MRSA Diet
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| A new way of eating that can help! We made significant diet changes over the past year. It did not happen all at once but instead in stages or layers. It has really paid off as our 18 month old baby is finally eczema-free. It only flares up when we cheat on things like gluten or sugar. Thankfully, we do not even get small MRSA blisters anymore. AND, I finally lost those last few baby pounds! There are many things that can help combat MRSA like garlic or allicin (nature's best antibiotic and what makes Allimed so great!) along with other supportive measures like turmeric, colloidal silver, vitamin C, and a good dose of sunshine every day for vitamin D. Then there are antibiotics, which carry the greatest risk of long and short-term side effects and should be saved for possible life-threatening situations only. However, there is NOTHING that can replace the need to change our daily eating habits. It is amazing how EASY good health can be once we commit to making a change. Here are just a few suggestions: Reduce or eliminate: Sugar, especially refined sugar Any cow products (beef, cow's milk/butter/yogurt, whey, lactose, casein) Wheat products & by-products (wheat flour, white flour, etc) Gluten Corn & by-products Soy & by-products Shellfish Peanuts Processed foods Starch foods So, where do we go from there? Here are a few suggestions to get you started: Read labels. However, if you find yourself reading a lot of labels, this may be the core of your problem. You should be cooking as much as possible. When you do need to buy something, it should have very short, easy-to-read ingredient lists. Try shopping at health food stores or ethnic food marts, delis and restaurants. You will be surprised to find things like sheep's milk feta, ghee (clarified butter), gluten-free breads (look in the frozen section for millet or zucchini bread). In some health food stores, they have an entire section dedicated to gluten free products. You can also buy foods online like at www.glutenfreemall.com although there are many other resources online besides this. Sugar is MRSA's friend. Even products you consider 'healthy' may still contain gluten or a lot of sugar so be vigilant. The worse your infection is or if you have frequent recurrences, THE MORE CRITICAL IT IS TO ELIMINATE ALL SUGAR FROM YOUR DIET, even reducing your intake of fruit temporarily. If sugar is MRSA’s friend, then anything GREEN is MRSA’s enemy. Eat at least one dark green vegetable per day like broccoli, spinach, swiss chard, kale, etc. Also, try eating a salad as a meal each day. For example, if you usually eat a sandwich for lunch, have a salad instead. If that isn't convenient, then try having a large salad for dinner. You can still eat something else with it but be sure to eat the salad first. Another idea is to cut up pieces of meat and add it to your salad for extra protein. There are many salad additions that can help keep the idea fresh (and your mouth happy) like: sprouts, beets, carrots, olives, lemon, flax oil, roasted garlic, sun-dried tomatoes, seeds, celery, fresh parsley/basil/cilantro/chives, scallions, croutons, artichokes, hearts of palm, sheep's milk feta cheese. Replace as much of your meat as possible with organic, GRASS-FED or pastured meat, which is usually not available at supermarkets. Search yahoo groups for healthy eating co-ops in your area. You will be surprised to find local farmers who sell grain and soy-free, grass-fed meat (chickens/eggs, ducks, beef/pork if you must). Your local group is also a great source for organic veggies and fruits. Some co-ops order from other states (especially PA - Amish country) and have their food shipped in. Eat lots of high quality fats like avocados, extra virgin olive oil, raw flax oil, coconut oil, cod liver oil, sunflower oil, oily fish, raw butter (but hold off on anything "cow" until your infection is long gone). For more research on how we should be eating more fat, see www.westonaprice.org. Here are some replacement foods that we use: Goat's Milk (raw, sold locally, also goat's milk butter) Rice Dream rice milk* Coconut Milk* Van's Gluten-Free waffles* 1-2-3 Gluten-Free buckwheat pancake mix Snacks from EnerG (pretzels!) or Enjoy Life Terra chips* Millet/Zucchini bread from www.DelandBakery.com (they ship!) Tinkyada Rice Pasta (hubby's fav and he's Italian) Notta Pasta rice pasta Blue Agave Nectar (use in moderation)* Coconut Oil (great for frying eggs, baking, etc. Tropical Traditions or Wilderness Family Naturals) pecan or almond "butter" Kamut flour Dad's gluten-free pizza crusts *products that are available in most supermarkets We also grow our own sprouts, which is very easy and tastes better than the old sprouts you get at the store (buy the Easy Sprouter). Sound strange? Maybe. But the idea here is that there is a whole world of food out there that you may not have experienced yet. And the root cause of many of our health issues (including MRSA) may be diet related. Give it a try for a few months. You will be surprised at how good you feel and, if your like me and still trying to lose those last 5 (okay 10) baby pounds, this is the way to lose them permanently. If it seems overwhelming, just remember that you can make small changes every week. Please see our "Links" page for research that can help you make the best diet decisions for you and your family. Also, please share YOUR favorite replacement foods with us! |