Bone Broth Healing Fast - Elimination diet - 3rd week

 

 Image from: http://www.eat-real-food-paleodietitian.com/gut-healing-bone-broth.html

So, I'm into my 3rd week now...only 6 more days until I can start reintroducing foods!  

I've decided to step things up a bit for my last week and I'm doing a liquid only fast for a few days (until I can't stand it any more and need to chew something!) with bone broth, and hot chai style gelatine drinks with virgin coconut oil and ghee, white and oolong tea (only before 2pm), or rooibos (red bush) tea, cinnamon, ginger, black pepper and stevia.

I can't find much info online about bone broth fasting, and the only article I did find was a proper, virtually calorie-free fast with only bone broth (fat removed) for 4 days.  I'm considering doing a day or two of broth only, without the gelatine/coconut oil drinks...but I don't much like being hungry, so we'll see how I feel tomorrow.

Today is day 2 of my liquid fast.  Haven't really been hungry...not sure how many tablespoons of coconut oil and ghee I've been having, but enough to fill me up anyway!  The 20oz (591ml) tub of virgin coconut oil I got on Monday is almost gone (it's Friday)...so I guess I've been averaging nearly 120g a day, plus at least 3 TBS of ghee.  Hmmm, I wonder if that's why I'm still having diarrhea!  It's either that or the turmeric, which I have reduced to 1 capsule plus 1/4 tsp in my morning chai. 

My thoughts behind doing this fast, is to give my digestive system a break and really nourish my gut.  I'm not committing to doing any particular number of days at this point...I'll eat tomorrow if I really feel like it, otherwise I'll do another day or two.  I'm a big believer in listening to my body and not pushing things that don't feel 'right'.  

Off to grab another cup of broth...thanks for stopping by!  

Edit: About two hours after writing this I decided that I needed to eat some actual food!  I was thinking that the fact that I have had diarrhea probably means that my digestive system is not happy with so much coconut oil and isn't getting a 'rest' at all.  Some-times you just need to listen to your body ;)

Elimination diet - days 10 - 13

 

Well, things are looking up since I last posted!!  All my bloating is GONE!  It got much worse in the first week of elimination and I was feeling pretty discouraged going into the second week!  My crazy cravings have gone again (praise the Lord!), and I have dropped nearly a kilo along with the bloating!  This has coincided with me starting to take turmeric (and now turmeric standardised 95% curcumin capsules) so I believe that it is healing the inflammation in my gut. 

I can't tell you how awesome it is to be free of the bloating!!  It makes the last two weeks all worth while, and gives me motivation to continue on my healing journey.  I'm also pretty excited about dropping a little weight...it has been nigh on impossible for me to lose at all (and I only want to lose 5 - 7kg!) with my digestive issues, so I'm pretty stoked!

Okay, gotta dash and pick up my 3 year old from kindy...thanks for stopping by! 

Elimination diet - days 7 - 9

So, this is were it starts to get hard...and it probably doesn't help that it's that time of the month...I feel like stuffing my face with everything crunchy and salty and sweet and chocolaty....pretty much everything I can't eat!  Just about going out of my mind!

BUT...I am totally committed to seeing this though (and seriously...I have to do this!)...I don't want to be dealing with IBS and multiple food intolerance's for the rest of my life...but it's hard when you still have to cook for other people and have all sorts of things in the house you can't eat. 

Okay, so that's my pity party over ;)

How I'm feeling:

Apart from wanting to stuff my face with contraband food...I had to cut out the pureed carrot "treat" I was making...it's really not good when you eat over 1kg of carrots within 24 hours...my tummy was NOT happy and it didn't stay in me long... ;) 

The eczema I've been getting under my eye, hasn't improved at all yet.

My bloating has reduced a bit today (probably the diarrhoea, ha!).  I have realised that I need to go easy on the green beans and the carrots, so reducing those has helped. 

I've also been having a lot of turmeric (up to 1 TBS per day) in turmeric chai lattes, and I think that is what's causing the diarrhoea I've been having for the last few days...not nice!  Thankfully I have some turmeric capsules coming on the courier tomorrow, which are concentrated to 95% curcuminoids (the good stuff in turmeric), so I won't have to take so much to get the intestinal and anti-inflammatory benefits.  

I've been reading that turmeric is also beneficial for weight-loss, so that's a bonus...might help with all the fat I have to eat at the moment (my body does not want to lose weight on extreme low-carb/high fat diets), I seem to need moderate carbs and moderate fat (more of a balance), which makes sense when I look at body type diet recommendations for my type of figure.

Okay, so I'm off to find something to do, to take my mind off my stomach!  Ugh...I'm hungry again!

Eliminiation diet - day 5 & 6

I am thinking now that it is going to be much too boring to post every day, so I think I'll just post every few days from now on instead!  

I am still feeling pretty good...the bloating is starting to subside now, and I'm not waking up bloated any more, which is nice!  

I'm eating the same stuff, but I've started adding 2-3 Rooibos tea, gelatine and coconut oil drinks per day.  They are actually very nice, as well as being super-foods for the gut.  

Frappe

4 tsp of gelatine (soaked in 1/3 cup cold water for 5 minutes)

1 cup of brewed Rooibos (Red Bush) tea (cooled).  

1-2 TBS Virgin Coconut oil

Cinnamon, cardamon and ginger to taste or a cap-full of natural essence/extract like banana or orange

A sprinkle of stevia 
Ice-cubes - 1 - 2 trays

*Optional* It emulsifies better if you add 1/2 tsp of guar gum in with the tea to thicken, but I'm not able to eat this at the moment.

Put the warm (but not hot) tea into the blender with the soaked gelatine and blend together to fully dissolve the gelatine.  Add coconut oil and blend again until melted.  Add one or two trays of ice-cubes (depending on size).  Blend on ice crushing mode (or keep turning on and off until the big chunks are broken up).  Blend until smooth.

This will thicken up on standing, so drink quickly or eat with a spoon!

Chai tea

Make as above, in the blender, but add a little extra boiling water instead of ice (maybe 1/2 cup).

Today I added a teaspoon of turmeric to my hot chai (I put it in with the teabag and then strained out).

Turmeric is extremely good for reducing inflammation and also for intestinal healing (among other things).  Read here for more info on Turmeric and a nice Turmeric Chai Tea Mix recipe.  

Thanks for stopping by!  

Elimination diet - day 3 & 4

Okay, I didn't manage to post yesterday, so I'm going to do a 2-in-1 post here today :)

Day 3 was a Sunday for me, and my hubby's birthday.  The kids all bought him chocolate and sweets for his presents and they were all munching away on them all day. Lunch was fresh french sticks from the bakery with butter (not the most nutritious food I know...it was a treat).  We had dinner with the in-laws and there was blue cheese (my fav!), sun-dried tomatoes and other tasty nibbles that I usually love.  There was also lots of cake, dessert (my MIL makes a mean Lemon Heaven dessert!) and ice-cream after dinner.  I am really happy to say that I wasn't even tempted to eat any of that stuff!  I really do think that Chromium is amazing stuff!  

I had told my MIL in advance what I am able to eat at the moment, and she was very happy to accommodate, so that was good!  The veges weren't cooked as soft as I am supposed to be eating right now and I don't know what kind of oil she roasted the veges in (I didn't want to issue to many instructions!  I'm difficult enough as it is!), but I didn't have any major symptoms last night, so I guess the digestive enzymes and HCI are helping some. 

I am just blown away that I am not having any cravings at all, and my taste buds are quite satisfied with what I'm eating.  So far I have been totally happy (!) with my very bland diet...I just eat when I'm hungry.  All those good fats I'm eating at the moment are very satisfying too, and help me fill up.  I'm getting the bulk of my calories from fat at the moment, mostly from ghee, fat from the chicken bone broth, avocado oil, RBD coconut oil, and I also picked up some virgin coconut oil yesterday.

I've been having hot rooibos tea with coconut oil in between meals, and I'm also working on a frappe type smoothie with gelatine.  My usual recipe has gelatine (1TBS), 1/2 tsp guar gum and egg yolks, but since I can't have those, I'm experimenting with making it with just cooled rooibos tea, cinnamon, ginger, cardamom, coconut oil and gelatine (and lots of ice of course!).  It isn't emulsifying like my usual recipe (to be expected) but it's still pretty good.  Will post the recipe when I get the quantities right...this mornings one was too thick and jelly-like (I used 2 TBS of gelatine).

Food:
Hmm...I'm thinking it's going to get pretty boring if keep posting what I'm eating...it's just been chicken, chicken livers, bone broth, gelatine smoothies, coconut oil, ghee, green beans, zucchini, carrots (roasted and pureed with coconut oil and cinnamon) fermented ginger carrots and...hmm, yeah, that's pretty much it!  Oh I did eat a wee bit of bacon today...not totally on plan, because it's just standard supermarket bacon, but not too bad a "cheat" I figure.

For the last two days, I have been feeling...

Pretty good...was having some random stomach cramps yesterday but so far so good today.  Still bloated, but less so than the first two days.  A little bit gassy still, but not too awful.  Emotionally, I'm feeling good, a little tired though as my 3 year has been waking during the night for days. 

Exercise:

Yesterday; none.  Today, I went for a 30 minute walk...might squeeze in 10-20 minutes of pilates later on.

Sleep:  

Less than 6 hours the night before last (late night + the 3 year old woke me up at 5.40am)

Last night, about 8 hours, but lost maybe an hour of that around 2am with the 3 year old waking again.

 Cravings:

As I already mentioned...none so far...seriously amazing!

Elimination diet - day 2

I ate chicken liver for lunch today.  Fried it up in ghee with some green beans.  Was actually quite nice.  Sort of like steak, but softer and a little more liver tasting (ha!).  And, I didn't even gag...at all.  Yay for me!  Previously my only experience with any kind of offal was grating some frozen lambs liver into my soup or hiding it in mince/hamburger meat (not really very nice - stronger tasting than chicken livers, but edible). 

The Digestive Health with REAL Food book recommends eating liver a few times per week, so in the spirit of getting right into it, I did :)  Very proud of myself ;)

Breakfast today was mince leftovers from last night with green beans and cooked carrots, and a cup of bone broth.  Also polished off the carrot treat (pureed carrots with cinnamon and coconut oil) from the fridge (yum!). 

Morning tea was chicken soup with spinach and ghee.

Lunch (as I mentioned above) was chicken livers and green beans fried in ghee.

Afternoon tea: Bone broth with extra gelatine and a tablespoon of ghee.

Dinner will be chicken soup

Today I feel:

Very bloated...I even woke up this way, which isn't normal for me...it doesn't usually start until late afternoon/evening.  Might be the after effects of the peanuts I scoffed before starting day 1, or because I ate way too many carrots yesterday!  Could even be die-off reactions (some-times it gets worse before it gets better!).  My 3 year old kindly informed me that I have a baby in my stomach...hmmm, thanks sweetheart.  Mind fog not so bad today...I think the liver I just ate has given me a nice energy boost!  I'm taking peppermint gels and activated charcoal between meals to help with the bloating...doesn't seem to have helped much, but then again, maybe I'd be a lot more bloated with out them!  

Exercise:

• 60 minutes moderate/gentle effort on the stationary bike while Facebooking (gotta multi-task right?!)
• 20 minutes pilates total body and flexibility workout 

Sleep:

Maybe 6-7 hours?  Little miss 3 woke me up at 1.45am and spent the rest of the night draping herself over me...

Cravings:

None so far!

Elimination Diet - day 1. Digestive Health with REAL Food!

 

I am currently reading (and re-reading!) a fantastic new book by Aglaée Jacob called Digestive Health with REAL food.    (And I'm looking forward to the cookbook coming out in the future).  I have IBS and numerous food intolerance's which really make life quite unpleasant sometimes!  I have been struggling with this for nearly two years now, just getting worse and worse... and I've had enough!  I've tried the GAPS diet (lasted all of two weeks), and did all of 5 days of a Paleo Autoimmune Protocol a few weeks ago to try and clear up some skin issues I'm having (I was supposed to do 30 days!!).  However I really find these restrictive diets EXTREMELY difficult, and I keep giving up...

Now after reading Aglaée's book, I am inspired to see it through this time and really (once and for all!) heal my gut and discover which foods I need to keep out of my diet for good (I know some of them already...dairy, wheat, oats and coconut products are major no-no's for me) and which things I will be able to re-introduce down the track. 

Basically, the way the elimination or as Aglaée calls it, a BYO (build-your-own) diet works, is that you eat a very basic, low carb, high fat, moderate-high protein diet for a minimum of 3 weeks (or until you are symptom free for 5 days), after which time you add things back into your diet one by one to find out which things you react to.

This is what I can eat for the next 3 weeks:

Bone Broth (homemade) - lots!  I'm consuming 4-8 cups per day in soups and as a drink with meals.

Carrots (well cooked)

Zucchini (well cooked)

Spinach (well cooked)

Green beans (well cooked)

Chicken

Beef

Lamb

Chicken and lamb livers 2 - 4 times per week
Ghee (clarified butter)

Extra virgin olive oil

Coconut oil

Avocado oil

Macadamia nut oil

Gelatine (beef - I use Davis brand)

Unrefined sea salt

Chives

Lemon juice

Herbal tea

Supplements: 

Pancreatin digestive enzymes, betaine HCI, Ginkgo Biloba, zinc, chromium (to eliminate cravings) omega 3 fish oil, vitamin D, vitamin C, vitamin A, evening primrose oil, vitex (the last two are for hormone balancing) and magnesium and calcium at night to help sleep and bowel motions.   

And that's it.  Yeah...it's going to be pretty repetitive for sure!  Either soup, or meat and veges with broth on the side...including breakfast! But a few weeks to reset and heal my digestive system is well worth it in the long run!!

Today I am feeling:

Not great...totally pigged out home-made (sugar free) Reese's Peanut Butter Cups last night and was paying for it all night...I really don't tolerate peanuts well at all!

Bloated, gassy (sorry, if you decide to read my daily elimination diet ramblings, you're going to the gory details! LOL).  Mind-fog pretty bad today, can't concentrate well at all.  Feel tired and a bit achy.  Probably doesn't help that my 5 year old kicked a soccer ball hard into my face about 30 minutes ago...

Excercise: 

Went for a walk up and along the cliff tops with my 5 & 7 year old's for about 20 minutes.

Sleep:  

Slept well last night, about 8 hours.

Cravings:

Okay so far, I think that the 800mcg of chromium I'm taking is really helping!

Okay, well, that's it for today!  Hopefully tomorrow will be a little better!