Do you Paleo?
 

its a fancy new name for the caveman diet. YEars ago when I was trying to figure out an allergy I got put on the caveman diet and then one at a time the offenders got added back in till we figured out which one bugged me.

Going thru the stem cell stuff it was recommended that I go sugar free, flour free, gluten free, corn free, peanut free, milk free and so forth. I was MISERABLE for about 2 weeks. I wanted Milk! I wanted chocolate! I wanted bread! I was foggy headed, stumbly, weak, nauseous, grouchy, cog fog doesnt begin to describe it. I had my daughter come up and clean out my cabinets so I wasnt tempted. She replaced the wheat flour with coconut flours, almond flours, hazlenut flours, arrowroot starch and tapiocal flour. She made brownies from almond butter and squash and other yummies. The one dairy I am allowed to eat is butter. dont know why, but its permitted. She stayed a few days and laid out several meal plans. I already had a great diet so the switch was not hard, but I was amazed to find out how much sugar was in my diet. Even my new Almond milk had sugar in it!

As the first week passed I started to get my footing under me. I would no longer stand in the kitchen and scream IM HUNGRY! and have no idea what to eat, or how to cook it. I had pre prepped roasted squash with maple syrup by the bucket in the fridge. it was tasty, quick to fix, full of fiber and stuck with me. I found eating an egg at breakfast stayed with me far longer than any cereal I had ever eaten. I found turkey and avacado for lunch stuck with me far longer than any burger I ever had.

As week two came to a close I had ordered a bunch of cook books and figured out that the diet I was on is called Paleo. The MD didnt explain that one, she just took stuff away. Now that I had a name/style for how to eat I could figure it out. I got a book about Paleo indulgences and it was chucked full of yummy treats to make with coconut or almond flour. While it doesnt taste exactly the same as the stuff that left my house, its amazing! I am learning to adjust recipes for how I like things.

Is anyone else on this? I tried the swank diet and wanted to stab myself in the eye. it was too hard, too restrictive and I felt horrible on it. I tried south beach, but it was hard, and more about weight loss than feeling good. I didnt really need to lose weight, I needed to kick start my stomach into working again.

Since being on it, my gastro paresis has fixed itself. my skin has cleared up, my energy is back, my feet have stopped burning, my brain fog is better, my migraines are far fewer, and my visual stuff is tons better. I eat this way about 95% of the time. I have snuck in a couple of cheats, but I know in 20 minutes that it was a bad idea. Worth it, but bad idea! I consider carefully before I pick out a treat.

Anyone else?

Considered it, but thought the work would be too much for the merit. (She says as she's swilling egg nog and a ham on raison bread with butter:p).

I couldn't live without sandwiches. Have they figured out how to make gluten free, flour free bread?:D I'm an old Leopard.;)

Good luck Dej, glad it's working for you.:hug:

Sally, they do make several gluten free breads, but they dont taste nearly as good as the regular bread. Ive been gf for almost 2 yrs do to my Celiac. I couldnt handle the gf breads anymore and Ive been bread free for almost a year. I really dont miss it. I was going to try the swank diet, but like you said Dej, its too restrictive. I wasnt sure about the Paleo diet. I decided instead to go vegetarian and I feel so much better. Good luck with the Paleo, Im glad its working for you. :)

I think that each person must find through experimentation what diet works best for them; as we are all different in what we digest easily, as well as what is do-able given our different life-styles and our unique challenges :).

My diet is a low fat (don't digest it very well), ovo-lacto vegetarian one; but is 80-90% vegetable based. I consume very small amounts of egg and dairy (yogurt, coffee cream, cheese only); and grain is restricted to small amounts of rice and whole oats.
I do use a bit of Xyla, molasses or honey for sweetening hot beverages but other than that don't consume any other forms of sugar; including fruit juices and preserves. Some fruit is taken, but this too is rather restricted as too much tends to upset my digestive system.

While this sounds restrictive and boring, it isn't.
Although I generally don't eat for entertainment, when I'm looking for a treat, I can usually find something that satisfies the odd craving from within this diet. There are so many different vegetables and ways to prepare them in combination to satisfy both the palate and nutritional requirements.
For snacks, I make my own vegetable & seed crackers on a dehydrator...but must admit that occasionally I give in to popcorn, Cheezies or a bit of chocolate :D.

Protein principally comes from quinoa (which is a seed) and legumes, but is rounded out with eggs and dairy.
Fats and oils principally come in the form of coconut oil, but I also use peanut, sesame, pumpkin and sunflower seeds and their oils in smaller amounts.

I've been on this diet for decades and it works to control the symptoms of regional enteritis and also seems to keep the symptoms of general inflammation in check.

With love, Erika

Wonderfully informative postings in this thread !
Many thanks to all!
I'll be passing along this info to others whom I know who are looking at dietary & nutrition changes to improve various health conditions.

Dej, The Paleo Solution, written by Robb Wolf, is an excellent book to read if you're interested in Paleo. It's an eye-opener regarding all this crap food we keep puting in our mouths. I intend on eating this way, although, it doesn't happen overnight. Iv'e been dairy free for 6 months and all I can say is that my stomach never felt better...almost gas free!! Dr Terry Wahls who was dx with progressive ms eats this way as well, I believe their was something mentioned of her in a recent post. Anyway, I feel that it certainly can't hurt us to eat more whole and raw foods.

Just make sure you purchase these raw foods at a trusted shop and be sure they are fresh. Remember, we died at a much earlier age eating raw food. My mother had a fever type desease from raw milk.

:hug:

I drink coconut milk! No dairy allowed on the diet. Sal, your absolutely right about where we get these foods from. Is organic really organic? The FDA says it is....LOL..if we can believe our wonderful government...what a joke!

sorry for the late replies, I dont spend nearly the amount of time on the PC that I used to.

I switched to unsweetened almond milk (no soy for me)
I use coconut/almond/tapioca flours to bake with.
I never did use artificial sugars so that was easy, but sugar free was harder.
I notice a change when I cheat.

My tummy is working again. my skin cleared right up. I am no longer hot hot hot and red faced. my dry skin looks tons better. my brain fog lifted. my headaches have all but stopped. I feel full and nourished. I used to be hungry all the time, and now a small meal fills me right up. I am getting nutrition, not just food. I am avoiding those foods that are hard on the body to digest like milk sugars, corn, gluten and so forth. Gluten is not a problem in and of itself but todays food is made from flour that is not given a chance to rise and rise again. We are in a hurry so they use the first rising and that doesnt allow the gluten a chance to break down. While it wont kill me to eat white bread or even whole grain, my tummy surely knows it when I do. I miss peanuts sometimes and milk was a huge give up for me.

its taken years of back and forth and trial and error but so far this is doing great for me. Paleomg.com has some amazing recipes. all free. its taken some time, and patience but the difference has been oh so worth it. In the early days I was so brain fogged I couldnt think, and I was hungry! I stood in the kitchen sobbing that I wanted food but didnt know what to eat.

My joints have stopped aching, my energy is soaring, my brain fog is gone, and its simply been a miracle for me. I am good about 95% if the time but now and again I cheat. I try to cheat with healthy choices, but now and again, you just MUST have a cookie. I make sure its one! I am down another 5 pounds! not even trying and it was not about weight loss for me. it was about feeling better.

Check out the book Wheat Belly. it explains what has happened to our food in the last 30 years and why its so different from what we grew up with. From high fructose corn syrup to wheat that has dwarfed and GMO food vs grass fed beef. Amazing when you start to examine what we stuff in our pie holes. ....mmmm pie!

QUOTE: "Check out the book Wheat Belly. it explains what has happened to our food in the last 30 years and why its so different from what we grew up with. From high fructose corn syrup to wheat that has dwarfed and GMO food vs grass fed beef. Amazing when you start to examine what we stuff in our pie holes. ....mmmm pie!"

Awesom Dejibo! So happy that you have found some soultions and that they are working so well for you.
I agree...there is so much information in the public forum coming out about the food that we eat; and that we should give careful consideration to them.

The thing to remember is that we all have individual dietary needs, as well as likes and dislikes; so finding a dietary program that works with all of those is a process of trial and error.

An excellent, healthy diet is cetainly somrthing to shoot for, but that odd treat or cookie keeps us from becoming regimented mental cripples...at least it does for me :D.

Have a good one!

With love, Erika