Zero Carb Keto
Arvigo Therapy?
All my life, as far back as I can remember, I have struggled with gut problems. I remember as a little child, my gut would be so bloated and painful that I would try punching it down to make it better. There were some foods that I found to be a real problem even at that young age, a particularly bad one was raw onion.
In college, I tried veganism in the hopes of improving my gut health. I actually tried it for seven years! At that time, I mainly ate rice, millet, teff, and small, more easily digestible legumes such as split mung beans and pink lentils. I avoided pretty much all vegetables and fruits since they caused so much gut issues. I ate coconut cream for a fat source.
Then I discovered the Paleo diet and tried that. But Paleo turned out to be very bad for me, since it focused so much on fruits and vegetables! However, that led me to find the zero carb / carnivorous diet, which I have been on basically since then! The meat only diet has worked very, very well for my gut. It healed me!
However, my curious mind has been trying to find out the source of the problem, because it seems that the majority of human beings can eat fruits and vegetables without horrible gut pain, bloating, and severe constipation. So I have been trying to research the source of my particular issue.
Based on years of food journaling, trials, and research, I think my issue is fructan intolerance. Fructans are chains of fructose molecules that plants create to defend themselves against cold and other stressors. So they can vary within the same plant type based on the conditions in which the plants grew. Humans lack the enzyme to digest them, and must rely on gut bacteria such as lactobacillus and bifidibacteria to process them. Horses and other grazing animals can actually get sick from too many fructans.
Humans lack digestive enzymes to break down fructans’ β-(2→1) linkages, making them indigestible fibers [16,19,21]. However, bifidobacteria and Lactobacillus species produce the 2,1-β-d-fructan-fructanohydrolase enzyme to hydrolyze these fibers [23].
So, it seems that some of us are lacking those bacterial species to help us process fructans, and we get sick from them. I have, of course, tried taking lacto and bifido probiotics, but they did not help. In fact, they seemed to worsen my symptoms. So I do not know if there is an answer to that issue besides trying to focus on low-fructan foods. After having finally found some tables of fructan levels in foods, it seems that I instinctively ended up with the ones that were lowest in fructans when practicing veganism (i.e. rice, pink lentils).
Another issue that could be involved in my case, is a retroverted uterus. I have been told that my uterus is retroverted, which means it tilts back against the rectum. Depending on the severity, this can really push against the rectum and cause constipation and gut problems.
I was reading today about a massage therapy called Maya Arvigo massage, which supposedly can help push the uterus back into the right position. This could potentially alleviate some of my problem! So I have contacted one of the three practitioners in my area to see if maybe she can help. I will report back if I am able to try it!
It is my hope that maybe with the Arvigo therapy, and maybe some slow introduction of lacto and bifido bacteria, I might be able to reintroduce some low fructan foods back into my diet. This would help if I want to continue my goal of self-sufficient, zero waste living!
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