As you all know, I’ve dealt with digestive issues since 2007 because of food poisoning. I’ve been to several doctors and done different treatments. I’ve discovered (and continue to discover) through this whole process the best way for me to eat and I feel that I have my digestive health in pretty good control. If you are interested, I’ll list the things I’ve found out through much trial and error 😀 So, I do best with:
- Eating every 2-3 hours
- No diary
- No gluten
- No sugar
- No processed carbs
- Low carbohydrate
- Not too many nuts (0-1 serving/day)
- Lots of veggies, meat, healthy fat
It’s been hard to be consistent, but I’m trying and I think I’m getting better at it especially as I find new foods I can eat. Here’s a typical day of food for me:
Eggs cooked in coconut oil or butter with kale and sea salt
Nuts and (dried) fruit
Roasted Pork, Shredded Carrots with oil and vinegar, asparagus
Lunch meat with homemade mayonnaise or butter
Steak, salad, green beans with olive oil and slivered almonds
One of the things that has helped me the most is this podcast called “Dishing up Nutrition.” They seem to have a good understanding of nutrition. Their premise is that you can help your body with real food. Practically, it looks like this:
- Eat 5-6 times/day each time having a good protein (meat), healthy carbs (fruits, veggies), and healthy fat (organic butter, olive oil, nuts etc.)
- Meals: 4 oz meat, good veggie and good fat (about a Tablespoon)
- Snacks: same as meals, but cut in half.
Throughout this process I’ve been more and more intrigued with nutrition and perhaps pursuing becoming a licensed nutritionist. Anyway, just thought I’d give an update on that. Thank you for your prayers! I feel the Lord has been answering them!
{ 9 comments… read them below or add one }
Sounds like an involved regimen. I am glad that it has afforded you some relief. One question: How does not keeping a diary help? 🙂
very interesting! i think you would make an amazing nutritionist!!
I agree with aunt janie!
David, I think Audrey meant she no longer eats pages out of her diary. Sort of like the opposite of Reader’s Digest.:)
Audrey, sounds like the kind of diet we have been doing. We haven’t thrown out our diary’s yet but I just brought buckwheat home last nite to try as it is not a cereal/grain/grass and has no gluten. High in protein though! I went along with the many small meals a day theory for a while but it was harder on my digestion. I just recently cut back to 2 and a half meals and feel much better, less high and low blood sugar and better focus, etc. Kristen made cold seaweed (wakame) salad last nite and it was actually pretty tasty. Go greens! Sorry about the trouble caused by food poisoning but isn’t it interesting how health scares get us to look at things differently and change our habits?
Yes, I find that if I start writing in a diary I begin feeling terribly! That’s why I write in a journal 😉
Adam, it has been really fascinating as I’ve learned so many things through my tummy problems. Have you guys done “Green Smoothies”? They can be quite tasty, and some can be not so tasty 😀
That’d be awesome if you could become a nutritionist.
We do garlic smoothies frequently throughout the week. You’re right, the green smoothies mostly have to be choked down! My next thing I want to look at doing is growing barley grass to juice. I saw a youtube video of a guy juicing his own and then freezing little plasic containers of it. Looked do-able.
Hey Audrey! I just wanted to say I appreciate your dietary posts. In doing my own research, I’ve read a lot that supports much of what you’ve been doing. You mentioned that you don’t eat any processed carbs. Does that mean no bread of any sort? Do you eat any grains, seeing as they’re all pretty high carb? Do you have a carb limit for yourself? Do you try to eat a certain number of grams of protein and healthy fats per day? I know a lot of people can’t digest dairy very well because it’s been pasteurized and homogenized. What are your thoughts on consuming raw milk? Also, I’ve been thinking I need to start making our own condiments. What’s your recipe for mayonnaise, and do you have any other condiment recipes you like? Well, I think you are following an excellent diet and I think you would make a great nutritionist!
Oh, I love talking about health stuff! In answer to your most lovely questions:
I occasionally have bread from almond or coconut flour, but all other breads I do not eat. Occasionally I’ll eat some rice or quinoa, but I try to stay away from most grains. I used to limit my carbs to about 50 grams/day but it became wearying to me to count that out. I think I may need more than that at this point in my life. I’m not sure. So, I would estimate now I eat about 100 grams of carbs/day. It may need adjusting, but we’ll see. I get most of my carbs from vegetables, fruit, occasional grains (in that order). I shoot for 15-20 grams of protein/meal and at least half of that for snacks. Healthy fats…those I do not count, but I try to have maybe about a tablespoon or two/meal, which probably turns out to be anywhere from 8-20 grams of fat/meal. Andrea and I are just now starting to use raw milk! We’ll see what happens!
We have an amazing recipe for mayonnaise from Grandma-Judy herself! We use a food processor, which is great because it lets the oil in slowly. We’ve modified the recipe a little, as follows:
2 egg yolks
1 tsp mustard (optional)
2 tsp lemon juice
1 T apple cider vinegar (any vinegar is fine)
1/2 t salt (use less if using sea salt)
pepper to taste (I don’t think we’ve ever put pepper in it 😀 we should try…)
1 c safflower oil (olive oil works, too)
Put yolks, mustard, lemon juice, vinegar, salt, pepper in food processor. Briefly blend. Add oil gradually in a very thin stream with the processor running until all oil is incorporated. If too stiff, turn appliance back on an d add 1 T hot water.
We’ve not done other condiments, but we want to try fermenting vegetables, making relishes, sauerkraut.
I think I answered all the questions. That was fun!