Skin
I've been having a tough time lately with this skin condition called Eczema. I've had it at various times in my life, usually when I'm stressed out, and it itches like the dickens! I guess I've inherited it from my mom. Anyway, I've been doing a lot of research (because it's just not going away!)and apparently, it's caused by the underlying problem of a Candida infection. This makes sense to me, because I've had vaginal yeast infections before, antibiotics, and have taken birth control pills for an extended amount of time. All of these cause Candida. This also explains a strange little cough that I have had for a couple of years now. It's amazing what you find out after you do some digging on the Internet and read in books!
As a matter of fact, I would be willing to bet that a great deal of the population suffers from a Candida infection. It can manifest itself in different ways, so not all symptoms listed will be present for each individual, and some will have some symptoms that others will not. Candida is the beginning of other, more serious illness like many of the auto-immune diseases... kind of like a domino effect.
So now, I am going to go on an elimination diet (all types of sugar... which includes fruit and juices, no yeast products, no caffeine, no mushrooms, no bread or wheat, no gluten, no dairy from cows, no vinegar and that includes so many of the organic salad dressings that I use, and maybe no beans or eggs.) It's going to really be hard, especially with the fruit and fruit juices. So, what I can eat are nuts and seeds, goat cheese like my favorite Greek feta, organic vegetables, non-gluten pasta, organic meat, and fish. Drinks are filtered water, and non-caffeine tea.
I bought a Hamilton Beach wide mouth juicer; so that will help with making raw vegetable smoothies for breakfast and maybe lunch. I will have to eat more meat, which I haven't been as it's kind of expensive to get the free range, no extra crap kind. But, I did get some cut beef strips for stir fry, and it was only like 4 or 5 dollars, and also some boneless skinless chicken for $4, too. I had cooked them each up in olive oil using a bunch of great spices, and they turned out really tasty in my salad that I made. I've also bought Tilapia fish for I think $7.00 a pound. All of these things last for a couple of meals for just one person, so it's not too bad. With the salad dressing problem... I guess I will just have to use olive oil; the feta cheese and cilantro really make up for the lack of a dressing because their flavors are so distinctive.
Also, it's recommended that you eliminate harmful chemicals from your house and I've been trying to do that as much as I'm able. I don't wear perfume much anymore, and I've switched to a non-aluminum deodorant. I don't wear too much lotion on my legs, but I've started putting organic, virgin olive oil on them after a bath sometimes. I have to use the olive oil on my eczema, as it's one of the few kinds of moisturizer that I can tolerate.
As for cleaners, I use Method brand for bathroom and floor, and Murphy's Oil Soap for the wood floor. These are supposed to be non-toxic. I bought a cool little book that has recipes to make your own cleaners using castile soap and essential oils, along with other things like baking soda and white vinegar, as well. I bought a bunch of essential oils from the store that I work at, and have already made a nice cleaner using Dr. Bronner's All One liquid soap. It works amazingly well!
Another thing that I am going to do is go on a Candida cleanse. I'm still not sure which one I want to buy, though. I want to go with the best, but I don't want to have to spend a lot of money. There's one called ThreeLac, which has a lot of good reviews on Amazon.com, but it's pricey and you have to take it for a long time. That's the thing about this Candida - it takes forever to get rid of it... at least a year! I will have to not eat the good stuff like fruit for a whole 6 weeks! I am so not looking forward to that!
Right now, I'm doing the Organic, Whole Body Cleanse from ReNew Life. They also have a Candida cleanse, but I'm not sure how well it works. I wish I could find someone who has done it and had good results. I think it's less costly than the ThreeLac. Anyway, I had bought a bunch of fruit (before I knew all of this) so I'm trying to eat it up. I hate spending money on something and then just throwing it out!
As a matter of fact, I would be willing to bet that a great deal of the population suffers from a Candida infection. It can manifest itself in different ways, so not all symptoms listed will be present for each individual, and some will have some symptoms that others will not. Candida is the beginning of other, more serious illness like many of the auto-immune diseases... kind of like a domino effect.
So now, I am going to go on an elimination diet (all types of sugar... which includes fruit and juices, no yeast products, no caffeine, no mushrooms, no bread or wheat, no gluten, no dairy from cows, no vinegar and that includes so many of the organic salad dressings that I use, and maybe no beans or eggs.) It's going to really be hard, especially with the fruit and fruit juices. So, what I can eat are nuts and seeds, goat cheese like my favorite Greek feta, organic vegetables, non-gluten pasta, organic meat, and fish. Drinks are filtered water, and non-caffeine tea.
I bought a Hamilton Beach wide mouth juicer; so that will help with making raw vegetable smoothies for breakfast and maybe lunch. I will have to eat more meat, which I haven't been as it's kind of expensive to get the free range, no extra crap kind. But, I did get some cut beef strips for stir fry, and it was only like 4 or 5 dollars, and also some boneless skinless chicken for $4, too. I had cooked them each up in olive oil using a bunch of great spices, and they turned out really tasty in my salad that I made. I've also bought Tilapia fish for I think $7.00 a pound. All of these things last for a couple of meals for just one person, so it's not too bad. With the salad dressing problem... I guess I will just have to use olive oil; the feta cheese and cilantro really make up for the lack of a dressing because their flavors are so distinctive.
Also, it's recommended that you eliminate harmful chemicals from your house and I've been trying to do that as much as I'm able. I don't wear perfume much anymore, and I've switched to a non-aluminum deodorant. I don't wear too much lotion on my legs, but I've started putting organic, virgin olive oil on them after a bath sometimes. I have to use the olive oil on my eczema, as it's one of the few kinds of moisturizer that I can tolerate.
As for cleaners, I use Method brand for bathroom and floor, and Murphy's Oil Soap for the wood floor. These are supposed to be non-toxic. I bought a cool little book that has recipes to make your own cleaners using castile soap and essential oils, along with other things like baking soda and white vinegar, as well. I bought a bunch of essential oils from the store that I work at, and have already made a nice cleaner using Dr. Bronner's All One liquid soap. It works amazingly well!
Another thing that I am going to do is go on a Candida cleanse. I'm still not sure which one I want to buy, though. I want to go with the best, but I don't want to have to spend a lot of money. There's one called ThreeLac, which has a lot of good reviews on Amazon.com, but it's pricey and you have to take it for a long time. That's the thing about this Candida - it takes forever to get rid of it... at least a year! I will have to not eat the good stuff like fruit for a whole 6 weeks! I am so not looking forward to that!
Right now, I'm doing the Organic, Whole Body Cleanse from ReNew Life. They also have a Candida cleanse, but I'm not sure how well it works. I wish I could find someone who has done it and had good results. I think it's less costly than the ThreeLac. Anyway, I had bought a bunch of fruit (before I knew all of this) so I'm trying to eat it up. I hate spending money on something and then just throwing it out!