Paleo Diet Success?

[serrickson]

Serrickson,

What is your sons height and weight now that he is 12?

Do you notice foods over here bothering him more often than foods in central europe?

Well I just measured him and he grew another inch in the past 4 months. His growth rate is about 3"/year ever since we moved to Colorado, interesting since everybody tells us people at altitude are typically shorter, due to the altitude... Don't know if that's true.

Height is 61 1/4" and weight is 115lbs. He's just under the 75th percentile for height, on pace for 5' 10" to 5' 11" which is good considering I'm just under 6ft.

The growth in height is the most damning evidence. His calprotectin was <16 so that's super good. As far as the unit reporting there, mg/L or ug/g, there is a lot of confusion it seems but from what I gather and calculate, the density of stool is approximately 1 which means both mg/L and ug/g should directly convert over.

As far as a difference in food, we shopped on a military base and on the economy, German stuff is pretty much on par with what we have here, in some cases better. I'd argue the water is actually of better quality. The food, to me, is a non issue coming back. I have greater access to various products here, that's for sure. It was only in the past few years the Germans really started getting onboard with things like coconut oil, plain nut butters, and so on.

Over all though, the BIGGEST change is Vitamin D. Supposedly, and I've known this for some time, Vitamin D acts like a TNF blocker in the right dosage. No, it's not going to have the same result as a biological such as Remicade perhaps (usually you're really sick when you get on that, of course) but in John's case, since he's technically been in "remission" the Vitamin D should have a very good maintenance effect. Of course, we live in Colorado, which is super sunny AND we are a mile+ closer to the sun AND it isn't super hot (it's dry) so the kids are outside way more often, especially at school. The sun exposure (Germany is so overcast) and the fact I've got John on religious Vitamin D supplementation really have kicked his success into overdrive. He's on 2,000 iu/day and from my calculations, that should be very reasonable over the long term, and safe. His GI here tested his Vitamin D levels during the very first round of testing, it was low normal at 31. That was all the proof I needed to get him on high dose Vitamin D, and I'm going to ask for his level to be checked when I go to the GI in August. John's CRP, ESR, and calprotectin have been super low since I implemented the vitamin D regime, AND he's growing dramatically. Connect the dots, combined with Paleo/SCD, it's really working well.

The last time I visited the GI, the Dr. discussed removed one of John's drugs. This was before all of the recent developments. Quite possibly in August he'll be off MTX or azathioprine...

John's case is important, we must remember, because he's a pediatric case. The signs and symptoms tend to be a bit more dramatic. The time considerations are much more intense: you can't dilly-dally with Crohn's in general, but with a kid, you have cognitive and physical development to deal with. He's in school, he is supposed to grow. When you're, 39 like me, who cares? Crohn's has ruined his eyesight (which has stopped changing dramatically since the dietary changes in '13) and his teeth. Of course, no cavities since he's been on Paleo and he's on pace to remove his braces by Jan/Feb '17. The fact that his teeth are cooperating is another piece of damning evidence.

I am so confident with what we're doing, I'm actually going back to work as a high school teacher in August. I haven't worked in 10 years, save for clinicals and my Master's. Since everything looks great, now is the time!

 

[Poppysocks]

Sounds great. I am a pediatric case myself. I was diagnosed when I was 8 and have always been pretty severe.

My problem was I didn't begin to look at diet till I was in my early mid 20s. After I was already finished growing.

His height and weight seems perfect for his age. He could probably even lose a few pounds at that height. I myself didn't hit 115 pounds until I was close to graduating high school. Of course this was while I was eating garbage day after day. And my parents let me.

Your son is lucky to have you, I wish my parents would have looked into my diet more as a child, of course they both worked so that didn't help.

Also, the fact that you made him start eating like this so young is so crucial. Because it adjusted his body to good food rather than garbage. A lot of crohnies have damaged their intestines so much over years and years of eating literal crap they can't even look at a raw vegetable without succumbing to pain.

 

[serrickson]

Sounds great. I am a pediatric case myself. I was diagnosed when I was 8 and have always been pretty severe.

My problem was I didn't begin to look at diet till I was in my early mid 20s. After I was already finished growing.

His height and weight seems perfect for his age. He could probably even lose a few pounds at that height. I myself didn't hit 115 pounds until I was close to graduating high school. Of course this was while I was eating garbage day after day. And my parents let me.

Your son is lucky to have you, I wish my parents would have looked into my diet more as a child, of course they both worked so that didn't help.

Also, the fact that you made him start eating like this so young is so crucial. Because it adjusted his body to good food rather than garbage. A lot of crohnies have damaged their intestines so much over years and years of eating literal crap they can't even look at a raw vegetable without succumbing to pain.

LOL--he could stand to lose a few pounds!! His BMI was pretty high but when he'd lose weight back in the day (ages 6-9) he'd lose SO much SO fast. Our German GI was fine with his weight and I agreed, as a counter to the loses. He lost 10lbs in 10 days or so when he was 9, from 80 to 70lbs. His pediatrician nearly had a heart attack. Steroids is a tough one, it makes you fat and stunts your height BUT will make you "better" or at least out of the hospital. We did that for 2 years, no regrets, he was messed up big time.

The thing we're noticing now is that his height is really catching up. I want to say he was 110lbs last September when we moved here, so he's gained 5lbs but also grew 2+, maybe 2.5?? I'll take it. My wife commented today about how he's thinned out--the way he's supposed to be doing at this age.

It's been a tough process. I don't hold anything against anyone, as I don't think we're better than anyone. Everybody has their own personal evolution, this way just happened to be ours. Society doesn't always work in our favor, advertising, holidays, etc. Peer pressure. Schools. I was lucky to have had the time to do things the way they turned out. I was lucky to see how people in other countries deal with this stuff--that was invaluable. We're not rich either, as I read some of these Paleo books etc. and develop resentment from time to time...

I was lucky to have had a Master's that required two clinicals in education, and a research thesis--a BIG help--and this forced a paradigm shift on me.

I was also lucky that John is a tough SOB and his siblings have been so supportive. He sees the impact he makes and that motivates him. He recently asked about the "ice cream" I made in Germany--coconut cream/milk blended with frozen strawberries. You have to eat it fresh on the spot!! Pretty good. Anyway, his 4yo sister, all she wants is ice cream, she's had the real stuff maybe once or twice ever LOL!

So we're at Walmart in the frozen fruit section, and my oldest daughter is like, are you making John's ice cream, dad?!?! And it was at that point my 4yo daughter goes "OOooo I want strawberries in MY ice cream!" and grabs a frozen bag of 100% strawberries for her ice cream. I wouldn't have EVER done that as a kid. John and his 3 siblings were so excited, it's stupid I guess, but cool to see how they look at food because of him. They've seen him sick, they've seen him better; they don't want to end up like him. They've been to most of his doctor visits, and I do that on purpose. His 4yo sister will ask for an apple and tell everybody "because it's healthy!"

You're 100% correct--you need to start early on the diet. I believe that. Once you go so far with eating a regular diet, the body just can't handle much change. John eats SO much fiber, it's crazy. Most Crohnies wouldn't dare!

His siblings eat dairy, grains--not much restriction--but I do have a few. I do not buy regular sugar at all, haven't in 3 years. None. I won't bake with it. If the kids want treats, I make ALL of them, and I use fruits or honey as a sweetener. John doesn't even get honey! With 4 kids, the honey bill gets big, fast! So you learn to keep the consumption low. THAT's how it was done back in the day.

I buy certain items organic--usually the dirty dozen--like strawberries etc. I buy bulk salad organic and prep it, and pretty much all fruits and veggies, at home.

I avoid all soy, BPA, the usual suspects and only use cast iron. It's tough at first but I won't use anything else but cast. It's all I've used for 3 years. My boiling pots are stainless, which is fine. I've been wanting to get the chlorine out of the water--very noticeable in Colorado. But that gets pricey. I'm going to get a big filtration cistern very soon. You do what you can, every little bit helps. People don't realize you don't have to be 100%. Priorities and do what you can (and can afford). I've been looking at water filtration for 2+ years, but at $300-$400, GEEZ! It'll happen, it just takes time. I've had other priorities.

 

[richard1353]

Hello. It is a good and exciting new for your kid using Paleo/SCD mixed diet in order to have a longer remission period. But I also read the book of the Breaking the Vicious Cycle. Do you think the fish oil and honey(like Manuka from New Zealand ) are the illegal food？ When can reintroduce them? In China, some people take the strict SCD diet with eating the fish oil and honey very time. Do they take the mistake? Need your warmly responses! thanks

 

[newdiagnosis]

Any advice on how to start the paleo diet? Kinda overwhelming since I haven't really cooked much until this point.

 

[hugh]

Any advice on how to start the paleo diet? Kinda overwhelming since I haven't really cooked much until this point.

It’s best to take it easy, transitioning slowly rather than sudden changes.
Diet is very individual,

The first thing would be to think about what paleo food is, and then of the paleo foods what are appropriate for you. (raw veg is very paleo but it might not be what you should eat).
I’ve seen people do all sorts of crazy shit because they don’t have a clue or they get heir information from extreme sites….

In terms of transitioning to paleo, give up one non-paleo thing at a time, replace it with real food that is well tolerated might be a good way to start, start with the biggies, gluten, processed foods, soda, sugar and vegetable oils

Remove non-paleo foods so there is no temptation, visit paleo websites for recipes (but be aware that replacing cookies with paleo cookies and eating 10 teaspoons of honey instead of ten teaspoons of sugar will not get you far)

Personally, well cooked vegies and slow cooked meats are what I do best on.
A small to moderate amount of fruit and nuts.

As a starting point I would look at the perfect health diet [1]. It is a fairly high carb (for paleo) diet and fairly easy (but it involves cooking with ingredients (they all involve cooking with ingredients)).
There can be huge benefit to restricting carbs later (a decrease in microbial activity, leading to a lessening of symptoms), but doing everything at once can cause problems.

-FODMAPS is a good way to identify foods that are causing distress , but it offers no solution apart from avoiding those foods that cause issues
-SCD/GAPS have very useful ideas on transitioning/introductory diets
-Paleo AIP (auto-immune protocol) is a very strict elimination diet, and there is a technique to slowly taper to that protocol over a six week period to make it easier and more achievable [2].
Interestingly, many find that just implementing the initial transition steps brings a dramatic improvement without ever getting to the AIP diet itself.


[1] http://perfecthealthdiet.com/the-diet/
I recommend reading Paul Jaminet’s blogs on gut disease to get a well thought out take on diet and supplements and see if it makes sense to you...

Bowel Disorders, Part I: About Gut Disease
“In our view, various dietary and nutritional tactics are critical, with toxin elimination and vitamin D normalization among the most important steps. Most medical treatments are likely to be ineffective if the diet is bad.
http://perfecthealthdiet.com/2010/07/ulcerative-colitis-a-devastating-gut-disease/

Bowel Disease, Part II: Healing the Gut By Eliminating Food Toxins
“Summary of Toxic Foods to Eliminate or Avoid
In short, bowel disease patients should eliminate toxic foods from their diet:
http://perfecthealthdiet.com/2010/0...i-healing-the-gut-by-eliminating-food-toxins/

Bowel Disease, Part III: Healing Through Nutrition
Summary
Although not a complete list of the vitamins and minerals which may be helpful to bowel disease patients, these are among the most important – and most often overlooked:
http://perfecthealthdiet.com/2010/07/bowel-disease-part-iii-healing-through-nutrition/

Bowel Disease, Part IV: Restoring Healthful Gut Flora
A healthy gut is a multi-species society: it is the cooperative product of the human body with trillions of bacterial cells from a thousand or more species.
An unhealthy gut is, more often than not, the product of a breakdown in this collaboration.
http://perfecthealthdiet.com/2010/07/bowel-disease-part-iv-restoring-healthful-gut-flora/

[2] Resources for the Paleo Autoimmune Protocol (AIP)
http://gutsybynature.com/resources-paleo-autoimmune-protocol-aip/