Diet and Supplements
 

This is my basic diet. I just started with the supplement.


First Meal

1. ½ cup of oats
2. 16 oz Ultimate Meal Smoothie
3. Yogurt

Later Throughout the Day

• 4 cups broth based soup, chicken or beef, with various dried herbs and spices.
• 1 cup ground salads (meat grinder): chicken, tuna, beef, dressed with spices and olive oil.
• ¾ cup humus
• ½ cup salsa
• dab of Philadelphia Cheese
• Odwalla Smoothie

I sometimes swap out the humus for avocado salad.


Supplements

• Ultimate Meal dietary supplement (taken for last 2 years)
• Calcium
• Vitamin D3
• Ginger Root
• Omega 3-6-9: Flax, Fish & Borage Oils

Is there anything else I should consider?

-Mark-

I would add in 2-3 oz of unsalted almonds... to bring your magnesium level, --mostly from the hummus to the RDA, to 350mg.

Hummus:
http://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/...roducts/4403/2

Nutrition data is a wonderful site to check the content of foods for nutrients you wish to provide thru food/diet. Make sure you check the serving size mentioned as often it can be either too high or low for a particular person.

Salmon has more omega-3's than tuna. It is available in handy pouches now, by Chicken of the Sea.

I cannot find the ingredients to the Ultimate products...so you need to check the labels for nutrients yourself. (magnesium oxide is not absorbed, so if it has that in it, you cannot rely upon it to provide magnesium to you in the safe RDA amounts.)
Nuts and beans provide magnesium in good quantities.

Otherwise your list looks pretty good.

Hello Mark,
Almonds may be taken in the form of almond powder, it should be cheaper...
I already mentioned one banana a day.
I wonder whether you get enough proteins, eggs could provide them also.
With Pred, you should cut salt and sugar.
Maurice.

Where are the greens? I'd suggest some FRESH green juices or smoothies.

I posted a thread earlier:

http://neurotalk.psychcentral.com/thread200162.html

-Mark-

Okay... thanks for that, Mark.

I see that this has D2 in it. So you cannot count on that form to
work for you. It has been found that D2 does not work in humans.

You may want to use D3 instead, or up your D supplement to be
D3 if anything else has D2. Manufacturers are slowly making that replacement now... milk for example switched a couple of years ago to D3.

The magnesium in this will work.

The problem is that the 64 ounce blender pitcher fills fast. I may start making two different batches, and blend then together before going into the Thermos bottles. In this way I can get the greens into the mix.

I wonder how long this mixture will last in the refrigerator in Thermos bottles?

-Mark-

Morning Smoothie
 

This is the ingredients of my morning smoothie. I make a weekly batch:

• White grape juice
• 2 1/2 cups of the Ultimate Meal (weekly batch)
• White grapes
• 2 bananas
• lemon juice
• Frozen strawberries
• Calcium and Vitamin D3

I just started taking Calcium and Vitamin D3. The pills are liquid filled and absorrable. They are also disagreeable. I decided to add a 7 days worth of the Calcium and D3, and blended them in with this week's smoothies. It worked great.

I used to make my own almond milk with the Vitamix, but it is a lot of work to squeeze the milk out of the nut bag. Much easier to buy it in the market. I will look into the other forms of almonds that you mentioned. I can make almond butter with the Green Star juicer.

I also read somewhere that apricot juice is good.


Before the severe MG event in September, I would once a week have 3 poached eggs on toast. The night before I would go to the Urgent Care facility because of a MG crisis, I could not eat even soft poached on toast. I have had poached eggs only a few times since then. With the preds I will be able to eat a few more substantial things, at least for right now.


I do not add salt to anything, but I do not get the low sodium versions of the chicken stock I buy. Do low sodium versions really make that much difference?

I sometimes add brown sugar to things I make in the Vitamix, but not much. I also use dried dates for sweetener in some smoothies. I also add brown sugar with the oats. Are there better choices?

Mark,

I also have a juicer and Vitamix. I've been doing a juice thing since New Year where I substitute one meal a day for a quart of fresh juice. Stuff I juice: apples, oranges or tangerines, honeydew, cucumber, carrots, celery, spinach, kale, lettuce, beet, pineapple, kiwi, papaya. I do all sorts of combos, and sometimes add a wedge of lime or slice of fresh ginger. I think I'm beginning to feel better and my jeans aren't as tight, either! I find I don't use the Vitamix now as much as I do in the summer. Making smoothies with homemade raw milk kefir and fresh fruit with cashews or hemp seeds thrown in are really tasty when it's hot outside and I don't feel like cooking.

I like to go to Costco and literally fill my cart with produce. It doesn't take long to go through it with the juicer!

I make tuna or salmon salads. I get smoked salmon form the market, and run it though the meat grinder on coarse. I only add lemon juice and and olive oil. I do this too for regular tuna and the Bumble Bee Sensations:

• Lemon & Pepper
  
• Sundried Tomato & Basil
  
• Seasoned Tuna Medley Bowl Spicy Thai Chili

You can buy a pound of any kind of meat from the deli, run it thought the meat grinder on course setting, and add olive oil and spices to make a great dish. If I use roast beef, I dress with BBQ sauce.

I also make soups with Swanson stocks, usually chicken. It is fast, easy, and good.

Our local markets began carrying Litehouse dried herbs:

http://www.litehousefoods.com/qr/instantly-fresh-herbs

I use the following Litehouse herbs:

• Parsley
• Basil
• Chives
• Garlic
• Red Onion

I also use garlic powder and minced garlic in the little jars. The Litehouse Herbs last a long time.

I may take the 2 bananas out of my weekly morning smoothies. I can make a banana smoothie with almond milk in the evenings. This will also open up some room in the 64 ounce blender. I can replace it with kale and raw cabbage.

I usually freeze the bananas after ripening, adding it to the smoothie mixture when needed.

-Mark-

I just started taking 1000 IU Vitamin D3 each day, along with 1200 mg Calcium tablets.

-Mark-

I will make some almond butter in the juicer.

-Mark-

Making a weeks worth of smoothie at a time runs the risk of bacteria growing in the mix. Stuff could also lose some of its nutrients. I would make it more often.

I know, but it is a lot of work. I keep the mixture in three different stainless Thermos bottles in the refrigerator. They are sealed tight.

Maybe I should make it more often. I'll try every third day, getting 3 portions.

-Mark-

I make the juices and smoothies and use within 20 minutes. Honestly, it takes maybe 15 minutes total time, including cleaning the juicer. I would not want to drink anything that had been sitting around more than 12 hours, honestly.

I think I may start making them each day, after I finish the current batch. If I make too much, I'll just have it later that night.

-Mark-

1000 wont likely do anything for you, get a Vit D 25 test done at your doctor.

to increase your vitamin d3 to at least 50 to 70 you might need 5000 to 7000 iu per day and it takes 3 months for the results to be seen in the blood work.

I take 6000iu liquid vitamin d3 per day and my levels are pretty stable at 53 to 65

Updated List of Supplements
 

What about an E?

Updated List of Supplements

• Ultimate Meal dietary supplement
• Calcium 1200 mg
• Vitamin D3 1000 IU (will up dose)
• Vitamin C 1000 mg
• Ginger Root 1650 mg
• Omega 3-6-9: Flax, Fish & Borage Oils

-Mark-

New studies have shown that excess vitamin E can increase your chance of getting cancer and speed its growth once you get it.

http://www.cancertodaymag.org/Winter...cer-risk-.aspx

New Smoothie
 

I tried a new smoothie recipe:

1. Lite grape juice
2. 2/3 cup of unsalted almonds
3. 2 heaping tablespoon of the Ultimate Meal
4. 3 broccoli spears
5. 1 large outer leaf of cabbage
6. Apricot mango juice
7. Lemon juice

I put the grape juice and almonds in first. I blended until all of the almonds diapered, about 1 minute. Added the rest of the ingredients and blended. It resulted in 32 ounces, two portions. It tasted quite good.

I think I will start taking advantage of the Vitamix more often.

-Mark-

My market did not carry almond powder, so I got raw unsalted almonds. The almonds easily liquified in the Vitamix blender. It is so easy that I might as well stick with the real thing.

Found this on the nutritional properties of almonds:

http://www.care2.com/greenliving/8-h...g-of-nuts.html

Here is a link for other nuts:

For good health, they like almonds, cashews, and pistachios.

http://www.health.com/health/gallery...585485,00.html


-Mark-

The Regenerative Nutrition Web site:

In the past there were reports of toxicity of higher doses. Further investigation has found that most or all of these where for Vitamin D2, ergocalciferol. Vitamin D3 or cholecalciferol is the form natural to the body. And is not toxic, in doses below 10,000 I.U. daily.

http://www.regenerativenutrition.com/content.asp?id=317

I will up my dose and evaluate with a 25-hydroxy vitamin D in three months.

-Mark-

Smoothie Recipe
 

I cannot argue any of the above points. I decided to make a batch of smoothies each day. I will have one portion when made, and the remaining two portions later that night. I can store them in stainless steel Thermos bottles. It worked really well last night. I had the last portion around 10 hours after it was made.

Smoothie Recipe

• White Grape Juice
• 2 Cups Apricot Nectar
• 1/2 Cup of the Ultimate Meal
• 1 Cup Unsalted Raw Almonds
• 1 Banana
• 1 Loosely Packed Cup of Kale, Cabbage, Spinach, and Broccoli Each. (4 cups total)
• 1 Cup White Grapes
• 1 Cup Frozen Strawberries
• Splash of Lemon Juice
• Splash of Lime Juice
• 1 inch Cube of Ginger Root
• 1200 mg Calcium
• 8000 IU Vitamin D3

First soak the almonds in the apricot nectar over night right in the Vitamix container. To save time, the fruits and vegetables can be clean and prepared the night before, storing them in the refrigerator.

Then blend the almonds, apricot nectar, vitamin D3, calcium, and the ginger root until liquefied. Add the other ingredients and fill with white grape juice and blend.

It tasted great. The grapes and grape juice added enough sweetness.

-Mark-

I had never heard of "Ultimate Meal" so I looked it up. It is sorta like if Purina decided to make Purina Human Chow only make it organic and vegan. I always thought that there should be some kind of easy food that was actually nutritious. It seems a bit expensive.


Interesting idea.

http://theultimatelife.net/CatalogMealBenefits.htm

The 42 ounce big can costs about $60 here with tax. You can get thirty 1/3 cup meals out of each can.

I had been using the one 1/3 cup amount per day for quite sometime. It was the only nourishment I consumed for 6 days during my MG crises event in September.

I just decided to increase the amount of the Ultimate Meal to one cup a day, but did not consider the expense. That word tipple the monthly cost, from $60 to $180 a month.

Maybe I'll go from 1 cup to 1/2 cups a day. Daily cost:

• 1/3 cup daily cost: $2 - ($60 a month)
• 1/2 cup daily cost: $3 - ($90 a month)
• 1 cup daily cost: $6 - ($180 a month)

-Mark-

Here is a photo of the label with the ingredient list.

http://www.theultimatelife.net/images/tumeal-eco21.jpg

-Mark-

P.S.: I for one am grateful you chose to go down the "Purina Human Chow" metaphorical road, instead of the "Soylent Green." :)

Smoothie Recipe

• White Grape Juice
• 2 Cups Apricot Nectar
• 1/2 Cup of the Ultimate Meal
• 1 Cup Unsalted Raw Almonds
• 1 Banana
• 1 Loosely Packed Cup of Kale, Cabbage, Spinach, and Broccoli Each. (4 cups total)
• 1 Cup White Grapes
• 1 Cup Frozen Strawberries
• Splash of Lemon Juice
• Splash of Lime Juice
• 1 inch Cube of Ginger Root
• 1200 mg Calcium
• 8000 IU Vitamin D3

[/QUOTE]

I'm going to add some 100 percent Soy Protein to the mix.

-Mark-