All Posts Tagged With: "curcumin"

It’s been over 10 years since I wrote my first Lyme disease book. In 2014, I completed my last book, Freedom From Lyme Disease.

Now, in 2015, I’m reflecting on the final frontier in Lyme disease treatment. As it is very difficult to COMPLETELY eradicate the bacteria, we are faced with controlling the final symptoms after 99% of the bacteria are removed or under control.

As it turns out, the two areas with a very high degree of importance in this time frame are FOOD and INFLAMMATION.

During this final healing period, food reactions become much more pronounced. Food sensitivities – as well as inflammatory foods like sugar – have an exaggerated effect as the body is desperately attempting to maintain equilibrium (and now for the first time, can actually have a chance at doing so). Therefore, the goal in the last phase of healing should be strict control of the diet, eliminating most sugars and greatly limiting fruit, as well as trying to eliminate ALL food sensitivities including gluten, most grains, and other foods a person can be allergic to. This can literally be the make or break in the Lyme disease end game, as food reactions can throw a person into old Lyme symptoms while a clean diet can allow one to feel normal.

In contrast, early on in the recovery process, food reactions and sugar made things worse but the body was too overwhelmed to really notice, so the results of eating a good – or bad – diet didn’t really make much of a difference.

Remember, the key elements here are: avoid sugar (even fruit sugar) as much as possible, avoid carbohydrates as much as possible, and avoid all food sensitivities including gluten and other personal allergies.

The next area to consider, then, in the final phases of healing, is inflammation. Inflammation can remain at a low grade long after most bacteria are gone, and it can allow depression, anxiety, brain fog, fatigue, and other symptoms to persist. For inflammation, use the diet guidelines above but also consider herbs like curcumin, nettles, tart cherry, and others.

If you listen to your body and control your diet and inflammation, along with using the rotation protocol described in my books, you should be able to maintain a very low level of symptoms during the final phases of healing.

I’m not the first one to write about it, but Turmeric appears to be very useful for treating Lyme disease. Some ancient societies considered it the “herb of all herbs.”

In Lyme disease it has confirmed anti-inflammatory properties. In Ayurvedic and Chinese medicine it is considered a “cooling” herb, and can be used for inflammation which is a “heat” condition.

The following isn’t confirmed but is a hunch: I believe Turmeric may even have some cyst busting capabilities. Not because it attacks the bacteria, but instead, because it reduces inflammation and changes the bioterrain enough that the bacteria living throughout the body may be inclined to change bacterial form, especially into spirochete form (this is unconfirmed observation; I’d love to hear your experiences in the comments section below).

As a spice, turmeric is relatively non-toxic and affordable, so if you find yourself stagnating in your recovery process you probably don’t have much to lose in trying it, although, of course, don’t do so unless you have the permission of your doctor.

According to Marshall Protocol advocates, Turmeric is one of the substances which can reduce TNF-alpha, which is one of the reasons it is anti-inflammatory (reference).

For the same reaosn, turmeric may also be useful during herxheimer reactions. It may also help with whole-body inflammation that can occur after Lyme exasperations such as that occur after eating too much processed sugar. Again, please share your experiences below in order to confirm / deny these observations.

The brand I’ve used is Turmeric Force, made by New Chapter, which is a brand I’ve generally found to be good.

Hopefully this new information is helpful. Look forward to your comments.