• Welcome to Crohn's Forum, a support group for people with all forms of IBD. While this community is not a substitute for doctor's advice and we cannot treat or diagnose, we find being able to communicate with others who have IBD is invaluable as we navigate our struggles and celebrate our successes. We invite you to join us.

My journey to getting well

175lbs and 13% body fat this morning. I slept poorly overnight. I'm hoping this isn't due to eating more fiber last night. My GI tract was pulsing which can happen when to much has been consumed. Other causes can bring about the pulsing though. I'll continue with the eating fiber trail but taking an easy with it.
 
It has been quite a tiring morning. I suspect that would be the case. as mentioned earlier sleep was hard to come by last night. It's hard to say what went wrong but the intestine was pulsating warming me up, I was sweating, and overall kept me awake most of the night. A possible explanation is I ate to much fiber which irritated the stomach. I know to much fiber can cause this problem. Possible but I suspect unlikely. It's just one of those things I don't know what went wrong. I'll most likely do better and sleep better tonight.

The good news is I don't feel fatigued. The muscles feel strong.
 
I'm going to change my mind, it was with the extra fiber eaten that caused my problems last night, and problems today with poorer energy levels. I also experienced the whole day typical brain fog which happens when to much fiber is consumed. Additionally I had trouble handling the cooler weather. It wasn't that cold but I felt chilled!

Well, to be honest I don't know for sure if it was the extra fiber rich food eaten but I think it's a good guess that it has been. I'll cut back my fiber eaten to previous lower levers.

This is disappointing but it is what it is. On good news my stomach is doing great. No problems experienced there.

I'm back to eating some wheat once again. I was hungry today! another problem experienced when to much fiber is eaten, I feel starved no matter how much I eat. I started eating bread to fill me up. I avoided bagels that had seeds on them. Fingers crossed that possibly it was the seeds that caused the minor stomach cramping.
 
Slept much better last night. The stomach was not throbbing.

Forgot to mention something yesterday. I've been monitoring for hair loss. I've been doing that by looking at the shower drain to see if there is hair accumulation. It has been typical to see hair loss from the shower drain.

Since avoiding milk and beef I've seen no hair in the shower drain. I don't know if I've checked to early for this to be relevant. The observation may mean my hair loss has stopped or slowed down. It might not mean anything. Further monitoring needed.

From my memory, there is a connection between hair loss and diet. In the early days of my stomach disease, I stopped eating all milk products. That was easy to do and out of necessity. Dairy bought about intense pain. I was still very ill to the stomach after avoiding only dairy milk items, lost around 50lbs, but still had good energy. The pain experienced during the early days was there but not at a very high level.

Later, after years of milk avoidance in a great desire to gain weight I began to eat dairy again. Specificically I ate pizza. Other new foods were eaten also. My health deteriorated but I gained weight. My hair began to thin out, in a slow process.

In my mind there is a connection between my diet and hair loss. I might be wrong with that though. Time will tell.
 
Decent day. Tongue looking great and has looked great for awhile now. Appearance not so great! Imagine in a few months that will improve also. Energy levels OK. No complaints with energy levels today. Been eating regular bread since yesterday. No stomach complaints have come from it.
 
175lbs this morning.

I can't think of anything to write about. From experience I know that when on this diet, if anything positive is to come from it, it will take a long time to heal. With that, i'll update less regularly. If anything of significance develops I'll update about my health.
 
Worth recording, had a harder weight lifting session on my legs yesterday. As a result I'm not sore nor am I tired this morning. I didn't not expect this. I thought for sure I would be worn out and in pain this morning. This is a big plus and nice feeling.

Bread continues to be a concern. Eating bread makes me feel and look healthier, surprisingly. On the negative bread causes bad cramping at times. I'm going to look into buying a wheat free, milk free bread this morning and see what it does for me.
 
I picked up gluten free bread this morning. I've eaten a considerable amount of the bread on purpose. No cramping problems with the gluten free bread. I'm pleased about that.

The last few days I've gone from eating 2 rice cakes a day to 3 rice cakes a day. Woohoo! THe result appears to be nice though. My eyes are more blueish. My skin appearance is healthier.

I have to be careful with the amount of fiber eaten. To much fiber consumed can be painful. There is the flip side of the coin in that I believe fiber beneficial with digestion and fiber rich foods can be a good source of nutrients. I'm not surprised that I'd see benefical results eating more brown rice. Glad it hasn't bothered my stomach much. I notice the extra fiber, it tires me out, but not as big of an issue today. Two weeks ago eating 3 rice cakes in a day would have been a bigger problem.

Vision is great. No blurry issues.
 
Thanks Cmack,

Something I found curious about the eyes was a survey done on eye color for those with my IBD stomach condition. I think nearly if not all surveyed said they had green eyes.

It had me thinking that there is no such thing as green eyes. Instead people have blue eyes, that for one reason or another are nutrient deficient/ have allergy, etc leading to dull greenish colored eyes. Pure speculation on my part with that one!
 
I've eaten a considerable amount of brown rice the last few days. No stomach discomfort has been noticed from it.

I've eaten 5 rice cakes today and haven't experienced an issue with that. This should be a very good sign that the stomach has become stronger to the point I'm able to handle some fiber.

I'd be concerned if I ate to much fiber though. A bowel of blueberries or a large carrot would spell trouble for me I'm guessing.
 

cmack

Moderator
Staff member
Same here regarding the blueberries, a few are great, I actually have a small amount every day of mixed berries including blueberries in my morning smoothie. If I had a bowl full...yeah that would not be pleasant (except eating them of course).
 
I've eaten a considerable amount of brown rice the last few days. No stomach discomfort has been noticed from it.

I've eaten 5 rice cakes today and haven't experienced an issue with that. This should be a very good sign that the stomach has become stronger to the point I'm able to handle some fiber.

I'd be concerned if I ate to much fiber though. A bowel of blueberries or a large carrot would spell trouble for me I'm guessing.
Brown rice is supposed to be better than white.
 
Same here regarding the blueberries, a few are great, I actually have a small amount every day of mixed berries including blueberries in my morning smoothie. If I had a bowl full...yeah that would not be pleasant (except eating them of course).
I've been well enough a few times where I could eat a bowel or two of blueberries. Not to repeat as I mentioned that earlier! It's a doubled edged sword as eating blueberries with the digestive system inflamed is to painful. On the other hand, eating a bowel of blueberries when the digestive system is not inflamed makes me feel great.
 
Today I've been tired. I can tell the fiber I've been eating has caught up with me. To much fiber can lead to me being fatigued/ tired, and an upset stomach. The stomach has been great though, no problems with. The tiredness has been a problem today.

Gained a considerable amount of weight too. I'm up 5lbs. That's typical I believe when I eat fiber rich foods, I gain some weight quickly.
 
It's been another tiring/ fatigued day. The stomach area is also bloated out a bit. The extra fiber eaten I'm sure is to blame. I should be better in a day or two. If not I'll tweak the diet a bit, remove the rice bread from the diet and see what happens.

Despite being tired painted part of the house. Appear healthy too. Tongue looks great. Vision is very good.
 
Two items worth noting, when I irritate the digestive system my nose will run and I will sneeze frequently. This is something I've noticed for decades. That is something happening to me right now. I ate a great amount of fiber rich foods the last 4 days. My stomach is now sore. I ate more fiber than I can handle. The stomach is slightly upset, I'm tired, and I have a slight runny nose. Most would call this an allergy caused by something in the air. From what I've noticed over the years that isn't the case.

Also, when the stomach is irritated, as is now from to much fiber, I feel chilled. I also have greater difficulty talking, communicating. It's irritating. Imagine I should be up and running better by Friday.
 
The first month of avoiding milk products and beef is over. 11 more months to go. I imagine this trial should go smoothly. Even if I have a change of heart and decide I should try some other avoidance I can continue with the cow avoidance diet. I don't care much for beef and milk products as mentioned a few times previously. About the only dairy item enjoyed somewhat is cheese. it tastes terrible but it does have a constipating effect. it's more along medicine in my mind.

Well lets see, this morning my eye color is blueish. Tongue looks great. Stomach remains bloated but not badly.

I'll be working on an electrical project this morning. Typically I'd dislike tedious projects like this. Now I'm thinking, with feeling better and seeing better, doing this work will not be that bad. And of course if I don't write in to update in the next few days it was because the project wasn't as easy as I thought it to be and I was zapped.
 
This afternoon I felt much much better. I cut back on the amount of rice bread eaten. along with cutting back on fiber rich foods the previous day, I'm feeling alright once again. THe bloating isn't as bad. My energy levels are improved, and overall I'm OK. I'll try again with eating the rice bread in a few weeks.
 
179lbs and 14% body fat. Doing better overall since eating less rice bread and less fiber. Energy levels can be high, high in the evening in particular. I'll keep on avoiding beef and dairy products.
 
Today was a really good day. I had lots of energy. I was feeling upbeat. I'd like to order more days like this please!

To comment on something mentioned before. I've noticed that I'm loosing less hair. Less of it is showing up in the shower drain ever since I began avoiding beef and dairy. Hard to say of course this early whether this dietary change will put a holt to the hair loss. Up to this point though the direction is positive. With a little luck I'll see new hair growth but that may be wishful thinking on my part. Might have to go the cosmetic path for new hair if it comes to that.
 

cmack

Moderator
Staff member
I hope the same thing happens for both of us Beach. :) I could use some more on the top, everything else grows fine. Pretty sure it's genetics, but my 70 yr old father has more hair on top than I do, as does my mother. They say it comes from the mothers side! This darn disease... or probably all the anesthetic from my surgeries didn't help either I'm sure. 17 general anesthesia in total, but 3 were unrelated to IBD. My hair actually has gotten better since I cleaned up my diet and have been in remission, so there is a chance it may continue. Fingers crossed.
 
That's nice to hear that your hair improved once you found a helpful diet. It's encouraging to hear. It's one of those areas I haven't read to much on about with others experience. About all I've seen on this is that if the hair loss is nutritionally caused then the hair will eventually grow back. It might take a year or longer for that to happen it added.

In my family, the guys are all over the place with hair. Some on my mom's side have full heads of hair late into life. Others are bald. The same with dad's family. With that I don't have clues on which way I will go, genetically - other than I have been thinning out since the worst of my condition hit me.

My father had some cosmetic hair work done a decade ago. Mom talked him into it. It looks nice I think. It made a nice improvement I feel and has dad looking younger than his age of 72. We're actually often thought to be brothers. I believe the cosmetic work done plays a part in that.

Yeah, this was cute. I might have mentioned it earlier, but at last years birthday part for my father I opened the door to let some neighbors in. One of the neighbors thought I was my dad and began to sing me happy birthday! Dad loved it. It is't so good for me, even though I'm getting used to the comparison.
 
I forgot to mention, wow Chris 17 anesthesia's in total! That is unreal. I couldn't imagine. Glad things have improved and you are in remission. Personally I don't handle anesthesia well. The few times I've been under were an ordeal. I'll leave it at that.
 
I've been having lots of dreams this week. Don't know why that is, but thought to make note of it.

Bit tired this morning, but not all that surprised. I was active yesterday plus did some light weight lifting. I'm typically tired the next day after that kind of activity.
 
For lunch today I added a Chinese rice dish. It had lots of spices in it,such as garlic, onions, along with having soy sauce. it also had carrots and peas in the mix. No stomach issues to report this evening. I'll make it a point to have the Chinese rice dish frequently and see how I do.

Energy today was poor.
 
178lbs this morning, 14% body fat, and a new figure on the new scale 40% muscle mass. Don't know what the muscle mass mention really means other than the book that came with the new scale says it's a good reading! I'll take it.

I've noticed that I'm become more symmetrical in appearance. I've known that this eventually happens to me when avoiding milk/dairy products. Basically I weigh the same but the weight is more evenly distributed around the body.

As an example, last night I found I could wear some shirts that previously didn't fit all that well. Before they were to tight around my chest. Now they fit and appear fine. My weight remains the same.

I've had two Asians friends in the past comment that I appear symmetrical and that was considered good luck in Asian culture. Alright! Yeah, I'm lucky to have this disease! Nice compliment I suppose, being symmetrical, but never gave it much thought. Symmetry apparently is due to avoiding dairy and beef though.
 
I've been well to the stomach for a few days in a row. As a result I've written down all that I've been eating. I'll now stick with the recorded limited diet for a few weeks and see what happens.
 
Thanks Ron,

It has been rare for me to experience being well to the stomach when not eating cheese. I can think of only a handful of times that has happened. I'm guessing the imodium I'm taking it helping some.

Ran across some possibly interesting articles on hair growth today. I've always thought that stem cell technology would solve hair loss. hard to say though. It's one of those items I've been reading about so thought to post here for reference back if it comes to that. In theory stem cell work would be easier and less expensive compared to todays traditional route.

Japanese Firms Team Up To Fight Baldness With Stem Cell Cure

https://www.forbes.com/sites/jboyd/...ne-tomorrow-a-thing-of-the-past/#2ff025995c04
 
Today was a very nice day. My energy levels were great this morning. I ended swimming over and hour and tired myself out for this evening. My eyes are blueish in color and have been for awhile now. They are not bright in color yet, but I'm hoping within a few months that will change. The stomach was decent today. Overall, a good day.
 
Thanks! It's nice to see the blue coloring in the eyes all times of the day now. Before I could sometimes see blue tent in the evening. Now I can see the coloring in the morning and through out the day. I don't know for certain if milk and beef are my problematic foods. Time will tell. It is encouraging to see the blue eyes though.

Something that is embarrassing about my stomach condition is a poor ability to communicate. Well, it is hard to explain but in general if someone new approaches me I'll be awkward in talking to the person - typically. The cause for that believe has to do with my fatigue. I'm to tired to talk all to often. The only time this communication embarrassment has largely gone away is when my eyes were bright blue.
 

cmack

Moderator
Staff member
I also have a hard time talking to others when I'm run down. I tend to get flustered and jabber, forgetting my next words. Not much fun at all and really humiliating. Usually, if I'm doing well, I can address a large room full of people with no trouble.
 
178lbs, 14% body fat.

You have experienced that also, with being sick, run down, and having a hard time talking. I've seen one other person on the sight mention similar. It's so terribly frustrating for me! ironically my father is a successful talker. he loves speaking in front of large crowds! It's how he made a living basically and was successful with it.

Hoping in the near future I'll be healthy enough and find myself with the energy to communicate better. For now I wish I knew sign language. Well, I'm not that bad but it is something I joke about.

I mentioned earlier about adding a new Chinese spicy dish. The Chinese rice with garlic, onions and soy sauce is going down well. It isn't to much of a stomach problem. I suspect it might even being helping me as it is likely nutritious. The only complaint is it probably makes me slightly gassy. Soy sauce always does that to me.

This is a good story I learned yesterday. I knew that my middle 15 year old nephew had stopped drinking milk. He did this about a year ago. His name is Jude and Jude wanted more energy. He hoped by not drinking milk he would become energized.

Jude is somewhat in poor health. He suffers from severe asthma. As a result he will take steroids for his asthma. The negative side of the medication is that it was likely stunting his growth. Jude was short and we feared he would not grow to his full potential height.

Those fears can now be put aside. My sister mentioned yesterday to dad that Jude has been growing like crazy since he stopped drinking milk. He is now taller than 6'1"! Being only 15 years of age, I imagine my nephew has a few more inches to grow further. He's going to be the tallest in the family, most likely.
 
Decent day. I was really hungry for some reason. That might be due to all the swimming being done of late. Overall few complaints, as energy levels good. I had one of the harder weight lifting work outs in awhile.

Then again what I consider a good day would be an awful day for most! It's all perspective.
 
Chris - It certainly is!

Slept really poorly last night. It was the hard weight lifting that did me in, keeping me up. I was hurting all over. I feel I'm stronger of late and hoped I could handle the harder lifting session. I was wrong. I'm still pretty weak. In the future I'll stick with the easier, warm up type lifting until a more clear signal is seen that I can handle heavier weights.

Something I've noticed and mighthave mentioned earlier, when lifting, since avoiding milk and beef, I don't loose the lifting gains. At leas when it comes to appearance. In the past when eating cheese I would lifting and 2 to 3 days later would deflate more or less. Now when I lift the inflated gains don't seem to go away. At least they don't go away after 2 to 3 days as was typically the case when eating dairy products.
 

cmack

Moderator
Staff member
The human body is so complex, then on top of that each of us is different. I'm glad you are noticing these things... it's like putting together a giant jigsaw puzzle. I really should be taking more notes on my own health, diet and energy levels. You are inspiring me Beach. :)
 
178lbs, 14% body fat. Seems on this diet my weight and body fat levels are not changing wildly. Previously my weight levels could bounce around a decent amount without much known cause.

Thanks Chris. I'm in limbo more or less at the moment. I'm not for sure if the diet I'm following is helping my stomach or not. The diet of avoiding milk and beef is making changes for me though. The one change I feel is most telling is the tongue. The tongue lines or sores are gone and have been gone ever since I've been on the avoid milk, dairy and beef diet. Hopefully after 12 months while being on this diet my stomach will be healed too as with my tongue. That is the hope.
 
I was hoping that the stomach was better. I had mentioned earlier about not adding new foods to the diet to see what happened. Well, the stomach has remained the same. I'm not well, but not really sick either. What I'm planning to do is add a few new foods to the diet in the days ahead.

My Appetite has been healthy. Typically I would control how much I eat, but of late I've been eating when ever I feel hungry. Figure it takes a lot of food to heal. I've been exercising a good amount also which could contribute to my eating slightly more than normal for me.
 
For lunch I had sweet and sour chicken. It's a new food for me, the chicken in particular. I associate chicken with being ill to the stomach. Hoping I'm wrong. The next 24 to 36 hours will be telling.
 
so far no tongue sores/lines this morning. The stomach is doing OK. No rash on the chest seen. So far so good with the chicken eaten yesterday.
 
Ouch, ouch! Ate three meals yesterday, typically I just eat twice, and I added a new food, cashew nuts. I was and still am in a considerable amount of pain. No more nuts for awhile.
 
I noticed on a couple other sights people talking about depression and wanting to change their mental outlook or maybe another way to say it be more upbeat. I also was reading recently in a book about depression and milk.

I've noticed that my mental well being has changed since avoiding dairy and beef. It's one of those areas that is difficult to quantify. I'm different I believe but the change is subtle and happens over time. I also have to be careful in saying that as I've none in the past that when avoiding dairy/ milk items I become different and believe others that avoid dairy do the same. It might be a self-full filling prophecy type of event. Regardless on the current diet I'm on I have a different mental outlook I feel, one more upbeat or something like that.

Painful cashew caused stomach ache is now gone. I'm thankful for that. That was unpleasant, as always.
 
Thanks guys. I feeling poorly again this morning but it isn't something I'm all that concerned about. A certain level of pain can be handled. If it continues into the future though I'll undoubtably be looking to adjust my diet, try this and that. It's how things typically work. Pain is a good motivator for change.

I feel now that I likely have eaten to much fiber. SOmething is irritating the digestive tract mildly. It isn't enough to cause much problem for the stomach, but enough to make me uncomfortable and weak. The life with colitis! Not much enjoyment, always keeping me on my toes.

178lbs this morning, 14% body fat. Weight continues to not adjust much. I'm happy about that. I'd like to loose weight in the future, or maybe better said would like ot drop the body fat levels a few percentages. I don't plan on trying to do that without having more energy though.
 
I was a little bit ill to the stomach after lunch today. I have many possibilities as to what could have caused this. Saturday evening I ate the last of the chicken. It's possible that the chicken eaten did this. The cashew eaten caused me a good deal of pain and discomfort right away. It's a good candidate. I've been eating more fiber rich foods than I should. That's the best likely answer but hard to say for sure.

Regardless of possible cause I'll back up on the diet a little, get back to the basics and see about calming the stomach down in the days ahead.

On the good news I have small bumps on my tongue! I've read these are normal and healthy to have. Ya to tongue bumps!
 

cmack

Moderator
Staff member
I wouldn't worry about losing fat so much as muscle. You have a healthy BMI from the sounds of things. I have a funny feeling the chicken had something to do with it. Just my thoughts, it's happened to me before from chicken. The funny thing about it is, it's hit and miss for me with chicken. It may very well be the way it is raised, and the amounts of antibiotics or other substances in the diet of the animal. I certainly hope you feel healthy again soon.
 
Cmack, I suspect you are right about the chicken. It's been racing through my head to find out what is causing this. Last night I decided I'll stop the chicken. I'll continue to eat the high fiber amount and see what happens. I know I'll be miserable from the fiber but can deal with that for a few days. If I become well to the stomach within a few days that should give me a good idea if it was the chicken or fiber that caused my issue. There has to be a joke in there somewhere. :sign0085: OK I know that was bad, but am serious on the diet trials the next couple days.
 
That escalated quick. I felt to miserable from eating to much fiber this morning. There are two types of illness from eating to much fiber rich food. There is the upset stomach. Then there is what I had this morning, the symptoms being feeling overly week, dizzy, and a feeling that I'm going to upchuck.

I'm pulling back on the fiber foods, and getting everything working decently once again.

I remain curious about chicken though. Probably in around 2 weeks I'll add plain chicken lunch meat to the diet and will see how I do with it.
 
Today was a poor day for the stomach. I was sick a considerable amount. That hasn't happened all that much but it occurs from time to time.

My update now though has to do with how I feel. Typically when ill to the stomach and running to the bathroom, I'm also drained of energy. I'll have zero energy, typically.

Today was different. I have been slightly tired after being ill but nothing horrendous. I actually have half way decent energy this evening. I feel this to be a very good sign that I'm doing something right with my diet.
 
I seem to be bouncing back quickly from yesterdays upset stomach. That's good as that typically hasn't been the case when I was eating dairy products. Often times it could take days for me to get back to feeling "normal" after yesterdays events with the stomach being calm and energy levels tolerable. .

This morning I was hoping to go on a bike ride to the store with my new saddle bags. Most likely I could handle the bike ride but to be on the safe side i'll wait a day or two before making the mile long ride.
 
A little bit tired today. Also I've been a little bit chilled putting me slightly in a fog. Overall though not a bad day. The stomach is doing well. Energy levels decent enough. Tongue looks good. Hair is growing quicker than in the past I notice. There are also fewer hairs found in the shower drain.
 
I forgot to mention again. It's rather an important change but one difficult to quantify.

Often times I can have difficulty communicating with others. I blame that on the tiredness/ fatigue issues. it can be awkward meeting new people. This was mentioned earlier.

Of late I'm finding it easier to meet people and communicate with others. I'll have to continue to monitor this. It could be an important change, if it is happening.
 
Another item noticed and should be recorded, my belly is no longer extended. I can wear tighter shirts and my belly doesn't pop outward. I noticed this a number of days ago but forgot about it.

Additionally my teeth hurt, or are sensitive. This has been the case for a week or so. This is likely a positive development. It hurts slightly but isn't a big deal.
 
It's nice to notice my stomach is no longer swollen. Instead of a beer belly apparently I had a cheese belly. Will monitor to see if the belly remains flat going forward.

When it comes to milk I've known for a long time that milk, butter, and other milk dairy products effect me very poorly. The exception is cheese. I can eat cheese without feeling miserable. I suspect though that while cheese can help my stomach with its constipating effects it does not allow me to recover. That at least is the theory I'm working on now.
 
Lots to complain about today but nothing worth writing about. It's the usual complaints. overall I'm doing well and continue with my avoiding beef, milk and dairy products.
 
Something that caught my eye last night was my finger nails. They are stronger than usual. They also are well formed.

I'm used to have poorly formed nails in the past, when ill. It's nice to see further improved nails.

Energy levels remain OK, nothing great, butcould be worse. The stomach is doing well. It's going to be a good day I suspect.
 
Oh forgot but important, last night I was in the mangroves near the sea. The bugs were terrible. Typically these bugs cause terrible itching, similar to a mosquito bite. For most others the mangrove bugs cause problems but nothing all that terrible.

Well, I notice that the bug bites received from last night are not bothering me this morning. I'm not itching all over. I don't see any red marks. This is what most people experience around these bugs.
 
I noticed this last week or maybe the week before. I could check, but it is still the case, I'm having many days were I'm largely well to the stomach. With any luck that will continue.
 
180lbs 14% body fat. I'm up 2 pounds. Of late I've noticed that when lifting weights I lift for a long period of time. This is due to lifting not tiring me out as much as in the past. Possibly the 2 pound gain is due to the longer weight lifting.

With body fat, I have 3 different readings. One older scale says 11% body fat. The new scale says 14%, in athletic mode. In regular mode the new scale says I'm 20% body fat. I go with the middle reading of 14%.

It's been nice noticing that I no longer have the swollen belly. I can wear older tighter clothing. With cooler weather predicted coming into the area over Thanksgiving, I've tried on a couple winter clothings that previously looked poorly due to the stomach bulge. Now the cloths look just fine.

I've noticed that I do not experience muscle cramping. This has been a bigger issue in the past. In the past, and a reason why I avoided soy directly and indirectly was due to a belief that soy could cause muscle cramping in me. That idea appears to be wrong. I'm not sure what was causing the muscle cramping now. I'm glad that it is gone though and will work later on trying to figure out why the muscle cramping is gone now and what caused the painful condition in the past.
 
Thanks Chris, It's good keeping notes. So much goes on, it's hard to keep things straight.

Thinking about how milk and dairy products effect me negatively, in the early days I noticed this. It was a consistent result. It is why I have not drunk milk and avoided most dairy products for a few decades now. Regular milk products outside of cheese, consistently cause my eyes to become blood shot red in color. A tiny amount of regular milk will cause the eyes to become red. It will feel as if an eye lash has fallen into my eye also.

Additionally I'll have nose bleeds frequently after consuming milk and milk products outside of cheese. Cheese does not cause this problem.

The most unpleasant effect from cow dairy products is an extreme chilled feeling I'll get. I'll feel chilled all over, even turn blue in color. It can be a hot summer day but after having some milk, even a small amount, I'll feel cold and shiver. Cheese does not cause this.

I've commented in the past about being concerned about garlic. The main concern with garlic is a notice that after eating garlic spicy foods I'll bleed from my finger nails. That does not appear to be the case with the current diet I'm on. I'm frequently eating garlic and onions currently and see no problems with my finger nails bleeding.

THe other possible suspect in the nail bleeding is commercial beef. The spice I would use on beef is garlic salt. If I ate hamburger I spiced it up with garlic salt typically.

The confusing part is that while commercial beef is liekly a problem grass fed beef most likely is not a problem, or not as big of a probem. Grass fed beef could be similar to cheese.

THe other question unanswered concerns pork. For some reason pork can cause my gums to swell up and bleed. That is not happening currently. I'm eating pork frequently. I don't know what is going on there.
 
Forgot to mention,

By far the worst stomach pain experienced had happened after eating beef. Eating commercial beef for 7 days, along with other foods, caused unreal stomach pain lasting for 12 hours.

Of late I've found myself being more productive. Ip've found in the past this happens when I avoid beef and dairy products. On this diet I'll eventually find myself look to get done more projects than it typical. I suspect this is due to having slightly more energy.
 
I believe this is the 6th week that I've avoided milk and beef. This should mean I have another 10 weeks to go till I tie my previous avoid milk and beef trial. And overall since I thought to avoid cow items for a year trial I have another 46 weeks to go, if not longer if it works out. Not a problem since I don't care for milk/dairy and beef much.

Doing OK overall. Wish I had more energy. Wish I didn't ache at times.
 
Today has been a really good energy day. Hope that continues.

Something that has been going on for awhile but continues to improve, my hair is becoming less dry. My hair now typically is more oily or healthy appearing. No signs is new hair growth but existing hair is healthier appearing.
 
I like your thinking Ron! The older and more hair we loose, the cooler we become!

It is interesting reading the different theories on why men have male pattern baldness. I suspect some of the theories are said for money making purposes. I don't know what to believe.

Was happy last night. For awhile my eyes were bright blue on color! It was an encouraging sign. It gives me further hope I'm on the right diet.
 
Possibly I might have found an answer on what caused my gums to swell up after eating pork for every meal over a week or two period.

Last night as a snack I eat some Canadian bacon. This is the first time I had eaten this. The bacon was different in that it the ingredient lists many preservative chemicals.

Right after eating the Canadian bacon my scalp began to itch. It remains itchy this morning. This is the same feeling I had before, when my gums swelled up and bled. First the itching began, then a week or so later the swelling began.

The problem is that in the past when my gums swelled up and bled, the pork I was eating does not list preservatives in the ingredients. In the past the pork chopped bought were special ordered out of state. It's one of those things I don't know what to believe. Possibly the out of state pork chop seller is not listing preservatives added.

On the latest trial where I'm avoiding milk and beef, and eating a good amount of pork, I'm buying pork chops from the local store. These pork chops are obviously different from the pork chops ordered and shipped to me. The store bought pork chops do not list preservatives.

Anyway, an answer might have been found. Hard to say of course. Possibly something else is going on. The Canadian bacon did bring about the itching right away though. It was a quick reaction.

Once my itching goes away, I'll begin to eat the store bought pork chops with ever meal. I'll do this for a number of days. I'll see if the itching begins and if any swelling of the gums forms.
 
Thinking about it further, there is a second explanation for the itching after eating the Canadian bacon. This explanation I suspect is more likely to be right.

I've mentioned why I'm eating eggs on this diet in the past. Last night was the first time I had eaten pork without having eggs with it. Not having that combination of foods is likely the cause for last nights and this morning itching.

I'll experiment with the idea in the future. I'll buy more Canadian bacon and eat it was eggs and see if I itch or not. I'll try once again eating the bacon without eggs and see if the itching returns. This will happen after the Thanksgiving Holliday.
 
I like your thinking Ron! The older and more hair we loose, the cooler we become!

It is interesting reading the different theories on why men have male pattern baldness. I suspect some of the theories are said for money making purposes. I don't know what to believe.

Was happy last night. For awhile my eyes were bright blue on color! It was an encouraging sign. It gives me further hope I'm on the right diet.
Chris's idea.
 
This evening the itching is gone. I'll try my experiment with eating the Canadian bacon after Thanksgiving. I'm anxious to see what happens!

An observation I've noticed for a short while, my handwriting has improved nicely. Typically being ill my handwriting can suffer. Now, being healthier my handwriting is much easier to read.
 

cmack

Moderator
Staff member
I have also had times where my signature/writing was very different from normal and of poorer quality. I never paid much attention at the time, but looking back, I was either medicated heavily, or not feeling well gut wise during these times. That is an eye opener, thank you for sharing Beach. :)
 
You are making me chuckle a bit Chris. Thanks! My handwriting has been poor most of my life come to think of it. It fits with my theory that I likely had my disease in my youth, even before I was seriously sick to my stomach. I'm the only one too with the poor handwriting in the family and only one with stomach issues.

I've thought that the poor writing skills could come form the muscle cramping I've experienced and talked about in the past. Maybe now, fingers crossed, on the diet I'm following I'm doing better health wise and my muscles are not cramping leading to better control at writing. I can theorize on this stuff all day! LoL.

I'm currently reading a book on excessive calcium in the diet caused by milk/ dairy products. According to the author it's the cause of many modern autoimmune diseases! It's like any health book, has it's good and bad. I'm waiting for the chapter on handwriting skills improvement and avoiding milk. In the end I believe the book might be better at putting me to sleep than a glass of milk.
 
180bs 14% body fat. I've been working out harder than typical of late. I'm quite sore this morning from the last workout. Doing decent with energy though.

A few days ago I began eating cashew nuts again. This time the nuts have not upset my stomach.
 
Ate Canadian bacon today. This is early than I said I would try this experiment. I wanted to see if I would itch all over, on the scalp in particular as happened before. The itching was similar to what I remember when I would eat just pork, without eating with eggs. The result, little itching after eating Canadian pork with eggs. The bacon eaten was the same brand and same amount appox as what caused me issues.

it appears for what ever reason eating eggs with pork helps keep the itching away and likely is keeping away the swollen bleeding gums experienced in the past when I would ate lots of pork.
 

cmack

Moderator
Staff member
Maybe something in the eggs neutralizes the ingredient within the bacon that affects you. That would be my guess. It could be that's why people long ago started to eat the them together. Or it might just be because they taste great together. The mystery of it all... Hmmm.
 
That's what I was thinking too. Somewhere in the past others likely ran into the same problem I found, that pork eaten alone and eating pork often causes skin and gum problems. Possibly that is why some religions ask members to not eat it? Don't know. Anyway, eating pork with eggs for some reason causes my problems to go away. I've thought about looking further into this, seeing what is written but probably will pass. I have other things to do.

What I want to do next is add chicken to my diet. I'm fearful of chicken. In my mind chicken causes a particular type of stomach illness. This type of illness will make me urgently ill to the stomach at times but not painfully ill. I can loose a good amount of weight over time, eating chicken, but I also can have good energy and appear healthy.

Here is the catch though. When I ate chicken often, in the past, I also ate lots of brown rice which is rich in fiber. I might be blaming chicken for my stomach issues in the past when it was the brown rice that was the problem. I need to find out.

Eating pork, and possibly it causing a nutritional deficiency - that is my main theory, pork is hard to digest and takes nutrients out of my body that are replaced by eggs - is not good for me. Chicken probably is not as problematic.

I'm eating fish, such as tuna. Fish though can be found high in heavy metals. Some fish is OK I figure but eating it all the time isn't good and might lead to a problem for me down the road.
 
Oh, I should mention, I'm not completely itch free after eating the Canadian bacon. I itch some.

I also want to look into that idea further - the idea that the store bought pork chops, being free from preservative chemicals is not a problem.

It might be that the packaged company I ordered from, in the past, and said it was free from added preservative chemicals lied. I have my doubts they would have lied but who knows. They might be dishonest.
 

cmack

Moderator
Staff member
I agree, it's hard to know who lies about the way the meats/veggies are grown. There is a huge financial benefit to lying and charging a premium price by labeling things as a healthier option. I'm sure some outfits plain old don't care and just want the extra cash. On the other hand I know not everyone is a crook. Tough to tell without a laboratory at your disposal.
 
I'm taking back my earlier response on eggs helping over come the Canadian bacon itch. As the day has progressed the itching has grown. After laying down in bed to read, my scalp itches like mad now. My back itches too. It was a delayed itch this time.

Interesting, I just looked up side effects from the preservatives used in the Canadian bacon. It says a common side effect is itching.

OK, so will see about the store bought pork starting tomorrow. I'll only eat that pork for the next few days and see if the itching stops. I'm guessing it will. Kind of nice if that is the case, as these are the cheap pork chops!

Yeah, for awhile I worked in the food industry. I gathered the impression that many cut corners. It's hard to say though obviously, not having first hand knowledge of what everyone is doing. It would be easy to cheat or even forget to mention on the label. Then again too, possibly something else is going on that I'm overlooking.

Thinking about it though, nice if the preservatives are the answer to the itching the bleeding gums. I might have solved a mystery.
 
Woke up this morning with mild itching all over - nothing terrible but noticeable.

For breakfast ate eggs with store bought chemical preservative free pork. Will monitor to see how my itchiness goes - improves or not.
 
For lunch I had eggs with store bought preservative free pork. I still itch a little but so far do not itch much. The itching seems to be decreasing. Will continue to monitor.
 
I dont itch at all this evening. Well, maybe a slight itch here and there but much less itching then before. Hope that continues for the next few days as I further test.

I also have lots and lots of energy. The energy bit isn't new, I've been feeling energetic more frequently of late.
 
Ate store bought preservative free pork again this morning, with eggs. No significant itching has been noticed. My gums have not swollen either.

I have a lot of energy of late. This morning is a good example of having extra energy. Last night I went to bed around 9:00 a normal time for me. I wasn't tired when I went to bed but thought to keep with my traditional bed time. I was wide awake by 3:00 full of energy. The pervious few days I've experienced similar. I'll need to go to bed later or be more active during the day.

Gut is OK. I'm in an in between area, with the stomach not well but I'm not really sick either.

Tongue is looking OK.

Vision is still improved while on this diet of avoiding milk/dairy and beef.
 
Had pork again for lunch. My gums are slightly swollen. One tooth hurts in particular. With that said I don't believe it is the pork causing the problem. I believe it is the cashew nuts causing this issue. I've stopped eating the nuts. Imagine will be fine by tomorrow.

The itching has stopped.
 
i can eat some nuts, and I feel a small amount is beneficial for me. The nuts give me extra energy I've noticed. The quantity eaten matters though. To many nuts eaten, and my gums will begin to hurt.

The good news is after avoiding nuts today my gums and sore tooth feel much better.
 

cmack

Moderator
Staff member
I only eat almond milk and crushed walnuts, as far as nuts go. Those seem to be safe for me, I have never had a significant episode even after a several week long smoothie recipe containing above mentioned. I always have walnuts blended into my smoothies and the almond milk is organic. I only have almond milk if I can't get soy, either way it is certified and government inspected as organic. I also trust the government about as far as I can throw the House Of Commons. Still I think the organic milks are better.
 
Top