Andy's Idea Factory

I'm halfway through my 30 days without sugar, and feeling the benefits. My psoriasis is clearing up, the inflammation in my palms is noticeably reduced, and the cravings are next to nothing. I had one breakdown and it was on the day trip to Denver last weekend. Something about being in a car for 6 hours makes an old reflex kick in. I will confess. I ate a doughnut. I'm putting it behind me. I have always had an addiction to sugar, and I'm not alone. During the past 100 years, the average American's intake of sugar and other natural sweeteners doubled- from 80 pounds a year to over 130 pounds a year. In a lifetime, that equals enough to fill a dumpster. And knowing what sugar does to us, it's no wonder why our health has decreased over that time as well. We have the technology and the knowledge to be healthy, but we're not. Sugar suppresses the immune system, leads to chronic inflammation (next blog post), and if you're craving sugar, you're probably...

They say the first month is the hardest, so I'm feeling pretty good that the first month wasn't actually that hard.  I won't lie, I went through a bad second-week chocolate withdrawal when my brain let go of that addiction, I had two straight weeks of adrenal fatigue , and getting used to making everything from scratch took some effort that I just barely had during that fatigue.  But coming out of the other end of that feels magnificent and the patches of psoriasis are already practically gone - and going gluten free didn't really affect them really at all - and when I pay close attention to the quality of the nuts I'm eating, and soak them, the arthritis has also been non existent.  I've finally started feeling like not only can I handle this for a short term (my naturopathic doctor said 6-12 months, probably more like 6 for me), I will likely take many of these practices with me far into my future food consumption. Since I have taken the time to do some qua...

After 2.5 years on a strict gluten-free diet and showing only marginal improvement to my skin condition of psoriasis, (although pain free from psoriatic arthritis), my naturopathic doctor has recommended the Specific Carbohydrate Diet (SCD). I had grown frustrated with the worsening allergic reactions I was having to several new foods, and went in for a checkup about two months ago, seeing both my naturopath and a new acupuncturist.  For me this reaction is severe joint pain and swelling on my right side, and I am so sensitive to gluten that now anything made in a factory with gluten - as well as all "inflammatory" foods such as soy and the "nightshades" family now - gives me this reaction. Both docs agreed I should go off the nightshades, refined sugars, and soy, and add some acupuncture, Chinese herbs and natural remedies (aloe juice, apple cider vinegar, and more) to my daily rituals to enduce some intestinal healing.  Since then I have seen a 50% reduction i...