Hi all
I'm about to start limiting my diet to see if I can get some relief from my symptoms. I asked my new GI about it, and she sort of belittled the idea and didn't offer me any constructive advice (not unexpected at all). Regardless, I think this is the right step to take.
I'm thinking of eliminating as much as possible at first, sticking mostly with plain chicken, white rice, and a few well-cooked veggies. Is that a decent plan of action? Do you think I need a multivitamin of some sort to supplement all the vitamins I'll no longer be getting from my diet? I've have always eaten all sorts of different fruits, veggies, spices, and whole grains. I know I haven't actually been absorbing the nutrients from this diet of mine all these years, but it's still hard for me to get my head around actively limiting my intake of so many vitamins and minerals for an extended period of time. If you have recommendations for easily digestible foods to eat when just starting the diet, I'd really appreciate it!
Rachel
just starting out the diet
Moderators: Rosie, Jean, CAMary, moremuscle, JFR, Dee, xet, Peggy, Matthew, Gabes-Apg, grannyh, Gloria, Mars, starfire, Polly, Joefnh
Good for you. I believe you're off to a good start with this treatment. I'm not a dietitian, so I'm not sure which foods are the easiest to digest, but while I was recovering, I basically ate meat, eggs, potatoes, rice, and a few well-cooked vegetables, such as squash, green beans, and broccoli.
If you have steatorrhea, you almost certainly have malabsorption issues, so a good multivitamin might be beneficial. However, be aware that many viamins contain gluten, dairy, and/or soy. The safest brand seems to be Freeda, and Polly recommends these.
http://www.freedavitamins.com/
Best of luck to you with the diet, and please keep us updated on your progress.
Tex
If you have steatorrhea, you almost certainly have malabsorption issues, so a good multivitamin might be beneficial. However, be aware that many viamins contain gluten, dairy, and/or soy. The safest brand seems to be Freeda, and Polly recommends these.
http://www.freedavitamins.com/
Best of luck to you with the diet, and please keep us updated on your progress.
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.
Rachel,
I agree with Tex - you can't really go wrong with that diet.
I've found that I handle broccoli, cauliflower, brussel sprouts and asparagus the best, all well-cooked of course. I'm beginning to expand to some of the root vegetables like turnips, parsnips, beets, and I'm growing Kohlrabi. I ate green beans a couple of times a week until I realized I was intolerant to all legumes. I've also had to stop eating carrots and sweet potatoes.
You may already have read Jean's information on the Elimination Diet, but if not, you can find it here: http://www.perskyfarms.com/phpBB2/viewforum.php?f=6
Also, you might want to read about the Paleo Diet by Loren Cordain. Some explanations are here: http://www.perskyfarms.com/phpBB2/viewforum.php?f=49
I hope you are able to achieve remission quickly. Keep reading this site and you will see some of our experiences and hopefully learn from them.
Gloria
I agree with Tex - you can't really go wrong with that diet.
I've found that I handle broccoli, cauliflower, brussel sprouts and asparagus the best, all well-cooked of course. I'm beginning to expand to some of the root vegetables like turnips, parsnips, beets, and I'm growing Kohlrabi. I ate green beans a couple of times a week until I realized I was intolerant to all legumes. I've also had to stop eating carrots and sweet potatoes.
You may already have read Jean's information on the Elimination Diet, but if not, you can find it here: http://www.perskyfarms.com/phpBB2/viewforum.php?f=6
Also, you might want to read about the Paleo Diet by Loren Cordain. Some explanations are here: http://www.perskyfarms.com/phpBB2/viewforum.php?f=49
I hope you are able to achieve remission quickly. Keep reading this site and you will see some of our experiences and hopefully learn from them.
Gloria
You never know what you can do until you have to do it.
Hi Rachel,
Just thought I'd mention that pears often seem to be tolerated well by newbies I've observed through the years. Squash seems to get mentioned frequently here as well tolerated by lots of MC'rs at the very beginning of starting their dietary adjustments.
If one has fat loss in addition to lots of water lost through the gut, then that means that one could end up loosing both fat AND water soluble vitamins through the stool. For sure, you'll want to take B-12 that is free of common allergens (Look for the foods that this group seems to have trouble with, and get vits without those types of ingredients.) I have found that Biochem makes a great sublingual tablet if you can find it at your local health food store. It brought my blood levels of B-12 up well when I had it rechecked.
If you can, get a baseline of what your blood levels of B-12 are running before starting the B-12, and make sure to get your level up to at least 400 mcg rather than the lower part of the reference range of 200 to 400 mcg. At those levels, people sometimes have neurological damage, so it's best to stay out of that low "normal" range with supplementation.
If you don't like to have to take a pill every day, particularly if you have someone who will give you the injections of B-12 as ordered by your doc, then you get to where you only have to have one shot a month, if that's more appealing to you. The Biochem also has a little folate included, I think, and a very small amount of vit C. It's my understanding that we might also need a little B-6 with these, but you could probably take a smaller piece of a tablet of that, depending upon how strong the tablet is. That would save you some money as they would last longer. Eventually, if you are fairly young and heal pretty much completely, you may be able to absorb many of these vitamins the usual way from food.
Vitamin D is another very important vitamin that can get you into alot of trouble if you don't get enough of it, either from food or from the sun. There are sooo many diseases that are thought to be related to low levels of Vit D. Seems like I heard that there are some 20 kinds of cancer thought to occur due to low D levels.
Be sure to get the most absorbable form of Vit D, again, without the major allergens in the ingredients should you need to supplement. Many of us have serious bone loss, at least in part related to the fact that we have not or are not absorbing Vit D well enough from foods. If you can, you might want to ask your doc to do a Vit D level on your blood, just to get a baseline at the same time as a B-12 level is drawn. I take allergen free Vit D3 capsules in fairly high doses as suggested by my endochrinologist who follows my thyroid and osteoporosis issues.
Calcium is a little trickier in a way, but you might want to get a recommendation from your doc about what's generally recommended for your age and condition. Remember, the Vit D is important for absorption of calcium into the bones, so you need Vit D regardless of whether you absorb calcium from foods or supplements. If you've not already had the recommended bone density on your hip and spine (DEXA), I would recommend not waiting until you are older to have it due to your absorption issues.
If you have signs of abnormal bone loss, then you will want to attack that problem as soon as possible, including the appropriate exercises for bone building.
These are just a couple of very important Vitamins that tend to give alot of us the most trouble. If you want to take more in the way of supplements, I would discuss that further with your doctor, but I always recommend purchasing the most allergen free vitamins of reputable quality from the very beginning as if food sensitivities keep showing up, you'll seldom end up throwing alot of vitamins in the garbage this way.
Best wishes for a quick recovery!
Yours, Luce
Just thought I'd mention that pears often seem to be tolerated well by newbies I've observed through the years. Squash seems to get mentioned frequently here as well tolerated by lots of MC'rs at the very beginning of starting their dietary adjustments.
If one has fat loss in addition to lots of water lost through the gut, then that means that one could end up loosing both fat AND water soluble vitamins through the stool. For sure, you'll want to take B-12 that is free of common allergens (Look for the foods that this group seems to have trouble with, and get vits without those types of ingredients.) I have found that Biochem makes a great sublingual tablet if you can find it at your local health food store. It brought my blood levels of B-12 up well when I had it rechecked.
If you can, get a baseline of what your blood levels of B-12 are running before starting the B-12, and make sure to get your level up to at least 400 mcg rather than the lower part of the reference range of 200 to 400 mcg. At those levels, people sometimes have neurological damage, so it's best to stay out of that low "normal" range with supplementation.
If you don't like to have to take a pill every day, particularly if you have someone who will give you the injections of B-12 as ordered by your doc, then you get to where you only have to have one shot a month, if that's more appealing to you. The Biochem also has a little folate included, I think, and a very small amount of vit C. It's my understanding that we might also need a little B-6 with these, but you could probably take a smaller piece of a tablet of that, depending upon how strong the tablet is. That would save you some money as they would last longer. Eventually, if you are fairly young and heal pretty much completely, you may be able to absorb many of these vitamins the usual way from food.
Vitamin D is another very important vitamin that can get you into alot of trouble if you don't get enough of it, either from food or from the sun. There are sooo many diseases that are thought to be related to low levels of Vit D. Seems like I heard that there are some 20 kinds of cancer thought to occur due to low D levels.
Be sure to get the most absorbable form of Vit D, again, without the major allergens in the ingredients should you need to supplement. Many of us have serious bone loss, at least in part related to the fact that we have not or are not absorbing Vit D well enough from foods. If you can, you might want to ask your doc to do a Vit D level on your blood, just to get a baseline at the same time as a B-12 level is drawn. I take allergen free Vit D3 capsules in fairly high doses as suggested by my endochrinologist who follows my thyroid and osteoporosis issues.
Calcium is a little trickier in a way, but you might want to get a recommendation from your doc about what's generally recommended for your age and condition. Remember, the Vit D is important for absorption of calcium into the bones, so you need Vit D regardless of whether you absorb calcium from foods or supplements. If you've not already had the recommended bone density on your hip and spine (DEXA), I would recommend not waiting until you are older to have it due to your absorption issues.
If you have signs of abnormal bone loss, then you will want to attack that problem as soon as possible, including the appropriate exercises for bone building.
These are just a couple of very important Vitamins that tend to give alot of us the most trouble. If you want to take more in the way of supplements, I would discuss that further with your doctor, but I always recommend purchasing the most allergen free vitamins of reputable quality from the very beginning as if food sensitivities keep showing up, you'll seldom end up throwing alot of vitamins in the garbage this way.
Best wishes for a quick recovery!
Yours, Luce
Thanks for all your advice! I'm going to start the elimination diet tomorrow, I'll let you know how it goes. I'll definitely look into the supplements as well. Both my mom and grandmother have osteoporosis, so I'm sure I'm at high risk. I'll have to get some vitD and calcium supplements asap.
Rachel
Rachel