appreciate your thoughts about food changes AIP protocal etc

[humanrising]

I had a pretty good diet before I got ill. I worked most my life off and on in natural foods so I was/am fairly savvy about food in general. I was mostly vegetarian for large part of my life but realized I felt better with more protein but didn't start eating red meat until my fatigue and pain set it.

the only thing food wise I know for sure is that I feel better eating meat and my joint pain is worse from nightshades.

I have the usual symptoms fatigue. sever pain, insomnia etc. but its my gut has been bothering me more lately ( mostly gas) as well as my crashes increasing and worsening. I also have Haushiomotos.

I tried doing the GAPS diet over a year ago, I lasted about 6 weeks and it was hell. I felt hungry all the time and it sure didn't make me feel any better. I also snacked on permitted foods and didn't do a keto type diet. I also lost weight I couldn't afford. I thought going off sugar was what going off of crack must be like!

So now that my GI is getting worse. I am back looking at trying it again. First to heal my GI... calm things down then second to reintroduce foods to see if I can get a clear read on specific foods.
Mostly its that nagging feeling what if I could have felt better by stop eating blah blah and I didn't do it.


Would love to know of anyone who tried doing the AIP protocol or GAPS ? I ve read 10 books on these type of diets the worst was " the paleo approach" by sarah ballantye, not because it was a bad book its very well done but its depressing beyond words. She gives very solid research on why practically every food causes problems in humans.....and of course with us that is probably even more true.

I am so much worse then I was last year, cooking eating and cleaning ... you know! and I also have this weird food aversion thing, only want certain foods, the thought of eating say a salad makes me ill one day and eggs the other. I use to throw back wheat grass juice like it was whiskey.....I don't think I could even smell either one of those things now. I usually want to have buttered toast.
most of these books tell you that you need to go it " all the way" to not only heal the GI and that the process takes months and months before you can introduce foods and that you should not eat grains, legumes and dairy ever again. whats worse I don't like coconut!
its my fellow warrior's here that know what this is like to tackle so really appreciate your experiences. While I have "symptoms" none of them are brutal enough to make me not eat something.... which is good and bad.
thank you!!!!!!!! beautiful humans!!!!!

 

[brenda]

@humanrising

I was AIP for over a year, coming into it from a pretty healthy diet. It was a disaster for me although it went well for the first 6 months or so. I had gall bladder attacks, my insulin resistence got worse, I began to crave (gluten free) sugary foods and chocolate, and my weight went up. It ended when I got a really bad virus and decided enough was enough and started the whole food plant based sos (no salt oil or sugar) and began to thrive, reversing my diabetes, losing the weight.

I am suspicious when I hear, and experienced the losing of appetite as though it is a good thing but I think it is the body saying stop this diet.

 

[humanrising]

I am really sorry you went though that but glad you found something that has worked for you.Hope it didn't have any long term affects on your health. I think part of this idea of with the Keto deal ( which I have no experience with) is that you lose the craving for carbs which is short acting vs your body relying on fats that are a slow burn. I think that makes sense as dose removing gut irritating foods. I guess I am finding myself afraid to do it and afraid not to do it.
if you don't mind me asking did you try the AIP because you also have a autoimmune illness or because it made some sense to do it health wise

working in natural foods you see and hear a lot about diets for all sorts of reasons. part of my last job was creating classes, teaching people about celiac etc to help customers but now that I have such challenging health problems its so much more of a mine field. less straight forward then finding out you have a celiac or peanut allergy which you can get a diagnosis and have clear things to do to protect your health.

 

[wabi-sabi]

For me the most successful thing has been close listening to my body and her needs. Whenever I have tried prescriptive and restrictive diets I have felt worse and sometimes made myself very ill following an online expert's advice, however well-intentioned and well-thought out.

Like you, some foods will make me queasy on day and yet the nest I want them and can eat them just fine. Some days I have more appetite and some days less. I interpret that as my body asking for what she needs and rejecting what she doesn't. It's up to me to provide it as best I can.

I also notice that I can eat fewer foods when having a flare and more foods when I'm not. When feeling poorly, I eat a lot of bread, dairy, nut butter and meat. That's what I can tolerate. I know I'm getting better when I want to eat all the fruits and veggies in sight and meat stops sounding so good!

 

[Timaca]

There is so much info out there about what diet is best for us (I've read many different kinds of books ranging from the Paleo diet to the Whole Food, Plant based diet). And I've had to deal with a GI tract that didn't want legumes, corn, wheat, oats, berries, peanuts, etc, etc.

I started an elimination diet almost several years ago, and am currently still testing foods to see if what didn't used to work, will work now. I am too afraid to test wheat or oats anytime soon however as those reactions were quite bad.

What has helped me the most is various probiotics in very small amounts. Like 1/16 a teaspoon. What works for me might not work for you, but I'm currently taking Solaray Powder Multidophilus (12 strains) and Jarrow Formulas Baby's Jarro-Dophilus. I alternate days taking those. I was taking a small amount of Align also (I'd twist open the capsule and empty it out into a small container). One capsule would last me 5 to 7 days. I stopped taking it about a week ago as I ran out and I wanted to see how I would fare without it. So far, I'm doing okay.

My diet has landed into the Whole Food, Plant Based camp. At this time I can eat pretty much any vegetable except corn. I eat brown rice, quinoa, teff, amaranth and various gluten free flours for my grains. (I make my own GF breads and muffins). It seems I can eat any fruit, including berries (first year I can do that). And I eat legumes just fine now, several times a day...whereas they would cause significant GI issues before.

The science is pretty solid behind eating plants is better for you than eating a lot of fat or animal protein. I can share with you various videos from people such as Brenda Davis RD and Dr. Kim Williams, past president of the American College of Cardiology if you are interested. So I feel better about eating plant based as far as my health goes. Since I have CFS to deal with, I don't need other health issues too!

It sounds like you feel better eating some animal protein, so maybe you can have a small amount each day, but focus on whole foods that seem to work for you. Maybe add in some kind of probiotic or yogurt or kefir to help your gut and see how you do.....???

Wishing you a healthier GI tract!!!! I know. I've been where you are and mine is better now....not perfect, but a LOT better....so I'm cheering for you!

Best,

 

[taniaaust1]

I had a pretty good diet before I got ill. I worked most my life off and on in natural foods so I was/am fairly savvy about food in general. I was mostly vegetarian for large part of my life but realized I felt better with more protein

I was vegetarian for about 9mths but had to go back to meat eating as I really dont do well on even a well balanced a vegetarian diet and need the meat protein.

I also have this weird food aversion thing, only want certain foods, the thought of eating say a salad makes me ill one day and eggs the other.

me too, I think I just get that way due to often feeling so unwell, it makes me then fussy and picky with what Im eating. I have to "really" want something to want to eat it.

sorry I dont have anything to suggest thou.

 

[humanrising]

so appreciate everyone's thoughts, needed to vent as much as think this though. I am going to try to do a GAPS thing again to just see if I can calm my gut down, broths, soups, meat and cooked veg with some a bit of ferments in there and then try reintroducing things sooner this time
I love food and truly hate giving things up, I ve given so much up already. sure everyone gets that.
after reading a number of threads here I am going to let go of the "those are bad foods" deal. Will try grains for instance even though its one of the "wicked's" . I know I eat way too much sugar and too much wheat. I am sure my tummy will be happy to let those go for a good deal longer before I try them again. Since I don't have severe GI symptoms it may not be as "easy" to listen to how I feel after eating anything. all my other symptom's wax and wane due to a hundred different things so while they may be impacted I may not be able to tease them out. I would like a test that cost 50.00 that tells me everything my body can digest and metalbolize and all my defincines and how to correct them.... that's all! hehehehe thanks again

 

[Wishful]

You probably won't find a named diet that will solve your problems. We're all different. Theories about which foods cause problems may be impressive, but lots of people ignore them and are fine on theoretically unhealthy diets. You need to figure out which foods make you feel worse, and which ones make you feel better. Experiment, and keep a record, since you'll misremember otherwise.

Also, maybe you have Hashimoto's disease; maybe not. I have elevated TSH and the antibodies, so the doctors say I have Hashimoto's, but they admitted that my various hormone levels were "odd", and supplemental T4 and T3 didn't make me feel any different. Iodine and T2 did make me feel better. There are other reasons for elevated TSH, such as excess kynurenines from ME/CFS. My belief is that I don't have Hashimoto's, but I do have some abnormalities in my thyroid function due to ME/CFS. If T4 doesn't help you, maybe you don't actually have Hashimoto's either.

 

[CedarHome]

so appreciate everyone's thoughts, needed to vent as much as think this though. I am going to try to do a GAPS thing again to just see if I can calm my gut down, broths, soups, meat and cooked veg with some a bit of ferments in there and then try reintroducing things sooner this time
.... that's all! hehehehe thanks again

I've slowly been reading every digestive health book at the local library, and this one is my favorite:

http://radicatanutrition.com/digestive-health-with-real-food-the-book/

It's not any one diet (GAPS/ Low FODMAP etc) in particular but it is the best resource book on overall digestive healing.

I also like the Sugar Detox books from Diane Sanfillippo. The recipes are real food and compatible with a gut healing protocol.

Any of these takes a tremendous amount of cooking time though.

"Yes I had zucchini pancakes for dinner."