diabetic!
Solving your sugar problem
If your blood sugar levels are causing a health problem, you can use a variety of effective ways to get the problem under control. Luckily, these types of fixes will have a positive effect on your health in general, and they’re quite easy to do.
Eating smaller portions more frequently
If you eat a small number of large meals (three or fewer) each day, you’re probably forcing your body to accommodate sudden, sizable increases in sugar and carbohydrates. That situation creates a very unstable pattern for blood sugar levels, and the result can be big increases of energy followed by crashes. That’s a blood sugar roller coaster that you don’t want to be on if you’re interested in keeping up a healthy, pleasant energy level throughout the day.
Fixing the problem is pretty simple: Eat more meals per day, and make sure they’re smaller than the meals you were eating before. If you eat, say, five small meals a day instead of three big ones, you end up consuming about the same amount of food but your body has a much more constant supply of fuel, and the exhausting variations won’t be nearly as much of an issue.
Avoiding unhealthy amounts of sugar
There’s no better way to head sugar-related problems off at the pass than by curbing the amount of sugar and simple carbohydrates you include in your diet. Why do I include simple carbohydrates here? Consider this: Bread turns to sugar as soon as it hits the stomach; in terms of blood sugar levels, a slice of bread is no different than a spoonful of sugar. (Note that whole wheat bread, while healthier for you than white bread, is no different in terms of raising your blood sugar.) Limiting your sugar and simple carbohydrate intake can help give you healthy, steady energy throughout the day, and doing so also helps you avoid a lot of the common health problems that many Americans face. (Obesity and diabetes are prime examples.)
Dodging sugar can be harder than you think. Sugar is added to the majority of processed foods, and sugar can be listed lots of different ways in ingredients lists. If you see any of the following words listed as an ingredient, you’re really just seeing another term for sugar:
✓ Dextrose
✓ Fructose
✓ Glucose
✓ High fructose corn syrup
✓ Sucrose
High fructose corn syrup can be particularly nasty, so do your best to avoid eating it. A recent U.S. Department of Agriculture study showed that 80 per- cent of high fructose corn syrup samples revealed the presence of mercury, which is one of the worst toxins out there.
You never know where a form of sugar is going to pop up. If you want a real shock, have a look at the ingredients on a container of iodized salt. You’re almost guaranteed to see dextrose — a form of sugar — listed as one of the ingredients!
Seeking out the right foods
This may come as a surprise, but a diabetic diet is a good diet for anyone. Sugar is kept to a minimum in diabetic diets, and the basic food types that form the diet’s foundation are vegetables (especially those with color), a variety of protein, and regular (but small) amounts of fruit. If you’re faced with an overabundance of blood sugar, make sure those types of foods are the focus of your diet.
Several nutrients, minerals, spices, and herbs have also been shown to help regulate blood sugar levels. The following are just a few of many examples:
✓ American ginseng: This herb has shown promise for people interested in a very natural way to control blood sugar. You can buy American ginseng at vitamin or health food stores.
✓ Chromium: People who don’t get enough chromium in their diets have been known to suffer from elevated glucose levels, and when their chromium levels are increased their blood sugar returns to normal. Make sure you’re getting plenty of chromium by eating eggs, organic beef, cheese, and wine.
✓ Cinnamon: Recent studies have shown that 1 to 8 grams per day of cinnamon have helped to reduce blood sugar in diabetics. You can add cinnamon to many different kinds of foods, but don’t even think about using cinnamon rolls as a source of cinnamon in your diet! To get enough, you need to supplement.
✓ Vitamin E: To up your vitamin E intake, eat more nuts, vegetable oils, and leafy vegetables. You’ll help to control your blood sugar and, at the same time, boost your antioxidant levels. It’s a win-win!
Getting plenty of exercise
I can’t say enough good things about the tremendous health benefits you can enjoy if you exercise regularly. Exercising is critical for a healthy life, and it can even help lower your blood sugar levels. During exercise, muscles take sugar directly out of the bloodstream without insulin, which can go a long way toward limiting your glucose levels.
You don’t have to do a triathlon or carry a log up the side of a mountain to help reduce your blood sugar levels with exercise. You can make quite a bit of positive progress by simply walking for 30 minutes at a fast pace every day.
Considering the Effects of Abnormal Bowel Flora
Your intestines are about 26 feet long and contain more than a trillion bacterial cells, called bowel flora. You have more bacterial cells inside you than you have human cells in your body. Most of these bacteria are probiotics (good bacteria), which help you break down food so you can absorb the nutrients. This bowel flora plays a major role in keeping you healthy, and if it gets disrupted by an increase in abnormal bowel flora (bacteria and other organisms in your gut that don’t really belong there), the result can be all sorts of health problems, including severe fatigue.
Over the next few pages, I fill you in on abnormal bowel flora: the different types, the tests that can discover them, and how you can get rid of and avoid them. Your goal should be to eradicate the vast majority of abnormal bowel flora in your intestine because doing so will go a long way toward boosting your energy level.
Peeking at what’s hiding in your gut
Even when you consider the jungles, deep forests, and coral reefs spread across the globe, very few places contain as wide a variety of living things as your intestines. The three major types of problem-causing abnormal bowel flora are yeast, parasites, and bad bacteria, and I give you the rundown on all three in this section. I also provide you with some ways to get rid of these critters.
As with many ailments, prevention is the best cure for abnormal bowel flora, so if you’d rather just find out how to avoid the problem, feel free to skip ahead to the “Avoiding abnormal bowel flora” section later in this chapter.
Yeast
Yeasts are microscopic organisms that are almost always present in your intestines. A certain type called Candida is extremely common, and if you have only small amounts of it among all the good bacteria in your intestines, it doesn’t cause any trouble. But if you accidentally clear out a lot of your good bacteria, Candida suddenly has less competition and begins to multi- ply and grow. When that happens, Candida can hurt you in a lot of different ways, because it releases toxins that affect most of your body’s systems. The following are just a few of the problems that can occur:
✓ Brain fog
✓ Constipation
✓ Irritable bowel syndrome
✓ Mouth and gum soreness
✓ Severe fatigue
✓ Urinary pain or itching
You can keep Candida and other yeasts in their place by using antibiotics only when really necessary and using probiotics when you do. Antibiotics don’t just kill the bacteria that make you sick; they also kill the good bacteria in your intestines. After the good bacteria are gone, the yeasts suddenly have a lot more freedom, so they begin multiplying almost immediately.
If you’ve recently finished a round of antibiotics and you’re suffering from some of the symptoms of a yeast problem, you can take steps to get the yeasts back under control. Cut your sugar and carbohydrate levels down to a minimum, and help support your good bacteria by eating yogurt or taking supplements that contain probiotics. One of the best supplements to take when taking antibiotics is Saccharomyces boulardii. If these steps don’t help and you’re still suffering from symptoms after a week, see a physician.
Sometimes the symptoms of a yeast problem can be severe and prolonged, and if that’s the case it’s time to schedule an appointment with your doctor. He can give you the tests I explain in the “Getting tested for abnormal bowel flora” section later in this chapter, and he can also prescribe medications that will help clear out the excess yeast.
Parasites
Parasites are organisms that can live in your body, feeding on the materials that your body uses to make energy. They rob you of your body’s nutrients and cause all sorts of problems — including fatigue — but parasites usually don’t kill you. They come in all shapes and varieties, including worms. (These worms are closer to the types that dogs and cats often suffer from than the worms that live in your garden and make good fishing bait.) Two of the most common types of human parasite worms are
✓ Roundworms: Also known as Ascaris worms, this parasite thrives in your intestine and is transmitted through fecal-oral contact (when people don’t wash their hands thoroughly after coming in contact with human or animal feces, for example).
✓ Tapeworms: Several kinds of these nasty worms exist, and they’re transmitted through undercooked beef, pork, and fish. They can grow to dozens of feet in length within your intestines.But worms are only part of the picture.
There are hundreds of different types of parasites and almost as many ways to contract them. Don’t be surprised if you end up with a parasite at some point in your life. (Don’t be embarrassed, either, because most people get at least one parasite and plenty of people suffer from several.) Parasites can be treated with prescription medications, which are generally very effective but can also be harsh and hard on the body. If you’d rather pursue a more natural solution, you can try adding wormwood, black walnut hulls, garlic, grapefruit seed extract, and pumpkin seeds to your diet. Talk to someone at your local health food store for more information on how to buy and use these materials.
Bad bacteria
As I mention at the start of this section, quite a lot of good, beneficial bacteria live in your intestine, and you need them to survive. Good bacteria help you to break down your food and make your digestive system more dynamic and versatile. But bad, abnormal types of intestinal bacteria exist, too, and if they end up in your intestine and multiply rapidly, you can easily suffer from energy levels that go crashing through the floor.
There are too many different types of abnormal bacteria to cover here, and several of these varieties are probably living in your intestine even as you read this. As with the yeasts I explain earlier in this chapter, the bad bacteria don’t cause problems unless the good bacteria in your intestines are killed off. In that situation, the bad bacteria are suddenly left with less competition and can multiply. This situation can happen when you take antibiotics (because 80 percent of your good bacteria can be wiped out with a single round of antibiotics), and it can also be made worse when you consume contaminated food that contains relatively large amounts of bad bacteria.
Excessive amounts of bad bacteria in your intestine often cause gas that has a particularly foul smell. If you’re suffering from extremely foul-smelling gas, please consider that you may have an overabundance of bad bacteria, and take some of the steps I describe in this section to correct the problem. You (and anyone you spend time with) will be happy you did.
The best way to rid yourself of bad bacteria is to overwhelm it with good bacteria. You can actually ingest good bacteria that will multiply and thrive when they reach your intestines. A couple examples of good bacteria are lactobacillus acidophilus and lactobacillus bifidus. You can add them to your diet by drinking acidophilus milk or by taking supplements that contain the bacteria, both of which are available at any health food store.
Getting tested for abnormal bowel flora
If you’re experiencing the symptoms of a yeast, parasite, or bad bacteria problem, your doctor can test your urine and feces to help you figure out if you have a problem with abnormal bowel flora. Any general physician could do this type of testing, but most aren’t familiar with the tests. Your best bet is to find a doctor who practices natural medicine. Go online and visit the Web sites for the American College for Advancement in Medicine (www.acamnet. org) or the International College of Integrative Medicine (www.icimed.com) to find a list of doctors who can help.
Stool sample tests
Stool samples can be analyzed for parasites, yeast, and abnormal bacteria. The process is simple: You provide a sample, and a lab examines the sample to determine if you have healthy or unusually high levels of abnormal bowel flora.
Urine tests
Abnormal bacteria and yeasts in your intestines produce chemicals that are absorbed into your bloodstream and eventually make their way out of your body through your urine. Lab tests can analyze your urine to detect these chemicals. If the chemicals are present in high enough quantities, you have a solid indication that you could be suffering from an overabundance of abnormal bowel flora. Unfortunately, these types of urine tests (and the stool tests I describe in the previous paragraph) aren’t usually covered by health insurance plans.
Avoiding abnormal bowel flora
Hands down, the best way to deal with an abnormal bowel flora problem is to never get a problem in the first place. If you can prevent yeasts, parasites, and bad bacteria from getting out of control, you’ve taken an important step to fight off fatigue. Keep in mind that you must have a very acidic stomach to keep normal bowel flora. (See Chapter 4 for a complete discussion of the importance of stomach acid.)
Your food is by no means sterile, and although your stomach acid kills a lot of potentially problematic bowel flora, you need to make sure you’re wash- ing and cooking your food. All fruits and vegetables should be washed thoroughly. All meats should be cooked through, and be sure to wash any utensil used on uncooked meat before using it on other foods.
Finding foods that can help
You can make some simple food choices that will help to limit growth of abnormal bowel flora and promote the health of probiotics. Include plenty of vegetables in your diet, and focus on greens, tomatoes, celery, broccoli, cauliflower, asparagus, and beans.
To get the maximum health benefit from your vegetables, eat fresh, 100 per- cent organic products whenever you can. If you’re not able to eat fresh vegetables, the next best option is frozen, followed by canned (a distant third).
Any meat you consume should be well cooked, or you risk introducing a whole host of parasites into your system. If you can, buy free-range meat and check to see that it was produced without antibiotics or growth hormones.
Seeking the right supplements
Supplements can be a good way for you to boost the amount of probiotics in your intestine, which can thwart unhealthy increases in abnormal bowel flora. These supplements are taken orally, and you can find them at health food stores or at reputable online retailers. You can try one or a combination of the following:
✓ Acidophilus
✓ Bifidus
✓ Saccharomyces
All three have technical-sounding names, but they’re common supplements and pretty easy to find.
Recipes for Boosting Your Energy Level
Following are some easy recipes that can help you increase and maintain your energy level.
Mixed Green Salad with Cinnamon Almonds
Almonds, vegetable oil, and dark leafy greens are high in Vitamin E, a crucial component of the detox diet and an important nutrient. The nuts are toasted and tossed with cinnamon and stevia to glaze. They make a perfect finishing touch to a simple salad with a slightly spicy dressing.
In small saucepan, combine almonds with oil. Toast over medium-low heat until almonds are fragrant, 5–7 minutes. Remove to small bowl; sprinkle with 1 teaspoon cinnamon and 1/4 teaspoon stevia; toss to mix and let cool.
2 In serving bowl, beat together 1/3 cup oil, vinegar, 1/4 teaspoon stevia, 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon, ginger root, salt, and cayenne pepper until blended. Add greens; toss to coat. Sprinkle with almonds and serve immediately.
Herbed Greek Yogurt Omelet
Your body needs chromium to regulate metabolism and blood sugar levels. This nutrient is found in eggs and cheese. This easy and flavorful omelet is a great way to start your day, or you can serve it for a late-night dinner with the mixed green salad.
1 In small bowl, combine tomatoes, lemon juice, cucumber, green onions, and jalapeno; mix well and set aside.
2 Combine eggs, yogurt, fennel, rosemary, parsley, salt, and pepper in medium bowl; beat until combined.
3 In 10” to 12” saucepan, heat oil over medium heat. Add garlic; cook and stir for 1 minute until fragrant. Add egg mixture to saucepan and let cook without stirring for 1 minute.
4 Shake pan gently and as the omelet sets, lift the edges so uncooked portion of eggs can flow underneath. When the omelet is almost set but still moist, sprinkle cheese evenly on surface.
5 Remove pan from heat and cover for 1 minute, then fold omelet in half and slide onto serving plate. Garnish with more parsley and fennel fronds, if desired, and serve with tomato mixture.
Ginseng Wine Punch
The fleshy root of the American Ginseng plant can be used in many ways. The root itself can be simmered to make tea, or it can be dried and ground into a powder that can be added to many foods. Ginseng can boost your immune system and helps eliminate fatigue due to the body’s reaction to stress.
1 Place purified water in a stainless steel or glass saucepan and bring to a boil. Add the ginseng slices, reduce the heat to low, cover, and simmer for 15 minutes. Strain the liquid, discarding the ginseng, and let cool for 1 hour.
2 Add the wine and stevia to taste. Pour into a pitcher, add sliced oranges and lemons, cover, and chill for 2–4 hours until cold. Just before serving, add the sparkling water and serve.
Fresh Fruit with Spicy Yogurt Dip
Kids love any type of dip; it turns ordinary fruit and vegetables into party food. This method of straining yogurt makes “yogurt cheese” that can be used as a substitute for cream cheese in recipes. Yogurt contains probiotics: good bacteria that can help boost your immune system.
1 Line a fine sieve with cheesecloth and add yogurt. Place in medium bowl, cover, and refrigerate overnight. Reserve the thin liquid, or whey, for use in soups or baking. Alternatively, you can substitute thick Greek organic yogurt for the plain yogurt and omit the straining step.
2 Place the thick yogurt in a small bowl. Add orange juice, turmeric, cinnamon, and stevia; mix well. Cover and chill the dip for 2–3 hours to blend flavors. Serve dip with fresh fruit.
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