Articles

Here are several articles that identify non-nutrients that can cause symptoms.

Salicylates

Salicylates are organic chemicals found naturally in many herbs, vegetables, fruits, and nuts.

Salicylates act like preservatives, they prevent rot and disease and protect plants against pests. They are stored on the most vulnerable plant parts: The leaves, bark, roots, skin, and seeds.

Salicylates are toxic to our bodies. They have to be detoxified and cleared away before they accumulate. Once our salicylate load gets to a certain level, we start getting allergic style inflammatory reactions. Through avoidance, the salicylate load decreases which allows the body to heal.

Possible symptoms and sensitivities to salicylate include:

-Headache; migraines

-Itchy skin rashes such as hives (urticaria), eczema. The itchiness can be worse after hot showers and or exercise.

-Irritable bowel symptoms such as reflux in babies or adults, nausea, vomiting, stomach

bloating and discomfort, gas, diarrhea or constipation.

Foods high in salicylates:

All fruits and vegetables you cannot peel are high in salicylates.. These chemicals are on the outside of fruits and vegetables. All berries are high in salicylates. Olive oil, coconut oil area also high in salicylates. All aromatic spices are on the “high” list. This includes sage, rosemary, thyme, curry, peppermint, aniseed, cayenne, cinnamon, cumin, dill seed, garam masala, hot paprika, , Honey is high in salicylates as well.

Low salicylate foods include: cabbage, bananas, peeled apples and pears, maple syrup, sugar, salt, black pepper, parsley, celery, carrots, lettuce, squash, sunflower oil, safflower oil, carbohydrates such as wheat, rice, millet, etc, beef, fish, vanilla,

G6PDD

A genetic condition called G6PDD (Glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase deficiency) is an enzyme deficiency caused by a mutation in the X-linked chromosome. An enzyme is a protein. Proteins are composed of amino acids.

I learned of my own G6PDD diagnosis when I was in my fifth decade of life. A patient/client came to me and told me that she had it. Admittedly, even after all my years of working in the health field, I never heard of this condition. At that time, a lump had developed on my thyroid—on the right side of my neck. I took herbs to decrease it. Nothing worked. I decided to research G6PDD and after learning its triggers, symptoms and treatments, I decided to eliminate all legumes from my diet, thinking that perhaps I, too, had this X-chromosome defect. In one week, the lump on my thyroid disappeared. No medicine or herbs were needed. I just made a diet change.

The severity of the deficiency can be as a result of where on the gene site the mutation occurs. There are over 160 mutations that induce G6PDD. The level of the mutations are classified as Class I, II, and III.

Class I mutation causes the most acute occurrence of the hemolysis, which is the breaking open of red blood cells (RBC). When this happens, the oxygen carrying capacity of the RBC is decreased and the contents of the cell needs to be cleaned up. One of those items is called bilirubin, which is toxic to the brain. The liver must clear it out of the blood stream, especially in a newborn baby. When the bilirubin level is too high, jaundice (yellowing of the skin and whites of the eyes) occurs. The treatment is to expose the infant to bilirubin lights or sunlight to help the skin release it. Adults can also experience an elevation of bilirubin, however, it won’t be as severe a condition as in a newborn. I am sure going out in the sun helps adults as well to clear the bilirubin from the body.

In Class I mutations, the items that trigger acute hemolysis need to be avoided very strictly in order to prevent emergency treatment. The emergency treatment is a blood transfusion and administering oxygen. There is no available drug treatment to prevent the hemolysis.

Avoiding the triggers to this condition is the way to avoid the symptoms.. The triggers are: The consumption of all legumes, stress (all types), and certain drugs and substances. Some of the drugs that are triggers include aspirin, the sulfa drugs, quinolone drugs, ciprofloxacin drugs, metformin (decreases blood sugar), lisinopril (decreases blood pressure) ethanol, and menthol. Other triggers include henna, quinine water (tonic water), methylene blue, naphthalene (moth balls) and sulfa substances.

When red blood cells break open iron is also released into the blood stream. If iron levels are too high in the blood, it can be fatal. Ascorbic acid increases the body’s ability to absorb iron. This is why ascorbic acid is to be avoided. So, before taking any iron supplements, blood iron levels need to be measured. An overload of iron levels can cause heart and liver problems.

A unique aspect of having G6PDD is that it naturally provides the body the ability to resist malaria. However, if one takes malaria drugs, it will trigger an acute onset of RBC hemolysis. Therefore, if a person with G6PDD plans on traveling to a country that has more prevalence of malaria, they must avoid taking malaria medications.

If you have Class II or III levels G6PD deficiency, you won’t have obvious overt symptoms. However, they experience fatigue, anemia, abdominal pain or back pain, hemoglobinuria and slight jaundice. Hemoglobinuria is hemoglobin, spilling in the urine. Jaundice is a yellowish-greenish pigment of the skin and sclera (whites of the eyes) indicating liver dysfunction.

G6PDD is a blood level condition that affects the hormonal system of the body. In women, the symptoms of this enzyme deficiency can manifest at the onset of puberty. Symptoms can include irregular periods, fibroid growths in the uterus and/or ovaries. Because the liver needs to remove the excess bilirubin from the blood, it taxes the functions of the liver. One of the functions of the liver is to remove excess estrogen from the blood. Elevated estrogen in the blood contributes to estrogen positive forms of tumor growths. The potential issues that G6PDD causes in the body range from minimal to severe. Knowing how to prevent the hemolysis is the cure. In this case, prevention is the cure.