Is it an acute, recurring or chronic state? What consultation do you need?

Acute states and examples of them

Acute has distinguished features:

• It is a quickly developing ailment e. g. fever, rash
• Normally is self-limiting e. g. common cold, vaginal thrush
• It might be life-threatening e. g. heart attack or acute hepatitis that requires a visit to A&E (you can still use indicated homeopathic remedies)

A big majority of acute ailments are simple and mild. Just to give you examples, if you want to find examples of any conditions you would go to the community pharmacy and buy one of the OTC products. So, it is a type of ailment like an odd headache, common cold, or anything that you would not consider seeing your GP for. Homeopathy can easily deal with those.

Sometimes acute states might become more serious in vulnerable patients and children can present in more severe forms so it is important to catch the symptoms early enough before they progress like diarrhea or urinary symptoms.
The acute state also might be life-threatening and as much as one may want to avoid visiting the hospital, diagnostic and monitoring can be life-saving in case of sudden heart attack or meningitis. You can still have an acute consultation with your homeopath while waiting to be seen and take homeopathic remedies which most likely will make a state milder.

As you can tell in the majority of acute states acute consultation should be sufficient to support coming back to balance.

If an acute state occurs often, 2-3 times a year an acute state becomes a more recurring state.

Photo by Sander Sammy on Unsplash

Recurring states

Recurring states normally are characterized by:

• Fast or slow in the development e. g. stye
• It is self-limiting but occurs in frequent intervals e. g. cystitis
• it may lead to chronic state e. g. tonsillitis

Recurring states are normally mild and we all might be prone to some at various moments in our life. Homeopathy can support your susceptibility to frequency and intensity of recurring states by supporting weaker organs. It also may help to deal with emotional situations in different ways so it does not cause physical symptoms.

For that reason, is better to have a full consultation to see what the susceptibility needs to stay on a healthy path.
A variety of acute states once recurring more than 3-4 times a year can be led to a chronic state.

Chronic state

What are the features of chronic state?

• slowly progressing e. g. diabetes type 2
• present for some time normally more than 4-6 weeks e. g. chronic cough, asthma
• deep pathology where the organ is affected e. g. chronic hepatitis

As you can tell cough normally should be self-limiting and acute but like any state, it can become chronic if not treated. Constant inflammation of bronchi can lead even to deeper states like asthma or emphysema.

Chronic states are the most difficult to treat because the change in our body has gone deep into the organ. However, with homeopathy, some changes in diet and habits it is possible to support it. A full consultation is needed to look at the full picture of symptoms and what needs some tuning to support the health journey.

I hope that helps to understand better which consultation is more appropriate in particular states.

I have been observing a gluten phenomenon for past few years.

Around 8 years ago when I started as a community pharmacist in UK I knew very little about it. While working in the community pharmacy I had few patients with celiac disease so I got some experience with that matter. Since then gluten and gluten free foods have turned completely into a trend that almost everyone should follow…

Gluten-Free or No-Gluten…

In the supermarkets you can find many products which you would not expect to be described as Gluten-Free or No-Gluten… Bread and other obvious foods like pasta or pizza contains gluten but why crisps and chocolates too? It sounds a bit over the top. And it goes beyond that!

When we look around and let’s say we decide go for ice cream. Few years back I do not recall having to choose if I want gluten-free ice cream or not?! Ice creams nowadays are often advertised as gluten-free product – not that I was aware that they can contain gluten in the first place? (unless they have a natural flavour of bread, pizza or spaghetti bolognese …;)
Other example is when we want to have a beer. Suddenly we have a choice of gluten-free beers. Hmmm… Is it me or things have changed? I do not remember seeing that few years back… It is worth checking as you can easily find that actually barley after a process of fermentation of and its final product beer does not have much gluten protein left in. So per se beer is a gluten free product. But it has always been like that not that it happened recently…

What actually is gluten?

Gluten is a protein which naturally occurs in certain grains. Most of us know that if you are gluten intolerant you can not eat wheat products. Wheat contains gluten so anything made of wheat flour like pasta, dough for bread or pizza are big no no. However not many people is aware and I just have found that recently myself that many other grains contain gluten-similar proteins. What it basically means those foods and proteins act very similar to gluten protein from wheat! In practice it is not simply enough to give up wheat products to stay gluten-free- you should avoid all of other grains too! What are those other grains? Gluten similar proteins are in oats, rye, corn, buckwheat, spelt, barley, kamut (khorasan wheat) and rice except red rice…So what is left then, if anything?! Yes following grains are completely gluten free: millet, quinoa and amaranth.

How come suddenly we have so many people intolerant to gluten?

Those grains have been around for hundreds or thousands of years and most of them became a base of many everyday foods. Maybe has gluten somehow changed and we are not able to adapt to it? Obviously the answer is not easy and straightforward. Yes, there are sufficient proofs that gluten in the wheat has changed over the years. It is better to say that modern wheat is completely different than it was 40 – 50 years ago because of genetic modifications to achieve more efficient crops.

Most importantly the way we use wheat has changed. In the past we used wheat flour in a fermented form to make a sourdough bread. Fermentation process is essential to breakdown gluten proteins to more digestible form. Unfortunately nowadays most commercially available bread has very little to do with sourdough from the past… Other important thing to mention is that gluten started to be used in the processed foods as an additive to keep moisture and elasticity of the the products. Which simply means in recent years we have been eating far more gluten than before in the form which not necessarily is friendly to our digestive system… Why not friendly?

Gluten in not-fermented form is only partially digested

If your digestion is sensitive it can cause all sorts of issues from very minor to mild or even symptoms you would not connect with actually gluten intolerance but we going to get there…

Until not long time ago I could not grasp fully importance of gluten free-diet. The situation has changed when I booked an appointment for my fiance to see kinesiologist about his general health. (yes it is the same kinesiologist I saw myself if you have red my previous blog.) So Alex has quite normal digestion but often experiences bloating and gases. His main health complaint is a shoulder weakness which he has experienced since childhood. Also he has a tendency to get muscle injuries especially when he stops doing exercises for some time.

Unusual symptoms of gluten intake

Taking about unusual symptoms I would never connect shoulder weakness with digestive system. So what kinesiology appointment showed? Kinesiology testing showed that Alex has muscle weakness (in kinesiology terms ¨not firing¨ so it is yin) in the muscles responsible for key organs like large bowels, liver, kidneys and spleen. Further investigation and allergy testing has shown wheat and gluten-similar grains intolerance! How to see a connection between yin muscle and muscles weakness with gluten intolerance was not so obvious to me. Hearing an explanation from a specialist it all started to make sense.

What is an intolerance?

Intolerance means that our body reacts to a trigger (allergen) with some kind of chronic inflammatory reaction which could be mild, modern or severe. Obviously our body is trying to compensate reaction to the trigger as much as possible.

In case of Alex it is a mild bowel symptoms but also weakness of muscles in the shoulders. As kinesiologist explained when Alex does physical exercises regularly the muscles are strong, he doesn’t have any pain. Minor but chronic inflammation of the muscles is being override by physical effort. The minute he stops exercising regularly muscles are prone to inflammation from the gut which makes them weaker and the pain reappears. Generally speaking the minor but chronic inflammation of the bowel causes muscles weakness and pain which physical exercises compensate as long as they are performed.

Diagnosis and what next?

I hope that is clear enough…It’s great to know your diagnosis however what to do next?! Well it may not sound more simple as to eliminate all possible triggers from your diet and see if symptoms improve. Alex was recommended to try gluten free and gluten similar grains free diet for one month. After that period of time gluten similar grains can be introduced slowly in the diet but only twice a month. Products made of wheat should he ideally avoided. Basically he should follow diet which is called Paleo diet- a meal should include some meat, some vegetables with quinoa, amaranth or potatoes. Diet should be full of fruits and vegetables, dairy products are okay in moderation but unfortunately things which you can find in bakery or whole Italian cuisine is a big no no…
He has not taken a gluten free month challenge yet for few reasons. We are still travelling in Asia* so often rice or noodle dishes are the only options in the menu. Also while you travel you want to enjoy your meals and not thinking that you cannot eat this or that. And the last but the most important reason he is still in denial about it… which is fine with me. Who doesn’t love pizza ?

*We came back 2 weeks ago. Let’s see if situation changes soon

Conclusion

In conclusion I want to say that there is a lot of misinformation and different believes about gluten. One study done on gluten intolerant patients showed that group who stayed off all gluten (and gluten similar grains) for a month and after that period of time had an organic sourdough bread (fermented gluten) introduced into their diet could eat it without previous effects of bloating or other digestive issues. Protein of gluten in the fermented form is different than not fermented one which I described before. Our body can digest it much easier without causing inflammation in the gut.
So if you suspect that your gut might not be happy about modern foods with gluten try to do experiment- stop eating them for one month and see what happens. Then introduce them slowly and preferably in the fermented form ( like in case of sourdough bread or sourdough pizza). It can be as simple as your body can’t digest enormous amounts of modern gluten. Unless you try you won’t know.

Negative fame of gluten mostly is a consequence of his hidden presence in the modern foods, which can have a negative affects on our body and well-being.
And yes cholesterol is the next one … let me think where should I start- please check my next blog to find out.

References:

• Adolf Brown D.C. and Mayla Lambert Amaron – Applied Kinesiology Manual Module 1.

• Benjamin Niland, MD and Brooks D. Cash, MD Health Benefits and Adverse Effects of a Gluten-Free Diet in Non–Celiac Disease Patients 

• Donald D. Kasarda Can an Increase in Celiac Disease Be Attributed to an Increase in the Gluten Content of Wheat as a Consequence of Wheat Breeding?

Indigestion, stomach pain or any other problems with your digestive system…? If you are familiar to any of these – this post is for you.

Often we pay not so much attention to our digestion unless things stop working as usual. My recent experience has reminded me how important is a digestive system when I got what I thought another food poisoning (I experienced two in previous 3 months) … well, I thought that was a price when you travel in Asia for long time but this time it felt differently. On day 3 or 4 I realised that it was something more serious than just ordinary food poising but I allowed the course of the infection run it’s cycle… Once it did I thought well now I am back to normal. Very quickly I realised how wrong I was!

True story

My daily bowel movement has changed all together with waking up early in the morning having an urging for toilet. I had had many more bowel movements during the day then usual and this constant feeling that my digestive system is unhappy… I didn’t take any medicines during what I thought was Salmonella poisoning apart from homeopathy, active charcoal, probiotics and salts for dehydration. In my opinion medicines for diarrhoea just paralysis the intensities system but they don’t address the cause of the problem…so I have chosen more difficult way just to allow infection just to run its course.

Rebulding your gut flora takes time.

Remembering that it takes around 6 months to rebuild a gut flora after such a gastric episode I had felt that my body was not digesting food properly. I had a feeling that food taken just went through me… Being in Bali at the time I was in a perfect place to get back to balance… However having holistic approach I didn’t want simply to go to a doctor but I felt I need some sort of diagnostics with my state. I was suspecting that I may have parasites or other sort of nasty infection. It happened to be that a homeopath I was shadowing in practice at the time told me about a kinesiologist who has a practice in Bali. I have decided to go and check the state of my digestive system and other organs with him.

During kinesiology testing my stomach and large intestine had shown to be weaken. Also my immune system had appeared to have lower energy. The kinesiologist had also tested my stomach and the content of hydrochloric acid and it showed to be insufficient!

Interestingly I have never been “a stomach “person. My digestive system had been what I considered normal and I had never paid too much attention to it. However, thinking back I had quite intensive 18 months of studying and handling two jobs at the time with a lot of emotional events in personal life… At that point I felt really exhausted and it was when I had gone for a life time travel to Asia… I can only speculate but I feel that my digestive system was on the low and in addition had to deal with completely different food and unknown types of bacteria which was not accustomed to… So many changes and stressful factors at the same time which weakened unfortunately my immune and digestive system.

Kinesiologist advised me that I should increase the acidity of my stomach by taking apple cider vinegar before meals. Apple cider vinegar help to digest food better and to strengthen a barrier from bacterial intruders. And that’s interesting thing which I have been already aware of that you need a low pH in your stomach to process food and absorb minerals and nutrition from stomach. However I never have thought it might be my case! I started to think I may had had that issue before the food poisoning and it just got worse?

One of the most important questions is if it is simply possible to check a state of your stomach activity at your own home? Also if there are any even mild symptoms which can suggest that our digestive system is not acidic enough? The answer is yes and yes.

There are different tests to check acidity of the stomach. In my opinion simple baking soda test is a good start and it can show if your stomach has sufficient hydrochloric acid. Take a test here.

The symptoms

Symptoms which are good to look up is abdominal bloating which can happen after food on regular bases. Obviously certain foods like beans or cruciferous vegetables can make us bloating and that is normal. Also symptoms like burping or irregular bowel movements – either constipation or opening bowels too often or loose could be a sign insufficient hydrochloride in the stomach.

The cure

After a visit to kinesiologist I started to take apple cider vinegar 2-3 times a day and after around 4-5 days I have already noticed that my digestion improved and my stools have become more formed and normal.

In final conclusion I want just to say that it happens despite eating a healthy and nutritional food we may not see benefit of it. If the stomach doesn’t digest it for some reason. One of those reasons might be insufficient stomach acid content. Enjoying your food and having a great benefit from it are two separate aspects and most of the time they don’t go together …

Our health is a system!

If digestion doesn’t work properly then our other systems are affected because digestive system delivers building blocks for all our cells to be built or recovered. Our skin, hair and nails will be compromised but most importantly our general well being, energy and mood will be effected. Insufficient digestion also changes our gut flora and vice versa. Lack of variety in gut flora has an impact on our digestion. The gut flora in our intestines is also responsible to produce essential neurotransmitters for our brain like serotonin and dopamine. So when digestive system is not functioning we can experience a state of low mood or even depression.

Everything starts and ends in the digestive system in our body

We need food as a source of energy and nutrition provided to keep maintaining our body in good state. If digestive system does not work as it should we will see consequences of it in different systems and parts of our body. I hope I don’t need to convince anyone more that it is important to look after our digestion to live more healthy and happy life.