A diet that can help you stay MRSA-free!

The baby and I are still doing great. We made significant diet changes over the past year. It did not happen all at once but instead in stages or layers. It has really paid off in the last few months. She is 16 months old now and still nursing. Her eczema is gone and only flares up when I cheat on things like wheat/white flour and gluten or chocolate (hey, I'm only human). Thankfully, we do not even get small MRSA blisters anymore. AND, I finally lost those last five (okay, 10) baby pounds.... now I have your attention!

There are many things that can help combat MRSA like stable allicin (nature's best antibiotic and what makes Allimed so great!) along with other supportive measures like turmeric, colloidal silver, vitamin C, and a good dose of sunshine every day for vitamin D. Then there are antibiotics, which carry the greatest risk of long and short-term side effects and should be saved for possible life-threatening situations only. However, there is NOTHING that can replace the effectiveness of changing our daily eating habits. It is amazing how easy good health can be once we commit to making these (free!) changes. Here are just a few suggestions:

Reduce or eliminate:
Sugar, especially refined sugar
Any cow products (beef, cow's milk/butter/yogurt, whey, lactose, casein)
Wheat products & by-products (wheat flour, white flour, etc)
Gluten
Corn & by-products
Soy & by-products
Shellfish
Peanuts
Processed foods
Starch foods

So, where do we go from there? Here are a few suggestions to get you started: Read labels. However, if you find yourself reading a lot of labels, this may be the core of your problem. You should be cooking as much as possible. When you do need to buy something, it should have very short, easy-to-read ingredient lists. Try shopping at health food stores or ethnic food marts, delis and restaurants. You will be surprised to find things like sheep's milk feta, ghee (clarified butter), gluten-free breads (look in the frozen section for millet or zucchini bread). In some health food stores, they have an entire section dedicated to gluten free products. You can also buy foods online like at www.glutenfreemall.com although there are many other resources online besides this.

Sugar is MRSA's friend. Even products you consider 'healthy' may still contain a lot of sugar so stay vigilant. The worse your infection is or if you have frequent recurrences, THE MORE CRITICAL IT IS TO ELIMINATE ALL SUGAR FROM YOUR DIET, even fruit (temporarily).

If sugar is MRSA's pal, then GREEN FOODS are MRSA's enemy. Eat at least one dark green vegetable per day like broccoli, spinach, swiss chard, kale, etc. Also, try eating a salad as a meal each day. For example, if you usually eat a sandwich for lunch, have a salad instead. If that isn't convenient, then try having a large salad for dinner. You can still eat something else with it but be sure to eat the salad first. Another idea is to cut up pieces of meat and add it to your salad for extra protein. There are many salad additions that can help keep the idea fresh (and your mouth happy) like: sprouts, beets, carrots, olives, lemon, flax oil, roasted or sauteed garlic, sun-dried tomatoes, seeds, celery, fresh parsley/basil/cilantro/chives, scallions, croutons, artichokes, hearts of palm, sheep's milk feta cheese.

Replace as much of your meat as possible with organic, GRASS-FED meat, which is usually not available at supermarkets. Search yahoo groups for healthy eating co-ops in your area. You will be surprised to find local farmers who sell grain and soy-free, grass-fed meat (chickens/eggs, ducks, beef/pork if you must). Your local group is also a great source for organic veggies and fruits. Some co-ops order from other states (especially PA - Amish country) and have their food shipped in.

Also, here are some replacement foods that we use:
Goat's Milk (raw, sold locally, also goat's milk butter)
Rice Dream rice milk*
Van's Gluten-Free waffles*
1-2-3 Gluten-Free buckwheat pancake mix
Snacks from EnerG or Enjoy Life
Terra chips*
Millet/Zucchini bread from Deland Bakery (Deland, Florida)
Tinkyada Rice Pasta (hubby's fav and he's Italian)
Notta Pasta rice pasta
Agave Nectar (we buy it by the gallon)*
Coconut Oil (for frying, baking, etc. Tropical Traditions or Wilderness Family Naturals)
pecan or almond butter
Kamut flour

*notes products that are available in most supermarkets

We also grow our own sprouts, which is very easy and tastes better than the old sprouts you get at the store (buy the Easy Sprouter). Sound strange? Maybe. But the idea here is that there is a whole world of food out there that you may not have experienced yet. And the root cause of many of our health issues (including MRSA) may be diet related. Give it a try for a few months. You will be surprised at how good you feel and, if your like me and still trying to lose those last 5 baby pounds, this is the way to lose that extra weight permanently. If it seems overwhelming, just remember that you can make small changes every week.

Here's to your health and recovery!
Don't forget to check out our website for more ideas on how to recovery from MRSA:
www.MRSAsupportgroup.com

Welcome to MRSA Support Group

WELCOME!
We created this blog to help those living with MRSA (Methicillan Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus) or for those who would like more information about MRSA. Mom was nursing a new baby when she was "officially" diagnosed with this virulent bacterial infection. The baby started showing signs of an infection at only 4 months old. It was a scary time but we fought MRSA and won! We also started a website that will feature more detailed information about MRSA and our struggle (www.MRSAsupportgroup.com) which should be ready by March 2009. We will also be selling the product that helped us (Allimed) and offering consultations. Our website will be informational only, not a retail site. Our sincerest wish is to offer education, hope and help. We understand the turmoil and pain you may be experiencing and look forward to hearing from you.

More to come from
The Perez Family