Special Diets

Okay things are getting a little crazy around here. I have read about many families with multiple food allergies, etc. and often wondered how they handled all the craziness. I am now having to keep up with three different diets for me, my son, and my mother. So here goes:

Me - I am still following a gluten and white sugar free diet. I do feel more energy, less stomach issues and just brighter and clearer. Joint and muscle issues are still present. I will start on Digestactive (natural digestive aid) in a couple of days and start weaning myself off the dexilant. Really praying I will see some improvement then. Also waiting for test results for vitamin d(which was low), iron (also low) and thyroid. Any of these could also be contributing factors.

Son - Our son has been plagued with ADD most of his life. Diagnosed in 4th grade, originally we did try medication which kept him from sleeping and eating. Don't want to go down that road again. Up till now with maturing he has learned ways to keep himself focused. Recently he started a new job with toyota that requires lots of concentration and not missing anything with fear of being written up. He is staying stressed because it is hard for him to focus. Hubby did alot of research about diet and supplements in relation to ADD and came up with a list of items that our son needs to change. He agreed to start using the supplements (B complex, magnesium with zinc, and fish oil) as well as start some changes in his diet. Low caffeine, no processed sugar, eat more fruits and whole grains, nuts, seeds, and dark chocolate.

Mother - Recently after a year of every three months testing we discovered that her cancer has started to grow again which means treatment. Mom does not wish to do any more radiation, chemo or clinical trails. She is 70 and has alot of trouble with side effects from all three. So yesterday I did lots of research for her about changing her diet to hopefully slow down cancer growth before our next test in May. There are many things that she will need to slowly incorporate into her diet. Lots of raw fruits and vegetables, flax seed oil mixed with cottage cheese daily, almond milk in place of cows milk, giner and tumeric sprinkled of veggies, green tea three times a day and lots of carrot juice. This is just to name a few. If we can start this diet and see some progress by May with no growth or even shrinkage of the tumors we could then prove to the doctors that diet and supplements do help with managing cancer. Of course most doctors don't even want to hear you out about alternative means of treatment. In 9 years of mom's cancer not once has anyone recommended changing her diet. Do you realize that sugar feeds cancer cells yet no one ever told her not to eat it.

I will give updates as information arises.

Grocery Shopping

Grocery shopping is a whole new experience now. Every purchase's ingredients need to be investigated for hidden gluten, HFC, sugar, and GMO corn. I just returned from the store where a normal visit would last a hour and now takes 1 1/2 hours. Hopefully it will get easier with time. Buying lots of organice and gluten free products these days as well as produce and vegetables. The budget has not really changed that much because I am not buying as much processed food and replacing it with higher priced organic so it basically evens out. I have had a couple of folks ask if the gluten trail has helped. I will say that I have more energy and feel brighter and clearer. There are some digestive systems that it has also helped with. The next step is getting me off the proton pump inhibitor (dexilant) which I feel is causing most of my joint and muscle issues. I have an appointment with my GP on Tuesday to hopefully devise a plan to wean off the dexilant and use more natural remedies.

New Smoothie Recipe

That is, new to me. I got this off the Internet today, not sure where. Tried it this afternoon and it tasted pretty good. I am trying to find ways to get my fruit and veggie servings in each day. I typically am not the type of person to just go and pick up a carrot, etc. to eat for a snack. I am also trying to including items in my diet that will help my acid reflux. I was recently put on a medication, Dexilant, for my acid reflux and I am having some side effects but tried to come off the medication and back on to my Nexium, but the burning came back double. The only thing I am worried about is the calorie content in the smoothies. I am sure this one has at least 300 calories. To off set the difference I will be eating salad and a boiled egg for dinner.

3/4 cup milk
1/4 cup yogurt
1 banana
1/2 cup frozen blueberries
1 teaspoon honey
1 tablespoon flax seeds

The recipe did mention if you are not accustomed to alot of fiber in your diet to start off with 1 or 2 teaspoons of the flax seed until your body adjusts to the 1 tablespoon.

Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution

I didn't get to see the first season of this show but did get to view the first episode of the new season. This season Jamie is in Los Angles hoping to change people's attitudes about food. What is good to eat, what is bad to eat. He focuses alot on what children are being feed in their school cafeterias and the fast food business. I hope to be able to follow along through this season. Lots of great information. The one section of the first episode that stuck in my mind was his demonstration about how most ground beef in America is processed. Not only that, but that the USDA doesn't feel it is necessary to label on the meat how much ammonia the beef is washed in. That was a real eye opener for me. Jamie said the only real way you can know that you are getting real ground beef is to watch the butcher put it in the grinder and grind it in front of you. I have to admit that our family eats alot of red meat. It is the cheapest thing available. But I think I will need to rethink what types of meat I feed my family and where I get my ground beef from. Some of our favorite meals (tacos, spaghetti, hamburgers) require ground beef and I'm sorry but the rest of my family is just not going to tolerate ground turkey, etc. Although we did eat some ground venison mixed with ground beef in the past couple of months. Mostly we liked it as hamburgers. I am pondering finding a somewhat local source for ground beef and buy in larger quantities.This next tidbit of information is for my friend Kelly, because she will really get a kick our of it. Still working on my hubby about the meatless meals thing. One night this last week we had cheese ravioli, salad, and bread. He immediately went to the fridge to pull out some leftover taco and was going to try it on the pasta because he felt he needed the meat in his dish. I asked him to put the meat back and try the meal as prepared. He did admit after eating that he did feel full and satisfied. Hopefully he won't ever read this. I thought it was kind of comical.