FDA One Step Closer

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The FDA announced recently that they are having the final meetings before they make their ruling on the restrictions for labeling something “gluten-free.” If you haven’t heard, the FDA back in 2004 made a ruling in their Food Allergen Labeling and Consumer Protection Act of 2004 that by the year 2008 they would need to provide manufactures and consumers a definition of gluten and the legal requirements for a product to be labeled “gluten-free.”

If you did not know, currently in the United States manufacturing companies can label something “gluten-free” yet there is no legal definition of what that specifically entails. Usually, companies will label something ‘gluten-free’ if the gluten content is less than 20 ppm (particles per million). There is still disagreement on what gluten really is and how far something has to go before it’s actually gluten free.

The proposed restrictions force companies to only label something as gluten free if it meets the following requirements:

1. Contains none of the “prohibited grains” which includes wheat (e.g., durum wheat, spelt wheat, or kamut), rye, barley or their crossbred hybrids
2. Contains no ingredient (e.g., wheat flour) that is derived from a “prohibited grain” and that has not been processed to remove gluten
3. Any ingredient (e.g., wheat starch) that is derived from a “prohibited grain” must have been processed to remove gluten, if the use of that ingredient results in the presence of 20 micrograms or more gluten per gram of food,
4. Can contain no more than 20 micrograms or more gluten per gram of food.

There seems to be split opinion on how this ruling will work in real-life application. Some people believe that many products that companies label now as ‘gluten-free’ will no longer be labeled as such because of the extra cost in testing that will be required. Personally, I welcome any regulation and think that this ruling will play out very similarly to the Food Allergen Labeling and Consumer Protection Act of 2004 with companies having to label allergens. But we will have to see! I will post again once they actually make the ruling official.

If you want to read more, please check out the following links:

FDA Website

Celiac Central

DC Gluties

The Hub

Toothpaste: Gluten free?

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So I recently decided to change my toothpaste brand, so I thought that I would pass along the inquires that I made for the main three toothpaste companies (Crest, Aquafresh, and Cologate). I emailed them with the following three questions:

1. I was wondering if your various toothpaste products contain gluten?
2. Are they manufactured in a gluten free facility?
3. Do you happen to have a list of your gluten free products?

Here are their responses:

CREST

“Thanks for contacting Crest.

None of our current Crest toothpaste versions, Crest Whitestrips versions, or Crest Night Effects contains gluten. In addition, none of the ingredients used in Glide dental floss contains gluten.

Although we do not directly add ingredients that contain gluten to Crest Pro-Health Rinse or to Crest Whitening Rinse, it's possible these products could contain trace amounts. We recommend you contact your doctor before using these rinse products if you have questions or concerns about gluten.

Stop by anytime.

Crest Team”

COLGATE

“Thank you for contacting us with your question. We appreciate the opportunity to provide information regarding grain derived ingredients in Colgate Palmolive products.

We do not intentionally add gluten to the following Colgate Palmolive products. However, we cannot guarantee that the ingredients used are not exposed to any glutens.

Colgate Toothpaste, all variants
Colgate Simply White Clear Whitening Gel, all variants
Fluorigard Rinse
Orabase Paste and Orabase Gel
Peroxyl Gel and Peroxyl Rinse
Phos-Flur Rinse
Platinum Toothpaste
Prevident Gel
TOTAL Floss
Ultra brite Toothpaste, all variants
Viadent Rinse
Viadent Toothpaste

Sorbitol is an ingredient which can be grain derived and may be found in toothpastes. Our sorbitol is corn-derived.

Once again, thank you for taking the time to contact us. We hope this information is helpful.

Sincerely,

Amy Pollock
Consumer Affairs Representative”

AQUAFRESH

"We have received your e-mail and we are happy to respond to your question regarding Aquafresh® toothpaste and gluten.

Aquafresh® toothpaste is gluten-free.

We appreciate your taking the time to contact us.

Sincerely,

Samantha
GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Healthcare"

Giveaway Contest

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Free stuff! Woohoo!

I've been having some technical difficulties uploading my posts this week, so to make up for my lack of updates, I figured that it was time to have some fun and give away this fabulous cookbook above. I have a copy myself and it's full of great recipes that you can make in a snap.

So, like everything in life, there are rules to this contest:

Generate a list of topics ideas that you would like me to write about. This can be either a particular product you would like reviewed, a gluten issue you would like me to talk about, etc. To enter, you will need to add a comment to this particular post. For each idea (up to five) that you come up with, I will enter your name into the hat that I will pull the winner out of. Example: If you post 6 ideas your name will go into the hat 5 times but if you only post 3 ideas then your name will only go into the hat 3 times. The more ideas you post, the better your odds of winning. Make sure to fill in a name and not click "Anonymous."

The posting will close next Tuesday, August 12th at noon PST (USA). I will announce the winner that night. Feel free to post ideas after that time, but you won't be entered into the contest. After that, I will have you email me your address and I will ship the book to you at no charge!

If you have any questions or need clarification, just add a comment to this post. I'm trying to do this on the honor system, so make me proud people or else I wouldn't feel right about giving away any more free things! And will all love free things! Woo!

Review: Mrs. Leeper's Beef Lasagna

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I've been really searching for easy to fix gluten free meals. The only exposure to the Mrs. Leeper's brand I had more this was their corn pasta. I am not a huge fan of corn pasta, just because the corn flavor doesn't quite go as well with most meals as well as rice flavor does. Plus, the corn pasta's texture is a little different from the rice pasta I'm used to. Anyhoo...

Basically, their gluten free beef lasagna is a hamburger-ish type meal. Just add ground beef and you are ready to go. It took a little longer than the 15 minutes promised on the box, but the results were worth it. Very few brands seem to use corn pasta, but I thought that it blended wonderfully with the spices in the mix.

The box suggested to add cheese and fresh basil. We added cheese, since fresh basil is in short supply at my tiny apartment. I definitely recommend adding the cheese. Afterall, what doesn't taste better with cheese?

We also fixed green beans on the side, which was a nice addition. It fed three hungry adults with no leftovers, so I don't think it's quite enough to feed a family of four even if there are children.

In conclusion, I was very impressed with the product! The quality of the food was higher than any boxed food I've had. The taste was amazing, definitely better than Hamburger Helper! I will look into buying more Mrs. Leeper's box meals in the future.

Stats:
Company – Mrs. Leeper's
Price - Don't know, it was a gift
Review – 5 out of 5 stars
Preparation - Buying a pack of ground beef, ~20 total to cook
Gluten Amount – No gluten ingredients used
Allergians - Contains milk and soy ingredients

Review: Hansen's Cakes

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So, I'm getting married in October in Los Angeles (exciting!). But, along with the excitement comes the stress of planning a gluten free wedding. Everyone has told me that you won't really eat at your wedding, you are always SO busy. I don't care! I want my wedding to be gluten free! :D

The biggest worry is the cake! So, I contact the only GF bakery in Los Angeles, The Sensitive Baker. I love these guys. Their stuff is amazing. Really, it's the best stuff I've found that I haven't made from stratch myself. Granted, the price tag is a little high, but the food is awesome. I've had cakes from here before for birthdays, etc. So I know that this place is great.

I go and talk to the Sensitive Baker. Apparently, they don't really feel comfortable decorating elaborate cakes. They also don't do tiered cakes. Sadness. But, the woman told me that they bake cakes and then send them over to this bakery called Hansen's Cakes. They try to sell me on it by saying that movie stars shop there (which is the most common thing said about ANY store in LA... this is LA people, you can't impress me with movie stars... they are everywhere).

So I made an appointment there at their main showroom, explained that I had Celiac's, and off I went with my fiance.

THE EXPERIENCE WAS COMPLETELY TERRIBLE!!! Do NOT go to this bakery. I have probably never had as bad of an experience with a company in my life!

When I show up, the woman that I met with was insulting. Every idea I had she looked at me like I had said something offensive. I ask for was a two-tiered white wedding cake with a blue ribbon around each tier (I bring a picture from Martha Stewart Wedding, I want something simple). "You want your cake to be white?!?" "You want your cake to have blue on it?" Every time she gave me this horrible face that basically said, "Well, if you want to ruin your wedding, go right ahead!"

Then comes the cake tasting. They bring me a plate that has white cake and chocolate cake (even though their website says that they offer more varieties, as did the Sensitive Baker). I look at the guy who brought me the cake test pieces and ask, "These are the gluten free ones, right?!?" He looks at me and says, "Oh, I don't know. I just got it from the kitchen." I look at him and say, "Well, can you please check because if I eat this and it's not then I will be very sick for three days." The saleswoman tries to get me to go ahead and eat the pieces he brought. Hum... NO?!? I get sick if I eat a piece of lettuce that touched a cruton, there is NO way I'm flat out eating that much flour!

After the guy returns and assures me the cake he gave was GF, we taste it. The cake they served was NOT the Sensitive Bakers. The cake was dry, terrible tasting, and falling apart. I've had cakes and cupcakes from the Sensitive Baker many times and this was not that! A GF cake mix you get from a store is WAY better!

No one could tell me what of the fillings was gluten free and each person I talked to told me something different. I finally talked to one person who actually seemed to know what was going on and he grabbed me a printout of the ingredients for the cakes. I tell him that the cake ingredients don't look like something that the Sensitive Baker would make and that it sure didn't taste like their recipe. He said that they say that they take the cakes from the Sensitive Baker, but apparently they have started making their own recipe!?!

I went and complained to The Sensitive Baker. The saleswoman woman there told me that this was the first that they had heard of this and they were shocked that Hansen's was selling gluten free cake that wasn't theirs (in violation of their contract... opps!). From the sound of it, doesn't look like Hansen's will have the Sensitive Baker's business for much longer. I'm not sad at all.

So I'm currently trying to work out something. My caterer is seeing if he can find someone else decorate a Sensitive Baker cake for. He said that he uses Cake Divas to decorate vegan cakes from a vegan bakery all the time so we are currently talking with them to see if we could work something out.

In conclusion, DON'T go to Hansen's. The terrible reviews they have online are COMPLETELY true! Don't risked getting glutened (and terrible cake) from this place!!!

Lessons From Doing Laundry By Hand

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I have been doing laundry by hand for a while now, ever since my old washing machine finally quit working (see this post - When Good Appliances Go Bad) and I have learned a few things - both good and bad, humorous and sad - about doing laundry by hand.
This is my Laundry List of Things I've Learned While Washing Clothes By Hand:

1. Towels are meant to absorb water and they are really good at it.

2. Jeans are hard to hand wash and nearly impossible to wring out. I'm thinking a week after Levi Strauss invented blue jeans, Mrs. Levi Strauss was working on creating an automatic washing machine.

3. Apparently, me, my husband, and our cat all shed - a lot.

4. Washing clothes by hand is a real workout and that has plusses and minusses:
    a) working out is good for you.
    b) it can be really exhausting.
    c) you have to do your "workout" or you don't have clean clothes.
    d) you build up enough upper body strength that if someone teases you about doing your laundry by hand, you could probably sling them around the room a few times without getting out of breath.

5. You can get your clothes cleaner doing them by hand because each piece gets personal attention.

6. I'm using less water by doing laundry by hand.

7. My husband brings home a lot of dust from job sites in his clothes. If I could find a way to save it, I wouldn't have to buy potting soil for my plants.

8. I miss my old washing machine.

9. Some clothes, depending on the material, can poof into a balloon when you try to push them into the water; it is a nuisance when you are trying to do laundry, but these clothes might make great emergency flotation devices.

10. This is something that really surprised me - Some clothes have different sections of material that you don't notice until you hand wash them. I discovered a t-shirt that has one sleeve made of a lighter weight material than the rest of the shirt. It is not noticeable until you soak it in water, then it is obvious. And one of my husband's long-sleeved shirts is made with a couple of 'patches' of different thread/material. Again, you don't notice it when the shirt is dry, but when it's wet, the sections of different thread/material is easily seen. I wonder how common that is? Is it done to save the manufacturers money? To create a weak spot in the fabric so it rips and the consumer has to buy a new garment? I know of several people who have been complaining about jeans wearing out quickly in unmentionable places - are the jeans made that way? Made of different thread/material in unmentionable places so that they will wear out faster and have to be replaced?

Bonus! Bonus! Bonus!

The top things I've learned while line-drying my clothes:
1. Laundry + Windy Day + Cheap Clothespins = Shirts in The Shrubs
2. Towels are meant to absorb water and they are good at it.
3. Jeans are so stiff after they've dried on the line that you could almost just stand them in the closet.
And Most Importantly:
4. If you hang sheets on the line to dry, make sure they are high enough off of the ground that your neighbors dog can't pee on them.

Can Zinc and Selenium Counteract Mercury's Effects on ADHD and Autism?

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Mercury, an unwanted side-effect of the omega-3 rich fish oil treatment strategy for both ADHD and autistic spectrum disorders may be counteracted by Selenium and Zinc:

It's a catch-22 of the ADHD world. We've been told to feed ourselves and our kids as much of the omega-3 rich cold water fish as we can muster in order to balance their dietary fats and the subsequent hormonal effects. On the other hand, we're supposed to curb our fish product consumption for fear of mercury. Are there any other options beyond digging into our wallets for the pricey low-mercury wild organic salmon of the Pacific?

Why mercury is so toxic for the brain:

In general, (as one would probably expect) if a metal or compound can be cleared from the body easily, then the risk of toxicity is generally much lower. However, if the material cannot be easily cleared from the system, it can begin to build up in specific tissues or regions of the body.

Unfortunately, the brain is one of those target organs that has an almost magnetic pull for the heavy metal. While the digestive system can partially metabolize mercury into organic mercury-containing compounds, these compounds can make their way across the protective blood-brain barrier (a barrier meant to restrict the access of chemicals in the blood from passing into the brain, however, several harmful organic compounds can make their way across this barrier with relative ease).

In general, fatty acids penetrate the blood brain barrier relatively well, and these important fish fats and oils can make perfect delivery vehicles for some of these toxic compounds. In other words, mercury in fish and fish oil products can be exceptionally hard to isolate or remove from the brain.

Further complicating the matter is the problem of oxidation, especially in the brain tissue. While all organs and tissues of the body can suffer from oxidative damage (think of the biochemical equivalent of rusting or corrosion), the brain, due to its high fat content, is especially susceptible to this harmful oxidation. It is here in the brain that the mercury can become trapped and promote these dangerous oxidative processes.

Mercury and corn syrup: A hidden danger for the ADHD child?

The sugar/hyperactivity debate has been around for ages, although most of the recent evidence often refutes this commonly held assertion. Nevertheless, several nutritionists swear by their convictions about this association. So who is right?

This blogger personally believes that there is an association between sugar and ADHD-like symptoms, but this connection is likely due to secondary factors. Let me explain:

Consumption of high concentrations of sugary foods and beverages can be a metabolically taxing and stressful process on the body. The enzyme systems necessary to metabolize high quantities of sugars are dependent on an ample supply of vitamin and mineral "cofactors" (these will be discussed in more detail later on in this post), or agents that help the enzymes function propertly.

If overtaxed (as by consuming large quantities of soda or candy, for example), these vitamin and mineral cofactors can be rapidly depleted. Common cofactors such as iron, copper, zinc and selenium can be depleted in glucose (sugar) metabolism.

Interestingly, deficiencies in zinc and iron (especially when comorbid sleep disorders including restless legs syndrome are present alongside the ADHD) are common in the ADHD population. In fact, iron may be the underpinning biological factor in an alleged genetic link between ADHD and restless legs syndrome. We will be discussing the role of selenium in ADHD shortly.

Additionally, this depletion can have an effect on the antioxidant levels of the individual including a lowering of levels of pools of the important antioxidant reduced glutathione (we will be investigating the importance of glutathione later on in this post). There is some evidence of ADHD symptoms in adults being at least partially attributed to antioxidant imbalance.

In addition, the insulin rush, surge and fallout from consumption of a sugary meal can also wreak havoc on hormonal balances (including adrenaline, a chemical cousin to several neuro-chemical agents which are often seen to be off-kilter in most ADHD cases). We will save this discussion and go into more detail on the role of sugar consumption and hyperactivity and attentional deficits in later posts.

Returning to the main topic of our post (from our tangent here!), some forms of sugar may also have other hidden dangers with relevance to our post here on mercury and ADHD and related disorders. The processing and manufacturing of high fructose corn syrup (one of the most common and readily available sweetening agents in North America and much of the Westernized world), may actually leave detectable levels of mercury in the sweetener (which, the study also attributes to causing a zinc loss).

As a result, consumption of high levels of corn syrup at least has the potential to up our intake of mercury. If the mercury/autism/ADHD connection holds true, then this is one more (indirect) way in which sugary foods can increase the risk of inattention and hyperactivity associated with the disorder.


Can chelation therapy be used to effectively remove the mercury in our systems?

Our first thought might be to enlist the help of chemical agents which could pull the mercury or other toxic (and easily oxidizable metals) out of our systems.

A recent study has highlighted some possible alternatives on the mercury-fish-ADHD dilemma. One of the strategies involves the use of chelating materials. The word "chelate" comes from the Greek word "claw", and refers to an important chemical property in which a non-metallic compound can tightly bind to or "pick" up a specific type of metal and pull it away.

Ethylenediamenetetraacetic Acid or EDTA, is one of the most well-known chelating agents for removing metals and mineral deposits from hard water, and even has some reported health implications for removing crusty hardening from human arteries.

In theory, it sounds like this may be a good treatment option for removing toxic metals or oxidizing agents from the brains and digestive tracts of children with ADHD and related disorders (i.e. the autism-mercury controversy?).

On the flip side, chelation therapy can be dangerous, especially for children, due, in part, to the fact that the chelating agents are often non-specific for their target metals. This highlights a classic problem in medical research, the rift between theory and practice.

For example, some versions or derivatives of EDTA can "pick up" or remove significant amounts of the important mineral calcium (which, in addition to its role in skeletal function is an extremely important mineral in regulating heart rhythms, and optimizing nervous system function, among other things) along with the desired heavy metals lead and mercury. Cases of deaths due to this chelation therapy for autism have been reported, and recent clinical trials for chelation therapy for autism have been halted.

Enzyme systems: Nature's alternatives to organic chelating agents?

Fortunately, our bodies contain a number of powerful enzymes which not only can protect our brain and other important organs from oxidative damage, but actually help remove harmful or toxic materials from our systems.

However, in order for these enzymes to work at optimal levels, they must be constantly equipped with adequate levels of helpful nutrients or cofactors. Cofactors, often come in the form of our dietary vitamins and minerals, such as zinc, iron, magnesium, vitamin B6, vitamin B12, vitamin C, etc., and are required by numerous enzymes in order for the enzymes to work at peak efficiency. Not surprisingly, several of these cofactors have been discussed for their relevance to ADHD in earlier postings of this blog (see links on nutrients listed above)

This is why nutrient deficiencies can be so hazardous, because literally hundreds or even thousands of enzyme systems may be in jeopardy if our bodies are deficient in just a handful of nutrients.

Two of these important enzyme system and enzyme products are the metallothionein enzyme and the peptide glutathione (which is not an enzyme, but is synthesized via several enzymes and is sensitive to the balance between oxidant and antioxidant levels).

Metallothionein has been implicated in a number of studies concerning the enzyme's relationship to autism. One theory holds that children with autism have either lower levels of this enzyme or higher levels of antibodies to the enzyme (in which the body essentially attacks its own enzyme system as part of the idea of autism being an auto-immune disorder).

While a small amount or research out there supports these claims, it is important to note that these findings are far from universal. In fact, most of the recent body of literature refutes the claim outright. One study in particular negated both the observation that metallothionein was lower in autistic children or that higher levels of antibodies to the enzyme were present in autistic children. On the other hand, lower levels of the antioxidant glutathione are often seen in cases of autism.

(Blogger's note: the reason I'm going into so much detail about autism is because the high degree of symptomal overlap between ADHD and disorders of the autistic spectrum, as well as the high degree of overlap between nutrient deficiencies concerning the two disorders).

The role of selenium and zinc in the processes of the enzyme metallothionein and the antioxidant glutathione:

We have seen in previous cases how boosting levels of one metal in the body can offset the negative effects of another such as the case of iron combatting the harmful effects of lead in ADHD.

It appears that the metallothionein function in autism is intricately tied to copper-zinc ratios, and an excess of copper (or deficiency of zinc) can hinder this enzyme's effectiveness (the presence of heavy metals such as mercury are believed to be at least partially responsible for this skewed zinc-to-copper ratio). Interestingly, significantly higher copper to zinc ratios have also been seen in ADHD children in recent studies. In addition, the transport or delivery of zinc to its desired targets may be dependent on the antioxidant functions of glutathione and the mineral selenium.

While copper and zinc balances have been studied extensively with their relationship to ADHD (here's an earlier post on ten ways zinc can counteract ADHD symptoms, or how zinc can boost the effectiveness of ADHD medications), selenium may be a "sleeper" as far as important minerals for ADHD symptom treatment goes.

While selenium is unlikely to unseat "heavyweight" minerals such as zinc, iron and magnesium for ADHD treatment, selenium is an important mineral for maintaining proper antioxidant balances, either directly (as an antioxidant itself) or indirectly (via its incorporation into selenium-dependent enzymes). The latter is evidenced by a number of important enzymes such as the dependence of the important antioxidant enzyme glutathione peroxidase on selenium.

However, given selenium's wide range of potential benefits (selenium has been implicated as an anti-cancer agent in a number of studies), it appears that this often unheralded mineral may be a useful auxiliary agent in ADHD treatment.

To conclude this message, we must remember that nutrients often work best in combos, not in isolation. This (in this blogger's humble opinion), is why so many nutritional methods which attempt to combat ADHD often fail, in that they often fail to see this interconnection between nutrient interactions. They often instruct the individual to ramp up the dosage of only one or two nutrient which are believed to be deficient, and neglect to take into account the important roles of these supporting nutrient systems as a whole.

We have seen in other postings how omega-3 fatty acids often work well with antioxidants, as well as omega-3's and carnitine for treating ADHD via nutritional methods. Vitamin C can work in tandem with vitamin E as an antioxidant supplement duo, and recent evidence suggests that vitamin C and flax oil may also be a good combo for ADHD as well. Several studies have indicated that magnesium works well with Vitamin B6 (as well as other B vitamins) as an ADHD treatment method. Zinc may also work well with omega-3's as well as vitamin B6, and now, as we have seen, potentially with selenium, as an antidote to mercury's oxidative and toxic effects.

It is imperative that we recognize the importance of these nutrients both alone and in combination, including their potential abilities to counteract chemical agents which may either cause or exacerbate ADHD symptoms.

New Lucy's

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This week we received the new Lucy’s Brownie Cakes. It is a shelf stable gluten free brownie. The box comes with eight soft and chewy brownies. They are packaged two brownies to one foil pack so you aren’t forced to eat all eight or risk having the uneaten brownies go stale.
As with all Lucy’s products, there are no peanuts, tree nuts, gluten, milk and eggs in the product. They are also Non-GMO verified and every serving is only 120 calories, 0 mg cholesterol and low sodium. You can head over here and order you package of brownies today.

Jane's Healthy Kitchen

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Friday, the weekend, a great time to think about Seafood! Wild Maple Glazed Salmon: Here’s a quick and easy way to make maple glazed salmon that tastes incredulicious! The sauce is mildly sweet with a pungent kick. Most barbeque sauces are high in sugars. Instead, this recipe uses natural zero-carb chicory root sweetener. I bake salmon in the oven as it is easier and avoids carcinogens of outdoor barbecues. This recipe contains no high-carb maple syrup, instead it uses maple flavoring. It’s also nightshade-free so it’s easy to digest, as it contains no peppers or tomoatoes. The resulting sweet glaze is simply delicious and it gives your blood sugar a break. Serves 4

Seafood | janeshealthykitchen.com janeshealthykitchen.com
Seafood

Where in The World is Beth Hillson?

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Hello all. Thanks for your notes. I am on the road, presenting a GF Holiday Boot Camp and Survival program in the following locations. If you are nearby, come and visit. I'll have books to sign as well.
Saturday October 13, 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. Kroger Store #998 1365 E 86th St
Indianapolis, IN 46240Just down the street from the GF Living Expo  in Carmel(You can do Both!)
Monday October 15, 6:30 p.m.  Kingsgate Marriott Conference Center at the University of Cincinnati151 Goodman Drive, Cincinnati, OH 45219 Vouchers will be given to attendees for parking ($10 each).

Tuesday, Oct 16, 6 to 8 p.m.Frys Food Store #612, 4707 East Shea Blvd. Phoenix, AZ 85028 (Route 51 North to Shea)Includes a special holiday cooking class - call 480-367-3940 (space is limited)

Wednesday, Oct 17 6 to 8 p.m.King Soopers #19, 3100 South Sheridan Blvd., Denver, CO. 80227,
Thursday, Oct 18 4 p.m.Fred Myer 3805 SE Hawthorne Blvd. Portland OR 97214

These events are sponsored by Glutino and Kroger Markets.

Diagnosing Ovarian Cancer and Treatment Options

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(Image credit to ‘Shutterstock’)

Diagnosing ovarian cancer is very important to determine the stage of the disease, which then also very crucial for the doctor in deciding the appropriately treatment options to cure the disease. In the previous article, we have clearly understood that diagnosing the disease at a much earlier stage is significantly helpful to encourage the successful of the treatment and prognosis of patient. 
You might also like to know more about symptoms and risk factors of ovarian cancer (conditions that put you at higher risk of developing the disease) in here, before continuing!
Unfortunately, there are usually less signs or even almost no symptoms that occur at very early stage /early stage. This is one of major reasons of why the disease is not easy to be diagnosed /detected at early stages - in fact, the disease is still often diagnosed at later stages. 
Furthermore, there is still no specifically reliable screening test to find the disease as early as possible. And some symptoms of ovarian cancer also can be generated by other health conditions. Therefore, diagnosing the disease is usually not enough with one or two tests. 
Diagnosing ovarian cancer
The diagnosis usually begins from the symptoms that occur, general health and medical history of patient. Your doctor may ask about your abdomen (tummy) and then may also perform some internal examinations.
For further tests, then patient usually will be referred to a registered gynaecologist. If the specialists are concerned that a patient may have cancer in the ovaries, they will arrange some appropriately tests to find a clearly diagnosis.
And the following are some common procedures /tests to diagnose ovarian cancer:
Some procedures to examine your pelvic!
The pelvic examination may only use a manual technique or also with a speculum to visually check the cervix and genitals (vulva) of patient. Speculum is a kind of small device that can be inserted into the female genital. 
CA 125 blood test
CA 125 is a kind protein that can be found on the cells of ovarian cancer. High level of CA 125 in the blood is often associated with ovarian cancer. 
But CA 125 also can be found on the surface of some healthy tissue. And elevated CA 125 levels also can be caused by certain noncancerous conditions (such as pregnancy, fibroids, pelvic inflammatory disease, and endometriosis). Therefore, having high CA 125 level doesn’t mean that you definitely have ovarian cancer. Other appropriately tests are usually needed to confirm a clearly diagnosis. 
In essence, CA 125 blood test is not a completely reliable procedure to diagnose ovarian cancer. But it can be used to find that there is a kind of inflammation. Sometimes, it is also useful to monitor the progress of the treatment. 
In addition, in fact many patients with ovarian cancer at early stages don’t have abnormal CA 125 levels. The elevated CA 125 levels usually occur in the advanced stages (about 90 percent (9 out of 10 patients) with later stages of the disease have raised CA 125 levels).
Ultrasound test
It is a kind of test to visually check the inside body of patient.  It can produce images of the inside organ by using high-frequency sound waves, so thus doctors can analyze the shape, size, and configuration of the patient’s ovaries.
In other words, ultrasound test is helpful for the doctors to get to know whether the ovaries have normal size, normal in texture, and whether or not they have ovarian cysts!
If your specialist still in doubt whether or not you have ovarian cancer, you may be asked to repeat some appropriately tests (like ultrasound test) in the next months.
CT-scan test
This test is usually needed to visually check your ovaries more clearly. In general, it is a kind of X-ray test that purposed to get several pictures of the inside of the body from different angles. Then these pictures will be fed into the computer to result more detailed pictures of your ovaries.
Before taking CT-scan test, patient is usually asked to:

1. Avoid drinking /eating for about four hours before the test!
2. Drink a special prescribed liquid for about a few hours before taking the test!
3. Take other appropriately procedures before the test!

Staging ovarian cancer
Before deciding the treatment plan, first doctors need to clearly diagnose the type and stage (whether the cancer has spread or still completely inside the ovaries). 
Furthermore, it is not always possible to clearly find and diagnose the type of ovarian cancer until after patient has had surgery. Surgeon will take a sample tissue during surgery, which then can be closely analyzed in the lab.
The following are some common tests and procedures to determine the type of stage of ovarian cancer:
X-ray and ultrasound scan
To find whether or not the cells of cancer have spread to the lungs or whether there is a pleural effusion (a fluid build-up around the lung), you may be asked to take a chest X-ray test. 
And your specialist may also recommend an ultrasound scan /CT-scan to get to know whether there is any sign of cancer cells elsewhere in the abdomen /tummy. Even sometimes a patient may also be asked to take a MRI test, but it is often unnecessary.
Image guided biopsy
This test is used to take a sample tissue of the body that as close as possible represents the spread of ovarian cancer (it can be a sample tissue from inside the abdomen, ovaries, or other different places). 
Image guided biopsy usually also involve a scan test (like ultrasound scan or CT-scan test) for the guide of specialist to put the needle. Patients may get some different needle puncture sites to take some different samples of tissue from different places of the body. 
But sometimes image guided biopsy is not suitable in some women. For instance, a patient who has unreachable tumor with image guided biopsy – therefore she may need to take a laparoscopy test!
A small camera inserted into the inside body (laparoscopy test)
Laparoscopy is a helpful option to closely examine the cells of ovarian cancer without needing a big surgery, because the specialists can use a small camera to visually check inside the body of patient. 
In this procedure, doctors usually will make a small cut in the abdomen then the flexible tube that has a small camera will be inserted through the abdominal cavity. Furthermore with keyhole surgery, it is also possible for doctors to take a sample tissue of affected ovaries which then will be closely examined in the lab.
Taking abdominal fluid
For patients who also complain about swollen abdomen /tummy, it can be a sign that cancer cells may have spread. However, swollen tummy also can be caused by other noncancerous conditions.
The swollen tummy in patients with ovarian cancer is often associated with fluid build-up in the tummy (or often called as ‘ascites’). To find a clearly diagnosis, the specialist usually will take a sample of abdominal fluid which then will be closely analyzed in the lab.
** Additionally, you will not take all tests mentioned here! Because the tests that you will take are usually closely dependent on the symptoms that you have, the tests that you have had so far, etc! 
And below are helpful tips about some important questions that you should ask to your doctor before taking any test:

1. What the tests /procedures are you going to do?!
2. What is the goal of each test?!
3. Will the procedures that you need to take be effective to diagnose ovarian cancer?
4. Will you know the answer about a kind of the treatment you need to take after these tests?
5. How about with side effects of each test? Are these tests painful or not?
6. Can you be an out-patient? Or should you stay at hospital during the test - if so, how long?!
7. Can you bring your family /someone when you have these tests? 
8. How long to get the result of the test?
9. And who will you ask about your test result, who will give you the test results?

Ovarian cancer treatment options
Surgery is one of the most common choices for almost all patients with ovarian cancer. The type and stage of the disease are significantly factors that influence the amount & type of surgery or other appropriately treatments that you will need to take! Read also the previous post about stages of ovarian cancer!
Other factors that usually can affect the decision of the treatment that you have are your overall health and the grade of cancer cells (a variable to analyze about the progress of cancer cells to grow and spread).
Chemotherapy is another common choice to treat the disease. It is often used and prescribed after surgery. But for patients with low grade stage I (at very early stage), they may not require further treatment after surgery – though some of them may also still need to take radiotherapy treatment.
The following are general information about options of the treatment for ovarian cancer:
Treatment options for very early stage
If the tumor is still categorized into a borderline tumor or low grade (which usually occur at very early stage), patient usually needs to take a surgery that only removes the affected ovary! 
Fortunately, borderline tumors are easier to be treated and they are also unlikely to come back (this is very beneficial for patients who still have a plan for pregnancy, because the unaffected ovary is very possible to be left behind).
But for women with menopause or have had menopause or women who don’t have a plan to get pregnant, doctors may recommend to remove both ovaries (including for the unaffected ovary) in order to significantly reduce the risk of developing recurrence cancer in the ovaries.
Options of treatment for ovarian cancer at early stage
To completely eliminate the risk of cancer cells being left behind, both ovaries and womb of patients with stage I ovarian cancer should be removed during surgery – according to a guideline from the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE).
Your doctor may also recommend omentum removal (this procedure is also called as ‘omentectomy’ to remove a sheet of fatty tissue in the abdomen). Because there is a chance for ovarian cancer cells to also spread into the omentum!
Sometimes, the specialists may also need to remove some biopsies from different areas of the body (such as sheet of diaphragm, certain tissues in the pelvis & abdomen, and lymph nodes in the abdomen & pelvis) where the cancer cells could have spread.
And after surgery, doctors may also prescribe chemotherapy in order to kill any remaining cells of cancer and reduce the risk of the cancer cells to come back. This procedure is also often called ‘adjuvant chemotherapy’!
How about with the treatment options for later stages (stage II, III, and IV)?
In these stages, the cells of cancer have spread more widely, and therefore more treatment is needed. To completely cure the cancer, patients are also more likely to get more than one surgery - depending on the general health of patient, whether the cells of cancer have spread to another organ (how far they have spread), and how fast the cancer cells are growing! 
Stage II
For this stage, the treatment options usually involve:

1. Removal of ovaries, fallopian tubes, and uterus.
2. Partial removal (resection) of tumor in the area of pelvic.
3. And partial removal of any other structures that are affected by the cancer.

Adjuvant chemotherapy procedure is also usually used after surgery. But taking chemotherapy before surgery may be recommended if surgeon believe that the chance of removing all cancer is good. This procedure is called neoadjuvant option, which usually more purposed to shrink the cells of cancer so thus they will be easier to remove. 
Stage III
In general, the treatment options for this stage is still almost similar to the stage II treatment, but with more aggressively chemotherapy and doctors may also consider some experimental treatments to find a better result.
Some patients may also be advised to take a direct abdominal treatment (a kind of treatment option that is referred to as ‘peritoneal therapy’). This procedure is more difficult, but may provide a better result to improve survival.
Stage IV
It is the most advanced stage, and therefore it is more difficult to be treated. Moreover, patients with this stage are more likely to be not well enough to take a big operation. Multi-agent chemotherapy may be prescribed to shrink cancer cells as much as possible - this option is also purposed to slow they down!
Furthermore, doctors may also consider taking some clinical trials (such as the use of biological therapies with chemotherapy) to find a better result. Patients may also be asked to take appropriately radiotherapy to ease /relieve the symptoms that occur – depending on where in the parts of the body the cancer cells have spread.
*** Consult more with a doctor for more detailed information!

New Lucy's

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This week we received the new Lucy’s Brownie Cakes. It is a shelf stable gluten free brownie. The box comes with eight soft and chewy brownies. They are packaged two brownies to one foil pack so you aren’t forced to eat all eight or risk having the uneaten brownies go stale.
As with all Lucy’s products, there are no peanuts, tree nuts, gluten, milk and eggs in the product. They are also Non-GMO verified and every serving is only 120 calories, 0 mg cholesterol and low sodium. You can head over here and order you package of brownies today.

Jane's Healthy Kitchen

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Friday, the weekend, a great time to think about Seafood! Wild Maple Glazed Salmon: Here’s a quick and easy way to make maple glazed salmon that tastes incredulicious! The sauce is mildly sweet with a pungent kick. Most barbeque sauces are high in sugars. Instead, this recipe uses natural zero-carb chicory root sweetener. I bake salmon in the oven as it is easier and avoids carcinogens of outdoor barbecues. This recipe contains no high-carb maple syrup, instead it uses maple flavoring. It’s also nightshade-free so it’s easy to digest, as it contains no peppers or tomoatoes. The resulting sweet glaze is simply delicious and it gives your blood sugar a break. Serves 4

Seafood | janeshealthykitchen.com janeshealthykitchen.com
Seafood

Pita Bread

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This gluten free pita bread recipe is one of the few recipes that I know by heart.Not because it's the tastiest gluten free pita bread I've ever made or because it
only takes 18 minutes to bake. Nope. It's because the only ingredients in this
recipe are  water, almond flour, coconut flour, egg, salt, baking soda, and
butter (or oil). Easy to remember right?Get the whole recipe here on the blog:www.weareglutenfree.com/gluten-free-pita-bread-recipe/Talks soon,Andrew "Pita bread maker" Cordovap.s. Even if you don't like pita bread would you please click the "like" button on the blog and "pin" this recipe. Doing this will help others to find the recipe.www.weareglutenfree.com/gluten-free-pita-bread-recipe/p.p.s. I also included a recipe for gluten free pita chips and homemade hummus.(the pita chip recipe is awesome)www.weareglutenfree.com/gluten-free-pita-bread-recipe/

Andrew Cordova | P.O. Box 124663 | San Diego, CA 92112

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Schar Gluten Free

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Halloween is such fun we though we would send along a special Halloween e-newsletter. We included all the usual "treats" such as party ideas, a gluten free candy list, as well as some festive recipe ideas.

Trick or treating is easy gluten-free. There are many main stream candies that are naturally gluten-free (see list below). What can be trickier are the parties and gatherings around Halloween. Here are a few suggestions to help make the day filled with fun not worry:

Make sure your trick or treat-er has a good meal before setting off. They are bound to be excited and not want to sit down – so tempt them with something fun and nutritious. What about chicken nuggets in the shape of pumpkins, or gluten free spaghetti with meatballs? Their tummies will be full so they won’t be as tempted to fill up on treats while they are out. If they are just too excited to sit down and eat on the go type of meals may be the answer. Try cheese and apple slices, carrots and hummus, or deli meat and cheese roll ups. Even a gluten free peanut butter sandwich is a healthy meal for any ghost or goblin that can't wait to trick or treat. Make sure to review the list of safe candies you're your trick or treat-er before they leave home. If a Halloween party is on the agenda then call the host ahead of time to find out if a meal or snacks are being served. Offer to provide part of the meal or snacks – this ensures that there will be gluten-free options for your child. Offer to host the party! This will enable you to provide a completely gluten-free party that will be fun, delicious and no one will know the difference.

For classroom parties: The key is to talk to the teacher ahead of time. Make sure she has a list of safe candies and treats. Offer to provide a hypoallergenic snack for all such as popcorn balls, baked apples – or even fresh ones! There are many non food related Halloween activities that the class can enjoy: Carving or decorating pumpkins, scavenger hunts, Halloween related books and stories, create a Halloween play, research how pumpkins became a symbol of fall, investigate native foods and their growing cycle. Encourage the teacher to take on a neighborhood project – collect canned goods for a homeless shelter, collecting monies for UNICEF or other local charities. For treats think outside the candy aisle. There are lots of goodies that are non food related. The offerings can be adapted to the age of the children. Treats can be; Halloween pencils or pens, stickers, small Halloween pumpkins and figurines, glow sticks, pen flashlights, even coins for UNICEF. Here is a quick list of safe gluten-free candies. It is important to remember Halloween is also about dressing up, carving pumpkins, and getting friends together. Emphasize the nonfood aspects of the day. Please note that the candies listed below are gluten-free to the best of our knowledge. We cannot guarantee that they are gluten-free nor do we know what measures are taken by the manufacturers to avoid cross contamination. Chocolates M&M's Milky Way DARK ONLY 3Musketeers Baby Ruth Butterfinger Chunky Dove Hershey's Kisses Hershey's bar – plain, almond Junior Mints Mounds Oh Henry Payday Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, Miniatures, Pumpkins Snickers Non Chocolate treats Brach's Candy Corn, Autumn Mix, and Pumpkins Pez Pixie Sticks Nerds Sweet tarts Tic Tacs Spree Starbursts Jolly Ranchers Tootsie rolls and pops Laffy Taffy Lifesavers Lifesavers gummies Fundip Peeps Marshmallow Treats – (not cookie flavor) Most gums Haribro gummy treats Sour Patch Kids Ring Pops Skittles Sugar Babies Mary Jane's Charleston Chews HALLOWEEN RECIPE Pumpkin Shaped Chicken (or fish) Nuggets Chicken breast (or flounder cut into pumpkin shape with a cookie cutter) 1 cup Schar gluten free breadcrumbs 1 cup crushed potato chips ½ tsp Pepper ½ tsp Garlic salt ½ tsp Oregano, crushed 1 Egg, beatenHeat oven to 400. Lightly coat the bottom of a baking pan with oil. Mix together the dry ingredients. Beat the egg. Cut the chicken or fish into desired size and/or shapes. Dip the chicken or fish into the egg then into the coating mixture. Place the chicken or fish in the pan. Repeat until all chicken is coated. Bake for 20 – 30 minutes depending on the size and thickness of the pieces.

Fibromyalgia Symptoms in Women and Men!

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What are fibromyalgia symptoms in women and men? Well, fibromyalgia syndrome (FMS) is a kind of chronic condition. It is one of common health problems affecting the muscles leading to disability. Unfortunately, the clearly answer for the exact cause of this chronic condition is still unknown. But some doctors believe that it may be closely related to a variety of factors working together. Read also some conditions or factors that may increase your risk of fibromyalgia, before continuing!
In general, fibromyalgia is not same as many types of rheumatic conditions (like polymyositis and rheumatoid arthritis). Though there is a chance for people with fibromyalgia to experience potentially disabling pain, but fortunately it does not cause deformity or body damage. Even no study that have found the serious complications that are generated by FMS! 
However, you should not underestimate the symptoms of fibromyalgia. If you in doubt on your condition, find help and see a doctor promptly for clearly diagnosis and best treatment.
How do doctors do a fibromyalgia diagnosis?
In fact, FMS is one of medical problems that often misdiagnosed. This is reasonable, because there is still no specific test for doctor to specifically diagnose fibromyalgia. 
Learning the medical history of patient and doing comprehensive physical exam are some common choices to make an accurate diagnosis. Furthermore, the similar symptoms in people with FMS may also be caused by other health problems.
To narrow the possibility diagnosis of other health conditions, some specific blood tests and other laboratory tests may be involved. These tests may include;

1. CBC (complete blood count) test.
2. Considering RF (rheumatoid factor).
3. Checking vitamin D, calcium, and prolactin level.
4. ANA (antinuclear antibodies) laboratory test.
5. Thyroid test -- the symptoms of FMS such as depression, muscle aches, weakness and fatigue also can be generated by hypothyroidism (underactive thyroid).
6. Some tests to check the level of certain chemicals, such as glucose.
7. And so on! Ask a doctor for in-depth information!

Moreover to make a diagnosis, doctors usually also use a manual guideline of fibromyalgia characteristics that is released by the American College of Rheumatology.
Fibromyalgia symptoms in women and men
There are many symptoms that you may experience when you have FMS, but in many cases (both in women and men) pain, fatigue, stiffness, & tenderness of tendons, muscles, and joints without following detectable inflammation are usually some common signs.
Pain associated with FMS
In fact, pain is the most symptom or universal sign of fibromyalgia. A constant dull ache is the most relevance characteristic to describe pain associated with FMS. It is typically arising from muscles. Pain usually can occur in certain areas of the body if a firm pressure is applied. These areas are often known as ‘tender points’. And below is a helpful picture about these tender points.

Tender points of pain associated with fibromyalgia
Image credit © to MayoClinic

Fatigue
In people with fibromyalgia, having good quality of sleep is something that can be not easy - though most of them are reported having long periods of time in sleeping a day. Their sleep is sometimes or may be often disrupted by pain. This may be one of reasons why they are more likely to get fatigue easily. 
In fact, there is about 90 percent of patients with FMS complain about fatigue -- according to a published article on MedicineNet.
Furthermore, there is also a chance for patients to experience health problems associated with sleep, such as sleep apnea and restless legs syndrome.
Other symptoms
Other signs and symptoms that may occur include:

1. You may experience irritable bowel syndrome (IBS).
2. The muscles are more likely to feel like they have been pulled or overworked without unclearly reason.
3. There is a chance for an individual with FMS to have depression or anxiety. Even over half of patients with FMS experience emotional or/and mental disturbances (such as forgetfulness and poor concentration). Since there is no specific procedure /test to diagnose fibromyalgia, it is sometimes misdiagnosed as depression.
4. You may become more sensitive to heat or/and cold.
5. People with fibromyalgia may also experience tingling /numbness in the feet /fingers, fibro fog (inability to concentrate), headaches (chronic headaches), abdominal pain, and dryness (particularly in eyes, nose, and mouth).

How to treat fibromyalgia?
There is no single formula of treatment to treat all symptoms of fibromyalgia. Sometimes each symptom may require a special treatment to improve. And unfortunately, there is no cure to completely treat fibromyalgia - this is one of reasons why it is often called as chronic condition.
In general - the combination of medications, appropriately exercise, stress education and education for patient to know more about the disease itself is one of the most effective options for fibromyalgia treatment.
Medications
Medications are usually intended to ease the pain and improve the quality of sleep. According to a published article on WebMD -- Savella, Cymbalta, and Lyrica are some approved drugs by the FDA for fibromyalgia treatment. Other drugs /medicines that may also be prescribed by doctor include:

1. NSAIDs (the nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs) to treat pain associated with fibromyalgia.
2. Trycylic drugs and/or anti-seizure drugs! They may also be prescribed by your doctor to ease the pain caused by FMS.
3. Furthermore, sometimes antidepressant may also be used to relieve pain, sleep disorders, and particularly to treat depression. 

***Ask a doctor for more detailed information about these drugs!
Alternative treatments
Though there is no adequate scientifically evidence to confirm the effectiveness of alternative therapies to treat fibromyalgia, but they may work well for some patients to relieve the symptoms.
Therapeutic message is one of choices. It can be helpful to manipulate soft tissues and muscles in order to ease the deep muscle pain. Other advantages from this alternative therapy may include relieving pain of tense muscles, muscle spasms, and tender points.
Furthermore, moderately and appropriately intense aerobic exercise at least 2-3 times a week is also recommended by the American Pain Society! Chiropractic manipulation therapy, appropriately acupuncture and even hypnosis are also recommended by the American Pain Society.
To keep safe, it’s much better to discuss first with your doctor before taking any alternative therapy. For better result, your doctor usually also recommends relaxation therapies (such as deep breathing exercises and deep muscle relaxation) in order to help you manage your stress.
Tips: don’t forget to track and write down of your activities, events, signs, and mood changes of your FMS. This data can be helpful to take charge of your fibromyalgia -- it may be helpful for you to be aware of when your signs start, over time, and what factors that may be triggering these symptoms so thus you can prepare yourself better to cope with your fibromyalgia!________Reference: MayoClinic, WebMD, and MedicineNet

The Truth about Best Diet for Fibromyalgia Patients

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(Image credit © to ‘Shutterstock’)

In many cases, muscle pain and fatigue may be the most disturbing symptoms of fibromyalgia. This kind of chronic condition is also familiar referred as FMS (fibromyalgia syndrome). If you are diagnosed with FMS, you have probably wondered if there is an effective way to modify your diet so thus will be helpful to improve the symptoms of your FMS. Read also the top misconception about “Is fibromyalgia real or fake?”
Unfortunately, there is still no clearly answer and adequate scientifically evidence to confirm what kind of best diet (specific foods) to effectively help patients with FMS. The best option you should do is by taking a closer look at how far away foods that you eat to affect the symptoms. This means, you may need to take some trial & error to find the best approach in modifying your diet.
The following are some facts and pieces of helpful information about best diet for fibromyalgia patients!
What is your goal?
While currently there is no cure for FMS and also there is no magic diet that can work wonder for people with this chronic condition, but eating right can help patient feel better, get more energy, and can boost her/his body’s immune system.
Though eating right is also helpful to keep your healthy weight, but always remember that your priority is to be feeling better from the symptoms of your fibromyalgia at more manageable level. And when you have felt better, there is a better condition for you to do your daily activities. 
One thing you need to concern is ‘it’s much better to avoid FAD or extreme diets’ -- much more recommended ‘changes one at a time’ so thus you can analyze the effect for your health, especially for symptoms of your fibromyalgia! 
Extreme /sudden changes in your dietary routine are bad for your health or even they may make your symptoms worse.
Analyze what you eat and what you feel!
In fact, there are many patients with FMS have sensitivities to certain foods, and this varies from person to person. Some patients maybe more sensitive to particular dairy products, while others maybe more sensitive to gluten or other allergens. About 42 percent of patients with fibromyalgia complained about particular foods that can make their symptoms worse -- according to a study published on the Journal Clinical Rheumatology.
Therefore, many doctors recommend keeping a daily food journal to identify particular foods that can make the symptoms better or worse! For example, if you feel more fatigue (one of common fibromyalgia symptoms) after eating a particular food, then you should put it into the list of foods that you have to avoid!
Do a small research on your diet!
Once again, there is still no clearly answer for particular foods that can worsen fibromyalgia symptoms. Therefore, with your doctor (for better result) you can plan a small research to effectively modify your diet.

For instance, you can try with an elimination challenge diet. This idea is one of good choices, particularly for fibromyalgia patients who also have many irritable bowel symptoms -- talk more with a doctor for in-depth information!
In this idea, you can begin from certain foods that you suspect may aggravate the symptoms. Don’t eat these foods for about 6 to 8 weeks, and then add them back to your diet. Then analyze what you feel -- do you feel better or vice versa! In some patients, gluten and dairy products are some foods that often suspected may worsen /aggravate their fibromyalgia symptoms.
Other characteristics of foods that may be helpful for your guide in this elimination challenge diet include;

1. Tobacco products. If you are a smoker, it is much better to stop this unhealthy habit as soon as possible.
2. Refined sugar.
3. Certain foods that have high calories.
4. Trans-fat foods /fried foods.
5. Foods that contain a lot of MSG (monosodium glutamate) and aspartame (nutrasweet). Or even your body may need to completely avoid MSG and aspartame.
6. Consider also other factors from what you eat that may affect the quality of your sleep which then make you feel fatigue easily. These factors may include; alcohol, caffeine, or even maybe sugary foods.

Once you have found you are sensitive to a food and then eliminate/skip it from your diet, this can give a significant difference to your fibromyalgia symptoms -- in some patients, this is very helpful to significant reduce fatigue, and even you may also get a significant pain reduction. 
But make sure you will not lose the essential nutrients that are needed by your body during this elimination challenge diet. To keep safe and for better result, consult more with a dietitian if necessary!
Don’t forget to include ‘a balanced diet’ in your fibromyalgia diet!
Like everyone else, patients with fibromyalgia should have a well-balanced diet to get more energy, have physically active, and to improve the overall health. Having a well-balanced diet is also important to make sure you get all essential nutrients for your body.
You might often hear about a balanced diet, but what actually it is?! According to the University of Washington -- in general, your diet should have five major essential groups which include: grains, fresh vegetables, fresh fruits, protein (particularly lean protein), and dairy. Once again, talk with a dietitian or doctor for in-depth information!
The correlation between protein and fibromyalgia!
There is a theory that lack of protein may aggravate the abnormalities of tissues that go along with fibromyalgia. Though more studies are required to confirm this issue, but it’s much better to stay and keep your body have adequate protein. Some experts believe that getting adequate protein from diet can be helpful to relieve pain and stiffness -- according to a published article on About.com.
Furthermore, there is almost no reason why you need to have inadequate protein. Having adequate protein is very crucial for maintenance and growth of your body. In fact, about 20 percent of the material in the body’s tissues and cells are directly linked to protein that you have. Protein is also responsible for enzymes, antibodies, and hormones that keep the body to work and function as well.
Best foods to keep far away from fatigue!
As mentioned before, fatigue is one of common symptoms of fibromyalgia. The big question is; are there any foods that can be helpful to prevent fatigue and keep your energy level more consistent!
In general, there are also other factors that you have to consider in order to have more energy throughout the day. In other words, diet is not only the single answer in how much energy you will have. Therefore, it’s also important to have enough sleep and adequate physical activity (keep active during the day)!
The following are some tips to keep energy level more consistent throughout the day:

1. Try eating small meals throughout the day -- do this frequently! For better result, don’t forget also to prioritize healthy foods for these small meals. For instance, you can try with a snack /small meal with a little protein, do it in the afternoon when usually your body have been very tired.
2. Taking breakfast before beginning your activity is very important, so don’t ever miss it! And make sure to include whole grains and protein for better result!
3. Another idea for your breakfast, some oatmeal and a boiled egg are also great choice. They are useful to control your blood sugar better and also helpful to provide the right kind of energy to start your day. You may also be interested to know about how much cholesterol in egg yolk?

How about with supplements?
People are more likely to choose practical option to get what they need. Taking supplements are common choice in this modern living. But to keep safe, before taking any supplement to treat your fibromyalgia, it’s much better to consult first with your doctor! Because you should clearly understand that some supplements may cause significant effects and interact with some prescribed medications from your doctor.
And though your fibromyalgia diet can provide a huge difference, but many fibromyalgia patients are more likely to have more benefits and significant improvement from having a variety of approaches. So, don’t forget to do other approaches of treatment and completely follow all instructions from your doctor. Helpful therapies (such as deep-breathing exercise, massage, and yoga) also should be planned in your treatment to get the best possible quality of your life.________Reference: WebMD and About.com

Endometriosis Treatment Options | Home Remedies

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What are current endometriosis treatment options? Well … there are about 3 - 18 percent of women in the U.S (more than one million women) who are affected by endometriosis -- according to a published article on MedicineNet. And in fact, this painful disorder is one of the major causes of pelvic pain. It is also one of major reasons for women in the U.S to do hysterectomy and laparoscopic surgery. You may also like to read common symptoms of endometriosis, before continuing!
Another bad news, there is still no clearly answer to prevent endometriosis. In other words, it cannot be prevented, because the cause of this painful disorder is still poorly understood. Though there is also still no cure for this disease, but with the right treatment the pain and infertility problem can be treated.
Endometriosis natural treatment (home remedies)
Home treatments
Sometimes home remedies are also helpful to relieve the pain of endometriosis. Along with the other treatments, below are some helpful tips:

1. Heat is believed can improve the blood flow, which then eventually will be helpful to ease pelvic pain. You can take a warm bath, or use a hot water bottle /a heating pad to apply friendly heat to your lower belly. But remember, don’t go too hot!
2. Another idea, lie your body down and don’t forget to put a comfortable pillow under the knees. Then in order to ease the back pressure, bring the knees up to the chest while you lie on your side!
3. For better result, biofeedback and relaxation techniques may be also helpful.
4. Don’t forget to have a regular exercise! It is also very useful to improve the blood flow and overall health. Doing your exercise regularly also can naturally increase pain-relieving endorphins which then will also be helpful to ease the pain!
5. Ask your doctor to get more tips and advices about home treatments for endometriosis!

Natural treatment
What are kind of natural treatments to treat endometriosis effectively? This is one of frequently asked questions, but unfortunately the effectiveness of these alternative treatments is debatable, because researches haven’t yet considered/looked at them for endometriosis.
Meditation and acupuncture are believed may be helpful to treat endometriosis, especially to relieve the pain. To keep safe, it’s much better to consult first with your doctor before taking these therapies. 
What are current endometriosis treatment options?
In general, medications and surgery are the most common treatments for endometriosis. The treatment options are usually closely associated with how severe the symptoms, the disease itself, and whether or not patient want to get pregnant. 
If the problem is only the pain, then the treatment is usually more focused on how to relieve the pain. For this case, hormone therapy is common option. It can help decrease the level of estrogen hormone which then will shrink the implants and eventually the pain reduction may occur.
But for patients who also want to get pregnant, surgery and infertility treatment is usually the common option. If the goal is both to treat the disease and get pregnant, the appropriately surgery is also believed by many doctors to be more effective than medical /hormonal treatments. 
In addition, in fact not all patients with endometriosis notice or have pain symptom. Moreover, over time this disease does not always get worse. Even in some patients, endometriosis may improve during pregnancy and usually improve after menopause. 
If you are in your menopause phase (about the age of 50) or if you don’t notice any symptom (particularly pain or just mild pain), and you also don’t have a plan to get pregnant -- you may not need the treatment. But to keep safe, consult more with your doctor to get more advices.
Treatment options to relieve the pain
Pain medications
To help relieve painful menstrual cramps, a pain reliever such as Motrin, Advil, or NSAIDs is usually prescribed by doctor. But if this option doesn’t work, you may need to take another treatment approach - hormone therapy may be the answer!
Hormone therapy
Changes in hormones (rise & fall) during menstrual cycle can affect the endometrial implants of patient to thicken, break down, and then bleed. For this reason, supplemental hormones are common choice. They are usually intended to maintain the level of certain female hormones at appropriately level which then eventually can reduce the pain. 
There are some prescribed hormone therapies by doctor to treat the endometriosis-related pain. But each hormone therapy can lead to some side effects, even may increase your risk of developing a certain health problem. Therefore before choosing one of them, you should also review the possible side effects that may occur.

1. Danazol therapy! It is usually purposed to increase androgen and reduce estrogen level, which then hopefully will create a menopause-like state. Unfortunately, the side effects (particularly such as facial hair and acne) that occur from this treatment can be significant. Therefore it is usually not the first choice to treat pain associated with endometriosis.
2. GnRH-a therapy! Like danazol therapy, gonadotropin-releasing hormone agonist therapy is also purposed to trigger a menopause-like state. It can stop menstruation and decrease the level of estrogen, as a result can cause endometrial implants to shrink. For side effects, vaginal dryness and hot flashes may occur.
3. Progestin or Depo-Provera (Medroxyprogesterone) therapy! There are two common choices of progestin; with injectable drug (Depo-Provera shot) and with pills (oral option). This therapy also can decrease estrogen and prevent menstruation, which then can reduce the pain and can shrink endometriosis. And the side effects that may occur include; depressed mood, can affect the bone production (may increase your risk of osteoporosis), and may also cause weight gain problem.
4. Hormonal contraceptives or birth-control hormones! In most women, this option can help reduce the pain, because it can be helpful to control the hormones that are responsible for the monthly buildup of endometrial tissue. If compared to other therapies, the side effects that may occur are relatively safer -- in other words it is less likely to result side effects! Therefore, it is usually more common choice than others and even can be used for many years. And there are 3 major options if you want to use these hormonal contraceptives, you can choose birth control patches, rings, or vaginal rings.

Furthermore, another choice is aromatase inhibitors. Unfortunately this option is not currently approved. Some studies found that it may effectively reduce the pain associated with endometriosis. More studies are required to find a clearly answer!
In addition, after stopping hormone therapies, there is a chance for patients to experience a recurrence of endometriosis symptoms. In other words, sometimes a hormonal therapy is not a permanent fix!
Surgery option
Surgery is usually needed if the hormone therapies don’t work. It is usually also common choice if there other organs that are affected by endometriosis. In general, surgery is purposed to remove /cut the endometrial growths & scar tissue without removing the reproductive organs. Sometimes it is also purposed to remove adhesions. 
Laparoscopy procedure is one of common procedures in surgeries to treat endometriosis. This procedure can relieve the pain and improve the chance of patient for pregnancy -- particularly true for patients with mild /moderate stage of endometriosis. 
But sometimes ovaries and uterus must also be removed (these are usually needed for severe cases of endometriosis). These procedures are familiar known as oophorectomy and hysterectomy. They can cause premature menopause (the phase of menopause that comes earlier). Therefore, these options are usually the last choice, particularly if other treatments don’t work or if patients don’t have a plan for pregnancy.
What else you need to concern on choosing your endometriosis treatment?
Finding and having a doctor with whom you feel comfortable is also important to manage and treat your endometriosis. To make sure you get what you want, you may also need to look for a second opinion before beginning any treatment - this is helpful to ensure you know the possible outcomes and all of your options.
The following are some helpful tips and important points you need to concern when choosing the endometriosis treatment:

1. Before visiting a doctor or physician for your first consultation, write some questions that you want to ask to doctor so thus you will not miss anything that you want to ask! And make sure you get a clearly answer what you ask! 
2. Explore more all the different options of treatment! Make sure you review the advantages and disadvantages (especially the side effects) of each option! Ask also the next steps after the treatment, this is usually important to lower your risk of having recurrence endometriosis symptoms.
3. If surgery is offered for your treatment, don’t forget to ask about the experience of surgeons, and how they will handle if certain complications occur after/during surgery. Ask also about the willingness of surgeon to tape and keep operation on record!
4. Ask also about the next steps if medical treatments /surgery have not alleviated the symptoms in the past!  
5. Ask also the next steps if you also have a plan for pregnancy but surgery is still not effective to treat your fertility problem!
6. Don’t forget also to ask about the chance of involving alternative treatments along with the recommended treatments! 
7. And the last, make sure you are confident to do the treatment that you choose! Remember, it’s your body -- only you that completely know and understand the condition of your body! 

________Reference: MayoClinic and WebMD