Feel free to discuss any topic of general interest, so long as nothing you post here is likely to be interpreted as insulting, and/or inflammatory, nor clearly designed to provoke any individual or group. Please be considerate of others feelings, and they will be considerate of yours.
tnelson wrote:QUESTION: Right now so much is reactive BEYOND gluten. Do I understand correctly that gluten is the foundation of all these problems and this over-the-top reactivity might calm down IF I can absolutely avoid gluten? (I'll also keep away from milk forever, and probably soy and eggs.)
Gluten is definitely the worst. It keeps the immune system maxed out as long as it remains in the diet, even in trace amounts. Some research suggests that we react to other foods primarily because their amino acid chains contain sequences that resemble the amino acid sequences of some of the peptides in gluten that cause us to react. This phenomenon is known as molecular mimicry.
Tex
It is suspected that some of the hardest material known to science can be found in the skulls of GI specialists who insist that diet has nothing to do with the treatment of microscopic colitis.
I have much the same family history, my mom supposedly died of stomach cancer, but reality is that she was wracked with scar tissue, which was no doubt exacerbated by birthing 10 kids. She baked bread weekly and it was her staple until she died. It's everywhere in my family, they don't want to know about it, they don't want to change their diets, it's really sad.
Yes, it's been my experience that gluten is the #1 offender, I can have dairy now w/no problem - I think - I used to get immediate gas if I ate ice cream or drank milk and I may still be reacting, but it is nowhere near what it was. I also used to react the same way to broccoli and cauliflower, which I have no problem with now or it's less severe. I'm still learning, probably will be all my life, but the more I learn, the more I think Paleo is the way I should go.
My oldest daughter has been on the Paleo diet now for almost 4 years and she will never go back. She says she never realized how bad she felt before she felt good. She had ADD, brain fog, depression, constipation, constant upset stomachs, skin issues, and weird infections. Her sister, who tested positive via Enterolab for G has only been GF for about a year, she had a history of all but the ADD, but also had Gerd, which still crops up occasionally, but she is much better.
Connie
Resolved MC symptoms successfully w/L-Glutamine, Probiotics and Vitamins, GF since 8/'09. DX w/MC 10/'09.
Thanks Tex/Leah,
Things are beginning to make a bit of sense - no doubt my reaction to radical change to my diet is not unusual! I guess I need to get my head around it some more. Yesterday I tried eating more than just chicken soup and had a chicken in tomato frozen dinner (weightwatchers!!) - let's just say it was not one of my better ideas! But the chicken soup I made has wholewheat pasta and is not producing such a reaction! Until I do bite the bullet and do an elimination diet I guess I am not going to know the answers to my own questions! I am sure you guys would like to shake newbies like me who have their John McEnroe "You cannot be serious!" reactions! I will get the paleo diet book and read!
Anne
Sheila wrote:I just got The Paleo Diet on my kindle and will read it on the plane. Also ordered a follow up Entero lab test and hope to get that done and mailed back next week. The MRT will have to wait until I get back from my trip. I am so scared that the few remaining foods that I truly enjoy will be taken away. I don't know why I never connected "leaky gut" with MC and celiac disease. I didn't know what a "leaky gut" was and it sounded pretty horrible.
My mother lived to be 92 with chronic diarrhea that only got worse as she got older. She called her home "The House of SH<#" Poor lady went to a dietician who prescribed all of the things she should not have eaten. She knew she had MC but did not want to hear about a GF diet. The entocort worked for a while but she continued to eat gluten and went on and off entocort at will.
I just threw out all of my much loved old wooden spoons. They were probably pretty contaminated but that never occurred to me. Wonder if that caused the flare.....
Sheila W
My mother also had what was called ibs. I had changed my diet to a paleo type diet about 10 years ago and found it was of benefit to me, lessened my symptoms, also of "ibs" I was told (this was before things got really bad). When my mother came to visit me for 10 days around that time her intestinal problems were clearly interfering with her life and I tried to suggest that she might change her diet and eliminate grains, especially wheat. She reacted with anger and told me she was not going to change what she ate, in a tone of voice that said really meant "don't mess with me". This was unusual for her to sound so annoyed so I never mentioned it again. She was about 85 at the time. She died this past September at age 94.
What I have been wondering about, thinking about myself and my mother as well as the people on this board, is why is it so hard to change dietary habits, why we get so attached to the foods we eat and so resist making changes? I started making changes over a decade ago so these even more radical changes I am making now are not as hard for me as they seem to be for some people here who are new to this, but still when threatened with the loss of yet another food my first response seems to be to want to put my head in the sand. Handling this disease is as much about psychology as it is about physiology, I think.
Jean,
it was not that long ago ( a few generations) that people ate the same foods every day, every week. living off a base of about 15 ingredients
there are still villages in the highlands of Papua New Guinea and other remote third world countries that live on whatever grows naturally, ie they live on rice, sweet potato, pig, banana's and thats pretty much it.
a chicken is a treat once a year, one chicken is shared with 20 people in the village.
I worked with a lady from this area and it wasnt until she was in her mid 20's and moved to a bigger city that she realised that other ingredients actually existed!
imagine when she first step foot in Australia and saw restaurants for every type of cuisine around the world! and such a vast aray of ingredients in the supermarket.
Marketing has brainwashed us into the need for different flavours, variety, escapism, all sorts of aspects to 'enhance our lifestyle'
the cooking shows of the past 10 years are convincing people they can be 5 star chefs at home, people buy books, iphone apps, expensive ingredients to do it!
the marketing companies should be proud!
I couldnt agree more that it is our thoughts, our expectations, our ability to change, adapt, transform that is the most important element to this 'game' of MC management.
I have been living off the same base ingredients for the past 2 years, in that time i would have only tried about 4, 6 at most new items. the more i learn about inflammation and what a toxin it is to our body, the more motivated i am to stick to my plan, eat low inflammation, easy to digest meals 'baby food'.
the desire to try something new has pretty well faded for me.
occaisionaly i will smell an ingredient (that someone else is eating near me) and it will trigger a memory, but the want for that ingredient lasts about mmmm 45 seconds.
being well and staying well means more to me
I look at the people in these remote villages, eating the foods that were 'natural' to their ancestors, they dont have Auto immune conditions, diabetes, etc....
My core eating plan is based on what my ancestors lower working class irish and english ate.
Root vegetables and meat slow cooked together, lots of natural goodness from the bones of the meat (gelatin a natural healer for leaky gut)
i embrace elements of paleo for variety but its not what my ancestors ate...
Gabes Ryan
"Anything that contradicts experience and logic should be abandoned"
Dalai Lama
Cordain reports in his book about a study published in 1984 by Dr Kerin O'Dea. Here is a description of it from a website (not Cordain's)
"In Australian Aboriginal groups for instance, there are very high incidences of obesity, diabetes and renal disease that were not present when they lived a traditional lifestyle.
In 1982 Dr. Kerin O’Dea took a group of middle-aged Aboriginal people with diabetes back to the bush to revert to their traditional hunter-gatherer lifestyle. After seven weeks there was a major improvement in their weight, diabetes and other health risk factors. "
I had been making a big pot of chicken soup every week but chicken always seemed a little iffy and my enterolab report confirms that. Chicken soup is certainly part of my cultural heritage (Russian Jews) but I have given it up and am thinking of trying bone broth made from lamb bones since all I am eating right now is pork and lamb for meats. Right now my diet consists of 10 foods and it's ok with me.
You are so right. This country has had a similar diet history. Up until about 3 generations ago, only the wealthy and people living in population centers ate highly varied diets. The masses, who were farming and ranching out on the vast plains, and across the South and West, ate virtually the same foods every day. I have a hunch that back in those days, variety in diet was viewed by most people as a symbol of prosperity and prestige -- sort of a "keep-up-with-the Joneses"status symbol. As people became better able to afford more than just the basic diet essentials, they added exotic foods to their diets as a part of social evolution and status-seeking. It's such an ingrained habit now, that we think it's natural to have a widely varied menu.
I eat a very simple diet, but since I like what I eat, I don't consider it boring.
Tex
It is suspected that some of the hardest material known to science can be found in the skulls of GI specialists who insist that diet has nothing to do with the treatment of microscopic colitis.
I'm sure we've talked before about eating locally, i.e., eating what is available in season in our locale. Over the course of a year we will eat a "balanced" diet. I remember reading a blog post from someone who was so excited when the early spring greens popped up because they had only been eating the root vegetables, squash, etc., that they had stored over the winter.
I am blessed to live in an area with mild winters. I could probably use a cold frame with success if I had the room. Lots and lots of berries grow up here, and a friend's NP told her that picking and freezing her own berries to eat in the winter was fine, and we've done that.
Marliss Bombardier
Dum spiro, spero -- While I breathe, I hope
Psoriasis - the dark ages
Hashimoto's Thyroiditis - Dec 2001
Collagenous Colitis - Sept 2010
Granuloma Annulare - June 2011
Jean
maybe the issue is not the chicken per say, but what they are fed, ie GMO corn etc. - just a thought.....
I think that is why lamb settles so well for me, all lamb that i purchase is grass fed. and i find the lamb bones (shanks and the like) makes the best gelatin rich stock.
my theory is with MC management is find 'what works' -what settles the best, gives minimal to no symptoms, is affordable and works with your routine and stick with it and make that the base for your eating plan
food items that i have a slight reaction to, i have about 3 - 4 times a week.
Gabes Ryan
"Anything that contradicts experience and logic should be abandoned"
Dalai Lama
Gabes-Apg wrote:Jean
maybe the issue is not the chicken per say, but what they are fed, ie GMO corn etc. - just a thought.....
Wish it were that simple but I always buy high quality meat, grassfed, pastured etc depending on the type of meat. A while back I even tried some very expensive pastured chicken raised on soy free feed. Probably a good thing that didn't work since the price was really high. I have been aware for some time of my problems with soy so I thought that might solve the chicken problem. I also used to buy soy free eggs, another problematic food for me. At first the soy free eggs seemed to be ok and then they started bothering me just like all other eggs. The enterolab results say I am reactive to both chicken and eggs, so I guess, Jewish heritage or not, no more chicken soup. I will try lamb broth. You have inspired me to try some slow cooked foods. I bought a pork roast today and will try that in my crock pot, probably just with water and seasoning.
Hi you Paleo folk
I am sensitive to Eggs so I have been hesitant to try strict paleo. I "think" I need rice and an occasional potato to compensate for egg loss. Could it be that if I eliminated the starches that I could work egg back into the diet? I get occasional GERD from the starches so it would be nice to trade them for eggs. I was on a low carb diet pre-LC and never had indigestion at all.
Chris
I went paleo about 10 years ago, except I continued to eat homemade yogurt which I now know was a mistake. I had terrible reflux before going low carb paleo. Eliminating all grains and sugar eliminated the reflux. I could stop taking Prilosec which, at the time, I thought I couldn't live without. I had slipped somewhat these last few years but still never reverted to my old carby, sugary, grainy ways. Clearly I was not doing enough. Symptoms of some sort were always with me and then about 2 months ago it got so bad I couldn't leave the house. And here I am eating about 12 foods and feeling ok about it.
I don't understand why eliminating eggs caused you to add rice and potatoes back in. I have had problems with eggs all my life but I continued to eat them anyway since the problem seemed to come and go and I liked them. Now that my enterolab results confirm my suspicions about eggs they are out. Even before I got the results I realized that eggs were making me nauseous consistently so I stopped them. I have once again eliminated all grains. I have added almond butter in for something different than meat and veggies. I just don't want to be eating foods that make me sick any more so I am ready now to eat a severely restricted diet, meat and veggies and nut butter. So much of this is mental for me, believing that the diet is the only way to go and telling myself that eating this way is a gift to myself rather than thinking about what I can't eat.
It sure all keeps my mind occupied. I really would like to get to the point where I can have a hobby other than food and my body.
Jean
Hobbies I have! Food variety....not so much. Quilting and golf and my 2 dogs & my dh's health issues take up time but I am basically a hungry person. I should be thankful. I haven't had to stay home for fear of accidents. (I like your attitude, thinking the diet is a gift). I just think that I would feel very deprived with low carb paleo. But I WOULD like to live life where my next mouthfull is not central to my daily thoughts....that's why I pine for eggs and a list of paleo foods.
Chris
If you haven't already, y'all need to check out Pinterest. I know, I know... Social media... But I have found amazing recipes for just about any food sensitivities. Right now I am following pin boards with gluten-free or grain-free, casein-free, soy-free, paleo, primal, SCD, GAPS...
Marliss Bombardier
Dum spiro, spero -- While I breathe, I hope
Psoriasis - the dark ages
Hashimoto's Thyroiditis - Dec 2001
Collagenous Colitis - Sept 2010
Granuloma Annulare - June 2011
I will get the paleo diet book and read!.jpg){kind=avatar}
