To the extent that we are what we eat, everything we put in our mouths has the potential to help or harm us. Special diets have been shown to help heart and cancer patients.
Macrobiotics
In its simplest form, it is a diet that is aimed at restoring and maintaining health by considering the energetic qualities of food. In it’s more complex form, it is a way of life that considers what we eat, see, wear, where we live, and how we communicate. Macrobiotics defines the world in terms of expansive energy (yin) and contractive energy (yang) . Macrobiotic diet theory suggests that we eliminate all food that is processed, fragmented (including vitamins), toxic (nightshade family) or either very expansive like alcohol, or very contractive, like meat. It comes down to a whole foods, non-dairy, vegetarian diet with a bit of fish.
Within the general parameters of the diet, it is adjusted for specific conditions. ITP is an expansive disease (blood literally expanding through the vessel walls). Therefore, in macrobiotic theory, people with ITP should eat foods that are more contractive to bring them into balance. These include foods that are well cooked and a bit salty. They should also eliminate or reduce foods that are expansive. These include all sugars, including fruit, and raw foods. This is a general example. The actual application of these principals varies by individual and is much more complex and sophisticated.
From another vantage point, the macrobiotic diet could be beneficial to those who have ITP because it recommends the elimination of many foods that cause allergic reactions. This reduces the allergic load on the body and reduces strain on the immune system. It also eliminates foods that create strong reactions in the body, like white sugar. This reduces stress and therefore, promotes healing. It eliminates foods that promote free radical damage like white flour or foods processed with nitrites. Stress and the proliferation of free radicals have been linked to causing autoimmune diseases. It also helps balance blood PH. (acid/alkaline level). Most disease conditions are associated with a blood and body fluid level that is overly acidic.
Joan's platelet counts have been holding at 350,000 for several years, due in part, to diet changes.
Read Joan's story for more info.
"My platelets have gone from 100 to 146 in 4 months with no drugs — just a grain and vegetable (macrobiotic diet). It's been a learning experience to eliminate caffeine and dairy and sugar... I have never eaten so much food and managed to loose some weight. Win-win situation. Just wanted others to know this is a possible alternative to drugs." -- Shannon
Blood Type Diet
Dr. Peter J. D'Adamo, in his book Eat Right for Your Type explains that our blood type antigen is the first line of defense in telling whether something in our body is foreign. It is the blood type antigen that creates the antibodies. A chemical reaction occurs between our blood and the food we eat. Some foods have proteins that are close in chemical structure to antibodies that are incompatible for a particular blood type. When we eat these foods our body mistakes them for invaders and pastes them together or glues them to various organs. This mistaken identity enhances the disease process. In addition, individuals with Type O blood often did not inherit certain clotting factors as they evolved. This could result in 'thin' blood or resistance to clotting. The book then offers diet changes for each blood type.
Since ITP is a mistaken antibody blood disease and we need all of the clotting power we can muster, this work could have particular relevance.
Food Allergies
In ITP, we are essentially allergic to our platelets. Eliminating allergic foods could be helpful for people with ITP since it reduces the number of foreign substances that trigger the immune response in our blood. (see elimination diet link below) One type of allergy test, an Elisa Act test, uses live white blood cells to determine if your body considers some of the foods you eat in the same category as allergens.
See Joan's story.
