Eleven Diets for Addressing Chronic Health Conditions

Welcome to The Perfect Stool: Understanding and Healing the Gut Microbiome. This is your host, Lindsey Parsons. Today I'm going to start with a listener email from Yannick. He wrote, hello Lindsey, I discovered your podcast recently and wanted to thank you for the help you're bringing to the people suffering from bad guts. I've been diagnosed with IBSD, aka we don't know what you have but it's a pretty bad digestion, sir, 25 years ago. It always has been very closely coupled with my mental health too, being super anxious and quite depressed during flare-ups, but I have symptoms even if not stressed but eating certain food. The symptoms are bloating, diarrhea, and gas so smelly I used to reduce my social interactions as much as possible. "I respond badly to bread, pizza, pasta—so gluten, I think—coffee, alcohol, bell peppers, and globally anything too sweet or too fat. A lot of things I actually indulged in when growing up." I was eating a lot of pastas and bread. "I respond quite badly to stress too. That will trigger an episode often. My symptoms got better since I cut off bread and pastas from my diet. It resulted in a better response to stress and less smelly gas." still recurrent episodes, but more spread out. So when I ran into this EverlyWell test for food intolerance, I got interested to know if I was sensitive to any other foods I was not yet aware of. The results came back with a very mild sensitivity to 4 elements— I assume he means foods— only, which I'm pretty sure are not problematic. No sensitivity to gluten according to the test. Do you know what this could mean? Is the test not reliable, or would it point towards a bacterial overgrowth that I am assuming here a blood test would not detect? Thanks for your answer. I wish you happy holidays. Yannick. Okay, so thanks for reaching out, Yannick. These tests, no matter who makes them, are not known for being very reliable. So this one, for example, is only an IgG test, and there are two more immunoglobulins that could or should be tested, IgA and IgM. Assuming you don't have any major allergies, which are of the IgE type. But even still, I don't put much weight on these types of tests because people often take them with a leaky gut and show sensitivity to a ton of foods. But that doesn't seem like the case in your case because you had few items on it. Regarding gluten, if you're not currently eating gluten, then your body's defenses to it will have gone down and it won't show up in the test. So it doesn't mean that you're not gluten sensitive. I think you've made it pretty clear that you probably are based on your own observations. If you're still having issues but they are episodic, it could be an environmental or food exposure, or it could be your body's response to stress. If you really want to get to the bottom of it, I would recommend testing like the GI MAP or organic acids test, assuming you're in the US and could order them. I could give you more information about those tests in a Breakthrough Session if you are in the US. Otherwise, in other countries, I'm not sure what the equivalent would be or what you could do around that. Which is why I coach primarily people in the US, although I do have some international clients, and we've sort of figured some ways around that. Okay, now on to today's topic. So today I am going to be talking about a whole variety of special diets that eliminate different foods, the conditions they address, and how they may show up in lab work. As a result, it may be a bit overwhelming, so I'd like you to just focus on listening for the foods that you think you may have reacted to in the past and whether they fall into one list. Because that way you may get a starting point for trying a more targeted elimination or other special diet. Or if you've already done the elimination diet thing with no luck, even one as strict as the Autoimmune Protocol or AIP, and it didn't help you, this may give you some completely new ideas because there are many diets for different health issues that are not a subset of the AIP and don't even cross over very closely. So I'm going to put a lot of details into the show notes, so you may want to read along there. And if you're signed up for my newsletter, when I publish my blog on this podcast, you'll be informed about it so you can see it all in printed format. So let's start with the most basic diet, elimination diet in particular, and that's going gluten-free. Gluten is commonly known as the protein found in wheat of all kinds, including einkorn, durum, kamut, and semolina, as well as barley, spelt, triticale, and rye, and frequently oats just because of cross-contamination, not because oats are inherently gluten grains. However, gliadin is actually the subfraction of gluten that's found in the grains I just mentioned, and it has received the most attention and research. And it's hidden in tons of foods like soy sauce, soups, salad dressings, spices. So you need to find a thorough list of potential sources and stay away from processed foods with questionable ingredients while you try going gluten-free. So this is basically step zero for anyone with gut or autoimmune issues of any type. I did a whole episode on it, that's episode 21, if you want more detail. However, I do recommend that before you give up gluten, please go to your doctors and get tested for celiac disease, which is an inflammatory condition of the small intestine that basically, you'll, you'll have antibodies attacking your villi in the small intestine, which are the little hairs that move food along and digest food. So if you do better on a gluten-free diet and you haven't been tested for celiac, the only way to get tested is to start eating gluten again. And if you're feeling much better, you really won't wanna do that. So it's much better to go ahead and get that celiac diagnosis before you jump into a gluten-free diet. Because if you do have celiac, you really need to take the diet a lot more seriously and it requires a much higher level of vigilance than, you know, like using separate cutting boards and removing personal care products with gluten in them. And of course you may not have celiac, but you could have non-celiac gluten sensitivity, which you'll find out by giving up gluten and seeing how you do. And then one of the biggest subsets of people that evidence shows should also try a gluten-free diet are those with autoimmune disease. Especially Hashimoto's thyroiditis, the most common cause of hypothyroidism, and Graves' disease, because the protein in gluten looks a lot like your thyroid cells. So this type of autoimmune disease is believed to start when you have a leaky gut, which may be because of the gluten or for some other reason like a gut infection, and then the undigested gluten proteins escape into your body, which then creates an immune attack to remove the undigested proteins., and because of molecular mimicry, or the resemblance of the gluten and the thyroid cells, your body attacks your thyroid. So really, experts recommend cutting out gluten for any type of autoimmunity, but in particular, think about that for ones involving the thyroid gland. Now, if you're gluten sensitive and you just ignore and eat gluten, you can end up with an autoimmune disease, osteoporosis, asthma, mental health issues, fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue. So it's nothing to Nothing to toy with. And so obviously if you have those conditions, definitely be thinking about gluten. Now I know that— I'm not gonna lie— cutting out gluten seemed awfully tough before I did it, and it may seem impossible if you haven't done it yet. But I've gone mostly gluten-free for about 7 years now because I was diagnosed with Hashimoto's thyroiditis. And honestly, it's a relief because mainly because it keeps me from eating things that make me feel bloated and terrible, like bread and pasta. It encourages me to eat more nutrient-dense foods. And it also keeps me from indulging in a lot of unhealthy things that have gluten in them, like desserts and pastries and all that. It also has helped me to stay away from sugar, which is perhaps even worse for me than gluten. It's debatable which one's worse. Anyway, so I do admit though that I do cheat about 6 times a year, as you've probably heard me say. I'll eat some good Neapolitan pizza and I'll just take my digestive enzymes. Those are the dipetyl peptidase enzymes. If you're looking for which ones to use, I use the Enzymatica ones. To digest my gluten and casein. And, you know, I, I pretty much feel free to do that now that my Hashimoto's antibodies are down to normal levels, although I was probably doing it about 4 times a year before I got the normal levels. But anyway, when first faced with the prospect of going gluten-free, you might be thinking, oh, what about a chewy delicious pizza crust or a sandwich on beautiful toasted ciabatta bread or your favorite bowl of pasta? And so fortunately, there's a lot of great alternatives to those foods. And a lot of gluten-free bakeries in most cities. Here where I live, there's awesome gluten-free ciabatta bread done by one bakery. And, you know, although I'm generally of a mind that you're better off looking for recipes that are naturally gluten-free, like a lot of the Asian foods are, if you just substitute tamari or gluten-free soy sauce for soy sauce. But if you are looking for good alternative options for flours and for baking, two of my favorite low-cost and neutral-tasting grain-based ones for baking are sweet sorghum and millet flours. Which I'll combine, and then you need to add a starch like cornstarch or tapioca starch as 1/3 of the mix. And my favorite grain-free ones are almond and cassava flours, and then I use tapioca starch as my starch, which is the starch from yuca or cassava, but it's much less expensive than cassava flour as a whole flour, or I'll use arrowroot starch. And then there are tons more grain and grain-free options including amaranth, buckwheat, millet, cornmeal, flax, chia, coconut, oat, quinoa, rice, mesquite, and bean flours like garbanzo, fava, etc., and tigernut, which is not actually a nut, many more. And if you're looking for great, amazing angel hair pasta, because you don't find angel hair much in the gluten-free world, and it's not very easy to find in stores, but you can find it online, it's called Bee Green Millet Angel Hair, and I will link to that in the show notes. One caution about going gluten-free is not to just switch to the gluten-free junk foods with additives and fillers and a lot of sugar that are both based mostly on rice flour because they have found elevated levels of arsenic in people eating gluten-free because of the, of their high rice consumption. So especially if you're eating rice as your starch for other meals, you probably don't want any of your breads or baked goods to be made with rice flours. So think more about following a whole foods diet minus the gluten that includes other sources of starch like root, veg, vegetables and nuts and other grains besides rice. And a final note that while it's well known that gluten causes celiac, it's less well known that gluten can cause inflammation in other parts of the body, including the mouth and esophagus and stomach and small and large intestine. I had one client who came to me for weight loss who was also hypothyroid and turns out she had Hashimoto's. So I had her do an elimination diet including gluten. And wouldn't you know, after she'd been working with me for about 4 months, she saw her dentist and all of those 4s and 5s with the depth probe were now healthy 3s. So she had all this inflammation going on in her body that wasn't super obvious, but it cleared up after eliminating gluten. So gluten is connected to inflammation and inflammation to most chronic diseases. So if you're thinking about eliminating gluten, it's a really viable option for addressing a lot of chronic conditions, not just celiac. So next we're gonna move on to a grain-free diet. So if you start with gluten and that doesn't seem to be enough, you may want to go the whole way to grain-free. Obviously, this is a lot more restrictive than a gluten-free diet, and it involves cutting out all grains, which are technically the seeds of grasses. And the reason to try this is because you may not just be sensitive to gliadin, but to what are called prolamins found in other grains traditionally considered gluten-free, like corn and rice and millet and oats and wild rice, fonio, job's tears, sorghum, millet, and teff, which are the other primary grains that have some type of gluten in them. So if you find that you're 75% off better without gluten, but not all the way, you may be sensitive to something else and it may be the prolamins in these other grains and you should give going grain-free a try. So next I wanted to talk about the anti-inflammatory diet. So reducing inflammation, as I've mentioned, can be a powerful way to reduce your risk of chronic illness or reverse a chronic illness or disease. And of course, chronic inflammation is linked in research to heart disease, arthritis, cancer, diabetes, depression, Alzheimer's, pretty much, you know, anything chronic inflammation has a role. So I had heard the term anti-inflammatory diet floating around on the internet and just in the world quite a bit, and I wanted to include what that was. But then as I started to research it a little bit, I quickly realized that there is no set definition of an anti-inflammatory diet. So pretty much everyone does agree that it eliminates added sugars and deep fried foods and partially hydrogenated oils. Which you may also know as trans fats, but those are actually mostly out of the food supply now, thanks to the Obama administration. So, you know, on the nutrition labels, if there is less than half a gram, it can still say zero on the nutrition label, but you might still see the word hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated oils on the label as one of the ingredients. Everybody also agrees that you should take out ultra-processed foods and refined carbohydrates like white bread, pasta, and desserts. Then depending on who you're talking to, an anti-inflammatory diet may suggest that you reduce or exclude red meat, saturated fat, processed meats, gluten, dairy, soy, and/or processed seed oils. And then it's also important what you do focus on, which is getting lots of servings, like think 5 to 9 of fruits and vegetables a day with a particular focus on green leafy vegetables, cruciferous vegetables like broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, and Brussels sprouts, Alliums like garlic, onions, scallions, leeks, fats like olive oil and avocado oil, nuts and olives, fatty fish and seafood with lots of omega-3 fatty acids. Think about like sardines, anchovies, salmon, or tuna. But when you think about tuna, just, you know, if we're talking about canned tuna, choose only the brands of canned tuna that are boasting low mercury like Vital Choice or Safe Catch. And anti-inflammatory spices like turmeric, ginger, cloves, rosemary, and thyme. To name just a few. And of course, you should choose organic foods, and for meat, dairy, and eggs, grass-fed or pasture-raised, not to be confused with pasteurize, but pasture-raised meats and eggs. And then it's also important on an anti-inflammatory diet to get lots of fiber. So that can come from fruits and veggies or whole grains if you're eating grains, or nuts, for example, or dark chocolate. That's one of my favorite sources of fiber.

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And links will be in the show notes. Next item up is the basic elimination diet. So for my clients, if they're having digestive issues and haven't already done it, I often suggest a basic elimination diet. Because if you're showing signs of leaky gut like migraines, brain fog, joint pain, or skin issues, or autoimmunity, not to mention GI issues, it's often a combination of foods, not just one like gluten, that's causing you to react. So eliminating only gluten or only dairy or just those two and not feeling better could leave you with the false conclusion that those foods are fine for you, when in fact the issue is that you're sensitive to several foods. So generally, I suggest a whole foods elimination diet for at least a month that excludes gluten, added sugar, dairy, soy, caffeine, alcohol, processed foods, and seed oils. Then each item, except of course obviously crappy processed foods and seed oils, which you probably shouldn't reintroduce at all, should be reintroduced alone for a couple of days, eating at least 2 servings a day until you feel a bad reaction. Or if not, wait a couple of days after trying those 2 days and then wait for any delayed reaction, and then you can move on to the next item. Now, of course, if this isn't enough for your symptoms to improve, you can start excluding additional foods like nightshades, nuts, or legumes, or go on to a full autoimmune protocol, which I'll get to later. But I do think that this kind of elimination diet is a good start for people who aren't prepared to try something as extreme as the autoimmune protocol, or AIP. I know that when I found out I had Hashimoto's thyroiditis and I saw the AIP, I was like, No way. It just was a non-starter for me cuz it felt like there would be nothing left for me to eat. But when I tried this paired down elimination diet, my symptoms improved and I was able to isolate gluten, dairy, and soy as the most problematic foods for me. So if you do have an autoimmune disease that isn't profoundly impacting your health yet, this may be a good start. So the next diet up is the Paleo diet, and if you haven't been living under a rock, you've likely heard of it. It was developed by Robb Wolf. Who was formerly a research biochemist and is the bestselling author of The Paleo Solution and Wired to Eat. And along with the paleo diet is a whole school of thought known as ancestral health, which is where you approach lifestyle nutrition from the perspective of our hunting and gathering ancestors, who, if you pull out the high rates of infant mortality, lived very long and healthy lives. And they spent a heck of a lot less time working than we do to maintain it. So generally, you can pretty much figure out the foods that would have been accessible to hunter-gatherers, like meats and animal fats, coconut oil, seafood, root vegetables, other fruits and vegetables in season, nuts and seeds, and natural sweeteners like maple syrup and honey in limited quantities. So processed foods on the Paleo diet of any kind are out, unless of course they're made to be Paleo, as is alcohol, all dairy except clarified butter or ghee, whole grains, starchy vegetables like potatoes, corn, and peas, factory-farmed meats, beans and legumes including peanuts and soy, refined or processed sweeteners, and processed seed oils. One of the biggest brands of paleo products is Primal Kitchen, which makes very nice dressings made from avocado oil and now has frozen entree options for people who don't cook. So I often recommend those to clients who have autoimmune issues but also who are trying to lose weight because they won't have a lot of heavy starches. I sort of aspire to the Paleo diet myself, except that I'm pretty much too weak to eliminate all grains like tortilla chips and rice when my family eats them in front of me, and also the fake-ish foods like sugar alcohols, because at the end of the day, I have found that added sugar in any form, even if it's ancestrally okay, causes me to gain weight. Not to mention, I don't want to get rid of alcohol or legumes, which I believe are healthy high-fiber foods for most people. On the paleo diet, you should be eating a wide variety of proteins from as many animal sources as possible. So that means not relying on the standard cuts of lean meats, but including the fatty meats and organ meats, not shying away from saturated fat in meat or coconut oil, including bone broth and other good collagen sources. And if you're a baker, paleo baked goods typically use cassava flour or coconut flour, as well as arrowroot or tapioca starch or other non-grain flours. Or almond flour, of course. In addition to meat, vegetables, nuts and seeds, avocados, olive oil, and fish oil are staples in a paleo diet. And root vegetables including sweet potatoes and winter squash are the primary sources of starches. And the paleo diet has been shown to be anti-inflammatory, to promote weight loss, reduce digestive issues, and reverse or decrease the likelihood of developing chronic diseases. So it's a great option and a lot of people make it a, a lifestyle, not just an elimination of any sort. Next up is the AIP, or autoimmune protocol. So if you've tried the paleo diet and feel better but not all the way better, you may want to implement the AIP, which includes an elimination diet designed to reverse autoimmune disease by addressing the nutritional resources that are required for immune regulation and tissue repair and remove inflammatory factors from your diet. So the protocol also focuses on your lifestyle. It's not just a diet. So what's involved in the AIP? So the AIP addresses 4 areas known to contribute to autoimmune diseases, which are nutrient density, gut health, hormone regulation, and immune system regulation. It includes meat, seafood, copious amounts of vegetables, fruit, and healthy fats. Those are all AIP approved. So you might be thinking, isn't that just the same thing as the paleo diet? It's sort of like the paleo diet on steroids, and it further eliminates eggs, nightshades, which includes potatoes, tomatoes, peppers, chilies, eggplants, tomatillo, goji berries, and ashwagandha seeds, nuts, Ghee, chocolate, caffeine, and seed-derived and nightshade-based spices. So it's a lot. The AIP diet has been attributed to Dr. Lauren Cordain, PhD, a scientist responsible for discovering that certain foods trigger inflammation in people with autoimmune disease. Other leading experts in the AIP field are Robb Wolf for his contributions in The Paleo Solution and Sarah Ballantyne, PhD, who researches and writes extensively on autoimmunity and diet. And her research-heavy tome on autoimmune disease is called The Paleo Approach. The main thing to remember about AIP is that it's an elimination diet that involves the removal and systematic reintroduction of potential problem foods, but that it's meant to last a lot longer than a typical elimination diet, pretty much as long as it takes for gut inflammation to settle down. I would generally consider recommending it for someone with an autoimmune disease that involves bad joint pain or other significant pain or disability or potential for future problems. Along with gut testing and healing of gut infections that could be at the root of food sensitivities. The next diet I'm going to talk about is the low oxalate diet. So if you've been rattling around the world of functional medicine for any length of time, you probably have heard about oxalates. You probably even know they're in spinach. So what I've discovered since I started using the organic acids test to uncover gut and other health issues with my clients is that pretty much anyone who has a high level of Yeast metabolites also will have a high level of one of the three markers of high oxalates because oxalates are produced by yeast. Oxalates are crystals that can cause kidney stones, most of which are made up of calcium oxalate, but are also less known for their role in fibromyalgia, vulvodynia, or vulvar pain, autism, anemia, urinary tract infections, and interstitial cystitis, which is when you think you have urinary tract infections all the time, but you don't. And crystal formation in other places like bones, joints, blood vessels, lungs, the thyroid, and even the brain. Wherever they're found, oxalate crystals can cause pain and damage and increase inflammation. So the first thing to know about starting a low oxalate diet is that you should reduce your oxalate intake slowly. So for example, if you're eating over 500 milligrams of oxalate each day, you should be reducing at a rate of no more than 5% per week. So that means reducing about 25 milligrams each week. But if you're eating 500 milligrams or less of oxalate, you can probably go up to 10% each week. This is to avoid a phenomenon called oxalate dumping, which is a horrifying thing where oxalate crystals start coming out of your body wherever they're present. So you might be asking at this point, what foods are high in oxalate and how would I even know if I have an oxalate toxicity issue? So the foods that are high in oxalates include beer, beets, beans, berries, coffee, dark green vegetables, nuts, oranges, spinach, soy milk, soda, tofu, wheat bran, sweet potatoes, black tea, and rhubarb. That may seem like a random list, but if you've noticed difficulty with some of those foods in the past, or maybe even all of them, or if you have any of the conditions I mentioned before, it's possible you have an oxalate toxicity issue. Or if you look at that list and you have those issues and you think, I eat every single thing on that list on a daily basis, then you really may have an issue. So if you suspect that oxalate toxicity may be your issue, you may wanna learn more about the low oxalate diet and what's involved. There's a great website where I've pulled a lot of this information from called lowoxalate.info with recipes and a chart of the oxalates in various foods from actual studies of oxalates in the foods that I will link to in the show notes. And that group also has a Facebook group called Trianglo Oxalates. And also one way you can help remove oxalates from your body and your diet is by eating a full serving of dairy or calcium citrate. Supplement with your meals, which will absorb and usher the oxalates out in your urine rather than having them be absorbed in your body. Next up is the low histamine diet. If you have allergies, I'm sure you've heard of antihistamines, which are drugs like Claritin, Benadryl, and Zyrtec, and treat allergic rhinitis and other allergies. But what is histamine anyway? A histamine is a compound released by your mast cells that plays a part in your body's immune and inflammatory responses. So when your immune system is triggered by a potential threat, histamine is released through your bloodstream, and then your blood vessels will dilate, and that creates an inflammatory response with common allergy symptoms like sniffling and sneezing and coughing and tearing up or itching. Histamine intolerance occurs when you have high levels of histamine that are chronically built up in your body, and common symptoms of that intolerance include irritability, depression, brain fog, dizziness, rash, flushing, hives, headache, tissue swelling, altered bowel function, nausea, vomiting, abdominal cramps, non-celiac gluten sensitivity, runny nose, difficulty breathing, and insomnia. So there's two reasons why histamine can become chronically elevated. So either you've got something producing high histamine levels in your body, or you've got an inability to clear histamine from your body. Now, what could cause high histamine levels? Well, it could be allergies, as I mentioned, but it could be other things like gut dysbiosis, environmental mold exposure, leaky gut, GI bleeding, alcohol, genetics, and histamine-rich foods. Foods that are high in histamine or that cause a release of histamine include avocados, eggplant, tomatoes, sauerkraut, papaya, pineapple, dried fruit, strawberries, citrus, all nuts and peanuts, fermented dairy products like yogurt and kefir, coconut yogurt, aged cheeses, cured or old meats, shellfish, smoked fish, soy sauce, miso, mayonnaise, pickles, olives, sauerkraut, kimchi, relish, soy sauce or tamari, chickpeas, soybeans, chocolate, alcohol, energy drinks, and black and green tea. And leftovers are also high in histamines, which build up the longer food ages. Low histamine foods include herbal teas, leafy herbs, coconut oil, olive oil, freshly cooked meat, and poultry, either frozen or fresh, eggs, coconut milk, rice milk, hemp milk, almond milk, gluten-free grains, fresh fruit, and most vegetables. So if a low histamine diet works for you, then you'll probably wanna figure out whether there's a root cause you haven't addressed for your histamine issues, or if you have something more serious called mast cell activation syndrome, which includes not just a release of histamine, but also other inflammatory mediators like histamine, of which histamine is one. The next diet is a sulfite-free diet. So one more potential allergen that could be causing your problems are sulfites. Symptoms of a sulfite allergy are typical allergy symptoms including hives, itching, trouble breathing or swallowing, GI symptoms like an upset stomach, diarrhea and vomiting, flushing, dizziness, and a drop in blood pressure. Sulfites are preservatives that are widely used in the food industry to prevent discoloration and browning of foods. And some foods that may or may not contain large quantities of sulfate are— quantities of sulfites are molasses, jams, jellies, guacamole, gelatin, fruit and vegetable juices, fruit and vegetable juices, fish, crustaceans and shellfish, dried fruits and vegetables, deli meat, condiments, canned and frozen fruits and vegetables, bottled lemon and lime juices and concentrates, alcoholic and non-alcoholic cider, wine, and sparkling wine, and vinegar. So if that groups of food, group of foods speaks to you, you may wanna look into a sulfite-free diet. Next up is a salicylate-free diet. So another potential source of dietary sensitivities could be coming from salicylates. A big tip-off, tip-off to this would be a sensitivity to aspirin or other nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs. So if you're sensitive to salicylates, you may also want to try eliminating the following foods: tangerines, pineapples, oranges, most berries, many herbs and spices including cinnamon, rosemary, thyme, oregano, turmeric, and mint, nectarines, green apples, black tea, asparagus, and all dried fruits and fruit juices. You'll also wanna avoid topical and inhaled exposure because salicylic acid is easily absorbed through the skin and lungs. So think about, you know, household items and toiletries. That may contain substantial amounts of salicylates or salicylic acid, including like wart and callus removers, topical creams, toothpaste, soaps and cleansers, shaving cream, shampoos and conditioners, muscle pain creams, mouthwash, lozenges, hair products, fragrances, detergents, cosmetics, cleaning products, chewing gum, bubble baths, breath mints, Alka-Seltzer, air fresheners, acne products, drugs for inflammatory bowel disease and supplements containing willow tree bark extract. The last diet I wanted to cover was a low sulfur diet, which is indicated for someone with what's called a CBS mutation, which causes issues with sulfation, which is one of the essential processes for detoxification and is also involved in hormone regulation, cell signaling, and molecular recognition. So when you eat sulfur compounds, your body produces ammonia as a byproduct, which is toxic, of course, but it's usually eliminated through the urine. However, if you have a CBS mutation that's high firing, you may end up with excess ammonia, which can cause symptoms like lethargy, fatigue, shortness of breath, tremors, seizures, poor coordination, lack of muscle control, visual disturbances, headaches, and nausea. In addition, you could also have an overgrowth of microbes that produce ammonia as a byproduct that's exacerbating your condition. So I had a client who had these exact kinds of symptoms every time he ate sugar or carbs and had to go to the urgent care for a 3-drug cocktail just to handle it. When he did his organic acids test and I saw his orotate level was elevated in conjunction with these symptoms, I suspected he had the CBS mutation, and sure enough, He did a 23andMe and I ran his raw data through Genetic Genie and he did have the mutation. So educating him about supplements to reduce ammonia-producing microbes, including the Candida in his gut, which was overgrown, has greatly improved his condition, as has strategically using certain amino acids. For people with this mutation, Dr. Jockers recommends a diet consisting of 70% fat, 10 to 20% carbohydrates, and 10 to 15% protein. Protein, or under 50 grams a day, and limiting sulfur intake by removing garlic, onions, cruciferous veggies, eggs, legumes, and all protein-rich dairy. And then there's one root vegetable that's particularly known for removing ammonia, which is yuca or cassava, and it's actually used in aquaculture to current control ammonia levels and fed as a supplement to fish and shrimp. Also, in my client's experience, removing sugar and carbs was a really essential component to feeling better. Because Candida feed on sugar and carbs and were adding to his ammonia load as a byproduct of their metabolism. Lucy Maley, PhD, also recommends a similar diet for people diagnosed with an overgrowth of hydrogen sulfide-producing bacteria. And your tip-off that this may be an issue is when your gas smells like rotten eggs. And her recommendations for that include diet void of animal foods and dairy for 3 to 4 weeks. That's also low fat. Using only avocado, olive, and coconut oils, and avoiding sulfur-containing vegetables if they cause symptoms. So, ah, heavy breath. I know that was a lot of information to take in. Hopefully it's given you a place to start on understanding the variety of potential diets that can be used to address gut and health issues. I'm sure I've missed a couple, but those are the primary ones. When I'm working with clients, I try and help them understand which dietary protocol might be best to try. Along with simultaneously testing the gut through either the GI MAP or the organic acids test to see if there's another root cause of their symptoms. These are tests you can order yourself online through mymedlab.com, but typically you would need someone to help you interpret them and educate you on what to do about it after that, which is what I do. So if you need more help with your gut or autoimmune health issues, you can set up a free 30-minute breakthrough session through the link in the show notes to hear more about what health coaching is about and how I could help you. And then I also wanted to thank my producer and marketing strategist, Grace Sanford, for her help with this podcast content and marketing. And that's it for today. So please press subscribe if you haven't and share this with a friend so that they can find out all this great information on gut health if they're struggling with it. And here's wishing you all perfect stool.