LONGECITY

background: i have celiac disease... my digestion is horrible from what i THOUGH was damage due to the celiac... everytime i eat, no matter what & in what amounts, i get nauseated, bloated, heartburn & the food sits in my stomach. a small meal could sit in my stomach for 8 or more hours depending on the content of the meal. i have tried every herb, supplement and digestive enzyme product under the sun to no avail. i also have chronic fatigue (not cfs) and chronic trigger points in my back.

i got a sample of a product by enzymedica called 'digest spectrum' which is a digestive enzyme meant for people with food allergies. nothing that i havent taken in other products other than a hefty dose of xylanase.

the FIRST time i took 2 before i ate, my digestion was completely normal for the first time in as long as i can remember. no bloating, no nausea, stomach contents emptied normally. i've taken 2 before every meal since than and my symptoms have been completely eliminated. my digestion has completely normalized. i have also seen MAJOR improvements in my fatigue and near complete elimination of the chronic trigger points in my back. honestly its unbelievable.

from what little information i could dig up online... xylanase is used to cleave carbohydrate side chains from phenols, which allows them to be metabolized effectively. phenols getting 'stuck' in cytochrome metabolism is a theoretical issue for autistics. as far as i can tell this shouldnt effect my digestion at all?

so my question is, what possibly could this product effecting me so drastically?
Edited by ajnast4r, 01 October 2010 - 06:48 PM.

Your results are interesting. Sounds like your symptoms aren't COMPLETELY gone.

I had chronic IBS-D, from my father's side. It included fatigue and depression, the works. Here's what worked for me:

1. Eat 1 fresh (live bought) boiled fish daily. For micronutrients.
2. Eat mostly meat, including fatty meat. Fatty means > 1/6 lard, not just marbling. Usually I fry in skillet.
3. Eat some fresh fruit.
4. Eat nothing else - no additives, chemicals, oils, spices, nada. Never eat at restaurants.

This regimine completely eliminated all my symptoms.

I've marked the supplement you took as a possibility for expanding my diet. Thanks.

You can read in detail everything I've done for diet at my blog. Obviously it took a lot of work to find the above solution.

well the fatigue and trigger points arent completely resolved but those were just some residual effects that i wasnt expecting... the purpose was for my digestion, and the symptoms have been completely resolved.

im actually a vegetarian, so no meat for me... i have even tried doing various elimination & mono diets, fasting, etc to no avail. the closest i had gotten to feeling normal was eating about 500kcal of fermented, highly cooked rice & beans... which obviously isnt very sustainable. i'd really be interested to see how it effects you, if you decide to try it please report back

I see. It will be a while before I change ANYTHING about my diet, I've been sick years and years so I have lots to catch-up to do, and experimentation can be quite costly - a week plus of down time, feeling like a zombie.

After my life stabilizes, then I'll try various things like your interesting supplement to see if I can do simple things like drink alcohol, eat bread, etc.

How soon before you ate did you take the enzymes? 10-20 minutes before, or immediately before?

And thanks for mentioning the product. Like a couple of folks here, I too plan to try it. I don't really expect it to help me, as I'm not sure if my belly issues have to do with food digestion... but it's worth a shot.

And for anyone else interested, enzymedica is really good with free samples. About a year ago I asked about a couple of their products, and they sent me like a dozen little packets to try for free. None of them really helped... but still, they are really good with sending freebies out. *wonders if they will be overloaded with sample requests now*
Edited by nameless, 04 October 2010 - 10:49 PM.

Its interesting that your taking the supplement before eating. Would have thought that would defeat the purpose.

How soon before you ate did you take the enzymes? 10-20 minutes before, or immediately before?

10-15 minutes before seems to work best for me

Its interesting that your taking the supplement before eating. Would have thought that would defeat the purpose.

no... you want the enzymes to disperse into the digestive juices...mix with the moisture & acid. they wouldnt do any good just caught up in a chunk of food, segregated, as they need to come in contact with food to digest it.

maybe its your timing perhaps. Were you taking them after meals previously ?

the FIRST time i took 2 before i ate, my digestion was completely normal for the first time in as long as i can remember...

Just after the first time? Maybe those enzymes have an strong local anti-inflammatory effect.

Have you tried quercitine or artichoke?

Quercitine has good anti-inflammatory effect and artichoke decognests liver and bile ducts. Those help me well.


Edited by Raccoon, 05 October 2010 - 01:26 PM.

maybe its your timing perhaps. Were you taking them after meals previously ?

ive tried taking them every which way... before, after, mid, before & after, before & mid, mid & after, etc etc etc

Just after the first time? Maybe those enzymes have an strong local anti-inflammatory effect.

Have you tried quercitine or artichoke?

Quercitine has good anti-inflammatory effect and artichoke decognests liver and bile ducts. Those help me well.

yes, i think that is the case... the high protease is probably having anti inflammatory effect. turmeric powder calms my stomach as well, although not to the same extent, most likely through similar mechanisms.

the benefits however, are not JUST from anti-inflammatory effect...as my gastric emptying time has greatly improved, less bloating, my bowel movements are more regular, and my stools are larger & more firm.

quercetin destroys my sleep... even 500mg first thing in the morning is enough to keep me up most of the night.

artichoke i havent tried... i'll look into it.
Edited by ajnast4r, 05 October 2010 - 07:30 PM.

I see. It will be a while before I change ANYTHING about my diet, I've been sick years and years so I have lots to catch-up to do, and experimentation can be quite costly - a week plus of down time, feeling like a zombie.

After my life stabilizes, then I'll try various things like your interesting supplement to see if I can do simple things like drink alcohol, eat bread, etc.

It sounds like you have ended upon a Paleo diet through trial and error. If your not familiar with it be sure to check it out!

It sounds like you have ended upon a Paleo diet through trial and error. If your not familiar with it be sure to check it out!

Yes and no. I tried and rejected conventional paleo diet approaches. Dr. Stefansson's Eskimo Diet was a much closer influence. Trial and error were key.

The major difference for me was the necessity of fresh fish, live bought preferably, as a must for micronutrients.


Now my diet is expanding, I've successfully reincorporated fruit. But having that fresh meat base is key. I could probably eat some vegetables too, although I'm not motivated to try them.

fresh lean and fatty cuts

Interesting, first I've heard of Enzymedica. Here I delve into several other gut health hacks, notably BPC-157 - a renowned peptide around here...

 

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