Making Sense of it All

Figuring out what to eat and what not to eat here is what I've compiled:

NO
Soy (any and all forms, read every label, eliminate every single molecule)
Corn (and all corn products including corn syrup)
Beans
Nuts
Peanuts
ALL GRAINS (and all their byproducts-flour, bread, pasta, crackers, cereal, etc)
PUFAs (polyunsaturated fatty acids): corn oil, veg oil, soybean oil, safflower oil, cottonseed oil, canola oil, margarine, shortening, anything partially or fully hydrogenated

YES
fish, Omega 3 fatty acids
MUFAs (monounsaturated fatty acids): olives, olive oil, avocados
naturally saturated fat: meat, dairy, eggs, BUTTER
coconut, coconut oil
lard (natural/organic)
ghee
honey--sm. amts

So basically this is the life shattering information on what is bad or good for you: grains and beans are BAD. Soy is BAD. All PUFAs are BAD. Saturated fats are GOOD. Meat, dairy, eggs, fish, full fat dairy are GOOD. Coconut is GOOD. Butter is EXTRA GOOD! (I know it's hard to accept this as we've been lied to our whole lives. It took me about a week to internalize this)

Eliminating all grains is not easy. It's one thing to go gluten free, it's another to avoid all grains and corn. I'm not sure how much I can push this on my children. Certainly they can have cake on their birthday! But some grain everyday? Every other day? I don't know the answer to this. I do know I will not buy another bag of bagels when this one is gone, and I will not buy any more instant oatmeal packets when these are gone (read the label and second and third ingredients are sugar and corn syrup, fourth is soy. ACK). The pretzels, the crackers, I need better alternatives before I can eliminate everything.

I'm really stuck on snacks. I can only come up with so many so far and the kids like variety. They can only eat so much dairy, even when given free license!

After reading "The Mood Cure", by Julia Ross, I decided to add two supplemented amino acids in which I am probably low. I have started taking 5-HTP twice a day and when I can find tyrosine to purchase, I'll add that too. My current supplements are designed to promote my recovery. I feel I am coming from a place of being chronically undernourished due to both the lectins that left my GI tract so inflamed it was constantly unable to absorb nutrients and the massive quantities of phytates I was ingesting from beans and nuts binding up the nutrients I was ingesting. Also, I feel that I am probably deficient in several amino acids due to chronically not providing my body with enough. Looking back, I suspect three back to back pregnancies* depleted my body of any reserves of a multitude of essential nutrients and when my diet did not replace them, I became undernourished. Fortunately, according to the book, within 1-3 months of supplementation, my levels should both be normal and able to maintain themselves without supplementation. (*36 week pg in '03, 15wk pg in '05, 40wk pg in '06) (See below for my complete current list of supplements.)

When I stopped eating meat daily in 2001 part of my decision was a rejection of factory farm meats. With the changes we wanted to implement in our diet we knew that we couldn't go back to factory farm meat. So, we have decided to join a third party CSA that will bring us meat from local farmers each week. Animals will be raised as they should so that their nutritional content will be what it should. It should also give us access to unpasteurized dairy products which Weston Price argues are THE way to go.Haven't tried yet!!!! Keeping an open mind :)

Since 12/20/10
To get you completely up to speed, I started eating this way (the list of No and Yes above) on 12/20/10. I am keeping a food log. I am eating a little bit of sugar each day, I am not trying to deprive myself but rather enjoy the right way of eating! It's very small though, a bit of full fat eggnog two of the days, and really I just don't crave it the way I do when I'm regularly ingesting it. I've known that before when I was on different diets or detoxes or healthy food kicks. The sugar withdrawal usually gives me a headache the first couple days and it did. Also, as I read in "Protein Power Lifeplan", on days 2 and 3 I was really thirsty and peeing constantly. I supplemented with extra potassium and will continue to do so till I feel like my thirst and urination is completely normal. Here on day 4 I feel a decrease in symptoms but they're not completely gone. 

Here is my food log for days 2 and 3 to give you an idea of what I'm eating right now. See below for information on specific foods.

12/21
B: 2 scrambled eggs with canadian bacon
L: beef stew (beef, tomatoes, butternut squash, carrots, celery)
D: chicken with bacon and peas cooked in white wine
S: hard boiled egg, carrot sticks with flavored cream cheese, egg nog, milk

12/22
B:  3 hard boiled eggs with butter and salt
L: chicken with bacon and peas
D: Caribbean pork chops with carrots
S: yogurt with honey, eggnog, milk

eggs: currently omega 3 enhanced eggs until I have a reliable local source of free range eggs
egg nog: full fat, but does contain corn syrup. small guilty xmas pleasure
cream cheese: full fat, does not contain corn syrup or sugar
milk: full fat organic until we can find and try local unpasteurized
butter: dropping the ball by using store brand, will switch to organic or local unpasteurized if able
yogurt: full fat organic, cream top, plain
all meat: currently just coming from big chain grocery store, waiting till after holidays to join CSA


Symptoms
I have a list of symptoms of which I have been suffering and hope to find relief. Most of these through the years have been attributed to IBS, 'nerves', stress, hormones, PMDD, and allergies (both skin and blood testing done--seeking AAT therapy this summer**)


Julie's symptoms
abdominal upset/pain
diarrhea
hemorrhoids
nausea
stomach pain
hot flashes
acne episodes
false moods (named from Julia Ross' book)--depression, anxiety, "blahs"
insomnia episodes
monkey brain spells
migraines
headaches
cold flashes
fuzzy thinking spells
tachycardia spells
heart palpitations
lethargy/fatigue
allergic rhinitis
reactive asthma
chronic sinus issues and infections
frequent viral and bacterial infections


The above symptoms I tried to list in a way that would help you understand the frequency in which I suffer from them.
Addtionally, there are some things I hope to improve in my children:

Son
short stature and underweight (I fully understand this might just be his normal size due to genetics, but I also            think that if he is not given the nutrition needed to reach his full genetic potential, he simply won't)
recurrent sinus infections

Daughter
moodiness (again, may just be her temperament, but if deficiencies are present, she doesn't have the tools
          needed to cope with her big emotions)
trouble sleeping (night waking, insomnia, she gets bouts)
frequent viral and bacterial infections
frequent tummy aches



My husband will not be mentioned because he likes his privacy :)

Here is my current list of supplementation:
fish oil 2 caps twice a day (will switch to cod liver oil when current supply is exhausted)
spirulina 2 caps twice a day (from a previous healing attempt, using what's left)
potassium (as needed while kidneys relearn)
magnesium 250mg at bedtime, hoping to be able to up it to 500mg gradually
probiotic 1 cap twice a day
vitex tincture 1 dropperful twice a day (to correct hormone irregularities)
dong quai 1/2 dropperful twice a day (except during menstruation, as above)
5-HTP 2 caps twice a day (at midafternoon and bedtime)***

As tomorrow is Christmas Eve and the next day is Christmas, we will not worry about our new diet and I will not blog. Enjoy the holidays :)

**AAT Therapy is a new, highly effective way to treat allergies. A chiropractor trained in applied kinesiology retrains your body to not identify allergens as dangerous invaders. No clinic currently provides this in Raleigh, we will travel to Asheville, NC this summer for me to undergo treatment. Identified allergies are dog, cat, dust mites, and grasses. Treatment may identify additional allergies such as: histamine or neurotransmitters

***previous attempts to relieve low serotonin symptoms have not been tolerable including Prozac and St John's Wort (the latter will reduce the effectiveness of birth control pills-don't find out the way I did)