Undiagnosed autoimmune and amino acids

[LPitt]

I have an elevated ANA -- it is the only positive blood test for an autoimmune response of some sort.  I have general symptoms and have long suspected thyroid issues, but test results are "normal".

I am exhausted the majority of time and this is the symptom that I find most bothersome.  I just can't get going.  I have seen every doctor, taken vitamins, had blood tests and more and I just can't get an answer to the fatigue.

It occurred to me that I have developed some bad habits such as drinking coffee and grabbing chocolate in an effort to get a quick burst of energy.  It was innocent enough at first but now believe it is just compounding the fatigue.  I don't drink more than a 2 cups a day and never in the late afternoon and I don't eat chocolate everyday but a few hershey kisses or such a few times a week.

Once I finally made this connection I did some searching for the relationship between the need for these pick me ups and missing pieces in my diet.  Seeing as I can't get any doctor to help other than prescribe plaquenil, which has perhaps helped with some stiffness but nothing else, I decided to look to treat the symptoms myself.

Long story, I know.  I happened upon a couple of books by Julia Ross called the Mood Cure and the Diet Cure and for the first time in a long time, felt hope that maybe I could reset my system with some specific nutritional support.  The science made sense and I was so excited.  But then I read, if you have lupus you should consult with a doctor  before trying the supplements.  

So what gives?  Has anyone tried either of these programs (they are very similar)?  What are the risks of amino acids in lupus?

I can tell you the specific ones if that makes a difference.

Thanks for any insight.

LP

[dz5003]

I didn't buy the report so I haven't been able to read the full results. I'm just looking for the "Safest" Organic Cocoa Powder. If they are all "unsafe" then I just want to know which is the least "un-safe" option. I need to use cocoa powder sometimes and I just want to know what the best organic option is. Does the report show the "most safe" ORGANIC cocoa powder? Can anyone give suggestions?

[Paxiled]

California is always the leader -- my home state.  They also had the model for the Clean Air Act.  You can blame them for everything you hate, but when I was growing up they had deadly pollution levels.  Don't actually like Rapunzel -- never liked the taste.  It was off the market a long time, at least in the US.

[gymdandee]

California has a higher standard on the books. Some lead and cadmium contamination's increased during manufacturing. It wasn't all from the soil it came from.  You can buy Rapunzel!

[Paxiled]

Of course the gov't accepts the products -- there's no ban on products with unhealthful ingredients.  There are levels considered as safe as can be achieved without putting too much stress on the current -- I emphasize current, because we could do things differently if we wanted -- economy.  There is no ban on cadmium and lead, it would be impossible, as they occur naturally in many places.  There are levels that are legal and levels that are not.  Gym, you're really going to have to change politics to better what you constantly seem to be warning against on your posts.  By the way, is Rapuzel back on the market?  They were taken off the market a few years ago for violating proper production standards -- I didn't know they survived.  I haven't seen one of their products in a long time.

[gymdandee]

Now I didn't list the products that were OK! You need to do research. As for the batches tested, they are updated and the companies are contacted some respond and some don't. those that respond say our Gov. accepts the products.

[Paxiled]

Well, if this was one-batch testing, it doesn't say anything about the next batch or any other batch.  It doesn't even tell you if the company is sourcing the cocoa from the same source each time -- if you're not organic, you buy on the spot market, which means the cocoa can come from different places at different times.  The other fact is, there is no unpolluted ground left on Earth.  The ocean is full of mercury.  If you want clean food you have to have a clean economy and people who don't market products that are unsafe, and we don't have that and have never had that.  To get that we'd need to clean the world up and that would cost a lot of money, disrupt the world economy, and require changes in technology, all of which is doable but not currently with most political systems extremely right wing and pro-greed.  It would take a complete change in values to know that we're buying clean food.  You can't even raise completely clean food in your back yard, because it's polluted too.  When you put toxins in the air, food, and water, the best you can do is keep the levels as low as technologically feasible (meaning not putting anyone important out of business) and buy organic and, as I said above, hope for the best.   You do the best you can in the world we have.  And know too that cadmium and lead are going to occur naturally in some places no matter what you do.  

[gymdandee]

Ghirardelli 100% Unsweetened Cocoa contains lead.
Hershey's Cocoa  Natural Unsweetened contains cadmium.
Navitas Naturals Cacao Nibs and powder contains cadmium.
Nestle Toll House Cocoa contain cadmium and lead.
NOW Certified Organic Cocoa Powder contains cadmium.
Sunfood Raw Cacao Powder contains cadmium and lead.
Rapunzel Organic Cocoa Powder contains cadmium and lead.
Trader Joe's Cocoa Powder Unsweetened contains cadmium.
Remember one thing! this is from a report I read and as per Paxiled comments you can't trust what you read now this report is from an online report and also from a hard copy. I mean you know we can trust the FDA
and the IRS. Actually we can trust our Gov. for looking to protect us from everything.

[Paxiled]

Actually, I just buy organic and hope for the best -- there's really no way to tell if the ground where the cocoa comes from is polluted or not without testing everything we eat, and nobody will pay to do that.  On the other hand, I don't eat a lot of chocolate bars, so the chocolate I get is just one element such as dark chocolate coated almonds, where the sugar is somewhat balanced by the protein in the almonds.  Or chocolate chip cookies, where the organic chocolate isn't balanced by anything!

[gymdandee]

Eat fruits, vegetables, grains Get your omega 3 and calcium. As for chocolate
do your research as most not all contain cadmium. Paxiled should be able to tell you the ones that are OK as he managed health food stores for many years.

[Paxiled]

On, and one other thing -- Hershey's is milk chocolate, and dairy can aggravate the inflammation caused by lupus, so if you have lupus you should avoid inflammatory foods such as dairy, wheat, and any food you're allergic to.

[Paxiled]

I meant to add, before Gymdandee does, that if you really want to use chocolate for energy, use something that has as much unsweetened dark chocolate as you can tolerate -- you're still using caffeine for your rush, but at least you're also getting antioxidants and you're getting the full effect of the chocolate, whereas Hershey's really doesn't have much real chocolate inside.

[Paxiled]

You don't say if you have lupus or not.  So first, do you have lupus?  Because that's an autoimmune disorder, but you say you don't test for an autoimmune disorder.  When you do have one, you have to avoid anything that stimulates your immune system, because your immune system is what's working against you.  As for Hershey's Kisses, remember, there's really very little chocolate in this type of candy -- it's mostly sugar, which if not burned immediately stores as fat and when the sugar high wears off you crash.  Same thing with caffeine.  Using nutrient rich foods for energy, such as algae such as spirulina and other superfoods which are nutrient dense such as bee pollen and royal jelly and wheat grass don't have this effect.  Eating properly and getting enough rest and exercise doesn't have this effect.  Meditation doesn't have this effect.  Taking adaptogens such as eleuthero or rhodiola don't have this effect.  So there are things to can take to stimulate energy that don't have the crash afterward, but again, if you have lupus you have to be careful not to aggravate the immune system.