Two Weeks on the IH Regimen...Thoughts and Suggestions?

I've been using the recomended doses of the IH regimen for 2 weeks. The ALC and ALA I've missed taking the full 6 doses a bunch of times however.

HMR Ligans
Krill Oil
Vit D3 and k2
Acetyl L-Carnitine & Alpha Lipoic Acid
Biotin
Fibroboost

I've also added these supplements.

Green tea extract
Resveratrol
Curcumin

I also have been using nizarol every other day.

My first impressions are that I MAY be losing less hair. I have noticed a lot less thick hairs falling out. However, I have noticed a greater amount of weaker or minaturized hairs, not sure if that is normal. The amount of "itch" on my scalp has been significantly reduced although not entirely gone.

Question to all including IH. If I had to add one ore two more supplements what would you reccomend?

That's a pretty solid base regimen.

The two supps that come to mind would be a probiotic and a good multi.

I second scottyc33, a good multi-mineral/vitamin and a probiotic.

So, I just took that candida spit test and I failed miserably. I am still kind of unfamiliar on how this is related to hair loss and what I should do to remedy the situation. Changing my diet is incredibly hard for me.

So my questions are:

How does candida relate to hairloss?

Whats a good place to start to try and remedy this situation?

Thanks!

http://www.freewebs.com/immortalhair/physiology.htm

If you scroll down, there is a whole section on Candida.

Is a loading phase really necessary with Dr. Ohhira's?

10 capsules a day is only 6 days @ $35. Ouch.

I would get off an SLS shampoo like Nizoral and start cleansing the scalp everyday with a raw/organic shampoo and conditioner. I was on Nizoral for a long time and had a love/hate relationship with it. Please see my post here about the shampoos:
https://immortalhair.forumotion.com/natural-hair-regrowth-forum-f1/shampoos-and-conditioners-i-fancy-t482.htm?highlight=shampoos

sgtiger, where did you read that the loading dose is 10 caps a day?

http://drbenkim.com/best-probiotic-health-benefit.htm

Suggested Use: For the first 60 capsules, best results are obtained by using a "loading dose," which amounts to 5 capsules in the morning and 5 capsules in the evening. Once through with the loading dose, 2 to 4 capsules per day are recommended, half in the morning, and half in the evening. Children under the age of 6 can take 1 capsule daily. Excessive consumption may have a mild laxative effect. Refrigeration is not required at normal room temperatures. Avoid excessive exposure to moisture, extreme heat and cold, and direct sunlight.

sgtiger - Loading dose isn't really necessary.

Good to know! Thanks.

IH, why wouldn't loading be necessary if he had Candida overgrowth? I personally did the loading phase, but ya--it is pretty pricey.

So if I use those probiotics and say a garlic extract because that is on the list....do I still need to eliminate the sugars from my diet during the initial phase?

Raxe -- I had tested positive for candida last year and I used Dr. Ohhira's probiotic (no loading phase), Niacinamide, NAC and iodine supplementation and I avoided processed foods and limited sugar and alcohol and I beat candida and passed the spit test a few months later. I also got off my sugar cravings and ended up losing a lot of weight. Sugar has no hold on me now. When I eat it, I don't go into craving mode for more.

Do I avoid sugar completely? No. I'll have a treat once in awhile or the sugar in fruit and such is unavoidable...but when I was trying to get rid of Candida from my system, I avoided all sugar including fruit to the best of my ability.

Just to warn you and anyone else though, I had a major league detox occur because of this after the few months I was eating like this and supplementing to kill candida that felt like the worst flu I've ever had. Fever, chills, lack of appetite, constant bathroom trips. This went on for 7 days or so. I was unable to do anything other than sleep and run to the bathroom.

I posted about this on the old forum IH had at the time.

I think going through this is one of the major parts of this process working.

Since that happened, I've been candida free and I've felt the best I've felt in a long time.

I guess im just having a major problem thinking about what I am going to eat all day if I cant have any sugars or processed foods. What did you do for breakfast?

Dude, it's not that hard. Start up a diet of protein/fat/green veggies.

Eat five to six times a day. Three meals can be whey protein shakes (mixed with water) with some almonds.

Breakfast? Try 8-10 eggwhites, one egg yolk, scrambled and fried in some olive oil (not a lot) with broccoli or greenbeans.

2-3 hours later? Drink a protein shake with 1.5 scoops of whey (35-40g protein) and eat a handful of almonds.

2-3 hours later? Try a can of tuna or salmon mixed up with salad dressing and broccoli or greenbeans.

2-3 hours later? Another protein shake. with almonds or a scoop of peanut butter or some string cheese.

2-3 hours later? Try 6-8oz of a very lean steak or chicken breast seasoned with salt/pepper/garlic and grilled or baked or fried with a little bit of COMPLEX carbs like rice, sweet potato, etc and some grilled GREEN veggies.

If you're still hungry later, end it off with a protein shake before bed and almonds/cheese/etc...

The idea is to combine a protein with a fat and NO carbs (except for green veggies) for 2 meals.
Then you combine a protein with maybe a LITTLE fat and some limited complex carbs for 1 meal.
The rest of the meals are shakes (protein) + fat source. You should always avoid sugars, candy, most fruits (unless you eat an apple 30min before lifting weights), etc. NO BREAD!!!!

Remember, Protein + Fat = OK. Protein + Carb = OK if complex. Protein + Fat + Carb = NO!

Aim for about 14-15/cal per pound of your body weight. Adjust portions accordingly. Try exercising (weight lifting + limited cardio).

If you wanted real specifics, I could go into it.

Thanks man, that makes it a little clearer and more helpful, I do lift 3-4 times a week........You just buy the whey protein and blend it?

Stiger

I re-started working out( I was on a break for 4 5 months), its been 5 6 weeks now, its going good, I am trying to increase my muscle mass. 4 day workout with supersets and I am doing cardio on one of the off days. I'd appreciate a few tips about eating.

I eat oat meal + 1 banana in the breakfast and 2 hours later I eat a tuna sandvich and 2 hours later I eat chich/turkey sandwich, then workout(I take amino 30 min before the work out) afterwards I drink my proteinshake + fruit, then I eat something like steak or chicken, then another protein shake @ midnight.

I am on Ih's top 6 + cayenne, vitamin C and zinc. I ordered green tea extracts and I'll order Maca when I have the chance.

Raxe & Nuada:

Yeah Just buy the whey protein by the 5lb containers. I prefer On Whey Chocolate flavor.

http://www.vitaminshoppe.com/store/en/browse/sku_detail.jsp?id=OP-1011

The object is to narrow in to the 14-15/cals per pound of bodyweight. You'll lose fat with exercise, and maintain muscle mass. Remember. Protein = 4cal per gram. Fat = 9cal per gram. Carbs = 4cal per gram. Green veggies don't count at ALL for calories, don't factor them in!

The big thing people miss out on is protein. Protein should be your #1 source of food, period, at EVERY meal - especially breakfast. Egg whites are a wonderful breakfast meal.

If you lift weights, eat a piece of a fruit 30min before you lift, make sure you get a shake in immediately after lifting with about 30g of whey protein in water. Eat a 1/2 cup of oatmeal with the shake for carbs. NO FAT!!! 1.5-2 hours after that, eat a meal with 30-35g solid protein (chicken, fish, etc.) and 50-60g complex carbs (rice, sweet potato, etc.) with very little fat.

One easy way to introduce fat into your protein shakes instead of almonds is flax or hemp oil. Sounds gross, but it's easy and quick.

You'll probably be pretty hungry the first week or two, but your body will adapt and your sugar cravings will subside. Eating a cheatmeal once a week is fine.

sgtiger wrote:Raxe & Nuada:

Yeah Just buy the whey protein by the 5lb containers. I prefer On Whey Chocolate flavor.

http://www.vitaminshoppe.com/store/en/browse/sku_detail.jsp?id=OP-1011

The object is to narrow in to the 14-15/cals per pound of bodyweight. You'll lose fat with exercise, and maintain muscle mass. Remember. Protein = 4cal per gram. Fat = 9cal per gram. Carbs = 4cal per gram. Green veggies don't count at ALL for calories, don't factor them in!

The big thing people miss out on is protein. Protein should be your #1 source of food, period, at EVERY meal - especially breakfast. Egg whites are a wonderful breakfast meal.

If you lift weights, eat a piece of a fruit 30min before you lift, make sure you get a shake in immediately after lifting with about 30g of whey protein in water. Eat a 1/2 cup of oatmeal with the shake for carbs. NO FAT!!! 1.5-2 hours after that, eat a meal with 30-35g solid protein (chicken, fish, etc.) and 50-60g complex carbs (rice, sweet potato, etc.) with very little fat.

One easy way to introduce fat into your protein shakes instead of almonds is flax or hemp oil. Sounds gross, but it's easy and quick.

You'll probably be pretty hungry the first week or two, but your body will adapt and your sugar cravings will subside. Eating a cheatmeal once a week is fine.

Hey SG - some good tips here.

However, I've read that for optimal recovery following training and for replenishment of glycogen stores you want about 50-60g of carbs immediately post workout and 25-30g of protein.

Generally, they rec simple carbs so you can get the insulin spike to 'shuttle' the nutrients into the muscles.

Question to the board - as far as hair health goes, I know we generally want to avoid this - but, just how detrimental to hair would one 'strategically timed insulin spike' per day be?

It's true, sugar (especially dextrose) will shuttle the protein to your muscles more quickly.

But for people like us, who cares? If we were bodybuilders, it would matter.

I believe for us, oatmeal will work just as well, or maybe do a Waxy Maize. For those of us dealing with Candida issues, it's better to avoid sugars period and stick with 100% complex carbs.

sgtiger wrote:Dude, it's not that hard. Start up a diet of protein/fat/green veggies.

Eat five to six times a day. Three meals can be whey protein shakes (mixed with water) with some almonds.

Breakfast? Try 8-10 eggwhites, one egg yolk, scrambled and fried in some olive oil (not a lot) with broccoli or greenbeans.

2-3 hours later? Drink a protein shake with 1.5 scoops of whey (35-40g protein) and eat a handful of almonds.

2-3 hours later? Try a can of tuna or salmon mixed up with salad dressing and broccoli or greenbeans.

2-3 hours later? Another protein shake. with almonds or a scoop of peanut butter or some string cheese.

2-3 hours later? Try 6-8oz of a very lean steak or chicken breast seasoned with salt/pepper/garlic and grilled or baked or fried with a little bit of COMPLEX carbs like rice, sweet potato, etc and some grilled GREEN veggies.

If you're still hungry later, end it off with a protein shake before bed and almonds/cheese/etc...

The idea is to combine a protein with a fat and NO carbs (except for green veggies) for 2 meals.
Then you combine a protein with maybe a LITTLE fat and some limited complex carbs for 1 meal.
The rest of the meals are shakes (protein) + fat source. You should always avoid sugars, candy, most fruits (unless you eat an apple 30min before lifting weights), etc. NO BREAD!!!!

Remember, Protein + Fat = OK. Protein + Carb = OK if complex. Protein + Fat + Carb = NO!

Aim for about 14-15/cal per pound of your body weight. Adjust portions accordingly. Try exercising (weight lifting + limited cardio).

If you wanted real specifics, I could go into it.

This is basically the diet I kept when I killed off the candida.

When I did have some rice, I had brown rice only and never a lot of it. One of my big staples was mixing chicken or shrimp with brown rice and beans (red or black) and throwing in veggies and spices. I also used lentils a lot with chicken and veggies as a meal. I'd cook the lentils in low salt chicken broth. Delicious. Those beans and brown rice was the closest I came near bread for 2 months.

All my veggies were greens with the occasional sweet potato mixed in.

I did eat cheese and use it in omlettes. I'd buy a bag a shredded cheddar and throw it in an omlette. A lot of times I'd cook up a weeks worth of chicken breasts, then I'd chop one of them up and throw it in an omlette with a little cheese and spinach. That was my lunch almost every day and I still eat it a lot now.

What you can't do is eat bread, sugar and potatoes if you want to kill off the candida and believe it's affecting you. You can't drink soda, juice and you can't just have a couple of drinks on a Saturday night with your friends and think it's okay. I had to be strict during this period. I lost a lot weight, but I needed to. Now I can enjoy those things in moderation, but I clearly had a problem where I had an overgrowth which was affecting me.

I was skeptical about having candida even after taking the spit test and it came back positive, but when I went through that detox 2 months after eating like above and taking the supps to kill candida, I finally realized there was something serious going on in my body that needed addressing.

There was no other reason for me to detox like that. It was seriously the worst I've ever felt in my entire life and the trips to the bathroom was something out of Alien. It 7 straight days of Hell. I couldn't do anything.

However, I turned a huge corner health wise after that and my spit test came back normal.

You know, that sounds a lot like what happened to me.

I was on that diet and hardcore lifting and cardio routine for about 7 months a year ago, and I had the absolute worst case of what I can only describe as severe IBS about 4 weeks in. I don't know what it's supposed to look like, but it was as if I was not absorbing ANY fat whatsoever.

That stopped after 2 weeks... trips to the doctor and tests revealed nothing. Then for the next 3 months I experienced the WORST periods of tiredness of my life. I could literally feel like crashing out and sleeping for a day every 3 hours. Nothing helped - I thought I burned my adrenal glands or something. I couldn't think straight, my eyes felt sunken in...

So, unfortunately, I went back to a normal shitty diet months later....but at least I put on a bunch of muscle. Do you think I'll have to go through this again?

Do you think it was/is Candida issues?

This is how I feel right now, extreme fatigue and other things. I was diagnosed with Mercury poisoning and now with leaky gut syndrome I am allergic to 80% of my diet.

sgtiger wrote:You know, that sounds a lot like what happened to me.

I was on that diet and hardcore lifting and cardio routine for about 7 months a year ago, and I had the absolute worst case of what I can only describe as severe IBS about 4 weeks in. I don't know what it's supposed to look like, but it was as if I was not absorbing ANY fat whatsoever.

That stopped after 2 weeks... trips to the doctor and tests revealed nothing. Then for the next 3 months I experienced the WORST periods of tiredness of my life. I could literally feel like crashing out and sleeping for a day every 3 hours. Nothing helped - I thought I burned my adrenal glands or something. I couldn't think straight, my eyes felt sunken in...

So, unfortunately, I went back to a normal shitty diet months later....but at least I put on a bunch of muscle. Do you think I'll have to go through this again?

Do you think it was/is Candida issues?

SG--I honestly don't know if that can be Candida. It sounds like what I went through when you hit your 4 week mark.

That said, I've had no relapse of the detox symptoms at all. In fact, I haven't had a cold since then. When I went through it, my wife made me go to the doctor who also told me it was just a bug and would pass in 48 hours which it didn't. I checked in with the guys here in the forum and it was suggested to me that what I was experiencing was similar to a detox event. I knew at that point the regimen I was on helped rid my body of something. I checked for candida after it passed and I passed the spit test.

Since then, I have been supplementing my adrenal glands with Raw Thyroid by Natural Sources for the past 4 months and I've felt great. I had a lot of the symptoms of IH's adrenal fatigue section. I've also stayed on the iodine supplementation as well. I have a feeling that these two things have kept me operating at a high level.

I take IH's top supps and I also make sure to get enough D-3 and Krill oil.

What I've noticed as the major difference is the energy levels I have now are increased, my workouts are excellent, I'm falling asleep within minutes of hitting the pillow and my head is very clear.

The only thing I've had a tough time shaking is waking up energetic. I usually feel like I can sleep much more than I do (I usually get 8 hours) and when I get up it takes me a bit to get myself going.

I don't think I've ever experienced that "waking up refreshed" feeling.