IC and Yogurt: 7 Ways to Optimize Digestion

From an energy science point of view the IC bladder pain syndrome( interstitial cystitis, vulvodynia, chronic prostatitis, IBS, GERD, and fibromyalgia)  is a Vata and Pitta provoked disease, that is, too much hot and mobile qualities in the urinary tract – an imbalance created by the foods consumed   So the obvious first step is to reduce those foods that are Pitta and Vata provoking  When first getting started to get some relief from the burning sensation you can begin with just a Pitta pacifying nutritional format as at icdiet.com but as you progress using a format that is appropriate for you energy constitutional makeup can be found at foodsheal.com after taking the test

One particular thread that I have seen come up is the question about IC and yogurt   How should it be used and whether it is safe in IC, that is, whether it is Vata and Pitta provoking, causing bladder pain

Yogurt is an amazing food and many ethinic cultures on the planet use fresh yogurt and kefir as health promoting foods in their nutrition   And there are very good reasons for doing so but due to the Pitta aggravating nature of yogurt, freshly made is the only way to go in moderation

Helping Restore Imbalanced Agni

The value of yogurt is that it serves when freshly made a rich source of probiotic which is a population of “good bacteria” that reside in the bowel  “Bad” bacteria at times overgrow the gut flora leading to poor digestion, absorption, and assimilation so it’s important that the good flora flourishes and the bad are kept in check   As I’ve alluded to in the past, bacterial growth is a major part of our digestive strength that needs to be nourished

This is particularly important if you have GERD, IBS, and fibromyalgia associated with IC since the digestive fire is significantly compromised in these dual conditions

Regular use of freshly made yogurt insures that the “good” bacteria are consistently replenished  Agni is always compromised in these conditions and since the bacterial flora is part of agni it’s important to supplement with probiotic foods such as yogurt  SIBO(small intestinal bacterial overgrowth) is commonly thought of as the root cause of many bowel diseases but from an energy science perspective it’s just saying that agni is disturbed

You may have heard of yeast overgrowth and this is yet another factor that can lead to poor digestive fire(eliminating yeast laden bread products is a good idea in that it gives us more  than we need so flatbreads are best or at least toasting yeasted products)  This candidal imbalance in bowel flora much like SIBO is a result of poor agni  So building up agni is one of the central therapeutic themes in the management of the IC bladder pain syndrome

Bowel flora is important in the concept of digestive fire and aids in bowel digestive function as well as providing important nutrients for our nutrition

Pasteurized yogurts should be avoided as pasteurization kills off the beneficial probiotic component of yogurt

Making Digestion Easy By Predigestion-Optimizing Digestive Strength

The value of yogurt comes in the predigestion of lactose and casein which we talked about a couple of days ago  Hence the bacteria during the incubation phase of creating yogurt use the sugar lactose and break down the protein casein  The lactose then doesn’t bother the lactose intolerant and the casomorphin derivative from casein digestion can be less, hence affecting us less

Why freshly made?  From an energy science view the build up of acidity occurs with aging yogurt even if refrigerated becomes inflammatory and thus Pitta provoking   You also get the maximal amount of probiotic in the yogurt(some bacteria die off after 4-5 days)

Even though fresh yogurt is not very acidic(sour taste) it still can be Pitta provoking if used daily   Hence home made yogurt has its consumption limitations

So Some Guidelines

1 Based on the foodsheal.com food combining list, don’t use fruit with yogurt

2 To really inhibit the negative sour effects of even freshly made yogurt, the use of Sucanat or Turbinado(crystallized cane sugars) can be important because the sweet taste helps balance the aggravating sour taste

3 Always use yogurt in moderation, that is, 2-3x per week

4 Store bought and therefore processed yogurt is too acidic and will provoke IC

5 Diluting the yogurt with water reduces its acidity

6 Keeping in the fridge after it comes from the incubation phase will help get the yogurt firmer

7  For best results use whole mil

How to get started

Buy a yogurt maker(Donvier is a French brand or other various manufacturers can be found on Amazon)   Using fresh starter each time ensures that the bacterial count of the yogurt will be rich  The small amount of starter is not enough to aggravate Pitta

And yes, it does take some time to make your own yogurt but after doing it, in a short time you can do a batch in about 15 minutes(total time; heating the milk and cooling it can be done while doing other things)

If the yogurt is curdly and clearly not smooth in texture it means that there’s probably too much cooking going on and that the incubation times are too long  So try 10 hours instead of 12 hours with the Donvier

YouTube has several videos on how to make your own yogurt

It’s best not to use dry milk powder as the milk product as it is provoking to Vata Pitta

Here’s a link for directions on making your own for trouble shooting

The greatest value is making your own yogurt is that you participate in your own health and this is a small but significant step in assuming responsibility for our health