The Body Ecology Diet: Recovering Your Health and Rebuilding Your Immunity

The Body Ecology Diet is a gut-healing diet that I highly recommend. Its basic premise, building upon the foundation of what Dr. William Crook built in his "Yeast Connection" books, is that many chronic issues are due to a buildup of yeast (Candida) in the body.You can sign up on my website to listen to the webinar replay of my interview of Donna about the Body Ecology Diet.Because doctors don't offer systemic Candida infections as a diagnosis, it is often overlooked as a causative factor in autoimmune, neurological and hormonal diseases, disorders and conditions, even cancer, when, in my mind, it should be one of the first suspects.Most people don't understand how the use of steroids, antibiotics, birth-control pills and even ibuprofen can negatively affect the gut's ecosystem. The Standard American Diet (SAD) with its grain, sugars and starches also contributes heavily to a disrupted gut ecology.It boils down to this: 70% of your immune system is located in your gut. If its inner ecosystem is overrun by bad guys, like Candida, it can leave you vulnerable to more virulent infections, diseases and disorders.Not only that, but Candida can affect your ability to produce hormones, which is why people with candidiasis often have adrenal, thyroid and reproductive-hormone problems.People with candidiasis are frequently fatigued, get sick a lot, have "female problems", food allergies, chemical sensitivities, constant headaches and other symptoms that are often dismissed by the medical establishment.To me, the Body Ecology Diet is the most comprehensive approach to healing the gut, and therefore the body, because Donna addresses these hormonal balances; as far as I know, hers is the only gut-healing diet that does. She emphasizes the use of sea vegetables to heal the thyroid and adrenals, which is brilliant, in my mind.She also emphasizes the consumption of probiotic foods that contain oodles of probiotic bacteria. Foods such as homemade kefir, sauerkraut, kim chi and other fermented foods.If you think about it, before the invention of refrigeration, all foods that our great-grandparents ate were fresh, preserved with salt (real salt, not the processed white stuff we find today) or preserved with fermentation. These are truly health-promoting foods! That's why the subtitle of this book is "Changing the Way the World Eats with Probiotic Nutrition".I won't say it's an easy diet to follow, although it is far easier than the basic anti-Candida diet, mostly because of the various principles upon which the diet is based:Expansion and contractionAcid and alkalineUniquenessCleansingFood combining80/20Step by stepBecause of the food-combining principle, you can have gluten-free grains on the diet (just not with protein), which is a nice highlight for people out there who feel better eating grains or those who need more carbohydrate-rich diets like children and athletes. To this end, Donna also includes Peter D'Adamo's Blood Type theory in the book.However, food combining makes it a bit more challenging about when to eat things like olives, avocados, nuts, etc. If you're eating out, it's best to think Paleo-type foods (minus the nuts and fruit).All in all, it's a very well-thought-out and comprehensive diet that offers health-promoting principles for everyone.

Gut health makes sense. Donna Gates is very experienced in this topic and deserves respect for her wisdom in taking good care of your gut. There is plenty of science substantiating that keeping the good and bad bacteria in your system balanced that determine overall good or bad health. If you aren't up on the idea that the gut has it's own brain and that the micro organisms living in and around you may be running your show, read up.Although the book covers a very wide field of gut health issues, Gates focus is on killing Candida Albicans, a fungus that is resident in most of us and not easy to get rid of. It manifests in many skin and digestive diseases including acne, toenail fungus, and feminine issues galore, IBS and many more. Her basic approach is to kill Candida by starving it of sugars of all kinds, even hidden ones. If you have done any studying on the detrimental effects of sugar on our society and how many diseases lead back to sugar, it makes sense to see how we can break our addiction and enjoy many benefits of a sugar free program. Curing brain fog is only one of many.I will not say everyone is going to go for this cure, no matter how profound the benefits. The basic formula is to cut sugar containing foods for 2-3 months, including dairy, fruits and even some veggies. If you are a sugar-addict, this may prove difficult, which increases the reason to go for it. There are many other suggestions such as dropping all processed food and adding fermented foods and drinks as well as supplements. However, if you have had GI issues, yeast overgrowth issues, thyroid issues and many more modern maladies of our stress-ridden and toxin-ridden lives, your pain and discomfort might make you willing to try this aggressive approach to optimum health.Even if you don't go for the suggested full-bore diet, there can never be anything wrong with switching to organic and adding as much green-leafy stuff (the suggestion is 80%) to your plate, at each meal along with protein. That, almost anyone can and should do. And lay off the sugar in its many hidden and insidious forms: Soft drinks, including many sports drinks, almost all processed foods, alcohol, and a host of others! Even table salt has sugar in it! Learn what not to eat. It could literally save your life and definitely improve your happiness and well-being.On the website and on Amazon, Gates offers her own products and supplements. This always makes me wonder if the book is just there to sell product. In this case, I would say no. Just watch a few videos and take advantage of all the free information offered, and it doesn't take much to see there is a lot of heart and sincerity in the messages and intent to help people to better health and feeling really good.Our collective health is in a crisis

I got this book on Kindle after having the flu this year, to boost my immune system back up, Her information is good but some of her topics are not well researched, such as the Eastern Traditions, she mentions, and has no clue about, I do think that the raw fermented foods are a good thing, and the fermented beverages are also, she does a lot of promoting of her ...way too expensive products, also in my area buckwheat bread is no where to be found, which she promoted a place in CA that sells it. I also took her test on line and they sent an e-mail to me with the results and said I had a severe case of candida, so I thought wow, I have never had any of the symptoms nor ever been treated for that, but... I thought maybe I was missing something, I bought the book, then took the same test in the book, same answers, and turns out I am in the LOWEST range for having that problem, another scam, I do believe that her book would help people who REALLY have this issue, but don't scam me. Now...some of her info is factual, and I do drink fermented probiotic drinks and I do eat fermented foods, and I do believe that they are really good for you, which is what her book is really all about, she also is an avid promoter of stevia, and she does have good advice for candida, but I do it for my health and have for a long time now, I also checked out the prices she sells her products for, WAY TOO Expensive!!!! look around in your area health food and grocery store, you can get the fermented veggies and drinks (Kevita sells good tasting drinks) for about a fourth the price. The book it's self is good, but read with open eyes.