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Product Review: The Squatty Potty (yes, that is what it sounds like)

February 23, 2013 in Beyond Paleo, Gut Health, Product Reviews

homepage-stools-eccoOne of the amazing things about my blog growing so quickly is that I now get asked quite frequently to review products.  I’ve learned the art of saying no and now only review products that I’m truly interested in.  Yes, I was truly interested in trying out a squatty potty.

When the squatty potty PR department asked me if I was “pooping wrong” (literally, that was the subject of the e-mail), I was initially perplexed (isn’t that a bit of a personal question, and why the heck are you asking a mom paleo blogger to review a poop stool?) and then intrigued.  I watched the video on their website (which had me smirking).  I thought about it overnight, but by morning, my curiosity had the better of me.  I responded with a “Yes, please”.

I’ve mentioned this before in other posts (like this one on constipation, which I recently updated) that prior to paleo, I had suffered Irritable Bowel Syndrome with chronic constipation for 12 years.  For 12 years prior to paleo, I was on a rotating mixture of laxatives and stool softeners.  Once, when I was in grad school, I spent an entire night in the emergency room where the very helpful resident diagnosed me as “full of sh*t” (yes, he literally said that like it was the funniest joke ever) and prescribed a very powerful enema (I was having severe abdominal pain because it had been 2 weeks since my last BM).  I am fairly certain that I have permanent nerve damage as a result of more than a decade of chronic constipation.  And I still battle the Small Intestinal Bacterial Overgrowth that likely caused it in the first place.  Even now, when I give into cravings and eat starchy vegetables, coconut or too much fruit, my symptoms are bloating and constipation.  So, yes, the issue of pooping is near and dear to my heart.

So, what’s the deal with the squatty potty?  Well, basically the squatty potty is a very cleverly designed stool.  It allows you to raise your knees high enough that your body is in a squatting position even though you’re still sitting on the toilet (you can actually properly squat and hover if you prefer).  I borrowed the graphic below from the squatty potty website to show how this change in position changes the internal alignment.  It means that a) gravity is working for you, and b) everything is lined up so you aren’t trying to push around a corner.

anorectalangle-645

Squatting is a natural position for, well, many things.  It’s actually one of the things that Mark Sisson talks about in his (completely awesome) new book:  The Primal Connection.  Before chairs, people would squat to relax, to eat, to chat.  Squatting is a natural position for giving birth.  And of course, before the invention of the toilet, squatting was the only position available.  After all the natural childbirth education I went through before having my daughters, you’d think I would have drawn the connection between squatting as a birth position to help push out a baby and squatting as a poop position.  Well, better late than never.  Suffice it to say, squatting is a natural position for pooping.

There’s also some really convincing scientific studies supporting squatting as a healthier way to poop (of course, scientific studies use more technical terms than “poop”).  For example, this study compared the Iranian-style toilet (squatting style) to the European-style toilet (what you are probably used to) and concluded:

“Use of the Iranian-style toilet seems to be a more comfortable and efficient method of bowel evacuation than the European style. Further studies are needed to ascertain the optimal approximation of the measurements to standard height of toilets for ordinary use.”

And this study concluded:

“The results of the present study suggest that the greater the hip flexion achieved by squatting, the straighter the rectoanal canal will be, and accordingly, less strain will be required for defecation.”

And this is my favorite study, which concludes:

“The present study confirmed that sensation of satisfactory bowel emptying in sitting defecation posture necessitates excessive expulsive effort compared to the squatting posture.”

The squatty potty fixes your posture while going to the bathroom.  And this simple change can dramatically improve constipation, hemorrhoids, colon disease, urinary difficulty/infections, and pelvic floor issues (just in case you thought this was limited to ease of pooping).  Did I mention that Mark Sisson plugs the squatty potty in his book? (I only read The Primal Connection just over a week ago, so I was feeling all proud of myself that I was already using a squatty potty when I read that chapter.)

In the paleo community, we are passionate about natural movement.  We climb trees and wear vibrams.  So, think of the squatty potty as MoveNat for pooping.  PoopNat, if you will.

So, what is my personal experience with the squatty potty?  I’ve been using it for about 6 weeks (I wanted to give it a thorough trial run before writing this review).  And, as my 6-year old would say, holly smolly guacamole.  This thing is ridiculously awesome.  It is not natural to love a stool as much as I do, but I can’t help it.  It really is more comfortable and easier to go from a squatting position.  It doesn’t feel like work (and, at least for me, it used to feel like work more often than not).  And, I have overdone sugar in the last 6 weeks (wish I could say that was in order to thoroughly test out the squatty potty, but it’s really just giving into sugar cravings due to being overrun with writing the book) and had the usual response by my body.  But, I didn’t have to suffer the severe discomfort of going to the bathroom after my sugar indulgence that I normally do thanks to the squatty potty.  Yes, I am very impressed.  Actually, I am in love.

The only downside?  Less time to read.

Lest you think that any stool can do this job, let me tell you a couple of features of the squatty potty that make it worth the $10-$20 extra bucks over a regular stool.  It’s wide so you can place your feet in a variety of positions depending on your hip width and what’s comfortable for you.  It’s slightly angled so you can have your feet slightly angled up or down depending on the flexibility in your ankles and what’s comfortable for you.  And probably best of all, it tucks right under the toilet bowl due to its shape so it is completely out of your way when you aren’t using it.  I now only go to the bathroom in the one bathroom in the house than has a squatty potty… time to buy another one, I think.  Actually, I think these will make great Christmas presents this year (head’s up family, you’re getting poop stools for Christmas!  And a copy of The Paleo Approach.  Woot!).

So, where can you get a squatty potty?  You can buy them direct from www.squattypotty.com and you can buy them off amazon.  The 9” squatty potty is better if you are tall, are fairly flexible, or have a higher toilet.  The 7” squatty potty is better if you are shorter, less flexible or have a lower toilet.  It even comes in bamboo if you think that utilitarian white won’t match your bathroom.

So, in the words of the squatty potty PR department, are you pooping wrong?

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The Link Between Gallbladder Disease and Gluten Sensitivity

December 1, 2012 in Beyond Paleo, Gut Health

(Created as a guest post for Paleo Parents.)

Celiac disease is estimated to affect approximately 1 in every 100 people, but only 5% of these people receive a positive diagnosis 1.  This is, in part, because celiac disease often doesn’t present with what are thought of as the classic symptoms (abdominal pain, bloating, intermittent diarrhea, weight loss).  In fact, more often, celiac disease presents as a collection of symptoms that many physicians don’t associate with the disease (irritability or depression, anemia, stomach upset, joint pain, muscle cramps, skin rash, mouth sores, dental and bone disorders such as osteoporosis, neuropathy, and/or micronutrient deficiency) 2.  However, the recognition and understanding of celiac disease is improving and more and more people with the disease are receiving positive diagnoses.

The same is not so true of gluten sensitivity, which includes immune reactions that are currently tested for (IgE, IgG or IgA antibody formation against gluten), immune reactions that are not currently tested for (IgM antibody formation, T-cell activation and/or immune complex formation), and non-immune reactions (increased zonulin production and/or gut dysbiosis resulting from deficiency of appropriate digestive enzymes).  Gluten intolerance (where antibodies are formed against gluten) is thought to affect upwards of 20-40% of the general population 3-4.  There are no estimates of the percentage of people who are sensitive to gluten in other ways.  Genetic tests (HLA-DQ, DR, etc.) exist but it is still unknown if current genetic tests accurately identify all individuals who are gluten sensitive 4.

A wider and wider range of health issues are being linked to gluten sensitivity and/or celiac disease.  This is a positive development in medical research because it is starting to bring more focus on how detrimental these grain proteins are in the human diet.  One such health issue is gallbladder disease, although the link between gallbladder disease and gluten sensitivity/celiac disease has not permeated through the public knowledge.  Because so many people are unaware that their gallbladder problems might be linked to gluten in their diets, it seemed like a good idea to write a post about this topic!

Let’s take a step backward and first talk about what exactly a gallbladder is.  The gallbladder is a little pear-shaped sac, nestled toward the front and a little underneath of the liver.  It has a very simple job:

  • store bile (which is produced by the liver) between meals
  • concentrate bile by reabsorbing water
  • release bile into the small intestine when there’s food that needs to be digested

Bile is composed of water, bile salts, bile pigments (products of red blood cell breakdown that are normally excreted in the bile), cholesterol, and various electrolytes.  Bile salts are the only components of bile that actually have a digestive function.  Bile salts are not the same as digestive enzymes (which are produced by the cells that line the stomach and by the pancreas).  Instead, bile salts aid the actions of digestive enzymes and enhance the absorption of fatty acids and fat-soluble vitamins.

The most important action of bile salts is that of an emulsifier.  In essence, bile salts break up fat globules in the small intestine into tiny droplets that are able to mix with water.  The enzymes that break fat up into fatty acids (lipases) can then perform their function more effectively.  Bile salts also aid in the absorption of fatty acids and cholesterol (some of the cholesterol released into the small intestine in the bile is reabsorbed).  Fat-soluble vitamins (such as A, D, E, K1 and K2) are also absorbed.

If the gallbladder is not functioning properly, fats cannot be properly digested (fats are essential for survival and health) and fat-soluble vitamins cannot be effectively absorbed, leading to micronutrient deficiencies.  Gallbladder health is critical for digestive health and overall health.

As is so often the case with research linking gluten sensitivity to other health complications, the research is strongest in the context of celiac disease.  Approximately 60% of celiac disease sufferers are known to have liver, gallbladder, and/or pancreatic conditions 5.  While some of these conditions may be a result of the malnutrition and/or directly linked to the gut damage that occurs in celiac disease, others are thought to share common genetic factors or have a common immunopathogenesis (i.e., the condition originates from the same immune system attacks on the small intestine also attacking these organs) 5.  Specifically, primary biliary cirrhosis, primary sclerosing cholangitis and autoimmune forms of hepatitis or cholangitis are thought to have a common immune system/inflammation origin as celiac disease itself—and that means gluten.

What does this mean?  In celiac disease (and in non-celiac gluten sensitivity, albeit to a lesser extent or perhaps just in a slightly different way), gluten triggers an autoimmune response.  The body’s own immune system attacks the cells that line the small intestine, resulting in the characteristic shortening or pruning of the intestinal villi (microscopic, finger-like projections of small intestine wall tissue made of columns of gut epithelial cells).  As you can imagine, this creates a very leaky gut, which also stimulates the immune system, causes inflammation, and allows toxins and foreign proteins into the body.  In the majority of celiac disease patients, the immune system does not limit its attack to the cells that line the small intestine.  This is why second and even third autoimmune conditions are so common in celiac disease.

When you eat, the cells that line the duodenum (the first segment of the small intestine) detect the presence of fat and protein and react by releasing a hormone called cholecystokinin.  This hormone stimulates both the release of digestive enzymes from the pancreas and bile from the gallbladder.  It also signals to the stomach to slow down the speed of digestion so the small intestine can effectively digest the fats.  When the gut is damaged (whether from celiac disease or other gut pathology), the cells that line the small intestine (called enterocytes or gut epithelial cells) are less able to secrete cholecystokinin.  This means there is not enough signal to the gallbladder that it’s time to release bile salts into the duodenum.  Reduced cholecystokinin release is reported in celiac disease and may be one of the key causes of the gallbladder malfunction that occurs concomitantly with celiac 6-8.

Importantly for this discussion, the dominant gallbladder symptoms that might be caused by gluten sensitivity is cholecystitis (inflammation of the gallbladder) or malfunctioning gallbladder, and not gall stones (reported in 20% of elderly celiac patients, but only 2.5% of the more general celiac population).    The frequency of liver and gallbladder conditions suffered by celiac disease patients has allowed researchers to make the converse argument.  It is now recommended that those with unexplained liver and/or gallbladder symptoms be evaluated for celiac disease 9-11.  If you have been diagnosed with gallbladder disease (especially if it is not gall stones, but don’t rule out this possibility if it is), it is important to investigate gluten sensitivity or celiac disease as the possible cause.  No one has yet studied how frequently someone with gallstones actually has undiagnosed celiac disease (or gluten sensitivity) and there is a feeling within the celiac community that this may actually be quite frequent.

What if you test negative for celiac disease and gluten intolerance?  Unless you had the DNA test done for gluten sensitivity, these tests actually are embarrassingly inaccurate in the sense that the false negative rate is very high (false negative means that you do have celiac but the test showed that you don’t).  There are a variety of ways that false negatives can occur and no one likes to put a number on just how likely they are.  But, if you remember from the beginning of this post, these tests generally only test for antibody formation (and a biopsy only looks at one very small piece of your small intestine).  The best way to be sure that gluten is not the problem is to eliminate it completely from your diet for several months (those with celiac disease can take up to 5 years to heal from the damage caused by gluten 12).  It is not enough to eliminate gluten however, as antibodies that your body may have formed against gluten may also recognize proteins in other foods.  This means that even if you aren’t eating any gluten, your body still thinks that it is (see this post for a complete explanation and list of foods to avoid).

The take home message?  There is a strong link between gallbladder health and celiac disease.  In fact, a failing gallbladder may be your first symptom of celiac disease.  Of course, I believe that a grain-free, legume-free, dairy-free, refined sugar-free, modern vegetable oil-free diet is optimal for our health in every way; however, if you are suffering from gallbladder problems, then I recommend addressing your diet as soon as possible.  The earlier you adopt an anti-inflammatory diet that prioritizes gut health, the more likely you are to save your gallbladder.

1 Lohi S et al. “Increasing prevalence of coeliac disease over time.” Aliment Pharmacol Ther. 2007 Nov 1;26(9):1217-25.

2 http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/celiac-disease/DS00319/DSECTION=symptoms

3 http://www.gastroendonews.com/ViewArticle.aspx?d=In%2Bthe%2BNews&d_id=187&i=October%2B2010&i_id=672&a_id=16015

4 http://www.glutenfreesociety.org/gluten-free-society-blog/the-many-heads-of-gluten-sensitivity/

5 Freeman HJ.” Hepatobiliary and pancreatic disorders in celiac disease.” World J Gastroenterol. 2006 Mar 14;12(10):1503-8. http://www.wjgnet.com/1007-9327/full/v12/i10/1503.htm

6 Masclee AA et al. “Gallbladder sensitivity to cholecystokinin in coeliac disease. Correlation of gallbladder contraction with plasma cholecystokinin-like immunoreactivity during infusion of cerulein.” Scand J Gastroenterol. 1991 Dec;26(12):1279-84. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/1763298

7 Fraquelli M et al “Gallbladder emptying and somatostatin and cholecystokinin plasma levels in celiac disease.” Am J Gastroenterol. 1999 Jul;94(7):1866-70.

8 Nousia-Arvanitakis S et al.  “Subclinical exocrine pancreatic dysfunction resulting from decreased cholecystokinin secretion in the presence of intestinal villous atrophy.” J Pediatr Gastroenterol Nutr. 2006 Sep;43(3):307-12. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16954951

9 Biecker E et al “Autoimmune hepatitis, cryoglobulinaemia and untreated coeliac disease: a case report.” Eur J Gastroenterol Hepatol. 2003 Apr;15(4):423-7. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12655265

10 Parfenov AI et al “Asymptomatic celiac disease in patient with chronic acalculous cholecystitis” Eksp Klin Gastroenterol. 2011;(3):122-4.

11 Galán Bertrand L et al. “Acute lithiasic cholecystitis as an exceptional presentation of celiac disease” An Pediatr (Barc). 2006 Jul;65(1):87-8. Spanish

12  Rubio-Tapia A “Mucosal recovery and mortality in adults with celiac disease after treatment with a gluten-free diet.” Am J Gastroenterol. 2010 Jun;105(6):1412-20.

 

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Guest Post by Dr. Kellie Ferguson: Food Sensitivity Testing – Let’s Talk About Your Options!

September 6, 2012 in Alternative Therapies, Alternative Therapies, Beyond Paleo, Practical Tips

Allow me to introduce Dr. Kellie Ferguson, N.D., a Naturopathic Physician in British Columbia, Canada.  Kellie is actually a very old friend of mine–we went to high school together!  But don’t worry; neither one of us remembers high school so no embarrassing stories can be told.  I asked Kellie to give an overview of food sensitivity testing since this is so relevant for anyone battling autoimmune conditions, non-autoimmune skin conditions, gastrointestinal disease, and allergies.   It is a particularly important option to consider for anyone following the autoimmune protocol and not seeing improvement.  You can read more about Kellie’s practice at her website www.koruhealth.com and her blog www.koruhealth.blogspot.ca. 

As promised in my last guest post, today I’ll give you a little more information about testing for Food Sensitivities.  Just to backtrack a little, food sensitivities happen when the body reacts to proteins in specific foods and the immune system is activated by those proteins in much the same way as it is activated by proteins on bacteria.  A reaction is mounted by the immune system and can cause inflammation both at the gut level and systemically throughout the whole body.  Because of the complexity of the immune reaction, food sensitivities are often one of the key underlying triggers for many different complaints.  I almost always think about them when dealing with three key complaints including: skin conditions like eczema or psoriasis, GI upset including anything from heartburn to diarrhea, and behavior difficulties in kids (ADHD, temper or Autism Spectrum Disorder).  Also, many people with autoimmune disorders, arthritis or migraine benefit from knowing if there are any food triggers aggravating their symptoms.

So we know it’s important to check for food sensitivities but how do you do it?  There are three different testing choices available to identify food sensitivities. Please note, that food sensitivities are very different from food allergies and the following testing methods are not adequate to diagnose food allergies. The gold standard is a physician controlled Elimination and Challenge test.  In this case, we limit the diet to a very restricted set of hypo-allergenic foods (usually foods that are outside the normal diet) for a good period of time (usually 3-6 weeks) and then challenge with each food, generally in a medically controlled environment.  The goal is to allow the body a chance to heal up as we take away any provoking foods and then we slowly add each single food type one at a time and gauge for reactions.  For example, we might do our elimination for 3 weeks and eat only lamb, pear and brown rice, then introduce dairy products for a few days while we watch for skin or tummy symptoms.  This type of diet needs a lot of planning and commitment and, because the elimination diet is so limited, it should not be done without the supervision of a qualified practitioner.  It should be mentioned that challenging with foods can cause quite pronounced reactions with asthma or serious autoimmune conditions and should be done exceptionally carefully (and only with medical supervision).

The next type of testing is called EAV testing, which is also known as Biomeridian or VEGA testing.  This testing uses an electronic tool to evaluate the energy in specific acupuncture meridians and how that energy reacts when challenged with foods.   It sounds a little odd but is really very effective for many complaints.  The advantage to this is that it can be done quickly and in-office and is non invasive.  It does require that the patient be able to sit relatively still for a period of time, so it can be difficult with younger kids or kids with restlessness/hyperactivity.  It is also fairly specialized and difficult to do well, so I always suggest asking lots of questions of the practitioner first.  A variation of this type of testing is called muscle energy testing, which measures muscle strength when foods or supplements are held close to the body.  Both types of testing measure the body’s energetic reaction to the foods.  Muscle energy testing is quick and easy but can be easily manipulated by the tester or the patient (as can EAV testing, though to a lesser degree).  It is really important that the tester be really careful not to allow his or her bias to influence the results. This is partly why this type of energetic testing isn’t well accepted by conventional medical practitioners.

The last type of testing, and the only one that can allow us some information about food allergies, is called ELISA testing.  ELISA testing measures how much (if any) of an antibody (immune) reaction there are to specific food proteins.  Before we get into the specifics of this test it’s worth talking a little about the different types of antibodies and their immune reactions. Antibodies are little proteins, made by the immune system, that tag and attach to foreign proteins (food proteins, bacterial, viral or parasite proteins) and signal for inflammatory or other immune processes.  There are several classes of antibodies but there are only three that are relevant for food testing.  IgG is the most commonly tested antibody for food sensitivities since is the most abundant and long lasting antibody.  Total IgG is used to give a broad view of the overall immune sensitivity reaction, however any positive results need to be interpreted given the individual and the diet and target symptoms as there are often many mild positive reactions that do not provoke symptoms.  IgE is specific to allergy reactions but not sensitivities.  IgE proteins have a very short life and are much more difficult to test, so the number of foods tested is generally limited to most common allergens and must be done through a blood draw.  IgE testing is sometimes done with a slightly different test called a RAST test.  This test is almost identical to ELISA but has a slightly different procedure in the testing laboratory.  The final antibody that can be relevant is IgA.  IgA is the only antibody that gets secreted into the digestive fluids and so is very specific to digestive sensitivity symptoms.  It is possible to have IgG be negative for some food reactions but positive IgA or vica versa.  Your Naturopathic Physician should be able to discuss all the testing options and help you to choose the best type or combination of testing for your symptoms and budget.

There are many lab companies in North America that offer antibody testing and they have widely variable pricing and reliability of their tests.  Most have different food lists available that can be chosen specific for the patient’s needs (ie. vegetarian panels or specific IgE, IgG or IgA tests).  This testing does require a blood sample, and depending on the type of tests, it is either with an arm drawn sample or a dried blood spot taken using a finger stick.  Most kids find the finger prick quick and easy enough that they don’t complain… at least not much.

For patients coming into my office, I always suggest we discuss their complaints and talk about the testing options to figure out which, if any, is the best choice.  The best option might depend on your financial situation, time goals and the condition itself.  Most Naturopathic Physicians have done a good investigation into the testing options available in your area and can give you good guidance.  It also takes experience and finesse to decide how to incorporate the results into a reasonable diet plan, which licensed Naturopathic Physicians will have.  Most testing methods will show that there are many reactions, most of which are fairly mild.  It’s not reasonable or necessary to completely eliminate all those items.  The practitioner’s experience will help to show which foods are not generally significant triggers and which can be common suspects and how to tell the difference. Reactions that are really strong should be avoided completely.  Other food reactions are mild but cumulative and their symptoms will depend on the amount and frequency of their exposures.  Eating small amounts of those foods only a couple of times a week won’t be an issue but a big serving or using it as a staple in your diet will start to trigger symptoms. I generally start with IgG finger stick testing, as the company I use has excellent pricing and turn-around time and has a choice for an expanded panel with many extra spices and foods.  I find that this provides the most information at a reasonable cost and can be interpreted well given the patient history and symptoms.

To find a Naturopathic Physician in Canada go to http://www.cand.ca/index.php?findnd&L=0 to find one in the US try http://www.naturopathic.org/AF_MemberDirectory.asp?version=1  . If you have any questions or comments please feel free to email or post via my blog, where you can also find more tips about current news topics, allergies, Autism and other Naturopathic topics.

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The Paleo Mom Doesn’t Wash Her Hair!!! Ew, Gross!

August 2, 2012 in 2012, Beyond Paleo, Uncategorized

(Created as a guest post for Well Grounded Hopes)

Three months ago, I gave up shampoo.  All shampoo.  And conditioner.  Yep, I no longer wash my hair.  But it isn’t gross, at least not now that my hair has adjusted (I admit that it was touch and go for a couple of weeks there).  As granola as it sounds to say that I don’t wash my hair, you would never know it (no dreads, no flies buzzing around me at all times, no slime oozing off my head).  Actually, my hair looks and feels healthier than ever before.

This was a long, long time coming.  I have had an itchy flakey scalp for as long as I can remember.  By the time I started high school, I had learned to wear my hair in pony tails and buns just so that the flakes wouldn’t frost my shoulders throughout the day (I was teased enough without giving my tormentors that kind of ammunition!).  I used to love weekends because I could sit and scratch my scalp and let the flakes land all over the floor before giving my head a good wash and wiping up the mess (sorry for the visual).  I always used special dandruff shampoos and toward the end of high school, started using topical steroids for my scalp to help control the inflammation.  My doctor said I “just” had some scalp psoriasis and suggested I use baby shampoo.

Baby shampoo didn’t help, plus it dried out my hair which was quite long most of this time.  So, I changed shampoo and conditioner brands sometimes as frequently as every time I bought a bottle.  Some would cause an instant burning sensation (my scalp would turn red for a few days then the skin would flake off like a bad sunburn) and I would have to toss the bottle after one use.  Some brands would seem okay for a while, maybe even a few months, before I slowly developed a reaction.  Sometimes I would react worse to the shampoo and sometimes I would react worse to the conditioner.  This may have been an allergy, a chemical sensitivity, or a case of contact dermatitis or psoriasis aggravated by the chemicals in my shampoos.  Eleven years ago, I gave up “cheap” shampoo and started only using the high quality products sold in my hair salon, but I still had to change products every few months.  My four-year flirt with brightly colored hair and fancy styling products ended when I became violently allergic to the hair dyes and every product my hair salon sold.  So, seven years ago, I started using organic, “chemical-free”, fragrance-free alternative shampoos and conditioners.  In fact, I’m pretty sure I used all of them because I STILL developed sensitivities to them and their matching conditioners and had to switch brands every few months (for a while I even used olive oil as a conditioner and just changed shampoo brands).  This may be because many “chemical-free” organic shampoos only avoid certain chemicals (like parabens) and many still contain some plant extracts that really amount to the same chemical, even if it does originate in nature.

As I continue to battle with autoimmune disease, attempt to adhere to the restrictions of the autoimmune protocol and to heal my body through diet, activity, stress management, prioritizing sleep, sun exposure, and supplements, I have started to evaluate my health through a more focussed lens.  It is such hard work to get my body to heal and any exposure to irritants, allergens or toxins is going to slow it down.  So, something like an itchy flaky scalp is a big sign that there’s something I’m missing.  It’s also a very discouraging sign that my body has not fully healed in spite of my efforts, which really makes me feel like I am waging an uphill battle. 

My decision to give up shampoo came just over three months ago when I last got my hair cut.  I knew that my scalp was starting to show the hallmark signs of a new shampoo sensitivity (although this time, it had been almost a year).  I was frustrated trying to implement the very overwhelming autoimmune protocol and was only seeing very mild improvement to my lichen planus (this is right before everything started to come together).  The hair dresser admonished the obviously poor health of my scalp the entire time she was cutting my hair (crediting inferior hair care products in spite of the fact that the shampoo I was using was purchased from her salon!), and pushing her favorite special scalp healing treatments very aggressively.  The barrage got to me.  I caved and bought a $30 bottle of a daily treatment for my scalp.  I went hope and tried it.  My scalp burned so badly I had to hop in the shower and wash it out immediately.  My scalp was beet red for three days before the skin flaked off in sheets, burned and killed by this product that was supposed to heal my scalp.  I was so discouraged to have such a violent reaction (I thought that, with paleo, these types of violent skin reactions that have plagued since I was 13 years old would be a thing of the past).  The silver lining is that this was one of the events that helped me find a higher compliance level with the autoimmune protocol.  And, it was the last time I washed my hair with shampoo. 

There are some really good reasons to give up shampoo, or at least to read the label and purchase carefully (for referenced summaries of potentially harmful chemicals in cosmetics, including shampoo and conditioner, see this report by the David Suzuki Foundation or this website by the Breast Cancer Fund).  I’ll just state right up front that I’m not a big fan of the scare tactics used in many websites listing all the potentially dangerous side effects of chemicals contained in soaps, cleansers, shampoos, conditioners, moisturizers and cosmetics.  Using a line like “this is an ingredient in anti-freeze, would you put anti-freeze on your baby?” just makes me mad and triggers my stubborn rebellious side.  Show me some science that these chemicals are harmful and that they can be absorbed in significant quantities through your skin or have additive effects over time; then we’ll start talking.  But, some of this data actually does exist for some chemicals commonly found in shampoos and conditioners and also common contaminants (much of this data doesn’t exist yet).  More convincing to me is that some of the chemicals commonly used in shampoos are common allergens and irritants (which is different than being toxic).  Some are estrogen-mimicking compounds (again, different than being toxic).  But to be honest, I’m not sure this would be on my radar if I hadn’t had such a long term battle with my scalp and my health in general.  For me, the choice to give up shampoo was purely a reaction to not having any shampoo brands left out there that I hadn’t already tried and developed a sensitivity to.

Has giving up shampoo made me healthier?  I can’t honestly say yes.  But, it has changed my hair.  It took about three weeks for the oil production in my hair to slow down (at first, I cleansed daily with lemon juice, but I don’t anymore).  Now, my hair has a very lanolin-coated feel to it (like soft pet hair, maybe?) but also feels very soft and smooth.  It is definitely a different feel to how my hair has ever felt before and I still feel like I’m getting used to it when I run my fingers through my hair.  My hair has a fabulous shine, but always looks like it needs to be combed (I blame the too wavy to be straight, not wavy enough to be curly quality of my hair here).  There are still a couple of odd flakes, but my scalp doesn’t itch (unless I eat something I shouldn’t!) and there’s no redness anymore.  And that is definitely an improvement! 

So, what do I use on my hair?  Most days, I just use water and give my scalp a bit of a massage in the shower.  Every 3-4 weeks, when the oil build-up gets to be too much, I cleanse my hair with baking soda and then condition my hair with lemon juice.  I achieve this by mixing 1-2 Tbsp of baking soda into a cup of water and slowly pouring it over my head in the shower.  I rinse fairly immediately because I feel like the baking soda strips too much moisture from my hair and my hair will feel too dry for several days afterward.  The lemon juice helps neutralize the baking soda and restores some of that sheen to my hair.  I place the lemon juice in a small spray bottle and spray my already wet hair, massage in, then rinse out.  I have found that how long I go before I need a baking soda/lemon juice clean is longer every time.  Perhaps eventually, it won’t be needed at all.  I don’t use any styling product whatsoever in my hair and I don’t think that this would work for someone who really likes to style their hair using any kind of gel, mousse, mud, or spray.  I’m glad I went through the adjustment period with short hair, although now that my hair has such a lovely sheen, I am thinking about growing it long again.  I save a ton of time by not having to wash and condition my hair every morning.  Not to mention all the money I save by giving up shampoo! 

There are lots of recipes out there for homemade shampoos, but I don’t think they are necessary, unless you have a lifestyle where your hair really gets dirty.  So yes, I don’t wash my hair.  But my hair is gorgeous and my scalp is healthier.  I’m actually wishing I’d tried this about two decades ago!

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