Your cart
There are no more items in your cart
LYME DISEASE DIET GUIDE
We have prepared a set of four FREE E-books which can answer the most frequent questions we are receiving and help you plan your therapy efficiently. Below you can see a brief description of the E-books: Practical Guide – Application of Herbal Therapies for Lyme Disease and Coinfections. The Guide contains a lot of practical knowledge about natural therapies used in Lyme disease. It will enable you to effectively plan therapy and facilitate progress monitoring.
Therapy Planner. The Therapy Planner will enable you to plan your therapy systematically and effectively.
Herbarium – Herbs and Supplements for Lyme Disease. The Herbarium contains a lot of information about herbs and supplements which you can use for particular symptoms.
Lyme Disease Diet Guide. The Diet Guide can help you structure your diet in order to support your therapy.
The E-books are intended equally for people who start their therapy as well as people who are already following some herbal protocols.
The E-books can be ordered here - https://lymeherbs.eu/203-e-books
We recommend you to download the pdf versions of the books. For your convenience this information is also available on our website.
In addition to antibiotics and herbs, diet is another part of the treatment for Lyme disease. It has been proved for a long time that the food we eat has an influence on our health and well-being. Not only do they influence cell regeneration and metabolic processes but also the functioning of the immune system, which is crucial in a Borrelia spirochaetesinfection.
If you are overloaded with confusing information and constantly asking yourself some of those questions:
Can I eat gluten and dairy?
How to support the intestines naturally?
Should I give up meat?
Which groats are the healthiest?
Which oil to choose?
Do I need to follow a strict diet?
Then this self-help book is certainly for you!
We'll go through the most popular diets for Lyme disease treatment together, I'll answer the most frequently asked questions and share tasty and healthy recipes to help you recover.
CONTENTS
CARBOHYDRATES. 3
Sugar3
Groats. 4
Gluten. 4
FATS. 6
PROTEIN.. 8
Meat8
Fish. 8
Dairy products. 9
Legumes. 10
ALCOHOL. 12
PROBIOTICS. 13
COLLAGEN.. 14
HYDRATION.. 16
SPICES. 18
COCKTAILS. 20
10. OVERVIEW OF THE MOST POPULAR DIETS USED TO TREAT LYME DISEASE. 21
11. CONCLUSIONS. 23
12. REFERENCES. 24
Copyright © Healthylife S.C., Chorzów 2022
All rights, including the right to reproduce the texts in whole or in part in any form, are reserved.
1. CARBOHYDRATES
Carbohydrates are a group of compounds called sugars. However, does this mean that we should exclude all carbohydrates from our diet?
Carbohydrates can be divided into simple and complex.
SIMPLE
COMBINED
White bread, rice, pasta
Candy bars, sweets, confectionery
Sweetened drinks
Sugar, jam, honey
Whole-grain bread and pasta,
Groats, brown rice
Oatmeal, bran
Wholemeal products without added sugar
In this way, it is very easy to see that simple sugars, led by the most popular white sugar, are harmful to our health.
Sugar
Sugar severely weakens our immune system while exacerbating inflammation in our bodies.
It has no nutritional value.
It is the main product that fosters the occurrence of mycosis to which we are particularly prone during antibiotic therapy.
It increases the risk of many heart diseases.
It contributes to reduced resistance to bacterial infections.
That's why, especially during illness, it's worth reducing simple carbohydrates from our diet, especially white sugar and products rich in it. However, it is not worth giving up all carbohydrates, including such nutrient-rich groats.
Groats
Groats are made from cereal grains. Maize is the main ingredient in the production of corn groats. Wheat is the main ingredient in the production of farina, bulgur and couscous. Buckwheat is the main ingredient in the production of buckwheat groats. Pearl groats and pot barley are made from barley, and millet groats from millet. Groats are made by cleaning the grain and then slicing, grinding or roasting it. The lower the degree of purification and grinding of the grain, the more valuable nutrients the groats contain. Buckwheat and millet groats are among the healthiest, while farina and couscous are among the most cleaned.
TOP 1: Buckwheat groats
High fibre content – it regulates intestinal function
High levels of iron, folic acid, zinc, iodine
Rich in B vitamins or vitamin E
TOP 2: Millet groats
Rich in B vitamins, phosphorus, zinc, copper and manganese
Low glycaemic index
Large amount of protein
Gluten
Gluten is a protein which consists mainly of gliadin and glutelin. It is what gives baked goods their fluffiness and elasticity, making it a staple food in the western world. The most common grain containing gluten are wheat but also rye, barley and oats. There are certain diseases for which a gluten-free diet is the only treatment. Such diseases include:
Celiac disease
This is an autoimmune disease that causes damage to the villi in the small intestine. This leads to malabsorption and gastrointestinal problems (diarrhoea, flatulence, constipation, excessive gas). The disease occurs in approximately 1% of the population.
Non-coeliac gluten sensitivity
The most common symptoms that patients complain of are abdominal pain, flatulence, skin rash, headaches. There are numerous difficulties in correctly diagnosing the disease, such as the preliminary exclusion of many medical conditions.
Duhring's disease
It is an autoimmune disease characterised by skin lesions such as papulae, blisters and erythema. It has a common aetiology with coeliac disease - there is a flattening of the intestinal villi.
Wheat allergy
The immune system is activated and IgE-dependent and IgE-independent reactions occur. In most cases, the patients only need to exclude wheat from their diet, without having to give up all products containing gluten. Common symptoms are urticaria, abdominal pain, vomiting, asthma, oedema and, in people with atopic dermatitis, a rapid worsening of symptoms.
There is therefore no research-proven information that people with Lyme disease will experience health benefits after excluding products containing gluten from their diet. However, it is worth reducing the intake of highly processed grains such as wheat flour and products made from it. Replacing them with whole grain cereals and diversifying the diet with products made from other grains such as millet (millet groats) will have a positive impact on our health.
Also remember that a gluten-free diet is very strict and if poorly balanced can turn out to be a deficiency diet. Many products that we consider gluten-free can have traces of gluten in them. These include frozen mixed vegetables, ketchup, baking powder, spices, dried fruit, teas and medicines. Naturally gluten-free products include: rice, corn, potatoes, soy, millet, buckwheat, tapioca, quinoa, fruits, vegetables, lentils, chickpeas, beans, and meat. Gluten-free products are marked with a licensed crossed spike sign.
So before we reach for what we think is gluten-free food in the shop, we should make sure that it does not contain even trace amounts of gluten. Moreover, we should not assume that gluten-free food is inherently healthy. The ready-made gluten free rolls, breads, tortillas or sweets available on the market are statistically more saturated and have a higher glycaemic index. Additionally, for the aforementioned products we will pay 2-3 times more than for traditional bread or flour.
BLUEBERRY AND COCONUT MILLET PUDDING
Ingredients:
- 200g cooked buckwheat - 250g coconut milk - 1/3 teaspoon of cinnamon -1/3 teaspoon of cardamom -1/2 teaspoon of turmeric - berries (to serve)
Preparation:
Put the cooked buckwheat into a pot, pour in the milk and add the spices. Bring to the boil. Set aside and blend. Serve with blueberries.
2. FATS
Fat is essential in our diet. It provides us not only with essential unsaturated fatty acids (EFAs), fat-soluble vitamins (A, D, E, K) but also takes part in the synthesis of hormones and improves the taste of the meal. However, the quantity and quality of the fat consumed is important. We distinguish between:
Animal fats
Most of them provide us with saturated fatty acids (SFAs) which are bad for our body (meat) or cholesterol (meat and dairy products). However, this group also includes fatty fish, which are a rich source of omega-3 fatty acids and have a pro-health effect on our health.
Vegetable fats
These include monounsaturated fatty acids, which are found in olive oil, rapeseed oil and avocado oil as well as polyunsaturated fatty acids of the n-3 and n-6 family which include linseed oil, grape seed oil, nuts, etc.
The risk of ischaemic heart disease is reduced by 2-3% when 1% of the energy intake of saturated fatty acids (SFAs) is replaced by polyunsaturated fatty acids.
Fat is a product which we usually associate with bad aspects. The most frequently repeated myth is that due to fat we gain weight. It comes from the fact that 1g of fat is equal to 9kcal. And despite the fact that fats belong to high energy products, not all of them should be equally bad.
Fats that deserve attention:
- avocado- olive oil - rapeseed oil- fatty fish - nuts- seeds and grains
Products to avoid are fatty meat, lard, processed foods, processed cheese and palm oil.
REMEMBER!
Soybean oil, sunflower oil, linseed oil, corn oil, grape seed oil, pumpkin seed oil, sesame seed oil and evening primrose oil are only suitable for consumption raw, e.g. in salads (because they are rich in polyunsaturated fatty acids which oxidise rapidly when heated).
What should we use for frying? The best solution would be olive oil and rapeseed oil, which have a high thermostability and as I wrote above, are mostly composed of monounsaturated fatty acids. Coconut oil, which has recently become very popular, although it is also characterised by high thermostability, consists mainly of saturated fatty acids, which have a negative impact on our health.
Remember also that frying is not the preferred cooking method and should be used occasionally.
3. PROTEIN
Next to fats and carbohydrates, it is the last of the macronutrients in our body. Its main function is to rebuild worn-out tissues.
Its main sources are:
Meat
The most commonly consumed types of meat are beef, pork, chicken, turkey or, more rarely, veal, horse meat, mutton, goat meat or lamb. Meat, despite being a good source of protein, it often contains high amounts of antibiotics. The meat that is the most prone to elevated levels of antibiotics is poultry.
On the other hand, we are left with red meat (beef, veal, pork, lamb, mutton, horse meat or goat meat), which we hear a lot about in terms of carcinogenic products. In 2015, the International Agency for Research on Cancer classified red meat in group 2A which means that it is probably carcinogenic. A high consumption of it can therefore have a very negative impact on our health.
So what should we do? Does this mean that it is not worth eating meat at all?
Excluding it completely will be problematic for many people but if meat is the main source of protein in your diet then it is worth considering severely limiting the amount you eat and replacing it with the other products listed below.
Fish
On one hand, fish is known for being a major source of omega-3 fatty acids, but on the other hand, we often hear that it is not worth eating fish because of pollution. What to do in this situation? Who should we listen to?
Let's start with pollution. First of all we are afraid of heavy metals (cadmium, mercury, lead). However, the Sea Fisheries Institute published data showing how much of a particular fish we would have to eat for the amount of contaminants (specifically mercury) to be harmful to us.
The data is shown in the table below:
Fish product
The amount of fish you need to eat per week to exceed safe mercury levels
Baltic cod
Over 2kg
Carp
Approximately 3kg
Smoked Norwegian salmon
Over 2kg
Alaska pollock
Over 11kg
Trout
Over 2kg
Fish, especially fatty fish, are a very valuable source of unsaturated acids EPA and DHA. These acids not only have a beneficial effect on the heart functioning, but also improve the functioning of the organ of vision, strengthen bones and joints and support the functioning of the brain.
Eating about 1-2 portions (85-150g) of fatty fish per week reduces the risk of death from heart disease by 36%!
* Salmon, herring, mackerel, anchovies, sardines, among others, are considered fatty fish.
So you can see that the benefits of eating fatty fish far outweigh the possibility of being poisoned by heavy metals such as mercury. However, if you are still concerned about contamination, it is suggested that you give up salmon bellies, which have the highest mercury content, and replace them with rainbow trout, which has much less of it than salmon, for example.
However, if we do not eat fish because of, for example, its taste, we should consider supplementation with 250 mg of EPA and DHA in the form of fish oil or microalgae (version for vegans). Unfortunately, the consumption of walnuts or flaxseed (also rich in the aforementioned acids) alone will not be as effective as the consumption of fish products.
Dairy products
I often hear that people with Lyme disease avoid lactose in their diet. Is this right? Let's start with what lactose is in fact. Lactose is a milk sugar, chemically produced by the formula C12H22O11. This structure indicates that it is a disaccharide and is composed of galactose and glucose.
Where does milk sugar occur?
Cow's / sheep's / goat's milk
Country cheese
Yoghurts
Buttermilk
Kefirs
Cream
On the other hand, we find a negligible amount in hard cheeses, quark and feta cheeses.
Worldwide, almost 75% of people may have a problem digesting this disaccharide. In Asian countries, the percentage reaches almost 100%, while in Poland it is as high as 40%. Interestingly, lactose intolerance progresses with age – we have the most lactase (lactose digesting enzyme) in childhood. However, a large part of the population also copes well with its digestion in adulthood. In addition, often people with digestive problems do not report stomach problems with a single dose of 5-10g (a glass of milk, a small yoghurt or a kilo of feta cheese).
The dairy products currently available in supermarkets leave a lot to be desired in terms of quality. Dairy products are often "supported" with many preservatives, thickeners and enhancers. So if you have any digestive problems after eating dairy products (gas, flatulence, pain) eliminate products rich in lactose from your diet. However, if you do not feel any discomfort and you do not want to give it up, remember to choose products which are as little processed as possible and have the shortest composition. Interesting fact: The complete absence of milk sugar in the diet for a long time can lead to a gradual cessation of production of the lactase enzyme, which is responsible for its digestion. This means that if we currently do not feel any discomfort after consuming dairy products, after a longer period of not eating it, we may not return to the initial state and feel discomfort.
Eggs
Eggs eaten in quantities of about 4-6 per week should not bring adverse health consequences. However, it should be remembered that they are a source of cholesterol in diet. In 1 egg (about 55g) there is 200mg of cholesterol. What is more, eggs influence postprandial oxidation of cholesterol, which means that they reduce the level of LDL "bad cholesterol" up to 4 hours after the meal. You should therefore remember not to exceed the aforementioned portion over the course of a week.
Legumes
We may often encounter the statement that vegetable protein is not complete. However, this is only partially true. Almost every vegetable product contains all essential amino acids. They only differ in proportion. An effect such as protein complementarity is worth mentioning here. This is the combination of several vegetable protein sources, which have different sets of amino acids, so that a complete product is created. It makes no difference to our body whether we take all the amino acids from one or many products. Therefore, it is sufficient to combine legumes with nuts and all the necessary amino acids will be provided.
Another allegation towards the legumes is their poorer absorption. However, it should be noted that the difference between the absorbability of meat and legumes is not so great as to obscure their advantages. Absorbability is proportionally 90% and 80%.
Legumes include: lentils, chickpeas, beans or tofu. Apart from being a source of protein, they also influence the gut microbiome. This is due to the amount of fibre and antioxidants (often much higher than in fresh vegetables or fruit).
Why do we need to soak most legumes before cooking?
I once came across information that legumes are soaked because they have a toxic substance in them and by soaking them we get rid of it. The purpose of soaking beans, chickpeas or peas is only to significantly reduce cooking time. During soaking, by activating naturally occurring enzymes in them, substances such as pectin and other polysaccharides present in cell walls and responsible for the rigidity of the structure of leguminous plants begin to decompose.
What is more, if you pour the water off them after soaking and cook them in fresh water, you largely avoid flatulence – another problem that meat lovers complain about.
If you want to save time, you can also buy beans or chickpeas from a jar. The nutritional value of these products is very similar and will not significantly affect your diet.
BEAN AND NUT PASTE
Ingredients:
2 cups of cooked beans
1 lemon
4-5 tablespoons of tannin paste
a few tablespoons of water from cooking the beans
2 onions
handful of cashew nuts plus a few for sprinkling
3-4 tablespoons of olive oil
pinch of salt
2 cloves of garlic
a few tablespoons of water to obtain the desired consistency
Preparation:
Dice the onions and fry them with a few tablespoons of olive oil. Soak beans overnight and cook (or use the jarred version).Soak cashews in 1 glass of water for 4-6 hours. Put beans, soaked cashews, fried onions, lemon juice, olive oil, water, peeled garlic, salt in a blender and blend on high speed. If the paste is too thick add a few more tablespoons of water. Put into a bowl and serve (you can decorate the paste with cashews or sesame seeds).
4. ALCOHOL
Alcohol is a toxin and due to this reason it is recommended to reduce its consumption to a minimum.
Such as sugar, it supports the formation of mycosis and exacerbates inflammation. In addition, it burdens the liver, which often works hard anyway, washes out electrolytes and has a negative effect on the nervous system and the heart.
In case of people suffering from Lyme disease it can often exacerbate symptoms and make them feel unwell!
What about dry red wine? After all, everyone has probably heard that it is healthy and a glass of it will certainly have a beneficial effect on your body. We owe this statement to the resveratrol antioxidant present in wine. It has a positive effect on the body by reducing platelet aggregation. However, studies show that therapeutic doses of resveratrol cannot be achieved from drinks or even from food. In order to obtain a beneficial effect on health, we would have to consume more than 500 litres of dry red wine. It is therefore suggested to completely exclude alcohol from the Lyme disease diet.
5. PROBIOTICS
Probiotics are live cultures of bacteria and yeast that support the immune system.
Probiotics improve the tightness of the intestines, protecting it from harmful bacteria, which is particularly important in case of antibiotic therapy.
Naturally we find them in:
Cucumbers and sauerkraut
Kombucha (also known as tea mushroom)
Kvass
Kefir
Buttermilk
Natural yoghurt
Beetroot sourdough
BEETROOT SOURDOUGH WITH GINGER AND A HINT OF CLOVES
Ingredients:
- 1kg of beetroots- a few cloves of garlic- 2l of water - 6-8 cloves - allspice - 2-4cm of fresh ginger - 2-4 bay leaves - 1 tablespoon of salt per 1 litre of water
Preparation:
Peel the garlic and cut it into smaller pieces. Cut ginger into thin slices. Boil the water, mix with salt and cool down. Wash the beetroots, peel thinly and cut into thicker slices. Arrange them in the jar alternately with the spices and garlic. Pour water so that all the beetroots are thoroughly covered. If they float to the surface, press them down with a plate. Cap the jar and set aside in a warm place for about 5-10 days.
6. COLLAGEN
Collagen is extremely important in the treatment of Lyme disease. The key here is to understand that Borellia bacteria have a high affinity for collagen structures. What does this mean? That the bacterium will always initially target these structures because they are the ones that guarantee them food.
So there is a reaction here:
COLLAGEN DAMAGEà DESTRUCTION IN A SPECIFIC REGION (E.G. A JOINT)à INTENSIFICATION OF SYMPTOMS
That is why it is so important to take care of its correct amount. Supplements are suggested here, but remember that we can also get collagen from food.
Natural sources of collagen:
Gelatine
Jellies (sweet and savoury)
Animal offal, e.g. liver
Pork knuckle, brawn
Unfortunately, products rich in collagen often provide us with either a lot of sugar or raise the level of the LDL “bad” cholesterol. Therefore, it is not advisable to consume a lot of them.
A good choice here will be broth and various kinds of bone broths.
COLLAGEN BROTH
Ingredients:
- Bones/animal carcasses – 1-2 kg
- Cider vinegar – 2 tablespoons- Water – 3-4 l- Soup greens – 1 portion
- Spices (bay leaf, allspice, salt, pepper)
Preparation:
Wash the bones and place in a large pot.
Add water and vinegar.
Bring to the boil, then reduce the heat/hob to low. Remove the foam.
After cooking for about 2 hours, add the peeled and washed vegetables and spices.
Boil for as long as possible (about 6-8 hours). The water should "bubble" – not boiling.
Strain the liquid from the bones and vegetables.
When cooled, the broth should have the consistency of jelly.
The broth can be stored for about 5 days in the fridge or 3-4 months in the freezer.
7. HYDRATION
Our body consists of water in about 60%, so it is not surprising that water is involved in almost all processes in the body. Lyme disease heavily burdens our body with toxins. Drinking large amounts of water automatically cleanses the body of these toxins and provides a natural detoxification. Dehydration, on the other hand, leads to the storage of toxic substances in tissues and cells.
So how much fluid to drink per day?
It is suggested that women should drink 1.5 litres and men of 2 litres of water but this is very inaccurate. Should a 100kg person drink the same amount as a 50kg person to hydrate the body? A more precise value is therefore to assume that adults should consume 33ml of fluids for every kg of body weight.
What does the word “fluids” mean?
Water, of course, is the most desirable source of hydration for our body. It is best to drink it slightly warm. You can add different kinds of fruit or vegetables to our cup (water with cucumber and mint is a perfect drink for hot days).
Tea – superb for summer as well as winter. With a hint of orange, lemon or cloves, it will warm you up on any winter evening.
Coffee – there are many controversies about it.
There are not many studies on the influence of caffeine, in particular coffee, on the course of Lyme disease or its co-infections. However, myths about coffee are increasingly being debunked, despite the fact that it has been in disrepute for many years.
Below are some basic facts about the consumption of coffee:
- Coffee is not dehydrating, at least when consumed in portions of about 500mg of caffeine/day. One cup of brew is about 60 mg, so the dose taken as dehydrating is about 6 cups a day
- It does not leach magnesium. Brewed coffee has about 60 mg of caffeine and 7 mg of magnesium (espresso even twice as much). Studies show that after consuming 400 mg of caffeine/day, we lose only 4 mg of magnesium through urine.
- It contains antioxidants (chlorogenic acid and its metabolites) which contribute to lowering blood pressure or reducing oxidative stress. It can therefore be assumed that coffee protects against heart disease and reduces the risk of cancers (liver, throat, skin, prostate).
Therefore, I see no contraindication to drinking coffee when suffering from Lyme disease and its co-infections. However, remember that every organism is different, every disease is different and everyone has a different threshold of caffeine tolerance. Therefore, if you experience any negative symptoms after drinking it – stop drinking it.
Juices are the worst choice. Shop-bought juices have a lot of added sugar (up to 5 teaspoons in 1 glass).This is because the fibre and most vitamins and minerals are found primarily in the peel.
8. SPICES
Spices are dish ingredients added in small amounts to enhance its taste and visual appeal. Do we realise that spices and herbs also have valuable medicinal properties?
Here are my TOP 5 spices:
Turmeric
The main ingredient which gives the spice its yellow colour is curcumin. It has anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties and also protects the body, mainly the liver, from toxins. Thanks to its warming, digestive and cholesterol-lowering properties, curcumin is also used as a dietary supplement. There are plenty of recipes such as "golden milk" that use the properties of turmeric, but my favourite and quickest way to use this spice is to add it to a broth. It will not change the wonderful taste of the soup but will give it an intense, beautiful colour.
Ginger
Ginger can be used with the addition of garlic (it is very popular in Korean or Thai cuisine) while cooking a dinner as well as in tea. It is probably most commonly used by pregnant women who suffer from morning nausea and people struggling with motion sickness. Ginger stimulates the production of saliva and gastric juices and brings relief from nausea. Thanks to ginerol and its anti-inflammatory properties, it is used in many autoimmune diseases.
Contraindications to the use of ginger include inflammatory skin diseases and bleeding. You should also avoid taking the herb with aspirin, as both substances have blood-thinning properties.
Garlic
Garlic has antipyretic properties, but more importantly for Lyme disease, it also has a detoxifying effect. It helps to remove heavy metals such as lead and cadmium from the body. What is more, it removes parasites, including bacteria and yeasts such as Candida albicans, and additionally contributes to the development of beneficial intestinal bacterial flora. Therefore, despite its characteristic pungent smell, it is worth adding it to dinner, drinking in the form of syrup with lemon or baking and adding to paste (e.g. bean paste).
Cinnamon
Cinnamon has antifungal properties – it inhibits the growth of protozoa and fungi and makes digestion easier. However, it is worth choosing the more expensive Ceylon cinnamon than its Chinese equivalent because it has a better effect.
Nigella
Although it has only gained popularity in Europe in recent years, it was used thousands of years ago by the ancient Egyptians. Nigella has so many properties that one could write a book about them. It is used to treat colds, sore throats, inflammation, skin allergies and to strengthen hair. However, one should be careful with consumption of nigella during pregnancy – it can cause uterine contractions. However, during the period of breastfeeding, it is worth including it in the menu again as it has a positive influence on lactation.
Although as you can see above, herbs can help us fight many ailments and diseases such as Lyme disease, it is worth remembering that not all spices have positive properties. A perfect example is salt. Although used in the right proportions it does not affect our body negatively, we tend to go beyond that. We got used to salt literally every dish and product and we no longer like food that is not salted. The icing on the cake is monosodium glutamate or other flavour enhancers that are added to many products and have huge amounts of salt in them. Salt in such quantities can cause hypertension which affects over 30% of the adult population in Poland! It also leads to disturbances in the calcium and phosphate metabolism, which can lead to osteoporosis, and to an increased risk of stomach cancer.
Many people also associate Himalayan salt, which is often considered better for use because of the 84 minerals it contains. However, one should know that it contains (according to Barbara Hendel and Peter Ferreira) not only these "good" minerals but also polonium and radium. No worries – just in small amounts (<0.001 ppm/kg). But one can easily see that these as many as 84 minerals are nothing but a marketing ploy. Additionally, in order to replenish the daily requirement of potassium with Himalayan salt alone, we would have to eat over 1 kg of it! The recommended daily dose of salt is a mere 5-6g (a teaspoon), which means that we are only able to cover our potassium requirement by a maximum of 0.5%. Is it worth paying even 10 times more for salt for such a percentage of the needs?
So let's remember that salt is just a salt (NaCl) and we should severely limit it.
9. COCKTAILS
Lyme disease often suppresses our appetite. Headaches, joint pains or a general weakness of the body make us not crave any type of food. However, food is necessary, not only to fight the disease, but simply to live. It is thanks to food that we gain energy and have the strength to get out of bed every day. So what to do if we have no appetite but we want to support our immunity through diet. The ideal solution would be cocktails. We can enrich our menu with liquids full of antioxidants (in dry and sweet version). This way we will “smuggle” essential nutritional values into the body.
Savoury tomato cocktail:
Ingredients:
- 1 tomato- 1 stalk of celery- 1 clove of garlic- 1 carrot- pinch of salt
Preparation:
Press all ingredients in a juicer. If the taste is too spicy for you, add 1 piece of sun-dried tomato.
Sweet raspberry cocktail
Ingredients:
- 2 tablespoons of pot barley - 1 cup of milk (plant or cow's milk)- 1 apple - 1 teaspoon of goji berries- 1 handful of raspberries
Preparation:
Boil the pot barley with the blueberries in a glass of water until soft. Add milk, apple cut into small pieces and raspberries and blend.
10.OVERVIEW OF THE MOST POPULAR DIETS USED TO TREAT LYME DISEASE
Candida diet
A common treatment for Lyme disease is antibiotic therapy. However, you should know that it is often the cause of the development of mycosis which can be very dangerous for your health and life. That is why it is so important (especially while taking an antibiotic) to follow certain rules of mycosis prevention, including diet. The main principle of this trend is to avoid products that lead to an increase in blood sugar levels. In such a diet it is absolutely necessary to avoid fruit, juices, bread, pasta, dairy products, yeast and all products that can be a medium for the development of yeast.
However, this diet is very strict and often deficient because it excludes a large group of products rich in, for example, dietary fibre. Products such as wholemeal bread, pasta or groats do not have to be excluded from our menu. We should also not forget about natural yoghurts, nuts, raw vegetables, unrefined oils, fish, pickles and pulses. Spices such as turmeric, oregano, rosemary, coriander and Ceylon cinnamon will also work well here.
Only when candidiasis is diagnosed (when there is an overgrowth of the Candida albicans yeast strain which physiologically occurs in the digestive tract and there is a disturbance of our intestinal microflora) should we think about alternative methods of diet therapy.
Ketogenic diet
I think this is the most common manner of nutrition for people suffering from Lyme disease. Putting the body into a state of ketosis means that instead of taking energy from sugars, our body takes it from fats. "Keto diet" therefore means eliminating carbohydrates in favour of fats. This is meant to relieve stress on the intestines and improve the nervous system. However, it is important to remember that not all fats are "good". Desirable sources of fats are fish, nuts, avocado, olive oil, seeds or seeds. However, on the internet and in various publications that recommend this way of eating, the recipes rich in saturated fatty acids ("bad" fats) reign supreme. These include bacon, mascarpone cheese or lard.
It is also worth mentioning that a ketogenic diet will be inadvisable for people whose mitochondria are depleted and there are blockages in metabolic pathways which can occur in the body infected with Borrelia spirochaetes.
Diet maintaining the body's normal pH level
Acidification of the body. You've probably encountered this phrase more than once in supplement ads, books or trough other media channels. Let's start with the fact that our body has different pH levels depending on location. From alkaline in pancreatic juice, through neutral in blood, to strongly acidic in stomach juice. However, all of these values are generally compressed into the "pH of our body" which specifically means the pH of the blood and its value is between 7.35 and 7.45. If we want to change this value with our diet, we are able to shift this index from 0.01 to 0.02 units. So you can see that it is a negligible influence. Yes, with diet we can influence the pH of our urine by as much as 1.2 units but the limit of its pH level is in the range 4.6-7.9 which means that with such a large discrepancy the diet will not be the key factor here.
A diet rich in alkaline-forming products will bring us many benefits, through an increased supply of vegetables and fruit. However, is it really worth excluding from our diet acid-forming products, such as fish or nuts, which are sources of valuable omega 3 fatty acids?
11. CONCLUSIONS
On the internet and in numerous publications you will find a lot of advice on how to support the treatment of Lyme disease through diet. With so much contradictory information you have to approach everything with reason. Lyme disease is a disease which takes months and sometimes years to heal. Therefore, a diet should not be a torment or a punishment for you. What is more, remember that each body is different, each Borrelia bacterium will behave differently depending on the body and will give different symptoms. Therefore, the menu should be chosen individually. Only adapting it to our disease and our preferences will bring maximum results.
Some common advice on how to help your body fight bacteria and not go crazy:
Base your nutrition on high quality food. Eat plenty of vegetables, fruit, good quality fats, natural probiotics, whole grain carbohydrates, introduce broths into your diet and exclude sugar or alcohol.
Drink plenty of water.
Eliminate products that are harmful to you. If you feel unwell, sleepy or bloated, limit your intake. Learn to listen to your body.
Think of your diet as a choice, not a punishment. The diet you choose is designed to help fight the disease but also to teach you about proper, healthy eating which cannot be treated as a "from-to".
Think positive. Our mind is a very powerful tool that can work wonders.
12. REFERENCES:
Agnieszka Godek: "Modern methods of treatment of Lyme disease with co-infection (antibiotics, nutrition)"
Bordoni, Alessandra, et al: "Dairy products and inflammation: A review of the clinical evidence."
Carson, Jo Ann S., et al: "Dietary cholesterol and cardiovascular risk: a science advisory from the American Heart Association."
Ciborowska H., Rudnicka A., "Dietetics nutrition of healthy and ill person",
Diez-Sampedro, Ana, et al. "A gluten-free diet, not an appropriate choice without a medical diagnosis."
Elli, et al: "Diagnosis of gluten related disorders: celiac disease, wheat allergy and non-celiac gluten sensitivity."
Tomasz Lesiów: "The influence of consuming excessive amounts of simple sugars and processed foods on the development of systemic mycosis and the respondents' knowledge on the subject"
Fielding, Christopher J., et al: "Effects of dietary cholesterol and fat saturation on plasma lipoproteins in an ethnically diverse population of healthy young men."
https://www.nik.gov.pl/aktualnosci/nik-o-stosowaniu-antybiotykow-w-nbsp-hodowli-zwierzat-w-nbsp-woj-lubuskim.html?fbclid=IwAR3VgYOR8yjjb0POUnjAVPVFhdmgenwZbMR4aws1F1SQmHTCw3g2TaUVSb4
Huang, Jiaqi, et al: "Association between plant and animal protein intake and overall and cause-specific mortality."
Jones, Amy L: "The gluten-free diet: Fad or necessity?"
K. Nieber: "Health effects of coffee".
Kynast-Gales, Massey: "Effect of caffeine on circadian excretion of urinary calcium and magnesium".
Leonardi, Michela, et al: "The evolution of lactase persistence in Europe. A synthesis of archaeological and genetic evidence."
Mozaffarian, Dariush, Eric B. Rimm: "Fish intake, contaminants, and human health: evaluating the risks and the benefits."
Rafał Nazarewicz: "Consequences of high-fat ketogenic diets"
Reese, et al. : "Non-celiac gluten/wheat sensitivity (NCGS)-A currently undefined disorder without validated diagnostic criteria and of unknown prevalence."
Sabine Weiskirchen, Ralf Weiskirchen: "Resveratrol: How Much Wine Do You Have to Drink to Stay Healthy?"
https://mir.gdynia.pl/ocena-narazenia-konsumentow-ryb-na-szkodliwe-dzialanie-zanieczyszczen/
Sophie C. Killer, Andrew K. Blannin , Asker E. Jeukendrup: "No Evidence of Dehydration with Moderate Daily Coffee Intake: A Counterbalanced Cross-Over Study in a Free-Living Population".
Stephen Harrod Buhner: "The natural treatment of Lyme disease and its co-infections – chlamydiosis and spotted fever rickettsioses Second edition, revised, extended, updated."
Willett, Walter C., and David S. Ludwig: "Milk and health."