Contact: Mike Houghton, telephone 01244 378276 or e-mail Mike@chestermesh.org.uk

Nutrition

Jackie Melling, Nutritional Therapist

Based on a talk given to Chester MESH 2nd November 1996

Nutritional advice is controversial ­ there are as many opinions as there are nutritional experts and many have opposing views. The Ministry of Agriculture, Farming and Fisheries (MAFF) should be protecting our nutritional interests but are heavily influenced by food manufacturers and producers. A recent MAFF report on the over-use of sugar was considerably ‘watered down’ ­ no doubt influenced by the report chairman who was the Chairman of the British Sugar Corporation.

Conventional medical advice is to maintain a ‘balanced diet’, however a balanced diet is unquantifiable. Recommended Daily Allowances (RDA’s) for vitamins and minerals are often used as a guideline for a balanced diet. The RDA’s in Britain were devised by the government before the Second World War as the minimum levels to prevent deficiency diseases such as Scurvy and Beri-Beri. RDA’s are set at different limits by other governments. Some essential nutrients do not have RDA’s. A survey carried out in Britain in 1993 showed that the average person is grossly deficient in eight out of thirteen vitamins based on European RDA’s. So much for a ‘balanced diet’!

Even if you are meeting the RDA for, say, Vitamin C does not mean you are safe. You might not catch Scurvy but Vitamin C is also essential for the functioning of the body’s immune system. So, if you are fighting an infection your body needs more Vitamin C. Athletes will have a different requirement from pensioners. Even two supposedly similar people will absorb varying amounts of nutrients from the same food.

Another complication is that the amount of nutrients in food will also vary. Modern farming methods mean the same crop could be grown in the same soil for ten years and even with synthetic fertilisers, it will deplete all the nutrients from the soil. Earlier farming practice of crop rotation is now mainly used only by organic farmers. Again, previous generations would eat vegetables within hours of them being picked. Nowadays central warehousing, out of town supermarkets and refrigeration mean ‘fresh’ food can be weeks old before it is eaten, with a consequent deterioration in nutrients. Future developments such as irradiation and generic engineering will further extend this storage time. So, even with a good diet it is hard to know how many nutrients you are getting from ‘fresh’ foods.

The average shop apple is sprayed with 26 different chemicals. These are contained in the skin so it is wise to peal and fruit or vegetables before you eat them. Unfortunately the skins are where you find most of the nutrients. Organic foods which have not been sprayed are the only way round this problem.

The most common reason for nutrient deficiency however is due to non-absorption of available nutrients and inefficient use of nutrients once they have been absorbed. This cannot be corrected by taking more nutrients or supplements, you are only wasting your money. The most common deficiency is water, you should drink a minimum of eight large glasses a day. Tea and coffee are diuretics so effectively reduce your liquid intake! The brain especially needs water to function and will be ‘fuzzy’ if lacking water.

Diet is common sense ­ it should be obvious that an apple is ‘better for you’ than a Mars Bar and a home-made stew better than a Marks and Spencer Lasagne. The most important thing is a variety of fresh, unprocessed food (the ME Action Therapy leaflet on diet is a good reference). There are at least twenty types of fresh vegetables available ­ try and eat a variety to ensure the widest range of nutrient intake and to counteract the poorer quality of some of the vegetables. All foods are good for you in some ways and bad in others. For example, parsnips have a carsonagenic compound in them but are a good source of Vitamins C and E and Folate.

Nutrient Therapy will not cure ME but it will help in controlling the symptoms and make life less unpleasant. Most supplements are taken by the ‘worried well’ who are not sure they are getting enough nutrients so take them as insurance. At least 90% are a waste of time for people with ME. If you are taking supplements as part of a therapy you need good quality products that are easily absorbed and in the right quantities and types.

Supplements come in different forms and there is a lot of difference between brands. Magnesium, for example, is available in the form of Magnesium Oxide, Sulphate EPS or Kealate. Supplements as Oxides, Sulphates and Carbonates will be cheaper to buy but you will only absorb 10%, however with EPS Amino Acid Kelate or Picalinate you will absorb 70-80%. So even if these forms are twice as expensive they are far better value for money. The dearer brands are also better quality. For example, cheaper production methods use excessive heat and pressure to form tablets which damages the minerals and destroys vitamins. Capsules are generally better than tablets for this reason. Light is also damaging, so look for dark glass containers. Cheap tablets tend to come in low dosages.

BioCare (one of the better supplement manufacturers) produce seven types of Magnesium supplements ­ all for slightly different purposes. Athletes would take Magnesium Fumerate, for example, as the Fumerate part helps in energy production. People with ME should take Magnesium EAP2 which is very easily absorbed and especially good for both muscle pain and neurological disturbances such as you get in ME and MS.

There is less variation with vitamins. However Vitamin C comes in two types ­ citrates and ascorbates. The citrates are very acidic and harder to take than the ascorbates. Magnesium Ascorbate is especially good for people with ME as it provides both Magnesium and Vitamin C and is in a form your body can use directly.

Muscle pain is frequently experienced by people with ME. Your body needs calcium to contract muscles and magnesium to relax it. Whilst dairy products such as milk are high in calcium very little is absorbed because the pasteurisation process kills off the enzymes in the milk that help you absorb the calcium. A much better source is nuts and seeds. In fact nuts, seeds and green leafy vegetables between them contain most of the nutrients your body needs.

As well as Mineral and Vitamin Supplements there are things like Aloe Vera, Herbs and Glutamine NAg (recommended for Arthritis). This variety is one of the reasons why it helps to seek the guidance of a professional Nutritional Therapist. They can tell by your personal symptoms what you are likely to be deficient in and, more importantly, why you have these deficiencies.

Most people recognise the need for fibre in the diet. This is best obtained from fresh fruit, vegetables and whole grain not bran because this can bind with minerals in the gut and carry them out of your system. Wheat bran can also have a scouring effect which is not good on an already overstrained gut lining. If you eat fresh food you should not normally need any added fibre.

People with ME nearly always have some form of gut problems, either Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS), Candida or food intolerances. Digestion is the process of breaking down food which is absorbed into the bloodstream and starts with the acids and enzymes in the stomach but most absorption occurs through the small intestine before the food residue passes to the large intestine. Poor digestion is a basis of a lot of digestive upsets such as diarrhoea, constipation and wind. Lack of stomach acid is a common cause which is easily and swiftly cures with Hydrochloric Acid supplements. A key sign of stomach problems is wind that smells of ‘bad eggs’ which indicates poor protein digestion. Poor digestion in the small intestine may be caused by insufficient enzymes which can be a product of stress. When the body is stressed it reverts to the primitive ‘fight or flight’ mode which means that processes not required for these two modes are ‘shut down’; so if you are in a state of stress or anxiety then you are likely to suffer poor digestion. For the same reasons your natural repair mechanisms work less well when you are stressed. You can still be in a stressed state whilst watching television or even when asleep, yoga or relaxation exercises are very useful in reducing stress levels. Poor digestion is also a vicious circle; if you cannot absorb nutrients you body cannot produce the enzymes needed for digestion. Poorly digested food is not recognised by the body’s defences and causes an immune reaction, treating it as a foreign invader. This in turn leads to food intolerances where you have a strong adverse reaction to certain foods.

Another common digestive problem is Candida, caused when the gut ecology is unbalanced and the harmful bacteria, yeasts and viruses outweigh the beneficial ones naturally present in the digestive system. Common causes of this are immune-suppressing drugs such as antibiotics and steroids, a high sugar diet or again stress. A key sign of Candida in women is the presence of Thrush or Cystitis. However Candida, because it produces toxins which are absorbed by the bloodstream, can cause a wide range of effects such as itching, headaches, a ‘foggy’ head when you cannot think properly, intestinal problems such as diarrhoea and wind and emotional upsets like depression and mood swings. Candida and other inbalances in the gut can cause ‘holes’ in the gut lining by putting out roots into the lining. This in turn leads to food intolerances because larger undigested food particles can enter the bloodstream causing an immune reaction.

Candida can be defeated by cutting out sugar, refined carbohydrates and stimulants such as tea, coffee and alcohol. Certain supplements such as Caprillic Acid and raw garlic will are very useful in defeating Candida. Most garlic capsules however have been heated and processed which destroys the active parts, again the expensive ones tend to be better. Fighting Candida is uncomfortable because the dying Candida releases toxins which you absorb. If you don’t feel bad when you are trying to remove Candida it is probable that Candida is not the cause of your problems.

Food intolerances can be the cause of a wide range of symptoms as unlikely as Rheumatoid Arthritis, mood swings and lethargy. A good indicator of a food intolerance is when eating is followed by tiredness. Whilst therapies like Kinesiology can detect the foods that that cause intolerances results depend on the individual practitioner. The most certain way is to avoid the suspect foods and then reintroduce them and note the results. It frequently happens that you are addicted to the foods that you are intolerant of and consequently ‘crave’ them. Your body learns to adapt to the strain of a food intolerance, especially when it is a regular item of your diet and you accept the way you feel as the ‘norm’. When you stop taking the suspect foods , because your body is addicted you will initially suffer withdrawal symptoms that will last anything from a week to a month. If you then reintroduce the suspect food you will have a very strong and noticeable reaction. Foods that are usually the cause of intolerances are dairy products, wheat and potatoes. If you are trying to eliminate wheat from your diet you have to read processed food labels very carefully as a lot of products contain ‘hidden’ wheat. Names such as cereal binder, cereal protein, cereal starch, cereal filler, cornflower, edible starch, flour, rusk, modified starch and thickening all indicate wheat. Foods as diverse as sausages, stock cubes and tinned soups can contain wheat; crisps may contain dairy products. Sugar is another common intolerance that is ‘hidden’ in a lot of products. Fruit juices, even marked ‘no added sugar’ may legally contain 1.5% sugar. Sauces, soups, most processed foods contain sugar.

It is important to find out why you are intolerant to certain foods. If it is because of a Candida infestation that has damaged the gut lining by enlarging holes in the intestine wall; then simply giving up the food you are reacting to will lead to other foods causing a reaction. This will eventually lead to a very restricted diet indeed. You must treat the poor digestion or candida and rebuild the gut lining with appropriate nutrients.

The easiest way to avoid the food you are trying to exclude is to eat a simple, plain diet of meat, fish and vegetables. The body, after all is not designed to absorb Marks and Spencer ready-to-eat meals. The body finds it much easier to absorb ‘simple’ foods. The ‘Hay’ diet, which separates proteins and carbohydrates, can help some people but is a hard regime to follow. The ‘rotation’ diet is again a lot of work.

Another common digestive problem suffered by people with ME is low blood sugar due to an unbalanced endocrine system. Symptoms of low blood sugar include nausea, vomiting, fainting, feeling weak, feeling ravenously hungry, emotional imbalance and fatigue. If you develop these symptoms within three hours of last eating this is a good indicator of low blood sugar. Most family arguments are just before teatime when blood sugars are at their lowest. If a snack relieves these ‘funny feelings’ this is again a strong indicator. This problem can be tackled by avoiding sugar and processed foods, which only exacerbates the problem, and try a supplement of Chromium which can produce positive results within days. However, supplements are intended as a short term correction of imbalances and it is important to find out the underlying cause of, say, a low blood sugar problem.

When treating these problems with supplements it is better to take specially designed ‘cocktails’ of supplements rather than individual supplements as a deficiency in one usually indicates a general deficiency. A nutritional therapist will help you deciding which is the right mix. ‘Higher Nature’, a supplement manufacturer has a premium rate advice line, where you can speak to a trained therapist on the phone.

Evening Primrose Oil is a supplement often taken by people with ME. This and other oil supplements contains an essential fat which is metabolised by your body to eventually produce an anti-inflammatory compound called GLA (Gama Lynalinic Acid). This process is easily blocked at the beginning by things like viruses, stress, diabetes or an inherited blockage which can result in Hay Fever, excema, asthma and other ectopic allergies. GLA is also linked to hormone production. You need to take a high dose to be effective and it will take up to three months to ‘kick in’. 300mg of the GLA daily is recommended and as Evening Primrose Oil contains 10% GLA this means 3000mg or three 1000mg capsules daily for at least three months. Dry eyes, dry skin and excessive sweating are signs that essential fats are needed.

BioCare produces a good range of supplements which are not available in shops as they are intended for professional use but are available by mail order.

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Whilst all statements are given in good faith they are for information only. Any mention of treatments or products does not imply that they have been tested or endorsed by Chester MESH