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I am wondering if any of you can give some personal experience on how the e-diet affected you and how you felt that first week? I have heard it can be rough. I am planning to begin soon, and trying to mentally prepare, as well as make arrangements for the care of 2 small toddlers if need be. I have atypical RA for the last 11 years. Thanks!
In Reply to: How did e-diet make you feel? RA posted by Maggie on July 21, 2003 at 12:51:20:
Maggie,
I read your previous message, and though I agree that the E diet is the way to go, I would not recommend that you do this while nursing and with your responsiblities as a mom right now. It sounds like your plate is full, and to do the ediet right, you will have to have some down time. Not everyone has a horrible time, but you still have to plan for it! You need to start it with a rather harsh laxative and will have diarrhea for a few days. It can be very debilitating. I did it with Robert McFerran's help and he told me that a couple of times, he had folks call him from the emergency room, they were feeling so bad from the withdrawal! I was lucky; my problems were mild for the most part and my food allergies/reactions were very few.
Your comment on the sweet tooth also concerns me that your own withdrawal might be tough.
I would recommend you wait until you have more time to yourself. In the meantime, since it's obvious you need to do SOMETHING, and are ready, cut out all wheat, dairy and sugar. That in itself will cause withdrawal, but it won't be so severe as the ediet would cause.
Just doing that should make you feel much better (and prove to you that the ediet is a worthwile effort). After you're done breastfeeding and you have some more time to concentrate on yourself, then you can go ahead and do the more difficult ediet in its entirety.
The person who posted that blood tests werer more accurate is simply wrong. I know of a couple of folks who proved the test results were wrong when they did the ediet- McFerran included!
Hope this helps,
~~~8>
In Reply to: Re: How did e-diet make you feel? RA posted by labrat on July 22, 2003 at 09:01:13:
Thanks for your reply. That has been my concern. Problem is, I don't know when I'll have more time for myself! But, your suggestion of a more gradual approach makes sense. I have a friend, who was diagnosed with lupus, she gave up everything except brown rice and veggies and white fish, and within 6 months was symptom free and still is 1 1/2 yrs. later. That has been an inspiration! Although I am willing to try anything, I have trouble "breaking the paradigm" in the sense of food habits engrained from childhood. I am on day 2 of no refined sugars, and plan to elimiate wheat and dairy and soy next week. I pray to see some difference in my joints. I don't konw how long it may take to see an improvement. If I don't see one in a couple of weeks, what would you suggest? Also, I wouldn't rely on the blood tests solely, but do you consider the York labs test worthwhile as a separate bit of information? Again, I appreciate this board and folks like you. I don't know your whole history but I get the impression you have conquered your battle with RA or some debilitating disease like it, and for that, I say congratulations!
In Reply to: Re: How did e-diet make you feel? RA posted by Maggie on July 22, 2003 at 13:33:47:
Maggie.
I woudl never try getting rid of a sugar addiction without having a copy of Beth's book in my hand FIRST.
Walt
In Reply to: Re: How did e-diet make you feel? RA posted by Maggie on July 22, 2003 at 13:33:47:
Hi Maggie,
No, I didn't have RA.. What I had was the beginnings of chronic fatigue, LGS, a case of candida, TV, rosacea, sinus infections and a host of other "smaller" but nevertheless worrysome and bothersome problems. The CFS scared me as did the Candida. Fear is a great motivator! I changed my diet and then found this board and began learning about wellness. I was well on the way to healing, but wanted to find out more about my metabolic needs, so I went ahead and did the ediet.
I *know* you will see a difference, but you need to do it all the way - listen to Walt, the book he's suggesting will teach you exactly what things you'll need to avoid - and you need to stick to it! You will most likely feel worse before you feel better.
The best thing to do is to approach this in a thought out, methodical manner. Understand what you'll be doing and why, and if it makes sense to you, it will be much easier to stick to it. DON'T make the mistake of changing too much at once, or you won't be able to tell what made the difference.
It sounds like you've been studying for awhile, so hopefully some of the stuff is sinking in :-). It IS a lot to absorb.
To help you most effectively, we'll need to know - Do you have any idea what your metabolic type is? What supplements do you take now? What do you typically eat in a day? (Sorry if you've posted this before...I didn't see it. Feel free to point me to the post.)
As far as the blood test, I would just use what Walt calls the best laboratory you will find - your own body! IF after tweaking your diet and practicing wellness for awhile, you still feel that something's not right, you might want to investigate other ways to test certain foods, but honestly, I don't think you'll have to. My own feeling is, what good does a separate bit of questionable information do? I think it might only serve to confuse.
I will be happy to help you if I can while you try this, and there are others here with reliable knowledge about diet and diet testing.
~~~8>
In Reply to: Re: How did e-diet make you feel? RA posted by labrat on July 23, 2003 at 08:07:04:
Wow, thanks so much for your input! I have read and do own Beth's book and so maybe the perfect whole foods diet minus, wheat, sugar and dairy (what do you think about soy?)would be a safer place to start as opposed to the total e-diet right now. As far as my metabolic type...I'm not sure. From what I have read (in terms of cholesterol, blood pressure, hunger patterns, effects of coffee, etc.), if I'm objective, I'd say I'm more than likely H-G, although that is interesting to me b/c I'm not highly interested in meat, and eat very little. I only take prenatal vitamins and omega 3 capsules now, and supplement with flax oil when I can. I would say here's an average daily diet for me: Breakfast: oatmeal, eggs with toast, or ww pancakes, o.j, and sometimes coffee; lunch: tuna salad sandwich, pbj, or gardenburger with fruit or chips and water; dinner: grilled fish, roasted chicken, or tofu with veggies and some sort of potatoes. For snacks, things like cheese, fruit, crackers with nut butter, and nuts. We buy organically for all meat and dairy and whatever else we can. I limit my milk intake. We only use ww bread and brown rice and pasta. I think we eat pretty healthy compared to the average person, but obviously not healthy enough! As I mentioned I have always had a sweet tooth, especially for chocolate. But, no overt signs of yeast issues. Sadly, I am trying to eliminate refined sugar this week, but finding it in everything imaginable! So, not perfect yet, but will supplement my food options next trip to the co-op. It's also made difficult with feeding a 2 1/2 yr. old and a picky husband who is more than likely my exact opposite metabolic type!!! ha Anyway, thanks again for your help. Folks like you really do provide inspiration to folks like me!
In Reply to: Re: How did e-diet make you feel? RA posted by Walt Stoll on July 23, 2003 at 07:48:05:
See my other post below!
In Reply to: Re: How did e-diet make you feel? RA posted by Maggie on July 23, 2003 at 12:36:14:
Hi again Maggie,
I don't have a lot of time today, so I'll just get a couple of points out.
- sound like you are eating a lot of refined stuff and a lot of carbs.
- your statement that sugar is in everything imaginable leads me to believe that a re-read of Beths' book is in order...refined sugar is NOT in fresh veggies, fruits and meats (whole foods). It IS most likely in anything that comes in a box, bag, pouch, or jar, or any other sort of package (refined "foods")!
- Soy milk; my answer depends on what kind. "Silk" and you may as well have a milkshake from McD's. If you find Westsoy or Pacific brand "UNSWEETENED" plain soy milk which tastes very much like chalk - then that's a good brand. The only ingredients in those two products are filtered water and soybeans. Generally, I don't consider this a whole food and so would limit my intake.
You wrote: "From what I have read (in terms of cholesterol, blood pressure, hunger patterns, effects of coffee, etc.), if I'm objective, I'd say I'm more than likely H-G, although that is interesting to me b/c I'm not highly interested in meat, and eat very little."
I have more to ask you about this, but please consider that if you ARE HG, then it stands to reason that eating a diet such as yours would be causing you big problems!
~~8>
In Reply to: Re: How did e-diet make you feel? RA posted by labrat on July 24, 2003 at 11:34:20:
I don't feel like I eat a ton of refined stuff, but then again compared to the perfect whole foods diet, I guess I do. We have been gradually trying to "phase out" store bought pre-packaged items. We have joined a co-op and get fresh organic produce every two weeks, which has been great and has us eating many more whole veggies. We were buying Silk soymilk, although from the label the sugar on it seemed lower than many brands. As of late, we have given it up anyway and starting drinking lowfat or skim milk only occasionally. We mainly buy it for our 2 yr. old. I would like to discuss the H-G vs. A-G further. It might explain a lot. Perhaps I should begin adding more meat to our diet (organic meat) and see if I notice any effects? I have been wondering as of late if it would also benefit my 2 year old to get more meat, as he is a little hyper sometimes and after meals gets a little "giddy" and we discussed if this could be a blood sugar issue and maybe he needs more protein with meals. Our main sources of protein are nuts/nut butters, dairy prodcust, soy products, and fish. Maybe he has my H-G make-up? But, as I said I'm not sure what I am, just read that low cholesterol, low bp, weakness without eating frequently, and jitters from coffee can indicate H-G. Also, we have been :leaning" towards vegetarianism the last 5 years, and I have never been able to entirely give up meat. Only complication is that my husband think he is more than likely A-G and really wants such different food from I do, he is not inclined towards meat at all, and easily gave it up. He wants mostly beans and tofu and veggies. (He has high cholesterol, can skip meals with coffee, higher bp, etc.) And then preparing different meals for everyone in the household becomes a problem when we are already so overextended a lot of the time. Oh well, I need to run this morning, too. Thanks!
In Reply to: Re: How did e-diet make you feel? RA posted by Maggie on July 25, 2003 at 07:07:56:
Thanks, Maggie.
Remember that, once one is sensitized, the slightest tract of the offending substance will cause more symptoms than the regular ingestion of lots of it. Once the bodymind has become no longer sensitive to the substance (usually about 6 months after the LGS is resolved) one can commonly have traces without precipitating symptoms.
Walt
In Reply to: Re: How did e-diet make you feel? RA posted by Maggie on July 25, 2003 at 07:07:56:
Maggie,
There is a book that will give you more information about H-G, AG, and mixed metabolisms. It's called The Metabolic Typing Diet by William Wolcott and Trish Fahey, 2000, Broadway Books. I couldn't answer all of the questions in the self-test, but I had enough information to determine that I'm likely an H-G/protein type. The book gives lists of foods to eat and avoid, along with characteristics of each metabolic type. The sections on how to combine foods might help you come up with a strategy to feed the whole family without too much cooking, if you are different types.
Maybe you could try this approach for a while to see if you feel better, then progress to McFerran's E-diet if see that it's helping. The book should be readily available.
Wishing you the best,
Nutmeg
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