food intolerance, metal toxicity and now parasite!

[seedstarter]

Hoping this is the proper place to post. I tried to be brief, but it ended up pretty long.

I'm 38, partnered and have one child (ds almost 5).

Childhood: Born preterm (35 wks) by forceps, separated immediately from mother and placed in incubator for 6 wks. After I hadn't gained a pound, my parents convinced hospital to let me go home. While in hosp, I was fed Bmilk from all the mothers' who had babies in intensive care. At home, miraculously learned to BRF and also was given goat milk. 2 very small amalgam fillings age 8. Was always <5% height weight until puberty. Developed severe menstrual cramps at puberty (later diagnosed endometriosis). Childhood diet mix of homecooked dinners and sugary/processed foods/candy other times.

Early 20s severe chronic congestion, cut out many foods, tried many natural approaches w/ naturopaths and acupuncture without improvement, culminating in severe case of mono and move out of state for family help. After move, I improve, congestion resolved. Moved back to Oregon: sick again: realized mold allergy, moved to dryer climate.

Most of 20s: vegetarian, some vegan, on and off sugar (which I am very sensitive/addicted to).

Late 20's: whole grains, veggies, few fruits, lots of soy, later adding fish. Supplements and herbs to try to control endo symptoms. Avoided gluten (except oats), dairy, sugar and chemical additives etc. Had also tried BCPs twice, with worsening of symptoms and decreased libido/feeling flat, so stopped. Told moderate mercury levels based on urine after EDTA challenge.

Two laparscopies to remove endo: age 29 and 31

Age 33 after 6 years TTC, IVF: birthed full-term boy (although bedrest from 24 wks for pre-term symptoms I think due to very stressful job).

DP diagnosed w/ bladder cancer 2 days before delivery (BTW, he survived, had one recurrence recently and prognosis is likely will recur but not likely to ever metastasize): very difficult postpartum. I was VERY sick w/ high fever for 5 days and lingering extreme fatigue/extreme congestion (worse even than when in Oregon). I could tolerate being out of bed for extended periods 3 months postpartum. Also 10 days postpartum, ds admitted for jaundice. I battled w/ low Bmilk supply (had donated milk), but did fully BRF. DS still nurses briefly some mornings now (although I don't think much comes out anymore).

I had restarted gluten, some goat milk, and occasional sugar in middle of preg and removed them again along w/ soy and corn at 7 mos PP: my son's mild excema immediately went away when I made these diet changes. I added all meat at that time. When I made these changes, I saw immediate improvement in gas and bloating that later led me to realize I don't tolerate eggs or legumes, so I removed them too. When I made these diet changes, I remember saying to everybody repeatedly that I'd never felt so good.

DS 9 mos had lead level 8: we moved out, did lead abatement in house, lead cleaning, replaced soil in yard, his level dropped immediately and hasn't gone back up.

10 mos ago had my very small amalgams removed (had to remove because one was cracked) - had dental dams, suction, although not oxygen . Right after had IV vitamin C for one dose only b/c planned to return to BRF after one week. Broke out in aweful rash over whole body lasting 5days.

Diet now: veggies, some raw fermented (Hawthrone vally carrot/ginger, ? brand fermented salad dressings), small amount fruit, meat (chick, fish, beef, sometimes as sausages, almost always grassfed), small amount of non-gluten whole grains (and not every day), sometimes raw honey, dark chocolate. Nuts, coconut, coconut oil, olive oil, occasional raw sesame oil. Drink water, kombucha, herbal teas. Oh and love bone broth!

I make my own herbal tinctures, mostly from my garden and common plants (weeds) I've gathered.

I don't generally like supplements (in past spent lots of money without a lot of result). I take homemade bitter tinctures before meals, often drink nettles/oatstaw infusion, with others added as desired.

I recently successfully added eggs and some other sulfur foods (garlic, small amt fermented cabbage) back in!

Have been feeling a bit better w/ digestion, but battling tiredness past 8 mos (which I attribute to staying up late for "me-time" and stressful part-time job - much better non-work days). Have also had severe rectal itching since pregnant (think that's when it started). No more endo symptoms! (although very small endometriomas visible on sonogram). Recently had failed frozen embro transfer.

I was hoping to try another embryo transfer right away, but just found out I have a parasite: Dientamoeba fragilis, which is an unflagellated flagellated protozoa (no that's not a typo), so not a worm(helminth) or a bacteria. There's a thought it might be transmitted by pinworm eggs. My son had pinworms twice, age 3.5 and 4 and our whole family was treated.

I was shocked w/ the diagnosis (although it might explain the rectal itching) because I've actually been feeling like my gut is healing (able to digest eggs, tolerate some occasional sweets, and the alcohol in my tinctures - used to have painful flushing feeling throughout muscles with even drops of alcohol).

So, I'm thinking it's time to really figure this out, heal my gut, maybe do mercury detox? My son't not really nursing (only tries every few days, often for 10 seconds, and doesn't seem to get milk).

I haven't seen any postings on parasites: anyone have resources, especially for natural approaches and for whether there's association w/ heavy metals, food intolerance, methylation problems, etc (of course, there's association, but what?).

Also, I did the taste tests: salt tasted ok but after one glass didn't taste as good. Epsom salts tasted really good last night and today until afternoon when turned bitter (think had about 1/4 total last night and this morning/early afternoon). I like lemon water.

Should I take the Epsom salts daily up to the point where they taste bad?

My holistic gyn wants me to take either a triple antibiotic or a 90-day cleanse called ejuva for the parasite (this thing is notoriously hard to eradicate). I don't really want to do either (Abx for obvious reasons, cleanse because I've always felt cleanses were draining on the body and that when properly nourished, we can rid ourselves of that which we don't need). The ejuva company states their cleanse is not depleting. It's also pretty expensive.

[Pat Robinson]

Well a couple of things jump out. First, Andy Cutler recommends not getting pregnant for 18 months after amalgam removal. There is a dump of old mercury around 6-9 months post removal. We've had a recent discussion about Preconception care: Mineral Deficiency Test (and mercury issues).

Another long thread is The Pinworm Thread. The alternative leaning among us don't feel that microbials need to be "attacked", rather we need to make them obsolete through proper nutrients and foods. I found this research fascinating! http://www.mothering.com/discussions/showthread.php?p=12416114&...

The anal itching may be the Dientamoeba Fragilis. My inclination is that we probably can handle exposure to 'pathogenic' microbials when our gut microbial balance is healthy. The overgrowth or runaway reproduction of 'pathogenic' microbials happens when the gut environment is conducive. There are many natural anti-microbials and pro-biotics.

Here are a few I found for Dientamoeba Fragilis specifically.
http://nutrition.tsisecure.com/archive/2007/11/30/dientamoeba-fragi...
http://www.fungusfocus.com/html/parasites_general_info.htm
http://www.badbugs.org/parasite/_case_histories6.htm
http://www.digitalnaturopath.com/cond/C659673.html

Topical relief: http://www.mothering.com/discussions/showthread.php?p=12416610&...

An alternate perspective, is that the microbials are present for a reason. Correcting the *underlying* issue, rather than a "pathology" is another path.

Often, we have gut dysbiosis due to blocked detox pathways, poor nutrient bio-availability secondary to inadequate stomach acid, heavy metal toxicity. There are whole food probiotics, and natural food enzymes and herbs which have helped to maintain symbiotic balance in the gut microbials for eons before bottle probiotics (and antibiotics) were sold.

I'd focus on gut healing. I would do natural antifungals, antibacterials, antiparasitic, antimicrobials foods and spices in our diet and then whole food probiotics. Probiotics. Probiotics. Probiotics through whole foods. Cultured and fermented foods. I'd rotate antimicrobials and rotate probiotics. I'd follow the antimicrobial foods two hours later with probiotic foods, multiple times a day.

Natural antiparasitics and natural antibacterials, such as garlic, black walnut hulls, wormwood, clove, raw pumpkin seeds, fennel, thyme, sage, goldenseal, oregano, water, salt, essential oils: cinnamon, lemongrass, thyme, peppermint, lavender, coriander; olive leaf extracts, vit C, onion, allspice, tarragon, cumin; capsicums, including chilies and other hot peppers; black and white pepper, ginger, anise seed, celery seed, and the juices of lemons and limes; cranberries, myrrh, turmeric, echinacea, licorice root, rosemary, basil, mint, anise, dandelion, honey, probiotics, etc. are ubiquitous in traditional cultures

Also, clay, vit C, selenium, magnesium, Epsom salt baths to support detox pathways.
Caution: not all the natural antimicrobials are appropriate for pregnant or nursing mothers!!

Epsom salts orally is not an optimal source of magnesium as it is not well absorbed from the gut. But, I can't get an Epsom salt bath every day, so I'll add a pinch to my drinking water as long as it tastes sweet.

I'm concerned that with the gut healing you've been doing, you may be releasing mercury into circulation, if you have candida or blocked detox pathways. The nutrients to focus on are zinc, magnesium, B12 and molybdenum in addition to nutrient dense foods: http://heal-thyself.ning.com/forum/topics/help-for-my-husbands-health?commentId=2814160%3AComment%3A3688

Nutrient Dense Foods: http://heal-thyself.ning.com/forum/topics/nutrient-dense-foods

Personally, I would not try to conceive within 6 months of a big detox, microbial cleanse, or die-off with a history of mercury exposures.

Did you have thyroid testing with antibodies, free T3 and free T4?

Have you read at Detox Puzzle and Eating Cultures to evaluate your detox pathways?


Btw, antibiotics destroy the 'good' bacteria in the gut. A horrible thing to do pre-pregnancy, imo.

I'd focus on stomach acid to improve nutrient absorption and work at colonizing the gut with beneficial microbials. I wouldn't be cleansing with a history of recent mercury removal.


Pat

[Pat Robinson]

Are you doing any chelation with ALA, MSM, EDTA... I don't know all of that stuff. But, there are chemical ways to help remove mercury from your organs, thyroid, brain, gut. Tanya is the resident chelation resource here. The issue is we chelate into fetus and breastmilk. I know I did.


Pat

[seedstarter]

Thank you Pat!

I hope I didn't give the wrong impression: I'm not wanting to take Abx, but was surprised when my gyn who focuses on herbs and nutrition and rarely prescribes told me that it might be nearly impossible to remove the parasite without them. The intestinal cleanse product (ejuva) that she recommended she said might remove the parasite, but might not. This input, plus some web reading broke my confidence until I decided to further research, which brought me back to this ning and some other sites.

You know, I realize now that should postpone trying to conceive b/c of the amalgam removal. I'd forgotten how recently I'd had that done. Until I wrote the thread, I was thinking it was 20 mos ago, but of course that doesn't make sense b/c I was nursing a lot, so wouldn't have done it then, even though my dentist urged me to b/c the filling was very tiny and was cracked. His reasoning was that the crack was releasing mercury continually, thus removing it, since it was so small would be the best thing. As it was, my son was hardly nursing once I had it removed and I avoided nursing, but only for a week.

I have been part of mdc's pinworm thread. This discussion is great. I like the research on the helpful effects of parasites in challenging the immune system as a way of avoiding autoimmune disease and allergies. However, pinworm was probably not as common during our long past evolution cause it's killed by sunlight, and is common in crowded urban environments, not farming conditions. I believe the parasites in the studies were harmless to humans whereas pinworm causes intense itching, restless sleep, crying toddlers (from my experience), and is indicated in some cases of appendicitis where the path report came back that the appendix is filled w/ pinworms!

I wonder if the key is to have a healthy intestinal balance and diet that will keep such parasites at low enough levles that they're harmless.

I'd welcome any further thoughts on this.

Oh and I've tried the topical approaches, as well as others. The only thing that provides some comfort is calendula oil that I make myself, but it provides minimal relief. Oops, I lied, I haven't tried Epsom salt sitz bath, although I did it w/ ds and it helped while he was in it, but not once he was out. Also a cold pack in the crotch at night has helped ds settle down and sleep when he had pinworm.

Pat, you linked some websites:

1) http://nutrition.tsisecure.com/archive/2007/11/30/dientamoeba-fragi...

I had done the black walnut, wormood, pumpkin seeds (and raw garlic, which they don't mention) when my son first had pinworm. When I saw how badly my son was itching and no improvement after a few days, I gave up and we all took Vermox. It is very unusual for me to give up on natural approaches like this. (The IVF was another time when I went for allopathic "cure" after 6 yrs of research, natl approaches, healing nutrition and repeated tests showing my tubes were still blocked). I also learned that Vermox is only minimally absorbed by body: most stays in colon where it deprives pinworms of glucose, so I was okay with that, given how aweful the symptoms in ds.

This site also recommends colloidal silver, which I am concerned is toxic. Anyone have input on this?

I'll look further into it, found the following sites on Healing Wise Forum:

www.wishgranted.com (this where I purchased colloid master 777 AC)
www.all-natural.com/silver-1.html
www.silver-colloids.com/pubs/history-silver.html

Will post back if they turn out anything interesting.

I am allergic to silver jewelry, so that is one concern. I know the allergy may be to another metal, not silver, but seems like a risk to take ingesting it.

2) http://www.fungusfocus.com/html/parasites_general_info.htm

This page recommends raw garlic, which I've been using multiple times a day since before I had the test done. For a number of yrs, I avoided raw garlic unless I was sick b/c of sulfur sensitivity, but recently, I've been able to handle it most of the time. I've been taking the garlic in honey or w/ food, b/c it's easier to tolerate that way, but now I'm cutting out honey (it feeds parasites) and maybe will try garlic between meals with some ginger to help digestion. The webiste also mentions other herbs with a link, which I will look at.

3) http://www.badbugs.org/parasite/_case_histories6.htm

This page has extensive information on D. fragilis and B. hominis (a related parasite), but she repeatedly says noone has eradicated their parasite w/ herbs and the case history you linked is about a man who took herbal supplements from Metagenics (Parex and Microbex) and at first thought he had eradicated it, but then had a relapse and was cured w/ Abx. He for a long time worked with a naturopath in did gut-supporting approaches and after a long time of little or no improvement, went for the Abx.

4) http://www.digitalnaturopath.com/cond/C659673.html

The natural approach on this site uses cloves, artemisia (I think), and grapefruit seed extract (GSE), which sounds natural and even like something I might make myself. But the following article references a study of commercial GSE, finding that the antimicrobial properties are attributed to the chemical preservatives, such as triclosan and others and no antimicrobial properties were present in the non-commercial ethanol extract (the kind I would make myself).

http://www.healingwiseforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=13472

That was a lot of typing. I really appreciate your detailed reply Pat. I'm going to start a new reply to keep some of this more organized.

[seedstarter]

Along w/ the parasite finding, my stool analysis also found I have lots of Bifidus and e.coli (which is normal in stool), but no Lactobacillus. I was really surprised about the Lactobacillus, b/c I've been eating raw fermented veggies w/ each meal and having miso almost every day. I know some believe w/ enough probiotic support the "bad bugs" will be outcompeted and others think the badbugs must be killed first.

The stool analysis found small amounts of Candida, not in the pathologic range, and none on microscopy. But, I do have a skin fungus that recently reemerged at the site of one if my surgery scars. I've been holding it at bay w/ garlic oil. Previously it went away after lavendar essential oil, but I'm trying to take approaches that less environmentally intensive/more human scale. (i.e. I can make garlic solutions in my kitchen, but would need fancy equipment and LOTS of lavendar to make lavendar essential oil).

So, Pat, I like your idea of alternating antimicrobial foods/herbs and probiotic foods. I'm going to think of it as regimen, whereas as before I was just trying to get these things in my diet every day, now I'm going to be persistent and always follow the antimicrobials w/ probiotics. You say to wait 2 hrs, but I know that allicin (in garlic) does not harm healthy bacteria the way it does unhealthy ones. Not sure about the other herbs.

Also, like your idea of rotating. I hadn't thought of that, but it makes sense b/c I don't know which food/herb antimicrobials will kill D. fragilis (given the paucity of success stories using natural approaches) and rotating the food probiotics will give a wider variety of species, increasing the chance that something will outcompete the parasite.

I'm going to add pinches of Epsom salts to my water, but also try to do some Epsom salt baths or poultices. I'll try for 3 times per week.

You mentioned your concern I'm releasing mercury. At this point I'd like to release mercury, although obviously I need to support my detox pathways.

I had thought my stomach acid was better since I've been taking bitters (which I make at home - the Swedish bitters that's sold has a laxative in it, so I don't want to try that). But the stool report showed that I'm not processing long-chain fatty acids or triglycerides which may reflect low stomach acid, lack of lipase, or ? decreased functioning of pancreas.

Another possibility I'm thinking of is that I don't tolerate (and completely avoid) gluten, but I've not been tested for celiac. I know that some celiacs, even after avoiding gluten for years, don't completely heal their villi. I'm going for genetic celiac testing in February: finally found a good gastroenterologist that takes my insurance and specializes in celiac dz.

I'm thinking of supping zinc: my levels were low on bloodwork even though I try to eat zinc foods regularly, My B6/B12/folate levels were fine, although don't know how well the blood tests reflect actual levels in the body.

Spent a lot of time yesterday looking at Detox Puzzle and Eating Cultures and reading the detox pathways pages, but didn't figure anything out. I feel like each pathway, I identify w/ some things and not others and then I'm not sure if that means it's specific to that pathway or not.

I do know my phase I is slow b/c I'm very caffeine sensitive. I am sensitive to chemicals, such as perfumes, but not to the level of MCS. I knew someone who lived w/ that and I wouldn't want to coopt that label as my reactions are brief, ending as soon as I'm away from the chemical, unlike the chronic problems endured by someone w/ MCS. Although maybe w/ repeated exposure, I'd have a tendency for that.

If anyone makes it through all my posts, thanks for reading!

I welcome any replies and I'm getting a lot out of just putting it all in writing.

[seedstarter]

Pat Robinson said:

Are you doing any chelation with ALA, MSM, EDTA... I don't know all of that stuff. But, there are chemical ways to help remove mercury from your organs, thyroid, brain, gut. Tanya is the resident chelation resource here. The issue is we chelate into fetus and breastmilk. I know I did.


Pat

Nope, I'm not chelating (except maybe w/ garlic). I'd rather chelate w/ foods, but I need to research all that. Am I foolish to think I can chelate w/ foods or herbs? Obviously, I need to open pathways first.

[TanyaL]

seedstarter said:

Pat Robinson said:

Are you doing any chelation with ALA, MSM, EDTA... I don't know all of that stuff. But, there are chemical ways to help remove mercury from your organs, thyroid, brain, gut. Tanya is the resident chelation resource here. The issue is we chelate into fetus and breastmilk. I know I did.


Pat

Nope, I'm not chelating (except maybe w/ garlic). I'd rather chelate w/ foods, but I need to research all that. Am I foolish to think I can chelate w/ foods or herbs? Obviously, I need to open pathways first.

I'm the Tanya Pat mentioned a little above. I don't have a lot of experience, beyond the basics, for digestion-related issues and parasites, but the chelation thing I can discuss.

Brief background: 4 years ago I got sick, was lucky to figure out within a reasonable time period that it was related to my amalgam fillings, I've got 2 kids and they both have health/behavior issues that are related, though neither has enough for a diagnosis of anything. I got my amalgams out and have been chelating with DMSA and ALA for about 20 mos now, the kids as well (but less time for them).

I am a pretty big proponent of DMSA and ALA for a few reasons, mainly the body of knowledge that exists on how to do it safely. Cilantro definitely mobilizes mercury (not sure about other metals) but I don't feel that a lot is known about how to do it safely, because the whole thing is a balancing act. Chelators mobilize metals, but none is perfect, and so some amount of heavy metal is dropped by the chelator. Mobilize too much, and your detox pathways get overwhelmed and you get metals settling in and that hurts, and is not healthy (oxidative stress, stuff like that). I feel ALA and DMSA are well-understood and there is a large, easily-accessible body of knowledge to draw upon to use them safely.

To me, it sounds like you've been a lot more mindful of your health for much longer than most people, and yet you have more health issues than most. Would you agree? To me that says that looking beyond the typical answers will be required to figure things out. The mercury sounds like a possibility. But you also mentioned mono. I know some folks on ASD lists have issues with chronic illnesses that don't resolve, and epstein-barre is one of those, I assume that it turns chronic in people who are already vulnerable for some reason. I don't know how to test for that, it hasn't been our issue, so I'm just familiar with the very basics.

FWIW, someone on another board felt good results with supplemental folate that just raised her from the somewhat low end of the ref range to the somewhat high side--neither was obviously borderline. I'm supping 1200mcg per day and I don't have (based on symptoms/family history) any MTHFR polymorphisms.

[seedstarter]

Hi Tanya, thanks for chiming in.

I do agree with what you say: I've been more attentive to nutrition and overall health than most, yet have more chronic symptoms than most. Am I just more sensitive/aware of my symptoms? I don't think so, especially when talking about fatigue. I have a good diet, get some exercise, but even when I go to sleep early and get a good night's sleep, I often am tired, especially in the luteal phase (2nd half) of my cycle.

I'm going to do more reading on the metal toxicity issue and try again to figure out those detox pathways.

Also plan next week to order some kefir grains to get a different source of probiotics than just with fermented veggies and occasional kombucha. And maybe I shouldn't be drinking the kombucha until I figure out if I'm metal toxic.

[Pat Robinson]

OMGosh, I did not see or get notified of your replies! I'm just reading now. I'm not sure how I didn't see them either. And the forum didn't register that I posted in this thread already. Grrr...

I didn't know about the Susan Weed forum!!! I'm delighted you posted that thread. I just registered there!

I'd heard of the antimicrobial tainting studies which indicate that the GSE doesn't have antimicrobial properties inherently. Triclosan is the devil! I recently read that it has contaminated our rivers to such a degree due to ubiquitous antimicrobial soaps that it is damaging our agricultural micro-organisms. Triclosan scares the daylights out of me. Having said that, Triclosan is about impossible to avoid nowadays. On the other hand, I'm not a fan of GSE although, it might be safer than antibiotics, when push comes to shove. The fact that Ayurveda and TCM doesn't have a history of using grapefruit seed extract limits my willingness to believe it has benefits separate from the (questionable) tainting.

Comfort, especially for toddlers needing sleep has a lot of pull to *do something*!

Will read more.


Pat

[Pat Robinson]

Hmmm... I'm struggling to reply to your inquiries, lol. The computer just locked up and lost my reply.

Short version.

Silver jewelry is usually nickel allergy. I'm not keen on ingesting silver.

Garlic kills candida and releases mercury.

I'd focus on whole foods for gut healing. Especially adequate vit A. Another alternative is Black Seed (nigella sativa) and black seed oil. I can provide dozens of links about its benefits, if you are unfamiliar. Basically, used 2-3000 years for traditional healing in the middle east. Very safe and cheap and available easily. Doesn't taste great but is amazing.

"I wonder if the key is to have a healthy intestinal balance and diet that will keep such parasites at low enough levels that they're harmless. "

That is my belief. But, I/we are starting with an impaired gut, as is ds due to mercury, antibiotics, yada, yada.

Sources about honey and parasites? I couldn't locate them.

Who knows what gut imbalances further complicated natural healing in that linked story of the man with the D. fragilis and B. hominis. Whether he had other detox issues, nutrient deficiencies, heavy metal issues, steroid history...

Pat

[Pat Robinson]

I'd include some kombucha which recolonizes the gut. Only small amounts as it kills off candida. You don't want to be releasing mercury quickly as it just redeposits in organs and brain. 1 tablespoon a day to start or a couple of ounces a couple of times a week. Follow with 4+ gms of vit C!! (in divided doses), and selenium.

Bentonite clay is another 'natural' alternative. I basically feel we probably did ingest some quantity of clay historically.
http://www.healingdaily.com/detoxification-diet/bentonite-clay.htm Although, I haven't tried this, it does help with sopping up heavy metals, as does kelp. But, you need organic, heavy metal tested kelp, only, imo.

Some probiotics are transient. Kefir, specifically milk kefir recolonizes the gut also. Not certain about water kefir, probably/possibly.

Any chance to get breastmilk for healing? Or even bovine colostrum? I've recently read how beneficial the colostrum is for gut healing. Although, I'd only get grass-fed, A2 unpasteurized milk!

Honey helps bifidum to reproduce.

This indicates that lactobacillus colonize the (mouse) gut. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC203519/

Foods to help Phase I and Phase II detox pathways: http://heal-thyself.ning.com/forum/topics/nutrient-dense-foods?comm...

I figure the narrative is the most healing part of posting. It helps to collect and organize the chronology. I've found it helpful to hear your process too. Thanks for posting!


Pat

[Pat Robinson]

Yep, I'd focus on optimizing detox pathways and sourcing ways to excrete the metals first, rather than releasing them into the circulation with food.


Pat

[Pat Robinson]

I just read the Ejuva website. It does not provide a list of ingredients. It doesn't mention mercury toxic people. I'd rather do Juice Feasting. Then you know what you are consuming. This 'take a pill of herbs' of TCM doesn't work for me either. But, I'd consider individual treatment with a practitioner who evaluated my history and needs first. I did see they had a 'mail order health assessment' alternative also.

David Wolfe is a marketing genius. He is a nutritional guru also. But, I kinda like knowing what I put in my body, you know.


Pat