Bye bye anemia!

Went in for an iron infusion today and was thrilled to get my lab results. My CBC, iron stores, ferritin, B12 were all NORMAL! Since I was diagnosed with Crohn's Disease at age 19 and my doctor began monitoring me, I have always been anemic or border-line anemic, depending on disease activity. After my botched surgeries a few years ago, despite ongoing iron infusions, I became critically anemic and had to have several blood transfusions just to get me back to a functional level again. The last transfusion I had was in January of this year, just a week before I decided to make the radical dietary changes I'd been resisting for so long.

Since then, the CBC numbers have been on a steady increase until they first hit the low end of normal after three months on the diet. Now, after six months the iron stores have caught up and my doctor is comfortable reducing my infusion schedule down to just once a month and then pending the outcome of that, down to just quarterly.

I really can't say for sure what the cause of the improvement has been, but I suspect that eliminating gluten along with all grains has been the key. I have been tested numerous times for celiac disease and every test came back negative, but I am following the advice of this doctor now and plan on keeping gluten strictly out of my life from now on.

Week 1 update

I am on day 6 and can not believe the improvement in my digestion so far! I'll keep the graphic description out of the blog, but lets just say that the gas factory is out of commission and I couldn't be happier.

The transition to a diary-free, legume-free, and nut-free diet was less difficult for me right now because I've been off grains already for 6 months. It has helped a great deal to have meals planned out... no wandering the kitchen feeling bad about all the things I can't eat. Instead I know I have delicious recipes awaiting me and a refrigerator stocked with fresh ingredients to make them.

That is not to say that I don't still miss the things I can't have. I polished off my jar of peanut butter right before starting, so at least I don't have that tempting me. But there is still some delicious Wisconsin cheese taunting me from the meat drawer and giving up coffee hit me a little harder than I expected. I had headaches and was very tired the first three days, but seem to be over that hump now.

I do miss the nut-based SCD treats a bit. I am longing for the texture and reward of a cookie or muffin... Somehow fruit just doesn't do it.

A fresh start for a healthy gut

I'm taking the plunge and going 100% paleo.

After 6 months on the Specific Carbohydrate Diet (SCD), I am both pleased with the improvements in my health and frustrated that I have plateaued. The symptoms that linger are not debilitating but too embarrassing to just deal with forever. I have fallen into the trap of eating way too many SCD-legal treats of dubious nutritional value and need some kind of framework to help me break free.

Moderation hasn't worked for me and I can't bear the thought of going back to SCD intro (nor do I think it is necessary). Even worse, I fear that my relationship with food is starting to verge on becoming disordered. I need to just step back and turn the decision making over to someone else. I have decided to follow the 30 day digestive health meal plan in Diane Sanfillipo's Practical Paleo.

I am surprising even myself with this decision. I never thought I would do a meal plan, because I love to cook. I love to plan meals, love to read cookbooks, love to shop for groceries, love to cook seasonally, love to tinker with dishes and come up with my own recipes... I never saw the appeal of having someone tell you exactly what to buy, how to prepare it, and when to eat it. Until this moment.

I have just been putting way to much mental and emotional energy into food and how it is affecting my symptoms. I am becoming obsessed and oh-so-close to either just chucking it all and eating whatever I feel like or becoming completely afraid to eat anything. It is time for an intervention.

So I printed out the shopping list from BalancedBites and loaded up my cart at Whole Foods. It was an impressive haul...

I am making a few modifications to omit most high FODMAP foods for now, since I have not yet fully tested that theory. As a perhaps irrational nod to SCD, I'm also skipping the "illegal" foods on the list like sweet potatoes (which are a FODMAP anyway, so I have a double reason to hold off on them).

The key elements of SCD remain with the paleo digestive health protocol of course. No grains, no refined sugars. I credit all of the healing I have had so far to the removal of grains, particularly wheat, from my diet. I was a gluten eating junky before I went on SCD and am so glad I broke that addiction.

But I have come to realize that I replaced that addiction with other potentially hazardous foods.

Like peanut butter. And nut flour treats. And copious amounts of fruits. And cheese.

Yum, cheese. I don't think I have ever gone a day in my life without cheese in some form. This is why I needed the meal plan! I just need someone else to tell me what to eat, rather than what NOT to eat.

But it is useful to think about what I am not going to eat and it feels good to say a little goodbye (for now) to each of them. After 30 days, perhaps I will become reacquainted with some of them. Or perhaps by then I won't even miss them, just don't like I miss my old frenemy Ms. Wheat.

Goodbye peanut butter.

Goodbye almond flour cookies and breads.

Goodbye coffee.

Goodbye cheese and yogurt.

And hello better health...