Alyssa Luck

Adult Palate Expansion Diary #2

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January 2018

By January, I had officially decided to give this palate expansion thing a shot, lack of resources or direction be damned.

The first orthodontist I consulted with agreed with everything I said (woo), suggested that I study to become an orthodontist myself since I seem to know what I’m talking about (hmm), and told me he’s actually seen a few adults achieve true palate expansion (huzzah!).

But, he also said he didn’t think I could achieve enough expansion to accommodate two implants, and he wanted to put braces on me right away (concurrently with an expander), which I was not crazy about. The whole appointment also felt rushed, and I didn’t get all my questions answered. Pass. [Read more…] about Adult Palate Expansion Diary #2

Adult Palate Expansion Diary #1

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Confession: The first few installments were not written in realtime, because I started this process last year and I’ve only just decided to document it on the blog. So. Bear with me and the potentially awkward changing of verb tenses throughout this series of posts.

2015 – 2017

During this time, I had constant background stress about my teeth. That sounds so dumb, I know. Of all things to be chronically stressed about! But I had just gotten my second round of braces off, and already it was clear that the results weren’t going to last.

I was beginning to wise up to the real problem, and the real solution: expanding my palate. But at the time, that seemed like an impossible task. Almost everyone, online and in person, said it was impossible. My Googling didn’t turn up any dentists or orthodontists doing this kind of work. The only decent online resource I found was mostly hidden behind a paywall*, and everything else was just incomplete anecdotal evidence scattered across various online forums.

Even my awesome holistic dentist, who I LOVE, didn’t have much to offer in the way of advice or support. (I legit cried after that appointment. No joke.) I felt like I had absolutely no recourse, except perhaps jaw surgery, which I wanted to avoid for obvious reasons.

[Read more…] about Adult Palate Expansion Diary #1

Adult Palate Expansion Diary: Introduction

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Hey friends! I have sorely neglected poor Truthbutter recently, as I’ve been focusing my energies on getting my shit together (figuratively and literally). Also because I have grand plans for a new and improved website that will be my namesake, where I will write extensively on IBD, the gut-brain-microbiota connection, and why extraction/retraction orthodontics need to go ahead and GTFO. Also probably food and travel and dog training, because hey – it’s my website.

But as I’ve begun my third round of orthodontia, I’ve run into several instances where I become so infuriated with the orthodontic injustice in the world that the only apparent viable solution is to once again shout my fury into the void of the internet. And since Truthbutter’s hosting doesn’t expire until later this year…I mean, might as well, right?

Also, there’s still SO LITTLE info on this topic online that I feel like my experience could be helpful to some people. Hopefully. (Please let me know if these posts are helpful to you!)

SO. Here I will be chronicling my self-directed orthodontic journey of palate-expanding, bite-correcting, smile-widening, and hopefully face-beautifying discovery. Later (on the aforementioned fictional future website) I will write about this topic in a more formal educational way. But for now, feel free to follow along as I document my progress, post pictures, and rant at length from my soapbox about how people with degrees I don’t have should do their jobs.

If you don’t have any idea what I’m talking about, do not fret. All will become clear in due time, young grasshopper.

To set the stage for where I’m at now, here’s a recap of my lengthy orthodontic journey thus far.

Edit 3/3/20: For more on my history and why I ultimately decided to go with AGGA, click here!

 

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Can L-Glutamine Cause Brain Fog? {Monday Musings}

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Welcome to Monday Musings! I don’t expect this to be a weekly thing, but I wanted a nifty little label to slap on posts where I’m basically just thinking out loud. Wouldn’t want to delude anyone into thinking I have all the answers, now would I?
Thanks for being here!

L-glutamine, once a lowly amino acid vying for attention among 19 siblings, has become a darling of functional medicine for its role in gut health and intestinal permeability. L-glutamine is an important fuel source for enterocytes, which are the cells lining the intestines, and there’s pretty solid evidence that L-glutamine can help strengthen the intestinal barrier.

That all sounds fantastic, right? I sure thought so, and I supplemented accordingly, on and off, for several years. But recently, some self-experimentation has led me to suspect L-glutamine of being a contributor to some pretty intense brain fog and other mental symptoms I’ve been experiencing. L-glutamine was low on my list of suspects, because I had such positive expectations of it, so it took me a while to notice an association. But the timing was there, so I decided to investigate. [Read more…] about Can L-Glutamine Cause Brain Fog? {Monday Musings}

Getting Enough Carbs on the Autoimmune Protocol (AIP)

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The Paleo Autoimmune Protocol (or AIP) has become extremely popular recently as a dietary approach to manage autoimmune disease. I’ve been aware of the AIP for quite some time, but have been pretty turned off of very restrictive diets for the past few years based on my experiences with GAPS/SCD (and for other reasons as well). But after dealing with several back-to-back flare-ups related to recent treatments I’ve been exploring, I decided to give it a shot.

However, I was a little worried about getting enough carbs on the diet. Most common starchy foods (including potatoes and white rice, two of my staples) are on the “no” list, and AIP proponents usually recommend limiting fruit and sweeteners. That leaves sweet potatoes and plantains as the only familiar sources of dense carbohydrate, with things like squash and parsnips providing lesser (but respectable) amounts of non-starchy carbs. [Read more…] about Getting Enough Carbs on the Autoimmune Protocol (AIP)

What is a “whole food” diet, really?

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Inigo Montoya

I started thinking about this question yesterday (in response to something I’ll share below) and had a bit of a “woah – paradigm shift!” moment, so I thought I’d share with you all! (Also, I didn’t want to pass up an opportunity to have a picture of Inigo Montoya on my blog.)

In the realm of nutrition, the “whole food” diet reigns supreme. From the USDA Dietary Guidelines for Americans to your neighborhood Paleo blogger, almost everyone agrees that a healthy diet is a diet based on “whole foods.”

It’s quite interesting, then, that some of these “whole food” diets have very little in common with each other. It’s even more interesting that some of these “whole food” diets include recommendations to eat things that are definitely not “whole foods.”  [Read more…] about What is a “whole food” diet, really?

The gut bugs are controlling my brain

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Sometimes, I just want to just rip the bacteria out of my gut, enlarge them so I can actually see them, and then yell at them for screwing with my head (and smack them around a little for good measure).

One of these days I’ll write a proper post about how your little gut monsters can make you stressed and anxious and pessimistic and just downright depressed, but for now, suffice it to say that they can. Oh, they can indeed.

You see, I’m typically a pretty happy, driven, focused individual. I’m optimistic about life, I know how to handle stress, and I know how to get sh*t done when it needs to get done.

But if I eat something I’m not supposed to, or don’t take probiotics for too long, or (god forbid) do anything to try and get rid of the little buggers who keep causing me digestive problems, BAM! All of a sudden I’m a mess. My brain just completely stops functioning properly. I suddenly feel like everything in my life sucks, even though nothing has changed. [Read more…] about The gut bugs are controlling my brain

What if you can’t love your body?

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Body image and self-love are hot topics in the blogosphere these days, and I don’t know how I feel about it.

Before I come off as the worst kind of person, let me just say that I’m thrilled people are learning to not be so hard on themselves for not being “perfect,” and for recognizing the beautiful things about themselves. I know I have my fair share of insecurities, and often I could do with a healthy dose of self-love.

But with almost every article I read in the continuously evolving collection of body image media, I’m left feeling not quite satisfied. Like the author has almost spoken to me, but was really speaking to a spot on the wall about a foot to the left. [Read more…] about What if you can’t love your body?

POW: Therapeutic Manipulation of the Microbiome in IBD

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Hellooo, friends, and welcome to the first weekly installment of Paper of the Week (POW)! This delightful new feature of my blog is where I read a paper that I want to read, and then I tell you about it. That way you learn something (theoretically), and I actually remember what I read (theoretically).

This Week’s Paper

Title: Therapeutic Manipulation of the Microbiome in IBD: Current Results and Future Approaches

Authors: Jonathan Hansen and Balfour Sartor (gastroenterologists and researchers at UNC aka MY SCHOOL #represent)

Year: 2015

Type: Review paper

Abstract (partial): 

Despite recent major strides in our understanding of the genetic and microbial influences that contribute to the development of the inflammatory bowel diseases (IBDs), their etiology continues to be enigmatic. Results from experiments in animal models of IBDs overwhelmingly support a causal role of the microbiota in these diseases, though whether such a cause-effect relationship exists in human IBDs is still uncertain. Therefore, virtually all currently approved and most often prescribed treatments for IBDs are directed toward the over-active immune response in these diseases rather than the intestinal bacteria. Nevertheless, there is an important need for non-immunosuppressive therapies that may present a more favorable risk-benefit profile such as those that selectively target the disruptions in gut microbiota that accompany IBDs. This need has led to clinical trials of various microbial-directed therapies including fecal microbial transplant, antibiotics, probiotics, and prebiotics. Unfortunately, these published studies, many of which are small, have generally failed to demonstrate a consistent benefit of these agents in IBDs, thus leading to slow acceptance of microbe-focused treatments for these conditions.”

Let’s go!

[Read more…] about POW: Therapeutic Manipulation of the Microbiome in IBD