Update

So, it has been two years since I moved home, and I have not stuck to the low-oxalate part of the diet, but I have been really good (for the most part) with the Paleo part (with occasional dairy and chocolate.) I find that when I use clobetasol ointment fairly regularly (2-3 times a week) and eat strict paleo (even with a little cheese) my LS vastly improves. When I am stressed out, and eat grains or sugars (usually the result of being stressed out) I have flare-ups. So, long story short, the diet does seem to help if I stick to it. I found a site recently that talks about lectins and autoimmune diseases, and it does seem that a Paleo-style diet will eventually make a difference if as the science is suggesting, lectins play some part in the disease. If I discover anything new in my research, I will post it here.

I have begun a new blog called Edible. Please visit if you get the chance!

Day 100

Ok. I have followed this Diet for 100 days (3 months and a little more) to see if it makes a difference in my LS. Right now, I would have to say that yes, it does make a difference in how I feel. I am currently experiencing no pain, other than occasional itching. And I have had two short flare-ups while eating this way, but they seem to go away quickly. As far as sex goes, it is still painful, but tolerable. I have good times and not so good times. From the beginning of the diet, I feel that I have definitely improved. So now, the big test. Over the next couple of weeks I will be eating some very high-oxalate and very un-Paleo foods to see if it truly makes a difference. I already had chocolate tonight and peanut butter. Breakfast tomorrow is going to be berries! And if I am motivated enough to walk down and get them--also whole grain croissants! And lunch will be something with kiwifruit, spinach--and maybe cashews too! And my afternoon snack is going to be almonds with dark chocolate on them--this as you can see is not very Paleo--but I need to know whether or not I have a reaction...I guess we shall see what happens...bear with me.

Day 99

Breakfast somehow slipped me by today...suddenly it was 1 pm and lunchtime.
Anyway, as you can see lunch was salad with chicken, tomatoes, cucumbers and yellow peppers. Dinner was broiled flank steak with horse radish sauce, and a small side of grapes--not hungry for more veggies--although I suppose I should have had the asparagus I meant to cook to go with it. I guess they will have to wait for tomorrow...

Day 98

Breakfast was shirred eggs and bacon with raspberries and coffee. Shirred eggs are simply eggs baked in cream and butter, with a few chives and salt and pepper to taste. I think I miss berries the most. Two more days and I am going to have a HUGE bowl of raspberries. I love raspberries!

Lunch/Dinner

Not much to say here. Typical salad with chicken. Very good. Had the same thing for dinner.

Day 97

Breakfast was raspberry crepes with whipped cream. I felt like I needed something different. The whipped cream makes it not pure Paleo, but the rest of the recipe is very Paleo indeed. I used honey for sweetening, and coconut milk and flour for the crepes. I changed my original recipe a bit and re-posted it to my recipe blog with the nutritional info. I'm still not perfectly happy with the crepes themselves. They taste OK. but then if you add whipped cream and rasperries to pretty much anything I think it would taste OK. I think that almond flour would make very good crepes, but of course almonds are very high oxalate, therefore not a good choice for me. Perhaps macadamia nut flour? I can't wait until I get home to Seattle and can try out a few new products. It will be easier shopping when I have a plethora of healthfood stores nearby...and lots of organic food choices. I live in a small town right now that has some good choices, but not everything I want... Lots of organic food here in Germany though--the yogurt is to die for--the best yogurt I have ever had! OK, so I am rattling on...Three more days until my high-oxalate experiment. As for now, my symptoms have pretty much abated and my LS is pretty good. It still itches regularly, but not nearly like it did before I started this. I haven't had a bad flare up for a while, so I guess we shall see what happens...

Day 96

Breakfast is one smoked pork chop and strawberries with coffee and cream. Good hearty start to the day--today I have to sort through books and decide what to take home, what to put in storage, and what to donate to the library--we have thousands of books! I need my strength.

Day 95

I suppose it is time to update again. First of all let me say that pie and whipped cream for breakfast is not a common occurance in my house--just today with all that ToM crap I really felt the need to indulge. This pie was not Paleo, but it was fairly low oxalate, and very good. (Sara Lee, dutch apple pie, yum!) But I am now back on my "processed foods are evil" way of life, and having a much healthier dinner tonight--homemade stir-fried Coconut Thai Chicken with peapods, red pepper, asparagus, and scallions. I will try it out and post the recipe later. Yesterday I re-wrote one of my favorite noodless lasagne recipes into a low-oxalate recipe, and posted it this morning on my recipe blog. It turned out really good!!

I went to talk to my GYN yesterday. My last appointment before moving home, and he told me that I have developed some fibroids, but that they are rather small and that my next doctor will be the one to recommend what to do about them. I was fine with that until I got home several hours later having walked around quite a bit--I suppose it stressed me out, having yet another thing go wrong with me. I am not comforted by the fact that 50% of women my age have them. I am also not comforted by the fact that one of the things they recommend is to cut out saturated fat especially in the form of milk and cheeses and red meat--the rationale here is that these saturated fats effect your hormonal and especially estrogen levels much more than lower saturated fat foods. However, even though this advice is widespread on the internet, it disregards the fact that the link between saturated fat intake and blood estrogen levels was disproved by a careful Harvard study in 2000:

http://www.cancer.org/docroot/NWS/content/NWS_1_1x_Fatty_Diet_Not_Linked_to_Higher_Estrogen_Levels.asp

The one thing that is linked however is obesity. Obese women have many more problems with high estrogen levels than overweight, average, and underweight women. Although, overweight women live longer than any other group, interesting, no? So, after doing a bunch more research, and reading a lot of articles on the topic, I have come to the conclusion that I really need to lose some more weight. This has got to be my main focus, everything else, including my sex life has got to come second. :( Mediterranean Paleo is probably the best choice for me for weight loss. I love Italian and Mediterranean food, so will try to make those staples in my Paleo/Low oxalate lifestyle. This means lots of fish and seafood and since I will be moving to Seattle in a few weeks, fresh fish should not be an issue. M, however really hates fish. But, I suppose I can make a sort of grilled fish/shrimp/chicken/veggies regularly and he will be happy, especially if I still make him his salads. I can eat the fish, he can eat the chicken. I am going to try to start eating red meat only once or twice per week. Have fish for lunches, and chicken or shrimp for dinner. I guess breakfast will have to be fruit and eggs...Hmmm. If you add the low-oxalate requirement to my diet, I am eating fewer and fewer things. I guess I can still eat cheeses and yogurts, and will have to do that rather than eat so much meat all the time. (I know it isn't Paleo, but I have to eat something...and bread is pretty high-oxalate) I am curious if my symptoms will change when I go high-oxalate next week. If I can eat whole grains again without too much problem, I can have whole grain sprouted bread for breakfast. It makes me angry that there just isn't a lot of info out there about what to eat if you have fibroids. All the diet recomendations spend far too much time harping on how you should cut fat out of your diet, and how you should keep your saturated fat to 10% of your calories. It is so behind the times. I guess I need to do more research. Actually what I need to do is go clean out the closets before the movers come...12 more days until movers arrive!