Update Time

[Polly]

Hello fellow LEAPERS!

I've been wondering how everyone is doing. As for me, I have now completed 2 full mo. of the LEAP diet and am still adding one new food a day (today is watermelon). Recent foods which tested safe include pistachios, lime, pineapple, cherries, and root beer. Yep, yesterday I tested Virgil's root beer, which over the years has been one of the few sweet treats I seemed able to tolerate. I wasn't sure if I would react or not, because one of the ingredients is vanilla, which is reactive for me. But it was fine. I have an observation about baked goods, which I will put into another thread.

Looking forward to hearing from you.

Love,

Polly

[Pat]

I hesitate to say anything because as soon as I do all falls apart but here goes.

It seems chicken is a problem so I have eliminated it. Doing better. Then I just couldn't stand it any longer. I haven't eaten fruit in forever and mango was a tiny little green line on my MRT so I gave in one day and ate some and I waited, and waited, for the gurgling, gas, and blow out D. It didn't happen! Yeah!!!!!!!!!! It is so delicious! I hope I haven't made a mistake. I've only eaten a little each day. I also decided to try pineapple since I did so well with mango, it had the same little green line. So I bought fresh and ate 2 rings. It tasted so good but it made my tongue burn like fire! I just knew that my intestines would rebel also but I never could tell the difference. I am not eating pineapple though, the burn was enough of a turn off. That's my update.

Pat

[Joefnh]

Well Polly I can only comment on how great it is that you have added so many foods. I can say I am envious... hopefully once I get going on the LEAP plan I should be able to do the same. Right now I am very limited in what I am allowing myself to eat.

Great job Polly, you really have shown a lot of discipline in your approach and it is certainly paying off.

Here is question. What happens if you eat a food everyday even for 2 meals a day. I have been eating rice that way for the last 10 months. Recently my MRT results showed that I am highly reactive to it.

Is it a bad thing to have one food item like that everyday? The reason I was eating that so often is that it settled so well. Is it a bad idea to do that?

--Joe

[tex]

Joe,

Do you actually react to rice?

Tex

[Joefnh]

Tex I do not have D from it or cramping, but I have been noticing that after meals (most with rice) I do not feel that great anymore. I used to feel great after eating simple chicken / rice / carrots. So I would have to say there may be something there, but the only way to know for sure is to carefully test it.

I had been eating a lot of sweet potatoes as well, and have noticed that I was reacting a little if I ate a lot with some D.

Whats interesting is for years I could not drink Coke without GI problems and the test did show a high reactivity to the Cola bean. I have not had any Coke for at least 4 years

Overall I m viewing this as another tool to use to help unravel the puzzle that MC & Crohns has presented. I doubt like anything else it is a tell all.


--Joe

[Gloria]

Joe,

I wonder if the Leaky Gut Syndrome is at work here.

I ate rice every day before the MRT testing. Rice tested borderline for me at about 1.9. I suspect that I tested somewhat high on rice because I was eating it often. I no longer eat rice every day, just every three days and it's fine.

Chocolate was another food that I ate every day. When I received my MRT results, I was estatic to see that cocoa was non-reactive. It tested at about 1.6. I eliminated it in June because I suspected it was a problem. Norman appeared within two days of eliminating it. I knew that I was taking my chances when I ate it every day because of the Leaky Gut Syndrome. I hope I can resume eating it on a rotating basis someday.

Gloria

[mbeezie]

Joe,

Remember that you are on Imuran and it may mask some results. You were not doing well when you started Imuran and I wonder if rice was part of the problem . . . . just a thought.

Mary Beth

[Gloria]

Whoo, hoo, Pat!!!

I haven't eaten fruit in forever and mango was a tiny little green line on my MRT so I gave in one day and ate some and I waited, and waited, for the gurgling, gas, and blow out D. It didn't happen! Yeah!!!!!!!!!! It is so delicious! I hope I haven't made a mistake. I've only eaten a little each day.

That's terrific news! It does taste great, doesn't it? I haven't tried any since my little experiment, but I have hopes I'll be able to begin testing it again in a few months. Mango is my lowest scored fruit, too. I'm happy to read that you can handle it - maybe I'll be able to also.

Gloria

[mbeezie]

Pat,

That is wonderful news on the mango. I am glad you are mustering up the courage to try some new foods. MRT can help guide you in the order of testing foods.

Mary Beth

[Jan]

Pat,

Great news on the mango. I understand where you're coming from on the pineapple. I lived in Hawaii for 2 years and had access to fresh almost any time I wanted it. I don't know if it has a lot of acid in it or what but I got so I had the same reaction whenever I ate fresh. Now if I want pineapple I eat canned.

Good luck on your continued journey to healing and new food.

Jan

[Kari]

Polly - glad you seem to be doing well on LEAP - though it's too bad that you're having issues with baked goods:(.

Pat - so glad you're able to enjoy a fresh, delicious fruit - mango is probably my favorite, and it is one that I will not test yet since it tested borderline yellow for me.

Joe - the rice issue is a tough one for you to deal with. It is so difficult to know what to do when you test positive to one of the very few "staples" you enjoy in such a limited diet. I wish you lots of luck in dealing with this.

Me - the good news is that I haven't taken imodium in close to 2 weeks, and am having 1-2 BM's a day. Although I'm not having norman visits, my BM's range from firmish to softish, no firehose D. The other good news is that I seem to be regaining my strength and enthusiasm . The bad news is that I cannot seem to gain any of my weight back (have lost close to 25 lbs.), but as long as I feel well, I won't let it worry me.

As far as the LEAP diet goes, I have tested a lot of the greens that I'm interested in, and seem to be OK with most of them (with the exception of shellfish and eggplant). I try to rotate the foods I eat to the best of my ability, but cannot say I'm 100% structured about it. I've found that balancing the psychological/emotional factor with the physical is very important. As long as I'm moving in the right direction, I'm satisfied. It also seems to me that our systems are in constant flux, so as we work on refining our diets, sensitivities shift as well, and are somewhat elusive. I also find that the combination of foods can be a problem, as well as quantity, so there are so many factors to consider. I have come to the conclusion that it's important to keep an open mind and not to think in terms of "absolutes".

I have also added acupuncture to my tool chest. I did this after reading about other PP's success with it, as well as my own prior experiences. I did a google search to find an acupuncturist in my town, and came up with a woman whose specialty is dealing with allergies (food as well as airborne). We are working on desensitising my body to my various food intolerances, and so far I'm pleased with the process. I believe I have had a total of 9 sessions, and plan on continuing once a week for now.

Love and good health to all of you,
Kari

[mbeezie]

Kari,

Great to hear things are moving in the right direction. No firehose D is always good news, especially being off of Immodium. Hopefully things will continue to firm up. That may just take some time especially since you have been sick for so long. Interesting about reacting to shellfish and eggplant, both histamine triggers. I would bet that you have some overactive mast cells at play and it may take time to calm them down.

Here's hoping that Norman visits very soon!

Mary Beth

[Kari]

Thanks Mary Beth - you're probably right about the histamine/mast cells involvement. I also think you're right about the time factor - since I was sick for so long before finding out about the food connection, I developed so many extra food sensitivities, as well as ancillary issues such as candida. I actually strongly suspect having had candida a large part of my life. I seem to be really good at ignoring medical issues until they become unbearable :).

It's so interesting that I had a few norman visits after I deleted all the reactive MRT foods and chemicals. Then my BM's started to slowly deteriorate again. This goes along with the theory that when eliminating major offenders, the body starts searching for new, minor ones. Anyhow, as I already said, I feel there is slow, but steady progress, for which I am extremely grateful. I think one to two years for substantial healing to take place is realistic, and I'm fine with that.

On a different topic, in my quest to make cooking more interesting, I have bought a Creuset Tagine. It's a great way of making well cooked, flavorful meals. It's sort of like a slow cooker, but with browning involved as well. This is a brand new gift to myself for all my hard work .

Love,
Kari

[sarkin]

Kari,

That's great news about the acupuncture; very important point about the psychological/emotional/physical balance; and I am absolutely over the moon about your new tagine! WHAT COLOR??? The Creuset ones are just gorgeous. (My husband just walked in the door as I read this, and asked me why I looked so happy, and when I told him it was your tagine.... he understands entirely.)

I have hesitated to use our ceramic one that can be placed on the stovetop - I wonder whether there's a residue of ghee, or something I don't even remember. (I'm also a little leery of our cast-iron cookware.) But we have loved every single thing we ever made in the tagine, and I hope you have the same experience. I made a turkey pot roast the other night and it was pretty good, but would have been much more tender if I had entrusted it to the tagine!

Congrats on the purchase, and even more so on the great steps and great perspective. Wishing you much joy in the kitchen and health everywhere,

Sara

[Kari]

Hi Sara - your message made me sooo happy. I have been on the internet this morning searching for recipes to be made in my new pot, with very little success. I always thought that "Tagine" referred to the special pot only, but it seems that the term is also used more loosely as a type of "cuisine", so most of the Tagine recipes on the internet are not for cooking in the special pot:(.

They had a wonderful recipe book at the Creuset outlet for cooking in Tagine pots, which I now regret not buying - I'm planning to go back for it though. The color of my pot is lime green. That particular color was on special sale, so I got it at almost half the price. It seems to me that it is an ideal cooking vessel for people like us who need to eat well cooked foods???

Love,
Kari