Category Archives: Health

Primalgirl Reads: The Modern No-Nonsense Guide To Paleo by Alison Golden

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alison_goldenbookThe Modern No-Nonsense Guide to Paleo by Alison Golden is available starting today at www.paleononpaleo.com and www.amazon.com!

Finally a book about the HOW of Paleo, not the WHAT. I’ve been Paleo/Primal for four years now but never realized that I had adopted many of the principals Alison mentions in this book without knowing it — if I hadn’t, I wouldn’t have been as successful as I have been.

Lucky for you, Alison has taken the time to write everything down and explain things to increase your chance of success with the Paleo lifestyle.
After the first 30 days, then what? When the “glow” of a new diet or lifestyle wears off, you need some strategies in place to help you to continue along this path, because trust me — it’s not always easy. In this book, you will learn:

* The four keys to paleo success
* Why perfection is the ‘enemy of the good’
* How to create a paleo life that operates on autopilot and why it is important.
* Why willpower is a myth and what to do instead
* How to resist temptation and stay motivated
* How to shop, organize your kitchen and stay on budget
* Ways to live alongside non-paleo family and friends
* Hundreds of strategies for living paleo in a non-paleo world

Move away from recipe books that don’t actually teach you anything except how to follow a recipe and learn how to LIVE a Paleo lifestyle that is right for you. Because if there’s one thing we Paleo veterans have learned, it’s that our lifestyle is completely unique to us and that following meal plans created by other people rarely results in success.

The Modern No-Nonsense Guide to Paleo by Alison Golden is available starting today at www.paleononpaleo.com and www.amazon.com!

Saving Money Living a Primal Lifestyle

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savemoney_growOne of the complaints I hear most from people thinking about adopting a Primal or Paleo lifestyle is that it’s too expensive. Meat costs money. Coconut flour is expensive and hard to find. Organic fruits and vegetables cost more than their conventional counterparts. How do you make this type of lifestyle work on a restricted budget?

I believe that if anyone can answer this question, I can. We are a single income family with two kids. Technically, we’re below the poverty line, since my husband is enlisted in the Air Force. However, we own our own 4000 sq ft home and have two beautiful (working) cars in the driveway. I have enough handbags and shoes to wear different ones every day for six months and we eat grass fed beef, pastured eggs, organic produce, coconut oil, pastured butter and bacon on a daily basis. I shop at Whole Foods, Trader Joes and Sprouts. We have savings accounts with money in them and while the balance on our credit card is a little higher than I’d like it to be, we don’t have any debt that isn’t manageable.

How am I making it work? It seems like an impossible task, doesn’t it? I’ll tell you my secret: I’m damn good with money. And I don’t waste anything.

I received a request for a guest post from someone who wanted to share some money saving tips with you for a Paleo lifestyle (which I’ve included below) but I thought it would be fair if I shared my tips with you as well, as they’re completely different.

Saving-Money1. I’m realistic. Although I know the benefits of grass fed pastured meat, it’s not always available to me at a price I can afford. When my local grocery store has a “buy one get TWO free” special on meat, I buy it and put it in our deep freezer. I buy my pastured (grass fed) meat in bulk from a local farmer, and also store it in the freezer. I figure that if we eat grass fed meat some of the time and regular meat some of the time, we’re not going to up and die. Having a selection of both in the freezer means that I can rotate the good stuff with the regular stuff and still feel good about what we’re eating.

2. I get all my fat for free from my local farmer, in exchange for writing reviews on how awesome their farm and products are. (You can check out their website here, shameless promotion, cough, cough.) I get A LOT of it at one time. I render the fat down myself, strain it and put it in mason jars, which I store in the freezer. I use this fat for everything from cooking to homemade sausages to hand lotion in a pinch. You’d be amazed how many people are willing to give the fat away for free, as no one else seems to want it. (And you’d be amazed at how well it moisturizes, although it’s a bit smelly lol.)

3. I save my bacon fat. I just leave it in the pan, even overnight. It doesn’t spoil. It’s just there, deliciously waiting for me to fry my eggs in it the next morning. Organic, pastured eggs, which I’ve gotten from my farmer for about the same price as the crap conventional ones in the grocery store. If this grosses you out, think back to how your Grandma used to cook. She had a can next to the stove for her drippings and fat, didn’t she? It never went in the fridge. My dad’s family used to use these drippings to spread on bread when butter was scarce. I am too lazy to wash my cast iron pan every day, so I don’t bother with the can.

4. Any produce that has a thick skin that we’re not going to eat, I don’t bother buying organic. This includes bananas, avocados, oranges and sweet potatoes. (We don’t eat the peels of anything anymore, by the way, but that is another post for another day.)

save_money5. I make everything myself from whole real ingredients. We don’t buy any packaged food, except for the occasional package of gluten-free rice pasta and gluten-free tamari. I make chicken broth and even make my own coconut and almond milk. Why in the hell would I pay $2.99 for a can of coconut milk that has stabilizers, artificial vitamins and preservatives in it, when I can make the same amount of coconut milk for about 35 cents? It tastes better, it’s organic, I use filtered water and I know exactly what’s in it: coconut and water. It’s not rocket science. Neither is making your own coconut butter. If you buy a jar, it’ll set you back 10 bucks. Making it yourself costs…about $2. I make my own beef jerky, because I just can’t find any gluten-free, preservative-free jerky in the store that isn’t $45. I also make my own mayonnaise. It takes less than 1 minute, thanks to an awesome tip from Orleatha Smith, which we will be sharing with you via video sometime in the next month. I can use that mayonnaise for salad dressings and sauces and I even use it to cook with (it’s just oil, vinegar and eggs after all — if your recipe calls for those ingredients, why not use mayonnaise?) It’s amazing how expensive packaged food is. Don’t pay for flashy packaging and marketing campaigns. Stop spending money to have someone else (a machine, let’s face it) make your food for you. Take back your power and save yourself some cash.

6. I don’t waste anything. When I only have a little bit of mayonnaise left in the jar, instead of washing it out I add a bit of vinegar to it and voila! Instant salad dressing. I squeeze out every. last. bit. of toothpaste from the tube before I toss it. I add water to the dish soap bottle to get the remnants out. You know those neat soap dispensers that give you foam? The ones that are ridiculously expensive? Did you know that the first ingredient in that soap is water? I buy the original bottle so I can have the aerator-thingy and when the soap is gone, I refill it with about 5 cents worth of dish soap and fill the rest up with water. I learned these tips from my mom, who really needed to stretch the budget. She learned them from her mom. We’re so wasteful as a society it makes me sick sometimes. We only need to put our garbage cans out about once a month, while our neighbor’s cans are overflowing each and every week.

7. We don’t eat out. A meal for a family of four at McDonald’s costs over $20. For $20, I can make a meal that includes things like bacon wrapped scallops, grass fed steak, organic vegetables AND fruit. We mostly drink water. I don’t spend money on juice or soda or milk or coconut water or whatever you trendy kids are drinking these days. I make my coffee myself, with pastured cream, and take it in a reusable to-go cup. I refuse to spend $5 on a cup of coffee.

8. We do things that are free. Guess how much it costs to go hiking in the mountains? Or camping? Or to the park? When they grow up, our children won’t remember the ridiculously expensive vacations we went on, or the expensive flashy toys we bought them. They will remember the time they spent with us, not the money we spent on them.

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I have more tips, but I’ll save them for another day. In the meantime, Zara Blake, a financial blogger from the UK has some money-saving tips for you:

fruit picBuy from a farmer’s market: Buy fruits and vegetables from the farmer’s market where you will get them for cheap.  Visit the market at closing time when you will get the items for a cheaper price.

Dressings and salads: Make your own dressings and salads at home. Don’t spend $15 to have someone else make it for you.

Buy local foods: Always go for locally grown and seasonal foods. Exotic ones are more expensive and your body is not built to digest them regularly.

meatBulk meat: Buy a whole lamb or goat with a friend. Try meat-shares for larger animals. It will come already cut up and packaged so you can store it in the freezer. Try to buy grass-fed meats rather than the grain fed ones.

Plenty of eggs: These are the best source of protein after meat and are also pretty cheap. Include plenty of eggs in your diet.

Sales: Watch out for clearance sales in different grocery and online stores. Grab them while you can and stock up.

Do some gardening: Grow all the vegetables you need and save money. Use your kitchen waste as manure and practice rain-water harvesting. If you are running tight on living space, try roof-top gardens or potted plants.

Soups: If you find your veggies becoming dry, prepare soup with them. Using homemade bone broth is a great addition to this.

Fishing: Go fishing on weekends and catch as many fish you can. Clean and fillet them and store them in the freezer.

Nuts: Buy nuts in bulk quantities as they are cheaper than prepackaged nuts in small bags. Package them yourself and store them in the freezer.

Home-food: Eat at home and don’t eat out at restaurants too much.

No wastage: When you buy meat, don’t waste what can be eaten. If you dislike a certain part, learn to cook it in a new way. Don’t buy unnecessary prepackaged items as it will make your grocery bill go up very fast.

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These money saving tips were contributed by Zara Blake, a financial blogger from UK. She has written many articles on health, nutrition and finance. Catch her on Twitter: @financeport

A Chance to Win 8 Primal Blueprint Books!

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the-hidden-plague-tara-grantI checked my email earlier today and was ecstatic to see that Primal Blueprint Publishing is starting to advertise my new book, The Hidden Plague: A field guide for overcoming and surviving Hidradenitis suppurativa, which will be available later this year. The cover art is all done and I think it looks great!

If you visit this page here, you can see all the new books that are coming out in the next couple of years. Leave a comment and you’ll be entered in a contest to win 8 Primal Blueprint books! For those of you trying to manage your HS, this is an invaluable prize. Those books will give you information, recipes and advice on how to best adopt a Primal diet, which is your best chance of beating your HS forever.

Do me a favor and leave a comment saying that you want to read MY book the most!! I’d be eternally grateful, plus you will have a chance to win some great stuff. You can find more information on the book, The Hidden Plague: A field guide for overcoming and surviving Hidradenitis suppurativa by clicking right here. Or check out my author page at Primal Blueprint Publishing. It mentions what else I’ve been up to lately…and I’ve been up to some exciting stuff!

If you are suffering from HS, or you know someone who is, please don’t forget to pick up a copy of The Hidden Plague when it’s released. It will be available at www.primalblueprintpublishing.com and Amazon.com. Thank you guys for all your support.

Slim Is Simple and Grass-Fed Beef

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Primal Transformation Seminars

I’ll be doing Primal Transformation Seminars in Austin, Houston, Minneapolis and Portland this spring together with Tracy and Matthew from True Nature Training, so if you’re close to one of those areas, sign up! You can find all the information you need right here. If you’d like us to hold a seminar in your area, leave a comment with the city that you live in and we’ll see what we can do.

These full-day seminars include a 2.5 hour lecture/discussion with me on the Primal way of eating and lifestyle, followed by a 3-hour training session with Tracy and Matthew. True Nature Training is based on Primal fitness and includes elements of natural movement, parkour and gymnastics. It’s perfect for beginners! Participants will receive copies of The Primal Blueprint 21-day Transformation, the 90-day Journal, a gift bag with goodies and samples from Primal Blueprint, a t-shirt from True Nature Training and the chance to win a copy of the Primal Connection, Mark Sisson’s latest book. It’s going to be an amazing day so make sure you grab your ticket soon.

Slim IS simple

I have a couple of interesting links to share with you this week. The first one comes from Jonathan Bailor from SlimIsSimple.org, a non-profit nutrition education effort. He created an amazing video that explains how this whole diet thing works and has made it incredibly easy to understand. This is a great introductory video to play for friends and family to show them how to get started. Please share it on Facebook, Twitter or anywhere else you think it could help someone.

I just found a farmer close to my new house a couple weeks ago, so this next post on the benefits of grass-fed beef is pretty timely for me. If you’re in the Phoenix area, www.farmergoose.com is a great family farm that provides beef, chicken, turkey and eggs and has plans to branch out further. They are planning on holding events like farm tours and dinners in conjunction with the Phoenix Primal Living Meetup group to help people learn how to cook and eat locally.

The following article is written by Rich Coffman from Teton Waters Ranch in Colorado. If you’ve ever had any questions about the benefits of grass-fed beef, this is a great reference.

Is grass-fed beef worth the premium price?

Angus_Ranch2I have made many improvements in my nutrition over the last year. Like most health oriented people, my goal is simple: to eat the best quality food possible. This article dives into the reasons why grass-fed beef is a healthier choice that is worth the premium price.

I had heard many times that grass-fed beef is better than conventional grain-fed beef. Initially, despite being told that it was more nutritious, I was not willing to fork up and pay more. I thought to myself, “meat is meat, it all tastes delicious to me.”

When I began fine tuning which foods I put in my body to optimize my diet, I decided to take another look at grass-fed and did a little research.

Why is Grass-fed More Expensive?
Price is a big factor when considering grass-fed beef. I think it’s important to understand why grass-fed is more expensive to get a better understanding of its true quality. Is grass-fed more pricey because it is more nutrient rich?

I’ve found that grass-fed meat’s added value is derived from the extra time and space. The life of modern day, conventional grain-fed cattle is different on all fronts from grass-fed cattle. The only similarity is that they both end up on the dinner plate.

Big Beef
Conventional feedlot operations are designed to put weight on cattle as fast as possible. The cattle are fed a dense mix of grains and… other things, which packs the pounds on faster than normal pasture grazing. Grass-fed ranchers choose to let the cattle grow and put on weight naturally. After all, good things come to those who wait.

The rapid weight gain that is standard operating procedure for feedlot cattle is good for revenue, but not good for the animals’ health or quality of life. The lifespan of a feedlot cow is much shorter, with operations regularly slaughtering animals just after their first year. Factory cattle operations generate revenue based on quantity, not quality. Large volumes of cattle are the only way to make a profit. In general, the principle of quality gets shelved.

Grass-fed cattle, on the other hand, have more time and space to fatten up naturally, commonly up to an extra year. This time and care plays into the price of grass-fed beef, as the ranchers of grass-fed cattle have higher expenses in maintaining the land, paying the mortgage and taxes on their vast grasslands which are required for a healthy and vibrant herd to graze.

Better Nutrients
If you’ve ever done any research for yourself you’ve likely discovered that grass-fed is more nutritious. While there are many benefits, I’ve highlighted those that I feel are most important.

Vitamins and Minerals
Grass-fed beef is rich in vitamins and minerals, more so than feedlot beef. This has been proven by a number of studies including one by the USDA and Clemson University and published in the Journal of Animal Science in 2009. Briefly, this is what they found:

  • Grass-fed beef usually has up to 7 or 8 mcg/gram of Vitamin E compared to 1 to 2 mcg/gram in grain-fed beef
  • Grass-fed beef is higher in beta-carotene. It is also higher in riboflavin and thiamine, common B Vitamins
  • Grass-fed beef shows a higher content of potassium, magnesium and calcium

CLA
Grass-fed beef is an excellent protein source for Conjugated Lineolic Acid (CLA). CLA has been proven to improve the body’s immune system. The presence of CLA has also been correlated with the reduction in risk of obesity, cancer and diabetes.

Omega-3 Fats
Beef from pasture raised cattle is also rich in unbroken long-chain omega-3 fatty acids. These fats are vital for proper cholesterol levels and maintaining good blood pressure. Omega-3s are also essential for proper brain function and optimal mental and physical health.

Studies show that depending on conditions, grass-fed beef can contain between 2 and 7 times the amount of omega-3s compared to commodity beef. Grass-fed offers a better ratio of omega-6 to omega-3 fatty acids as well.

Throughout history, man’s intake of omega-6 and omega-3 was naturally at a ratio of 2:1. Since the Industrial Revolution, the ratio has been skewed upwards to approximately 15:1. The consumption of grass-fed beef offers a rebalance with a better ratio of these bioactive fats.

Bacteria
When cattle eat grass and other plants (as they were meant to), their immune systems stay strong. With a stronger immune system, grass-fed cattle have less E. coli in their system compared to their grain-fed counterparts, meaning people eating grass-fed beef are less likely to cause bacterial infection from E. coli

A study at Cornell University by Francisco Diez-Gonzalez and James Russell noted that our digestive systems’ naturally occurring acids can kill E. coli from grass-fed beef far easier than beef from grain-fed cattle. Due an unnatural diet of grain, cattle for commodity beef  have an abnormally high level of acidity, which E. coli become accustomed to. On occasions when that resistant E coli is passed into our body, the acid present in our system is not strong enough to kill it, increasing the likelihood for infection.

Antibiotics
There is no need for antibiotics among herds of cattle naturally grazing in open pastures. In large feedlots common with many factory farming corporations, the cattle are confined to small spaces with cattle given enough room to eat and possibly turn around. In some operations, hundreds and even thousands of cattle can be condensed to just a few acres.

Disease spreads easily in tight spaces such as this, and when conditions are unsanitary, disease can devastate a herd. To protect against the problems caused by these poor conditions, antibiotics are overused on the cattle. This overuse helps generate antibiotic-resistant strains of bacteria that can cause severe illness upon consumption by humans.

It works like this: an introduced antibiotic will kill 99% of bacteria, but the strongest 1% of bacteria that remains has newly open real estate to multiply and spread to with no competition. The process is repeated–new antibiotics are introduced, killing most of the bacteria–and each time only the strongest of the strong survive. Drug resistant “super bugs” evolve out of this process.

Hormones
Many people might not know what exactly is in their beef, but if given the choice, most people would likely prefer meat free of synthetic growth hormones. Ranchers of grass-fed cattle typically do not use growth hormones because of their commitment to quality beef; many choose an all natural approach instead. While it’s not essential, you would be hard pressed to find grass-fed beef that is not proudly hormone free.

GMOs
The majority of grain feed for commercial cattle is now grown from GMO (genetically modified organism) crops. GMO food can be eaten directly or it can be consumed indirectly through eating GMO grain-fed beef. Despite their current popularity and overwhelming use, there have been no studies done on the long-term side effects of GMOs on the human body. There are many people against GMO use for many reasons, but that is another story altogether.

Research from France’s Caen University which was published in 2012 demonstrates that rats which were fed a lifetime of genetically modified corn had a dramatically higher rate of cancer and tumors, and their lives were much shorter. Because of the unknowns and research like this, it is best to avoid ingesting anything that is genetically modified.

Safe to Say
I’m thinking grass-fed beef is worthy of its price tag. Money can be saved if it’s purchased in bulk or if purchased on-site to avoid shipping expenses. In the last handful of years people have begun to wake up and understand food on a deeper level. Connections are again being drawn between the earth and the plate.

The choice was easy for me when I discovered the pitfalls of our modern day factory farms and feedlots that dominate the food industry. I support my local grass-fed beef rancher with my stomach and encourage others to do the same with theirs. From the pasture to the plate, grass-fed beef is better on all levels –- it’s a full spectrum of goodness.

Rich Coffman eats and writes from the front range of Colorado. If you would like to learn more about grass fed beef please visit Teton Waters Ranch.

Hidradenitis Suppurativa Book/Guide

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Hey guys!

I’ve taken a short break from writing my book to write another book. I’m still getting overwhelming comments on my Hidradenitis Suppurativa posts, and I decided that I needed to get all the information and tips I have in one, easy to read — and easy to understand — format.

I hope to have this book finished and available on for download and purchase by the end of the month. I’ll be using a lot of the comments that you guys have posted over the last couple months but I need to know if you have any more questions about specific things that you want me to address.

So, here’s what I need:

1. Questions/comments/testimonials
2. I’m searching for potential names for the book. Some people I’ve talked to refer to their HS as “Bumps.” This is my working title, but if you have a better suggestion, please let me know!! The name is pretty important and I’m at a loss. The subtitle is definitely going to be: “A field guide for surviving — and overcoming — the painful condition Hidradenitis Suppurativa.”
3. Any pictures you have (or want to take) that you will let me use in the book. I can give you credit, or post them anonymously. They do NOT have to show your face. I will NEVER, EVER “out” you if you don’t want me to.
4. Lists of your triggers and reactions. Send it to me with the following subjects: 1. Known triggers, 2. Potential triggers, 3. Major Symptoms (Body Wide), incl. joint pain, endometriosis, 4. Specific Digestive symptoms, 5. Skin conditions, incl. rashes and acne, 6) Mood/Pain Level

You can either comment on this post, contact me directly by clicking on the “contact” tab in the upper right corner of this page. Anyone interested in sending pics, please let me know and I’ll send you my email address.

Thank you! I’m excited to have this book out for you to read and hopefully it will help you out a great deal.

Vitamin D, CBS and Pickle Mayonnaise

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Vitamin D and Sleep

Dr. Seth Roberts (a PhD and biohacker who presented at AHS last year) has been blogging about my Vitamin D and sleep connection for several months now and has been trying it out for himself. Seth has been trying to improve his sleep for years and definitely thinks I’m on to something. You can read about his experiments here. He’s currently writing a publication on the subject, which I can’t wait to read. He’s also been referring to the topic during some of his talks. I know some of you have tried and have had success with changing the timing of your supplementation – we believe it’s more important than previously thought and can impact the outcome.

Paleo on CBS

Paleo’s been on the news again! Dr. Kim Mulvihill at CBS San Francisco recently came to PaleoFX and interviewed some of us. There’s tons of great information, including an interview with CJ Hunt about his new movie, In Search of The Perfect Human Diet. (Spoiler alert: it turns out the perfect human diet is Paleo.) Check out the videos on CBS, or click below. I just happen to be in this one. ;)

Aired May 14, 2012: New Documentary Highlights Health Benefits of Paleo Diet
Aired May 15, 2012: Going Paleo Means Cutting Out Common Items from Diet
Aired May 16, 2012: Plenty of Options When Cooking For Caveman Diet
Aired May 17, 2012: Can the Paleo Diet Extend Your Life?
Aired May 18, 2012: Olympic Athlete Credits Paleo Diet for Healing
Aired May 21, 2012: Plastic Surgeon Prescribes Paleo Diet Instead of Liposuction

Pickle Mayonnaise

I recently went on a road trip to New Mexico to visit a friend who I haven’t seen in years. I have so much in common with this woman that we never run out of things to talk about and do together but thanks to the military we’ve been thousands of miles away from each other since 2006. Staying with her and her family really brought a point home for me – we are not meant to live alone with our immediate families, isolated in our perfect boxes. We’re supposed to have extended family and friends around us most of the time. For support with our children. For help with the cooking and cleaning. To socialize with. We shared so many ideas and tips over a one week period that I have come home with tons of new things to try, many of which I’ve already started doing. We even stumbled upon an amazing mayonnaise recipe that I’m going to share with you. If it hadn’t been for Rhonda, I never would have thought about trying this.
As a lot of you know, making your own mayonnaise is disgustingly easy. I say disgusting because it takes about 30 seconds and tastes better than anything you’ll EVER get in a store. It’s a lot cheaper too. Just like salad dressing and marinades, it uses oil and acid – the difference is, there’s a raw egg thrown in. But just like salad dressings and marinades, you can mix up the type of oil and acid you use to invent amazing new flavors.
Rhonda had recently made a batch of pickles but had forgotten to add water to some of the batch (a crucial step if you actually want to be able to eat the things without your face turning inside out). I was making mayonnaise for our trip back home and needed vinegar. She suggested using the vinegar from one of her jars of dill pickles that hadn’t been diluted so I tried it. OMFG. It was possibly the best mayonnaise I’ve ever had. It tasted like summer – for me, that’s potato salad and barbecues. Since the mayo already had a pickle flavor, we didn’t need to add pickles to our tuna or egg salad on the road which made on-the-go preparations really easy. I added a little extra salt to the batch as well so I didn’t need to deal with adding salt, either.
We came up with the idea to make the vinegar to use for future batches, which is what I’m going to do later this afternoon. All you need to do is find a pickle recipe you like, make it — but don’t add the water or the cucumbers — and pour it into a mason jar. You don’t even need to go through the canning process because vinegar won’t spoil. You could add any number of herbs to it, depending on the flavor you want. I’m going to get some fresh tarragon and try that. Having flavored vinegar will save me having to add herbs to my mayonnaise later on and gives a depth of flavor that herbs thrown in at the last minute just don’t have.

Here’s the recipe. Substitute different oils and acids for different tastes.

Basic Mayonnaise Recipe

1 egg
1 cup oil (I use extra light tasting olive oil or avocado oil)
1 1/2 tbsp acid [vinegar or citrus juice] (3/4 tbsp apple cider vinegar + 3/4 tbsp lemon juice is lovely)
1/2 tsp dried ground mustard
1/2 tsp Real Salt or sea salt (more or less to taste, but 1/2 tsp is what I like)
Optional: fresh garlic, pepper, whatever herbs you want.

Put everything into a mason jar and use a stick blender to combine. You’ll have lovely, thick mayonnaise in about 30 seconds. If you’re using a food processor, add the oil in a steady stream. If you want to make a creamy salad dressing, just add some milk to thin it out, or even some more lemon or lime juice. Using balsamic vinegar as your base in this case works nicely. It all depends on what you want to do with the finished mayonnaise. If you’re making potato salad, I really suggest making and using pickle vinegar. (Don’t use pickle juice from a store bought jar, it has been diluted and your mayo will be runny.)

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I’m still writing my book and I’m really excited about how it’s turning out. As for a guestimate of when I’ll be finished — well, with toddlers, road trips, military PCS’s and life all competing for my time and attention, it could be a while but I’m optimistic I’ll get it done by the end of this year. :)

Dear Primalgirl: Paleo’s Gonna Kill Ya

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Okay, maybe I’m being a little mellow dramatic with the title of this post but when Ancel Keys is brought up, I get a little pissed off. I received this comment the other day on a post I did a while back called Can Going Paleo Give You Celiac Disease? The comment was just too long and complicated for me to write a simple rebuttal underneath. Instead, I decided to turn it into a post. I will address each point in black text so it is easier to distinguish who is “talking.” In case you don’t feel like reading the original post, I concluded that going Paleo hadn’t given me any new diseases or syndromes; instead the removal of particular foods from my diet caused me to be highly-aware of the immediate problems they created when reintroduced.

Written by Scotty from www.mycollegenutrition.com: 

I Highly Disagree, it’s totally possible to get an Autoimmune disease from any dietary restriction, Low carb paleo included. (by the way clay color poop is associated with problems in the pancreas). http://theskinnywhitebuddha.blogspot.com/2011/11/celiac-disease-diabetes-of-intesines.html

Clay colored poop can be associated with pancreatic or liver problems. This is why I immediately had the doctor run a panel for me, to make sure I was okay in those areas. I was. When I stopped eating wheat, my poop returned to normal after three days. Clay colored poop is also associated with Celiac Disease.

“It is interesting that the obese man or woman can be placed on a diet as low as 600, or even 400, calories without loss of body nitrogen or other ill effects and without depression of the basal metabolic rate. In these respects obese persons and persons of normal weight differ strikingly in their response to a low intake of calories.”

~ Ancel Keys the Study of Human Starvation

Whoaaaaaa Nelly. Wait. You’re quoting Ancel Keys?!?!? Really? OMG. Okay, let’s deal with this one:
Ancel Keys is the genius behind the low-fat hypothesis that has ravaged the Western world and several generations. He cherry picked his data to support what he believed and intentionally left out data that would prove him wrong. Fortunately, he has since been proved wrong and his data has been shown to be manipulated. If you don’t believe that, I would ask you to take a good look around and ask yourself how the Key’s low-fat and cholesterol hypothesis is working for the general public. I can’t take any of his arguments seriously, I’m sorry. By quoting him several times, you have unfortunately invalidated your argument with me and (I’m sure) most of my readers. Please find some data from a reputable, current source and we’ll debate. Leangains has a great write up on Ancel Keys, as does Denise Minger at www.rawfoodsos.com.

Seriously, why have you quoted this particular paragraph? Low carb doesn’t mean low calorie. Paleo does not mean low carb. We still get plenty of carbs, but from healthy sources such as vegetables, fruit, nuts, seeds and tubers. We don’t starve ourselves. We eat when we’re hungry.

Put an already lean person on a calorie restricted diet and problems will ensue, but not in the obese because it takes longer for those problems to show up (I suspect because they have more fat to burn and lean tissue before they start running on fumes). A low carb diet can decrease secretory IGA and elevate Proteins to inflammatory markers like soy, gluten, eggs.

I am not on a calorie restricted diet, nor a low carb one. The Paleo lifestyle is as varied as the people who follow it. Some people eat very low carb (VLC) because they need to for specific reasons (epilepsy for one), other people eat very high carb depending on their needs. Suffice it to say, none of us are running on fumes. I’m sorry you have gotten the wrong idea about the Paleo lifestyle. Again, where have you gotten this data from? Can you show me the study that definitively proves low carb diets elevate proteins to inflammatory markers? (…NOT a study by Keys, please.)

“There is reason to believe that the epithelial lining of the gastrointestinal tract becomes more permeable to microorganisms in severe under-nutrition. The morphological changes in the intestinal tract would strongly suggest this.”

~Ancel Keys; The Biology of Human Starvation

I am not severely under-nourished. I was before I went Paleo. The phytates and lectins in the grains and legumes I was eating were binding to essential minerals in the foods I was consuming and causing a cascade of problems. I think a problem (besides the fact that you’re quoting Ancel Keys again) is that his book is called “The Biology of Human Starvation.” I don’t starve myself. I eat A LOT.

“The marked decreases in pulse rate and basal metabolism may be regarded as critical indicators of a lowering of speed in the automatic functions of the body…”

A lowered pulse rate can also be an indication of improved cardiovascular health. It makes sense that if a person is starving that the body would slow down non-essential functions. But again, I’m not starving. Far from it. And if I were, my body would be able to call on its fat reserves to burn for fuel. This is a complex evolutionary system designed to keep us alive during famine.

It can also be noted that a high Fat diet can destroy your glucose tolerance leading to thyroid imbalance which then may lead to digestive problems:
“Because of the high fat diet of the Eskimos, Heinbecker studied their glucose tolerance curves both before and after 82 hours of fasting. The basal blood sugar during the starvation decreased from 110-120 mg. per 100 cc. to about 80 mg. The glucose tolerances after the ingestion of about 2 gm. of glucose per kg. of body weight were normal in the control period. After 3.5 days of starvation the glucose tolerance showed blood sugar levels close to 300 mg. per 100cc. These returned only very slowly to normal.”

~ Ancel Keys; the Biology of Human Starvation

Sorry, but this quote doesn’t even reference your point, let alone prove it. Again, Keys selectively picked his information to tell the story that he wanted to tell. By adopting a high-fat diet, I personally overcame insulin resistance, pre-diabetes and hypoglycemia. However, once again Keys is talking about STARVATION. I don’t fast for 82 hours. I don’t know anyone who does if they don’t have to. It makes sense that when someone fasts for that long that their bodies would make glucose via gluconeogenesis or other pathways in order to fuel their brains. Again, we are complex systems based on millions of years of evolution. We are designed to be able to withstand short periods of famine. Who cares if your blood glucose is elevated during fasting? It’s not going to give you diabetes, in fact it would be beneficial. It would give you enough energy to go out and hunt/gather some food, eat it and continue to live. Of course blood glucose returned to normal afterwards. Of course it was “slowly.” Their bodies were smarter than they were, making sure the famine was truly over before announcing ‘Mission Accomplished.’ So tell me again, how does a high-fat diet destroy glucose tolerance, leading to thyroid imbalance and digestive problems?

Reduced Metabolic rate from Industrialized food (Overly processed, lack of vitamins) > Famine response is triggered > Low Thyroid> Lowered Secretory IGA > increased immune response to proteins > “leaky gut”.

So don’t eat industrialized food? Ok. I won’t. And I don’t. Are we saying the same thing here, or what? I’m not sure what your point is. Are you against Paleo, low carb or industrialized foods? 

Celiac disease is really just a blanket term for all digestive problems, seeing as removing gluten doesn’t always solve the problem. IBS, IBD, Ulcerate Cholietis, Chrones, etc

Tell this to someone who is suffering from Crohn’s Disease. (Reid, can you hop on this?!) Celiac Disease is caused by gluten. If the complete removal of gluten from the diet does not result in a lessening of symptoms or complete remission, then perhaps the person didn’t have Celiac to begin with or is still getting “dosed” without knowing it. It can take half a year to see remission of symptoms after gluten has been removed. [Editors Note: According to Dr. Tim Gerstmar of Aspire Natural Health, sometimes complete removal of gluten from the diet doesn't solve the problem. In this matter, I will concede that you are right. Are these cases that are extremely far-gone? Thankfully this was not my case, but I was in the beginning stages.] Testing processes for Celiac are far from perfect. My doctor told me I have an 80% chance of having inaccurate test results come back. Celiac Disease is not a blanket term for all digestive problems, IBS is.

Dieting in general is a stress on the body, Paleo included. You could have had a gluten “sensitivity” (such a garbage term) before that is now exacerbated by a diet that is deficient and sub optimal for the current environmental conditions and Epigentic changes that said individual was conditioned for.

Again, I am not on a diet. I have been following a Primal/Paleo lifestyle for almost three years and during that time have seen the complete remission of all the problems I was suffering from during my pre-Paleo days. I agree that dieting puts a stress on our bodies, which is why I have NEVER ONCE DIETED IN MY ENTIRE LIFE – with the exception of in 1999, when I was placed on a calorie-restricted diet of 1600 calories a day under a doctor’s supervision. There was no importance placed on food quality or groups, it was simply a matter of calories in/calories out. Along with exercising vigorously for 5-6 days per week, I managed to lose ONE EFFING POUND over a 2-3 month period. Yes, it caused stress on my body and also on my mind. Keeping track of every single thing I put in my mouth caused me to think about food constantly. I had to starve myself if I overindulged earlier in the day, I had to weigh and measure everything and it was a horrible, horrible experience. I love the freedom that the Paleo lifestyle gives me. As long as I don’t eat grains, legumes and sugar, I can eat whatever I want, whenever I want, to satiety. I am healthy, vibrant and strong. I no longer have ANY medical or mental health issues. I don’t take any medication. I don’t have to buy products marketed towards “improving health.” That is my own personal experience. I will never, ever go back. I believe that my body is conditioned to eat Paleo foods, since it does so freakin’ well on a Paleo lifestyle. It was not conditioned to eat Neolithic foods. The proof is obvious if you look at my before and after pictures and listen to the diseases/syndromes/conditions that I was living with before but no longer have. Please tell me what nutrients and minerals my Paleo diet is deficient in. I can’t think of any, nor do I have the markers of any deficiencies.

The Mark Sisson way of eating can come with consequences: http://180degreehealth.com/2011/06/paleo-fail

Just my take on the subject…

Thank you, Scott. And this is just *my* take on the subject. Everyone is different. Everyone will have a slightly different path and results. Saying that “eating this way can come with consequences” is a loaded statement. The “consequences” for me have been vibrant physical health and strength, coupled with stable mental health and the body I have always dreamed of.

By the way, the Paleo-Fail post you linked to above is hilarious. The guy is trying to sell an e-book. Not everyone will have luck following a VLC Paleo diet longterm and will need to tweak their diet to suit their own individual needs. I have been following a Paleo lifestyle for three years and have found that I need to increase my carb intake from time to time, depending on the season, my activity level and my goals. I don’t need an ebook to tell me when it’s time to eat, I listen to my body.

I look forward to your reply as well as any medical studies or literature you are basing your opinion on, with the exception of anything by Ancel Keys.

Level Health and Nutrition Classes

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Just a quick post for all you guys that are struggling to find support in your area. Like I said in a previous post, I bet a lot of you don’t know a lot of other Paleo people in real life, or if you do, they live far away. That’s the way it is for me. Other than my family, none of my friends that live close to me are Paleo.
We need support to make it, a lot of times. We need someone to guide us with advice, tips and sometimes, we just need an understanding person to vent to.
That’s why I’m teaming up with Orleatha and Chris Smith at Level Health and Nutrition. They are offering free online Paleo classes, training and support for a limited time. The first class starts this Sunday, April 1 at 3 p.m. PST. You can sign up here: Level Health – Introductory Session. Check them out on Facebook for more information. If you’re wondering where to start, if you’ve hit a plateau or if you just want to meet a group of people with similar interests, click here and we’ll see you Sunday!
Please share this post with your friends and family and help us spread the word! Thanks.

Primalgirl Opens Up: Hidradenitis Suppurativa Part 2

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The response to my last post on Hidradenitis Suppurativa (HS) has been overwhelming and heartbreaking.

I knew it would be. I know what it’s like to suffer with this. To have so many questions and no solutions. To get your hopes up that something is working, only to have a flare up when you least expect it.

Grace says “I have been on so many websites and in reality, it is the same information copy and pasted over and over. NOBODY has any real information about what can be done for this disease. It is breaking my heart. My daughter is a beautiful young woman and I can’t imagine sitting idly by while this condition takes more and more hold over her body.”

Kori says, “I too have suffered (continue to suffer) from HS since puberty. Since going primal I have noticed a severe reduction in outbreak (mine are mainly underarm, and buttock although occasionally groin) but not a total remission…It is true, though, that diet has been key. I have bad flare ups once or twice a year now as opposed to once a month.”

Debbie, who also suffers from HS says, “I didn’t know the name of it and I’m a nurse.”[*RANT BELOW*]

HS Stage 1. You may have it and not even realize it. It comes and goes.

For those of you that are afflicted with HS, please know that I understand. I understand. I know many of you didn’t comment for fear of “outing” yourself. Others are just waiting for me to tell you the cure. I’m sorry to tell you this, but there is no cure. Like Lyme Disease and Herpes, HS will lie dormant in your system until you give it the right conditions to appear. And then, appear it will.

There is no cure. As far as the medical community is concerned.

There is no cure. But I have a remedy that works.

It took three years to find out exactly what triggered HS in me, but I have found it. My scars are gone. All but the last little scar from my last “experiment” on October 22, 2011, that is. HS scars can take years to fade. Unfortunately, what triggers the disease in me might not be the same as you, but it can give you an idea of where to start.

It all starts with diet.

HS Stage 2. It becomes harder to ignore and the worst pain you’ve ever had.

Diet? The doctors never mentioned this. I was told antibiotics were the only solution and that they didn’t always work. I was told to wear cotton underwear, to keep myself clean, to wash with anti-bacterial body wash, and when that didn’t work to pony up to anti-microbial cleansers like Hibiclens Antimicrobial & Antiseptic Skin Cleanser (more on that later). I was told to avoid shaving. To shower daily. (Don’t do that. Please.) I found old wives tales and remedies that were damn near medieval on HS forums and support groups. My favorite was to take the moisture from a toad’s back during the full moon and apply it to boils. Sure. That’s happening. I was told to give up coffee (Suuuuuuuure, I’ll get right on that one, too.). As crazy as the remedies were, I was willing to try them. Except for the toad one, that is. Everyone has their limits.

For those of you not interested in details, here is the solution in “Three Easy Steps.” (It’s really not as simple as these three steps, so those of you that are interested in ending your outbreaks for good will probably want to read on.)

  1. Start by eating a strict auto-immune Paleo diet. Robb Wolf talks about the Paleo autoimmune protocol on his website which you can read about here, otherwise, I’ll be discussing it later on in this article. Stay on this diet and do not stray for at least 30 days. Longer is better. If you can make it 60 days, that’s great. You will more than likely see a remission of your HS. You will also feel awesome and lose some weight, but that is not our goal here – it’s just a side benefit. If you do not see a remission of your HS, you will need to look closer at your diet and see what else you can remove.
  2. After you realize it’s been two months without a flare up, start adding foods back in, ONE at a time. Do this slowly. Do not introduce different foods less a week apart or you won’t be able to tell what is or isn’t affecting you. If you don’t react to the food, eat it for at least three days in a row and wait four days. For me, the boil/abscess appear the following morning after I have eaten the offending food. This is soon enough to see a connection in me, but it may be different for you. You may be able to eat the offending food once or twice before your body reacts. Don’t rush this step. Make sure you write down everything you eat. Don’t rely on your memory.
  3. Once you have found your “offending foods” don’t eat them anymore, unless the short-term gain caused by that food outweighs the weeks of pain from an outbreak. Sometimes it may. You may find the boils will heal faster if you only have your “outbreak foods” once in a blue moon. Everyone will react differently. You can test out your theory by abstaining from your triggers for 60 days and then reintroducing them. Did you break out? How many days of eating that food did it take for you to break out? Figure out how your body reacts. Then, don’t eat that food anymore.

HS Stage 3. Read this young woman’s heartbreaking story at notdying.wordpress.com

See? It’s really not that simple. Just going on an auto-immune Paleo diet is more than some people can bear. Keeping detailed records of everything you eat for months on end can be overwhelming. You can always do it ass-backwards, like me. I only suggest following these three steps because it will be the quickest way to a solution for you. I did it the opposite way around and it took three years to figure out what was causing me to flareup: potatoes.

That’s right. Potatoes. Mashed, boiled, fried, instant, baked, turned into tots. Organic or conventional, it didn’t matter. Hidden potato starch/flour in Gluten Free products. Potatoes? Really? I had been eating them my whole life and thought they were one of the safer neolithic foods, since they were natural and not causing me any digestive upset. I had also been suffering from HS since puberty, so it goes to show you things you grew up on and have been eating for over 20 years CAN be the culprit; it’s not necessarily something exotic or new in your diet. Here’s why it took me so damn long to figure out my trigger:

  1. I didn’t keep a food diary. I went Primal, cutting out all sugar, processed foods, grains and most starchy carbs, including potatoes. I saw a drastic reduction in the number of flareups I had, so much to where I thought I had the HS under control. However, I would break out every so often without a seeming cause. I followed the 80/20 rule and for the first year and a half would treat myself to potatoes, milk chocolate and even Subway sandwiches once every couple of weeks. I couldn’t see a connection and different things seemed to make me break out, while some things I thought were affecting me didn’t seem to. I wasn’t scientific at all in my approach.
  2. I made assumptions. I read that HS was connected to smoking (which I used to do) and PCOS. I had quit smoking before I got pregnant but it didn’t make a difference. Since my PCOS was caused by super-elevated insulin levels due to sugar intake, I assumed the HS was connected to sugar, too. I was able to eat dark chocolate whenever I wanted, but I seemed to flare up whenever I would treat myself to a piece (or a bar, ha) of milk chocolate or gummy candies. I wasn’t paying attention to the small bag of potato chips I would also be eating with that candy. Or the In N Out fries with my protein-style burger. Why would I? I knew potatoes were bad for my insulin, but who ever heard of potatoes causing zits? Or boils? Not me. It didn’t even show up on my radar. I chalked it up to the sugar in the potatoes, the chocolate, the candy.
  3. I was unaware of the auto-immune nature of HS. Things got more confusing when I cut out Splenda after six months on the Primal diet. Not only did I lose 10 pounds without even thinking about it, but my HS went into remission. I tried an experiment a couple months in by adding a couple packets of Splenda to my morning coffee and I broke out with a boil the next day. I was convinced it was the Splenda. I haven’t touched it since (which is a good thing) nor have I touched anything with maltodextrin in it either (the other ingredient in Splenda besides sucralose). Since I wasn’t keeping a food diary, I couldn’t see that the potatoes I had for dinner the same night as the Splenda might also be a contributing factor. Note: When I had a flare up during this time, it was different. Before I went Primal, a new boil would appear at least once a week. It would take weeks, if not months, to go away. After changing my diet, I would only break out once every month or two. The boil would only last a few days. There was not as much swelling or pain. It would subside quite quickly, wouldn’t even come to a head and didn’t leave a scar. I thought (probably correctly) that HS flareups “feed” on the inflammation caused by the offending food, and the more you put into your system, the longer the boils take to heal.
  4. I wasn’t keeping track of the food groups I was eating, for the most part. After going to AHS 2011, I stopped eating dairy. I lost more weight and felt fantastic, but didn’t really notice a difference in my digestion, skin or anything else. I added some dairy back in after 30 days but didn’t see any change. It was nice to rule out dairy as a cause, but I was still convinced that milk chocolate was affecting me someway. I went to a Hallowe’en party on October 22 of last year. The food at the party consisted of: MacDonald’s and Hallowe’en candy. I didn’t touch the burgers but I certainly ate the candy. I had 4 little boxes of Nerds, some Sweetarts, a bunch of milk chocolate and some french fries. I made sure I stayed gluten free and didn’t touch the burgers, not even the patties. The next day, I woke up with a “hangover” and a boil. Another seeming connection to milk chocolate and candy. I didn’t think about the fries. I was unaware that another food group besides wheat or dairy could even play a factor.
  5. My kid’s diet changed. They were having psoriasis attacks, which we could not seem to get under control. We had made sure that they didn’t have any wheat or dairy in their diet, but they would still break out occasionally. They had full-on allergic reactions to tomatoes – red, rosy cheeks, runny noses and hives. I checked the ingredients in some of their gluten-free products and found potato starch and/or flour in all of them. The kids would scream in pain and claw at their mouths anytime there was chili, hot pepper or even paprika in their food. I couldn’t get them to eat eggplant or bell peppers at all and then they went off potatoes completely and wouldn’t touch them. I hadn’t made a connection to the nightshade family. With a little research, I found out that tomatoes, potatoes, peppers and eggplants all belonged to the nightshade family and we immediately removed any nightshades from the kids diets. Since I didn’t have potatoes or tomatoes in the house anymore, I wasn’t eating them either.
  6. My experiments started to fail, or not produce any results. During the holiday season, I ate some milk chocolate. Nothing happened. I ate more. Nothing. Then I ate an entire Pound Plus bar of Trader Joe’s milk chocolate in 4 days. NOTHING. I got super pissed off. I ate some gummy candies. Again, nothing. I started to tempt fate (and the scale) and ate sugar in the form of milk chocolate and sour candies every day for THREE WEEKS. Still, nothing. I was trying to find the “magic number” of times I could eat this crap and not break out. Finally, I got a little zit on my chin and started to feel like crap. But the HS was no where to be seen. Occasionally, I would have a tablespoon of organic ketchup with my eggs but then I started getting canker sores a couple hours later. I asked a Nose Ear Throat specialist about it and he mentioned the words, “possible auto-immune response.” It was then that it clicked: I had had french fries at that party. I had had potatoes for dinner the same night I had tried my Splenda experiment. I hadn’t had potatoes since that Hallowe’en party and I hadn’t had an HS outbreak, either. I was getting canker sores from tomatoes. A tiny zit on my scalp after eating bell peppers. My body was reacting to nightshades, but differently than I had seen in anyone else. If I hadn’t removed nightshades from my kids diets, I never would have figured it out.

It took me three years to muddle through this mess by myself. I’m hoping that by following my “Three Easy Steps” in a slow and scientific manner you’ll be able to figure out what triggers YOUR HS in six months or less.

Robb Wolf’s Autoimmune Protocol:

Google “autoimmune disorder.” You won’t find any mentions of HS, except for some speculation about the connection on www.dailystrength.org. What you find on sites like Medline isn’t encouraging. According to them, “there is no known prevention for most autoimmune disorders…Most autoimmune diseases are chronic, but many can be controlled with treatment. Side effects of medications used to suppress the immune system can be severe. Contact your health care provider.”

They don’t have a fucking clue. It’s a good thing that most people in the Paleo community are as brilliant as hell, ’cause they’ve solved your problem.

For me, the first mention of connecting HS to autoimmunity came from the great Loren Cordain himself. You may not find it written down anywhere as he told me personally at the AHS last year but I believe he had plans to cover the topic of HS in an upcoming book. Thinking of my HS as an auto-immune response got the mental ball rolling for me and I approached combating the condition differently. To learn more about auto-immunity, check out the FAQ page at www.robbwolf.com:

“Emerging research has made clear the link between Neolithic foods (grains, legumes and dairy) and autoimmune diseases such as Lupus, Rheumatoid Arthritis, Multiple Sclerosis and a host of other less well know conditions. Many people have found significant improvements in autoimmune disease by eliminating the Neolithic foods and building a diet around nutritious Paleo options. If you suffer from an autoimmune disease we highly recommend you start a Paleo diet and let us know what your results are. To give your body its best chance to heal we recommend that you initially limit the following foods:

  • Eggs
  • Tomatoes & eggplants
  • Peppers including bell peppers and hot peppers
  • Spices such as curries, paprika, and chili powder.

Some of these otherwise Paleo-friendly foods have been shown to be problematic in individuals with autoimmune issues. We recommend you fully remove not only these foods but also all Neolithic foods (grains, breads, potatoes, beans and dairy) for at least a month to see if they pose a problem for you.”

~Robb Wolf

Notice how all the nightshades are in there? Also notice the other conditions you can slam into remission if you happen to have them? Or have a loved one who suffers? Please pass this on. I’m writing this because I want to help you and the people you love.

In the Meantime: Taking Care of Flareups

Over the years, scars will accumulate.

I personally have not found a difference with exercise, sweating, how often I shower or shave, what topical ointments or body wash I use or anything else. Lowering the temperature of my showers and only showering twice a week actually resulted in nicer hair and skin, but it didn’t stop the HS. Only getting rid of your trigger foods will do that. But how do you take care of a boil once it appears? There are so many theories out there – some people can’t take the pain anymore and squeeze and then let it scab over and then squeeze (the process can take days and leaves one hell of a scar) and let it scab over until enough pus has been released to alleviate the pressure. Others go to the doctors and have them lanced. You would think this would be the safest solution but from what I’ve heard, this can result in boils that just…don’t heal. Ever. The truth is, whether or not the boil is lanced, popped or just left to its own devices, at the end of the day it seems to take the same amount of time to heal and go away. It doesn’t seem to care what you do – unless you let it get infected. The pain of an infected abscess is about equal to the pain of one that hasn’t erupted; pick your poison. Surgery is always an option if the abscesses get bad enough – but the “after” pics I’ve seen online make me wonder which is worse. You tell me:

Painful infection happens quite often.

One good thing did come out of my original dermatologist appointment – she told me about Hibiclens. It’s an antimicrobial wash that surgeons use. The liquid she recommended turned out to be completely useless, but when I went to the store to buy it, I saw that they also had Hibistat Germicidal Hand Wipes. I picked up some of those as well. They don’t do anything to prevent a flareup, but if one does happen, they are EXTREMELY handy to have. They make the healing process go so much faster and prevent infection. They also really helped with any ingrown hairs, too. I know many people with HS also suffer from ingrown hairs, zits other places including cystic acne and clogged pores.

Since they were pretty pricey, I would take one and cut it into 4 and put the other pieces in a little Ziploc bag and use as needed. When money got tight, I would substitute regular old alcohol wipes from the first aid kit, and they also did the job. They just sting a lot more. I used either wipe at the first sign of a flareup, even before the skin broke. It seemed to help.

The other product I used (and continue to use) is coconut oil. Coconut oil is amazing stuff. It’s antibacterial, antimicrobial, antiviral and a damn good conditioner. I even use the stuff on my scalp. After I disinfected the wound, I would rub coconut oil on it. The scars seemed to fade faster and the wound healed quite quickly. Then I just started using it all over my body. I don’t use any other products at all and I have beautiful skin.

I heard once that beauty comes from the inside, so it makes sense that beautiful skin comes from what we put into ourselves. I hope this article has helped you. If you have any questions, or need further help, please comment on this post or send me an email.

Resources:

If you’re not Paleo, have never heard of the Paleo or Primal lifestyles or don’t know where to start, don’t worry. You can get all the information you need for free if you just take the time to read it:

BACK TO TOP

I NEED TO RANT A LITTLE:

It’s amazing to me that the medical community is so clueless when it comes to HS. Take breast cancer, for example. We ALL know what breast cancer is. Not that I am belittling the disease or the tenacity of its survivors, but if I have one more person ask me to donate to Breast Cancer Awareness, I am going to scream. We’re all fucking AWARE of breast cancer already. I can’t be any MORE aware of it. (Notice they never say “Give me money so we can find a CURE,” it’s always “Raise awareness!” 230,480 women in the US were expected to be diagnosed with breast cancer in the U.S. in 2011, according to www.breastcancer.org. What about the upwards of 12 MILLION people in the U.S. alone that suffer with HS? I have heard from people all over the world that are afflicted with HS. It’s not an American problem. Yet, there is no awareness for HS. No funds, no campaigns for the cure, nothing. Your doctor doesn’t even know what it is. We need to come out of the closet, people. HS may not kill you, but I am certain that people have committed suicide because of it. I know this because there have been times I have wanted to kill myself. Times I have been so ashamed of the condition of my body that I just wanted it all to end. Times when I have been so frustrated with doctors and their lack of compassion, making me feel ashamed of myself, like it’s MY FAULT, that I wanted to give up. Like I said in my previous post, I’m lucky. And realizing that I alone hold the key to my health has been incredibly empowering.

Primalgirl Opens Up: Hidradenitis Suppurativa Part I

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Warning: This post is graphic and candid. If you are embarrassed by frank, honest discussions of human sexuality and the human body, then this post probably isn’t for you. If you want to learn more about a disease that is connected to Metabolic Syndrome, PCOS, Crohn’s Disease and Insulin Resistance but is rarely talked about, then read on.

This will be a two-part post. In Part One, I will be dealing with what Hidradenitis Suppurativa (HS) is and giving you some background into the disease and the psyche of its sufferers, as well as my story. In Part Two, I will discuss how I got my HS to go into remission. That’s right. My HS symptoms are gone. I have found out what triggers it in me and how to avoid flare-ups. The process is lengthy and requires some sacrifice, but if you suffer from HS I know you are willing to do ANYTHING to get rid of it. However, I encourage you to continue reading. Even if you don’t have this condition, I guarantee you know someone who does. Having some background into the disease can make all the difference in helping someone you love, since they probably won’t tell you how much they are suffering.

I’ve had a condition called Hidradenitis Suppurativa since right after puberty. I didn’t know what it was called for over 15 years and couldn’t find a doctor that even knew what it was until I did considerable research, found the name and told them what it was (my typical experience at the doctors, sadly enough.). I didn’t know anyone else that had it and was too embarrassed to “come out.” I felt alone and isolated. In order to find someone else with the condition, I first had to admit to them that I had it too. The disease caused me considerable pain – both physical and emotional. It damaged my self-esteem while I was growing up and limited the activities I was able to do. It has left me with scars. While the physical scars have faded and disappeared since going Primal, the emotional ones will always be there.

"The LORD will strike you with the same boils that plagued the Egyptians. He will strike you with hemorrhoids, sores, and itching that won't go away." ~ Deuteronomy 28:27

Having a skin condition that looks like herpes on crack in your private areas – your groin, pubic area, buttocks, under your arms or breasts or anywhere where there are hair follicles (so potentially your entire frackin’ body, really) – will definitely affect how you interact with other people. Imagine a girl just going through puberty, with all the stress and problems that puberty normally entails, and then add that frightening skin condition. Imagine going to a doctor to ask what it is and being told that it’s caused by bacteria and the ensuing shame that comes from being told “you aren’t doing a good enough job of cleaning yourself. Down there.” Imagine being told they don’t know what is wrong with you and that they don’t have a solution or treatment. Imagine that you are that girl and your friends are having a pool party. You really want to go but you are afraid that your bathing suit might ride up in the back and someone might see. You don’t go to that party, do you? You don’t change in the locker room either. You don’t go to sleepovers. You are afraid of being intimate. You think that people will think you are diseased, infected, contagious, damaged. Imagine the fragile self-esteem of a teenager who is afraid to reach out for help and who feels isolated and alone. I imagine this is how some gay teenagers must feel. It’s hard having a secret.

This was me. I am lucky that I had parents who constantly built me up in other ways, or God knows how I may have turned out. I’m also lucky I wasn’t raised in a strict religious family, or I may have thought this disease was inflicted upon me by God. After all, doesn’t God give people boils from time to time, for some sin or another? I’m also lucky I didn’t develop OCD about keeping myself clean. I didn’t even tell my supportive, loving family about my disease until I was in my 30s. It turns out they couldn’t have helped with the condition at the time anyway – the doctors couldn’t help. No one knows what causes this disease. No one in Western medicine has a clue. It wasn’t until I went Primal that I noticed an improvement in my condition and it took almost 3 years to fully understand what triggered the outbreaks and to completely avoid them. All the doctors I saw over the years didn’t understand the autoimmune response that HS seems to be. No one ever suggested perhaps it was something I was eating that was causing the outbreaks.

If you want to jump right to pictures, visit DermNet. Please be warned that the pictures are graphic and might contain the occasional penis, vagina, nipple or buttock. After all, these are the areas that are affected most often.

There’s a reason I needed to warn you before you looked at those pictures. They’re fairly horrific. The HS-USA website describes Hidradenitis Suppurativa as follows:

“Hidradenitis Suppurativa (HS), also known as ‘Acne Inversa’, is a physically, psychologically, and socially disabling disease affecting inverse areas of the body (those places where there is skin-to-skin contact – armpits, groin, breasts, etc.), and where apocrine glands and hair follicles are found. It is non-contagious and recurrent; typically manifesting as a progression from single boil-like, pus-filled abscesses, or hard sebaceous lumps, to painful, deep-seated, often inflamed clusters of lesions with chronic seepage (suppuration — hence the name) involving significant scarring.

Abscesses may be as large as baseballs in some people, are extremely painful to the touch and may persist for years with occasional to frequent periods of inflammation, culminating in drainage, often leaving open wounds that will not heal. These ‘flare-ups’ are often triggered by stress, hormonal changes, or humid heat. Drainage of the lumps provides some relief from severe, often debilitating, pressure pain; however, pain occurs 24 hours a day, 7 days a week for HS sufferers during flare-ups, and is difficult to manage.

Persistent lesions may lead to the formation of sinus tracts, or tunnels connecting the abscesses under the skin. At this stage, complete healing is usually not possible, and progression of the disease in the area is inevitable. Occurrences of bacterial infections and cellulites (deep tissue inflammation) are likely at these sites.

Because of the drainage which may have a foul odor, fever and fatigue caused by acute inflammation and the physical restrictions caused by pain and skin deformation, people often cannot work, drive, exercise or even perform day-to-day tasks, and are ashamed to go out in public. HS sufferers may go through severe bouts of depression, avoid public and inter-personal contact, become sedentary and often overweight.

HS typically goes undiagnosed for years because patients are ashamed to speak with anyone. When they do see a doctor, the disease is frequently misdiagnosed. Only relatively few physicians are able to recognize it and even when they do, suggested treatments are often ineffective, temporary and sometimes even harmful. There is no known cure nor any consistently effective treatment; what works for one person may not work for another. In advanced, chronic cases, surgery is often the choice, but recurrences of HS are not uncommon.

Historically, HS has been considered a rare disorder, because it is difficult to accurately estimate the number of HS victims; they conceal their condition, even from friends and close relatives. Estimates, however, indicate at least 1 million – potentially up to 12 million – Hidradenitis Suppurativa sufferers in the United States alone!”

If you don’t have this condition, thank whatever Gods you pray to. Then take a look around. I bet you know at least five – if not more – people that have this disease. I am the only person I know that is willing to talk about it, but once I opened up to a couple of friends, they told me that they had it too! They just didn’t know what it was called, what was causing it or how to get rid of it. My doctor referred me to a dermatologist, who told me there was no cure: “This is a life-long condition that you will have to live with. There is no cure. The only treatment that has been shown to be effective in any way is a daily course of antibiotics. You will, of course, have to take them every day for the rest of your life. Until menopause, anyway. The disease usually ‘burns itself out’ at menopause.” Well, that’s great news for women – perhaps we get a small respite from an incredibly horrible lifetime of pain later on in life, but what about the men? I haven’t read or heard anything else about HS “burning itself out” later in life in any books I’ve read, or even on the forums – just the occasion post-menopausal woman who seems to have the “situation under control.” There are all kinds of crazy theories and medieval-like home remedies out there on the Interwebs for HS (I tried them all), none of which work, some of which are downright dangerous. I’ll deal with these theories in my follow-up post.

My Story:

Right after I got my period at age 13, I started getting little pimples and bumps on my buttocks. They were very embarrassing, but I could clearly tell what they were and I wasn’t sexually active at all, so I knew I didn’t have an STD. I didn’t tell anyone about it, except for my best friend at the time. She also admitted that she got pimples on her bum too, so I thought that it was something fairly normal. About 2 years later I started getting the pimples in my groin area, except that they were more like boils than pimples. The ones on my bum changed too, they were bigger and much more painful. The boils would “erupt” and pus would come out, just like a pimple, except that blood would come out too. They would take weeks to come to a head and months to go away and eventually heal. It was fairly common for another boil to pop up in the same place before the previous one had even finished healing. Of course, they scarred. Badly. If the boil didn’t erupt, it would still take months to go away and would leave a dark spot. (On me, these eventually fade away – but it takes anywhere between 3 months to a year. If you are dark-skinned or scar very easily, you may carry the marks of HS for life.) Strangely, I have never had a single problem with my underarm area. This is usually the most common place for HS to occur but I’ve never had so much as an ingrown hair there.

I went to my doctor and she told me I was suffering from adult acne. Ha! She obviously didn’t have a clue. I didn’t mention it again to another doctor until I was about 30. I went in for my annual exam every year and no doctor ever said, “OMG, what is that?!” so I figured I didn’t have a reason to panic. I had a couple other girlfriends who had complained about boils in their groin area, so I still thought it was fairly normal. They went to their doctor, were given antibiotics and the boil cleared itself up. It’s been decades and I haven’t checked in with these friends to see if they had any more boils pop up over the years. I bet they did.

Over the years, my weight gain increased, as did my depression and other symptoms – including allergies and hair loss – and the HS got worse. I usually had about 3 boils at any given time. I started doing research and found a theory that tied HS to excessive sweating and bacteria. Since I was overweight, I did sweat more than the average person. I decided to shave off my pubic hair (against all the popular advice) to see if that would help and it actually did – I stopped getting flare ups in my groin but then got them worse on my behind. I also had a horrible problem with ingrown hairs, something I had never experienced before. I tried every remedy and cream on the market and nothing helped.

I now suspect that my ingrown hairs were caused by inflammation. Once I had my insulin and inflammation under control, I no longer got ingrown hairs. A short side note: I will also get ingrown hairs/breakouts in my nose if I eat something inflammatory, they are probably the most painful thing I’ve ever experienced. They are the first sign my body gives me to tell me I’m experiencing inflammation. The next is acne, canker sores and achy joints. At the time, I was also breaking out with cystic acne on my face. The pimples were almost identical to the ones on my bum and would take over a month to resolve. The dermatologist told me that you “can’t get HS on your face.” End of story – for her. It wasn’t for me. When I got my HS under control, the ingrown hairs AND the acne also went away. In my experience doctors like to compartmentalize problems – there’s no way that anything could possibly be connected. It is this mentality that slowed my recovery by over a decade. If a single doctor had just taken a look at the bigger picture instead of trying to treat everything individually, I may have been cured years ago.

Now that you have some background into what Hidradenitis Suppurativa is and the psyche of it’s sufferers, subscribe to this blog to learn how I got my HS to go into remission. I’ll be posting Part 2 of this series later on this week. With a Primal/Paleo diet and lifestyle and a little record keeping, it is possible.