Hi there,
I am thinking of going pretty much carnivore for a while as a Level 1 diet. Turkey looks like a safe protein for me judging from my Enterolab results, but I kinda doubt turkey has enough fat, right? For the moment I have used some pork bacon for protein as well for the fat (e.g. cooking the 93% lean ground turkey in bacon fat). Is that a bad idea if pork is a +1 reactive for me? I had considered getting some other pork cuts, as it’s cheaper than lamb, but maybe that is a bad idea right now (I can get grassfed lamb from a local farmer friend, but it is pricey).
Ground turkey – I read on the board that Tex said if there’s rosemary extract there, it could have soy in it. Am I naïve to think that if that is the case, it would be required to be listed on the label, as soy is an allergen for some? (I bought some Shady Brook Farm ground turkey and it says “Natural flavoring is rosemary extract that works as an antioxidant in the meat…” The product is labeled GF and doesn’t declare soy as a present allergen.
What about plant fats like olive oil, coconut oil, avocado (as oil or entire fruit)?
Drinks:
How would I know if I should drop coffee/tea as well? (Before ever having diarrhea issues, I never noticed a problem with these drinks when I began drinking tea/coffee 30 years ago). Or is coffee/tea just too irritating if I am trying my best to fast-track healing?
Alternative drinks to tea and coffee – LaCroix ok? A homemade carbonated flavored water? Commercial herbal tea (if no soy)? I have a mint plant, and I suppose I could stick its leaves into hot water, or a twist of lemon juice (Boy, this is sounding pretty lame for a fun drink!)
Diet changes in future:
How do I know it’s time to move to a Level 2 diet? Cessation of all D? General improvement of less D?
Testing for children:
Should I test my 3 sons for just gluten issues, or other food sensitivities? (I have a gluten sensitive gene, and a celiac gene, so there is a 50% chance of them getting something. Plus my mom’s earlier dx of Crohns was changed to CC – don’t ask me how, she might be confused on this – and her 80 yr old sis was just dxd with LC.) I would really like to spare my sons what I am going through.
Finally, I just realized I should ask if taking Flonase is ok, as I have done for years.
Thanks!
advice on level 1 diet choices, and testing for kids
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Regarding Rosemary Extract. The law only requires that this terminology appear on the label. The industry assumes that soy oil products are free from any proteins, and it's true that soy oil is probably about 99.who knows % pure. But unfortunately many of us react to it anyway, because only a trace of soya protein is required to cause us to react.
Do you really need grassfed lamb? Feedlot lamb will have more fat.
All those oils are good. Some olive oils are adulterated. Make sure the brand you use is on the list at the following link:
https://www.aboutoliveoil.org/certified-olive-oil-list
If coffee caused you to have diarrhea before you developed MC, it will cause you to have diarrhea after you developed MC. Otherwise, it shouldn't cause any major problems. It's safer to avoid coffee while you are recovering, but not absolutely necessary for everyone.
You need to be in solid remission (normal bowel habbits) for a few weeks at least before trying any new foods.
While it's tempting to test your children for gluten sensitivity, and having that information available might come in handy some day, unless they're having digestive system symptoms already, it probably wouldn't be a good idea to insist that they follow a GF diet at this point (if they test positive) because once they cut gluten out of their diet, they will only become more sensitive to it, so that they can never go back.
As far as I am aware there is no reason not to take Fluticasone if you need it.
I hope this helps.
Tex
Do you really need grassfed lamb? Feedlot lamb will have more fat.
All those oils are good. Some olive oils are adulterated. Make sure the brand you use is on the list at the following link:
https://www.aboutoliveoil.org/certified-olive-oil-list
If coffee caused you to have diarrhea before you developed MC, it will cause you to have diarrhea after you developed MC. Otherwise, it shouldn't cause any major problems. It's safer to avoid coffee while you are recovering, but not absolutely necessary for everyone.
You need to be in solid remission (normal bowel habbits) for a few weeks at least before trying any new foods.
While it's tempting to test your children for gluten sensitivity, and having that information available might come in handy some day, unless they're having digestive system symptoms already, it probably wouldn't be a good idea to insist that they follow a GF diet at this point (if they test positive) because once they cut gluten out of their diet, they will only become more sensitive to it, so that they can never go back.
As far as I am aware there is no reason not to take Fluticasone if you need it.
I hope this helps.
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.
Thanks as always for taking the time to reply. I try to research on the board before I ask questions, but still...
Wow, not testing kids for gluten sensitivity was NOT what I would have expected to be your advice. You just saved me a lot of cash! I guess I don't really understand how this works. I had thought the idea was gluten contributes to leaky gut in most people, and then as a result, normally-ok proteins (like those in beef, chicken, etc.) wind up in the bloodstream, the body mounts a defense, and voila, one gets food sensitivities. Clearly I am not understanding something about the mechanism here. As a follow-on question, would I then advise my brother (who's had no symptoms of anything as far as I know) not to do any diet modification unless a problem crops up?
Lamb - the only reason I mentioned grassfed is because that just happens to be the business my farmer friend is in (and she's my source for duck eggs, beef for the others in my family, etc.). I figured grassfed would be better, but sure, I can go look at the grocery store for regular feed lot lamb.
Thanks for the soy tip in turkey. I sure hope I can find some "just turkey" somewhere...if anyone has any favorite brands to share, I'd love to hear it!
Wow, not testing kids for gluten sensitivity was NOT what I would have expected to be your advice. You just saved me a lot of cash! I guess I don't really understand how this works. I had thought the idea was gluten contributes to leaky gut in most people, and then as a result, normally-ok proteins (like those in beef, chicken, etc.) wind up in the bloodstream, the body mounts a defense, and voila, one gets food sensitivities. Clearly I am not understanding something about the mechanism here. As a follow-on question, would I then advise my brother (who's had no symptoms of anything as far as I know) not to do any diet modification unless a problem crops up?
Lamb - the only reason I mentioned grassfed is because that just happens to be the business my farmer friend is in (and she's my source for duck eggs, beef for the others in my family, etc.). I figured grassfed would be better, but sure, I can go look at the grocery store for regular feed lot lamb.
Thanks for the soy tip in turkey. I sure hope I can find some "just turkey" somewhere...if anyone has any favorite brands to share, I'd love to hear it!
I eat strictly pork, so I'm not familiar with safe turkey brands.
Gluten is a very unique protein. No one (no humans, at least) can digest it. And it causes abnormally wide openings of the tight junctions in the enterocytes of the lining of the small intestine for everyone. But for some reason, the problem continues to escalate only for some of us, not for everyone. Those individuals who have a DQ2 or DQ8 gene are much more likely to develop a problem, but not even all of them develop an eventual problem. We're (gluten sensitive individuals) a very small percentage of the population. Since development is not a sure thing, IMO, mistakenly thinking that you have a problem such as this coming up is a lot like standing with a noose around your neck, waiting for the gallows trap door to fall. Why worry about something that may never happen? There'll be plenty of time to worry about it if it actually happens. And unnecessary worry is one of the contributing factors to the development of MC.
If someone is slightly sensitive to gluten, but asymptomatic, yes, adopting a GF diet now may prevent the development of one or more autoimmune diseases in the future. But then again, those diseases may never develop. And once the GF diet is adopted by someone who is gluten sensitive, their sensitivity will become more intense, so they will have to remain on the GF diet for the rest of their life. That's a fairly drastic sentence for youngsters to take on, considering that the risk of disease is a roll of the dice, anyway.
The problem is, sensitivity without symptoms may last for years, decades, or a lifetime. We have no way of knowing when the ax will fall, or if it will ever fall.
So this is strictly a personal decision. When I look back on my life, I had at least one of the markers that predisposed me to MC all my life — chronic constipation. I developed MC when I was in my late 50's. If someone had told me before it happened that I was going to get an IBD, I would have just laughed at them because I was as healthy as a horse. If someone had tried to impose a GF diet on me when I was a kid, I probably would have immediately categorized that individual as the meanest, cruelest person in the world.
This is just my opinion, but that's the way I look at the issue. Opinions surely vary.
If someone has symptoms, then yes, they need to be tested. Otherwise, why be cruel?
Tex
Gluten is a very unique protein. No one (no humans, at least) can digest it. And it causes abnormally wide openings of the tight junctions in the enterocytes of the lining of the small intestine for everyone. But for some reason, the problem continues to escalate only for some of us, not for everyone. Those individuals who have a DQ2 or DQ8 gene are much more likely to develop a problem, but not even all of them develop an eventual problem. We're (gluten sensitive individuals) a very small percentage of the population. Since development is not a sure thing, IMO, mistakenly thinking that you have a problem such as this coming up is a lot like standing with a noose around your neck, waiting for the gallows trap door to fall. Why worry about something that may never happen? There'll be plenty of time to worry about it if it actually happens. And unnecessary worry is one of the contributing factors to the development of MC.
If someone is slightly sensitive to gluten, but asymptomatic, yes, adopting a GF diet now may prevent the development of one or more autoimmune diseases in the future. But then again, those diseases may never develop. And once the GF diet is adopted by someone who is gluten sensitive, their sensitivity will become more intense, so they will have to remain on the GF diet for the rest of their life. That's a fairly drastic sentence for youngsters to take on, considering that the risk of disease is a roll of the dice, anyway.
The problem is, sensitivity without symptoms may last for years, decades, or a lifetime. We have no way of knowing when the ax will fall, or if it will ever fall.
So this is strictly a personal decision. When I look back on my life, I had at least one of the markers that predisposed me to MC all my life — chronic constipation. I developed MC when I was in my late 50's. If someone had told me before it happened that I was going to get an IBD, I would have just laughed at them because I was as healthy as a horse. If someone had tried to impose a GF diet on me when I was a kid, I probably would have immediately categorized that individual as the meanest, cruelest person in the world.
This is just my opinion, but that's the way I look at the issue. Opinions surely vary.
If someone has symptoms, then yes, they need to be tested. Otherwise, why be cruel?
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.