Tuesday, June 23, 2009

A simple, delicious and healthy fish soup

fish filliets
sliced tofu
sliced tomatos
sliced mushrooms

Put a little vegs oil in a not-so-hot pot;
Put some sliced garlic into the not-so-hot oil and stir fry a little bit;
Put fish filliets and stir fry a little, add some water;
While boiling water put tofu and tomatos (some rice wine would be nice), and a little salt;
Ater boiling point wait about 5 to 10 minutes, put mushrooms and boil about another 5 minutes;
Scatter some green onions and done!

Monday, June 22, 2009

Raw vegs effects.

I have been living in USA almost 14 years but just recently learned to eat salad (Can you believe that?). It gives me energy back better than any other methods I tried before. And cooking is so simple: just all kinds different vegs, slice them and put some garlic and olive oil. That's it!

Sunday, June 21, 2009

10 right things to say to an ill person (in response to "20 things not to say to an ill person"

After you heard your friend was not well:
#1: Realy? Sorry to hear that. (instead of saying "you are fine")
#2: Did you check with doctor yet? (instead of saying:"stop thinking about it")
#3: They(doctors) didn't find anything wrong? Oh, I don't believe them! (instead of saying "then you are just fine")
#4: There must be reasons if you feel this bad. Keep hope! (instead of saying "I don't have such luxery to feel so bad")
#5: Get good rest! (instead of saying "get out of house and you will find that you are just healthy like a cow!")
#6: How is your diet? "You are what you eat." You know that.
#7: Don't give up! Good days are coming.
#8: Are there anybody around to help you? Let me know what I can do to help you. (instead of say "there are easier ways to get attentions")
#9: How is your energy level? You do look better today. (instead of saying "yes, you look extremely good and you must feel excellent!" (in order to stop ill person's continuous "whining"))
#10: If you say you feel sick, you must be. You know yourself better than anybody else. Please take good care. (Instead of saying "you don't look sick at all! what's wrong with your mind?")

20 thinigs not to say to an ill person

I found this is great! http://ow.ly/eYui

My weight dropped these days without much exercises.

Several things I have been doing together but I don't know which one worked or, just all of them worked: diet, psyllium seeds husk supplement, a lot of water.
Here is my diet menu:
breakfast: oatmeal (actually experts put it as forbbiden food), nuts, a piece of whole wheat bread, soy milk, one egg;
lunch: fish, vegs (salad), brown rice;
dinner: almost the same as lunch.

Oh, just realized that I haven't eaten any fruits for several days! By experts' opinion, fruits have lots of sugar, so they belong to forbbiden foods for CFS sufferers.

Saturday, June 20, 2009

A simple recipe of steam fish

I started cooking everything very simple. Most vegs I just eat them raw (not that easy for a Chinese). Here is how I steam fish and mushroom:

a piece of whiting fish fillet, cut in small pieces (around one inch wide);
sliced mushroom (any kind, fresh is better);
sliced tofu (if you don't like it, you don't have to put it);
fish on the bottom, mushroom and tofu on the top, can be mixed, put very little salt, some sliced garlic, green onion, and some rice wine.

Then steam! About 10 mimutes, done!

Friday, June 19, 2009

Inulin, as a suppliment feeding beneficial intestinal bacteria

According to this link:
http://www.health-science-spirit.com/overcome-candida.htm

inulin, is "a non-digestible polysaccharide, which helps to feed the beneficial intestinal bacteria, especially in the colon. It is present in Jerusalem artichokes, chicory roots and dandelion roots, and may be sold as a white powder, see http://members.shaw.ca/duncancrow/inulin_prebiotic_probiotic.html. ..."
Here is the link to buy:
http://www26.netrition.com/now_inulin_page.html

Thursday, June 18, 2009

A simple self-test for Candida

From the artlicle by Walter Last (http://www.health-science-spirit.com/overcome-candida.htm):

--------------------
A simple Saliva Test for Candida is as follows:
Immediately after rising before you eat or drink anything fill a clear glass with water at room temperature. Spit some saliva into the glass of water. Then check from time to time for up to an hour to see what happens to the spit. If Candida is present, you will see one of three things, or a combination of these.
1. There may be strings like legs extending into the water from the saliva floating on top
2. Cloudy saliva will accumulate at the bottom of the glass
3. Cloudy bits will remain suspended in the water.
The quicker and stronger the strings grow and the sooner the saliva sinks, the more Candida is in the sample. If there are no strings and the saliva is still floating after one hour, you probably do not have systemic Candida but may still have a mild or localized problem in the intestines or the vagina, and you may still have dysbiosis and infestations of other pathogenic microbes.
-----------------------------
I did it for myself and it looks like I am still candida infected.:-(

Wednesday, June 17, 2009

Monday, June 15, 2009

Supplements that help CFS/Candida/yeast-related illness

According to Walter Last "overcoming candida" , these are some useful supplements for CFS or candida/yeast-related illness sufferers:

Multivitamin with additional magnesium, selenium and zinc;
Fish oils;
Plenty of antioxidants;
Digestive enzymes with cooked foods
inulin, present in Jerusalem artichokes, chicory roots and danelion roots, maybe sold as a white powder, check out:http://members.shaw.ca/duncancrow/inulin_prebiotic_probiotic.html
Iodine, 3 mg daily.

Sunday, June 14, 2009

Lugol's iodine as anti-yeast medication

Just told by an online friend who suffers CFS, Lugol's iodine is one of effective the most anti-yeast medications. It is also inexpensive.
For medical effects, visit wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lugol

Saturday, June 13, 2009

More about misunderstanding CFS

Before I realized that I had CFS, I was mentally stressed about my "newly developed antisocial" personality (I used to have so many friends and was always popular wherever I went). I found myself stealthily estranged from old friends, while I was not able to make new. Whenever conflicts happened between my friends and I, I always doubt myself: did my personality really changed? Was I really so stress about my career or personal life, as some of my friends suggested? Now I realized that I am just one of millions of CFS sufferers who not only suffer from physical problems but also from mental stress due to people's misunderstanding and misjudgment.
The major problem is come from the aspect of this disease: the victims DO NOT look sick. That's why it is also called "invisible" disease. Since doctors also cannot find out what problems are, patients' problems are easily considered as mental issues (CFIDS):
"Much to their distress upon seeking medical advice, such victims of CFIDS are often told, "Your physical examination and laboratory studies are all normal. Your symptoms are "psychological." In other words, "you're imagining your illness." Physicians and family alike would consider such patients to be "hypochondriacs." Victims of CFIDS would go from doctor to doctor, year after year, with no benefit."
Not only doctors, but also friends and families members don't understand CFS. Since CFS patients always claim "tired", people would think the "tiredness" they talk about is just like the "regular tiredness", like normal people usually feel after getting out of gym. So most people easily believe that those CFS sufferers are either "lazy", or mentally fragile. Let's just read a little more about what is CFS tiredness like (By FM/CFS/ME resources):
"We all get tired. It's part of life, and especially part of modern life. Think for a moment about the last time you were really tired at work. It's harder to focus, harder to function, but you can push through it. Now think back to the last time you were really sick with something like strep or the flu, too sick to work, and too sick to function. Can you remember how exhausted you were, how hard it was to get out of bed and even take a shower? When you're sick like that, it's like your body just shuts down and demands that you rest.There's a big difference between the two types of tired, right? That second kind of tired is what people with CFS/ME deal with every day. They're not just sleepy, and they can't just push through it. They're so wiped out that their bodies demand rest and sleep constantly."
I myself used to be extremely tired that I had to quit my job (or whatever I do for living) together with almost any social life --- include hanging out with my dear friends --- because talking was just too much for me to suffer. But still, many people just don't believe that I was ill, and suggested that it was due to my "antisocial personality". Of course it is not that important how other people think of you. We all know this simple philosophy, but in situation like CFS, being sick like a person need to be taken care of in hospital but not even a life soul on this earth believe that you are sick, to be understood by others means totally different thing. I just cannot tell you how angry I felt when people looked at me, shaking their head saying: "you don't look sick", "you are fine", "just don't say you are tired. ok?", "why do you say that ('I don't have energy')?". At this point, what offends me is not what people's misunderstanding, but ignorance: how could people assume they know you better than you know yourself?
Under such overwhelmingly misunderstanding and judgment, I just cannot tell how much it would take me to retain my sanity. Needless to mention, those physical chronic symptoms alone could destroy a normal human being's confidence.
After I knew I had CFS, I visited some online forum and realized that I was not only one who suffered this kind of misunderstanding. Much worse cases are out there. Some of them were treated as mentally ill people, forced to spend rest of their life in asylum. The worst case was those who died by misdiagnosed and mistreatment, like Sophia Mirza.
Again, Ignorance kills!

Wednesday, June 10, 2009

Overcome CFS website!

It's coming. Not completely finished but most stuffs are up there:
http://www.overcomecfs.com/index.html

Please check it out and leave you comments. Thanks!

Sunday, June 7, 2009

Roger Federer made history today!

Nothing about CFS today. Paris, Roland Garros, Roger Federer, a tennis genius by my opinion, proved that he is the ONE!
It has been a while that a lot of people believe that Rafa Nadal is a better player, because in his face to face matches with Federer, he won most of them. However, if we look at recent years tennis tournaments by a larger scope, Federer overwhelmingly defeat almost everybody else except Nadal. Federer won many more titles and had been a #1 player longer than Nadal. And now, after one not as great year (last year) he finaly come back again! Of course, as I expected!
What I enjoy Federer the most is his style: he makes tennis playing so easy! I used to think Sampras is the best ever, but now, I have to agree, Federer is the real GOAT (the greatest of all time). He is perfection of tennis: body structure, technique, psychological power, and his CLASSY personality.
I am so happy for him today even though my blog is not about tennis but I still want to write some words down!

Friday, June 5, 2009

"Draw attention"

Another CRAP that many people throw onto ME/CFS sufferers is "Draw attention".
Please watch this video if you are interested in this subject: a girl Sophia Mirza suffered ME/CFS died because her illness was treated as mental illness. Don't miss this detail: once she lay on bed without any energy, the docter just suggested that the reason she did so because she wanted to drawing people's attention!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7mZMpvtD3rg

By my own experience, I just cannot count how many times my friends, doctors or other people thought that I was trying to draw their attention when I mentioned my problems. How could people be so judgemental? When one of my "friends" "positively encouraged" me not to mention again that I didn't have energy because he knew that I was "full of energy", I really wanted to slap his face, only if I had the energy he suggested.

Ignorance kills!

Pau d'arco tea: a tea that kills yeast?


I learned from a book that this tea might kill yeast, which means good for yeast-related CFS.

Pau d'arco is a tree that withstands severe wind and harsh weather. It is found extensively in south America. The tea is made from the inner bark of this tree that used to be reffered as "Devine tree" by Incas.
I found it in local Vitamin Shop for $5.99 (or $4.99?). The picture I put here is the exactly what I got. I was told that it tastes not so pleasant but I found otherwise:)
Of course you can also purchase it from online.