Hi all,

I'm looking for anyone who may have had a similar experience and can offer suggestions/support!

I'm new to this Zone thing and I was so excited to try it, but three days in and I'm having what I think are serious candida die-off symptoms. I was a big consumer of brown bread, rice, pasta etc. Over the past few days I've included oatmeal twice for breakfast and had half a slice of toast each day but otherwise it's been veggies and fruit for carbs.

Is there a transition period starting the zone? Should I be concerned that I'm feeling worse? Is there light at the end of the tunnel?

I'm really hoping to benefit from this eating plan, but as an IBS sufferer, I hate feeling unwell in my bowels.

Thanks in advance for any advice or stories you can share.

Hi Laura,

Good news. When you first lower insulin into the Zone and begin burning stored fat, there can be an initial release of arachidonic acid from your fat cells (aka AA, the bad fat; it increases inflammation). This will make some people feel crummy but its temporary. You should begin to feel better soon. You mentioned not feeling well in your bowels. Always contact your doctor with new symptoms if you feel it necessary to do so. If it's bloating and gas you feel, it could be related to suddenly incresing the amount of veggies you're eating. If so, a more gradual increase in the volume of veggies might help. You could try including more of things like salsa or tomato sauce which have smaller volumes per block. Good luck!

Laura, regarding your IBS, the sudden increase in vegetable intake is likely part of your problem. I have a friend who also suffers from IBS and had the same problem. She still can not tolerate high fiber veggies, and so she does eat things that are easier to digest. My advice is to ease into it, rather than making a sudden change.

Fish oil may be of benefit, as well.

Thank you both for your responses. I switched to cooked veggies for the last few meals and have been much more comfortable.

I also purchased Wild Salmon Oil today so glad that should help too!

Can you tell me if there is a certain amount I should be taking daily? And if any particular time of day is best for fish oil? Thanks

Laura, I'd caution you about the wild salmon oil in regard to heavy metal and chemical pollutants. Read more about fish oil. The fish oil used with the Zone diet to lower inflammaton levels is ultra-refined concentrated fish oil. It's highly purified and is also high in EPA and DHA concentration. This type of fish oil is not available in stores. The basic maintenance dose for an ultra-refined fish oil concentrate is 2.5 grams of combined EPA and DHA daily (4 capsules of Zone Labs Omega RX). If a person is beginning a new diet or is overweight the recommendation is 5 grams combined EPA and DHA daily (8 capsules of Zone Labs Omega RX).

Thanks for the information Sue. I did spend a good amount time sourcing brands on the internet and in-store with my local health food specialist. While my pills aren't as potent as what the zone offers (1.5 g if taking 4 pills), they are supposed very clean in terms of chemical contamination. Unfortunately, I fall into the poor university student category right now, so shipping supplements up from the US isn't an option.

Is taking some fish oil better than taking none at all?

I know that Sue will disagree with this, but my opinion is that if you have something that certifies the fish oil as clean in terms of pollutants, etc, then I would be comfortable with that. Barry Sears relies on IFOS standards to certify his fish oil, but there are other companies who certify fish oil.

Now, as far as the potency goes, I would suggest that you could be wasting your money on a lower potency fish oil. Maybe taking some is better than none at all, but think of it in the way of dressing a large wound with a bandaid-just doesn't cover it.

You'rw welcome, Laura. Some food for thought...

Barry Sears advises that to be sure your fish oil is safe to consume, purchase a brand and batch number (batch number is on each bottle) that had attained the IFOS (International Fish Oil Stardards) 5 star rating. This is the only way to be certain it is safe to eat. To learn more google IFOS and go to their 5 star testing and reporting pages.

A fish oil with a concentration of 1.5 g EPA and DHA in 4 capsules is not an ultra-refined concentrate. If offered to me, I would not eat it, specifically because of the comtamination levels. Barry Sears refers to health food store grade fish oil as the "sewer of the sea".