Whole 30 with Lyme disease

[Amy Saville]

Hi there -

 

I am back with a question about doing Whole 30 with Lyme disease. I've been dealing with Lyme now for over a year and am gradually getting better. I was on a heavy course of antibiotics which helped turn things around, but now I'm maintaining my progress with a combination of herbal tinctures, many of which are alcohol-based (usually organic grain alcohol).

 

A week ago I decided I was going to do a Whole 30 again. (I did my first one in July 2012, just before I got very sick). My issue is I don't want to stop using the herbal tinctures because they really help with my symptoms. I was just curious if anyone had any thoughts about how much the alcohol in these remedies might detract from the benefits of doing a Whole 30. It's a significant amount of alcohol because I take a number of these herbs twice a day. I know you aren't supposed to have alcohol on a Paleo diet, and not on Whole 30 for sure, but I am just hoping I can get some benefit anyway.

 

Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated!

 

Amy

[Tallulah Wolf-Angel]

First of all, necessary medicines are allowed on Whole30, no matter what. Secondly, herbal tinctures are taken in tiny doses because the herbal essences are concentrated and you don't need much--if you take them straight instead of in water, doses can be as small as 1-3 drops, 1-3 times a day. But even if you're putting 15-20 drops into liquid to drink, I think the negative effects on your Whole30 would be minimal.

 

That said, if consuming even this tiny amount of alcohol bothers you, you could look into tinctures made with vinegar instead of alcohol. Or, you could put your drops into hot tea which would drive some of the alcohol off.

 

I think it's awesome you are successfully treating your lyme with herbs. I don't think you should stop.

[Tom Denham]

My guess is that you could have a good Whole30 experience while taking herbal tinctures multiple times per day. You might have a better Whole30 experience without, but if the tinctures are helping the Lyme disease, I would not stop just to maximize the Whole30 experience. The Whole30 will still be available when you are well. 

[Amy Saville]

Thanks for the replies. I take a lot of herbal tinctures at high doses - between 20-40 drops of six tinctures twice a day in water. I would switch to tinctures that aren't alcohol-based, but you can't find some of these products without alcohol. I'm not worried about the psychological impact because I very seldom drink alcohol anyway. Just wondering about the physiological impact.

I have tried doing W30 3 times since my first time but found each time I had a lot of issues with my cognitive symptoms returning. I am guessing it may have something to do with reduction in glucose available for my brain and making the switch. I'm in a better place with Lyme now and on day 9 of my latest attempt and so far so good.

Again, thanks for the support. And if anyone else with Lyme finds this thread and wants more info on herbs - I am using the Buhner protocol, currently treating with Japanese Knotweed, Astragalus, Sida Acuta , Red Root, Hawthorne and Eleuthero. It has made an enormous difference. Buhner has an extremely helpful website and a book, which is a little dated but still worth reading.

Thanks again.