GDD and Diet

I have written a few blogs on diet and GDD, but this is always worth revisiting and updating. First off, there are unlimited number of diets promoted. I like to stick with the obvious and basic. Essentially:

* a mixture between elements in the South Beach, Mediterranean, and health-oriented Japanese diet makes sense.

*Everything in moderation makes sense.

*Natural food items, especially in the nut, fruit, and vegetable categories makes sense.

* I am not convinced that exotic forms of a particular food, such as mushrooms and spinach are appreciably better than conventional forms. If you are part of the 0.1% financially then have at it with expensive exotic foods, for the rest of us stick to the basics available at your local grocery store..

* If some foods that are supposed to be good for you, don't agree with you for the variety of reasons this may happen with GDD (for example co-existent Multiple Chemical Sensitivity Syndrome, celiac, milk allergy) then don't take them. This may be trial and error. For example I really like yogurt in a GDD diet, because a number of individuals will have had their intestinal flora messed up (secondary for example to: high potency antibiotic use, or leaky gut syndrome), and high quality yogurt containing probiotics helps to propagate healthy bacteria and displace the unhealthy that have taken up residence.

* in general you want to eat foods and take supplements that are anti-inflammatory in nature, and not that strengthen the immune system. The problem with GDD is that your immune system is too strong and has targeted Gd to relentlessly attack, with the byproduct of attacking the host (that is you). So diet high in anti-inflammatory, low in immune system boosting.

* In general I prefer that with nutritions and chemicals, to get them from the original natural food source, and not from pills. So, I really like beets, not so much beet in a pill. My opinion is that a fair amount of the health benefit comes from the entire entity: so with the beet, the natural roughage of the tuber is likely important.

* in general avoid too much highly fermented food entities. So for cheese, mozarella and Swiss rather than a ripe camembert

* avoid foods with high association of allergic reaction. So with berries: minimize strawberry (maximize blueberry), with nuts: minimize peanuts (maximize hazelnuts, walnuts).

* avoid highly processed foods. Maximize minimally processed/unprocessed foods. There are many components to this that are available from many sources: no transfats; reduce sugar, especially fructose; fats/oils such as olive are very good, processed oils, too much corn and other oils, not so good.

* buy a juicer/blender, and blend things together.

* avoid kooky diets. I personally don't buy into either Keto or Paleo diets, or the original Adkins.

Looking at food items then. Fish, especially salmon is good (ofcourse there is the problem with mercury, so the sourcing is important), less red meat (unless iron deficiency is an issue).

I am very fond of the general categories of spinach, lettuce, olives, green beans, beens in general, beets, yogurt. blueberries.

The sacrosanct GDD items (which are because they are anti-inflammatory) cilantro, oregano, chlorella, spirulina, and tumeric. I prefer that they be taken as part of the original diets they are from: so cilantro, Mexican burrito with lots of shredded cilantro, fish or chicken, tomatoes, lettuce, yogurt. Tumeric: vegetarian ( beans, chick peas, tomatoes, eggplant, etc) Indian dish with added tumeric. Of course add the (some of them) sacrosancts to your smoothies.

Alkaline water. Reduces metabolic acidosis, which is a general issue with autoimmune conditions.

Baby aspirin, once a day. Ibuprofen also a good anti-inflammatory, perhaps 1 tab twice per day.

Pectin fruits: peaches, nectarines, apricots.

Smoothies: peaches, bananas, blueberries, yogurt, fresh cilantro, a little chlorella. In various combinations with other things.

Richard Semelka, MD