Healing From Lupus

Exercise or Stress?

2011-10-31T18:58:00.001-07:00

Doctors would repeatedly tell me that I should work out, and I would laugh. It didn't make sense to even try. I was always exhausted and body parts hurt. Back in June, I went in for a bunch of tests and didn't get a whole lot of answers. I read some articles about different kinds of stress and how to cope with them. Food is one source of stress - foods that are highly processed, high sugar, and hard to digest make our bodies work overtime on processing them. There's work stress, relationship stress, and then there's stress from putting strain on the body. A weird thing happens when we work out. The body gets stressed, but putting the body under a small amount of stress repeatedly makes the other normal stressors in our life seem smaller. Walking up and down stairs between meetings no longer causes cortisol levels to rise. Getting stressed out about a work project becomes more manageable. As stress levels decrease, health is bound to improve. Right?

I made the decision to try running, which is kind of humorous considering I decided this while reading an article on the couch while recovering from digestive issues and fatigue. I started out really small - I would run 30 seconds and walk 5 minutes, repeating 5 times. I stayed close to the house while running just in case my stomach kicked up. Each week or week and a half, I would try to increase the time running and decrease the time walking. I kept reading Brendan Brazier's Thrive Diet book and other articles my husband had laying around the house. Starting at such a small scale helped me feel like I was able to achieve something. Soon after, I ordered a Zumba workout set and started alternating days trying to run and working out to a Zumba workout.

Annie & I, before work outs began

The first few times I tried Zumba, I was exhausted after 20 minutes. I felt like it was a great workout. I would do 20 minute abs one day, run my 5 reps of 30 seconds the next, and do the 20 minute express workout after that. At the same time, I stayed on a vegan diet but decided to incorporate more foods. Some meals had cooked items (still a whole food, not packaged or processed in the traditional sense), I was eating fruit, and incorporating a few grains.

Fast forward 1.5 months and I hit a setback. Around mid-August, my knees started hurting. Each step was painful. I have chondro malaysia patella, and running with weak muscles around the knee is not good. The knee is already prone to tracking incorrectly, and as you continue to run, it just perpetuates the problem. At work, we have a great deal on our gym. It's only $15 for the membership, and the check is made out to a charity. A personal trainer there also had a pretty good deal running, so I started working out with the trainer. After working out with him in September, the pain in my knees is gone and I can run quite a bit. I was wondering if I would have to start out at a minute running and four minutes walking, but found I was able to run longer with all of the cardio with Zumba and alternating bike and rowing at the gym.

I'm not sure exactly when things started to shift for me. I hated working out. After a month and a half, I called a friend to work out with me just so I wouldn't give up. My progress was so slow, I didn't feel like I was getting anywhere. I started working out at the gym at lunch and noticed that the day got a little easier to handle. I would have a bad meeting and leave frustrated, then go work out and come back to my desk smiling. Working out in the middle of the day forces me to take a lunch and breaks up the monotony after sitting at my desk and working on reports or sitting in long meetings. It started mattering a little less that my weight wasn't changing at all and I couldn't see an awesome six pack after 5 months of working out more than I ever had in my life (although honestly - that wasn't saying much).

In October I ran my first 5k. I finished in 38 minutes alternating running 5 minutes and walking 3 minutes. A week ago I beat my best time and am down to 35.5 minutes. My warm up before lifting weights today was running a mile. All at once! I've noticed my stomach is more predictable and I have a LOT more energy. I come home and want to unwind, but my boss has noticed I am much more productive and no longer crash at 2pm. I don't plan on being as fast as Lance, but if this keeps up, I may be a runner eventually after all.

Annie waiting for her 5k to start the day after I ran mine

In other news, Annie ran the Dawg Dash with Lance in October and they did quite well. Annie can now run the 3 miles at a sub-6 minute pace and would have finished at 17:30 if someone hadn't steered her the wrong way and added an extra .25 miles ;)

Lance & Annie - post Dawg Dash

Migraines, Kidnies, and Livers...Oh My!

2011-03-15T18:37:00.000-07:00

Let's see... when we last left off, I was wondering if I had my first malar rash, but was still busy baking. I had started taking Diflucan. After 30 days, I was still symptomatic for systemic candida, so I moved back to a very strict diet and got a second prescription for Diflucan. I'm not sure if it was really a malar rash as it only really showed up for a few days when I took a shower, so I feel lucky.

Last week I started getting annoying headaches, and perfumes or colognes make them much worse. This weekend I went through a department store on the way to an adjoining restaurant and came down with the beginnings of a migraine about 3/4 of the way through the meal (I had eaten beforehand, so I know it wasn't something I ate). That turned into light sensitivity and nausea, and I staggered through a bookstore that was closing down. It was a great sale and I scored some cookbooks and The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets Nest. The migraine stuck around at varying degrees (from able to function with waves of nausea to curled in the fetal position) through Monday morning. Annie took advantage of my fatigue and we had a nice long nap on Sunday.

The perfume wasn't the only thing that set off my headache. I spent Saturday morning going through my closet and chest of drawers for Goodwill and cleared out a lot of space. And kicking up a lot of dust! I finally ordered our wedding and honeymoon pictures and got the big pictures in frames and started moving boxes around. Streaking through a department store and then sitting in the restaurant later that day, surrounded by food full of gluten, soy, and who knows what else were the final straws.

I'm really tired, have nausea, mid-back pain, and arthritis. I was thinking about how little blogging I've been doing, and that usually means that I don't have the energy to bake and write after coming home from work. This weekend's turn of events has forced me to seriously reconsider how I am going to proceed with The Discerning Kitchen. I was planning on working full time and baking during weekend evenings and going to farmers markets. I see now that is not realistic with my health. I'm going to keep trying, but I'm not sure what things will end up looking like.

Next steps are getting blood work to check liver and kidney function. My doctor has suggested a couple of medication options if the migraines continue. I'm hoping the diflucan has done its trick, but I have a suspicion that the intestinal ulcers have continued. I'll keep my fingers crossed.

In other news, CNN and other headlines drummed up news about the new Lupus medication that the FDA has approved. I would encourage people to read the research study carefully and weigh whether the risks are worth the reported benefits. This is how all medications should be approached. While I agree it's great that people are looking into the disease, the medication is not perfect. Understanding how the disease is triggered and progresses would be a great first step. Some of the theories are laughable. Recently my mom heard on the news that doctors wondered if lupus occurred more often in girls because we are kept so clean. I spent much of my childhood covered in dirt and playing in trees. I guess they have to start guessing somewhere.

Stress and Rashes

2011-01-28T19:59:00.001-08:00

Intellectually knowing that stress is a health problem waiting to happen and finding ways to constructively reduce stress effectively are two completely different things. Since Annie came into our home, I've definitely gotten more exercise, so that's a positive move in terms of reducing stress. Except when she eats furniture.

"Me, eat furniture?? Only because you made me wear
that shirt!"

I had to move to taking Diflucan. Nystatin didn't work and then Amphotericin didn't help my stomach woes either. For the most part I stick to a very low carbohydrate diet of mostly vegetables and plant based fats (nuts, olives, etc.), but every now and again I go wild and have some fruit.

This morning I freaked out a little when I looked in the mirror. I took a warm shower, got dressed, dried my hair, and looked in the mirror and I had a bright red rash across the bridge of my nose, spreading across my cheeks. It got substantially less noticeable a couple hours after the shower. My face feels a little tight across my face and it kind of feels like I've got a bit of a sunburn. I can barely see it now - it just looks like I got a little bit of sun on my nose and cheeks. If I move my glasses and touch my face at all, that seems to aggravate things, so I'm trying to leave it alone and hoping it was just a figment of my imagination. I have a more noticeable rash across the tops of my shoulders/back that's a faint pink with textured, raised skin. I hate to admit it, but for the first time I may have a malar rash.

I've been a bit tired the past couple days. I think it's because it's right before my period and things tend to get more stirred up then. Before then I felt like I was doing a little better. Some arthritis when a low or high pressure comes through, but alright overall. Now I feel a little worried and overwhelmed. This weekend I'm hosting a tasting party for my baked goods so people can rate them. I'm super excited for it. I'm also worried that I'll work myself into more of a flare. I've asked my boss for a couple days off next week. Work has been slower than usual, so it was a good time to ask and I can catch up on sleep.

My nephew has been spending a lot of time over at our house. He has a lot of allergies, and I'm always so happy to see him carrying around goodies. He loves my cookies and goes around the house like a little hamster with his cheeks stuffed full. Some day I'd love to have a bakery, but for now I'm happy figuring out "graham" crackers, cookies, and biscuits he can snack on during his preschool snacks and lunch.

I love having him around and listening to him run around the house with Lance yelling "Choo chooo!!!" when the pretend to be trains. Last night it was a little too much and I ended up half asleep on the couch while Lance held his hands and had him bounce up and down off the big yoga ball in the room. It would be amazing to have that much energy all the time!

Someone really liked his brand new toy truck!

My Take on Adya Clarity

2011-01-11T18:13:00.000-08:00

Recently I had someone submit a question. What were my results with Adya Clarity?

I should preface this by saying I have an abnormal immune system and don't usually respond to medications or supplements as expected. However, I did not expect to actually get worse. I took Adya Clarity for several months in conjunction with a very low glycemic/carbohydrate diet. I ate primarily vegetables with some nuts and seeds. After a few months I was so bored of my food and decided to try a piece of fruit. That was met with excruciating pain. Then I tried some cooked quinoa. Again, I felt a lot of pain.

I started to lose hair, was extremely fatigued, and my skin got really dry. I started getting desperate and listened to my doctor's suggestion that perhaps a little bit of meat once a week to every couple weeks may not be a bad idea. I struggled with my ethics and compromised them because I felt like I was dying. It's also easier to blame how you feel physically on something you can control - like food. Everything hurt. But meat was not the solution. In fact, it made matters worse. I tried some meat and ended up stuck in a baseball stadium stall evacuating both ends. It was epic.

I stayed on the low carbohydrate, vegan diet (I had no choice) and took stool tests to see if I had bacterial or parasite problems. Then my doctor put me on ketotifen. He felt that my mast cells were releasing histamines and attacking my small intestines in particular. Mast cells are most prevalent in the lungs, skin, and small intestines. I had developed asthma for the first time since my childhood. I had rashes on my back. My small intestines were killing me any time I tried to eat something out of my steadily restrictive diet.

The test results came back and showed that the candida I was trying to improve with Adya Clarity actually got far worse. I had intestinal bleeding and other results that indicated inflammation in the large and small intestines. The ketotifen calmed things down significantly and now I'm on Amphotericin, which is an anti-fungal that doesn't permeate the intestinal wall. I suspect that it's not going to do the trick. I was on Nystatin recently and it didn't clear things up. I'll probably end up moving on to Diflucan. I'm still on a vegan diet, and happily committed to a vegan lifestyle. Right now, I'm on day 2 of a green juice fast. My stomach is bugging me again as I fell off the wagon and had one cookie this weekend and then couldn't make it to the bus. I'm planning on at least 3 days of the green juice with plenty of probiotics and Amphotericin.

I figure even if I find a medication that works, I will probably have to stay on a low carb diet except for a few treats very occasionally and my doctor thinks I may have to go on a preventative (either herbal or medication). He feels my immune system is missing a factor that helps target candida. All those symptoms of hair loss, fatigue, dry skin? That wasn't really malnutrition. It was candida overgrowth.

I'm not someone who is out to disprove the claims about Adya Clarity. It may really work for some people. It didn't work for me.

Why I Avoid Carageenan

2011-01-08T20:09:00.000-08:00

Image Source: wikipedia.org

Carageenan is a linear sulfated polysaccharide extracted from red seaweeds, or rather Irish Moss to be exact. It is used in laboratories on animals to cause inflammation in wounds, in joints via injection, and is forcibly ingested by primates to cause IBS and intestinal ulcerations in order to test other medications (just go to pubmed.org and search "carageenan"). It has also been linked to colon cancer in lab animals and may alter the intestinal bacteria profile, enhancing the growth of bad bacteria or squashing the growth of good bacteria.

How does this impact you? Despite being prevalently used as a disease inducing substance in medical studies, carageenan is used extensively in foods as a texture aid and is considered a vegan alternative to gelatin. It's also in toothpaste, hairspray, and many other personal care products. It's in ice creams, dairy alternatives, non-dairy cheeses, lunch meats, candies, and several other food products.

Carageenan is a processed and refined product, so many raw foodists who use Irish Moss in their foods are confident that the unprocessed, raw seaweed doesn't have the same impact on their health. To be honest, I'm not as confident as I used to be. During processing, potassium hydroxide is added to the seaweed (5-8%) and the cellulose is removed. It is then concentrated through evaporation. Perhaps the concentration is what is so detrimental, or perhaps the potassium hydroxide compromises the molecular structure sufficiently to cause this inflammatory response by the immune system. My vote goes to the potassium hydroxide personally as it is very caustic on its own.

For a much more detailed and thoroughly cited article on Environmental Health Perspectives, click here.

Note: There are several structures of carageenan (as shown above), and I don't know that ALL types have been linked to these issues.

Rough Day at the Doctor's

2010-11-29T17:08:00.000-08:00

random moment of happiness: Annie showing her distaste for
pausing for the camera while there was snow to run in

I haven't published on this blog in quite a while. I've been trying to distract myself and de-stress more by focusing on my food blog. It was Vegan Month of Food, so I tried to blog as much as possible (I fell a bit short of my recipe per day, but I had a pretty good run).

The new medication, Ketotifen, has been helping quite a bit, but I've noticed my energy levels are going down and I'm having more gastrointestinal symptoms. I'm not in pain, but I'm having to run to the bathroom often and can't always make the ride in to work. I've noticed low grade fevers from time to time, my arthritis kicks up a bit, and I'm mentally foggy. I went to the doctor to review some test results. They made sense, but were a surprise.

I've mentioned before than LDN doesn't tend to work when I have Candida Albicans overgrowth in my intestines. I'm not sure why this is and my doctor and I tossed around a few theories. Does candida bind to receptors in the intestinal wall, preventing the medication from functioning properly? Does the LDN create more immune response and Herx die-off? I now have proof that my last flare leading up to starting the new medication was no exception to the candida vs. LDN problem. It just wasn't something I considered at the time.

I took this most recent g.i. ecology test in mid-October, before I started eating the food I write so much about on my food blog. This was back when I was vomiting and had severe pain any time I ate anything other than vegetables. My diet consisted of nuts, seeds, sprouts, sea vegetables, and vegetables. That was it. I wasn't consuming fruits, sugars, grains, legumes, mushrooms, cashews, peanuts, cooked food, or other plant material that is considered to encourage candida growth. I was also taking two Adya Clarity "Super Shots" per day regularly for a month prior to the test and on single shots for more than a month prior to that. I started out with a level 1 candida overgrowth on a scale of 5 and ended up at a 4 after months of eating a very strict diet and religiously taking Adya Clarity. This is the highest candida reading I've had to date.

Other issues that came up in the test:

Very elevated lysozyme reading (ongoing chronic colon inflammation indicator)
Borderline elevated Alpha Anti-Chymotrypsin (small intestine irritation)
Gliadin AB, SIgA Borderline positive reaction to gluten (which I haven't eaten in 6 years)
Abnormally low Chymotrypsin (Pancreatic enzyme markers)
Positive for intestinal bleeding

I am an individual with a compromised immune system because of my systemic lupus, so my results with Adya Clarity may not be typical. I'm just so disappointed that my condition actually worsened while I was on it. I was really hopeful after hearing the testimonials. I will not be continuing the product. I hope others who are trying it find relief. It just didn't work for me. I feel like a couple months trying the product and two tests showing my deterioration are conclusive enough for me to discontinue the product.

I was feeling very frustrated yesterday because I felt like I was doing everything "right" and actually got worse. My doctor feels that I may have an immune system flaw that prevents me from regulating candida levels in my gut. My liver hasn't been detoxing things very well and I've had some physical signs of liver stress, so we don't want to try Diflucan yet. I'm starting on a medication similar to Nystatin that is taken orally and does not permeate the intestinal walls. He said I may need to stay on a maintenance dose once or twice a week until we figure out how to knock out the candida. I'm a bit worried it's more a systemic issue and has gone beyond my intestines. In that case Diflucan may be worth the risk, but we're also going to try separating out the candida albicans in my allergy shots and taking that a few times a week to build up immunity and desensitize me a bit to it.

Well, I'm really tired and it's the last day of Vegan MoFo, so I better get back to the food....

Looks like it's back to eating lots and lots of greens

Vitamin Deficiencies and Medications

2010-10-30T09:23:00.000-07:00

I thought it might be good to give an update as to the supplements and medications I take to keep my lupus under control. I started a plant based diet in July of 2009, and was strictly plant based without any waffling until about a month ago when I was flaring and desperate to figure out if food was causing any issues. When lupus flares, I tend to panic and reach for any reason possible. I doubt I will be doing that in the future as nibbling off a family member's plate led to extreme discomfort and didn't help me at all. I have to be honest: I was relieved. I'd like to continue embracing veganism.

Albert, a pig who had a sad start and is enjoying life at Pigs Peace haven
Photo by Pigs Peace Sanctuary

My family has a pretty healthy diet by popular standards, but they are still very meat and potatoes. My gravitation towards a vegan diet was only comfortable when I was doing it for health reasons. As I started defining what my thoughts and beliefs were on the subject, I could sense they were becoming more and more uncomfortable. I was on a raw vegan diet for a time and then went to an extremely restricted diet over the past several months. I started trying the phase 1 diet in April and then followed that strictly (no fruit, mushrooms, cashews, grains) for several months. I noticed I started developing some odd symptoms - fatigue, my hair stopped growing, I dropped weight suddenly no matter what I was eating, etc. I assumed this was from malnutrition. I started eating more variety and it just made me sicker. I thought I had a candida issue, so I thought perhaps cooked veggies and a little *gasp* meat once a week may get me through this, but that just made things horribly worse. Then I started trying cooked grains and fruit. Anything new was giving me horrible upper g.i. pain, nausea, and diarrhea.

Me starting to get sick. Note skin is not clear, hair is oily, eye rims are red, color is bad.

For comparison - when I first started raw and was feeling well. Good skin tone.

My doctor figured out that my body was basically becoming "allergic" to anything I hadn't had consistent exposure to, and I was also becoming "allergic" to things I ate too often. Coconut is now off the table for some time, which is a serious bummer. I was also developing asthma for the first time in 20 years, and I started developing rashes. I also started reacting to my wedding ring. It felt like the area was burning and I developed a rash. He started me on Ketotifen. Ketotifen is a mast cell stabilizer and also an anti-histamine. I started out with one dose in the evening and gradually worked up to 3 doses per day. After about a week, I noticed vast improvement in digestion, comfort, and I could eat many vegan cooked items. It has continued to help, but I still do best on a high raw diet. Too much cooked can lead to discomfort from gas, but it's a huge improvement. The doctor believes that the flare up was a lupus flare, and not necessarily mastocytosis. We also have not done sufficient testing to determine whether that was the cause.

Yay for cooked food! Vegan, gluten free Maple Pecan Shortbread...Yum

When I thought my symptoms were being caused by malnutrition, I had a vitamin panel done. I was pleasantly surprised how little I was deficient in. I was deficient in B6, Asparagine (an amino acid) and my antioxidant function is not great. In each of these areas I was minimally deficient and the supplement repletion recommendations were so low, I couldn't find supplements in that dosage. I could have probably regained B6 and Asparagine by altering my diet, but I elected to start supplementing for B6 and supplement antioxidant function with vitamin E, N-Acetylcysteine (Glutathione), Selenium, vitamin D3, alpha-lipoic acid, and to continue with B12, vitamin C, digestive enzymes, probiotics, and MSM.

Finding vegan supplements can be a little difficult. Capsules are often made from animal byproducts, and I also usually stick to pharmacy grade that are independently tested. My B12 injections - I'm really not sure about how they are sourced. I recently ran out, so I plan on calling the pharmacy. If they are not vegan, I'll probably look into vegan sources because my levels are so high right now. Vitamin D was also very difficult for me to find because most vegan sources have a lot of food ingredients that I am allergic to (blueberries, cranberries, soy, etc.). I finally hit the jackpot at rawvegansource.com - they have a local store. I don't see it on their website, but if you call in, they can help. Vitamin C was another issue because it's usually sourced from corn. I found NOW brand Tru-C vegan capsules, which I pair with MSM for optimum function.

Vitamin E was another tricky one for me because it's often sourced from soy. I am very allergic to soy! Rawvegansource.com had a rice based formula that I put in my smoothies.

Brown Rice based vitamin E supplement from rawvegansource.com

All in all, it seems like a lot of powders and pills, but I'm hoping the digestive enzymes will help me start to absorb things on my own. Testing for nutritional deficiencies on ANY diet is a good idea. I'm sure I was far more deficient several years ago when I started a whole food, restricted non-plant based diet. Each person responds differently to diet changes. Supposedly, according to my blood type I should not be vegan, but it is completely possible to thrive on a plant-based diet on any blood type. I also thought it would be impossible with an allergy to soy, but it is completely possible! It all depends on what you eat - fats, carbohydrates, and other nutrients should be balanced according to your personal needs, not what works for someone else. I know vegans who thrive on primarily fruit, whereas I do poorly on high fruit and need a solid amount of fats in my diet.

One last thought. Without low dose naltrexone, I would be in a world of hurt. It has helped me avoid prednisone, methotrexate, anti-malarials, and all of the side-effects and organ damage that can come with them. I think it is so important for people to educate themselves and not give up when facing a major health issue. Follow your doctor's advice, but don't be afraid to question them, educate yourself, and suggest alternative treatments for them to consider. I hated prednisone! The side effects were hard on me and my husband (I got REALLY irritable). Now I have better quality of life, even with the bumps I hit along the way.

Well, I've rambled on enough. Time to fix breakfast and spend time with friends and family.

Back from Travel

2010-10-28T17:39:00.000-07:00

Traveling with severe food allergies is difficult, especially right after a lupus flare up that isn't 100% under control. I think I did really well in the food department, although next time I hope to have access to a rental car (more fresh foods). The long hours were wearing as was trudging around an airport and socializing with a ton of people. I am a bit of an introvert - I loved seeing old friends and making some new acquaintances, but I was happy to curl up with a book after dinner a couple hours of socializing.

The weather wasn't the greatest in Chicago, but that didn't matter much because most of the time was spent in conference rooms. By day four, my joints were hurting and my stomach bloated up like crazy, which wasn't comfortable on the plane ride home.

Here is a link to how I coped with traveling with food allergies.

I missed Lance and Annie. Annie was really happy to see me and wriggled all over my lap on the way home. We usually keep her in a kennel in the car for safety reasons, but this was an exception. I guess she also got to sleep on the bed while I was gone. Not a good thing for Lance's allergies, but Annie seems to have adjusted.

Annie looking cute while waiting for a ball

Her fav. pastime is fetch now

One good thing about being out of town was realizing how much I love fresh foods. Baked goods have been a big focus lately, but I really wish to maintain a high raw diet.

Lance cleaned out the fridge! It's time to go grocery shopping. He gets to drive though...I'm so tired I can't see straight.

False Start, Tomatoes, and Comfort Food

2010-10-18T19:51:00.000-07:00

Today was almost my first day back at work. I obtained my Medical Release to Work document, faxed it to two locations, but had to wait for corporate processing before I could officially start, so I got to turn around and go back home. I can't say I was terribly depressed about it, but I was a little bummed because I was ready to start working. I stopped by Whole Foods on the way home to pick up some required ingredients for jambalaya (vegan ingredients) for Lance and a couple items we needed. We go through peanut butter like nobody's business - mostly because Annie NEEDS her kongs to be stuffed with lots of peanut butter. She was sleeping on the couch when I got home and happy to have someone in the house, although she spent plenty of time in a different room sleeping on her new bed - the futon in the spare bedroom.

Annie: hunting for bugs

Annie: rolling on bugs

Annie: Zen Master

I made some tomato sauce from whole tomatoes and chopped up a bunch of peppers, onion, and celery and put a bunch of ingredients in the crock pot to simmer while Lance was still at work.

Tomatoes, bell peppers and a serrano chilli

8 tomatoes - maybe 2 cups of sauce

It always amazes me how much tomatoes cook down. I consistently expect to have "plenty of extra" for marinara, but usually end up pouring the entire batch into the crock pot. Canned tomatoes are so bad for people. Plastics are used to line tin cans. Because tomatoes have high acid content, they eat away at the plastic lining and BPAs enter the tomatoes. Lance is pretty good about buying tomato sauces in glass jars, but when we need a big batch of tomato sauce for a dish, I just buy a lot of tomatoes from the produce section, skin them and cook them down.

I did get to try a new technique for de-coring/de-seeding bell peppers. If you smack the flat of your hand against the top of the pepper, the stem area has a pressure perimeter that just cracks open. Then I just had to grab the stem and pull, and most of the seeds followed. Pretty slick.

No stems, no seeds...

I had some left-over vegan cream of mushroom soup (YUM) and some stir-fry with a peanut sauce for lunch. Annie and I watched The Lovely Bones, which I would recommend reading. The novel was amazing. The director did a decent job, but really tamed the content. I thought the sexuality and brutality of the book made it more raw and realistic. It's not a happy-go-lucky read, but it's very good. I wasn't sure how I felt about the concept of an "inbetween", a realm between here and heaven that people are stuck in as they resolve their feelings about life and death. I did feel the author did a very good job of showing the human side of all of the characters, even those most of us would not relate to very well. The insight into the family's coping mechanisms after the girl's death made me feel a mixture of morbid interest and discomfort.

After watching the movie, I got back to work in the kitchen and made some pumpkin bread and a butternut lentil curry. I don't go near jambalaya or anything with tomatoes or bell peppers. Like many people with lupus, I do not do well with the nightshade family. I can get away a little bit of cayenne or hot chillies, but I develop joint pain if I overdo even those. I have been craving hot soups lately and I just go with the flow. I think my joints are a little sore because of the cold weather and I am tired and have the sniffles, especially when I walk outside. I think the ketotifen is helping with my breathing, but because it's usually easier to breathe, I notice when my asthma is kicking up more now. When things come on slowly and other problems are more prevalent, it's amazing what I fail to notice until it improves.

butternut squash lentil curry

Making better food choices

2010-10-14T12:32:00.000-07:00

Food is my weakness. I associate foods with fond memories, and am an emotional eater. I've struggled with weight problems in the past, primarily because of poor food choices. As my health deteriorated, my food allergies and intolerances came to the forefront and forced me to make some really healthy changes in my diet. Eventually it led me to choosing a completely plant-based diet and a new way of life. I still struggle with my views on veganism and how much of a role it plays in my life. Spiritually, I am not vegan, but many of my ethics/opinions are still in line with veganism. I abhor how animals are treated in the "food industry" and clothing industry. My big blocks to completely embracing veganism have to do with my dogs and health. I can't find a vitamin D supplement that I'm not allergic to that is vegan. All of the vegan D supplements out there have corn, blueberries, or something else I am allergic to (if someone knows of brand without soy, corn, blueberries, strawberries, or gluten, please let me know).

I have a food blog and absolutely love coming up with new recipes. Experienced cooks say it's impossible to have vegan gluten free baked goods without questionable added ingredients, and I just refuse to believe I have to use ingredients like xantham, carageenan, and guar gum, let alone dairy or eggs. The drawback has been how far I've allowed myself to stray from a raw vegan diet. At first I was really good and would blind bake everything, letting my husband tell me how things turned out. Over time, that behavior evolved into eating my share of the baked goods. My skin is starting to show the signs of gastrointestinal abuse from the sugars and starches.

Mmm..gluten free vegan choclate banana tease bread

Yesterday I had some raw vegan snacks and breakfast, and this morning I started
off on the right foot with a green smoothie. Usually I dread them, but I was actually craving greens this morning and decided to listen to my body. I think the sweets in my system have just been too much, even though my energy levels are still good. My dogs actually really enjoy green smoothies. Yesterday they had kale with apple, and this morning we shared lettuce greens with banana. After the dogs have their share, I add in spirulina, maca, and probiotics for myself.

Champ and Annie, a rare quiet moment

I'm not sure what the pull towards cooked food has been for me lately. I think I just got tired of raw and needed a break. I don't seem to do well when my diet is restricted too much - it's hard to reintroduce foods and I also develop intolerances to foods I eat too much. I do like how much energy can come with a raw diet, so I'm trying to crawl back to a high raw diet. Moderation is something I struggle with on a regular basis, and it applies to all aspects of my life. I don't ease in to anything.

Despite flaring, I still feel that the LDN helps. The ketotifen has also been helping and I am up to 3 times a day. I hate taking medications at all, but if it helps me function, I'm willing to do it. I have enjoyed more energy the past couple of days and have been painting again. I'm looking forward to going back to work.

Doctor Visit, Vet Visit, and Food Stat

2010-10-12T16:51:00.000-07:00

I went to see the doctor today and get a nutrition IV. I am doing so much better than last week and have more energy, so I asked for a release form to go back to work on Monday. I'm going a little stir crazy at home, and may try to organize a little more around here. We still have a couple boxes that were never unpacked, and it's a good time to go through my stuff to see what needs to be donated. And there's always going through books to turn in for credit for more cookbooks and art books :D Yay.

I talked to the doctor a bit and he didn't want to label the flare up it mastocytosis because it can be very violent and deadly. He'd rather stick with "twitchy" mast cells, and I have lupus so weird s#$@ is bound to happen. I've been rather fixated with labels lately and wanted to know what was wrong, but I'm content with knowing that the ketotifen is helping and I feel better. It's nice to be able to drive again!

Champ went to the vet today. There are foxtails at Magnuson off-leash park, and apparently the burs can burrow through skin. Champ had a cyst I found last week and I didn't think much of it, but after going to the park and seeing signs up warning others after an expensive canine surgery, I thought it best to go in. The vet wasn't sure if it was just a cyst, so I have to poke some scissor type things in the wound to see if it is getting shallower. Fun for Champ! Poor boy.

image of a foxtail (variety of grass seeds)

After we got home, I heard an absolutely frightening food statistic on Unwrapped. Under 1/3 of Americans make their meals from scratch! Holy crap! How is that even possible? I guess I've been making all of my meals from whole foods since...2004. In college I definitely would have fallen under the 2/3, but growing up, my family always had a big dinner with meat, some kind of starch, vegetables, and additional salad. Meat is not on the menu for me anymore, but I guess by comparison we were doing pretty darn well. Now I guess at least part of the meal is dumped out of a jar, can, bag, or box. Yuck!

I understand that pre-made food is convenient, but throwing a meal in the crock pot, or putting together a salad for lunch isn't that time consuming. I am lucky that I really enjoy cooking and changing ingredients around, so I really don't mind it. That isn't to say that on days when I'm really tired and forgot to plan ahead I don't wish there was some health food drive through I could stop by. On those days I'm a little later to work. I guess I can't judge too harshly because I probably would cave to convenience on occasion if I could, but 2/3? Really? Do people not know how to cook anymore? I'd love to hear from others because this is blowing my mind. My husband wasn't surprised because before we got married it was mac n' cheese, pizza, and his "from scratch" was cooked meat and veggies in a tortilla wrap (not scratch).

I spoke too soon....

2010-10-10T17:47:00.001-07:00

I have angered the stomach gods with my overly optimistic and simplistic view of how my stomach was receiving cooked food and fruit. This resulted in subsequent praying to the porcelain gods.

I tend to do this thing where if I'm feeling a little better, I'm cured. Denial works in many ways, and minimalism is my favorite. Just this morning, my husband was slightly annoyed that he had to remind me how sick I was just last week. My answer? "But I feel better right-now-this-minute!"

I've had the first of two ketotifen doses of the night, so I better get offline before I say something REALLY silly.

Feeling better and pumpkins

2010-10-10T13:06:00.000-07:00

The past week has been spent primarily sleeping, which was really nice. I've spent the week on the couch surrounded by cook books, cooking magazines, and watching the food network. Annie has been pretty good, although usually insists laying on me while I'm curled up on the couch. Champ has spent the week here, which has been good because my nephew has a new found interest in him, and Champ doesn't particularly care for the attention of an 18-month-old toddler that doesn't always know what "gentle!!!" means.

On Wednesday, I finally felt like cooking dinner, which was a good thing. Most other meals are thrown in a blender or just rough chopped and eaten raw. Lance is awesome, but food isn't his forte unless it's stuffed in a wrap or sandwich. I know I'm sick when I don't care to be in the kitchen.

A rare moment...Annie NOT trying to crawl on my head

The ketotifen made me really, really tired as predicted. I slept about 20 hours the day after my first dose, and that sleep time gradually reduced each day. I'm up to 2 doses and finally feeling OK on 12 hours of sleep. I didn't realize that I was having asthma problems until it became apparent that the medication was making it much, much easier to breathe. I was taking shallow breaths and I wheeze a bit, especially in the morning after getting out of bed. My allergy to mold and dust was probably contributing to a mast cell break down of sorts. The medication helps tremendously with my food issues. I've been able to eat fruit and cooked grains without pain.

My doctor isn't sure why my mast cells went bonkers or I started developing allergies to all foods I wasn't "desensitized" to or exposed to on a daily basis. The medication I am on isn't a short term prescription, and I continue to push what I am eating on a daily basis. I try not to overdo things. I'm just happy I can have pears, bananas, and raspberries again. I'm waiting on more tests to see if I still have bacterial issues in my intestines - I was on a lot of antibiotics and nystatin a while back and things never really calmed down. I'm hoping I don't have a candida issue still because then I'll have to go on a restricted diet again in addition to the medication or even take Diflucan. I'm still on the Adya Clarity and my doctor is worried about trying anything else right now to get rid of the heavy metals. I guess we'll deal with the most pressing issue at a time and go from there.

I'm hoping I will be OK driving soon because Lance can't keep taking time off work and I need to get Champ to the vet and myself in for another IV treatment. I think I should be OK to go back to work after next week and am hoping they are OK with weekly IV treatments. I left at a really stressful/busy time, so I am hoping to get back soon. I guess I'll worry about that later.

Champ, insisting he doesn't need to go to the vet

This weekend I knew I was feeling better because I wanted to bake again. Lance helped me with a pumpkin pie along side our feast with my family. It was fun to have my family over, and my mom helped a lot in the kitchen, especially the clean up afterwards. That was a good thing - I had to take a dose of the ketotifen and I was wiped out and staring at a blank space on the table by the end of the night. I'm sure I was quite the conversationalist. This morning I used some of the leftovers to make some gluten free vegan donuts. Lance has been happy I'm feeling better - especially because of the food. I think he's also very glad I'm not sneaking off in the night to writhe on the bathroom floor.

Mmm...vegan donuts with powdered sugar

I finally decided to go 100% vegan with my gluten free food blog. I am ethically vegan, but definitely not to the extent or for the same reasons as many. Plus my dogs are not vegan, and my husband is just starting to enjoy some vegan meals (he will never go vegan, and that's fine), so I suppose by association you can't label me vegan either. I am one of those people who started for health reasons, and continued because of research - which probably makes me more prone to waffling on the subject. I admire people who are dead set in their convictions, but the world is not black and white anymore to me. I just can't view a fish as my equal and don't view consuming them as morally repugnant. Now genetically modifying them and feeding them soy and corn - that's disgusting to me.

Sleepy...

2010-10-04T09:46:00.000-07:00

Well, I finally allowed myself to take medical leave. I have to get to a certain level of illness before I feel justified. Apparently, that meant alternating nights on the bathroom floor.

I went to see my doctor Thursday and picked up a prescription for Ketotifen. Traditionally it was used to treat itchy eyes and asthma symptoms, but it's a mast cell stabilizer and antihistamine and he hopes it will calm the mast cells in my gastrointestinal tract. I think my doctor suspects I have systemic mastocytosis. He thinks that my body has essentially developed an allergy to the food I cut out for a while thinking I was helping a systemic candida issue. Systemic mastocytosis is very rare. The intestines, skin and lungs all have the most mast cells in our body. My small intestines are extremely painful, I have nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea, and this all happens after I try to eat a small amount of foods I'm not used to whether it be fruit or cooked vegetables and grains (not gluten, I'm just trying amaranth and a couple others). I am also becoming allergic to things that I wasn't allergic to. Tree nuts are starting to bother me and kick up asthma, which I haven't had an issue with since I was a little girl. I'm also getting tested for intestinal parasites and bacterial imbalances to check everything out.

I'm supposed to take Ketotifen up to 4 times a day, but just starting out at once a day knocked me on my backside. I think I've been sleeping 16-20 hours a day. The pharmacist and doctor warned me that was probably going to happen for the first three days. I feel a little more awake today, but really want to crawl back into bed.

This week I start some I.V. treatment and just do more tests. Hopefully I'll be better soon. I was hoping to miss work only for a couple weeks, but I'm not sure how realistic that is. I don't even feel like cooking - and that's usually my coping mechanism. This morning I did make some tasty porridge out of amaranth, hemp milk, raisins, and spices. We'll see how that settles.

You Don't Look Sick to Me

2010-09-30T18:59:00.000-07:00

Ah.... one of my least favorite phrases. Having a chronic illness when at any age is rough, but when you are young it's harder for people, even doctors, to believe.

Last night I was in a lot of pain and slept on the bathroom floor. Whenever I eat cooked food or fruit (yesterday it was just some fruit), I get an intense pain in my stomach that roves. Then my body attempts to purge whatever I ate. It's not fun. Well, it's not fun for me. Annie thought it was great! Bathroom slumber party! She was actually really sweet. Things got pretty bad and I was crying and rocking back and forth and she climbed in my lap and tried to lick all the tears. When things settled down a bit, she curled up next to me on the floor while I napped. She was not cooperative when I finally crawled into bed at 4am and wanted her to go in her kennel.

Lance wanted to take me into the hospital, but I refused. There wasn't much they could do. Most likely they would want to give me something for the pain and then send me home with a recommendation that I see a gastroenterologist. And of course I would hear the usual, "your blood work looks like it's from someone really sick, but you don't look that sick to me." Or my favorite, "Are you feeling ill, because you don't look really sick?" Then they ask my husband if I'm normally pale, he says yes but not that pale. Then they ask him a few more questions to confirm I feel crappy. I just didn't want to have to convince someone I felt horrible, and I knew that if I waited long enough, things would die down. I don't go to the ER without cause. I don't enjoy it, and to be at the point I'm willing to deal with all the questions and people poking at me with needles, I have to feel really, really awful. Last time I went to the ER, I was blacking out whenever I stood up. In retrospect, I really shouldn't have waited that long.

This morning it was, needless to say, a little hard to wake up. Annie crawled under the covers and then started jumping on my head. That woke me up and I was able to get into work at a decent time. My doctor was able to fit me in the afternoon and my husband drove me in. It was really nice that Lance was able to take me into the doctor because I'm not sure I trusted myself to drive. My doctor was very compassionate and encouraged me to take some medical leave. My stomach has been flaring for at least 3 weeks and I have a lot of signs of malnutrition (my period was 3 weeks late, my hair stopped growing, bruising, etc.). He's not sure what all is going on, but it testing me again for parasites and starting me on a medication to calm down the histamines and mast cells in my g.i. tract. He feels that the immune cells in my g.i. tract do not recognized the food I avoided for the past several months as food anymore. Essentially I'm allergic to most foods. An allergy is an inappropriate immune response to something that is naturally occurring. I would say that's what is probably happening.

Over the next few days, I will be gathering my paperwork and getting ready to start this new medication. Because it does counteract histamines, I'm told it will make me very drowsy. It may take a couple months to work properly. I'm really hungry, but my stomach hurts a lot. I'm not sure what to eat. I'm tired.

Next week I'm going to get an IV to help get some intravenous nourishment. I have medical tests being run and more to take. If I take some leave time, I'd like to keep working at the heavy metal detox and getting some more foods into my diet without a lot of pain. Being so tired all the time really drains me of any resilience. Work is harder and mistakes happen more often (and when they do they feel like a much bigger deal). Typically I have a very strict work ethic and need to succeed, but lately I'm just trying to get through the day and function.

Systemic lupus can attack any organ system at a time, so the symptoms I'm having aren't a far reach. Other symptoms have been flaring too. Arthritis, fatigue, etc. Weight loss and nausea are really common, and I wonder what is at the bottom of it all. Maybe these mast cells and histamines are a problem for others with lupus.

Weekend Events and Rest

2010-09-27T15:03:00.001-07:00

Lupus is a pain in the backside to live with sometimes. I've been having food issues lately. Sometimes I'm OK with cooked food and other times I'm sleeping on the bathroom floor because of the nausea. I think the raw diet spoiled my digestion a bit and I just can't handle much cooked food - as if my body doesn't recognize it as food anymore and can't handle the enzyme demands. I just really have mixed feelings on the subject right now. Part of me says, "That's because raw is the best, most sustainable way to go!" and the other part of me says, "Your period stopped, your hair stopped growing, and you have other signs of malnutrition. Work through this and take your time - develop some patience and moderation!" I still want to include some cooked food so I can get more iron and variety, so I just need to show more moderation. I've noticed that I eat really large quantities of vegetables, so my portion sizing is off with cooked food. If I have small portions, I'm OK, but it's hard for me to understand what full feels like. Certain food combinations are also not working for me. Black beans and long grain brown rice is apparently a big no-no. It's too complex and I spent Thursday night on the bathroom floor and Friday on the couch with a lot of fatigue and nausea. Annie was pretty good about the lack of activity and we both napped together on the couch.

If I have much cooked, I also get more tired and my arthritis can kick up more. I really noticed that aspect at the party - I tried to do too much and my joints were complaining. I must have looked a little odd around friends this weekend leaning against a wall at an odd angle, but it helped take the pressure off of part of my joints so oh well :P

Although I have sounded a bit negative lately, deep down I know I'm finding ways to feel well. This may always be a challenge for me, but I'm up for it. My doctor has been fabulous and the heavy metal toxicity was a big find for me. Treating it has been a challenge, but I'm working hard and will do what I need to do. Having lupus means rolling with the punches and then finding a way to improve from them. Finding ways to cope with food issues is just something I need to learn and will do.

This weekend I hosted a gluten free baking party at my house. A friend of mine brought some of her recipes and we had our foodie friends come over and rate the recipes. It was great fun and a fabulous way to get feedback. For a link to the recipes and reviews, click here.

Bitt brought over some fantastic Kombucha! Sometimes kombucha is just too sugary and I feel that the sugar content outweighs the benefits that should come with this healing drink. Bitt's Brew was perfection - it had that lovely vinegar-y smell and was a nice bitter flavor that I really enjoy. It really was the thing to cut the sweet taste and a great way to cut the sugar buzz. She has some great recipes on her blog that are healthful and delicious (love the lemon bars!!).

We had such a wide array of sweets. I tried to be careful to just take a few bites, but I had a little more than ideal. I'm convinced the only reason I feel so well today is the nice big bowl of soy free miso soup, the kombucha, and the veggies I craved so much afterward. I heard from Bitt and she had a similar urge for veggies, and I really feel our bodies are quite wise if we listen to them. Although this body is thinking of lemon cake right now. Hmmm... Our bodies are wise until it comes to sweets! :)

Annie was a hit and made the social rounds. It was so funny watching her go from person to person, as if to make sure she was playing the proper hostess role and devoting enough time to each person. She loved her people time!

Having dogs is really a blessing. Annie has forced me to get my minimum of 20 minutes of walking a day and then some. Walking around the neighborhood is even more enjoyable. I notice the flowers and birds chirping more because Annie stops to sniff. Dogs have such a joie de vivre, making each thing so interesting. They really know how to live in the now and enjoy each moment, something I'd like to imitate a bit more in life. Sometimes I would like to walk a bit faster, but Annie has to check out everything. We take a similar route around the neighborhood, but she always seems to find something new to be enthralled with. She has this little huntress mode she goes into and will stalk and pounce on bugs, and it's pretty hilarious watching her crouch and try to sneak up on the squirrels and crows in the neighborhood. I definitely notice the wildlife in our quasi-suburban neighborhood now.

Champ is a bit more straight forward than Annie when it comes to "hunting." He just tries to make a run for it and you can watch him calculating how to get where ever his target has retreated. He seems like an old man compared to Annie, unless he sees a squirrel and then it's hard for me to keep him calm. He's a bit slow and arthritic sometimes. We both prefer to walk around the house to avoid steps on humid days. He still is in good spirits and can walk further than my family's 5-year-old Bernese Mountain Dog on most days. He and Annie are getting along well now, but you can tell he enjoys his alone time with me when Lance and Annie go to training class. He doesn't seem to understand why she had to come along, but they both have accepted they have to coexist peacefully.

Princess Destructo

2010-09-21T22:08:00.001-07:00

"Who are you calling a pee bag? I'm adorable!"

Annie is very cute. She's also a dynamic chewer, and now we know she's prolific pee artist. Since Annie is left alone for 8 hours out of the day, I really can't get mad, but I don't enjoy the house smelling like a kennel either. That is why I'm planning on spending my Friday off with a newly purchased black light, a gallon of enzyme cleaner, and 80 piddle pads. I am a wild woman! On the up side, it will keep me out of the bars (ha ha).

Lance runs Annie in the morning (she's up to 4 miles now). We wait a while before I feed her and then we go on a walk. If she's still high energy, we'll do some fetch. We leave kong toys with food around the house, gate her in the living room and dining room, leave her some toys and hope for the best. We put piddle pads down in the areas we know she frequents, but she prefers to shred them rather than use them. I image shredding piddle pads is more fun than peeing on them.

Today she left us an extra awesome surprise and peed all over our white bench. The picture was taken after Lance hosed on the enzyme cleaner. No, she doesn't get punished when we get home (we don't know when it took place and she would have no clue why we were upset), and I don't think it's a revenge tactic. It's a sign that she's alone too long and we need to look into a dog walker after she gets over her leash phobia.

I'm thinking that I probably should have bought a few gallons of enzyme cleaner. I really hope it works. I also purchased enough piddle pads to cover the entire area she's in during the day. Ideally I would be able to stay home with her all day, but we need to be able to afford to feed her! Things will work out. Baby steps.

Well, I intended to blog a little more tonight, but if I don't get offline now, I'll never get up in the morning.

Do as I say, not as I do!

2010-09-20T20:20:00.001-07:00

I have always loved baking. The only think I've loved more than baking is probably eating! Food is an odd thing for me. It causes me a lot of comfort. I have felt great loss because of it (and gain at one point in my life, hee hee). It frustrates me, and it allows me to escape from difficult things I should be focusing on. As a child I had a lot of serious food allergies. My symptoms were pretty typical - wheezing, runny nose, swollen eyes, hives, etc. They went away for a while during puberty and then came back as digestive complaints at first and now I'm noticing asthma again. But somehow I'm always drawn to it.

I think my fascination with food started when I was really young. I had a bit of a difficult childhood, but I always loved going to my grandparents' house. My grandmother was always baking and I would get lost in her kitchen for hours. I must have driven her nuts because I talked nearly the whole time. She always had a lot of patience and let me participate (even if it meant me wearing half of what was meant for the pan). Fast forward 25 years, and I'm in a kitchen baking food I rarely eat just to be baking and around the aromas that come with creating new things.

My latest allergy development caused me to lose it a bit. I am so disciplined about food. It had been 2 months since I had any fruit or sweetener (agave, yacon, anything). I decided that I was going to eat what I wanted and deal with the consequences. The consequences really weren't that bad. My stomach bugged me a little after the waffles, but things calmed down and I ate a big range of stuff that I shouldn't have.

This morning I thought it would catch up with me, but I was still feeling pretty good. I had some delicious gluten free, vegan lemon loaf I made this weekend for breakfast and some quinoa salad for lunch. I was feeling tired, but thought that overall I was doing well. Then I looked in the mirror. Dark circles loomed under my eyes and I looked pale. When I got home I downed a bunch of guacamole with vegetables, dulse, and some raw olives. The circles have died down quite a bit, so I think it's time for me to re-learn moderation. I've basked in the glory of baked goods and it's time to calm down and only indulge in a small amount on rare occasions. I say good luck to me :)

Happy Anniversary!

2010-09-19T09:12:00.001-07:00

The last 48 hours have been fun and food filled. We went to a sports game, had fun with Annie, and had many quality meals.

Some Sad News

It appears I'm developing an allergy to tree nuts. This is devastating news for a raw vegan. Food allergies and intolerances are a pretty normal part of life for many people with lupus. It is really important to keep a wide variety of foods in your diet with a lot of rotation. This is especially important if you love that food. The more you like it, the less frequently you should have it if you are prone to food allergies and intolerances. Why? The more your body is exposed to something, the greater chance you have that your body will stop recognizing it as a food. This is an extremely unscientific way to put this concept. For more information on rotation diets to avoid further allergies, click here to go to the foodallergy.org site. It's a fairly straight forward explanation.

Why have I not been following this diet? I have been on a Phase I low glycemic diet with a ton of food allergies. I had to cut out a lot of the allowable foods, and by the time I did that, I wasn't left with a whole lot. I've decided that including cooked vegan foods that include grains on the lower end of the glycemic index and some legumes mixed in with high raw is going to have to work for me. More on that later.

The Mariners

We went to the Mariners v. Texas Rangers game on Friday night. It just happened to be Irish Heritage night, which was appropriate for Lance as he is 5/8 Irish. His friends we went with and I were all disappointed that he didn't join in and dance a jig when the heritage dancers were up doing their thing.

We had fantastic seats I purchased at a very reasonable price from the company I work for. We were in the first row on level three, right behind Home Plate. These aren't the nosebleed seats we usually spring for. Even on the third level, it was a great vantage point
Safeco Field actually has a gluten free vendor! Lance of course figured that out after he purchased a Bento Box with Teryaki. Most soy products contain wheat gluten for texture and as a binder/stabilizer. Lance was only intending to test soy to see if he could reintroduce it to his diet. Fortunately, he reacted very little - he was just tired the next day. I am not a fan of soy for many reasons, so I can't say I'm too sad that it will be a "just on rare occasion" food for Lance.

Food Fest!

As I mentioned, I have decided cooked foods are going to have to be tolerated. I also decided to introduce them with a bang, which is never really a good idea. It's always best to introduce foods that you haven't had in a long time in small amounts. I'm apparently just not that person :) And it was my anniversary and I decided that was an excellent excuse to cheat on my diet.

For breakfast, we had Teff Waffles. Those didn't sit so well in my stomach and I had to use the bathroom quite a few times at Manna Mills when we made a baking pit stop. I felt fine throughout the day, so I think my body needs time to readjust. We also stopped by Whole Foods and picked up quite a few things for our meal later in the day.

Teff Waffles

I read a review on another gluten free blog for Udi's gluten free bread, and I'm glad I did! Lance loved the bread and had a couple sandwiches, something he had been missing for the past two months.

For dinner, we made quite the spread and Lance helped a lot with food prep. I had a really nice quinoa salad with a lot of vegetables, herbs and pinto beans. We had sauteed kale with a little garlic and olive oil, and Lance had scallops in a white wine sauce (with a little white wine on the side). Vegans and non-vegans can coexist very peacefully as long as you never demand or expect the other person to change. As long as you are both respectful, it works out well and we enjoy a lot of our meals together. Usually he has to make the meat portion, but since he figured out his food allergies, I've been helping more with food prep. The other items he eats (baked goods and any side dishes) we can share and are vegan. His diet is actually pretty high vegan content. It took me a while to figure this philosophy out and apply it, but we're both glad I did. I told him the only time I'd force him to go mostly vegan is if in 40 years he has cholesterol or heart problems :)

A really happy Lance next to the spread of food we prepared.

The piece de resistance was our dessert. My mom accidentally threw away our wedding cake, so I made us chocolate cupcakes (I made them without cane sugar and used a date paste and a little agave instead) with frosting that were vegan, gluten free, soy free, nut free, and corn free.

I don't have a piping bag, so I attempted a few
with a zip lock back with a hole cut in the corner
and the rest were frosted the good old fashioned
way - a butter knife

It actually ended up being a good thing that Mom threw out the cake. After purchasing the establishment's recipe book, it had some ingredients I'm allergic to (including corn starch in the frosting). This way I knew what I was eating was OK - minus candida issues.
I Think The Adya Clarity Is Working!

So, after all of that delicious food, I expected to have a lot of intestinal pain and fatigue today. I don't have either! A couple weeks ago I would have been writhing in pain the same night I ate that stuff, and I had a lot of energy this morning and went walking at a fast pace around the neighborhood with Annie. I expect to still eat high raw and have cooked every once in a while, but it's nice to know that I have some options and can get some variety back in my diet. I just need to avoid all of the yummy desserts I'm making for my other blog, coworkers, husband, and nephew.

Fun with Annie

Now, of course I had to dedicate a little bit of this ridiculously long post to Annie. For the first time, I went to training class with Lance and Annie. They had been going alone because 1. he's never had a dog before and it's good for him to learn how to train her properly and 2. Champ is usually over on the weekends and his separation anxiety is so bad that it's not practical for him to be left at home. I really liked the instructors at Ahimsa dog training in Ballard! I'm pretty picky about dog trainers, and the gal was very knowledgeable and helpful with a couple of puppy phobias Annie has developed.

Puppies can go through a weird phase around 9 months to 18 months that can include phobias. I've had Bernese Mountain Dogs and a couple of them were high strung and went through this phase. It took a lot of work, but we got them through fears of tall men, hats, and perfume. Nothing traumatic necessarily has to take place, they just decide that this new thing they haven't been exposed to is scary. The dogs ended up very well adjusted - one was a therapy dog and the other is currently a greeter at the door of the Issasquah Costco (Bogey).

"Me, Phobic?? Never!! WHAT IS THAT THING ON YOUR HEAD??"

Annie has a leash phobia and a hat phobia, so we will be working on them both. The leash phobia has already come a long way with the help of a separate training leash from her every day leash, and a lot of cheese! Each time she is fine around the training leash, she gets lots of rewards. Her every day leash is used when we have to just put the leash on her and walk out the door without as much fuss.

After training class, we stuck around for small dog play time. The instructor was very good and keeping the area segmented into compatible dogs, but it pretty much convinced me that doggie daycare may not be something we do, at least not until we get her past 18 months. Annie was fairly overwhelmed at first (she does great at the small dog park), but after a while they settled into their play groups and Annie had a blast with an Italian Whippet. We exchanged numbers with the owner. It's funny - she's like a kid to us and we're arranging play dates :)

Drowned Rat shaking off the rain

Annie is squeaking her toy at me, so it's time to do a little leash phobia training and then head to the dog park!

Food Frustrations: I want Some Carbs!!

2010-09-16T18:52:00.000-07:00

Food is an absolute passion of mine, which makes very little sense considering how much of it I can't eat. I am allergic to gluten, dairy, eggs (it was really easy for me to make the jump to vegan), yeast, corn, soy, blueberries, cranberries, strawberries, pineapple, peppers, tomatoes, and a few other things. On a vegan diet, losing tomatoes and peppers was rough. I avoid potatoes and alfalfa sprouts on principle. Alfalfa sprouts contain an amino acid that is known to kick up symptoms in some patients. I also avoid sugar, potatoes, tomatoes, peppers, and starches because they can increase inflammation. Meat falls into a similar bucket, and it just really isn't that appetizing anymore with all of the reading I have done. Stack on top of that the fact that I'm on a low glycemic diet because of candida and the detoxing I am doing for heavy metals, and I'm very close to the edge, people.

I very nearly raided a stash of raw vegan chocolate today. My husband was very helpful and wanted to know if he should eat some in front of me to make sure it was still OK. The normal response would be to laugh it off or to say, "Just eat it so I don't have to." Instead, guess what? I nearly flew off the handle because I felt so bad I couldn't have some and that he was going to be "insensitive" and mow down on it in front of me. OK, it is still insensitive, but it happens and he and everyone else is used to eating stuff in front of me without me saying or thinking much of it. It's stuff I really shouldn't be eating anyways, right? I enjoy my diet, right? Well, yes, to both points, but I am pretty sick of food as I know it.

I know it's not really healthy to be so fixated on food. Usually it's a matter of filling up and eating whatever. I don't want to blame it on hormones. I was thinking on the way home what I missed most. It used to be bread, cheese, crackers, etc., but today I was honestly craving fruit. Any kind. Doesn't matter. Preferably the beautiful peaches that are nearing the end of the season. What happens if I snap and just eat a ton of fruit? Apocalyptic bathroom time. Awesome.

I need to go to some kind of Foodie's Anonymous. I have been throwing myself into baking a food blog. Social networking baffles me and I have no idea how to promote a blog. This is becoming more and more obvious. It doesn't help that there are over 5,000,000 food bloggers in the world. I just assumed mine would be instantly popular because...well because things taste good. I'm dreaming of a way to make a career out of food, but I'm not really sure how to get from point A to point B.

On the up side, I feel pretty good. The B12 shots have helped with energy, and I'm not having as many lupus symptoms. I'm still a little moody (I know, the post wasn't obvious enough), and the rain has me moving up and down the stairs a little slower. The LDN is still working for me. I have been on-again off-again about supplements. After taking so many for so long, you kinda get pill fatigue, but I need to start them up again or I'll start whining about joint pain, etc.

Having our dog, Annie, around has been a joy. She's very high energy, loves chasing laser lights, and squeaking toys non-stop while you're on the computer. In fact, that's what she's doing now:

She's also a Master Hunter of all things bugs. We're so proud. There's nothing cuter than a puppy pouncing on something imaginary (or not) in the grass.

Weekend fun and fatigue

2010-09-12T19:15:00.001-07:00

Living with lupus is just strange sometimes. I wake up and do a body check seeing how I feel from head to toe. Then I get up and move around and see how walking feels. I feel so thankful that I am not in pain. I have gotten out of bed in the past and it feels like little cheese graters are having fun in my hip socket. Other times my head feels to heavy to hold up. Today I'm just very tired (not as tired as Wednesday, but not feeling well enough to do much). Lance is off right now picking up my syringes for my vitamin B12 shots, and I'll have a shot tomorrow morning with my allergy shots. The shots should help me get through the work day. Um...Lance just walked through the door without the shots because the pharmacy is closed. It should be fun meeting with the CIO tomorrow. Awesome.

Today I went with my mom to Queen Mary's Tea House in Seattle. It is a cute little place and the staff were very knowledgeable. I picked out some lime ginger tea with licorice root, peach ginger tea (after seeing this post, I needed a sample of the flavor combo), and some green jasmine. I'm still following a phase one plan, but I like thinking I'm getting a treat, and tea helps (no, I didn't eat the cookies :).

I've decided that vegan is the way I want to go. I just feel better vegan, and I'm pretty sure my body isn't big on having to digest meat anymore. Sometimes though, I will splurge with some cooked veggies just for a change. Phase I has been so restrictive that i get frustrated with my food options and am more tempted to "cheat" if I can't give myself some leeway. I have been baking up a storm - I have always loved food and baking, and it has been very tempting to dig into the food. Instead I made a nice big saffron veggie stir-fry this evening and indulged.

I would really love to find a way to make a career involving my passion for food. My mom said, "I don't understand how you can love baking and creating all of this food and not eat it." Food really doesn't seem to like me back right now, but I'm determined to get to a place where I can at least have more variety. It's hard to be phase I without tomatoes, peppers, and some of the other vegetables. I still really enjoy baking and creating things that don't seem possible vegan without the help of soy, gluten, or corn. It's an outlet for me, and even when I'm really tired, I'll still try to make at least a few new dishes.

My grandparents took me to Champion Grocery Outlet in Issaquah yesterday, and they had some phenomenal prices on gluten free flours. I'm used to paying $4.50 for 24 oz of Brown Rice Flour, and I paid the same amount at Champion for 64 oz. The owners were super nice and I was happy to give them business.

My mom has been over this weekend helping around the house, and it is so nice! I have been able to shuffle around the kitchen while she and Lance take the dogs to the park and they have both been cleaning. I've kind of felt like a need a couple days off and I felt like I got it.

Yesterday I made them Apple Stuffed Crepes with Kreme Cheez Glaze, and this morning they started out the day with Honey Pancakes. I made some thumb-print cookies that "were the best thing I've ever made", an apple crisp, tried a recipe from the Flying Apron cookbook, a stir-fry, and made a yummy pasta dish for lunch. I enjoyed the sauce on sea noddles with some zucchini "noodles" as well.

Better Days

2010-09-10T21:33:00.000-07:00

Well, today and yesterday my energy levels have been better. Still super tired and my stomach is bugging me a little, but overall I feel better. I've been able to think pretty clearly at work. When I feel good and have more energy, life just gets a different look to it - I'm instantly happier and the depression lifts.

It's hard to explain what it feels like to be that tired. It's like wearing a cement suit and trying to waddle around all day while half drunk. Thoughts are scrambled and communication is difficult. I want people to be able to read my mind so I don't have to spend the time explaining a situation or issue at work, or come home to dirty dishes.

Today Mom came over, walked the dogs, and we had a pleasant evening. I finally snapped and started reaching over and eating the gluten free, vegan, soy free chocolate cake with frosting (SO DELICIOUS!!!) I made from Lance's plate. I feel it sitting in my gut and I'm a little jittery. It was a stupid move, but I'm human and this zero carb tolerance diet is kicking my backside. I'm back to raw vegan (minus said cake discresion). Meat just isn't my thing and it doesn't like me back, so I think we've agreed to go our separate ways. I'm having a full vitamin/nutrient panel done, so we'll see.

Speaking of the nutrient panel, the lab called to let me know they screwed up my blood work somehow and it didn't get sent off to the lab, so I have to wait to see why my hair has stopped growing, I'm bruising, tired, etc. I am so impatient when it comes to getting answers :)

Tomorrow I'm off to rawvegansource.com's store...yay. I'm running low on macadamia, kelp noodles, dulse, and some other key ingredients. I also want to hit up Manna Mills to see what kind of deals I can get on bulk flours because I'm on this baking kick. I'm sure I'll feel fabulous (not) after the carbs today, so I'll be better about eating cake. I'll have to put apples in stuff so I don't eat it (I'm allergic to apples..the repercussions are faster felt).

I am a baking machine....
I think I've perhaps turned a corner with the Adya Clarity. The detox isn't hitting me so hard and it feels like the fog might be lifting a little. It's been a week and a half or two on the double super shots. That time period was really hard on me, so hopefully things are working their way out of my system. I can't wait to get rid of the lead and thallium in my system!

Still in a slump

2010-09-07T21:25:00.000-07:00

Well, I think I'm down around 12 pounds now. I have had raspberries and nibbles of things I shouldn't, so it really shouldn't have been a surprise today when my stomach wasn't feeling great. At least I kept my food down!

I'm kind of in a tough place with work. I'm debating going on medical leave. It is really bad timing. I try to stay focused, but I am really tired and feeling this way gets me a little scared. It's starting to impact my work. I have bruises from where my legs rest together when I sleep. I'm not losing hair, but it has pretty much stopped growing. My skin is dry, color is off, and I'm getting acne. Did I mention I'm really tired?

It has been really great having Annie around though. When my lupus is flaring, I tend to get really depressed (hence the Debbie Downer posts), and she's forced me to at least take short walks and laugh at her weird antics.

I have a lot of blood work and medical tests pending, so we'll see what they say. If the results are bad, I'll probably go on medical leave and talk to my doctor about what I can do to get rid of the toxic metals. I think the detox has been really hard on me. I'm going back on forth on whether or not I stay totally vegan, introduce a little more fruit, or stick to phase I. I'm really exhausted. I guess I need to buckle down and get back into my raw vegan diet and stay away from any sugar at all, but last night I snapped and made some tahini with agave and spices that resembled a Middle Eastern dessert I enjoy.

Today I had waves of nausea, dizziness, and was just fatigued. By the end of the day I was really hungry, but the dizziness was gone and I was fine to drive home. My mom brought my nephew over this evening, and I really didn't have the energy to chase after him. Annie was great with him though - even after a couple bonks on the nose (which is why you don't leave them unsupervised...even hovering over them, he had his moments). It was fun hearing him laugh as they ran around.

Having a break:

My stomach is possessed.

2010-09-05T19:13:00.000-07:00

An old friend of mine invited Lance and I to a baseball game today. When we got to the game I started feeling odd and after a while, I couldn't look at or smell food because I wanted to throw up. Around the 3rd inning, I caved and went to the restroom, and couldn't leave the stall. After having a lot of diarrhea (sorry), I went back to our seats. I was OK until someone brought garlic fries back to their seat behind us, and I had to shove my purse to my friend and run to the bathroom and ended up throwing up everything I had eaten that day. It's so odd none of it moved past my stomach after hours. My husband was wonderful and ended up going several blocks to find some Pepto so I could get home. Once I threw up I felt perfectly fine. My energy levels were good, I didn't feel bad. I obviously didn't have a stomach virus or flu.

Yesterday my grandmother was really concerned about my weight so she talked me into having some beef. Apparently, that was the wrong thing to eat. I think my body totally rejected it in a very violent way. It's apparent that veganism is the way my body prefers, but I can't figure out how to do it and keep weight on without fruit and carbohydrates, or cooked foods.

When I first went raw vegan, I was totally into "gourmet." I loved the cashew pie crusts filled with beautiful fruits, and would give in to raw vegan cheesecake on occasion. As time went on, I relied more and more on fruit for my calories, eating several bananas and 10 mandarin oranges for breakfast, and going throughout the day relying mainly on salads and fruits with some nuts and seeds. I'm not saying I was on 80-10-10, but I was closer to that and would go some days without any straight fats. I started out feeling great, but ended up getting some food borne bacteria that landed me in the hospital. I went on heavy duty antibiotics and got candida. I have not been the same since and feel stabbing pains whenever I eat fruits and sugars now.

As long as I avoid fruit, I am OK pain wise. I am tired of nuts and fats, but I'm having a hard time keeping weight on without the carbohydrates and I need to get calories somehow.

There are essentially two schools of thought on candida treatment in the raw community. One is the 80-10-10 school that feels that fats are actually feeding bacteria and responsible for candida growth. The other school goes along Dr. Gabriel Cousen's theory that sugars and moldy foods feed candida, which goes along with the traditional school of thought - which was the basis for the Specific Carbohydrate Diet. I will be researching 80-10-10 more, but if fruit is causing me stabbing pain, and Phase 1 is causing me to detox and not have intestinal problems, I wonder if so many people feel cured of candida because they are feeding the bacteria and it's "content"? Candida die off is very unpleasant.

At this point all I know is that I need to find some kind of balance to get some weight back. I'm hungry and have just had some soy free miso soup for dinner and want more, but am also fighting vomit again. Awesome. All I know is that I'm probably going to have to learn what works for me the hard way.

What is Adya Clarity?

2010-09-01T20:16:00.000-07:00

Adya Clarity is a magnetic sulfate mineral compound that pulls toxins out of water. Several people (self included) have also started taking a small cap full in .75 ounces of water, followed by two pint glasses of water to help detox.

Here is a link to Angela's testimonials from The Raw Food World:
http://www.therawfoodworld.com/blog/?p=950

I've noticed some positive changes and am hopeful that it will help. The magnetic sulfites are a precursor to zeolites. If two super shots don't calm things down, I will move on to zeolites and see how that works. Either way, I'm determined to be heavy metal free. My doctor will retest after a time and we'll decide whether the treatments have worked and whether or not we should do chelation.

When I took the DMSA for the heavy metal test, I was laid out with a migraine and felt horrible. My doctor is nervous about kidney function being impacted if I detox too soon, so we're trying Adya Clarity first, which is thought to be milder than even zeolites.

As I've mentioned before, I've been struggling with malnutrition and candida. I'm really hoping this kicks candida because diet and Nystatin have not done the trick this time. I believe the malnutrition is causing depression, but I can't be sure it's not detox.

Adya Clarity, work your magic!

2010-09-01T19:49:00.000-07:00

Well, this weekend I went wild in the kitchen baking (yeah I know, not raw vegan) for my husband. He's been bummed about his food allergies, so I spoiled him and made him vegan, gluten free, soy free, etc. free chocolate cake, apple spice muffins, and an apple galette. I also made banana muffins for my nephew - and he loved them! My sister-in-law said, "I can't believe they aren't real!!!", which I definitely take as a compliment. I may use them down the line as cupcakes.

I made some frosting for the chocolate cake and learned a really big lesson. The vast majority of powdered sugar on the market is made with up to 20% corn starch to "prevent clumping." I was SO disappointed when I brought the cake over to my family's house to discover that ingredient and that my nephew couldn't have any. I've learned my lesson though and have heard that Trader Joe's may carry some with tapioca starch instead.

I'm not advocating the consumption of sugar and didn't have any myself...but you do have to live a little and I say birthdays are fair game :)

I've had a hard time of it lately. My colon has stabbing pains if I eat anything starchy or with sugar (meaning fruit sugars - moderate to high on the glycemic index) so I haven't had fruit or sprouted grains in a month and a half. I'm down to a size zero, I'm bruising easily with b12 shots, dry skin, brittle nails, my hair isn't growing - I'm malnourished. I went to see my doctor and I'm having some tests done to see what all I'm lacking nutritionally, but he said I should keep on a low carbohydrate diet because of the candida and since I can't supplement with any of the vegetarian friendly foods (I'm super allergic to eggs and milk), he suggested I have fish or other proteins a couple times a week. He suggested some vendors who research and supply from sustainable farms following humane practices. Since I have no energy and am really starting to feel wasted, I am going to take his advice. It made me a little nervous about losing some new vegan friends, but hopefully this is temporary and my lovely personality makes up for my short comings.

Actually, it got me thinking a lot about ethics and labels. From a religious standpoint, I personally don't believe that animals are spiritual equals. I also believe that we were intended to be shepherds and have done a royally sh***y job of it. Animals were not meant to be kept in the condition they are in - it's simply cruel no matter where they stand spiritually. They also aren't meant to eat what they do or be kept in such close quarters. The vast majority of our animal food supply is sick! Even eating wild caught is iffy because they've been exposed to major pollution and heavy metals. We have soiled the dinner plate my friends. That being said, animals offer a full range of amino acids, and when your hair and teeth are on the verge of falling out, I say eat the fish. I may never be able to be 100% vegan all the time, but I'll continue to be mindful of clothing purchases and continue to buy vegan personal care products, etc.

I guess I'm one of those people who will be vegan for health, but it goes slightly beyond that.

Enough of ethics. Moving on to health stuff.

I'm still taking Adya Clarity for the heavy metal poisoning. I'm pretty malnourished right now so it's hard to tell what is a symptom of detox and what is a symptom of not getting the nutrients I need. My stomach seems alright and I haven't been in pain. I've had a lot of fatigue, which makes work a little more difficult. I'm still trying to work up to two super shots a day, but I seem stuck hovering at one. I no longer get nauseated or dizzy from the Clarity, so it's probably time to try to up the dose again. I figure the sooner I'm on 2 doses, the sooner I can get rid of the heavy metal and candida. The sooner I get rid of candida, the sooner I can eat a wider variety and pick and choose what I eat. Yay!

You know, to be perfectly honest, I hope that one day I can splurge on my vegan gluten free baked goods and not suffer serious repercussions. At this point I'll just take getting peaches back in time for next season.

I've started a new blog and am posting my allergy-friendly recipes. They will not all be vegan. I thought a while about that and decided it's more important to hit a wide range of people looking for allergy free food and try to educate about sustainability and healthy choices. I know so many people with allergies that compromise their health because of tastes and lack of effort and parents who are overwhelmed by it all. I just hope to help some people out.

My new blog:
http://thediscerningkitchen.blogspot.com

Some quality Annie time

2010-08-27T18:14:00.000-07:00

Lance and I work full time, so Annie is alone about 8 hours out of the day on week days. Weekends are a totally different story. Lance runs her before work, I play fetch with her and walk her again before work, and then we try to fill up the evening with Annie friendly activities. Usually we go to the dog park 2-3 times during the week, but last week we weren't very good about it. Thursday Lance came home to trashed plants, half eaten video game covers, and shredded piddle pads. We went to PetCo and purchased a large x-pen that gates off the tv area and all the wires she can get to, and we got some bitter spray to keep her off the plants. We also went to another pet store and the dog park to wear her out, and she had a great time with a little dachshund named Fiona.

Annie can be a bit neurotic at times and we're working through her issues. We got home today and a John Grisham novel was shredded, but otherwise it seems she stuck to her many, many toys. We have about 4 kongs now we hide around the house plus her other toys. Spoiled doggy! Lance is taking her to basic manners, and once she progresses a little more we can get her started with Agility...or we may start that a little early just to give her more to do.

People at the dog park who had Jack Russells thought she may be part that, so the new Annie mixture theory is CorgiXChihuahuaXJack RussellXGoat.

Comfort

2010-08-25T21:40:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was a rough day for me. Detox symptoms were really heavy, it was hard to get out of the house for my high-pressure 8 AM meeting because my stomach is torn up, and things just weren't going smoothly at work. It's hard to keep it together and "bring your A-Game" when everything hurts and my brain feels a little fuzzy.

By the time I got home, I was ready to spend some "woe-is-me" time with the dog. And if I may whine just a little more, Annie has developed a new phobia of leashes and harnesses. It's getting harder to get her on a leash, and I have no idea why...we use a harness, so it's not bugging her trachea. We don't yank her around. It's a mystery, but it's one that's really frustrating. I need to pray for patience. Lots of it.

I was in the mood for some comfort food, so I cheated on the "raw" part of vegan a little last night. I sauteed some onions and garlic in a sauce pan in some olive oil, wilted some spinach over it, and blended that with some basic macadamia nut "cheese." SO YUMMY! I had that with cauliflower and celery. I needed something a little decadent. I was feeling a little sorry for myself because my diet is so restricted. It's peach season (my favorite!) and I can't have any :"(
Today went a little better. I'm still at one super shot of Adya Clarity, and today I took it a little later in the day, which seemed to help a little. Warning: TMI. My stools have been really sickly sweet , which doesn't make any sense because I'm not eating carbohydrates. I wonder if the detoxing is working and this is just one of the symptoms? I just don't know. That and I have a new intolerance to coconut. I wasn't drinking the water, just had some pulp. That was part of what got me down - my list of viable foods is shrinking.

There are things to be thankful for and I need to remind myself of that. I am in pretty good spirits about things usually, but every once in a while it gets overwhelming and I kind of spiral downwards for a few days.

Things to be thankful of:
Doggies with big ears

An awesome husband

A fuzzy friend to keep me
company on the couch (or on my feet while I'm typing)

And a Cute Nephew!!

Amaranth Pancakes with Apple Rum Sauce

2010-08-22T12:35:00.000-07:00

It's been a busy 24 hours in our household, culinarily speaking.

Yesterday I bought Lance some Braeburn apples. Braeburns, in my opinion, are really best for baking. Fujis, some Pink Ladies, Delicious, and even the Granny Smith are great for eating raw, Fujis being my favorite. Most pink ladies, braeburns, and a few other varieties really lend best to baking as they tend to have that slightly mealy texture, and baking or rendering them really intensifies their flavor. I'm personally allergic to apples, so used to substitute recipes with pears, and would recommend cutting way back on the sugar and sticking to a nice hard red pear or D'anjou.

Amaranth Sorghum Pancakes
1 c. amaranth flour
3/4 c. sorghum flour
1/2 c.+ tapioca flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 c. agave
4 TB olive oil
1/2-3/4 cup water
2 tsp coconut vinegar (or ACV)
1/2 tsp cinnamon (optional - you don't really need it for this recipe, but will if using other toppings)
1-2 TB Coconut Oil depending on frying pan size

Combine the dry ingredients thoroughly, then start adding the wet ingredients, leaving the vinegar for last. Coat the frying pan with olive oil and drop circles of the batter into the pan. As bubbles form in the pancakes and the edges start to solidify, flip the pancakes over.

Lance is underweight, so I tend to go a little heavy on the coconut oil.

Apple Rum Sauce
4 Braeburn or similar apples, peeled, cored, and diced
1/2 tsp cinnamon
pinch of nutmeg
pinch of ginger
1/8-1/4 cup water
3/4 cup raisins
1/2 c. chopped walnuts (optional)
1/2 ounce rum
1/4 c. raw turbinado sugar + 3-4 TB agave

Put the diced apples in a small sauce pan with a small amount of water. Apples are mostly water, so they will cook down nicely with very little help. Add the spices. Once the apples start to soften and they come to a steady simmer, add the other ingredients. Cook until it comes to a thick apple-sauce consistency. You should no longer have big chunks of apple - they should cook down quickly.

Vegan Gluten Free Banana Muffins

2010-08-22T12:15:00.000-07:00

We had a few bananas that Lance hadn't gotten to yet, so I decided to do a little baking for him. I am 100% raw vegan and on top of that, on a very strict version - Gabriel Cousen's Phase 1. I'm on the diet to help me detox and deal with candida. Lance, however, only has diet restrictions pertaining to allergies. I eat my foods and Lance often has a different meal. He isn't used to cooking sides and substantial meals that aren't processed and ready to go, so I'm doing as much as I can. He's 5'11 and an active athlete. Because he's not very experienced at eating the volume required with a non-processed diet, he's down to 140 pounds (YIKES). He still has a lot of energy and feels good, but I'm trying to get more calories into him however I can.

Fast food and processed baked goods have a lot of calories in smaller servings, so it is an adjustment. Lance noticed that he doesn't get as full as long on the same portion sizes he was having before. He runs around 9 miles+ a day, so he needs a lot of calories. I try to sneak in vegan foods whenever I can because at this point I feel like I know more about how they will fill him up. Also, I hope someday down the road I can sneak in some vegan baked goods into my own diet ;) My nephew has a plethora of allergies and seems to prefer vegan (he can't have dairy or eggs, so that limits ingredients to vegan for baking regardless).

I want to express my thanks to Flying Apron for publishing their recipes. This is not one of their recipes, but I used a really great technique established by them. Using a teaspoon of baking soda and a teaspoon or two of coconut vinegar or apple cider vinegar makes a huge difference to the texture of gluten free baked goods without eggs. I had tried vegan powdered egg replacers, but it really wasn't boosting the texture enough. The chemical reaction between the vinegar and baking soda creates much fluffier batter. It's important to do this right before cooking.

Banana Muffins
2-3 ripe bananas, mushed
1/2 tsp cinnamon (optional)
1 vanilla bean, scraped
1/3 cup olive oil
1/4 cup agave
1/4 cup raw turbinado sugar
1.5 cup brown rice flour
1 cup sorghum flour
3/4 cup tapioca flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1--2 tsp coconut vinegar (can replace with apple cider vinegar)
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 cup chopped pecans (optional

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

I mashed the bananas and added the wet ingredients (minus vinegar) and sugar. In a separate bowl I combined all the dry ingredients, then worked in the wet ingredients. After I had my muffin liners ready to go, I added the vinegar and stirred vigorously. I filled the muffin liners 3/4 of the way expecting the muffins not to rise, but they actually did thanks to the Flying Apron technique. Lance enjoyed them warm out of the oven with a little coconut oil. They made the place smell great.

For those of you interested in gluten free baked goods in the Seattle, WA area, I highly recommend the Flying Apron and Chaco Canyon. The Flying Apron has frosting that is to die for, and Chaco Canyon is fabulous about working with people with allergies. Both are 99% vegan (although milk is available at both establishments for lattes).

Introducing Annie and Lead and Thallium progress

2010-08-21T10:02:00.000-07:00

About three weeks ago, Lance and I attended an adoption "carnival" of sorts at a PetSmart in Woodinville. The "kill" shelters across the state brought the animals that were near the end of the line and not getting much interest. I'm sorry to say several of them had major issues, and I didn't feel all of the shelter volunteers were being 100% honest. We looked at a small poodle (I'm not a poodle fan, but she seemed sweet in her kennel and I'm more about personality over reputation) and the rep assured us she was great with kids. Fortunately her paperwork revealed that she had been turned in because she disliked small children, and she nearly took poor Champ's face off, so that was that. Another Boxer was there that was extremely dog aggressive. There were a couple 6 month pups that were so terrified they would only lay in little puddles on the pavement. We looked at a lab and decided she was so big and high energy that she would do better with someone who had more time and children to keep her busy. We made it through the line without finding a dog with the personality we were looking for (independent but interested in people and good with other dogs) and I was just turning to Lance to tell him, "Maybe next time" when my Mom said, "Hey! Have you looked at her? She looks adorable!" And there was "Sheba", a funny looking little thing with huge corgi ears, a terrier coat, and a curly tail. She looks like she's made up of spare parts, which makes her adorable and she's very sweet. I bent down to say "Hello", she crawled in my lap very gently, and that was it.

I have learned so much in the past 3 weeks. I was glad I waited out the line for the free vet consultation put on by Banfield Vets (they were fantastic and actually picked up dogs themselves to bring to the function that were scheduled to be put down the day before). Annie's "scratch" that she came into the shelter with turned out to be ringworm. Ringworm is not a worm, but it's a highly contagious fungus. It's the same stuff that causes athlete's foot, yellow nails, and of course can be spread to humans and cats (cats especially) very easily. We were given a highly toxic topical anti-fungal. The vet offered an internal dose of anti-fungal but felt it wreaked havoc on the immune system - so I instantly liked the vet.

While we were waiting in the waiting room, it seemed like a lot of those dogs got some really great homes. The lab we looked at went home with a grandma that was home all day and her grandkids and daughter were going to help with training (it was more the kids' dog, but she had a buddy all day that could throw balls for her in a giant backyard). The shy puppies went to nice families, and looked pretty comfortable being held by the kids. Lots of other dogs were sitting next to full "welcome home" shopping carts and smiling owners. I wasn't as hopeful for the boxer. It's really important to neuter male dogs that show tendencies of being very dominant at a younger age. Once dogs learn dog aggressive behavior, it's one of the hardest things to turn around. It takes years of work to be well-behaved on a leash near other dogs, and hopefully the owner will consult a reputable trainer.

Little Annie became quite clingy right away and would whine whenever I left her sight on the first day. This is a huge warning sign for separation anxiety. The first day of work, we weren't sure of her housebreaking status, so we put pee pads down our huge hallway and kitchen and gated them off from the rest of the house. We stuffed kongs with yummy treats, left the TV on, and did several false starts leaving the house after ignoring her for 20 minutes. She cried and cried when we left. Annie is an agile jumper, and by the time we came home she was sleeping on our rocking chair and poop and pee decorated the living room. We noticed that she was extremely fearful of relieving herself in front of us, so she held her urine and poop for hours upon hours. The first Sunday we had her, she would not urinate for more than 12 hours after we got her, despite eating and drinking.

The first night in the bedroom loose, she urinated twice, so it was time to get a wire crate for the bedroom. This is when things started turning around. She took well to the crate and couldn't go to the bathroom, so she went for the first time in front of us and got lots of praise. She stopped going in the house. It's like she had been housebroken before, but had been in the pound for a while and needed more structure. We fed her on a strict schedule. The first couple of days she would take a mouthful of food and walk off being used to the pound leaving the bowl, and was confused when we removed the bowl after five minutes. Now she wolfs down her meals twice a day on schedule and gets a potty walk 20 minutes later. She has become a great running partner for Lance. He runs her every morning before work - the guy is dedicated and gets up by 5:30 every day to make sure she gets her exercise.

The separation anxiety was a big hurdle for us. We purchased a second set of baby gates to double up in the entry ways. One day Lance put one of the bottom gates too high off the ground, Annie saw a window, and dug her way out of the kitchen! A 4" strip of carpet ended up in heaps in the kitchen, and I was so confused when I got home that day when I opened the door and there sat Annie. That did away with the baby gates. I figured the less change during the day, the better. She had proven she wouldn't pee or poop in the house anymore (but we left pads in previously used areas that were cleaned with Nature's Miracle - love that stuff).

I started ignoring Annie completely and having Lance feed, brush, and do some simple obedience work with her. It may sound a little mean, but it worked like a charm. She started realizing that I was not the center of the universe and she was not the center of mine, and started laying in her bed out of sight when I prepared meals in the kitchen. Remember, she was screaming whenever I left her sight in days before this, so it was a huge win. It took another week for her to willingly go running with Lance without him dragging her away from me the first two blocks. She's alternating staring at me type and wandering around the house, and she enjoys playing with toys on her own when we can't entertain her.

My vet recommended last week that I purchase a Dog Appeasing Pheremone (D.A.P.) system for the house, and she mentioned it worked for a lot of her clients. I love my regular vet - she practices chiropractic, acupuncture, homeopathy, and other natural medicines in addition to being a good surgeon. She is on Mercer Island. The D.A.P. system seems to have helped in addition to sticking to a strict schedule. We run, feed, walk, turn on the tv, put down the treats, and say "Be a good girl" at the same times every day before we leave. She has not let out a peep all week when I leave, and by the time Friday rolled around, she didn't even look up and was completely relaxed, enjoying her cream cheese and liver kong, as I told her I was leaving.

Annie is a terrier in a lot of ways and will resource guard with other dogs and is protective of certain areas of the house, so we are working on that behavior now. Lance is starting their first obedience class today - I have trained dogs and shown them in the past, so it made the most sense for him to work with her. I've already snuck in some obedience time and she's got a reliable sit, is getting down, knows touch, and has a good start with watch. I am excited to try agility and therapy dog work with her down the line. She is so fabulous and gentle with people - I think she would really love that job.

The ringworm has been successfully treated with oregano oil diluted in olive oil after 3 weeks of diligent treatment. The hair has grown back, but we are still dosing the area once a day to every other day. We started at 3 times a day and scrubbed the area with a little antibacterial soap prior to putting on the oil with a q-tip. It's important to really dilute the oregano oil sufficiently as it will burn if you don't. I didn't dilute it quite enough one day and she ended up scratching the area, so there's a tiny scab now. We were fortunate in that it has not spread to anyone/thing else. I was terrified when a friend with cats came over, but it looks like it was cleared up by then.

As soon as I can figure out how to post a hilarious video of her at the dog park, I will...

I have to admit, I was hesitant to get a dog because I was afraid of exactly what we got - a dog with separation anxiety. Separation anxiety is VERY common among shelter dogs because they are traumatized by the shelter environment (amongst other things). I feel very fortunate that I have a background with the issue and we caught it early enough for me to start establishing healthy relationship boundaries with her and sticking to a schedule is crucial. She has been a fun distraction from dealing with health and food issues.

I have been taking Adya Clarity to help me with heavy metal detox. I have to say it has helped me greatly in adjusting to a phase 1 diet. The first time I tried phase 1, I failed miserably because of how severe the detox symptoms were. Back in April/May, I just crashed. This time around, I have very mild symptoms by comparison, and it has been possible for me to stick to the diet. I'll admit that I am so tempted to stray whenever I go to Chaco Canyon, look at our fruit bowl at home, or walk by the peaches at the grocery store, but I've been working really hard and staying strong! I have added some brown rice protein supplement that is very low carbohydrate because I had to kick out hemp. My company was acquired and the purchasing company is requiring drug tests. I'm not sure if it's part urban legend, but I confirmed with some medical studies on Pubmed.com that large consumption of hemp seeds can lead to a false positive for THC on drug screening. It's a huge bummer because my favorite newly discovered dressing is Rosemary Garlic Hemp dressing. My best creation yet:

Rosemary Garlic Hemp Dressing
1/4 cup hemp seeds
1/4-1/3 cup water
1/2 clove garlic
1/2 tsp crushed rosemary
1/2 lemon juiced
hefty pinch of salt

yum yum yum - good with any romaine/lettuce based salad.

I was trying to up my dosage to two Clarity super shots, and Monday morning I started urinating blood. It was the strangest thing. I didn't have any bladder infection symptoms, but my mid back had been bugging me for a while and I had been nauseous. I ended up going to the ER for testing, but by the time I got there, the blood was not very visible any more and came back at light/trace amounts. It hasn't happened again, so I am just going to keep my fingers crossed that it was a fluke. My doctor was a little worried that the detox would be hard on my kidneys, so we'll see. I cut back the Adya Clarity to every other day for a couple days and now I'm back to once a day. I'll wait a little longer to up it to twice a day.

I've been feeling better the past couple of days and have had energy to go to the dog park and do other fun stuff after work. It is the encouragement I need to stick to this diet. It is boring for me - I can't do the nightshades, flax, hemp, or a few other key ingredients, so it's salads and soups. In the mornings I have a chia pudding or will mix almond butter with protein powder - which is actually pretty good.

Chia Pudding
1 heaping tsp cacao
1 tsp maca
3 g l-glutamine
probiotics
digestive enzymes
big pinch of stevia
1/2 cup chia
sufficient water to create a pudding texture (about 2-3 times the amount of chia).

Protein Almond Morning "Cookie"
1 heaping TB brown rice protein
2 heaping TB almond butter
3 g l-glutamine
probiotics
digestive enzymes
big pinch stevia
around 1/2 tsp cinnamon
sprinkle of nutmeg
a little ginger
Stir Thoroughly

Coping with Allergies (vegan and non-vegan content)

2010-08-20T18:30:00.000-07:00

Stopping by a fast food restaurant or picking something up from the deli in your business building is usually an easy way to go, but with a little planning ahead, bringing your own meals to work can be quick and easy. I've found that cheating on my diet at all is never worth the consequences, but not everyone feels the same. There are also people who are intimidated by the thought of having to fix every meal. Some meals are easier than others to prepare ahead of time. Being raw vegan has made meal preparation extremely fast, but for those who eat a cooked diet and are looking to improve their diet but keep their schedule, there are things you can do.

My husband recently found out he had several allergies, and I don't think either one of us realized how much he ate out for lunch or how little fruits and vegetables were in his diet. Lance is not vegan, nor does he have interest in being vegan. He is open to vegan meals, and is interested in eating well, especially to improve his running performance. Fortunately, I have plenty of experience with living with allergies and eating a whole food diet. I will give you some simple tips to make life easier.

Make More Than You Need For Dinner

More volume means more leftovers, which are easy to heat up at work the next day. If you have to cook dinner, make sure to make more than you know you will eat in a sitting and set that aside for work the next day (or two!). Ideally, on a rotation diet you do not want to eat the same thing more than once every four days. I've found a rotation diet is very difficult to follow when working full time and managing projects on the side. An easy solution is to freeze your leftovers and rotate them at work as well. To be honest, I tend to fudge a bit on the rotation diet, eat my fill of something, and then not eat it for a stretch of time.

Dinner tends to be the time I put the most effort into my meals. It's when I like to experiment with recipes and try new and complex things. It's nice to make enough for a few days, especially when the recipe is delicious and I can look forward to enjoying the food again.

The Crock Pot Is Your Friend

Nothing is easier than throwing a bunch of ingredients in the crock pot to cook overnight. Lance enjoys waking up the next morning to a house filled with the aroma of savory ingredients cooked to tender perfection. It's very easy to make enough for a few days lunch plus frozen meals down the road.

A crock pot meal does not have to be fancy to be delicious. Here are a few variations:

Meat and Earthy Vegetables
3 carrots cut into thirds
4-5 celery ribs, cut into thirds
1/2 a large onion or one smaller onion, quartered
4 cloves of garlic
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1 mid size beef roast or 1 chicken, quartered
1.5 cup grain (quinoa, rice, or millet)
several cups of water 3/4 over the meat
If you use Chicken, sage, thyme, and tarragon are all great additions. If you use beef, you really don't need much in the way of herbs, but parsley and thyme are good.

Eastern Meat with Sweet Potato
Lamb Roast or Pork
1 Sweet Potato cut into steak fry sized pieces
1 onion, rough chopped
4 cloves garlic
pinch clove (ground)
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp coriander
1/4 tsp ginger
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
big pinch red pepper
1.5 cup grain (quinoa, millet, amaranth, or rice)
Plenty of Water

Delicious Meat with Pear
Rabbit, Pork, or Venison
3 Pears or Apples
1 Onion Sliced
3 cloves garlic
1 tsp salt
1.5 cup grain (quinoa, rice)

Jambalaya
This recipe is a bit more labor intensive because I do not use tomatoes in the can. they are so bad for you.
Boil 5 good sized tomatoes or more after putting an "X" shaped cut on the bottom. They only need to boil for about 30 seconds before the skins begin to peel back, which is the goal. After the skins begin to peel, put the tomatoes in ice water to shock them. Peel the tomatoes and throw them in the crock pot.
Seed 1 poblano pepper, or jalapeno if you like it hot. Finely Chop and throw in the crock pot.
1.5 cup rice
1 lb Shrimp, tails off
1 lb spicy Italian Sausage (soy, gluten, and dairy free), sliced
1 bell pepper, yellow or red
2 TB parsley
1/4 tsp red pepper
1/2 tsp thyme
1 tsp basil
2 diced carrots
1 onion
4 cloves garlic
Plenty of Water

Warm Congii (vegan)
1 cup rice, millet, or quinoa
5 cups water
1 grated sweet potato
1 grated parsnip
1 tsp salt
fresh grated ginger to taste
Enjoy with umeboshi to taste after cooked.

Put the crock pot on low for 8 hours. I have a crock pot that stays on "Warm" until I turn it off. It's fantastic.

Keep Plenty of Snacks At Work

We always make the worst food choices when we are hungry! I know that is the time I cave into what sounds or smells good without regard to how I will feel later. Keeping plenty of fruit and nuts on hand helps! If you want to have energy bars, stick to the bars with the fewest ingredients. Larabars are amongst my favorite - they usually have around 4 ingredients max. They have dates, which are high in glucose and calories, and nuts, which are high in protein, minerals, and calories. Fruit is easy to have on hand, and several fruits keep well on the desk. Bananas are a quick source of energy with minimal mess.

If you have a food dehydrator, you can make your own vegetable chips, dried fruit, and nuts.

My Favorite Nuts
Almonds (soaked), pistachios, or similar mild tasting nut
Enough olive oil to lightly coat them (if you have a pump mister, that would be ideal)
1/2 a lemon, juiced
load on the garlic powder and rosemary
salt

Dehydrate until crunchy

Need to fix a Quick Lunch Before Work?

I've found I can make my own instant soups! Salads are also a fast fix. Keep kalamata and black olives on hand, dried seaweeds, and greens to make soups and salads on days that you don't feel like putting in much effort or don't have leftovers from the day before.

Easy Miso Soup
1 TB soy free miso (I prefer Adzuki Bean Miso)
1-2 TB wakame (dry)
1/2 Daikon diced
1 green onion, finely chopped on the bias
1 carrot, peeled and diced

Put these ingredients in a large bowl before work. I put the vegetables in a large bowl and bring my jar of miso, and then combine them with hot water just before eating. The wakame re-hydrates and expands, creating a more filling and mineral rich meal.

Easy Asian Inspired Soup
1/2 Lemon Juiced
1 TB olive oil
pinch red pepper
1/4-1/2 tsp grated ginger
1 clove garlic, minced
1 baby bok choy, rough chopped
1/2 daikon, diced
1 carrot, diced
1 shallot, thinly sliced
1 broccolini or broccoli raab, rough chopped
Let the ingredients marinate all day in the fridge and then add hot water and enjoy before lunch.

Easy Romaine Salad
2 heads Romaine
1 small cucumber, diced
1 cup peas
1/4 onion (or less) chopped finely
hand full kalamata onions

Hemp Dressing
1/4 cup hemp seeds
big pinch salt
1/2 clove garlic
1/3+ tsp crushed rosemary
water to get to smooth texture

No Chicken Salad
4 ribs celery, chopped
1/4 onion or less, chopped
1 cup peas
1 small cucumber, diced
hand full of cilantro, rough chopped

"Mayo"
1/2 cup macadamia nuts
1/2 clove garlic
1/4 tsp ginger
2 pinches cumin
1 pinch cayenne
1/2 lemon, juiced
water to create texture

Taste and adjust Mayo spices and stir in with No Chicken Salad. Add grapes and walnuts for more texture.

(See raw vegan recipe section for more salads and dressings)
Eat (or Drink) a Big Breakfast

Having enough protein first thing in the morning will help you keep your head throughout the day. I love having chia pudding now that I am on a low glycemic diet. Smoothies are a great way to get nuts and fruit in the morning as you are heading out the door.

(See my smoothie section for more recipes)

Don't Worry About Eating Too Much

When changing your diet from one of convenience, it's important to remember that you are getting better quality food without the cheap calories. Simple carbohydrates that abound in white, bleached baked goods, high fructose corn syrup, and chemicals that "help" preserve food (and does who knows what to us) are eliminated and your body can concentrate on nutrient rich foods. Since those cheap calories are gone and you are giving yourself better quality foods, the fat content goes down, as do the cheap carbs. You will find yourself losing that extra weight, and having to eat a little more volume to make up for it. It takes some time to adjust, so don't worry if you are snacking more. It's normal!

Bon Apetit. You don't have to sacrifice taste or enjoyment when you give up the foods that are making you sick!

Please let me know if there are foods you are craving that you haven't found alternatives for. I love a creative challenge!

Lead and Thallium

2010-08-11T21:31:00.000-07:00

Things have been busy in the last month. I've been trying to keep up with work. My stomach hasn't been 100%. It's gotten to the point that I cannot have fruit or foods with sugars without feeling like I'm being stabbed in my lower left abdomen. It's very frustrating. I took a full course of Nystatin and still was not able to tolerate fruit.

I decided to go back to a phase 1 diet as much as possible. I'm now on a phase 1 diet without exceptions. I asked my doctor to test me for heavy metals, and he happily agreed. Yesterday I got my results back. I have high levels of lead and thallium. Lead is pretty easily explained. I've lived in old buildings and my family used a well. The thallium is a little harder to explain. It was banned in most products in the US in the 1970's because it was a very effective poison. It's odorless, tasteless, and dissolves easily. I've never had a heart stress test or MRI, the medical procedures that the metal is still used in. I suppose it could be used in the high tech industry and I could have been exposed some other way, but I really wonder why or how it happened.

My doctor is concerned about me taking chelation drugs because he's not sure if my kidneys will hold up well. He is completely supportive of me taking Adya Clarity, a precurser to zeolites. I'm doing one "super shot" per day and will work up to two. Detox symptoms haven't been too bad. I've felt a little flu like off and on. No bad headaches so far. I feel like I'll be ready to move up to two doses in a week or two. I'm tired, but I feel like we're finally getting to the cause. It's exciting to think so many of my symptoms can be explained and I might be able to gain a lot of my health back.

It took a while to kick a lot of the sweet cravings. I've been eating a lot of salads and soups and am thinking I need to widen the repertoire.

Rosemary Garlic Hemp Dressing
1/3 cup hemp
1/2 clove garlic
1/3 tsp salt
1/2 tsp rosemary
1/4 tsp basil
1 TB olive oil

'Tis the Summer of Allergies

2010-07-18T01:27:00.000-07:00

My husband has had a rash on his face since a few weeks before we got married. We've tried changing soaps, shaving creams, clothes detergents, fabric softeners, eliminating parabens, and sun lotions. Lance started getting more tired. I even started having more energy than he did, which had me worried. Lance decided to go in for food testing and he was 9 for 9. He was allergic to soy, corn, wheat, dairy, rice, baker's yeast, tomatoes, potatoes, and eggs. He took a provocative test, which will display IGG and IGE allergies. IGG allergies are more commonly known as intolerances, but many doctors agree that they can be damaging. Some doctors just view them as a nuisance that can either be ignored or heeded. Many of my allergies are delayed response, IGG allergies, and they are very disruptive and cause a wide range of symptoms. The up side to mild IGG allergies is that sometimes, if a food is avoided for several months, the reaction may subside and the food can be reintroduced on a limited basis. This may be the case with several of Lance's reactions, except for Soy and Corn.

Lance is a very active guy, running up to 13 miles a day (or more). He isn't vegan, and we are going to work at finding a way to keep his carbohydrates and protein sources at a level that maintains his weight with a lot of activity. I've been trying to have him cut back on animal protein, especially red meats, because I feel that they cause inflammation. Without grain sources of carbohydrates, I'm trying to incorporate more fruits. Dates seem to be the easiest/quickest source of calories and carbohydrates. He's been eating really well, and I've been incorporating the raw vegan techniques I've been picking up into his cooked diet.

Post work out shake:
1/4 c. hemp seeds
2 bananas
2 heaping tsp cacao
1 tsp maca
2 dates
2 Tbs salba seeds
water

I'll continue to post more recipes and perhaps have Lance write a little about going through the testing and finding out about his allergies. He was pretty bummed out the first few days, but I was really proud of him today when we went to a nice restaurant and he ordered a seafood salad without dressing or tomatoes. There weren't croutons or cheese, and the seafood appeared steamed. He's starting to realize how difficult it can be to eat out...a lot of ingredients aren't listed on most foods. We have been to a few restaurants where the servers are quite considerate - and we tend to tip well. I've had couple negative experiences where the server clearly did not understand the ramifications of slipping a few ingredients by an unsuspecting customer.

Champ has Mast Cell Cancer

2010-06-23T18:51:00.001-07:00

I really don't enjoy being a Debbie Downer, so would someone pass that memo along??

Well, I thought what was going on with Champ must be autoimmune, and he still has arthritis issues and I'm convinced the immune system is very much involved. Shortly after his eye surgery I noticed a good sized lump behind his right eye. It appeared out of the blue. I decided to take him in to get a biopsy. The vet was sure it was a cyst until the needle went in and the lump didn't ooze. There was a little blood, but none of the normal nastiness you expect to see when a cyst is poked with a needle. That wasn't a good sign. Sure enough, a few days later I hear it's mast cell cancer.

Mast cell cancer is one of the more common cancers in dogs and it afflicts some breeds more than others (most commonly Boxers). There seems to be a link with golden/red colored dogs. Champ is definitely not purebred, but he has a ginger coat. I'm not sure why cancer happens. There are a lot of theories. Our environment has been polluted. Our high tech society exposes us to a lot of hazardous chemicals. Vaccinations, food contamination, [insert your theory here] could be part of the picture. The simple fact is it happens.

Champ was on a raw food diet prior to the lump appearing and he's not consuming simple carbohydrates and is already on a low glycemic diet. He's not eating any of the foods doctors now recommend are discontinued after a cancer diagnosis (refined flours, sugar, potatoes, simple starches). His vet was very open to prescribing him low dose naltrexone. I decided that since the biopsy put him at a small risk for cancer cell exposure, we might as well take a crack at having it removed. I'm not overly optimistic about total removal because it didn't move freely and was not just attached to the skin, and it grew very quickly. The vet has sent the sample off to determine the stage. The vet was great and did the procedure without opiates and he was on rimadyl as a pain reliever (NSAID). He seems very comfortable and is feeling better than before the surgery - I'm convinced he was having arthritis issues. We started him on LDN last night and all seemed well.

Hopefully the LDN will help and we won't see a deterioration in quality of life. I don't believe in pursuing chemo or radiation. He seems pain free and pretty happy. The raw food had perked him up prior to us noticing the lump, so I'm sure we're on the right path there. Now it's just a waiting game.

I have a theory that my family lives on some kind of nuclear waste site. This is further bolstering that theory....

Computer Kablooey and Colon Health

2010-06-03T19:13:00.001-07:00

Well, my normal computer is kaput. I left it on way too much, my virus software was cheap and apparently the firewall wasn't enough. I had trojans, worms, and feared losing all of my photographs because I was too cheap to buy hard copies. Doh! Our friend managed to save our photos, but the computer is toast so far. Hopefully wiping the operating system and starting over will do the trick.

Hearing about other people who are struggling with similar problems is always pretty difficult. You don't want to overwhelm people with medical suggestions because, well, I know I tend to shut down after a while when people do that, especially if it's something I've tried already. Medical treatment is a little like religion - people have to have faith in their treatment, and they protect it, sometimes blindly. I've been guilty of that and tend to resist advice initially, but ultimately consider most suggestions because you might stumble onto something that works. Knowing this, I still have a hard time biting my tongue. Why? I don't want them to go through all of the trials and errors I did.

Because this is my blog and I can pick my topics, I'll write to anyone who will read about what has and has not worked for me. In the interest of full disclosure, I still am struggling to hit colon perfect health. I still get gas and bloating and am having a heck of a time getting rid of candida and c. difficile. We'll get to that in a bit...

What has worked

Back in 2004, I was running to the bathroom to go number 2 upwards of 20 times a day. During a 20 minute commute to work, I would have to stop up to 5 times at different business buildings and restaurants to run in and use their bathroom. Embarrassing! Colitis wasn't my only problem. As time went on, interstitial cystitis, lupus, and other issues arose.

My first steps were to cut out dairy, soy, and gluten. Unfortunately, I didn't know I was allergic to many more things and didn't cut them all out at once, so I didn't think it was working! I read online about different supplements, started taking l-glutamine (helps), slippery elm (might have helped), marshmallow root (eh), and probiotics. I went to a naturopath and had an IGG and IGE blood test done for allergies. This helped me cut out a lot of foods and feel quite a bit better, but I was still having problems. I started researching my supplements and the probiotics I was taking contained soy and dairy, which explained why they weren't helping. I switched brands and started paying attention to how I was feeling immediately after I had meals.

I cut out more foods on my own and went to an Environmental Medical Doctor who did provocative skin testing. There were tons of foods that were not picked up by the blood test that showed up with skin testing...and the manifestations were weird! I was injected with corn (I wasn't told what was in the shot during testing) and I broke out in a rash all over. Guess what my staple food was at the time?

One of my major issues at this time was spontaneous weight loss and muscle wasting. I also was having muscle cramps at night, nerve issues (numb limbs, tingling, etc.). I started taking magnesium glycinate (up to 600 mg before bed) and the muscle cramps stopped. I started taking b12 shots and my energy levels went up and the nerve issues dissipated. I ate a ton of congi (rice porridge) with lamb (fattiest meat I could find), yams, parsnips, garlic, and ginger. Nothing else would settle well on my stomach, so I would have this several times a day. Oddly, I also developed a mild allergy to rice and was a complete loss as to what to eat.

I started allergy shots and low dose naltrexone. I also started Nystatin. I didn't notice much help from the low dose naltrexone other than an increase in energy - everything still hurt. It turns out that naltrexone kind of kick started my immune system and it was actually recognizing the candida I had been struggling with for a while. Arthritis pain went up and the Nystatin caused herx die-off reactions. After a couple months (yes, it took a long time), the naltrexone seemed to start working and I could work and function well.

I'm fairly convinced that if I just had started raw vegan during the height of my stomach issues, it probably would not have gone over well. I started on a whole food diet without any refined sugars, preservatives, or items I was allergic to. Because of the number of allergies, I cooked all of my meals from scratch. As time went on, I noticed that I didn't feel great after meals with a lot of meat - and I ate a lot of meat because I thought that was the only way to get protein and calories from fat since I had a hard time with grains and soy. Eventually, my sister-in-law sent me my first raw book and I was excited to see that sustaining yourself was entirely possible.

In summary:

magnesium glycinate (up to 600 mg per night)
b12 injections 2x a week
low dose naltrexone
daily multiple vitamin
pharmax or Klaire Labs probiotics
Thorne Platizyme
Zinc
vitamin D
vitamin A
l-glutamine
DGL (I actually took licorice - low blood pressure)
diet changes leading up to raw veganism

What didn't help as much:

SCD diet
Animal proteins
protein powders (most of them have corn, soy, whey)
traditional treatment

Other things I tried:

Acupuncture (helped)
Massage (helped)
Kombucha, miso, sauerkraut

Things I struggle with still

My health isn't perfect, but I work and have energy to do pretty normal stuff. I've even picked up guitar and am taking an art class. That may not sound like a big deal, but I work really long hours and am happy that I still have energy. That energy has been dipping a little. I got frustrated after months of Nystatin again. I went on Gabriel Cousen's phase I diet, and it seemed a little too strict - I detoxed quickly and didn't handle it well. I started pulsing, which helps. I can go a few days on phase one now. I've been eating every fermented food I can find. I'm going to try to go about this a bit more naturally, but realize that candida and c. difficile, and my obvious predisposition to contracting intestinal bugs is just a symptom of a crappy immune system. I'm going to talk to my doctor next week about testing for heavy metals. There has to be more at work here - and if there is I'd like to look at zeolites. There is also a quick detox with them...which the doctor will have to watch. We'll talk about it - he's a great doctor and may have other ideas. Symptoms right now aren't diarrhea (thank God), but I get a sharp pain in the descending colon before I have to go. My energy is sapped a little, but not bad. I get some bloating.

The next adventure for me is making my own fermented foods and continue the search for water kefir that isn't soy or milk derived....

Why do my dogs have autoimmune?

2010-05-13T17:46:00.001-07:00

Champ is a very smart dog, and sometimes smart means more problems. He's very intuitive and picks up the feelings of the people around him and they seem to get amplified. If Mom gets mad at Bogey, Champ acts as though you've been yelling at Champ himself. My family has been through some stress lately, and Champ stays with them during the week because of horrible separation anxiety. Champ screams until his voice is hoarse if I leave him. Someone is always home at my family's house, so I think this means less stress for him and he stays with us on weekends. If we lived closer together, I'd pick him up before and after work, but it's not possible.

Champ has been getting more sluggish and his joints have been bugging him. It's like he's been displaying lupus symptoms. He's had some patchy hair loss on his legs, joint stiffness, dry eyes, scaly skin, and a few other symptoms. One of the stranger ones is a pungent smell. A few weeks ago, he developed ulcerations on both of his eyes. They are mirrored - same area on both eyes - and are not due to injury. His eye is also sloughing off the new cells created to heal the cornea. The eye specialist didn't see how this could be related to his immune system. I wonder how it couldn't be! He's stressed, he is displaying other symptoms, and you don't develop spontaneous ulcers without there being an underlying driver.

The Lancet published a study in 1992 (1). The researchers took blood from dogs that had autoimmune, dogs that lived with people with lupus, and dogs that lived with a control group without autoimmune. "Abnormal serum protein electrophoresis patterns were found in samples from the autoimmune and SLE patients' dogs but not the normal dogs." In the Lupus journal, a study in 2004 (2) concluded that pets owned by people with lupus had a far higher chance of developing the disease themselves. Out of 59 dogs owned by SLE patients, 19% were ANA positive and 5% were diagnosed with SLE. Out of 187 dogs owned by healthy people, 5% were ANA positive and 0% had SLE. Among 650 outpatient dogs registered in a veterinary hospital, 5% were ANA positive and 0.9% had SLE.

I have a penchant for choosing dog breeds that are prone to autoimmune issues, but even dogs from my childhood developed strange issues. Mikey, a Cairn Terrier, developed Cushing's Disease. A mixed breed we had was on Prednisone before we knew any better because of all of his allergies. Our Bernese Mountain Dog, Bob, had IBS, medication reactions (especially to vaccines), and cancer. My family's Bernese Mountain Dog, Bogey, has numerous food allergies and ulcerative colitis. His allergies are even to the same foods and environmental factors! All of these dogs spent a significant amount of time with me, and the Bernese Mountain Dogs mirrored some of my health issues.

Looking at Champ's health problems as they develop, I can't agree with his vet and assume his problems are each independent of one another and have nothing to do with his immune system. They must be related to stress and possibly other environmental factors. I've started him on a raw food diet, and after 3 days he no longer smells! Mom called me last night excited because he tried to play with Bogey for the first time in a few months, even with a cone on his head (he has to wear a plastic e-collar to keep him from rubbing his eyes - unfortunately the soft collars won't work for his specific problem).

Instead of having a vet put him under and scrape his cornea, I've called a wonderful homeopathic vet I've worked with before. I've got the remedy, which I'm giving him tomorrow, and the camera ready. I'm hopeful that between diet and remedies, he's already on the road to recovery. If this doesn't work soon, I'll reconsider the "traditional" treatment, but he actually seems pretty comfortable with the e-collar, and happier than he was prior to going on the raw food diet. I may also consider LDN. What works for my health problems may also work for my dog. We seem similar in other areas...

What kind of raw food diet do I have my dog on? Well, this may not be popular, but I believe that animals should be fed a species appropriate diet, and my ethics should not be forced on an animal that would choose flesh (and boy would he!). He is on a variety of small animal ground meat (organs, bones, and all), and will graduate to include chicken frames as he loses his cone collar. He was on this diet before, but it was difficult for my family to maintain during the week. I'm purchasing the food pre-ground and will try to supply them with an assortment of sprouts and vegetables when my energy goes up a little. He's on ground veggies now. Champ thrived on this diet in the past. Dogs' digestive tracts are about 1/3 the length of a human's and they have at least 3 times our acidity. This makes them better equipped to deal with bacteria and parasites. The food travels through their g.i. system very quickly, which is why raw and enzyme packed makes the most sense. Their teeth are made for tearing, not grinding, and their natural preferences are not vegan.

Does this mean I eat meat? Absolutely not. I also look for sustainable options that are as humane as possible. Organic only, and cage free (if possible). It's not ideal, but biologically it makes the most sense.

1. D.R.E Jones PhD, N.D Hopkinson MRCP, R.J Powell MRCP. "Autoantibodies in pets owned by patients with systemic lupus erythematosus." The Lancet 399.8806 (1992) 1378-1380.

2. Chiou SH, Lan JL, Lin SL, Chen DY, Tsai NY, Kuan CY, Lin TY, Lin FJ, Lee WM, Chang TJ. "Pet dogs owned by lupus patients at a higher risk of developing lupus." Lupus 13.6 (2004) 442-449.

Birthday, Cruising, Detoxing, and Gardening

2010-05-07T21:47:00.000-07:00

Whew, it's been a while since I've blogged and I have a lot to cover!

I haven't posted in a while because Lance and I got to go on a Hawaiian cruise! I was voted by last year's sales Presidents Club winners as the honorary Presidents Club member in 2010 out of a thousand+ people at work! Pretty cool... The Marketing team organizing the event was fantastic and made sure the cruise crew knew about my food issues. The Norwegian Cruise Line was fantastic! The buffet had a great selection of fresh fruit and vegetables and they have a chef that specializes in special diet needs. He was amazed at the sheer number of allergies and sat down with me and worked on a menu. I wasn't 100% raw on the cruise, but I was 100% vegan, allergy free, and well fed!

Lance and I had a great time visiting four of the Hawaiian islands. The first day was spent checking in. The second and third days were spent on Maui. We didn't travel much around the island, but got off the boat and did a lot of walking. The bus driver told us where to find sea turtles - and we found 6 huge ones! It was great watching them poke their little noses up.

Near the sea turtles, there were dozens of people wind surfing? I'm not sure what it is called, but they held onto a large kite while on a surf board. We had one guy ham it up and come in close to smile for the camera.

We stopped in Hilo and went up to view the volcano. We were expecting liquid hot magma and sharks with fricken laser beams attached to their heads, but saw a puff of smoke instead. Fortunately, we got to see some liquid hot magma in the evening when we went around the island to the port at Kona.

Kona was a tender port, so we took life boats to shore. There was a farmers market within walking distance and stocked up on honey mangoes, macadamia nuts, and avocados the size of a dinner plate. YUM!

Our favorite island is still Kauai - where we honeymooned - but Kona and Maui were great. The Na Pali coast was as breathtaking as I remembered - and we had an even better view from the boat than when we hiked it.

We had a full day at most ports and two days on Kauai. We rented a car and rushed to the valley in Waimea Canyon that was fogged in the last time we were in Kauai. I got the shots I was hoping for!

I felt really great during the beginning of the cruise and was able to work out up through the last couple of days. The food caught up with me a bit and I started getting a little more sluggish and developed what looked like hives from the sun. Then I went by my favorite fruit stand in Kauai and they were nice and added extra protein powder. Soy protein! I had to load up on Benedryl and spent the last day half passed out on a beach. I really can't complain too much about it because it was my favorite beach on Kauai and I got to watch the waves crashing on the shore. Not a bad way to spend a few hours in an allergy fog!

I was a bit naughty on the cruise and had, in addition to cooked veggies, potato chips. Lots of them. I probably didn't pick the best time to try the Gabriel Cousens Phase I diet when I got back and got hit with quite a bit of detox symptoms. That laid me out during the first week back. I decided to back off of the diet a little and try to stick to mostly Phase 1.5, but that hasn't been 100%. I have been 100% raw and cut way back on my fruit sugar intake.

While we were gone our garden has gone wild! I can't believe how much things grew and my mom brought my grandparents over just so they could see the difference between their garden and mine. They have very rich, composted top soil near a lake and I have hard clay soil in the city. We used humi-zyme on our garden, and the stuff is fantastic! Our plants are easily 5x the size of my family's plants they bought at the same tilth sale. You can't tell they are the same age. I'm already going out in the morning to pick my lunch for the day and I pick a good amount of my dinner. We have 3 types of lettuce, arugula, kale, and spinach ready now. We have cauliflower, broccoli, chard, and several other kinds of greens that will be ready soon enough. The berries are already forming, which doesn't usually happen for another month at least! I would highly recommend treating soil prior to planting with humi-zyme (it's not intended as a fertilizer on the plants - but as a soil treatment).

Champ has been a bit out of sorts. I'm putting him back on a raw diet and calling the homeopath. He has ulcers on his eyes that aren't healing because the cells are sloughing off instead of adhering to the cornea. The vet doesn't see how it could be related to the immune system and I don't see how it couldn't be. He's started to smell, his poop isn't firm, and he has been low energy. He does so much better on raw, so I'm picking some up tomorrow. I'm giving the homeopathic treatment a week and then we'll look into regular treatment. I hate seeing him walk around with a cone on his head.

We did get some great shots of him at the arboretum. It has been pretty cold here, but today was beautiful and last weekend we had a few hours of sunshine.

Today is my thirtieth birthday and I have a lot to be thankful for. I felt well enough to go on a cruise and I got to work out. I have knowledge about nutrition and feel pretty darn good. I am able to do things I didn't think I'd ever do again a few years ago. Most of all, I have an awesome husband I love. He has been great, and patient on the days I get crabby and frustrated. I think he likes the days I feel well and tries to enjoy them with me. We tend to pack them a little too full, but it's nice to be living life. It was nice to spend today with my family and husband, and spending time working on the yard and talking with Lance was a treat.

Oh, and the "cheese"cake I made was plate licking good... I'll have to post pictures :)

Easter Pancakes!

2010-04-04T13:00:00.001-07:00

This requires no dehydrator and Lance even liked the texture.

Pancakes

2 cup chia seeds (1 is thrown into a food processor and ground)
1/2 cup buckwheaties
1/2 cup fine shredded, dried coconut
2 tbs melted coconut oil
1/2 cup agave
1/4 cup water
1-2 Tbs Lucuma powder
1/2 tsp salt

Mix all of the ingredients in a bowl and then form into patties on a plate. We topped ours with left over marionberries and sliced banana! YUM! I've got the leftover pancakes in the dehydrator to make a snack for later.

Happy Easter!

2010-04-04T12:51:00.000-07:00

Lance had the great idea of hiding treats in those little plastic Easter Eggs for Champ. I think we all had a lot of fun finding the eggs, but I had to laugh when I heard the neighbor kids next door running around doing the same thing. Champ is our kid, so it works.

Champ is a little genius and figured out how to pop those suckers open in no time:

This evening we will be celebrating Grandma's birthday and giving her a sprouting kit! I'm sure she'll be excited. Actually, she used to sprout all the time using more complicated methods, so hopefully she'll like her gift. I'm giving her broccoli, red clover, lentil, peas, and a few other seeds to try out.

I hope everyone is having a nice weekend!

Champ is wanting to go find more Easter Egg treats!

Broccoli and Shitake Soup

2010-04-04T12:42:00.000-07:00

Large Vegetables

6 small-med Shitake Mushrooms
1 large head of broccoli
1 shallot, sliced into thin rings
1 tsp ginger
1 clove garlic
1/4 cup olive oil
1/2 - 3/4 cup water
pinch of salt
pinch of pepper
Yacon Syrup to taste

Blend the shallots, oil, salt, pepper, garlic, and ginger together in a bowl and add water. Chop the broccoli into bite size pieces and slice the shitake mushrooms. I combine all of this together in a pie pan and put in the dehyrator at 145 degrees for an hour.

Soup Base:

hand full of Macadamia nuts or Cashews
Broccoli stems
4 stalks of celery
1/2 a large cucumber
2 shitake mushrooms

Take the marinading pie dish out of the dehydrator and pour the juices with the above chopped soup base into a blender. Blend until smooth and creamy - if you do not have a Vitamix or Blendtec, you may want to strain the soup before pouring over the chunky vegetables in the pie pan.

Asian Carrot Salad

2010-04-04T12:34:00.000-07:00

I took a class several years ago at PCC on Asian Vegan Cooking. The chef used a lot of soy (tofu, soy sauce, tamari, miso, etc), so I was forced to make some tweaks. This was originally a hijiki salad with pan fried tofu that I have turned into my own.

Base:

4-6 carrots, cleaned and julienned
5 large leaves of kale, preferably dino but I made it with curly

Dressing:

2 green/spring onions cut thin on the bias
pinch of sea salt
1/4 cup raw coconut vinegar (apple cider vinegar would work)
Several tablespoons of salba oil or hemp oil (play with the taste, you may only want 1 tablespoon depending on personal preference)
3-4 Tbs Yacon Syrup or Maple Syrup
1 Tbs minced or zested ginger

You want to let the flavors in the sauce to sit and marinate for a while so the ginger really gets infused. The spring onions really add a bite I like. The proportions here may not be accurate. I sometimes use more vinegar and play with the oil level. Salba oil is fantastic for you and it is not as strong as the flax or hemp oil flavors, but it can overwhelm this sauce.

The sauce is meant to be a nice blend of sweet and savory. I toss the dressing in about an hour prior to serving and let everything sit out a room temperature.

Add just before serving:

1 large handful of sesame seeds

Marrionberry Cheesecake!

2010-04-04T12:16:00.000-07:00

I finally made the marrionberry cheesecake and it was everything I had hoped and dreamed! This is Very close to Sweet Gratitude's crust recipe and I want to give credit where it is due. The filling is also inspired by some of the recipes they have in their books. I've made a few tweaks, but the basis of the recipes is what I used to put my own flavors and twists on.

Crust

1 cup soaked almonds
1/4 cup cacao nibs
3/4 cup shredded coconut
10+ medjool dates, pitted
1/4 cup cacao powder

Put the almonds, nibs, cacao powder, and coconut flakes in a food processor. Turn it on and add one date at a time. Dates should be added until the crust balls up into a doughy ball. Press into the bottom of a spring form cheesecake pan.

The step I always forget - "butter" the sides of the spring form pan with coconut oil. It makes getting the cheesecake out much easier. I usually end up taking a butter knife to the edges, which works and gives me an excuse to eat the leftover batter stuck to the sides.

Marrionberry Filling

1 pound marrionberries (frozen works)
3 cups soaked and drained cashews (soak for 3 hours)
1 1/2 cup water
1 cup agave syrup
juice from 1/2 a lemon
1 tsp scraped vanilla bean
1/2 cup cacao butter melted
1/2 cup coconut oil melted
3 Tb chia seeds ground finely

Blend the cashews, water, agave syrup, lemon, and vanilla bean in the Vitamix or other sturdy blender. Add in the marrionberry juice and berries, saving a handful to put in the filing whole. Blend until combined. This is about where my vitamix stops moving the liquid quickly enough to combine the oils (which is done last). Transfer the liquid to a big mixing bowl and combine the melted oils and chia seeds with a hand mixer. Pour 1/3 of the well blended liquid into the spring form pan over the crust. Sprinkle the leftover berries evenly.

Pour another 1/3 of the batter over the top of the berries. Add 1/3-1/2 cup of cacao to the remaining batter and mix in with the hand mixer. Swirl the chocolate batter you just made on the batter in the spring form pan. You can do this by pouring blobs across the top and then use a butter knife to spread into swirls.

Put in the freezer for 2 hours and then chill in the fridge overnight before serving. This needs at least 2 hours in the freezer and 4 in the fridge to set properly, so it's best to make it the day before you are serving it. I made it the same day and while the flavor was fantastic, the texture wasn't quite where I wanted it to be yet.

If you are opposed to using agave syrup, you can make date syrup by pitting dates and combining them with water. I think it works out to about 60/40 water to dates.

A good start to the weekend...

2010-03-27T22:39:00.001-07:00

Last night Mom came over with "the boys" which of course means Champ and Bogey were over. Champ is my dog and Bogey is a beautiful, fat Bernese Mountain Dog. He's kind of a jerk, but always in a loving way. He body slams you, but with tons of tail wags and affection. He's a dominant butt head, but in a really easy going, non-aggressive sort of way. He actually behaves beautifully for me on leash, but doesn't respect other family members enough to recognize the same commands. He plays dumb and keeps doing his own thing. He is extremely good natured though and very lazy, so it usually doesn't create a problem. I don't think he's met anyone he doesn't like. Here's a nice shot of "Booger":

I picked up dinner from Chaco Canyon Cafe (love their raw vegan options). After dinner, Mom and I went to Home Depot and we picked up a couple nice trellises for the Kiwi plants and a rain catcher for the down spout. It holds 45 gallons - and I don't know how much we'll collect here in Seattle in the next couple of months off our roof, but it may be worth getting another to water our lawn during the summer. I'm kind of excited about it. I'm also happy about having energy to go run errands.

This morning I woke up a little stiff, but that is getting a little better. I have been forgetting to take my MSM supplements, which is really dumb because they help a lot. MSM combined with vitamin C has been a great addition to my supplement list. After a couple weeks, I noticed a dramatic decrease in arthritis symptoms. Usually I wake up in pain, but my hip has been pretty good.

Lance and I went to help the family in the yard today. Lance was a great sport and ended up turning the lower garden bed at their house by hand after the rototiller refused to start up. That is a lot of work! I did some digging but remembered what happened last weekend (Go me!) and stuck to planting in the greenhouse. I'm already taking over the greenhouse and it isn't even winter yet! I planted some green beans, parsley, cilantro, basil, tons of carrots (I go through 5lbs plus in a week, so that was a no brainer), daikon, and red radish. I helped Mom map out her garden plots to follow more of a permaculture design and I'm really excited to see how it turns out.

Once we got back home, Lance installed the rain catcher and I have been relaxing as much as possible. I even took a soak in the bathtub and did some reading. I got Lance Brandon Brazier's books and have started reading his Thrive Diet book. It's really quite impressive. I kind of needed a kick in the pants today to stay motivated. I need to hold on to how much better I feel. I've noticed my skin has been dry and keep looking for other signs of missing nutrients. My plan is to up the omega fats and keep relaxing.

I'm looking forward to going back to my family's house tomorrow. My mom has befriended a coworker and his partner has lupus and has been in remission for some time now. It's always nice to be able to pick someone else's brain who is doing well and see what I can tweak in my own approach.

I hope everyone is feeling well!

Working in the garden... So tired.

2010-03-22T18:21:00.001-07:00

I've been feeling very well and was excited for Spring and the beginnings of a garden. A couple weeks ago, Lance worked some compost into the soil and we were getting the garden beds ready. This weekend we went to the Seattle Tilth sale and the plants were beautiful. I bought many plant starts, and we had room for most of them and had to make room in the back for the rest. Here's a picture of my tiny little fig tree...I am so excited for figs in 5 years. That wasn't just sarcasm - I am looking forward to the day when I have too many figs to know what to do with and start giving them away. But as you can see, it will take around 5 years for that to happen:

The friends I met yesterday at our Chronic Illness Support Group were jealous that I had the energy to work in the yard. Lance and I planted kiwi, grapes, raspberries from my family's organic garden, a good variety of greens, cauliflower, asparagus, and the list goes on. We ran to Home Depot to pick up supplies for a cloche and worked until 8:30 PM on Saturday with headlamps on to get as much as we could in the ground, and then I dug a little on Sunday before realizing I was really tired. Well, today I have to relearn (hopefully learn anyhow) the lesson that just because you feel like you can do anything, it does not mean you should. My head hurts, my stomach is a mess, I'm really tired, and now I have a fever. Waaaaaaaaaaaah. I even embarrassed myself getting ill on the way to a class (we won't go into too many details) and was late. Tonight I think I'll just have some juice to cut back on the digestion, but will have to bring something more substantial to work. I don't think I can work and fast at the same time...I get dizzy really easily and am dog tired. Lupus is tricky. Some days I feel really well, but if I try to take full advantage of the days I feel well, I tend to work myself into illness again. My illness keeps trying to teach me moderation and I have been a very poor student! I need to remind myself I am so fortunate I can still work and do very well for the most part - and I've been feeling stronger and today is just a small blip on the radar.

On to more pleasant things... Saturday I attended a Permaculture class at Raw Vegan Source. It made me rethink the placement of many of my plants, and I hope to start composting so I can do things the right way the next growing season. For now, I'm jumping into gardening full throttle and plan to try to learn from my mistakes. I'm lucky to have a husband who sees the value in gardening and is excited to help in order to reduce our pricey grocery bill.

Because it has still been dipping into the low forties or high thirties some nights, we built a couple of cloches to protect the lettuce and more tender greens. We've had some nice sun, so I'm hoping it's a little warmer under there. We did a REALLY simple design of PVC pipe bent into semi-circles and plunged into the ground, then covered with transparent plastic and weighted down with bricks. It's not easily moved on and off, but it's easy enough to lift the edging and water when needed. The only thing that really bothers me is the plastic...I'll have to brainstorm better materials for down the road, but it's a hard one to get around. Here is a picture of a cloche:
Lance and Champ really seemed to enjoy themselves in the garden, and hung out while I was in a class and running errands. Champ was a good little sentry and was very patient with the stupid humans playing in the dirt.

I hope the Humizyme does its thing with our city dirt and we have awesome, mineral rich greens to share down the road. I'm turning into a weirdo going through the seed packets I have trying to decide how to fit in more plants. Lance is beginning to fear for his lawn. Muaahahahaha.....

Time to go nurse the beginnings of a migraine, put on the heat packs, and curl into some blankets.

Broccoli Leek Soup

2010-03-16T19:15:00.001-07:00

I have been needing savory foods for meals. I'm great at making desserts and found that I need to focus on more substantial meals because I'm getting tired of salads. I had leeks and didn't feel like putting them on a salad, so adapted a recipe I found on goneraw.com. The leek and broccoli combo is similar, but I made some tweaks.

Soup Chunks
Slice a leek, put 1/2 aside
Head of broccoli, put stems/trim aside and use florets
5-6 crimini mushrooms, sliced
1 clove garlic
Mix 1/2 cup water, several tablespoons of olive oil and add spices: sage, thyme, pepper, and basil

Mix the vegetables with the oil mixture and put in the food dehydrator at 145 degrees for 1 hour. Strain the liquid into your blender to use in the soup base.

Soup Base
3 stalks celery
Broccoli stems
1/2 of the leek slices
1/2 cup cashews +

Blend the soup base (don't forget the liquid from your marinade!). Pour some of the chunks into the soup base and enjoy. If you need more salt, feel free to add it - I know I did :)

This and That - work, food, and the beginnings of a garden

2010-03-13T15:45:00.000-08:00

Well, overall I'd say my health has improved dramatically. I had a rough patch a couple days ago with heart burn (a first for me, surprisingly) and digestive upset. Nothing much sounded good to eat, especially cold raw, so I splurged and cooked a butternut squash with a little coconut oil. I wouldn't say it was everything I hoped for, but it gave me a few calories and got me through the nausea. Before and after that patch, I've had much more energy and no pain to speak of. It's amazing how feeling better impacts my outlook on life. Everything got easier...work, play...everything.

The past couple of weeks have been 60+ hours in the office/working. That's a LOT for someone with a chronic illness, and I'm happy that I was able to keep up and stay raw minus my day of squash. My boss felt bad for all the hours, so he bought me a huge bag of gorgeous oranges. Having extra fruit at work made it easier to stay focused and productive - smart boss.

I think the Nystatin is working. My energy is WAY up and I am thinking a lot clearer. There have been a lot of stressful events outside of work lately as well (my grandfather was in the ER several times with prostate issues and a few other family matters popped up). The fact that this has all been going on and I only had a few rough days is pretty good! I've started up Yoga again - it has gotten MUCH easier and I no longer need the dreaded chair I posted about just a short time ago. I've also learned to play when I can. Lance and I have been making more of an effort to enjoy our time while I feel well. We've been bowling and had friends over for Guitar Hero. I shamelessly love that game and embrace my geekiness.

This morning I met my boss to work at Chaco Canyon Cafe and had some delicious breakfast. I tried their Mocha Maca raw smoothie - OMG it was like a chocolate ice cream shake. The frozen bananas really made the smoothie wonderful. I've also tried Kombucha for the first time and was surprised I liked it and felt well afterwards (I tend to be paranoid about trying new things with all my allergies). Their food is great and I've been stopping by occasionally to pick up lunch for the next day when I don't feel well enough to uncook. They've really helped me keep on the raw vegan as much as I have.

I'm getting a little better at making savory meals, and I have to keep trying new things because salads get tiring after a while. I have a delicious ginger carrot soup recipe I need to post. Usually I can't stand raw soups, but this one I liked. I also made some cauliflower rice and used that in a nori wrap with avocado. Right now I'm munching on my new favorite "pasta" salad with kelp noodles, cucumber, Sun Foods olives, carrots, and some thinned down Ranch Dressing.

Cauliflower Rice (makes several servings)
1/3 cup cashews
3 Tb water
1/2 big head of Cauliflower
1/3 tsp dill +
1/4 tsp tumeric +
pinch of sea salt

The cashews really help mellow out the bite of the cauliflower.

I've noticed being raw vegan has led to research and a stronger belief in veganism. When I first tried raw this summer, my cheats included meat. It was something I was raised on and I bought fairly carefully most of the time. Now it's just not appealing. I have no interest in it and I don't believe I need it. I maintain weight better on a vegan diet, feel better, and look better on the diet, so obviously it agrees with me. I've noticed changes in my arthritis. I'm happier overall too - my moods are lighter. I have serious problems with how the majority of the meat in this country was produced. No, that softens the blow too much. I have a huge problem with how the animals are treated, what they are fed, and what medications they are dosed with to make them stronger and more resistant to the diseases they are getting because they are crammed together unnaturally and exposed to bacteria that is evolving/mutating because of all of the antibiotics. It doesn't bother me that my husband continues to eat meat, and we try to make smart purchases from farms that raise the animals as ethically as possible and with a species appropriate diet (this means no corn fed beef too). I don't believe I should force my beliefs on others because it tends to push them in the other direction. Think back to life as a teenager. When our parents hated who we were dating - we tended to like them more. I refuse to be the vegan who yells at people because of their food choices.

People are curious about what I eat and I get into animated discussions, but usually they are pretty respectful and just curious. Ignorance...I try to ignore. I practice what I discuss (and I don't conceal my short comings). I'm educated and comfortable with my diet choices. I've found I enjoy debating diets with people if they are interested and who knows - maybe they will start thinking about what they eat.

New topic - wow this post has really been all over the place! I haven't blogged in so long; I feel like I have a lot to catch up on. Lance and I (well, mostly Lance) are prepping our front yard for a garden. I'm stoked! My family is giving us some starters from their raspberry crop (Delicious old fashioned thornless beauties) and we're going to a plant sale. We've had some cold snaps, but I'm hoping Winter is on its way out.

Entirely Raw Raspberry Mousse Pie

2010-02-22T18:00:00.000-08:00

I went to a raw vegan meetup that was local and had a BLAST. My husband enjoyed it as well. He's not raw or vegan (he eats a high vegan content diet now, but still enjoys his meat), but he really liked the meals there and even enjoyed the durian. I am afraid that is going to be an acquired taste for me and I prefer not to have it in the house raw :P

I've been reading research and recent posts on goneraw.com about agave and decided to try to get as close to 100% raw with this recipe. I even left out the salt for this group, but would include it in the future.

Crust:
2 cups pecans
3/4 c shredded coconut (dehydrated)
1/2 Tbs ground vanilla bean

I ground these in the food processor to break up the chunks and then added 7 dates, one by one until the crust started to form into a "dough" consistency.

Filling:
10 dates
1.5 c water
15 oz raspberries
3 c. soaked raw cashews
3/4 c raw coconut oil
1 package fresh raspberries
1/4 tsp salt
3 Tbs chia seeds (ground fine)

I put the dates and water in the vitamix first to make a syrup. I then added the raspberries, salt, and cashews. I poured this into a bowl and used a hand mixer to blend in the coconut oil and chia seeds. After that was well combined, I hand folded in the raspberries and poured the filling into the crust. This went into the freezer for 2 hours (actually it went in more because I took a long nap :)

I would recommend making it the evening before you intend to serve it so it has a day to firm up in the fridge.

I'll probably make this again and post pictures. It went pretty quickly and was fantastic with another meetup person's coconut pie :) Yum!

Chocolate "Cheese"cake!

2010-02-22T17:47:00.001-08:00

My brother tried the Raspberry White Chocolate Cheesecake (raw vegan) I tried from the Sweet Gratitude recipe book and requested that I make him a "cheesecake" for his birthday. I made some tweaks to the mocha cheesecake from sweet gratitude and ended up with the same crust and the following filling:

3.5 cups soaked cashews
1.5 cups water
1 cup agave
1/4 cup vanilla extract
1/4 tsp salt

I blended these ingredients until smooth. This is already pretty thick because the cashews tend to whip up, so I poured these ingredients in a bowl and added:
3 Tbs finely ground chia seeds

I let that sit for a few minutes so the chia seeds would dissolve in the batter.

Then I added:
1/2 c melted cacao butter
1/3 c melted coconut oil
3/4 c cacao powder

The cacao powder measurement is a bit off because I basically did an "oopsies" into the mixing bowl and dumped a ton in. It tasted great! I would recommend throwing in 1/2 a cup and building up by 1/4 cups to suit your taste.

To go on top of the cheesecake I threw in the food processor:
2 c. raspberries
5 dates

It made a nice syrup. You may want to add more dates depending on taste.

I'm noticing the longer I'm raw vegan, the less I'm digesting really fatty desserts like this. I hear this is pretty normal, so I better enjoy them while I can. Actually, I've been moving to a more vegetable/fruit based diet and am finding I can satisfy a sweet tooth with some yummy fruit. I ate some cooked vegetables last night at my family's and I'm turning into a snob! I had very, very little because they were cooked until they lost a lot of their beautiful color and found I didn't care for the taste (sorry).

Ranch Dressing and Creamy Alfredo

2010-02-10T18:58:00.000-08:00

Yum yum yum :)

Ranch Dressing:
3/4 cup soaked macadamia nuts
1/3 cup water+
Juice from 1/2 a lemon
1/4- tsp dill
1/4 tsp cumin
pinch salt
pinch pepper
pinch cayenne
Either a couple shakes of onion powder or 1/2 shallot bulb
Either a few shakes of garlic powder or 1/2 clove, crushed

Blend in a blender until smooth. The spice amounts are guesses, so please play with the mixture to see what suits you best. I just love this spice combination, and I've got it dressing cucumber noodles right now with some kalamata olives. Yum.

Alfredo
1 cup soaked macadamia nuts
Juice from 1/2 a lemon
1 clove crushed garlic
pinch salt
pinch pepper
1/3 tsp oregano
1/3 cup water

Blend in a blender until smooth. Adjust spices to taste

The adventures of marionberry cheesecake...

2010-02-10T18:54:00.000-08:00

Well, I should have double checked my Marionberry stash in the freezer because while I was making my cheesecake I discovered I had none! I ended up making a white chocolate raspberry cheesecake from Sweet Gratitude's uncookbook with some recipe modifications. I've found that chia seeds work as a great replacement for soy lecithin if they are ground finely and allowed to soak in the mixture for a bit before blending. The texture and taste were great, and I've been asked to prepare one for my brother's birthday. My brother is not vegan at all, so this is a huge compliment!

This weekend I have plenty of time to make cheesecakes, so I'm planning another white chocolate raspberry for my brother and a marrionberry/chocolate or cherry/chocolate. I will post pictures this time. I'm afraid the last cheesecake disappeared before I could get any good shots :)

LDN versus candida

2010-02-10T18:34:00.000-08:00

This is a response to questions posted today on one of previous posts about LDN.
"how long on LDN before seeing any improvements?

how long on what drug before getting rid of candida?"

I was one of many who had candida when I first started LDN. I didn't know I had candida. The first few days on LDN, I did notice an uptick in energy, but no improvements in pain and several other symptoms were coming and going. I started getting petichial rashes and continuing neurological symptoms. The extra energy was a waste because my body wasn't healing and if I tried to put that energy to good use cleaning, I spent the rest of the day with flu-like symptoms.

In the years before starting LDN, I was on the Specific Carbohydrate Diet for IBS to eliminate candida. Did the SCD improve my IBS symptoms? Yes. Did it get rid of the candida? Nope. That low carbohydrate, low sugar diet sure helped me lose weight, but after several months of improving, I started getting intestinal symptoms again.

My doctor had me do a G.I. panel and picked up that I had Candida Albicans in my intestinal tract. I didn't have any other parasites at that time. He put me on Nystatin about 2 months after I started LDN. I have an article posted here on Nystatin, but the short story is it is a powerful medicine that is poisonous to candida and does not permeate the intestinal wall, so it is very safe. Diflucan is not safe. I would not take Diflucan because it can quickly affect the liver. It took me about 3 months to slowly build up from 1/16th of a teaspoon to 1 teaspoon of Nystatin. You must build slowly because of Herx. die off symptoms (it's like the flu, complete with fevers, plus it aggravates whatever health condition you have underneath).

It took me about 5 months total to start feeling REALLY good on LDN. The lupus symptoms started dissipating and I was able to function very well at work.

I saw that oregano is a common protocol for candida cleansing. Please be aware that oregano will also kill all of your good bacteria and can make you suceptible to c. difficile. I'm SURE that's how I got c. difficile this summer. I was taking oregano oil almost daily and ended up in the hospital because of c. difficile. I did not have any antibiotics close to that time period. I would recommend only taking oregano oil for short periods of time, like most people take echinacea. For what it's worth, if you have an autoimmune condition, you shouldn't take echinacea, astragalus, or other immune boosters. It's important to be on modulators, as a booster is just going to encourage your immune system to do more of what it's already doing quite well - attacking your own body. It makes more sense to focus on supplements and medications that correct the cell function instead of blindly encouraging replication and intensity.

I am on Nystatin again for Candida. I know Nystatin worked the first time and I was Candida free because I took G.I. panels several years apart without any Candida traces. What changed? I had to go on a lot of antibiotics to get rid of the c. difficile. So now I'm up to 1/2 a teaspoon after a week and a half and will probably only be on it for another week to two. I noticed the LDN was not working as well and pain management became very difficult. I can't take NSAIDs because I have colitis/IBD from the c. difficile, and no opiates because of the LDN. I built up rather quickly on the Nystatin, and I noticed some pretty minimal Herx symptoms. This round has been much easier, but I've still dealt with some fevers. Then again, I've been getting those from the c. difficile that isn't going away after antibiotics. For that, I'm taking Sacro B., a "good" yeast (not related to candida) that attacks c. difficile. I have noticed the LDN is starting work a little better and I have less pain in the last few days.

Intestinal health is so critical in acheiving overall health. I wish more doctors understood this. The intestines are the gateway - we are exposed to viruses and what not in our nasal passages, and this runs down to our gut. Our gut's ability to fight off the bugs is what makes us healthy or not.

Update

2010-02-05T18:18:00.000-08:00

Well, I've still got digestive issues and the lupus symptoms are kicking up. It's hard to maintain a positive attitude after several months of not feeling well. I joined a yoga class and was bummed that I had to use a chair instead of support blocks because I'm so stiff and can't bend down far enough. I used to be really flexible and it was a blow to the ego. I was really distracted for 1/2 of the class, but was doing better towards the end. The yoga instructor said I should strive to accept where my body is at on a given day, but that is going to take some hard work.

I've started Nystatin and I think the candida die off is contributing to my symptom flare. I'm sticking with the medication and continuing to increase the dosage. I am not getting fevers as often and I don't feel so flu like, so I think it's starting to work.

I'm still 100% vegan and have more energy. I'm starting a local support group in Seattle for vegans with chronic illnesses. I'm hoping to find a group of people who can learn from each other and offer support. I can chip in on anti-allergy recipes. I'm hoping that the vegan aspect lends us to somewhat more like-minded support. My belief is that I should try my hardest to improve my health and not wait for symptoms to grow worse. It doesn't always work out that way, but I feel I'm much better off after making healthier food choices.

This weekend I'll be making Marionberry "Cheese"cake :) I'll be sure to post pictures, the recipe, and outcome. My husband is reading over my shoulder and is pretty happy to see this part of the post!

Day 3 of 100% Raw

2010-01-26T22:05:00.000-08:00

I am feeling much better today. No headache, dizziness, or confusion, and I woke up much less stiff. I don't think I got a fever today. I have more energy, so I'm hoping I can focus a little more at work tomorrow.

I was feeling a little down today because it was a little rough at work and I managed to get lost on the way to a dental appointment (Seattle streets can still be so confusing to me downtown). Oh well. My mom stopped by and we went to dinner at Chaco Canyon Cafe in the U District. They don't have a huge raw section on their menu, but what they do have I'm not allergic to (yay!) and their desserts are very good. I went with the raw Cilantro Walnut pesto with raw zucchini "noodles" and sea vegetable noodles. Mom and I split the raw raspberry tart - which was delicious. I also had some raw chocolate fudge, which was also very good. Mom had a cooked vegan dish she liked. I think Lance and I are going to plan on eating out once a week to make meal prep a little less stressful. Preparing every meal, especially on days where I feel like garbage, is a chore. It's worth it, but it is nice to have a break now and then. I'm very lucky to have raw vegan restaurant options.

I got Lance a book by Brandon Brazier on Brandon's training schedule and food philosophy. He seems pretty open and wants to start decreasing the amount of processed and starchy foods in his diet. Yay. I can also learn something from the exercise section and start walking more to ramp up.

Detoxing. Fun.

2010-01-25T18:44:00.000-08:00

I think one of the harder things about restarting a raw diet and sticking with it is the detox period. Being on day 2 of 100% (minus cacao I suppose and green tea) raw, I've got dark circles, nausea, a headache, and some crankiness. Gah, and I have BO! Running to the bathroom regularly. My energy levels are OK, but I wasn't comfortable driving home with a headache and dizziness. I'm not sure it's not calorie related...It was hard to eat the amount I needed with a lot of nausea.

Today I've had:
Marrionberry Smoothie with cacao, yacon syrup, hemp seeds, and a little maca
2 oranges
kale wraps with spring onion macadamia "cheese"
vegetable soup (OMG disgusting - I made it from a recipe in a book and they must be later stage raw vegans... early on, it just is not good) I'll try to tweak the recipe to suit my tastes, but it may be a total loss

I had some raw chocolate bar, and that sent me over the edge in the caffiene department so I felt like a spaz.

I got home and downed a bowl of raw sauerkraut and now am having raw halva (sesame seeds ground mixed with raw tahini, agave, cinnamon, and salt)

I shouldn't do much fruit because my results came back and I have Candida from all of the antibiotics I've been on and STILL have C. Difficile. It's very frustrating. I'm on Sacro b. for the c. difficile, probiotics, and will be starting Nystatin. My diet before was a lot of cooked food, but still a whole foods diet without prepackaged or processed foods. I was half raw, but I'm still detoxing.

It has been really hard dealing with bacteria and my lupus symptoms coming back. I think I'm on the right track again, but getting through the first week or two is going to be tough. I'm hoping detoxing doesn't last too long. The Nystatin will help me deal with the Candida quickly, but it will be rough and I'll probably have to detox all over again even if I stick to all raw. I've already had fevers and flu like symptoms for weeks because of the Candida, and die off will not be fun. The levels this time were higher than the first time I had Candida. It seems like symptoms kick up when I have anything that it off (garlic especially).

Bah Humbug.

I bought a Vitamix!!!

2010-01-24T12:21:00.000-08:00

I went to the rawvegansource.com store in Redmond yesterday. I was running low on a few things I love to get there - they have raw cashews that are not steamed or processed during shelling along with other hard to find raw foods. I also buy most of my bulk cacao there. Cacao (chocolate) is not really a raw food, but I still consider it a super food with benefits. Cacao is not raw because the beans are usually allowed to ferment over 145 degrees, which is well over the temperature tolerated by raw purists. I also love going there because the owners are so passionate and knowledgeable.

I have to say I've been far from raw and a few days a week I've been eating fish. I've still been on a whole food diet with zero preservatives, additives, sugars, or other foods I'm allergic to. This is better than the Standard American Diet full of processed foods, but I've been so tired. It is so easy to find excuses not to be raw, and that is all they are - excuses! After my last trip to the ER, it was so much easier just to eat whatever was being cooked for me. I didn't have any energy and the thought of preparing food in massive quantities wasn't appealing. I've also been having problems eating because I have bacteria in my gut that make me really nauseated. Having said all of that, I realize that when I am on close to 100% raw, I feel better. My body responds well to it and I don't drop the weight that I'm losing again now and I have more energy. It takes energy to make raw food, but it pays quickly.

I was speaking to Susan at the Raw Vegan Source store, and it was the kick in the pants I needed to recommit to raw foods. And my wonderful new Vitamix doesn't hurt. I walked away from the store excited to get back on the right path, armed with new info, more food, and my super awesome blender. I am really excited about my Vitamix, if you haven't noticed already. Last night I made a peach, raspberry, cashew smoothie. I've never had a raspberry smoothie where I didn't have to choke down the seeds - it's like gravel in a normal blender. With the Vitamix, I barely noticed them. My husband is laughing right now because I sound like an infomercial, but dang it, I love my Vitamix. He really is laughing harder now. He wasn't laughing when he had his marionberry smoothie this morning and then sucked the leftovers out of the container.

I've got my raw vegan recipe books out, I'm scouring goneraw.com, and I'm going to make soup this afternoon. Yay me, and here's to day 1 of as close to 100% raw vegan as I can be.

Drug Induced Lupus

2010-01-20T20:54:00.000-08:00

I believe that Drug Induced Lupus (DIL) is more common than people realize. I've met a couple people now that have had DIL - one person was taking an anti-acne medication and the other was taking a blood pressure medication currently involved in a law suit for causing lupus.

Typically, DIL begins several months after taking the medication. The symptoms are very similar to lupus and range from joint and muscle pain to rashes. Oftentimes ANA titers go up while the medication is in the patient's system and quickly go down (along with the symptoms) after the medication is discontinued.

A few weeks ago, I got a text message on my cell phone asking if it was possible for lupus to come on after two weeks. Those of us with lupus would see this as a red flag for "real" lupus. Lupus often takes years to diagnose (and sometimes to even suspect), and once a diagnosis is reached, it's usually an "a-ha!" moment. The odd problems that couldn't be diagnosed when I was young to all of the smaller autoimmune problems leading up to lupus just seemed to fit into place after diagnosis. I'd had health problems for years that were gradually getting more prominent. It usually doesn't just develop into full blown lupus when the person was previously healthy. I received the text message from my best friend because her mother had just heard that she probably had lupus from her general practitioner - which was another red flag. Lupus is very hard to diagnose because there is no one test for it, and even rhuematologists who suspect Lupus don't usually bring it up to the patient unless they are pretty convinced and have spent a number of months (or years) working with the patient. I immediately texted back and asked what medication she had been taking and was able to find that the medication was part of a class action law suit and part of a research study because of its link to lupus. It turns out her doctor was very bright and recognized the medication and immediately threw it in the trash.

Medications that cause lupus symptoms typical need to be taken months before causing lupus like symptoms but not in my friend's mom's case. She took the medication sporadically when her blood pressure was up over the course of a few weeks. She is slowly feeling better, but it is taking more time that I usually hear from DIL. She is in my thoughts and I hope she continues to improve. Her symptoms had even a stronger resemblance to classic lupus symptoms than I have and it was amazing how quickly she felt drained, sore, and had a malar rash (something I've never developed).

If you suspect you have lupus and are on any medications, please research the medication and any association it may have with lupus symptoms or drug induced lupus. There are a wide array of drugs that have been linked to DIL. It makes me wonder about the medications we trust...

For more information on Drug Induced Lupus, please visit the Lupus Foundation of America's article:
http://www.lupus.org/webmodules/webarticlesnet/templates/new_aboutaffects.aspx?articleid=377&zoneid=17

Please also consider going to pubmed.com and typing in your medication along with the word "Lupus".

Using Positive Attitude to Heal

2010-01-09T18:15:00.000-08:00

I don't really believe that one can heal just with the power of their mind, meditating and healing without making other large life changes. I do believe that your mindset determines whether or not you will heal. I do believe that we are much more in control of our bodies and lives than we like to admit.

I have been working long hours, and am thankful I can now. A few years ago, I had my worst flare and with it came a lot of mental confusion and I was barely able to function. My boss and his boss and other managers were incredibly supportive and stood by me while I was trying to get a diagnosis and put my life back together. As I regained my health (and cognition) I was given projects that were difficult and they put their trust in me. I was able to throw myself into my work, and it was a welcome break from trying to process everything that was happening in my life. Now when I have periodic set backs and am in the ER or out for a few days, they are very encouraging and try to help. They continue to invest in my career. They know that I do not use my disease as a crutch, I am still just as capable, and I think they see that I try to pull my weight and then some.

I was recently approached by a recruiter, and that made me re-evaluate my position in the company and how I felt about everyone there. I know it is very rare to work for a company that comes together as a community when someone is going through a crisis. My coworkers have offered to help and support me in any way they can. In return, I have devoted myself to my job. They have recognized my work. And this week, I even was picked from the thousand+ employees in the company to be a part of President's Club and got a trip for my husband and I with an elite group of coworkers to Hawaii on a cruise! How cool is that? They have earned my loyalty, a concept that is often forgotten in this economy. It sounds like I am drinking the company Koolaid, but it truly is a great work environment. The CEO has worked very hard to create a community and it is the first company I have worked for that earnestly works to support personal growth and allow people to continue in their career path without having to quit and work elsewhere for a promotion.

How does positive thinking feed into all of this? At our National Sales Meeting they invited a motivational speaker. Mike Schlappi is a normal person who was put through some extremely difficult circumstances and came out on the other side with a phenomenal outlook on life. When Mike was 15, he was accidentally shot by his best friend. That bullet narrowly missed his heart, only because it was on an up-beat, and he was paralyzed. At the age of 15, Mike had a completely life altering event descend upon his life. He went from the star athlete, to someone who was forced to sit on the sidelines of the high school basketball court, in the handicapped section, and watch. Many people would have sank into a profound depression, and I'm sure he had those days, but he opted for positive thinking to heal his heart and accept his circumstances. Mike is now a very successful motivational speaker, and has medaled in four world paralympics with two golds and two bronzes in basketball. His trademark phrase came from his mother: "If you can't stand up, stand out!"

It was a difficult speech to sit through. People cried, but I think mostly we were just impressed that a young man decided to pick himself up by his bootstraps at the age of 15 and do more than just do the best they could with what they had. This man led a fuller life than most able bodied people I know. He had been through so much, yet my thoughts went back to how his attitude applied to my own life. I don't think he would have minded, because Mike realizes everyone has their own bullet. I also think everyone has or will have a bullet and how they respond to that bullet will shape their lives. I should have spoken to him afterwards, but knew I would end up talking about my own struggles and didn't want to sound shallow, or I would say something stupid. I think I missed out there, but I did take away quite a bit.

When I first was diagnosed with lupus, I did a lot of reading. I still think that was the right choice and all people should be as educated as possible. But. There are a lot of negative things to read about. Lifespan statistics. What we are likely to develop down the road. Quality of life. I spent quite a bit of time crying. I think I was mourning for the perception I had lost - my body was something that wouldn't wear out so easily. I didn't know how long I would live or what the next few years would hold, let alone whether or not my life would go beyond that. There were days where I didn't want to get out of bed, and I think I felt like I was owed special consideration from others. I was even mad at God. Ironically, as time went by, a really morbid thought ended up turning my thoughts around to a more positive way of thinking. I was driving along on 99 near the Aurora bridge, and wasn't really paying attention. I was in the middle lane and a bus had merged onto the freeway. For those of you who don't know this bridge, buses take up two lanes whether someone is in that other lane or not, and boy did I learn to get out of the way that day. I started swearing at the bus driver, and then realized, "I could get hit by a bus today or tomorrow." And then I started laughing.

Life is the result of the series of choices we have made in our life. We have to live with all of them, and each one changes our future. I decided that if I got hit by a bus, I wanted to be able to look on the day I lived prior to that, and the day before that, and the day before that, with pride. I wanted to be able to point to someone with dignity and courage. I wanted to point to someone who didn't lie in bed everyday under the covers moping - I wanted to point to someone who pulled herself up by her bootstraps and didn't just make the best of what she had. I wanted to point to someone who proactively improved her situation and lived a fuller life than most, whether she had a chronic disease or not.

I don't think I am an optimist by nature. I think I tend to run a little lower than most, and I can have bouts where I am down. Oddly, my outlook on life as a whole is fairly positive. I try my darnedest to do what I can to improve my health. I eat right, take my vitamins, and do my research. I am proactive about my medical decisions. I need to exercise more, but I'll get there. I think I'll be successful in my career, and I think I have a lot left to offer the people around me. I also realize that we are responsible for our own happiness and our own decisions, and I am going to own those decisions and try to lead the best life I can. I am still going to have days where I don't feel well and am scared because I am having a hard time walking. That doesn't mean I am going to feel the same way tomorrow, and even if I do, I can still have a positive impact on myself and others. I can still be a great wife, coworker, and family member.

Here is a link to Mike Schlappi's site:
http://www.mikeschlappi.com/

Here is a link to one of Mike's books:
http://www.amazon.com/Shot-Happens-Mike-Schlappi/dp/1615842470/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1263095065&sr=8-1

Stress Is Bad

2009-12-20T13:45:00.000-08:00

I will be following up on this post with research, but I thought this would be a great opportunity to point out that excess stress is very unhealthy. I was so worried about how Champ felt on Friday that by the time I got home, I felt like I had the flu. I realize that he needs to be with my family so his stress levels go down, but I also feel much better knowing that he is with people who love him and he's not alone. If I didn't know my family understood my deranged dog, I would never give him up. We would be trying another dog...maybe homeopathy again... I would never, ever suggest giving up on a dog or passing the problem to another person - which is why I still feel so conflicted. Most dogs are manageable and their anxiety can be channeled through training, giving the dog something to do, or going to doggy day care.

Times of stress tax our cells! We act like we are in fight or flight mode for a longer period than our bodies were created to sustain. Long term stress creates imbalanced cortisol levels that cause weight gain, strain on several organs, and create/worsen health problems.

As we all know, stress is unavoidable. We can only take steps to address the issue or change our lifestyle to minimize the affects of stress where we can. I would say it's time for me to look into some yoga! :)

Vegan Pumpkin or Sweet Potato Pie

2009-12-20T12:35:00.000-08:00

I'm afraid this recipe isn't raw, but I had a heck of a time getting the textures and flavors right without cooking the pumpkin. At least it's vegan, yummy, and the beta carotene is activated. Last time I made the crust last and it was a bit of a mess. I threw the filling into a bowl for a few minutes while I made the crust. It turned out alright but it would have been nice if I could have let it set.

Crust

2 cups cashews

7-9 dates

1 tsp vanilla

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 cup shredded coconut

1/4 cup shredded coconut for "flouring the pan"

This recipe is extremely close to Ani Phyo's recipe for fig tart crust. I'm not sure how close because I keep changing this recipe over time, but it's worth mentioning - she's talented and I don't want to take credit for this crust.

First step is to spread 1/4 cup of finely shredded coconut along the bottom of the pan to help prevent sticking.

Put the (dry) cashews in the food processor and just break up the pieces a bit. Add the salt and vanilla and then start adding dates one by one until the combination starts forming a dough consistency. If it's still broken up, add another date and wait a minute for it to combine. The dough should roll around in a couple balls as the food processor is on. Add the remaining coconut and then press the mixture into the bottom of the pie pan.

Filling

1 small sweet pumpkin or 2 mid-size yams (cooked)

2 cups soaked cashews (at least 1 hour)

1/4-1/2 cup water as needed

1/4 c agave

1 tsp vanilla (non alcohol or 1/2 tsp bean ground)

1/3 cup coconut oil

2 tsp cinnamon

1/3 tsp ginger

1/2 tsp nutmeg+

1/4 tsp cloves

Split the pumpkin into manageable pieces, clean, and put skin side down in a pan. Top with a little agave and cinnamon and roast in the oven until tender. Drain the cashews and put in the food processor and break up into smaller pieces. Add about 1/4 cup of water and vanilla and watch consistency after 1-2 minuts of processing with an s-blade. The consistency should be like whipped cream. If it's too stiff, add more water as the food processor is on. Cashews and water will whip up like whipped cream in the right water to nut ratio. As you are adding water, add the agave syrup. Test the taste and consistency and add water if needed.

Remove 1/3 of the whipped substance from the processor to use as a topping.

Add the pumpkin or sweet potato with the skin removed with coconut oil and blend until the whipped "cream" and vegetables are combined. At this point I start adding spices. All of the quantities are estimated and I encourage you to stop the processor and taste often. Plus it tastes great. Tasting is a great perk. Remember that the tastes seem to meld together a little more as it sets in the fridge.

After you have all the tastes melded together, pour the filing into the pan with the crust. Put in the refridgerator for at least 4 hours (alternatively, I've frozen it for an hour and it set up pretty well).

My husband really enjoys this recipe. In fact we shared some pie for breakfast :)

Have Allergies? Hidden sources of wheat/gluten, soy, dairy, and corn

2009-12-12T11:54:00.001-08:00

This is a topic I've been thinking about lately because of my little nephew. Owen is nearly 8 months old, and had a rash since about 1 month of age. It became apparent that the rash was related to food both he and his nursing mother would eat. He's undergoing allergy testing, and so far wheat and milk are on the list. They were the only two food items they have been able to test so far because of the severity of his reaction, but the neutralizer he was given has cleared up the existing rashes he's had quite a bit. His mom has been a bit overwhelmed (very understandably) and we've been going over the ins and outs of living with food allergies.

One of the most difficult things about having an intolerance or allergy are food product labels. Labels don't tell you simply if something has milk or gluten in them. Gluten, milk, corn, and soy are in a wide array of things that don't look, feel, taste, or smell like the original product. When I talk with some people who have been diagnosed for years, I am surprised to hear that they don't read labels very closely. A good friend is celiac (gluten intolerant) and didn't realize that soy sauce, ketchup, mustard, and bbq sauce usually all have gluten. Tomato paste is a pretty common carrier, and the wheat in soy sauce aids the texture. I've also spoken with people who are gluten intolerant but still eat bagels and breads because the label listing doesn't outright say "gluten." Doctors could do a better job of educating their patients after a diagnosis, but ultimately, it's our responsibility to arm ourselves with knowledge.

These lists aren't meant to overwhelm you, although I know I was overwhelmed when I realized how far reaching the common allergens are. No wonder many of us are allergic to these foods! They are loaded into so many things and we are bombarded with them daily (if not every meal). I encourage people to consider a whole food diet. A whole food diet is prep intensive, but it bypasses the processed foods that are so bad for us.

Gluten and Wheat Allergies

Gluten can be found in several grains and grain like products (1):

* wheat (a.k.a Bulgar, dinkle, spelt, durum, emmel, einkorn, fu, kamut, semolina, wheat germ, wheat berry, wheat nut)
* barley
* rye
* triticale (rye/wheat hybrid)
* Beer, ale, and most hard alcohol is derived from glutenous grains

Tricky products/derivatives are (1):

* couscous
* edible starch (often derived from wheat)
* farina
* gliadin
* gluten
* gluten peptides
* glutenin
* graham flour
* matzo, matzah, or matza
* MIR. (wheat and rye cross)
* Seitan
* wheat grass - may or may not cause a problem

Even trickier ingredients include (2):

* Binder or binding
* An ingredient with the word "Cereal"
* Filler
* Flour
* Gum base
* Hydrolyzed wheat protein
* Anything with the word "starch"
* Thickener or thickening agent

These items can be found in food product labels you find at the grocery store. When at a restaurant or bakery, it is nearly impossible to find gluten free fare - and honestly it's usually safest if you stick to home made, whole foods that are not pre-packaged. If you must eat out, be aware that wheat is often used in sausage, condiments, marinara, Alfredo, sauces (especially the basic cream or white sauces), gravy, meatloaf (as a binder), meat patties (as a binder), soy sauce, teriyaki sauce, soups (as a thickener) and of course breads, muffins, bagels, doughnuts, cakes, cookies, cupcakes, bread sticks, doughs, pot stickers, miso, wontons, noodles, crusts, and croutons. It is easy for the wait staff to not be aware or not remember that something has a small amount of wheat flour in it.

If you are gluten intolerant, Oats may or may not be suitable depending on the extent of your sensitivity. Oats are commonly used as a rotation crop with wheat. They are usually grown in adjacent fields, stored in the same storage areas, and processed using the same equipment. There are farmers who are dedicated to growing gluten free certified oats that are not grown with wheat - but some people still may react to the grain. It is important to search for certified gluten free oats and try a small amount and watch for any reaction.

Be aware that many cosmetic products contain gluten. Makeup, hairspray, lotion, toothpaste, soaps, and other personal care products often contain gluten as a binder. I've gotten stomach cramps from getting too big of a whiff of my husband's pancake batter flour or hairspray before...it really doesn't take much to set some people off!

Milk Allergies (3, 4, 5)

Milk is another favorite hidden ingredient.

Other names for milk:
* Whey (may have other words proceeding or following "whey")
* Casein
* Curds
* Lactalbilum
* Lactoferrin
* Lactoglobulin
* caseinate
* Butter
* Butter flavor/Butter flavored oils (often contains milk)
* Sour Cream
* Cream
* Cheese
* Nut or Soy Cheese (often contains casein)
* Enriched flour (gluten enriched with milk protein...double whammy)

Ingredients that likely contain milk:

* Caramel Color
* Caramel Flavor
* Chocolate (even dark chocolate has milk)
* Wax coated fruit or vegetables (apples, cucumber, etc.)
* Artificial Sweetener
* Natural Flavor

Products that likely contain milk:

* Sausages
* Ham, bacon
* Cured meats
* Baked Goods (rolls, cakes, cupcakes, bagels, doughnuts, pizza dough, crusts, cheesecake, stuffed pastries, pastries in general, bread sticks, croutons)
* Crackers, Chips
* Cheese flavored snacks
* Most salad dressings
* Marinades
* Trans Fats

Restaurants further complicate things by putting butter on many things, and once it melts on your meat, it's pretty hard to see! Be mindful that delis and restaurants don't always do a great job of cleaning their work space and tools.

Something important to consider is the fact that many disposable gloves are coated in a milk derivative. People may be allergic to the coating on latex gloves (as well as latex itself). Milk products are also a favorite of the cosmetic industry. Makeup is something I like, but I've found the gluten, dairy, and parabens found in most lines force me to make more informed (and often more expensive) purchases. I prefer vegan cosmetics that are paraben and fragrance free. Gluten and soy are often used, so it's important to find a company that openly discloses ingredients.

Soy Allergies (6,7)

Ah, soy. One of the most misunderstood and widely used foods. The history of soy is something I find quite interesting and may blog about, but I'll try to keep it short. Essentially, soy was considered strictly a rotation crop until it was discovered that fermentation made it edible. I believe that in its fermented forms (tempeh, tamari, miso), it can still be beneficial in moderation. Now it's a highly processed or non-processed component that is found in many processed and "health" foods. It contains phytochemicals that mimic hormones, and can cause health problems in its unrefined or over-refined states. If it's not treated properly, the proteins are completely useless and pass through us like they never happened.

Other names for soy:

*Tempeh
* Miso
* Tofu
* Teriyaki
* Tamari
* Edemamme
* Mono-diglyceride
* Kinako
* Kouridofu
* Natto
* Nimame
* Okara
* Soya, Soja
* Yuba
* Hydrolyzed Soy Protein

Hidden Soy Ingredients (high likelihood of being soy)

* Vegetable Oil
* Vegetable Protein
* Lecithin (may or may not cause a reaction)
* monosodium glutamate (MSG)
* hydrolyzed plant or vegetable protein
* baking mixes
* baby formula
* Thickening Agents
* Soups
* Baked Goods (Doughnuts, pastas, breads, crackers etc.)
* Natural or Artificial sweeteners or flavors
* Sauces
* Salad Dressings
* Marinades, gravvy, broths, buillion cubes, stocks
* Simulated meat products (imitation crab, bacon bits, "tofurky", etc.)
* Canned meats
* processed, cured, or prepared meats

Soy is a prolific ingredient that should not be taken lightly. It is in most all salad dressings, marinades, sauces, spreads, spice rubs, and is in some diet sodas and most beverage mixes (hot chocolate, apple cider, chai tea mixes, etc.). It is almost impossible to avoid in bakeries and restaurants, and most servers and even chefs may not know what all they are using that contains soy. I was in a restaurant the other day that tried to assure me I could have a dish because it contained tamari instead of soy. Tamari is soy. I'm glad I knew that at least :)

Corn Allergies

This is another tough allergy because corn is in so many different products in different forms listed under different names.

Other names for corn:

* Popcorn
* Corn meal
* Maize
* High Fructose Corn Syrup
* Hominy
* Grits
* Polenta
* Cornstarch
* Cornflour

Ingredients that often/usually come from corn:
* Baking Powder
* Vegetable Oil
* Confectioners Sugar
* Fructose
* Glucose
* Maltodextrin
* Invert Sugars
* Dextrin
* Artificial Flavor/Sweetner
* Natural Flavor/Sweetner
* Starches
* Thickener
* Monosodium Glutamate (MSG)
* Caramel Color
* Citric Acid
* Vanilla Extract (used to sweeten and color)

For a more extensive list of "may or may not contain corn" products, go here:
http://www.cornallergens.com/list/corn-allergen-list.php

Corn is used widely as a sweetener, non-stick agent, and thickener. It's in many soups, syrups, sodas, chips, crackers, juices, and most baked goods. It's also in wasabi.

Suggestions/How to Cope

I don't think people realize what an integral part food plays in social lives. Most holidays and events involve food, and some even center around food. It's difficult to explain to others why you can't eat their food, but sometimes it's necessary. I always insist on bringing a dish and explain that I have severe food allergies and don't want others to have to plan their meals around what I can't eat (the list is long and frustrating to work around if you aren't used to it). If I'm eating out for a business meeting, I try to explain to the wait staff that I have severe food allergies. Sometimes they are more tolerant when I proceed with a list of items to hold from my salad. Salads are usually a safer bet if you hold the dressing and double check that it does not come with croutons or cheese. I find these two items are commonly left off the menu. I stay away from meat, soups, or sauces because not even the wait staff usually know what all went into preparation. If I feel like eating out, I tend to stick to vegan sushi options and explain no wasabi (contains corn starch) or soy. I always carry Larabars around with me or other snacks just in case I can't find anything on the menu or I leave hungry.

I feel most comfortable eating my own meals at my own table. I have learned to carry Benedryl with me at all times because of all of the mistakes made by wait staff and chefs - some of them not so cleverly covered up. Restaurant staff don't seem to understand the impact allergies have, and if they did they probably would prefer not to serve us for liability reasons. I can relax and enjoy my meal when I know exactly what is in it, and usually that only happens if I make it. There are specialty bakeries that cater to people with allergies, and I fortunately live near the Flying Apron. In fact, I picked up some goodies today.

Anyone can be a creative chef if they need to be. No meal disaster is a failure if you learn from it. I've destroyed many batches of "bread", cookies, and pancakes trying to figure out a recipe that works. I own several gluten free cookbooks, raw vegan uncookbooks, and non-restriction cookbooks and experiment with substitutions - which I've gotten pretty good at. I also love watching the Food Network, especially shows like "Chopped" and "Iron Chef" because it forces chefs to work with ingredients that are rare. Rare for me usually means I'm less likely to be allergic to it.

Research Sources:
1. "Grains and Flours Glossary." Celiac Sprue Association March 24, 2009.
December 11, 2009 <http://www.csaceliacs.org/gluten_grains.php>

2. Fletton, Helen. "Wheat by any other name." Wheat-Free.org. March 8, 2005.
December 11, 2009 <http://www.wheat-free.org/blog/archives/27-wheat-by-any-other-name.html>

3. "Milk - One of the nine most common food allergens." Allergy/Asthma Information Association, Anaphylaxis Canada, Association québécoise des allergies alimentaires, Canadian Society of Allergy and Clinical Immunology and Health Canada April 19, 2007.
December 11, 2009 <http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/fn-an/securit/allerg/fa-aa/allergen_milk-lait-eng.php>

4. "Avoiding Milk Protein." AvoidingMilkProtein.com
December 11, 2009 <http://www.avoidingmilkprotein.com/HiddenIngredients.htm>

5. "Milk." The Food Allergy and Anaphylaxis Network. December 11, 2009 <http://www.foodallergy.org/page/milk1>

6. "Soy." The Food Allergy and Anaphylaxis Network. December 11, 2009 <http://www.foodallergy.org/page/soy1>

7. "Soy - one of the nine most common food allergens." Developed in consultation with Allergy/Asthma Information Association, Anaphylaxis Canada, Association québécoise des allergies alimentaires, Canadian Society of Allergy and Clinical Immunology and Health Canada September 17, 2009. December 11, 2009 <http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/fn-an/securit/allerg/fa-aa/allergen_soy-soja-eng.php>

DHEA

2009-12-02T18:12:00.001-08:00

I've been asked recently how I managed the brain fog that shrouded my life for years. It's not a simple answer and there are many variables I credit including diet, many supplements, LDN, and lifestyle changes. It did occur to me that something I don't personally take may have a real benefit to others with lupus and I should bring it up on my blog.

Important Note: Not all supplements and compounds are created equal. It is important to get DHEA through a prescription and research your other supplement choices. It is important that supplements be independently tested for quality and contents as the industry is not well regulated.

DHEA has become a standard therapy for people with lupus in the "traditional" medical community. Quite a few doctors don't seem to realize it is becoming standard, but there are links on the Mayo Clinic website, Webmd, and other online medical resources you can take to your health care provider (Please do!).

DHEA (dehydroepiandrosterone) is a naturally occurring hormone in the human body that is produced by the adrenal glands and then converted into estrogen and testosterone. After the age of 30, the body produces less of the hormone as time goes along (it's a little known fact that the human body also produces less enzymes to break down food as time goes along - which leads me to ask, do we produce less because we really need less, or are we just worn out??). Corticosteroids like prednisone also deplete the body of DHEA.

Dr. Julian Whitaker has written an article on the subject. Here is an excerpt:
"Yet DHEA does much more than this. It is active in the central nervous system, encouraging neuronal growth and targeting receptors in the brain that are associated with mood. It gives the immune system a boost by activating T-cell function and dampening inflammation. DHEA also enhances the circulatory system and, by increasing levels of IGF-1 (a marker of human growth hormone), has widespread positive effects throughout the body.

After age 30, DHEA production drops by about two percent a year. Yet within any age group, DHEA-S (a DHEA metabolite and blood marker of DHEA levels) levels vary dramatically. The early research on this hormone focused on these variations and their links to disease. What virtually all of the studies found was an inverse relationship between blood levels of DHEA-S and the incidence of Alzheimer’s, cancer, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and other age-related disorders—the lower the DHEA-S level, the greater the risk of disease."

DHEA has been successfully used to treat fatigue, mental confusion, and depression to name a few. It is important to test your levels of DHEA prior to taking the supplement. It's not good to have too much DHEA, just as it is bad to have too much testosterone or estrogen.

In the past I have tested low for DHEA, but since starting LDN I am well within the normal ranges. If you take DHEA and are planning to start taking LDN, I would recommend getting retested periodically.

More links for information on DHEA:
http://www.whitakerwellness.com/our-therapies/the-lowdown-on-dhea/
http://arthritis.about.com/od/supplement/g/DHEA.htm
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/dhea/NS_patient-dhea

Need a doctor? Try an Environmental Medical Doctor

2009-12-02T18:00:00.000-08:00

Note that I am not a doctor, nor am I trained in any medical field. Just a layman with an opinion, so take it with a grain of salt.

I love my doctor for several reasons. He doesn't mind me doing my own research and is happy to answer questions. If I stumble across research he hasn't seen before, he takes it and runs with it. If another patient finds research of value, or if he reads something new in the journals, he brings it to my attention and will integrate it into treatment if appropriate. He believes in allergies. He believes in testing for parasites and other bacteria. He believes that the chemicals around us can be very bad for us, especially parabens, fragrances, and other substances that aren't thoroughly regulated and tested. I could go on...

My doctor is a practicioner of Environmental Medicine. Here is an excerpt from his website explaining what Environmental Medicine is:

"Environmental Medicine offers a sweeping reinterpretation of medical thinking, especially its approach to many previously unexplained and ineffectively treated chronic diseases. The basis of this view is the simple concept that there are causes for all illnesses and the obvious, but not well accepted fact, that what we eat or are exposed to in our environment may have a direct and profound effect upon our health. The goal of Environmental Medicine is to identify the cause of a health problem and eliminate or reduce the level of exposure as much as possible. This usually requires changes in one's diet and/or environment. By eliminating the cause of the condition successfully, there is much less need for medication.
On the other hand, some patients may be experiencing health problems due to lack of specific nutrients such as vitamins, minerals, antioxidants and amino acids. These deficiencies often need to be corrected in order to bring about better health.

To put it simply, as environmental physicians, we strive to remove the cause of the condition and/or replace what is missing."

http://www.drbuscher.com/environmental-medicine

If you are frustrated with your current practitioner, you may want to give an Environmental Medicine MD a shot. Here is a resource to consider checking out:
http://www.aaemonline.org/

I've found that the testing is more expansive and the resulting care has been better than I received under rheumatologists and general practitioners.

Things I can do today that I didn't think I would be able to do...

2009-12-02T17:31:00.000-08:00

I've been corresponding with some wonderful people from the low dose naltrexone network. Some people are also using LDN as part of their treatment plan and finding success. Many are just starting and trying to find a way to make it work for them. As I've spoken with these people, I have realized I have a lot to be thankful for. The past few months have had some rough patches with the c. difficile and cryptosporidium, and it was easy for me to get depressed and dwell on the fact that I still react to some things more than a person with a normal immune system. The fact is, I still feel I am in a better place with my diet, supplements, and LDN than I would be on "traditional" treatment by far.

When I was first diagnosed, I was so very sick. I couldn't sit or stand for more than 20 minutes, I would forget conversations that took place 20 minutes before hand, and I was in so much pain. As the year comes to an end, I'd like to look back and list the things I didn't think I would be able to do a few years ago.

Here are some of the highlights of 2009:
* I married a wonderful man who is very supportive

* I planned a wedding, helped my family cope with my brother's cancer diagnosis and treatment, bought a house, all while maintaining a career without having one lupus flare! I got sick a few times, but I didn't have a real lupus flare up.

* In the weeks before my wedding, I successfully completed projects and worked long hours to meet deadlines and still had energy to run errands and finalize wedding details

* I am working at adopting a raw vegan lifestyle that is very prep intensive. I'm back on the wagon with some encouragement and went vegan over the past week and had my first 100% raw day today. I don't anticipate being 100% raw all the time, but I'm going to do my best.

* I hiked 6 miles up Waimea Canyon in Kuaui on my honeymoon

* I had the energy the next day to hike 8 miles up the Napali Coast to a beautiful waterfall!

* I went out dancing with friends from my school days, and I was the last one to be tired out!

Below is a picture of Hanakapi'ai Falls. I went from in being too much pain and confusion to do much of anything but lay around to 8 miles of hiking. Woohoo!

Happy Thanksgiving

2009-11-29T15:23:00.000-08:00

I'm back!

Things have been so busy. I was in the hospital a couple weeks ago again because the first antibiotics I took were just addressing the cryptosporidium and not the c. difficile. Because there wasn't anything for the c. difficile to compete with and the antibiotics depleted flora, the c. difficile went nuts and I ended up with dehydration and a temp over 102. I went on Flagyl for 10 days and Florastor. It turns out I'm allergic to something in the Florastor (I think there's a dairy component). This caused gas, bloating, abdominal pain, dizzyness, nausea, and a bunch of other symptoms (hives included). Dairy hates me so I switched over to Thorne Sacro B. plus Pharmax probiotics (high concentrate) and things started getting better.

I had agreed to host a birthday party for a friend, and a few of my other great friends came over and helped me set up. My husband has been great and letting me slack off. I'm still a little tired, so he helps with chores (he really does most of them). We also hosted Thanksgiving at my house, which was fun but tiring.

I have to confess that I was extremely discouraged because of how hard the c. difficile hit me and only 2 days after antibiotics were completed the first time. If the immune system is functioning normally, I would have had symptoms, but probably not such a high fever. I was nauseated and really not interested in food, so I got lazy and just started eating whatever was prepared that I wasn't allergic to - which includes animal protein. I've slowly been wandering back towards vegan, but it's been a slow road. I need to incorporate more raw, but buckets of salad sounds horrible when you're struggling to keep down food.

Thanksgiving was yummy. I made a dairy, gluten, egg, and soy free feast. It was pretty low raw. I incorporated raw food techniques to make food items I previously couldn't figure out how to get close to the original thing. I used cashew whipped "cream" in garlic mashed potatoes - wow they were so yummy. I made gluten free stuffing, arugula salad, twice baked yams, and pumpkin pie with cashew date crust and a half cooked half raw filling that was delicious. And lets not forget the very non vegan main course. We've just finished the last of the leftovers.

I've started doing more smoothies. It seems to be the easiest thing to start with. I also have been eating more raw fruits and trying to eat more salad. The majority of my meals are vegan, but there's still some animal protein. I'm reading Food, Inc. and some raw vegan books to get some inspiration. I think I'm starting to crave more whole foods, but it's not going to be a cold turkey switch. I may still have some minimally cooked dishes. I really need to cut out the junk. I have had some Kettle Potato chips - the other food has been healthy for cooked.

Well, I think it's nap time.

My Candida/IBD treatment - Diet, Supplements, & Nystatin

2009-11-07T08:28:00.001-08:00

Disclaimer: I am not a doctor, so please consult with yours before you introduce new supplements and medications to your current protocol.

Note: I didn't know Amazon.com sold vitamins, but they have some great prices! I just came back from the supplement dispensery in Seattle, and boy...I should have looked online first.

I first suspected candida overgrowth after about a year of living with "IBS." My doctor was not sure what I had other than a range of symptoms and no substantial traces of inflammation in large bowel biopsies. My bloodwork looked fairly normal (at least what they were testing at the time), so I got labeled as an irritable bowel syndrome case. This was the very beginning of my natural healing journey. I did some reading and joined some online groups and stumbled across Elaine Gottschall's (B.A., M.S.c.) book Breaking the Vicious Cycle: Intestinal Healing Through Diet. I stuck to this diet for about a year, which greatly reduced my intestinal symptoms for a time, but I couldn't seem to maintain a reasonable weight. Then I started developing new, unusual symptoms and my weight took a nose dive. I got frustrated and gave up on the diet, and I still avoided gluten and cow milk products. My weight was quasi-stable after introducing old foods, and I decided it was time to go to a natropath. Throughout all of this, my general practicioner was stumped.

My naturopath tested me for allergies and put me on an array of supplements, and some of which were very helpful. She felt my symptoms were consistent with Crohn's disease and she had experience treating herself for irritable bowel disease. I simplified my diet, and over time I moved to a whole foods method and stopped buying processed, pre-packaged foods altogether. I will write more about whole food diets and why I think this is the only way to go with allergies later.

My Supplements
I supplemented smoothies with Metagenics Glutagenics:
http://www.metagenics.com/products/a-z-products-list/UltraInflamX-Medical-Food

This supplement works really well if you are not severely allergic to corn. Unfortunately, I didn't know at the time I was allergic to corn and it was a staple in my diet. The supplement works to provide the patient with all of the nutrients needed while reducing inflammation in the GI tract. Some doctors believe that most inflammation starts in the gut, and I haven't had any reason to doubt this theory.

I was also on Metagenics Glutagenics:
http://www.metagenics.com/products/a-z-products-list/Glutagenics

This is a fantastic product. It has three main ingredients: Aloe Vera (bitters removed), L-glutamine, and DGL. Licorice root is a fabulous herb used for lung problems (including asthma), pulling toxins from the colon, and healing ulcers, but can increase blood pressure. Glycyrrhizinide is the component that causes this side effect, and it is removed in this product. Aloe Vera can be a laxative, which is the last thing you want with chronic diarrhea. This product uses a process to remove the bitters that cause the laxative effect. Finally, l-glutamine is considered a "non-essential amino acid", but several medical research studies have shown that it is very effective in healing bowel disorders. (Refer to Pub Med).

Digestive Enzymes are lacking in many of us. Over time, our bodies deplete of essential enzymes used to break down all foods. It's theorized that a diet heavy in meat taxes our enzyme reserve more heavily than low-meat or vegan diets. I was still eating large amounts of meat I thought I needed to maintain weight, so I took Thorne Biogest every meal with meat, and Thorne Plantizyme every meal with vegetables (so often it was 2 pills - 1 of each enzyme - per meal). If you choose to use enzymes, back off of them if you feel heart burn symptoms. I never had this problem.

http://www.thorne.com/Products/Gastrointestinal-Health/All_Gastrointestinal_Health/prd~SD404.jsp

http://www.thorne.com/Products/Gastrointestinal-Health/All_Gastrointestinal_Health/prd~SD403.jsp

I also took high levels of vitamin A, CoQ10, a multiple, and calcium.

Magnesium is especially important in reducing cramping and really helps with intestinal pain. Magnesium Glycinate is one of the easier sources of magnesium to absorb and doesn't tend to have the laxative side effects.

Probiotics are very important. They are stripped away each time we take antibiotics, and I was reading recent research that suggested the appendix actually serves an important function in regulating bacteria balance. Probiotics are the good bacteria that help fight candida, c. difficile, and other nasties that naturally occur in the intestines. I take Pharmax probiotics - high concentrate - because they agree with me and they do not contain corn, soy, milk, gluten, or other elements I am allergic to. I have heard Primal Defense is also very good and it contains the strains that fight c. difficle. The Pharmax product I take does not. It's something to consider.

Prebiotics are the food for probiotics and can be found in abunance in jerusalem artichokes, which I use in syrup form as a very low glycemic sweetener.

I take Pharmax Fish Oil - 2 tsp daily. It's flavored with orange essense and blends in with my smoothies. It's not vegan, but it helps arthritis because of the very high levels of DHA and EPA.
http://www.amazon.com/Pharmax-Finest-Pure-Essential-Orange/dp/B000NE5EH2/ref=cm_cr_pr_pb_i

I also take a vegan oil supplement as well by Biotics Research Corporation to help supplement my other oil intake.
http://www.amazon.com/Biotics-Research-Mixed-EFAs-8oz/dp/B0014MFCYM/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=hpc&qid=1257624674&sr=1-2

Nystatin

I took all of my supplements, tried the Specific Carbohydrate Diet, and still had problems with Candida overgrowth. Candida was still showing up on my G.I. panel and I was still experiencing inflammation, fatigue, headaches, immune dysfunction, and the many other symptoms that come along with this overgrowth. I went to see a doctor I had seen as a child who specializes in environmental medicine. He did more accurate allergy testing, and found several foods I was using as a staple were a major problem. I cut those out and no longer had IBS/IBD symptoms. Since my GI panel showed I did not have problems with bleeding or ulcers and was taking supplements to help build the mucous lining, he decided Nystatin would be the best way to go.

Nystatin is a medication that works by binding itself to fungal cell membranes. It is effective against most forms of Candida (including candida albicans) and molds, although some rare strains of candida may be resistant. Candida Albicans is the most common culprit. Nystatin is often taken as a pill or powder and is unique in that it does not cross the intestinal wall (it does not cross the mucous membrane instide the intestines). It should not be injected as this would result in serious side effects. Because Nystatin does not leave the GI tract, it is considered very safe.

After starting the Nystatin, I felt horrible. I had flu like symptoms, abdominal cramping, and occassional loose bowels from all of the candida die off. Because candida is toxic as it dies and ruptures, you will feel awful when you start to take the medication. It took me about 2 months to increase the medication to the full amount (I started with an 1/8th of a teaspoon and worked up to the full dosage), and another month to be symptom free. It was not a fun time. I was tired, had dark circles, occassional low grade fevers, and ached all over. I wasn't sure if I would make it through the treatment, but once I did, I felt great! The low dose naltrexone started working really well, and my lupus symptoms dissipated. In retrospect, it was most certainly worth it.

Things I have used as a preventative after treatment

Because sugar is an inflammatory substance, I stay away from it. I also do not eat white potatoes and most grains, although I occassionally splurge with some white rice. My diet is raw vegan, but a few times a month I'll treat myself to vegan sushi with friends. My sweetners are low glycemic (agave, lucuma, jerusalem artichoke) or fruits. I take Oregano. I've taken oregano oil for some time, but have started taking a time release oregano that eliminates the burning sensation. The pills are made by Biotics Research Corporation.
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_0_9?url=search-alias%3Dhpc&field-keywords=biotics+adp&sprefix=biotics+a

I also try to incorporate garlic into my diet and eat a lot of cinamon and cumin.

"It's never lupus!" - or at least it's nice when it isn't

2009-11-05T18:21:00.001-08:00

Well, I found out what has been wrong with me, and it's the best mildly bad news ever. It's not lupus, and it's not allergies!! Well, maybe the lupus made it worse, but I'm not in a flare :) Yippee skippy!

This summer I had to go to the ER because of severe diarrhea (sorry, graphic), nausea, and dehydration. It was so bad, I needed 3 IVs before my blood pressure came back when sitting or standing. I didn't wait several days - it was just half a violently ill day before I was blacking out. Immodium, pepto, and other anti-nausea pills just weren't cutting it. Gradually the symptoms died off after 7 days.

Things were pretty good after that except for occassional bloating and gas, and it's very painful right before I have to use the restroom. I just assumed I had unknowingly eaten something I was allergic to or developed a mystery allergy. Over the past 3-4 weeks however, things have deteriorated. I was SO discouraged thinking that the diet wasn't enough and that my lupus was re-emerging.

My doctor had a GI panel run because of the symptoms this summer and my affinity for sushi (I still have vegan sushi now, but have sworn off meat). He called me today to let me know that I have both c. difficile and cryptosporidium, and the likelihood of them being from sushi is very small. C. difficile comes on after antibiotics and can be found in contaminated food and water. It's very common and can be the cause of colitis. Cryptosporidium is from contaminated food or water. There have been several recent outbreaks and they're thought to be from Central American produce - which I have eaten quite a bit of!

My doctor explained to me that the initial symptoms can be violent in people with compromised immune systems (I definitely fall into that category) and the immune system usually fights it back afterwards. There are still long range symptoms like fatigue (check), headaches (check), muscle aches (check), low fevers (check), inflammation (check), and the list goes on. It explains so much! He gave me two options for treatment. One is natural supplements and he said they work 80% of the time and take months. The other option was a medication he had researched and determined had the fewest side effects and I only have to take it for 3 days. I have to say that was too tempting and I opted for medication. I'm being retested in 3-4 weeks and then after I'm cleared, I'm getting heavy metal testing and can begin that adventure.

I am feeling flu like today and was ticked when I drove to the drugstore in a not so great part of town to find that they did not have the medication. I get to go back tomorrow and I don't imagine I'll be feeling that great over the weekend as this stuff dies off. I'll keep you all posted and let you know if I'd recommend this route or using natural means dependant upon side effects and herx duration.

I'm still excited to know that I'm not in a flare!! I'm also thrilled to know that the treatment I went through with my doctor knocked out the candida despite all of the fruit I have in my diet. Hurrah!

I would like to say that everyone with autoimmune symptoms (especially colitis/crohn/IBS related!) should have a GI panel done. You do not have to have an exotic vacation, eat sushi, or dabble in fear factor inspired eating contests to have parasites in your intestines. The panel I have through my doctor is VERY reasonably priced ($175 US without insurance) and tests for a wide range of bacteria, parasites, and candida. I've never been to a "mainstream" medical doctor who tests for any of these things - even when I had IBD.

Well, I am exhausted so I will be signing out for the night. If people are interested, please let me know if you want information on research behind c. difficile and colitis, candida, or any of the common parasites. I have a feeling I won't be out very much this weekend and it will be a good time to get some informational reading done.

Healing thoughts.

Low Dose Naltrexone

2009-11-01T14:01:00.000-08:00

Disclaimer: This is not meant to replace the advice of a physician. They are the experts and I am a layman blogger. This blog was created so I can share what I have decided in terms of my own treatment plan and why. Many doctors would disagree with my decisions, so it is important to discuss these options with your physician prior to pursuing them.

I was reading up on lupus as soon as the possibility came into the picture, and as those of us with lupus know, there is a really long list of what could happen and what your life span could look like. It's a very scary time filled with what ifs. What if my kidneys fail? What if my heart is involved? What if my lungs get worse? What am I going to feel like in 5 years? It is hard not to panic because you already feel horrible for a long list of reasons, and it is very easy to go along with the traditional treatment plans. After doing more research about the drugs that are used to treat lupus, I decided to try an alternative.

At the time I began my research, there were 4 main families of drugs employed to treat lupus; Corticosteroids, antimalarials, NSAIDs, and immunosuppressants. Corticosteroids also suppress the immune system, but are in a class of their own. The immunosuppressants I'm referring to are drugs like methotrexate, and Imuran - drugs used in transplant and cancer patients to suppress both immune function and cell productivity. Each family has its list of side effects and some can be so severe that it is difficult to know whether it is the disease in action or the drug affecting the body. I had already been on high doses of Prednisone and felt many of its side effects, most notably the mood swings, and decided that I wanted to pursue alternative treatment options as long as my quality of life was not adversely affected.

I tried a long list of supplements, and some helped to some extent, but I needed something more effective. My grandmother stumbled across low dose naltrexone in a Dr. Whitaker newsletter. Low dose naltrexone was discussed as a treatment option for Crohn's Disease, Colitis, Multiple Sclerosis (MS), and cancers. I read up on the drug on PubMed http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/ and the patient advocacy site http://www.lowdosenaltrexone.org/ . I joined the Yahoo! group http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/lowdosenaltrexone/ and found many helpful resources and patients eager to share the success they have found on LDN that they could not find elsewhere.

Naltrexone is an anti-opiate that was originally patented to treat heroin addiction at high doses (50 mg). It is very effective and made the users feel horrible when they tried to get their high, so they stopped using the medication. What the researchers did notice was the marked improvement in a few of the AIDS patients that were being treated for heroin addiction. Dr. Bihari noticed this trend and started using the medication to research its effects on various autoimmune diseases. He noticed marked improvement in multiple sclerosis and saw improvement in an array of autoimmune diseases when he used a very small dosage (4.5 mg). His research was not clinical and most of the patients offered what's known as "anecdotal" evidence. The patient body was not large enough to be statistically conclusive.

You may notice that naltrexone is only just beginning to be researched as a viable autoimmune treatment. This is because the patent has long expired and it is an easy compound for any pharmacy to reproduce. It is very difficult for the big pharmaceutical companies to recoup the cost of research because they cannot mark up the cost of the drug. Sadly, research is not in abundance. What little research there is, however, is very promising!

Those of us on the medication are pushing to see more studies done to prove what we already know. This is a very low risk treatment option that works in a large number of the patients who try it. Dr. Zagon is one of the doctors who has been working with the medication and has been a generous source of information in the past. He has dispelled the rumor that LDN must only be taken at night to be effective and that 4.5 mg is always the best dose. He also argues that people who have problems clearing the drug because of liver issues may function better if they take the medication on alternating nights (typically, the liver clears this dosage very quickly and makes the body produce an endorphin spike - which is more effective than continuous). His latest study published in November of 2009 has suggested that the drug be tested further in additional autoimmune diseases outside of MS. This link may not work, so please search for "Endogenous opioids regulate expression of experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis: a new paradigm for the treatment of multiple sclerosis." to find this article at pub med:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19855075?itool=EntrezSystem2.PEntrez.Pubmed.Pubmed_ResultsPanel.Pubmed_RVDocSum&ordinalpos=1

Drs Smith and Zagon at Penn State conducted research on the effectiveness of LDN on Crohn's patients. They found that 89% responded favorably to the treatment and a whopping 67% achieved remission in just 12 weeks. They recommended the medication as a safe treatment for Crohn's as no laboratory abnormalities were noted and the most common side effect was sleep disturbance. The link below may not work, so once you are at Pubmed, search "Low-dose naltrexone therapy improves active Crohn's disease":

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17222320?log$=activity

Low dose naltrexone increases the production of endorphins in the body, which in turn regulates the immune system. It does not increase immune activity and it does not suppress it. It is known as a modulator because the endorphins act to correct the immune system and flag faulty cells for destruction. This means I don't get sick as often or badly as my friends on corticosteroids and immune suppressants. The endorphin increase at night can also make dreams more vivid and create disturbances in sleep. During the first few months, I noticed that I was waking more often in the night, but it was easier to fall back asleep, and I felt more refreshed in the morning than before I started the medication, even if I was sleeping more soundly.

Low dose naltrexone can increase symptoms of a pre-existing infection. I had candida overgrowth in my intestines and felt flu like from herx die off symptoms. I was treated for the candida and my symptoms vastly improved on LDN. I no longer woke up in the night with severe upper intestinal pain. My joint pain decreased, my weight increased because I was better able to absorb food, and many of my allergy symptoms decreased. It allowed enough of my symptoms to calm down to be able to work full time and still have enough energy to take care of myself when I came home. I needed this medication to give me enough energy to pursue natural healing methods. My goal is to one day be on zero medications and have a healthy life, but I am sticking to this medication while I find the way.

Some doctors may argue I am experiencing a placebo improvement. If that's true, the placebo effect has held for 2.5 years and does not explain the excrutiating pain I experience again when I briefly stop the medication. I've had to stop the medication once because I had allergies that led to lung inflammation. The doctor prescribed prednisone without antibiotics for the bronchitis. By the time I could get into my regular doctor, I had dual infections. It was not fun, and I regretted stopping the ldn to go on the prednisone when antibiotics, glutathione, and LDN probably would have sufficed. It did support my claims that the drug was helping my symptoms.

Update

2009-10-26T20:02:00.001-07:00

Well, I'm feeling better, but still pretty tired. My pain is gone though, and even though I was tired, my brain was working pretty well today. No confusion! I think Toni had a point and I was probably still reacting to the pie I had eaten right before the weekend - which is a bummer because it proves it's safer to stick with home made food. Even raw vegan can be dangerous if they use apple, pineapple, psyllium, or wheat berries (or anything else I'm allergic to :P ). I know to avoid my allergies, unless I'm not told they are in a food item. I wish restaurants would list out their ingredients.

My husband and I are going to get muscle tested for allergies tomorrow. I've gone to this particular practitioner before, and his tests have always been backed by blood and skin tests. He's been right too many times for it to be coincidence, so I'll be testing some of the new foods I'm eating and see if there's an iodine problem again. I'm happy Lance is getting tested!

I had a long day today and smiled when I got home and saw my little "living centerpiece" growing inches in just a day! My buckwheat was sprouted and ready to go in the dehydrator for buckwheaties (yum! breakfast!).

I started taking spirulina today, and I'm excited to see if it helps with my allergies! Studies have shown that it may prevent production of histamines and help with allergic reactions as well as boost the immune system. It has so many phyto-nutrients, amino acids, and antioxidants. I'm hoping it will give me the little boost I need. I also picked up some Maca. From the reading I've been doing, it seems to regulate hormones, but does not provide a boost in any one - which is a good thing when they are already out of whack. I'm still doing some reading but will be taking both with me for muscle testing just in case.

Take care everyone. I hope you are all happy and pain free.

Sea Glass Jewelry

2009-10-26T19:56:00.000-07:00

My best friend (and maid of honor at my wedding ;) is a very talented artist! She has recently published her website, and I really like her jewelry. She designed pearl necklaces for the other bridesmaids, and they came out beautifully. Here is her site:
http://www.orcasislandseaglass.com/

Pear Pie

2009-10-26T19:48:00.001-07:00

Crust

1.5 c pecans

5-8 dates

.5 cup shredded coconut (dehydrated)

.5 tsp cinnamon powder

handful of shredded coconut (dehyrdate)

Put the handful of dehyrated coconut on the bottom of a deep dish pie pan. Put the nuts in the food processor and pulse quickly to break into mid size pieces. Throw in one date at a time until the dough starts to clump together. Add in the coconut and keep adding dates until the dough sticks together well. Press into the bottom of the pan.

Filling

2-3 pears

Juice of 1/2 a lemon

cinanmon, nutmeg, ginger, and cloves to taste

I cored the pears and used a mandoline slicer. I tossed the pears with the lemon juice to prevent browning. I placed a 1/3 of the pears on the crust and then sprinkled cinnamon, and careful sprinkled a little ginger and nutmeg. I repeated these steps, leaving a layer of spices on top.

Pears are so sweet that I didn't feel the need to add any agave or dates to the filling. If you are using apples, you may want to consider making a sauce with dates, date soak water, cinnamon, and half an apple to drizzle over the pie to help sweeten - and it would probably look neat.

Kale Crispies

2009-10-26T19:41:00.000-07:00

A friend asked me to post this recipe. These turned out pretty well, but I'm not sure what proportions of spices I used.

Rinse one bunch of curled leaf kale (not italian variety)

Tear into bite sized pieces and put in a large bowl and lightly coat with olive oil

Put kale on teflex or excalaber sheet and sprinkle with salt, cumin, and garlic powder (all non-irradiated of course)

Dehydrate at 105 degrees overnight

Today was a little bumpy...

2009-10-24T21:08:00.000-07:00

My mom stayed over last night with the dogs, and it was a lot of fun! The boys love my husband and we had a nice walk around the neighborhood and settled in for the night. The past few days I've been feeling a little more arthritis than usual, and Wednesday I even worked from home hoping to calm things down. This morning I felt pretty good, had my green smoothie and buckwheaties with sesame milk, raisins, and banana and Mom and I headed off to the rawvegansource.com store in Redmond.

The store was, as always, awesome. The owner is absolutely phenomenal and cured her cancer through raw diet and natural healing methods. Her story is posted on their website http://www.rawvegansource.com/. I get truly raw cashews from them - the only local source I've found - and they are fantastic. I chatted with the owner for a while, picked up some spirulina, raw cashews, assorted snacks, and sea vegetables. We left and as mom stopped by a couple stores I felt my energy levels drop. By this evening, I'm feeling arthritic in my fingers, some numbness and tingling in my right hand, and my neck is hot to the touch and stiff (more arthritis). I have to admit I'm a little bummed. Not only did my pumpkin pie not turn out fantastic (it's good, but not all I hoped and dreamed), but I'm still in a mini-flare.

I have been down, but still have sunny periods throughout the day where I'm still optimistic I'm on the right path (thank you raw foods and maca!). I took some great information from the rawvegansource.com store and plan to check out heavy metal cleansing (will post more later when my energy goes back up).

This is a bit of a whiny post, but oh well :) I'm still finding my way, still better than I was, and still allowed to be a little bummed when I'm not 100%.

I think the scariest thing about having lupus still looming is not knowing how far down the rabbit hole I get to go when my symptoms kick up. I try to stay optimistic, but it's hard not to think of harder times.

I'm going to watch a movie with my husband and drink a cup of licorice tea. Here's to sticking with healthful living - even when you don't feel perfectly healthy. That's why we live this lifestyle after all. Speaking of which, does anyone out there have good recommendations for MSM and glucosamine? I haven't found a good brand and am not on it yet - and I'm sure it would probably help these symptoms.

Sprouting!

2009-10-23T18:28:00.000-07:00

I took a fabulous class this past weekend at Thrive in Seattle. The class was taught by Mary Alyce Nyquist, a Hippocrates Health Institute graduate. Let me just tell you that she is fabulous! I got to the classroom early (I have been really excited to take this step - from raw to living foods), and she answered the door wearing a hat of fruit and flowers! I thought it was great!
Mary Alyce was such a wealth of knowledge and I think we all left wanting to know more. I wasn't able to sample all of the food, but she had me help myself to extra sprouts (especially encouring me to chow down on the broccoli sprouts because of their tremendous healing properties) and came up with alternative recipes to her living bread on the fly for me to try on my own. This weekend I have big plans for my little sweet pumpkin I bought and have millet and quinoa sprouting for my mix.

This week my boss allowed me to work from home on Wednesday because I was fatigued and didn't want to push it. He is really great and I think he knows I don't abuse that privelege and try to accomplish a lot. It provided the perfect opportunity to get some sprouts going. I sprouted some buckwheat and made some buckwheaties, sprouted quinoa - which is by far the easiest IF you make time to rinse, rinse, rinse, started what Mary Alyce calls a "living centerpiece", and am trying to sprout millet. I have to say I'm a little worried about the millet, but it is starting to come along.

Quinoa is such a great starter sprout and really has a mild flavor that's between alfalfa and broccoli. I soaked the "grains" (which are actually molecularly not very close to a grain) for about three hours and rinsed them once an hour. This was about 6pm on Tuesday. Quinoa is an extremely fast sprouter, and it sheds toxins quickly. It is important to rinse frequently so the taste doesn't go off. It sounds like it tastes similar to very burned rice if it sits too long. During the day I rinsed the quinoa every few hours after letting it germinate in my jar that night. By the morning, it was well on its way and I harvested by mid afternoon on Wednesday. Buckwheat was also done that same day, and I only soaked it for an hour and rinsed at the half hour and hour marks.

Here are some aduki, broccoli, and sunflower seeds soaking:

I used large jars to soak, a fine mesh sieve to rinse, and put the grain back in the jars to germinate at a downward 45 degree angle. (I rubber band cheese cloth at the top, but may have to invest in the fine mesh used for mesquito netting on screen doors - pliable and highly recommended by Mary Alyce because it's quite reusable). Here they are at the 45 degree angle:

Be sure to always cover up your jars while you are soaking and sprouting. Those seeds like it dark! It is also really important to rinse the seeds three times or more during the day while you are sprouting. After harvest they can be stored in the fridge, but they should be rinsed again before you eat them as they continue to grow and slough off the bad stuff.

Mary Alyce recommended dehydrating the Buckwheat and Sunflower seeds right away. Sunflower seeds tend to go off very quickly. She also pointed out that people ahve a tendancy to oversprout and should only let the sprouts get to about double the length of the seed. The exceptions are millet and quinoa - the sprouts easily exceed this length.

I've also seen a sprouting method using a colander, which I'm trying to finish off the millet, and it seems to be working well so far (remember to cover as you're sprouting!):

And here's some of the finished product - Buckwheaties!

I plan on enjoying some of the buckwheaties tomorrow morning with sesame milk and raisins. I will keep you all posted on how the Pumpkin bread goes. I'm hoping for success because I haven't had a good bread in ages.

My first step in healing... Allergy testing

2009-10-23T17:20:00.001-07:00

I got home and was starving today, but after I made my carrot juice with ginger (which was yummy by the way), checked on my sprouts, and started soaking more seeds for sprouting over the weekend I thought, "Cami, what has really made a difference in your road to recovery and what might help other people?"

When I was in my first bad flare, before I knew I had lupus, I wondered if allergies were at the root of everything. There are two kinds of allergic reactions, and sometimes one or neither are accepted by traditional medical doctors. Doctors who refuse to believe in the importance and broad impact allergies have on our systems have never had allergies themselves or watched a loved one struggle with them. I was told by my Gastrointerologist that food allergies and intolerances have very little to do with IBS or IBD. "You can stop eating the foods if you want, but I don't think it will make a big difference." WRONG. It made the difference between frantically finding 5 different bathrooms on my route to work every morning (this was a 20 minute commute, by the way) and not having to map my day around my defunct GI tract. If your doctor questions the usefulness of getting tested, soldier on my friends and know that nothing bad can come of it. The worst thing that could happen would be that you have nothing you're allergic to (which is a great! thing), or it doesn't catch every allergy and you feel better but not 100%. I'll get to that later in my ramblings :)

The IgE is the most commonly accepted and acute allergy. This allergy has a very quick onset and the symptoms typically display as hives, congestion, swelling, and even anaphylaxis. These can be detected by standard "scratch" tests where the skin is scratched with some of the antigens or offending substance. IgG allergies are not as widely accepted, but can wreak a lot of havoc on the digestive tract and still cause a wide range of inflammatory responses. It's been thought to be behind some sleep walking and childhood bed wetting. It may also be behind many cases of diarrhea, bloating, migraines, headaches, fatigue, and "brain fog." It is difficult to say what exactly IgG allergies cause because the onset takes place up to 72 hours after the food is ingested. This is because food stays in our system for a period of time and the protein chain break downs can cause the inflammatory reaction to kick into effect. They DO know that the IgG reaction causes inflammation throughout the body. It's no wonder that many Lupus patients I speak to report a wide range of allergies.

Although a lot of general practitioners may not "believe" in IgG allergies, specialists are beginning to use ELISA tests in greater numbers to help diagnose difficult cases. Some gastroenterologists (obviously not the one I went to) have seen that patients greatly improve from avoiding foods that test positive and it's not just a coincidence. There is still a problem here - the tests aren't nearly sensitive enough yet and there are a lot of false negatives. This can be reduced to some extent if the patient consumes a small amount of the foods they suspect they are allergic to both one week and one day prior to the actual test (this should be done with any allergy test method except in the case of true IgE or anaphylactic reactions that may threaten the well being of the patient). It's still not an absolute science (no pun intended), and you will probably still have to figure out a few intolerances on your own. I did not show as allergic to wheat or gluten initially, but discovered that I feel HORRIBLE when I eat it and GREAT when I avoid it. Naturally, if it makes me feel better to avoid it, I'm avoiding it!

My first allergy test was an ELISA panel which ranked the severity of the allergy. My very severe allergies included all dairy (goat, cow, etc), eggs, yeast (nutritional/bakers), cranberries, blackberries, some legumes, SOY, and reactive for wheat, apples, tomatoes, potatoes, bananas, chick peas, and lima beans. The lima bean allergy actually kind of made me happy - I'm not a huge fan. Everything else was a HUGE bummer because at least one ingredient was in every meal! I had unsuccessfully tried to figure out what was causing my IBS by cutting out an item at a time, but couldn't feel a difference because I was still eating things I was equally allergic to in each meal. I felt so dumb! Once I stopped feeling sorry for myself and felt like I had properly mourned the loss of chevre and miso, I was really happy! I had the first piece of the puzzle and went to work immediately, training myself to comb through labels, buying books on Whole Food diets, and learning the art of congee and vegetable stocks from my wonderful Naturopath. She was so patient and sat there and helped me with a meal plan when I was first diagnosed. I had already been losing weight from the lupus and she helped me figure out how I could combat that with the ingredients I had left. She is a saint for putting up with me when I was at my worst. I was still so terrified at this point - still half convinced I was a crazy hypochondriac by a bad GP.

After cutting out this wide array of foods and completely altering my diet, I still wasn't feeling well. My IBD symptoms were better, but not fixed. I went back to a doctor I went to in my childhood. When I was two, my mom found Dr. Buscher. He is a wonderful, caring man, and he uses some really fantastic treatment methods. He is an M.D. but specializes in Environmental Medicine. This is a focus on the things around us that cause us to be ill. He is against fragrances, parabens, and a number of substances that the general medical community either deny are making us ill or are just starting to recognize. He is well ahead of the trend and is constantly researching. Dr. Buscher uses allergy tests that consist of a small injection of the substance just under the skin. I watched a woman spontaneously start crying after she was injected with wheat. She had no idea WHY she was crying - it just started happening! The injection area began to swell into a wheal and hives broke out in the area. Subsequent injections calmed the reaction down and she felt normal again. This illustrates 1. how broadly allergies impact us and 2. how effective these tests are. They do not disclose the substance prior to injection to avoid a false reaction and rely more upon the physical reaction than described symptoms. You may not believe it, but when I was injected with corn, I broke out in a rash and my joints started aching. I had NO idea I was allergic to corn - but it made sense! It was a staple in my diet and once I removed it, I continued to improve!

I also was tested for environmental allergies. This one was also a bummer. I am allergic to the fungus that naturally occurs on our skin. I'm allergic to every pollen on the panel. I was also allergic to every mold on the panel. I now take allergy shots that are comprised of an exact amount of the offending antigen - just enough I can tolerate. It helps with the brain fog and I can now tolerate rice and a couple other foods that made me ill before. I have learned to never use a towel twice, never wear an article of clothing more than once if it's against my skin, and to shower before bed to cut down on the stuff growing on my skin in addition to the other things I'm allergic to and carry around all day (pollen, fragrances, molds, etc). I try to use wash cloths and hand towels instead of a full sized towel to cut down on the amount of laundry and water waste. My skin is much better now and all of these steps really helped cut down on the brain fog and inflammation.

One last allergy test method I tried is muscle testing. I don't have time to continue on the subject, but found it surprisingly accurate. My chiropractors findings always correlated with the allergy tests administered by my medical doctors.

A final word about foods: I also avoid anything in the deadly nightshade family including goji berries, and I also avoid alfalfa sprouts. These foods can negatively impact people with lupus and cause inflammation. Tomatoes cause my eye socket to swell and if I eat much potato, my joints ache. I can get away with some potato, but no longer bother on my new diet.

I don't believe I'm being naive when I say that I truly believe that these environmental sensitivities will calm down as I continue my healing journey. As I continue to heal myself with whole foods and undo the damage that was done by a wide array of viruses, processed foods, environmental pollutant, and even vaccines to name just a few, I think that my intolerance of my environment will improve drastically. I can only wait and see, but I'm excited!

Fresh Mangoes with Cashew Whipped Cream

2009-10-22T20:51:00.000-07:00

The whipped cream is very good, but it's hard to make this both raw and vegan. Raw honey can be used or agave. I think 5 dates soaked for 45 minutes with 1/4- cup of soak water might work if you cut down on the amount of water added. Thrive is my favorite restaurant and one of the staff there told me that water and cashews whipped resembles whipped cream so I decided to try it out!

Whipped Cream

1 cup cashews
1/2-3/4 cup water
1/4 cup or less (I start with less and increase to taste) agave
1/2 tsp vanilla bean (I used dehydrated powder)

Put all of the ingredients in a food processor with an S blade and blend until the cashew consistency resembles whipped cream. It will continue to solidify the longer you run the machine. It's also better if you stick in the refridgerator for about 20 or 30 minutes. I put the whipped cream over mango last night and Lance enjoyed it. It's quite filling. I also poured it over plums today and had a yummy snack.

Mango Pudding with Chia

2009-10-22T20:49:00.001-07:00

1 peeled mango, cubed
3-4 dates
1/3 tsp dry vanilla
1-2 Tbs chia

There was a sale on mangos and this was a very easy and yummy way to enjoy them. Chia seeds become very gelatenous if you let them sit for a while so this is best enjoyed after letting sit for about 20 minutes. It tastes a lot better than it looks :)

Green Smoothie

2009-10-22T20:45:00.000-07:00

2 bananas
1.5 cups kale or spinach (spinach is easier on the palate)
3/4 cups raspberries
1/4 cup hulled raw hemp seeds

I actually really enjoy this smoothie when it's spinach. I can drink it and like it when it's kale.

I've also tried mango with kale and it works pretty well.

I actually crave green smoothies when I'm tired and don't feel like trying to eat a huge salad. They provide a pretty good energy boost.