This is what our shopping list looks like: Veggies from the farmer's market including fresh greens. Free range chicken (this will be twice as expensive as Purdue but you can get up to 4 meals from it), free range eggs, grass fed hamburger, local honey. At the grocery store olive oil (california because it's unadulterated), milk and cream, grass fed butter, sugar free bacon if we can find it, almond meal, coconut oil, canned tomatoes and veggies and fruits that weren't at the farmer's market like peppers, bananas, oranges, and coffee because life without coffee isn't worth living. (Coffee with real cream, however, is divine -- just saying.)
What we cook; big pot of chili with the hamburg. Roast the chicken, that's 1 dinner, after it's cool peel off the meat for chicken salad and/or stir fry, throw the bones into the crock pot with water, salt, lemon juice and whatever veggies you didn't get to last week. The crock pot cooks over night which gives you a really nice chicken broth for soup, stir fry sauce, etc. Cook some baked good with the almond meal (scones, biscuits or almond bread). I also use the milk and cream to make our yogurt in the crock pot every two weeks or so. That's used for desserts, salad dressings, or just to stir into the chicken soup. Eggs and bacon for breakfast, or almond meal pancakes, or stir fried veg with a soft fried egg on top. Use the butter.
There are a ton of recipes on line. Google Paleo, or SCD. But don't try too many things at once. Add one new recipe a week until you find out what you and your family really enjoy. I don't eat any grains at all. My husband occasionally eats some oatmeal, rice, and/or pasta in small amounts because otherwise he loses weight. He doesn't have any autoimmune issues.
by the way, SCD stands for specific carbohydrate diet
mmarques said:
This is what our shopping list looks like: Veggies from the farmer's market including fresh greens. Free range chicken (this will be twice as expensive as Purdue but you can get up to 4 meals from it), free range eggs, grass fed hamburger, local honey. At the grocery store olive oil (california because it's unadulterated), milk and cream, grass fed butter, sugar free bacon if we can find it, almond meal, coconut oil, canned tomatoes and veggies and fruits that weren't at the farmer's market like peppers, bananas, oranges, and coffee because life without coffee isn't worth living. (Coffee with real cream, however, is divine -- just saying.)
What we cook; big pot of chili with the hamburg. Roast the chicken, that's 1 dinner, after it's cool peel off the meat for chicken salad and/or stir fry, throw the bones into the crock pot with water, salt, lemon juice and whatever veggies you didn't get to last week. The crock pot cooks over night which gives you a really nice chicken broth for soup, stir fry sauce, etc. Cook some baked good with the almond meal (scones, biscuits or almond bread). I also use the milk and cream to make our yogurt in the crock pot every two weeks or so. That's used for desserts, salad dressings, or just to stir into the chicken soup. Eggs and bacon for breakfast, or almond meal pancakes, or stir fried veg with a soft fried egg on top. Use the butter.
There are a ton of recipes on line. Google Paleo, or SCD. But don't try too many things at once. Add one new recipe a week until you find out what you and your family really enjoy. I don't eat any grains at all. My husband occasionally eats some oatmeal, rice, and/or pasta in small amounts because otherwise he loses weight. He doesn't have any autoimmune issues.
I only post with the intention of giving info that might help someone because it has helped me. I have had some form of GI issues since food poisoning in my 20’s. I was an organic vegetarian into complimentary proteins, made my own yogurt and had my own garden. I had no inflammation in my body until the food poisoning. They diagnosed me with Crohn’s, filled me with prednisone and had to take out my large intestine 1 year later. The biopsies came back inconclusive for Crohn’s or UC… I have had problems since then with obstructions from adhesions. My diet and lifestyle has been so clean and healthy that I did not have symptoms of PSC until it was end stage… No stints, no orso, just 1 biopsy and 1 ERCP and and referred for a transplant.
I am also free of any symptoms and have found a diet that works for ME. It includes organic grains, dairy and very little sugar/sweeteners. No red meat, clean chicken, (am allergic to fish.) Vegies and fruits go through me, so I have smoothies and blended soups. I also take supplements that I think keep me alive including probiotics.
The Palio diet excludes dairy, all grains (including rice which is now 95% GMO), no legumes and beans and other cultivated veggies including potatoes, no sugar, honey, and many oils and fats. No alcohol. If this works for you, great. It would be a digestive nightmare for me or I would starve.
I hope everyone can find a diet that reduces inflammation for them. I am not sure about the idea that the bottom line cause though is food - but food definitely can make inflammation worse, tomato,sauce for me. The jury is out as to what causes what and may not be the same for everyone. I just pray for answers and a cure especially for the kids I hear about struggling with these diseases.
Hi Mike
I am sure others will have suggestions as well. While I am vegan in spirit,I now eat some dairy and chicken at times for protein as I do not absorb it from vegie sources very well.
This is because I do not have a large intestine, so fibre which is good for everyone else is not so good for me.
I do put fruit and Vegies in my nutribullet and experiment with combinations. I add flax seed oil and nuts and avocado at times for good fats and omega3s etc. I also like the Vega smoothy mix which has vegan proteins and great nutrients.
But one cannot live on smoothies alone… I have organic bread with almond butter and a little drizzle of honey, love humous. Sometimes I will roast red pepper and other Vegies until they are really soft, cut them up and have them with humous in a sandwich.
I put dried fruits, roast pumpkin seeds almond butter and use the chopping blade to create a grainy mixture, cool it and then roll the little bliss balls in sesame seeds for snacks.
If you can have salads, (they go through me)you can have so many more options!
Eat well, be happy!
Ruby, I am very interesting in reading these studies. Do you have them on hand in a way you could easily link them on here? I would greatly appreciate it!
Ruby said:
Last night I spent hours combing through the microbiological studies and advances in Crohn's and UC. They have identified the bacteria that may cause both. They just identified the microbial imbalance of these bacteria in patients and how wide spectrum antibiotics makes it worse They have identified a gene that many Chrohns and UC have that we may not have the same immunity to these bad bugs in our digestive track making us more susceptible to the bad bacteria. My eggs are in this basket. If they can create something that targets the bad bacteria and protect and even add a bunch of the good guys, we may be on our way to a cure.
Media have also been following this and I have been monitoring developments in the press.
What I look for is clinical studies where people (the more the merrier) are tested, or treated and compared to others in a control group and findings reviewed by other experts. Second to this is really promising in-vitro or other pre-clinical studies that are promising and have consistency. The PBA issue in plastics was found in an in-vitro study on cancer sells in plastic vs. glass dishes…
A huge frustration for me is the evidence that probiotics can have a positive effect yet several studies show that even expensive ones have no quality control. I was on several antibiotics in hospital and got approval to take probiotics. I developed a fever the next day. The fever stopped when we got rid of the probiotics. Now I know that many brands are contaminated with non beneficial bacteria and there is no quality assurance with the number or even if the little bugs are alive… The last article speaks to this.
interesting timing on that post. i just read something regarding autoimmunity, antibiotics, and gut flora. these 2 articles are pertinent but very sciency.
"Refusing to believe that surgery and medications were the only options, I studied extensively on the healing power of nutritious food and dietary changes. I began by making major changes in my own diet, eliminating gluten, dairy, and all processed foods and eating nutrient dense options instead. I also consulted with a wise naturopath who taught me the power of appropriate nutritional supplementation in restoring health and energy and healing the inflammation in my gut."
"The liver disease took a little longer to clear – I was expecting six more weeks but by November 14 it too was gone and all the results were in the normal stage. Dead smack bang normal! It was such a delight."
Approximately 60% of celiac disease sufferers are known to have liver, gallbladder, and/or pancreatic conditions 5. While some of these conditions may be a result of the malnutrition and/or directly linked to the gut damage that occurs in celiac disease, others are thought to share common genetic factors or have a common immunopathogenesis (i.e., the condition originates from the same immune system attacks on the small intestine also attacking these organs) 5. Specifically, primary biliary cirrhosis, primary sclerosing cholangitis and autoimmune forms of hepatitis or cholangitis are thought to have a common immune system/inflammation origin as celiac disease itself—and that means gluten.
I am on the Specific Carb Diet, which is I understand is quite similar to the Paleo. It is true, eating out can be challenging. But, the fact is that I have been able to find something at most restaurants -- even those in airports. I usually have to make some special requests - "could I have that without the rice?", etc. Breakfast isn't too tough either. I usually get a scramble or omelette with veggies and meat in it, and ask for no bread or hash browns, and often they're willing to substitute fruit for a little extra.
If I've got the will to do it, usually I can find something pretty good to eat. And as long as I'm polite about it, explain that I have food restrictions, etc. most wait-people are happy to oblige.
CJ said:
You're welcome Katie. I hear you on loving food. The hard part for me is I'm a pilot and so I get to spend 3-4 days at a time living on airport food and hotel breakfasts. This is going to take some work for sure.....
Check out that stalkerville.net link I posted. There's about 500 recipes there that conform to the AIP.
I've spent pretty much more than year hunting down the "perfect" diet for my boyfriend diagnosed with PSC (actually 12 years ago, but he is still basically asymptomatic).
I simply refuse to believe, that food can't change anything much (as we are told by the doctors here in Czech Republic).
An I believe that the fact, that PSC, and UC (and other liver/gut problems) usually come as a package is the root to understanding the foundation of all these problems (which is probably not a new information for you, yet around here doctors don't really work with it).
We already have Whole30 behind us, several Paleo's, currently runnig Autoimmune Paleo.
If I would sum all that up - yes, (if you survive the first three weeks, when it is just hard, because you have to get used to it) - paleo really helped. Considering mood/stress/fatigue it was like a miracle! And I plan to order my boyfriend for some extra liver tests through this year to see how the AU Paleo works, so stay tuned :).
The basic diet hints I would love to share:
first of all - yes, buying all the meat and good quality stuff is not cheap, but we live on a tight budget and yet worked it out - mostly because we plan a lot and actually use all the food we buy, nothing goes to waste, we rather buy cheaper bits of meat in better quality, seasonal veg, etc. (inspiring article about whole30 on a budget http://whole30.com/2011/01/paleo-poor/)
sugar simply makes everything worse - we try to avoid it, except for the fruits/vegetables and except for occasional desert with a bit of honey (if interested - read this study, it doesnt study PSC specifically, but it has some interesting points about food/blood test also discussing liver enzymes http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1884438/ )
grains are prohibited and according to latest researches might be at the roots of AU diseases
meat/fish should be part of your diet (I don't feel any good about killing animals, therefore I try to buy from farmers and use the most of every bit I buy - make soup, bits of chicken for salad, use the bones for bone broth, ...), interesting information on that topic can be found here: http://autoimmune-paleo.com/my-recovery-part-i-2/
have fun with it - seriously, after you go through the first shock of what is prohibited, you will find foods, techniques you never dreamed of and it actually makes all the cooking and seeking for the ingredients one big adventure :)
This is a long post, I know, but I hope, that is sparked at leats a bit of inspiration for you :)