Why Grass Fed?

 Learn why the choice between grass-fed and factory farmed beef is truly significant to those on a quest to fight inflammation!

Dr. Joseph Mercola explains the differences on his website, Mercola.com:

Why Grassfed Animal Products Are Better For You

Take a look, and have a blessed day,

Bridget

Crazy Sexy Kris Carr

Kris Carr, a New York Times best-selling author and wellness activist, was diagnosed with a rare incurable stage four cancer in 2003, and took control of her own health with an integrative approach to healing.  She revolutionized her world with a plant based diet and health building lifestyle practices.  Her documentary, Crazy Sexy Cancer, tells the story.  You can visit her inspirational blog here, and be sure to look at her recipes, many of which are fabulous for anyone with any kind of IBD.

Eat Wild

Are you looking for grass fed beef, eggs, or dairy?  The Eat Wild website provides a directory of farms located throughout the United States and Canada and a list of farms that will ship their products. You can also read about the Health Benefits of Grass-Fed Products on a page which includes both an easy to read summary with charts and a series of news bulletins which give the latest research with references to recent articles in scientific journals including Clinical Infectious Diseases, The British Journal of Nutrition, Environmental Health Perspectives, Journal of Lipid Research, and The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

Going Primal

The Primal Diet, as outlined in Mark Sisson's The Primal Blueprint, is consistent with the SCD and Maker's diets and is IBD friendly in general.  He also offers a  recipe book.

You can visit his blog, Mark's Daily Apple, for more information on the Primal lifestyle.

Peace,

Bridget

Exercise and CRP Levels

According to studies cited by Mark Liponis, MD, Medical Director at Canyon Ranch in his 2007 book  UltraLongevity, exercise can help calm an overactive immune response and  lower CRP levels.  Furthermore, studies show that rhythmic exercise is particularly effective, and in one of the studies swimmers and rowers had the lowest CRP levels.

Some other suggestions for rhythmic exercise:

rebounding on a mini-trampoline
jogging
walking
dancing - swing, polka, English country, contra-dancing, ballroom
tennis
biking
eliptical machine
kayaking
jump rope

Elena's Pantry

If you are looking for Gluten-free recipes, try Elena's Pantry.  Elena has the best free online gluten-free recipe collection I have found.  Her moist and delicious Carrot Cake is our standard birthday fare.  We replace the agave with honey and add pineapple and coconut.  Our friends who are offered the conventional cake always want more of the "healthy" one!

A note of caution:  while gluten-free, the recipes are not all SCD friendly.  Use your best judgement and do what works for you.  We have had great success in adjusting the recipes to meet our needs.

Bon appetit!

De-stressing

A Conundrum:

Stress leads to poor digestion

 and

Poor digestion (especially with Crohn's) is stressful

What to do?
Here are some suggestions:

Massage

Myotherapy - Pain Erasure, by Bonnie Prudden

Aromatherapy with essential oil blends - try Wyndmere Naturals Aromatherapy anointing oils in Sunrise, Serenity, and Spikenard.

Journaling

Prayer

Sunshine and exercise

Early bedtime

Spending time with happy, positive people

Living the Life

At  Jimmy Moore's Livin' La Vida Low-Carb  Blog and Show, Mr. Moore's guests include authors, bloggers and scientists who discuss Paleo and other low-carb diets and give the latest news in diet and natural health.  
Here is his interview with Dr. Art Ayers:  

The LLVLC Show (Episode 476): Dr. Art Ayers And His Anti-Inflammatory High-Fat, Low-Carb Diet

(Not) Pumping Iron

When Kitty first visited her specialist, he prescribed iron in response to her blood test results.  When the supplements didn't raise her numbers significantly, and her doctor said that she would probably have to be given iron by IV, I decided to try to improve her iron levels through diet in addition to the supplements.  This article from the Office of Dietary Supplements at the National Institute for Health came in handy.  It includes separate tables for sources of heme iron (comes from hemoglobin, a protein in red blood cells, and is readily available to the body) and non-heme iron (comes from plants, and is not absorbed as well), and it gives suggestions to improve iron absorption.


Here are some iron-rich foods we enjoy:
11 mg./serving - Chicken Livers - fry them up in butter or olive oil
5.7 mg./serving -  Canned Oysters - try the smoked ones from Trader Joe's with a salad
5.2 mg./serving - Beef Liver - we like it cooked up with onions
6.6 mg./serving - Lentils - make a hearty soup or serve with  Spicy Tunisian Sauce (diced tomatoes, olive oil, cumin, red pepper flakes, fresh crushed garlic, chopped parsley, and salt)

Pax,
Bridget

Roasted Winter Vegetables

Here is one of our favorite cold-weather dishes.  It is warm, satisfying, and SCD-friendly:

Roasted Winter Vegetables

1.  Preheat oven to 400-425 degrees Farenheit

2.  Fill a roasting pan or oven-proof dish with any combination of the following fresh vegetables:
Acorn squash, seeded and cut into 2 in. chunks
Beets, peeled and cut into 1-2 in. chunks
Brussel sprouts
Butternut squash, peeled and cut into 1-2 in. chunks (you can use a regular vegetable peeler for this)
Carrots, peeled and cut into chunks
Garlic cloves (unpeeled), or toss in an entire head with the end trimmed
Parsnips, peeled and cut into chunks
Turnips, peeled and cut into chunks

3.  Drizzle with plenty of extra-virgin olive oil and toss with fresh rosemary (if you have any on hand).  Add sea salt and black pepper to taste.

4.  Bake for 30 minutes

5.  Take out of the oven and toss veggies.  Return to the oven for another 30 minutes, or until fork-tender

This goes well with lentils and a green salad.  Enjoy!

Fighting Inflammation

As part of our effort to lower inflammation marked by CRP and Sed rates, we followed some recommendations from Dr. Art Ayers, who holds a PhD in Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology (U. Colo. Boulder), has done postdoctoral research in Sweden and the U.S., and has been a faculty member of several institutions of higher learning (including Harvard University). He has written many posts about inflammation in general and some on inflammatory bowel disease in particular. You can peruse his blog, Cooling Inflammation, and view his guidelines for an anti-inflammatory diet here.

Two Ways to Get Started

Here are two straightforward options for starting dietary changes that may help with Crohn's. Within a week or two, we noticed significant changes in symptoms solely as a result of using the first option:

1. Purchase a copy of The Maker's Diet, by Jordan Rubin, and use the allowed food list for phase one of the diet. Use this for your shopping list for the next two weeks.

2. Go to Jordan and Steve's SCD Lifestyle blog and download their quick-start guide for making dietary changes based on Elaine Gottschall's book, Breaking the Vicious Cycle. We would suggest, however, eliminating the grape juice and dairy products.

Both options will allow you to focus on the short list of what is allowed in the diet than to keep track of the larger list of what is not allowed.

Peace be with you in the new year,

-Bridget