Physical Side-Effects of a Newly Introduced Probiotic Diet

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Physical Side-Effects of a Newly Introduced Probiotic Diet

Postby CulturedCascadian on Sun Dec 15, 2013 2:23 am

I've been eating a diet rich in lacto-fermented foods for about the last three months. In the beginning, I experienced the Jarisch-Herxheimer reaction (a.k.a. "candida die-off reaction"). Since then, I've experienced alternating periods of healthy digestion punctuated by mini-episodes of the candida die-off condition.

Now, I'm experiencing a flare-up of eczema on my knuckles and lower legs, a few inches above my ankles.

Does anybody here have any insight into this? From what I read online, both seem to be associated with a newly probiotic-heavy diet, but there isn't much in the way or straightforward answers, so I thought I'd just check here and see if anybody could help shed some light.

Thank you!
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Re: Physical Side-Effects of a Newly Introduced Probiotic Di

Postby WWFSM on Sun Dec 15, 2013 11:45 am

Good for you including fermented foods in your diet and using them to help improve your health. It's amazing how powerful these foods can be. Though I'm sorry to hear about your Herx, those things can be nasty.

The Herx reaction is quite common to a sudden positive change in diet, though most people don't know how to recognize it. During a Hurx, I cut back the fermented foods for a few days and return to my natural diet (basically rice and steamed veg). This reduces the damage that can come from your body dealing with the massive die off (hard on the waste management system to deal with the mega toxin load). Also, drinking extra clear liquids like water, really help the body deal with a Herx.

Although a Herx is a good sign that the nasties are dieing off, your body isn't designed to deal with massive die offs and I've have had friends that caused themselves permanent damage by encouraging the herx to be as extreme as possible... It's just something worth looking into if you find yourself experiencing strong or multiple Herxes. You probably already know this, but it's also good to write it for future readers.

I've noticed that skin conditions like you mention are sometimes connected with too many toxins in the body - like from unprocessed invisible beasties corpses (like what cases a Herx). Eating foods that help benefit your purification systems (liver and kidneys especially) may help. It could also be an allergy to a food or a new substance that you are in physical contact with (new laundry products in the last 6 months?). Or the herx could have pushed your toxin load to it's max and you can no longer tolerate the possible chemicals in your regular soap, skin cream, laundry detergent... depending on your situation.

Think of a toxin load like a cup with a very small hole in the bottom. As we pour water into the cup, it slowly leaks out the bottom...however, if we add water too fast, it eventually overflows and takes a while to leak out before we can put more water into it. Your body is like the cup, the hole in the bottom, your ability to process toxins, and the water, the toxic load. When it overflows, you start to feel toxic symptoms like a herx or skin rash. It can take a lot to fill up the cup, but once it's almost full, just a drop or two, just the tiniest thing, can push it past it's limit.

I notice I Herx most strongly with Kombucha these days. No where near as bad as an antibiotic Herx, but strong enough that I cut back on my live culture foods.

The Herxes for me are less strong if I am eating a large variety of small portions of fermented foods. So I usually try to include two to five fermented veg in my diet, a small portion of alcohol, a small tonic beverage, and a good purifier like miso (soy free in my case), each day.

One of the things I've noticed in myself and am wondering about in a more general way is if large amounts of a few fermented foods are as good for you as small amounts of several different kinds of fermented foods. Historically, humans are use to eating fermented foods as a condiment, increasing the amount in the daily diet slowly (over 3 to 5 months) as the winter progresses, and decreasing them slowly as the spring begins and fresh foods become available again.

In the West, we have a belief that if some of a thing is good for you, then lots of it is better. However, these days people are starting to notice that it's not necessarily the quantity of what they consume, but sometimes the ratio is more important (like cholesterol).

How much of the good bacteria can our body use? I suspect (based on experience, anecdotal evidence and reading on the subject), that each body had a limit as to how much of this beneficial bacteria we can utilize and this limit changes over time as our body adjusts to different diets.

The more I learn about the invisible world inside our gut, the more I feel a variety of fermented foods is more beneficial than a huge amount of one or two live foods. But you know, there is still a lot of research being done and to be done on the topic, my point of view, is just that, my point of view. It's based primarily on my own experience. There are different views on the topic in this forum and I hope we hear from them.

In conclusion, my thoughts, if you have the leeway to do so, adjust the amount of live culture foods to limit the herx damage. Increase the variety of live culture foods in your diet and it may be time to consult your medical professional, provided you have one with an open mind who is willing to help you maximize the benefit from your new diet.

Let us know how things go and what you find out works for you.
Doing my best to be the change I want to see in the world, one meal at a time.
http://wholewheatfsm.blogspot.ca

Currently Culturing
Kombucha, perry, cider, wine (red and white), mead(s), miso, sourdough, & seasonal veg my garden gives me
WWFSM
 
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Location: Canada, Left Coast

Re: Physical Side-Effects of a Newly Introduced Probiotic Di

Postby CulturedCascadian on Thu Dec 26, 2013 6:12 pm

Interestingly, one other physical side-effect I've noticed lately is a drastic increase in the build-up of gunk underneath my fingernails. I bathe at least once daily and work in an office environment, so there I'm at a loss to explain what this is or where it comes from, and again, the only change to my normal routine is the probiotic-heavy diet. I'd be curious if anybody else has experienced this or other side-effects as well.

Amazing how one small change for the better can have such strange side-effects!
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Posts: 24
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Re: Physical Side-Effects of a Newly Introduced Probiotic Di

Postby WWFSM on Sun Jan 05, 2014 4:48 pm

Is it possible you got new shoes lately?

It's the strangest thing, but I get the same thing sometimes too. I can clean my nails, do nothing dirty, and half an hour later, my nails are full of guck again. The only correlation I can come up with is a static charge.

For me, if I'm working with something that produces static electricity, and am wearing shoes with rubber soles, then dirt clings to my hands and gets under my nails. But if I take my shoes off and walk around the house in my bare feet, then it stops.

It would be interesting if it is coming from your diet. Perhaps you are sweating or shedding skin more (both signs of detox)?

If you figure it out, let us know.
Doing my best to be the change I want to see in the world, one meal at a time.
http://wholewheatfsm.blogspot.ca

Currently Culturing
Kombucha, perry, cider, wine (red and white), mead(s), miso, sourdough, & seasonal veg my garden gives me
WWFSM
 
Posts: 153
Joined: Fri Oct 11, 2013 11:10 am
Location: Canada, Left Coast


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