Length of Tiime to See Results on Paleo?

[Jones]

Hello,

I started the Paleo diet (no grains, dairy or processed food) on Thurs., Dec. 28. Since I haven't noticed much change in symptoms, I'm wondering how long it takes to see improvement? I know it hasn't even been a week but I'm impatient to see some progress. I'd be curious to know how all of you did in terms of seeing the D gradually decrease.

Also, is ascorbic acid OK on the Paleo diet? It's present in a vinegar-free dressing I found by Annie's Naturals.

One confession: I did have a martini to bring in the New Year (made with a potato-based vodka). I know it wasn't Paleo, but it's been my only indulgence since I started the diet.

Thanks for all your help,
C.J.

[tex]

Hi C.J.,

Everyone is different in their responses to diets, and meds, but most of us who use diet to control MC symptoms, saw some improvement in a few weeks to a few months, though some of us took as long as a year or more. MIs, (multiply-intolerant individuals), often seem to take much longer than those who have fewer food intolerances. It took me over a year, and, if I recall correctly, Polly was also slow to respond. The good news is, now that our gut has healed, we never have any more episodes, (unless, of course, we eat something that we shouldn't).

In my case, I'm one who had alternating D and C, and as I began to heal, the episodes just began to be spaced farther apart, until they finally stopped recurring altogether.

Ascorbic acid is the technical name for vitamin C, so theoretically, at least, it's certainly an essential part of the paleo diet. The problem is that virtually all ascorbic acid is made from corn, these days. Most MIs seem to be able to ignore the source of present day vitamin C, without any adverse reactions, (IOW, it doesn't bother them), but if you want to be a paleo purist, you'll need to get your vitamin C from natural sources, obviously.

Most alcoholic beverages are safe from a gluten free standpoint, (though they may not be paleo). The ones to avoid are beer, and most blended beverages. Here is a list of alcoholic beverages that were known to be safe at the time of publication:

http://www.celiac.com/st_prod.html?p_prodid=271

The diet gets much easier as you go, and as you begin to feel better.

Tex

[harvest_table]

One confession: I did have a martini to bring in the New Year (made with a potato-based vodka). I know it wasn't Paleo, but it's been my only indulgence since I started the diet.

Cheers CJ! I also indulged in alcoholic merriment to bring in the new year, I'm not a paleo purist, yet.

What successfully worked for me was a recovery plan that included a combination of medication & diet initially. I believe that Karen found pretty good results quickly with diet alone but not sure what the time frame was. (Karen?)

I think your making an excellent choice to embark upon this diet and hope you see results soon. Keep us posted.

Happy New Year,
Joanna

[moremuscle]

Hi Jones,

I am sorry to be late with a response - I don't frequent the board much these days but in response to your post:

First, congratulations on your decision to learn the Paleo diet. It has been a very good way to go for many of us MC'ers here perhaps especially those of us who are "multiply intolerant" (Please, see my list of intolerances below).

It is my guess that you probably eat or drink something that you don't think of as being "food" and thus it goes below your radar; IOW, you think you are true to the Paleo diet but you are not. Why am I saying this? Just in order to encourage you to become aware of everything you put in your mouth. I don't mean to make you paranoid - the purpose is to get your health back and become symptom free. That's what you want, right?

Many people take one, two, three or many supplements or medicines every day. We do this for many reasons - mostly because we believe it is good for us, maybe even necessary in order to prevent osteoporosis or other potentially life threatening diseases. These supplements and/or medicines of course can be and often are sources of a steady stream of "intolerances" that the digestive system has to deal with - all body systems have to deal with those items. The immune system detects our intolerances even when they come in form of supplements or medicine.

I am not a Paleo purist either but I think it is a good idea to try to be a purist especially in the initial phase(s) of weeding intolerances out of your diet; until you are symptom free you know you are getting something that doesn't agree with your body.

I experienced almost instant "success" when I finally nailed all my intolerances. Success meaning going from explosive diarhea (10-20) times per day (also w/o control nocturnal episodes) to formed stool 2-3 times per day within 2-3 days from the day I last ate an item that contained one of my intolerances.

I am not sure you can use my example as a guarantee that it will work this way for you; but I can at least be an example of someone for whom it worked extremely quickly. This should give you hope that you too will be able to get results relatively quickly.

One of the keys to becoming symptom free is to be very systematic and 100% committed to the diet. If you don't have the commitment you are obviously not going to want to do the work that is required. We don't get to take a break from buying the right foods, preparing meals, making sure we don't run into situations while away from home that we are not prepared for. We always have to think several steps ahead in order to make sure that our Paleo lifestyle runs smoothly at all times. This can be a lot of fun and it is ultimately extremely rewarding.

Love,
Karen

[artteacher]

I just wanted to mention that ascorbic acid (which used to be fine for me, as did every other food pre-MC) gives me violent D. BUT I can take a non-corn type Vit C made from sago palm. The brand is TwinLab.

Good luck with it all, Marsha

[moremuscle]

CJ,

How are you doing on the Paleo Diet?
Are you seeing any changes - are you able to keep the diet?
Thumbs up or thumbs down?
Give us some feedback - I am curious about your experience.

I hope everything is well?!

Love,
Karen

[Jones]

Hi Karen,

Unfortunately, I lasted only 8 days on the Paleo Diet. I was experiencing severe D and maldigestion, losing weight and nearly passing out while instructing an aerobics class. I don't know if my system couldn't handle all the raw veggies and fruits or what, but I had to take a break to get things under control. Things are much better now (I'm taking a helpful supplement called UltraInflamX). I'd like to give the diet another try after a follow up appointment this week with my physician (holisitc doctor) to find out the results of a bunch of tests she ordered for me. I've tried a version of the Paleo (specific carb diet) in the past and I also fared much worse on it. It doesn't make any sense to me, since all the information points to a grain-free, dairy-free diet as beneficial. I'm thinking I must have some other problem, maybe a parasite or overgrowth of bacteria in my small intestine. Or, maybe I have intolerances to foods that are permitted on the Paleo Diet.

Anyway, thanks for asking. I'm glad the diet works so well for you. I hope to find a solution soon.

Regards,
CJ

[MaggieRedwings]

Hi CJ,

I understand searching for the right combination or right diet is such a hard chore for us. I have been Paleo now for about 6 weeks and I am seeing little to no improvement but when I went GF it took forever to see results and finally things improved - not perfect by any means but to get from 30+ trips to the loo per day down to around 10 seemed livesaving to me.

I have not been able to go 100% Paleo but am getting closer bit by bit. The most problems I am having with the diet is trying to handle nuts and also raw fruit seems to give me fits. I am doing a bit a salad every other day and so far so good and it was a horrible trigger for me at the beginning. I am doing it with fish alone and no meat. I cannot in any way wrap my head around the meat and even as a kid just hated the chewing of meat.

I am going to be persistent with this diet but if after 6 months I do not see a significant improvement I might have to look for something else.

Love, Maggie

[moremuscle]

Maggie - you are taking some big steps - Thumbs up!!

CJ,
I am sorry that you experienced such hardship on the Paleo Diet. Sometimes, it is adviceable to take one small step at the time - not sky dive into it?!
Small steps add up and while taking them you give your body time to adapt and you also give yourself a chance to understand the feedback you get from your body as you go.

You are an aerobics instructor??!! WOW, that's demanding - you have some very specific energy needs related to the classes you teach both before and after; it will take a little time for you to figure out how and what to eat in relation to your classes.

As I recall the book "The Paleo Diet" there it often takes time for the body to get used to being athletic on a different diet; did you know Loren Cordain has written a Paleo Diet book for Athletes? You might want to get a copy of it and read it before going to bed and while waiting in the doctor's office.

Being on the Paleo Diet doesn't mean you have to eat your vegetables and fruit raw; Stir Fry type dishes that combine meat and vegetables are one of my favorite ways to eat; those meals sit really well with me.

Maggie, I know you don't want meat - that's OK with me, of course; but one way of avoiding the chewing on meat feeling is to use ground meat with lots of vegetables and spices. Ground pork has a very mild flavor and works extremely well with mushrooms and other veggies.

Good luck to both of you and Thanks for the updates.

Love,
Karen