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Belinda
Research Team
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Posted: Tue Jan 31st, 2006 01:47 |
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APPETITE
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For years I didn't have an appetite; I often only thought to eat when I became weak. Now in a healthy state, I appreciate my appetite and ability to enjoy food. My senses of taste and smell are improved, along with my digestion.
So my attitude is: if your body is hungry, FEED IT. I now believe that snacks are an important part of our diets, and we should plan them as thoughtfully as we plan our meals. The way I plan is by being selective about what I purchase and keep on hand.
The things I always keep around for snacks are: bananas, apples, oranges, seedless grapes, cheese and nuts. You can eat these easily before bed or if you get hungry during the night. And I will tell you that when I started being hungry between meals and during the night, I just took it as another sign that I was getting well! It was so different from my earlier years of *no appetite.* I had to keep reminding myself that healthy people have an appetite! My husband thought it was strange, but for me, the change was a big learning experience. By the way, I lost weight on the MP, even as I learned to deal with an appetite. It's all part of healing and regaining balance, IMO.
I learned from Meg that a great bed-time snack is a serving of dark chocolate made with maltitol so it's low-carb. All my local stores stopped carrying the Belgian dark chocolate bar I loved. I've been missing it, but I still have my other snacks on hand.
For dark chocolate, I prefer Amber Lyn. They are pricey, but their taste and texture is perfect, IMO. You can order them online and they have also have fruit-flavored dark chocolate or nuts added. Check their road show information to see if they are temporarily available in a Sam's Club store near you, because they are only about $17.00 per box there.
My second choice would be Doctor's CarbRite dark chocolate bars. You can find them several places on the internet.
Maybe Meg will tell you what her favorite low-carb dark chocolate bar is now... The last time she told me, I checked.. but my local stores didn't carry it, either. 
Belinda
JRFoutin: When you go to the store, then take some time in the fresh veggies and fruit aisle and think of something to graze on during the day. I love fresh sugar snap peas and green beans, peeled and sliced turnips are a fun crunchy option too, if they are allowed in your diet, of course.
If you can eat fruit and like pre-cut mangos or apple slices (and they are allowed in your diet) then that is fun too. Pineapple and bananas too.
I just had to walk around and really look at things in the store to see what looked good and fit my dietary needs. Guidelines and what tastes good are not always the same, but if you eat before you go to the store and buy with your head and not craving you will have foods in the house that might appeal even if they are little meals every few hours.
Prugg21/Pam: I've found that the only way around all my food sensitivities is to prepare my own (or have my husband do it if I'm feeling too sick).
Here are a couple of somewhat easy things that I can tolerate, hopefully you can as well and they will help to keep you from losing weight.
Coconut pudding made from coconut milk and arrowroot powder, tapioca powder or cornstarch. I use about 3 Tablespoons starch to a can of coconut milk. I also add some vanilla or almond extract for flavoring. You could add stevia to sweeten but it is naturally kind of sweet. It is high in fat, unless you get the lowfat which isn't as caloric, so be careful how much you eat as it can be hard on the stomach. I can eat about 1/4 of a can in a day.
I've also made smoothies with just fruit like frozen strawberries, blueberries, peaches and or cherries and added a handful of cashew nuts and water as opposed to dairy. Cashews make a really nice milk when blended with water and a little vanilla and are high in fat and protein.
I like those individual packets of Arrowhead Mills plain organic oatmeal where all you have to do is heat some water and add to the oatmeal. You could also add nuts or cashew milk for protein and those extra calories.
Anyway, all of these I've fixed ahead of time on occasion and they should be fairly easy on your jaws.
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Belinda
Research Team
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Posted: Fri May 12th, 2006 12:23 |
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Food versus supplements for nutrients
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We consider food to be fruits, vegetables and meat from animals, all of which are found in nature and are obtained to sustain our bodies. We consider non-food sources of vitamins or minerals to be supplements. These are chemicals used to fortify or "supplement" our intake of vitamins and minerals from natural foods. Many foods and food products are fortified with commercially prepared vitamins and minerals when they are processed. That is why it is important to read labels before you buy.
Belinda
Dr Marshall wrote:
It is very seductive to believe that what we eat can improve our health.
But it always seems to be the other way around, that only if we don't eat certain key things, like Vitamin C, will we become ill.
I haven't seen anybody cured of chronic disease by diets or supplements, and I have gone through report after report of 'miracle cures'.
But now we can actually define the word "cure" because a group of deseperately ill people have been returned to health by the MP. It has given us a totally new understanding of the word "health," too.
The body is an amazingly complex thing. It is time we faced up to that complexity, and discarded the notions that appear so seductive because of their simplicity.
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scooker48 Sherry wrote:
It took me sometime to switch gears into the MP diet and get enough vegetables and fruits in my diet, but I've done it. One of the big helps was to have a box of fresh veggies and fruits delivered to my doorstep once a week. It didn't cost that much extra, and I located the farm through "community supported agriculture" and I posted an explanation and link on our website. The next hurdle was cooking; and I found what worked the best was only buy and keep the basics in the pantry: olive oil, fresh pepper and salt, and stock. I use pork, chicken breasts, and turkey breast meats. So, when I go shopping I only buy meats, nut, cheese, and of course dark chocolate. And the bread from Whole Foods, which is expensive but if one eats two slices a day, it seems to last for a while.
Figuring out the diet confused me at first, but now its fairly easy. And my D25 at 5/20/06 was 7.7.
In the words of Ms. Dale, "struggle -- juggle -- keep moving forward." It can be done. I am happy to share my menus and exactly what I consume, if anyone wants them. And I'll tell you the truth about the dark chocolate consumption LOL.
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alayne
Member in Phase 3
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Posted: Thu Jun 29th, 2006 23:29 |
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(filelink)
Maintaining weight
Poor appetite: My guy Jacks has had little to no appetite for quite a while either. He's just over 6 feet and dropped to 137. I think he's gained a few pounds in the past couple of weeks and is around 143 or so now.
I just looked in Wikipedia and it states:
Anorexia can refer to:
* Anorexia nervosa, a psychiatric eating disorder characterized by voluntary starving or vomiting
* Anorexia (symptom), the general symptom of decreased appetite
So we're just looking at decreased appetite, from this definition.
Jacks has to also basically force himself to eat, although in the past couple of days he's been more willing to look at food.
Here's some of what he manages to choke down and hasn't lost anymore weight on:
Breakfasts - 2 slices of whole grain toast or rolls with peanut butter/almond butter with agave nectar (like honey) and high fat cheese.
Mixed whole grain hot cereals with half & half, dried or whatever kinds of fruits you have and nuts.
Smoothies - Frozen and unfrozen fruits (lots of vitamins). He also adds almonds or some softer nuts to the blenderized drink. Always add some protein to the mix as well. We like to make an eggwhite omelet to accompany the smoothie (3-5 eggwhites with garlic, grated cheese, green onions, tomatoes...or whatever else is in the fridge).
Other meals - sandwiches with guacamole and whole milk cheese or chicken or both. We also use vegenaise which is a great substitute for mayo (tastes like the real thing).
Brown rice, wild rice, basmati rice pilafs with quick cooked organic beef or lamb stew with lots of veggies and spices.
Buffalo, beef, or lamb burgers (spiced with various herbs and onion, garlic, etc.) on whole grain rolls or just with veggies.
Grill a marinated beef or buffalo steak and have on hand for snacks and meals.
Roast a chicken once or twice a week and have on hand for snacks and meals. We make a great chicken salad with the vegenaise, pickles, onions, and whatever else we like. Spread on crackers, bread, or use in salads lettuces.
Whole fat cheese on crackers (try different types of cheeses and crackers for variation)
Apples and celery with peanut butter or almond butter. Cashew butter's also great.
Jacks makes almond milk and cashew yogurt which are nice and high in calories. If you're interested, can give you the recipes. Kind of a pain to make though. 
Lots of sugar free dark chocolate.
Mixed nuts (I know you're heartily sick of them...there are ways to flavor them differently so they're a tad more interesting (let me know if you're interested). Although it's not known whether or not pumpkin and sunflower seeds have Vit D, Jacks eats them on many things. His 25-D dropped to <5, so I think they probably have little D, if any.
Tortilla chips with salsas and guacamole.
*The trick is to have as many kinds of foods around as possible because when one's appetite is down, having just one thing to choose from generally doesn't work. I went through years of having little or no appetite myself, so understand the problem pretty well myself - it's very frustrating!
Good luck with the food and feel free to pm me for any recipes, or whatever. Alayne
Weight loss: August 31st 2006
I lost a lot of weight initially on the MP. I dropped to 112 lbs and I'm 5'10". At the time, I was very worried that I wasn't absorbing enough nutrition, no matter how much I ate. However, I also knew that there was little I could do but persevere with the MP. Happily, as I progressed and healed, I started to regain my weight. It was a "slow" process, but now, 7 months later, I'm back to a normal weight and actually fit most of my old clothes! I'm not eating differently that I did back then, but my body's obviously healthier and more in sync.
My partner Jacks, who is 6', dropped to 137 lbs a while after starting the MP. He'd noticed a little weight loss before that, but it really dropped off him quickly after starting the MP. (He started in Jan 06). However, he's gained some pounds back in the past couple of months and although still very thin, is no longer losing. We're sure he'll continue to gain as his health improves. (I'm a few months ahead of him on the MP.)
In the meantime, I'd suggest eating high calorie, yet healthy foods, such as nut butters, nuts, avocado, full fat dairy (yogurt & cheeses), dark chocolate (preferably sugar free), and whatever else you can come up with that's not "forbidden" on the MP. (I apologize in advance if any of these foods aren't good for you - I don't know if you have any dietary problems.)
I might also suggest trying to eat or snack throughout the day, instead of just a few meals. Although Jacks and I had little appetite to speak of, we made ourselves eat/snack more often, which seemed to help after a while.
I know that such an undesired weight loss is frustrating and scary - believe me! But I do wholeheartedly believe the weight issue will correct itself for you - with time and continued healing.
Best of luck! Alayne
also FAQ I'm losing weight. What should I do?
from Joyful~
I am not an expert on putting on weight, but if you are looking for a 'food' that you might find palitable, perhaps homemade chicken stock is an option. Store bought stocks do not contain the natural gelatins and are often flavored using MSG, so I would stay away from those. This page gives the recipe I base my own homemade broths from (I only use the chicken and beef stock recipes).
After making my stock, I use them as the base for chicken soup, gravies and sauces. Flavor is a great appetite stimulant. (Something storebought food is severely lacking.)
In 2004, I had a family member losing wieght rapidly due to a disease process, and watching that process somehow transformed me from barely able to make popcorn to now, a couple of years later, loving to make complex sauces and succulent meat dishes.
My two constant cookbook companions are The Joy of Cooking and Nourishing Traditions. Perhaps there is someone in your circle of friends and family who would be willing to work with you on finding some stock based dishes that you would enjoy eating... even if just a little at a time.
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ME/CFS/FM 6/05:25D-34 1,25D-69, 11/07:25D-8 1,25-37, Sick 6-11 mos/yr x20+yrs. NoIRs/Avoid Sun/D/Use Zinc oxide. 11/17/05-Ph1, 5/06-MPh2, 12/06-MPh2#2, 6/07-MPh2#3,1/08-Ph2, 4/08-Ph3, NonMP Meds:Sleep:1-2mgLoraz or OTC q2d/MThistle/Calc&Mag/Lysine
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Meg Mangin R.N.
Research Team
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Posted: Tue Jan 30th, 2007 00:18 |
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(filelink)
Eat real food
This is an excerpt from an article, titled Unhappy Meals written by Michael Pollen and published in the health/science section of the International Herald Tribune. It discusses the history and politics of 'nutritional' advice and ends with this sage advice.
1. Eat food. Though in our current state of confusion, this is much easier said than done. So try this: Don't eat anything your great-great-grandmother wouldn't recognize as food. (Sorry, but at this point Moms are as confused as the rest of us, which is why we have to go back a couple of generations, to a time before the advent of modern food products.) There are a great many foodlike items in the supermarket your ancestors wouldn't recognize as food (Go-Gurt? Breakfast-cereal bars? Nondairy creamer?); stay away from these.
2. Avoid even those food products that come bearing health claims. They're apt to be heavily processed, and the claims are often dubious at best. Don't forget that margarine, one of the first industrial foods to claim that it was more healthful than the traditional food it replaced, turned out to give people heart attacks. When Kellogg's can boast about its Healthy Heart Strawberry Vanilla cereal bars, health claims have become hopelessly compromised. (The American Heart Association charges food makers for their endorsement.) Don't take the silence of the yams as a sign that they have nothing valuable to say about health.
3. Especially avoid food products containing ingredients that are a) unfamiliar, b) unpronounceable c) more than five in number — or that contain high-fructose corn syrup.None of these characteristics are necessarily harmful in and of themselves, but all of them are reliable markers for foods that have been highly processed.
4. Get out of the supermarket whenever possible. You won't find any high-fructose corn syrup at the farmer's market; you also won't find food harvested long ago and far away. What you will find are fresh whole foods picked at the peak of nutritional quality. Precisely the kind of food your great-great-grandmother would have recognized as food.
5. Pay more, eat less. The American food system has for a century devoted its energies and policies to increasing quantity and reducing price, not to improving quality. There's no escaping the fact that better food — measured by taste or nutritional quality (which often correspond) — costs more, because it has been grown or raised less intensively and with more care. Not everyone can afford to eat well in America, which is shameful, but most of us can: Americans spend, on average, less than 10 percent of their income on food, down from 24 percent in 1947, and less than the citizens of any other nation. And those of us who can afford to eat well should. Paying more for food well grown in good soils — whether certified organic or not — will contribute not only to your health (by reducing exposure to pesticides) but also to the health of others who might not themselves be able to afford that sort of food: the people who grow it and the people who live downstream, and downwind, of the farms where it is grown.
"Eat less" is the most unwelcome advice of all, but in fact the scientific case for eating a lot less than we currently do is compelling. "Calorie restriction" has repeatedly been shown to slow aging in animals, and many researchers (including Walter Willett, the Harvard epidemiologist) believe it offers the single strongest link between diet and cancer prevention. Food abundance is a problem, but culture has helped here, too, by promoting the idea of moderation. Once one of the longest-lived people on earth, the Okinawans practiced a principle they called "Hara Hachi Bu": eat until you are 80 percent full. To make the "eat less" message a bit more palatable, consider that quality may have a bearing on quantity: I don't know about you, but the better the quality of the food I eat, the less of it I need to feel satisfied. All tomatoes are not created equal.
6. Eat mostly plants, especially leaves. Scientists may disagree on what's so good about plants — the antioxidants? Fiber? Omega-3s? — but they do agree that they're probably really good for you and certainly can't hurt. Also, by eating a plant-based diet, you'll be consuming far fewer calories, since plant foods (except seeds) are typically less "energy dense" than the other things you might eat. Vegetarians are healthier than carnivores, but near vegetarians ("flexitarians") are as healthy as vegetarians. Thomas Jefferson was on to something when he advised treating meat more as a flavoring than a food.
7. Eat more like the French. Or the Japanese. Or the Italians. Or the Greeks. Confounding factors aside, people who eat according to the rules of a traditional food culture are generally healthier than we are. Any traditional diet will do: if it weren't a healthy diet, the people who follow it wouldn't still be around. True, food cultures are embedded in societies and economies and ecologies, and some of them travel better than others: Inuit not so well as Italian. In borrowing from a food culture, pay attention to how a culture eats, as well as to what it eats. In the case of the French paradox, it may not be the dietary nutrients that keep the French healthy (lots of saturated fat and alcohol?!) so much as the dietary habits: small portions, no seconds or snacking, communal meals — and the serious pleasure taken in eating. (Worrying about diet can't possibly be good for you.) Let culture be your guide, not science.
8. Cook. And if you can, plant a garden. To take part in the intricate and endlessly interesting processes of providing for our sustenance is the surest way to escape the culture of fast food and the values implicit in it: that food should be cheap and easy; that food is fuel and not communion. The culture of the kitchen, as embodied in those enduring traditions we call cuisines, contains more wisdom about diet and health than you are apt to find in any nutrition journal or journalism. Plus, the food you grow yourself contributes to your health long before you sit down to eat it. So you might want to think about putting down this article now and picking up a spatula or hoe.
9. Eat like an omnivore. Try to add new species, not just new foods, to your diet. The greater the diversity of species you eat, the more likely you are to cover all your nutritional bases. That of course is an argument from nutritionism, but there is a better one, one that takes a broader view of "health." Biodiversity in the diet means less monoculture in the fields. What does that have to do with your health? Everything. The vast monocultures that now feed us require tremendous amounts of chemical fertilizers and pesticides to keep from collapsing. Diversifying those fields will mean fewer chemicals, healthier soils, healthier plants and animals and, in turn, healthier people. It's all connected, which is another way of saying that your health isn't bordered by your body and that what's good for the soil is probably good for you, too.
Michael Pollan, a contributing writer, is the Knight professor of journalism at the University of California, Berkeley. His most recent book, "The Omnivore's Dilemma," was chosen by the editors of The New York Times Book Review as one of the 10 best books of 2006.
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Meg Mangin R.N.
Research Team
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Posted: Wed Feb 28th, 2007 01:59 |
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(filelink)
MP Food Choices Simplified
AVOID foods w/ natural Vit. D:
· All fish and fish oil products (includes tuna)
· All seafood
· All shellfish
. Liver
. Blood pudding
. Sausage made with blood
. Foods fried in pork lard
. Bacon
· All flax seed products
· Alfalfa
· Mushrooms
· Pumpkin seeds
· Sunflower products
· Primrose oil
· Grapeseed oil
· White or enriched flour & products
· Fish sauce (often found in oriental foods)
· Worcesteshire Sauce (contains anchovies)
· Seaweed, Kelp (check processed food ingredients)
· Egg yolks (egg whites are okay to eat)
· Mayonnaise (contains egg yolks)
· Ranch salad dressing (contains egg yolks)
AVOID if Vit. D is listed as ingredient:
· Milk (use unfortified varieties in moderation)
· Yogurt (sweetend w/sucralose)
· Any dairy products with >6% Vit. A
· Ice cream (if eggs listed)
· Margarine
· Breakfast cereals
· Bread
· Protein drinks
· Diet drinks
· Cereal bars
· Nutrition bars
· Fruit juice (drink in moderation)
· Grains (whole grains preferred)
Warnings:
· Soy products (limit due to genistein content)
. Coffee (limit due to chlorogenic acid content)
· Aspartame
· MSG
· Folic acid/folate enriched products
· Yellow #5 – tartrazine
· Avoid refined sugar
. Whey powder
. White or enriched flour
. Highly processed foods
OKAY foods:
· Foods that naturally contain folic acid
· Fruits (low sugar berries and melon best)
· Most vegetables (limit starchy vegies like potatoes)
· Most unprocessed meat
· Sucralose (Splenda)
. Poultry
. Nuts
. Sugar alcohols (maltitol, xylitol sweetener)
· Any oils not mentioned here
· Stay low carb
(contributed by okiebug and edited by moderators)
Our recommendation is to avoid all the foods on the FOODS TO AVOID list. However, if you know your 25-D is low, you might indulge occasionally. Last edited on Sat Aug 25th, 2007 17:12 by Meg Mangin R.N.
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Meg Mangin R.N.
Research Team
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Posted: Thu Mar 1st, 2007 18:06 |
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(filelink)
Mushrooms
Mushrooms are very high in Vitamin D content, and also high in biochemicals which can be converted to Vitamin D with relatively little energy. I would stay well clear of any mushroom extract unless it had been tested to make sure it had no plant sterols and none of the Vitamin D metabolites.
There is a plan in the USA to market mushrooms which have been exposed to UV light to increase their Vitamin D content 100 times, to more than 1500 IU. All is needed is only a 5 minute exposure to UV light after harvesting. There is obviously a chemical compund in mushrooms which is awfully close to Vitamin D, if it can be converted so quickly, but I have not had the time to explore exactly what it is.
"Light-zapped mushrooms filled with vitamin D"
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/12370708/
If you have Th1 disease, stay away from mushrooms, and mushroom extracts.Last edited on Tue Feb 12th, 2008 16:43 by Meg Mangin R.N.
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Meg Mangin R.N.
Research Team
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Posted: Tue Mar 13th, 2007 03:47 |
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(filelink)
A website to help you keep track of nutrients
It isn't necessary, but for those you like to detail their diet, here is a device that should help.
I am using CRON-O-Meter ( http://spaz.ca/cronometer ), a good free nutritional software tool that monitors intake of macronutrients as well as vitamins and minerals. I thought this might be useful for people who wish to monitor their intake of vitamin D and folate. It requires a bit of effort to put in everything one eats, but it may be well worth the effort. It's also likely more useful to people living in the U.S. as it comes with the USDA database, which obviously focuses on U.S. food items. ~Francois
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Aussie Barb
Research Team
| Joined: | Thu Jul 22nd, 2004 |
| Location: | Australia |
| Posts: | 19257 |
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Offline
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Posted: Tue May 1st, 2007 17:01 |
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(filelink)
Dietary supplements
See Why do I have to stop my alternative treatment and avoid most supplements? and Dietary supplements
Tube feeding supplement without vitamin D
A D-free feeding tube nutrition is available from Ross laboratory. It's called Calcilo XD. It's formulated for children, but a dietician could help you make any conversions needed. After an extensive search I located 200 different formulas and this one the only one without vitamin D. ~ToniD
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Barb: Dx Inflammatory Disease Endocrine Imbalance 2003| 24+ years not Dx| ABCofMP
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