Topic: Question for TF about the diet you used during treatment
Haley
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 22008
posted
TF,
Since you are one of the few people on here that have gotten well, I would like to know more details about the diet you were on. I know that you were very strict and that you did lots of lemon water, but can you tell me more about what you ate during the time you were treating Lyme.
I ask this because I have done a 360 degree turn with diet and I believe it is making a very big difference in my treatment (not just cutting out sugar).
I wonder if this may have something to do with why you are one of the lucky ones that got "cured".
Also, at what point did you start to incorporate exercise and how much?
Posts: 2232 | From USA | Registered: Aug 2009
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TF
Frequent Contributor (5K+ posts)
Member # 14183
posted
My diet was the Burrascano yeast control diet.
All I drank was lemon water. Basically, all I ate was meat and non-starchy vegetables. For breakfast, I had quoina flake porridge, recipe on the Body Ecology Diet website (called Hot Breakfast Porridge). Once in a while an egg. I also drank kefir daily as per Burrascano and my doctor. I made my own.
I did this diet for the last 13 months I treated lyme and for an additional month once I stopped meds while doc restored my gut. (Prior to this, I didn't have a Burrascano doc and had had lousy lyme treatment and ate a typical American diet.)
I don't drink or smoke. That is important.
I believe the weight lifting, as per Burrascano, is why I never relapsed. I started the weight lifting after treating for 3 months with my final lyme doctor. So, I was doing it for about 10 months before stopping meds.
I did a 1 hour weight lifting routine every other day, a full body workout each time, exactly as recommended by Burrascano. It took me months to work up to the 1 hour. At first, I was dead after 10 minutes because my main symptom was extreme muscle weakness. But, I persevered until I got up to the 1 hour. That may have taken me 3 months to accomplish, or more.
This is how weak I was when I started--my legs shook like jello just walking down the basement stairs to get to the weight machine.
I believe this weight lifting is key to recovery. Why do I believe that? Because Burrascano says that it is and my doctor said the same thing to me. The day he told me, "You will never get well unless you exercise" is the day I started. It took a lot of determination to do this because of my symptoms (extreme muscle weakness).
I recommend that everyone read what Burrascano says they believe the weight lifting does--drives the meds deeper into the tissues (so kills the lyme there also), raises body temp (which kills lyme also), raises oxygen levels in body (which kills lyme also), boosts the immune system (so that it can kill left over lyme when you stop meds), and on and on. Lots and lots of benefits.
Despite antibiotic treatments, patients will NOT return to normal unless they exercise, so therefore an aggressive rehab program is absolutely necessary. It is a fact that a properly executed exercise program can actually go beyond the antibiotics in helping to clear the symptoms and to maintain a remission."
For those who don't know, I went undiagnosed for at least 10 years. In April, it was 6 years since I completed my treatment (lyme, babs, and bart) and I am still symptom free, enjoying my life. I have the same life I had before lyme disease.
Posts: 9931 | From Maryland | Registered: Dec 2007
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nefferdun
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 20157
posted
TF, do you think physical work is the same as weight lifting? I garden, muck, throw out hay, go in and out for horses, ride, clean house. I am too tired to lift weights!
-------------------- old joke: idiopathic means the patient is pathological and the the doctor is an idiot Posts: 4676 | From western Montana | Registered: Apr 2009
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seekhelp
Frequent Contributor (5K+ posts)
Member # 15067
posted
I personally don't nefferdun. I do some gardening and stuff, but I'm no better from that. I think concentrated work-outs that target each muscle group are different. I feel too weak to accomplish it though. Posts: 7545 | From The 5th Dimension - The Twilight Zone | Registered: Mar 2008
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posted
Diet is HUGE. And so is the no smoking and no drinking.
I didn't do weights... I have spinal stenosis and sciatica, but I always stayed active and walked quite a bit. Now I exercise 3 days a week.
-------------------- --Lymetutu-- Opinions, not medical advice! Posts: 96239 | From Texas | Registered: Feb 2001
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Haley
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 22008
posted
Thanks TF.
Very helpful information.
I will start today on the same type of exercise regimen. No more screwing around.
Unfortunately, I have a messed up tendon in my right bicep due to doing weights while on Levaquin. I hope that will eventually straighten out.
My diet is a bit different than yours but it has changed my life. Tons of veggies and only about 20 to 25 grams of fat a day. My protein sources are not from meat, but I do try to get as much protein in as I can, primarily from legumes and other sources.
Thanks for sticking around here TF. You are helping many people.
Posts: 2232 | From USA | Registered: Aug 2009
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nefferdun
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 20157
posted
Haley amino acids helped heal my tendonitis. I took L Methionine, lysine, cysteine and carnitine. Some people have used whey protein for pain. I also used magnesium, B vitamins, alpha lipoic acid and hyaluronic acid. But it was the addition of the amino acids that did the trick.
-------------------- old joke: idiopathic means the patient is pathological and the the doctor is an idiot Posts: 4676 | From western Montana | Registered: Apr 2009
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Catgirl
Frequent Contributor (5K+ posts)
Member # 31149
posted
Haley, just want to warn you that I was a vegan up until a few weeks ago. That was when I got major candida, so be careful. Yeast loves rice and beans, starch and fruit.
As far as diet goes, I have ended up doing everything TF has said except for the kefir. I'm thinking of trying it, but when I went vegan 2 years ago, I became lactose intolerant. I'd do just about anything to get rid of this stupid lyme though. I am still fighting the yeast beast.
-------------------- --Keep an open mind about everything. Also, remember to visit ACTIVISM (we can change things together). Posts: 5418 | From earth | Registered: Mar 2011
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TF
Frequent Contributor (5K+ posts)
Member # 14183
posted
Mindy, I am lactose intolerant and I can drink kefir with no problem.
Kefir and yogurt are fine for those who are lactose intolerant because the milk sugars (the lactose) is gone from fermented products. It is "eaten up" in the fermentation process as I understand it.
Kefir is much better at repopulating the gut than is yogurt. That's why Burrascano requires it to be drunk daily. See page 28, under "Probiotics" for the requirement and rationale.
Nefferdun, I am not qualified to respond to your question regarding whether the work you do can substitute for the 1 hour weight lifting program every other day.
But, I caution everyone to read what Burrascano says about this exercise program. It must be done every OTHER day and not every day. The reason is that exercise temporarily lowers your immune system. Weight lifting lowers the immune system just a little or for just a short time, so the day of rest he requires in between weight lifting sessions is enough to restore the immune system.
Aerobic exercise lowers the immune system more or longer, per Burrascano. So, if people are doing various activities, work, sports, etc. that are considered aerobic, and if they are doing these things every day, they are hurting their cause and not helping it.
Burrascano is very clear that on the day you are not weight lifting, you must rest. He even wants you to rest after the 1 hour of weight lifting.
See this quote from page 31:
"In addition, there is now evidence that a carefully structured exercise program may benefit T-cell function: this function will depress for 12 to 24+ hours after exercise, but then rebound. This T-cell depression is more pronounced after aerobics which is why aerobics are not allowed. The goal is to exercise intermittently, with exercise days separated by days of total rest, including an effort to have plenty of quality sleep. The trick is to time the exercise days to take advantage of these rebounds. For an example, begin with an exercise day followed by 3 to 5 rest days; as stamina improves, then fewer rest days will be needed in between workouts. However, because T-cell functions do fall for at least one day after aggressive exercises, be sure to never exercise two days in a row."
"Have the patient complete a gentle hour of prescribed exercise, then go home, have a hot bath or shower, than try to take a nap. Initially, patients will need this sleep, but as they recover, the exercise will energize them and then a nap will no longer be needed."
So, the message is never to exercise 2 days in a row. Never.
I feel confident that the weight lifting will strengthen a person's immune system, because it is what Burrascano specifically says to do. It is anybody's guess whether other types of activities will have the same effect.
So, if you want to be SURE you are strengthening your immune system, do the weight lifting program.
"a whole-body exercise program, consisting of light calisthenics and/or resistance training, using light resistance and many repetitions. This can be accomplished in exercise classes called "stretch and tone", or "body sculpture", or can be achieved in the gym with exercise machines or carefully with free weights....
Exercise no more often than every other day. The patient may need to start by exercising every 4th or 5th day initially, and as abilities improve, work out more often, but NEVER two days in a row. The nonexercise days should be spent resting.
5. This whole-body conditioning program is what is required to achieve wellness. A simple walking program will not work, and simply placing the patient on a treadmill or an exercise bike is not acceptable (except very briefly, as part of a warm-up), as aerobics can be damaging and must be avoided." (page 32)
Posts: 9931 | From Maryland | Registered: Dec 2007
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Catgirl
Frequent Contributor (5K+ posts)
Member # 31149
posted
Thanks TF!
-------------------- --Keep an open mind about everything. Also, remember to visit ACTIVISM (we can change things together). Posts: 5418 | From earth | Registered: Mar 2011
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Catgirl
Frequent Contributor (5K+ posts)
Member # 31149
posted
Thanks TF! Did you make your own kefir? Did you eat any kind of yogurt (greek)? I'm going shopping tomorrow!
-------------------- --Keep an open mind about everything. Also, remember to visit ACTIVISM (we can change things together). Posts: 5418 | From earth | Registered: Mar 2011
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TF
Frequent Contributor (5K+ posts)
Member # 14183
posted
I started out buying plain kefir (it must be plain--no sugar added).
But, eventually I got some kefir grains from a friend and started making my own. The grains look like little heads of cauliflower. They are living organisms. They eat up the milk sugar and turn the milk into the kefir.
Homemade kefir is quite delicious. It is so much better than the store bought stuff. And, it saves you money to make it on your own.
And, as your grains multiply, you can then share them with others.
I don't think I ate yogurt that often.
Posts: 9931 | From Maryland | Registered: Dec 2007
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Thank you so much for sharing the information on exercise.
Do you think the exercise must involve weights, or is it possible to get comparable results from using resistance bands?
Posts: 532 | From southeast US | Registered: Oct 2005
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TF
Frequent Contributor (5K+ posts)
Member # 14183
posted
I don't know. But, Burrascano does mention bands in his exercise guidelines.
From page 32 of Burrascano:
"Use minimal resistance but a lot of repetitions in any exercises prescribed. At the start of the exercise program, especially if the patient is weak, avoid free weights, bands and large exercise balls, and favor machines (especially hydraulics) that can guide limbs through a prescribed arc; free weights, etc. can risk hyperextension and uncontrolled movements that may cause or add to injuries."
So, here he is saying to definitely not use them at the start of the exercise plan. And, he gives the reasons why.
I like using machines. And, this way, it is easy to see your progress. As you are able to lift more and more weight, you feel great! And, you can't hurt yourself.
Posts: 9931 | From Maryland | Registered: Dec 2007
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posted
Thank you, TF. You do know those guidelines. I'll look at them again, rather than being lazy and relying on you!
This is very helpful. Thanks again!
Posts: 532 | From southeast US | Registered: Oct 2005
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payne
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 26248
posted
lymefriends this is a MUST READ TF, God Bless ya, this is a GREAT reminder, how easily I forget the routine... your words and thoughts of what we can do is some of the best reading and support around, thanks again
Just Do It ! if you want to beat this disease.
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