This is a somewhat technical video about how the gut lining works. While they mention IBS specifically, the way the gut works and doesn't work is the same when the gut becomes damaged. This could be some of the problem in CFS. The good news is that it can be cured via diet.
http://bcove.me/4wul3t4o
Showing posts with label GAPS. Show all posts
Showing posts with label GAPS. Show all posts
Tuesday, May 21, 2013
Tuesday, March 5, 2013
SIBO and CFS
Coincidentally (a little too coincident if you ask me) there has been quite a bit published in both the journals and in the patient forums regarding gut health and CFS lately.
A group in Australia has done poop transplants on CFS patients and had a 70% success rate (undefined in the free abstract) and a 53% extended remission rate (again undefined in the free abstract available).
Dr. Hornig has been looking into the gut/CFS connection as well. She has already discovered problems in the guts of autistic kids which would explain why the GAPS diet works for some of them.
A group in Australia has done poop transplants on CFS patients and had a 70% success rate (undefined in the free abstract) and a 53% extended remission rate (again undefined in the free abstract available).
The GI microbiome and its role in Chronic Fatigue Syndrome: A summary of bacteriotherapy
Dr. Hornig has been looking into the gut/CFS connection as well. She has already discovered problems in the guts of autistic kids which would explain why the GAPS diet works for some of them.
Infection, Autoimmunity and PANDA’s: Dr. Hornig on Chronic Fatigue Syndrome at Dr. Klimas’ NSU Conference
There is also a study on guts health in CFS patients about to be published by Sanjay Shukla.
Here is Dr. Teitelbaum's take on CFS and SIBO.
Where am I going with all of this? Well I have continued my decline. I'm back to being on the couch unable to read, drive or even ride in the car short distances without having severe symptoms. The B12 shots and the Equalibrant aren't the cause of my miraculous recovery since I'm still taking them and I'm back to my shitty old self.
Today I got my test results back from Dr. Komaroff and a chronic bacterial infection is indicated by my blood work. He is suggesting I go to an infectious disease specialist. My treating CFS doc Dr. W. also thinks my miraculous recovery was due to bacterial infection of my guts. Then suddenly all this stuff shows up on the interwebs about SIBO. Coincidence!?! Weird if you ask me. So I've emailed my primary doc asking if he will send me to my infectious disease doc over at Tufts or just start treating me for SIBO. There are two treatments for it: 1) Xafaxin and/or 2) Paleo and/or GAPS diet. Another coincidence!?! I think I'll do both. I'll go on the Xafaxin since my insurance covers it and start GAPS. I had planned on doing GAPS about a year ago but was too sick to actually go through with it. If I can get a head start with the antibiotics then I'll be able to cook again and start with GAPS and end up on Paleo.
I'm groaning at this. I've been eating wheat products again because I've been craving them. My son and I sneak out the house while hubs is sleeping and go get roast beef sandwiches at 1am since we are both night owls. It has become a social ritual with us. We also go out for breakfast at two in the afternoon when we get up and go on random coffee runs. We have bonded over coffee and donuts. This all leads to toast, muffins, donuts and sandwiches. None of which I'll be able to eat on GAPS or Paleo. I won't be able to cheat for a long time. At least months if not a year or two. Since I am so limited in what I can do physically, food has become our social time. The time to get Mom out of the house for an hour or two. I will have to look hard for new rituals to replace these. Things we can do together where I won't be as tempted to eat cheat foods. Perhaps even stuff we can do together that doesn't involve food. If my head clears up we can always go for car rides together. He loves driving around.
I. Am. Dreading. The. Diet!!!! This is going to SUCK!!!
Tuesday, January 17, 2012
Holding Pattern??
Just because I'm in a holding pattern for starting GAPS doesn't mean I'm not still gearing up for it. I put in my first GAPS oriented meat order Sunday. The meat will be here tomorrow. They are still out of tallow and oxtail and are now saying that they will be in Friday. I only ordered enough meats for the first week of GAPS. This means that I will have enough meat to meet the minimum order criteria when the tallow comes in.
My bile salts, gelatin and kelp powder showed up on my doorstep today so I'm now ready for my detox baths and high fat diet. I can also make white grape jello without any added sugar. Woohoo!!
My kid also drove me to Trader Joes today. So I stocked up on frozen fish for my breakfasts. I now have tuna, salmon and tilapia. I was hoping for haddock or halibut but they didn't have either. I got two bags of onions. Too bad they didn't have any cipollini onions. I was looking forward to using those for the braised onion side dish that is allowed on GAPS. I'm hoping that WF has some. I did get some mint and sage for the poaching liquids. I'm having mint with the lamb.
I remember Mum making mint sauce for our lamb when I was a kid. It was one of my favorites and so easy to make. http://www.allfreecrafts.com/giftinajar/mint-sauce.shtml . Yum! I also like malt vinegar and salt on my peas instead of butter. Not sure if I can have malt vinegar on GAPS. I'll have to look that up.
I'm hoping to swing by WF on Friday after my doc appointment to pick up oxtails and possibly suet so I don't have to wait for Wellness Meats to get their crap together. Seriously. They are driving me bonkers. They are now often out of what I want and can't keep common items in stock for any length of time. It bums me out.
One additional note. I'm going to ask my doctor about the GAPS diet and see if he thinks this is a good idea considering my intestines being tied up in knots right now. Either they hurt outright or I can feel them spasming (which feels really bizarre). My regular doc dismissed it as IBS and sent me home with no instructions on how to deal with it. I was too out of it at the time to do anything about it.
My bile salts, gelatin and kelp powder showed up on my doorstep today so I'm now ready for my detox baths and high fat diet. I can also make white grape jello without any added sugar. Woohoo!!
My kid also drove me to Trader Joes today. So I stocked up on frozen fish for my breakfasts. I now have tuna, salmon and tilapia. I was hoping for haddock or halibut but they didn't have either. I got two bags of onions. Too bad they didn't have any cipollini onions. I was looking forward to using those for the braised onion side dish that is allowed on GAPS. I'm hoping that WF has some. I did get some mint and sage for the poaching liquids. I'm having mint with the lamb.
I remember Mum making mint sauce for our lamb when I was a kid. It was one of my favorites and so easy to make. http://www.allfreecrafts.com/giftinajar/mint-sauce.shtml . Yum! I also like malt vinegar and salt on my peas instead of butter. Not sure if I can have malt vinegar on GAPS. I'll have to look that up.
I'm hoping to swing by WF on Friday after my doc appointment to pick up oxtails and possibly suet so I don't have to wait for Wellness Meats to get their crap together. Seriously. They are driving me bonkers. They are now often out of what I want and can't keep common items in stock for any length of time. It bums me out.
One additional note. I'm going to ask my doctor about the GAPS diet and see if he thinks this is a good idea considering my intestines being tied up in knots right now. Either they hurt outright or I can feel them spasming (which feels really bizarre). My regular doc dismissed it as IBS and sent me home with no instructions on how to deal with it. I was too out of it at the time to do anything about it.
Sunday, January 15, 2012
It's Back
"It's baaack" You have to say this in a drawn out sing song high pitched voice.
Yuppers, my guts quit working again today. Or maybe I should say they kicked into overdrive. So much for going to bed early.
I've been slowly preparing for GAPS. After initially balking at the idea and trying to eat everything in the house that was GAPS illegal, I was actually looking forward to my intestines not hurting anymore. Instead I've been unable to find a source for grass fed tallow and oxtail. My usual supplier, US Wellness Meats, has been out of them for a month now. They were supposed to have them in Friday but still no luck. I need to order meat and if I do then I won't have a big enough order to get the oxtail and tallow when it finally does come in. ARGH!! And no I haven't been able to source it locally. The cattle around me are grained off or grain fed.
Now what is the big deal about tallow you might ask. Well it is the ONLY fat allowed during the first couple of stages of GAPS. Animal fat is essential for gut healing and good nutrition. I have to have this for the start of GAPS. I can't start using ghee until phase 3. Sigh.
I've also been so sick I never managed to make the kraut or kimchee that is required. I do have some whey so if my guts don't force me back to bed I might be able to get by on the whey until the kraut ferments or I manage to find Bubbie's kraut at WF.
Yeah they do sound like excuses but you have to realize that I spent over five hours yesterday putting together a two week GAPS menu so that I could put in my meat order this weekend and also pick up all the right veg from WF. BTW, the site I used is AWESOME!!! Saymmm.com You type in recipes or URLs of recipes, put together a menu and it spits out a reasonable facsimile of a shopping list. Woohoo!! Makes my life easier.
Going through other blogger's experiences of Intro GAPS continues to surprise me. Everyone cheats in some way. I don't know if it is because they are trying to feed kids or reluctant husbands but I don't understand the cheating mentality. The diet is set up this way for a reason: to heal the guts. It won't work well if you cheat. It will work some but not as well as strict adherence would. Even the ebook I paid money for has recipes in it for food that isn't allowed at the level it is written for. Go figure. Something I see over and over again is the statement "I rushed too fast through this." Which resulted in incomplete healing and a need to back track through the program. If you don't rush and do the program properly it actually takes less time to heal.
I know I slip from my GF diet fairly frequently but I don't have any huge effects from it. Nothing like I used to get when I first started this diet six years ago. Back then a slip would mean instant belly ache and 24 hours of severe brain fog. Now a slip usually results in nothing. That aside when I first went on the GF diet I was very strict about adhering to it. I knew I was healthier if I didn't cheat. People would ask me how I could do it but the risk outweighed the reward at that point. I would get really sick and be in much pain if I cheated. So when I do go on GAPS I'm not going to cheat or rush through the stages. It is only a month. I can do this. I'll come out the other side with no more gut pain and no more bathroom disasters. I might even manage to get off some of my supplements because my guts would be able to absorb vitamins and minerals from my food again. Wouldn't that be cool??
I wonder if I'm allergic to corn? I had loaded nachos tonight. I got organic corn chips and organic corn which means nonGMO but I haven't had this dish for a long time. I wonder if I had it the last time my guts quit working???? I barely eat corn anymore so I wonder.....
In the meantime, I get to listen to my guts singing to me while my ass feels like someone took a flame thrower to it. I know. TMI. Oh well. Life of the chronically ill.
Friday, January 13, 2012
Pre GAPS part five
My last order for GAPS stuff just got placed with iherb. I'm buying 2lbs of kelp powder (for detox baths), 1lb of beef gelatin (yes I'm making home made jello: i'm just bummed I can't find a source of grass fed gelatin), bile salts (I have no gallbladder and bile salts are used to digest fats) and to replenish my dwindling stock of vit E. Since I am a first time customer I got $5 dollars off and since the order was over $40 I got free 3 day shipping. How cool is that!!
BTW my fermented cod liver oil showed up today. I had one this morning and no fish burps all day!! Woohoo!! I used to get them when I took regular fish oil so this is a nice change.
Next step (if I can get my brain to work) is to put together a menu for the next two weeks so I know what meat to order from US Wellness and what veg I need from WF this weekend.
So far I've struck out on grass fed oxtails and tallow. One person I talked to at Whole Foods said they could put aside grass fed suet for me but when I called on the phone to actually order it the guy had no idea what I was talking about. They do have grass fed oxtail though. So I might not have any animal fat to cook with next week other than butter and ghee. I might have to skim the fat off the beef broth when I make it. I also have a small (few inches) piece of fat I cut off a steak before I cooked it for dinner last week. I have to render it when I feel up to standing at the stove for a while.
I did pour off some whey from some old kefir that has been in my fridge since before Christmas so I've got lots of that for my probiotic source. I've been too sick to make kraut. I'm going to have to look for some jarred stuff at Whole Foods when we go shopping Saturday.
Not too bad for the prep work. I'm going to buy as many veg all ready cut up as possible. Not sure I'm going to be in good enough shape to actually cook much next week. We'll see.
BTW my fermented cod liver oil showed up today. I had one this morning and no fish burps all day!! Woohoo!! I used to get them when I took regular fish oil so this is a nice change.
Next step (if I can get my brain to work) is to put together a menu for the next two weeks so I know what meat to order from US Wellness and what veg I need from WF this weekend.
So far I've struck out on grass fed oxtails and tallow. One person I talked to at Whole Foods said they could put aside grass fed suet for me but when I called on the phone to actually order it the guy had no idea what I was talking about. They do have grass fed oxtail though. So I might not have any animal fat to cook with next week other than butter and ghee. I might have to skim the fat off the beef broth when I make it. I also have a small (few inches) piece of fat I cut off a steak before I cooked it for dinner last week. I have to render it when I feel up to standing at the stove for a while.
I did pour off some whey from some old kefir that has been in my fridge since before Christmas so I've got lots of that for my probiotic source. I've been too sick to make kraut. I'm going to have to look for some jarred stuff at Whole Foods when we go shopping Saturday.
Not too bad for the prep work. I'm going to buy as many veg all ready cut up as possible. Not sure I'm going to be in good enough shape to actually cook much next week. We'll see.
Sunday, January 1, 2012
Pre GAPS part four
OMG I could do without these hot flashes. About every half hour I just want to rip my clothes off I'm so hot. Ick. The new deodorant isn't managing to keep up with my sweating fits. Sigh....
More prep for GAPS today. I got my Internal Bliss cookbook. Lots of cool ideas. I have to go through it and mark which ones I can use during stage one. I want to try making coconut milk and flour. It also gave me an idea for a portabello mushroom appetizer. I'll write about it if it works out.
I bought some biokleen scent free laundry detergent and their awesome dishwasher soap. In for a penny in for a pound. I was almost out of laundry detergent anyway.
I bought some fresh carrots and beets so I can start juicing again. I tried my fav commercial yogurt yesterday and tolerated it very well so I stocked up on it today. I also got another head of cabbage for sauerkraut again. I found out that you HAVE to refrigerate it BEFORE you eat it. Apparently it changes the flavor for the better. So third time is the charm???
Seawead at Whole Foods was stupid price so I'm going to buy some from Mountain Rose Herbs. I can get kelp powder for $4/lb. Plenty for detox bathing.
They also didn't have any soup bones of any sort so I'm going to have to find some online. I'm hoping Wellness Meats stocks them soon or I'm going to have to find another vendor. Bummer. But I did buy a small organic free range chicken that I'm going to roast and then use the bones for stock.
Hey even the cat ended up with organic kibble for the indoor cat. My little chubs will have something new to turn her nose up at.
Talking of chubs. Apparently the weight I lost while I was sick seems to be semi-permanent. I'm still about 8-9 pounds lighter than prior to having the intestinal infection. Not a recommended way of loosing weight but I thought some of it might have been water weight but apparently not. First time I've been under 250lbs for about a year. I'm expecting to loose some more while on GAPS as well. That would be cool.
More prep for GAPS today. I got my Internal Bliss cookbook. Lots of cool ideas. I have to go through it and mark which ones I can use during stage one. I want to try making coconut milk and flour. It also gave me an idea for a portabello mushroom appetizer. I'll write about it if it works out.
I bought some biokleen scent free laundry detergent and their awesome dishwasher soap. In for a penny in for a pound. I was almost out of laundry detergent anyway.
I bought some fresh carrots and beets so I can start juicing again. I tried my fav commercial yogurt yesterday and tolerated it very well so I stocked up on it today. I also got another head of cabbage for sauerkraut again. I found out that you HAVE to refrigerate it BEFORE you eat it. Apparently it changes the flavor for the better. So third time is the charm???
Seawead at Whole Foods was stupid price so I'm going to buy some from Mountain Rose Herbs. I can get kelp powder for $4/lb. Plenty for detox bathing.
They also didn't have any soup bones of any sort so I'm going to have to find some online. I'm hoping Wellness Meats stocks them soon or I'm going to have to find another vendor. Bummer. But I did buy a small organic free range chicken that I'm going to roast and then use the bones for stock.
Hey even the cat ended up with organic kibble for the indoor cat. My little chubs will have something new to turn her nose up at.
Talking of chubs. Apparently the weight I lost while I was sick seems to be semi-permanent. I'm still about 8-9 pounds lighter than prior to having the intestinal infection. Not a recommended way of loosing weight but I thought some of it might have been water weight but apparently not. First time I've been under 250lbs for about a year. I'm expecting to loose some more while on GAPS as well. That would be cool.
Saturday, December 31, 2011
PreGAPS part three
Just received my large free jar of coconut oil from Tropical Traditions. Along with organic tomato paste and some all natural deodorant.
One of the things I've been doing over that last several months is trying to reduce my exposure to toxins. I figure if I'm having to get weekly IVs of glutathione so my body can rid itself of toxins maybe it is a good idea not to come in to contact with toxins in the first place. I already ate organic and drank filtered water so that rules out those sources but I was still using dishwasher detergent, shampoo, soap and deodorant.
Last month I went "poo-less", as it is commonly known in the blogsphere. I'm now using a mixture of 1T of baking soda to 1c of warm water instead of shampoo and 1T of organic vinegar to 1C of warm water instead of conditioner. It works AWESOME!!! My hair is soft, easy to comb out, full of natural curls, and much less oily than it used to be. My scalp is also less itchy. I thought my head had gotten greasier over the years. Now I think the shampoos have become less effective. I would shower every morning and look like a greaseball by the end of work and I was at a desk or lab bench most of the time. Now my hair stays clean for 2-3 days. Woohoo!!
I've also been on a quest to find some natural deodorant. I just can't go deodorant free. I stink. Particularly with the hot flashes I've been experiencing lately. I bought a solid but the scent was too overpowering. I just got a new roll on today from Tropical Traditions. The scent is a bit strong at first but it quickly calms down to the tolerable range. Now I have to see if it works all day. It has coconut oil, baking soda, essential oils and a few other innocuous ingredients in it. A vast improvement over the chemical laden antiperspirant I was using.
Since I don't wear makeup that isn't an issue. I already use an organic fluoride free toothpaste. All I'm left with now is soap and moisturizer that I need to find replacements for. BTW, toxins are readily absorbed through the skin which is why I'm worried about this stuff.
As far as the dishes go, the soap is highly caustic and quite nasty to ingest. Hubs always uses too much of it and my glass would always have a ring of soap bubbles in it when I filled it up with water to drink. Hence, when I use regular dishwasher soap I run the dishwasher a second time on a short cycle with no soap. This rinses off the dishes. I could (but haven't yet) put vinegar in the rinse dispenser which will also help rinse the excess soap off. I was using Biokleen soap which was awesome. It left the dishes squeaky clean without any soap residue without having to run the dishwasher twice. When I ran out hubs went back to the regular crap. I need to buy some more of the good stuff. It even comes in a scent free version.
We are still using old school Tide for our laundry. I'm just not that worried about my clothes. I should be but I'm focusing my energy on cooking. I have found recipes to make your own laundry detergent but I don't have the energy to make the stuff even though it is pretty easy. I did buy the borax for it but still have to find the washing soda. Maybe I'll have my kid grate up the bar of fels naptha I have hanging around in the laundry room.
I've also been trying to stay away from inhaling stuff. This can be difficult since hubs is a gearhead at heart and is always out in the garage building cars. This means all sorts of airborn nasties floating back into the house such as gasoline or paint fumes. Ugh. He makes fun of me now but I don't care. I'm trying to reduce my toxic load so that my body doesn't have to work so hard.
While I have been having detox baths with either epsom salts or baking soda about once a week, the GAPS diet calls for a nightly detox bath and rotates through a series of bath additions: epsom salts, baking soda, apple cider vinegar and seaweed powder. I have to order the powder still.
In general things are buzzing along. Prep is well underway. I have a second source for beef bones and tallow and I'm going to comparison shop with Whole Foods tomorrow since they are a tad expensive. $5/lb for bones is a bit excessive. They should run about $2.
One of the things I've been doing over that last several months is trying to reduce my exposure to toxins. I figure if I'm having to get weekly IVs of glutathione so my body can rid itself of toxins maybe it is a good idea not to come in to contact with toxins in the first place. I already ate organic and drank filtered water so that rules out those sources but I was still using dishwasher detergent, shampoo, soap and deodorant.
Last month I went "poo-less", as it is commonly known in the blogsphere. I'm now using a mixture of 1T of baking soda to 1c of warm water instead of shampoo and 1T of organic vinegar to 1C of warm water instead of conditioner. It works AWESOME!!! My hair is soft, easy to comb out, full of natural curls, and much less oily than it used to be. My scalp is also less itchy. I thought my head had gotten greasier over the years. Now I think the shampoos have become less effective. I would shower every morning and look like a greaseball by the end of work and I was at a desk or lab bench most of the time. Now my hair stays clean for 2-3 days. Woohoo!!
I've also been on a quest to find some natural deodorant. I just can't go deodorant free. I stink. Particularly with the hot flashes I've been experiencing lately. I bought a solid but the scent was too overpowering. I just got a new roll on today from Tropical Traditions. The scent is a bit strong at first but it quickly calms down to the tolerable range. Now I have to see if it works all day. It has coconut oil, baking soda, essential oils and a few other innocuous ingredients in it. A vast improvement over the chemical laden antiperspirant I was using.
Since I don't wear makeup that isn't an issue. I already use an organic fluoride free toothpaste. All I'm left with now is soap and moisturizer that I need to find replacements for. BTW, toxins are readily absorbed through the skin which is why I'm worried about this stuff.
As far as the dishes go, the soap is highly caustic and quite nasty to ingest. Hubs always uses too much of it and my glass would always have a ring of soap bubbles in it when I filled it up with water to drink. Hence, when I use regular dishwasher soap I run the dishwasher a second time on a short cycle with no soap. This rinses off the dishes. I could (but haven't yet) put vinegar in the rinse dispenser which will also help rinse the excess soap off. I was using Biokleen soap which was awesome. It left the dishes squeaky clean without any soap residue without having to run the dishwasher twice. When I ran out hubs went back to the regular crap. I need to buy some more of the good stuff. It even comes in a scent free version.
We are still using old school Tide for our laundry. I'm just not that worried about my clothes. I should be but I'm focusing my energy on cooking. I have found recipes to make your own laundry detergent but I don't have the energy to make the stuff even though it is pretty easy. I did buy the borax for it but still have to find the washing soda. Maybe I'll have my kid grate up the bar of fels naptha I have hanging around in the laundry room.
I've also been trying to stay away from inhaling stuff. This can be difficult since hubs is a gearhead at heart and is always out in the garage building cars. This means all sorts of airborn nasties floating back into the house such as gasoline or paint fumes. Ugh. He makes fun of me now but I don't care. I'm trying to reduce my toxic load so that my body doesn't have to work so hard.
While I have been having detox baths with either epsom salts or baking soda about once a week, the GAPS diet calls for a nightly detox bath and rotates through a series of bath additions: epsom salts, baking soda, apple cider vinegar and seaweed powder. I have to order the powder still.
In general things are buzzing along. Prep is well underway. I have a second source for beef bones and tallow and I'm going to comparison shop with Whole Foods tomorrow since they are a tad expensive. $5/lb for bones is a bit excessive. They should run about $2.
Thursday, December 29, 2011
Pre GAPS part two
I'm making some progress in my prep work. I've ordered the Internal Bliss cookbook. I checked Wellness Meats and found that they were out of beef bones, chicken backs and tallow. I'll have to wait to order more. I found a cheaper source for the fermented cod liver oil I'm supposed to take. The manufacturer sells it for half the price of the GAPS site. I won't get that for a few weeks since I don't need it until stage 2 or 3 of GAPS which will be roughly the third or fourth week of January.
I also talked to hubs. I told him that he will have to sneak ice cream in the garage while I'm doing this. The temptation will just be too much for me if there is anything in the house. He agreed to support me on the diet. When I asked him what he would eat he said we'll just wing it. I told him that the food won't be that great for a couple of weeks until I can add some variety and a few more cooking methods back in. I told him that he could always stop for a burrito on the way home if he gets sick of the weird food.
I am very scared that I'll cheat. I'm weird about food. I wish... No I LONG, I PINE for normal food. I love sandwiches and cake and cookies. I love a bowl of good pasta once in a while. I love ice cream. However, these foods no longer love me. I keep trying to tell myself that what I am doing is healthier for me. That I'm doing this to fuel my body with nutrient dense foods. That I'm using food to heal my guts and possibly heal my CFS. But, OMG the temptation. The cravings. For instance, hubs eats normal bread. The craving tonight for a regular ham sandwich was unbelievable. It didn't matter that I wasn't hungry. It didn't matter that it would give me many pains in my intestines. It didn't matter that I would end up burping up stomach acid at 5am. By God I wanted an F'n ham sandwich. I managed not to succumb. Not sure if I'll be able to do this for a whole month though.
What I did instead of making myself a yummy ham sandwich was poach a hamburger. This is one of the GAPS recipes. You poach it in bone broth. I made it with some peas. While this was tolerable, it is not the most tasty thing to be eating. More like chewing on fishy shoe leather. However, I can deal for the first couple of stages of GAPS with this. I'm thinking a lot of poached fish will be in my near future. I like that way better than poached burgers but I do want to rotate through different meats while on the diet so that I get different nutrients.
I'm beginning to suspect that these specific food craving are actually fat cravings. I want to drink coffee for the cream in it. I want the ham sandwich for the mayonnaise. When I was drinking raw milk I would have a nice big glass of milk and I didn't have these problems. Maybe when I get more fats into my diet during GAPS these weird cravings will stop. Prior to the intestinal virus I was getting most of my dietary fats from dairy products. I'm still not back up to the dairy intake I was on prior to the illness. I seem to have way more cravings now that a few weeks ago. I've been on a low fat diet for 20 years now. I just not used to eating a high fat diet yet. I'm learning though.
I also talked to hubs. I told him that he will have to sneak ice cream in the garage while I'm doing this. The temptation will just be too much for me if there is anything in the house. He agreed to support me on the diet. When I asked him what he would eat he said we'll just wing it. I told him that the food won't be that great for a couple of weeks until I can add some variety and a few more cooking methods back in. I told him that he could always stop for a burrito on the way home if he gets sick of the weird food.
I am very scared that I'll cheat. I'm weird about food. I wish... No I LONG, I PINE for normal food. I love sandwiches and cake and cookies. I love a bowl of good pasta once in a while. I love ice cream. However, these foods no longer love me. I keep trying to tell myself that what I am doing is healthier for me. That I'm doing this to fuel my body with nutrient dense foods. That I'm using food to heal my guts and possibly heal my CFS. But, OMG the temptation. The cravings. For instance, hubs eats normal bread. The craving tonight for a regular ham sandwich was unbelievable. It didn't matter that I wasn't hungry. It didn't matter that it would give me many pains in my intestines. It didn't matter that I would end up burping up stomach acid at 5am. By God I wanted an F'n ham sandwich. I managed not to succumb. Not sure if I'll be able to do this for a whole month though.
What I did instead of making myself a yummy ham sandwich was poach a hamburger. This is one of the GAPS recipes. You poach it in bone broth. I made it with some peas. While this was tolerable, it is not the most tasty thing to be eating. More like chewing on fishy shoe leather. However, I can deal for the first couple of stages of GAPS with this. I'm thinking a lot of poached fish will be in my near future. I like that way better than poached burgers but I do want to rotate through different meats while on the diet so that I get different nutrients.
I'm beginning to suspect that these specific food craving are actually fat cravings. I want to drink coffee for the cream in it. I want the ham sandwich for the mayonnaise. When I was drinking raw milk I would have a nice big glass of milk and I didn't have these problems. Maybe when I get more fats into my diet during GAPS these weird cravings will stop. Prior to the intestinal virus I was getting most of my dietary fats from dairy products. I'm still not back up to the dairy intake I was on prior to the illness. I seem to have way more cravings now that a few weeks ago. I've been on a low fat diet for 20 years now. I just not used to eating a high fat diet yet. I'm learning though.
Pre GAPS part one
The Gut and Psychology Syndrome diet.
Warning this post is going to ramble cuz I'm in the middle of crashing from the exciting wonderful weekend I had with my family.
I've been thinking about doing GAPS for a while now but have been too scared. I was worried that it would make me really sick like the elimination diet did in the spring. So what changed my mind? Having that nasty intestinal infection.
While it was going full tilt, I looked up the foods I could eat on GAPS Intro diet knowing that these foods are easily digested which would give my guts a break and a chance to heal from the infection. For over a week I subsisted on chicken broth, chicken soup, soft boiled eggs, pears and butternut squash soup.
Even though I was horribly sick and in pain, I also had days in between where I felt fine and had no pain at all even though I had stopped all of my meds and supplements. That is right; no joint pain, no back pain, no muscle pain, no headache. I also had a clear head. No fog. I could read books no problem. I had tons of energy. I got a lot accomplished when I wasn't having "an episode" and as long as I adhered to the strict diet. I slowly added foods back in but I'm still not back to my old diet. I'm eating dairy again but not a lot of it and no raw milk and no yogurt.
So despite having an intestinal virus and despite eating a severely restricted diet, I didn't keel over. I didn't get sicker like I did this past spring. I even felt better from the CFS in between the bouts of intestinal torture. Now that I'm eating grains again and cheated like crazy over the Christmas weekend all the aches and pains are back. I've had to start the Celebrex again. I'm crashed today.
The other thing that I'm taking into consideration is that the pain meds I've been on damage the guts. I've had serious problems with malabsorption of just about every vitamin and mineral they've tested for. I've been taking aspirin or Vioxx or Celebrex for years now. Probably almost ten years. This has got to cause some serious damage and would explain the sudden wheat intolerance that hit me about six years ago.
I was also reading on Ncubator yesterday about a woman that has recovered most of her functionality after 15 years with severe CFS with a combination of things, a biggie being diet.
So what is pushing me over the edge from thought to action? Well the ebook "What can I eat now? 30 days of recipes and tips for the GAPS Intro diet" is on sale for $14 from Cara at Health, Home and Happiness. I bought my copy yesterday. And I just found out that a 30 day challenge is starting over on Our Nourishing Roots on Jan 15th. This will give me just enough time to order supplies in and get the required reading done. I'll try to report on my progress here.
GAPS Plans for this week:
Warning this post is going to ramble cuz I'm in the middle of crashing from the exciting wonderful weekend I had with my family.
I've been thinking about doing GAPS for a while now but have been too scared. I was worried that it would make me really sick like the elimination diet did in the spring. So what changed my mind? Having that nasty intestinal infection.
While it was going full tilt, I looked up the foods I could eat on GAPS Intro diet knowing that these foods are easily digested which would give my guts a break and a chance to heal from the infection. For over a week I subsisted on chicken broth, chicken soup, soft boiled eggs, pears and butternut squash soup.
Even though I was horribly sick and in pain, I also had days in between where I felt fine and had no pain at all even though I had stopped all of my meds and supplements. That is right; no joint pain, no back pain, no muscle pain, no headache. I also had a clear head. No fog. I could read books no problem. I had tons of energy. I got a lot accomplished when I wasn't having "an episode" and as long as I adhered to the strict diet. I slowly added foods back in but I'm still not back to my old diet. I'm eating dairy again but not a lot of it and no raw milk and no yogurt.
So despite having an intestinal virus and despite eating a severely restricted diet, I didn't keel over. I didn't get sicker like I did this past spring. I even felt better from the CFS in between the bouts of intestinal torture. Now that I'm eating grains again and cheated like crazy over the Christmas weekend all the aches and pains are back. I've had to start the Celebrex again. I'm crashed today.
The other thing that I'm taking into consideration is that the pain meds I've been on damage the guts. I've had serious problems with malabsorption of just about every vitamin and mineral they've tested for. I've been taking aspirin or Vioxx or Celebrex for years now. Probably almost ten years. This has got to cause some serious damage and would explain the sudden wheat intolerance that hit me about six years ago.
I was also reading on Ncubator yesterday about a woman that has recovered most of her functionality after 15 years with severe CFS with a combination of things, a biggie being diet.
So what is pushing me over the edge from thought to action? Well the ebook "What can I eat now? 30 days of recipes and tips for the GAPS Intro diet" is on sale for $14 from Cara at Health, Home and Happiness. I bought my copy yesterday. And I just found out that a 30 day challenge is starting over on Our Nourishing Roots on Jan 15th. This will give me just enough time to order supplies in and get the required reading done. I'll try to report on my progress here.
GAPS Plans for this week:
- Tell hubby what I'm going to do. Discuss it with him so he doesn't try to temp me with trips to the ice cream store or bring chocolate mousse home (yes he did that to me during my intestinal infection and I was stupid enough to eat it).
- Order Internal Bliss cookbook from the GAPS store and any other supplies I need. I already own the GAPS book and Nourishing Traditions.
- Get together an order for US Wellness Meats for soup bones and beef tallow. I'm going to have to watch their website since they are frequently out of both.
- Start collecting GAPS recipes.
- Read the book. (this is going to be a toughie since I can't read/comprehend text when I'm crashed)
- Maybe start introducing some of the foods into my current diet. Try them out and see if I like them. I love the squash soup. I've also made cauliflower soup which was good. My fav versions aren't GAPS legal since they both have dairy in them which will be a no no on the Intro diet but it is a start.
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