Ultra Simple Diet

[Nathan]

Also, after straining the broth from the vegetables, I remove the garlic and ginger and put the soggy veggies in my blender to turn them into a soup!

If you haven't yet, you might want to test garlic too. :)

 

[ScarletBegonias]

Also, after straining the broth from the vegetables, I remove the garlic and ginger and put the soggy veggies in my blender to turn them into a soup!

If you haven't yet, you might want to test garlic too. :)

Ooh good one! Thanks Nathan!! ;D

 

[Turgon]

Since I started limiting my diet this week, I've noticed that I get a bit of heartburn if I eat too much onions. I noticed a while ago that red onions would really burn on the way down. But when I mix regular onions with something I don't notice it. Just when there is too much of it. Could this be an inflammatory response, or do other's normally get this as well, as onions are pretty powerful.

I honestly hope it's not inflammatory for me as they are a staple in my cooking regimen.

 

[Gaby]

Since I started limiting my diet this week, I've noticed that I get a bit of heartburn if I eat too much onions. I noticed a while ago that red onions would really burn on the way down. But when I mix regular onions with something I don't notice it. Just when there is too much of it. Could this be an inflammatory response, or do other's normally get this as well, as onions are pretty powerful.

I honestly hope it's not inflammatory for me as they are a staple in my cooking regimen.

A lot of people have this problem with onions and garlic. Eating them well cooked might be more tolerable.

 

[Laura]

Since I started limiting my diet this week, I've noticed that I get a bit of heartburn if I eat too much onions. I noticed a while ago that red onions would really burn on the way down. But when I mix regular onions with something I don't notice it. Just when there is too much of it. Could this be an inflammatory response, or do other's normally get this as well, as onions are pretty powerful.

I honestly hope it's not inflammatory for me as they are a staple in my cooking regimen.

A lot of people have this problem with onions and garlic. Eating them well cooked might be more tolerable.

Yes. I generally tolerate onions pretty well, but too many of them? Yikes!

 

[Gertrudes]

Since I started limiting my diet this week, I've noticed that I get a bit of heartburn if I eat too much onions. I noticed a while ago that red onions would really burn on the way down. But when I mix regular onions with something I don't notice it. Just when there is too much of it. Could this be an inflammatory response, or do other's normally get this as well, as onions are pretty powerful.

I honestly hope it's not inflammatory for me as they are a staple in my cooking regimen.

A lot of people have this problem with onions and garlic. Eating them well cooked might be more tolerable.

Yes. I generally tolerate onions pretty well, but too many of them? Yikes!

I have the same problem with both onions and garlic. I have not eaten any for a while because of that, but I still love them :(

 

[Turgon]

Since I started limiting my diet this week, I've noticed that I get a bit of heartburn if I eat too much onions. I noticed a while ago that red onions would really burn on the way down. But when I mix regular onions with something I don't notice it. Just when there is too much of it. Could this be an inflammatory response, or do other's normally get this as well, as onions are pretty powerful.

I honestly hope it's not inflammatory for me as they are a staple in my cooking regimen.

A lot of people have this problem with onions and garlic. Eating them well cooked might be more tolerable.

Yes. I generally tolerate onions pretty well, but too many of them? Yikes!

I have the same problem with both onions and garlic. I have not eaten any for a while because of that, but I still love them :(

Cool, thanks! Next step is saute them for the next batch of quinoa taboule and see how things go from there.

 

[Thor]

Hi Megan,

You'll love the FIR blanket, it is a powerful detoxifier and healing tool. You can take vitamins and minerals (i.e. selenium, zinc, vitamin C, magnesium, vitamin B) before going in the sauna and other supplements when you come out.

Hi,

What is the bare minimum of supplements one can take while doing the sauna? A vit C and multimineral? It seems the more supplements I take, the worse I feel in terms of hot flashes and feeling draggy. I think my body can't handle a lot of supplements at once, even when I try and spread them throughout the day. I quit using the FIR blanket I felt so weird afterwards for days, lightheaded and feeling like I was floating out of my body. That was the one time I called an ambulance cause I thought I was having a heart attack!

Now I have just got the freestanding sauna put together, I don't want to start gobbling supplements and feeling weird again after using it.

Hi Mrs. Peel,

I am not sure whether you're using the sauna again but if you are I just received some information that may be of interest to you (and others). I just started doing the FIR Sauna protocol. The people of Gett-Fitt gave me one month complementary support so I talk to them before and after every session. Today, I specifically asked about when to take what supplements and Robyn told me that it depends on whether you sweat or not during the sauna. Until you have increased the time and temperature so much that you break a sweat, the FIR sauna aids in absorption and you should therefore be taking the supplements before the sauna. If you sweat during the session the FIR sauna aids in excretion and you should therefore wait until after the session before taking the supplements.

On a similar note, Robyn also pointed out that the FIR will make you detox through whatever channel is easiest for your body. For some people that is through sweating for other people it will be a laxative effect and they had even had a client that detoxed through the tongue (which became all swollen and it did not sound very pleasant at all :()

 

[tridean]

I think this is the best place to post this.

I just want to report how removing gluten effected me as I noticed two very obvious things.

I suffer from a cracked lip, and usually, it gets worse after stress of any kind, even just long periods in the sun etc. Usually, I apply a technique of visualizing rubbing my finger across my lip and feeling and seeing a perfect lip. Always, this repairs the lip after about 36 to 48 hours, but as soon as any stress of any kind returns, the crack returns, always in the same spot.

When I removed Gluten, this stopped completely.

Also, I find I drink a lot of water, but even though this is not out of the ordinary, I do always feel thirsty.

When I removed Gluten, this stopped completely!

I assume that you guys probably already know this, I did a search on this forum, but the amount of posts on gluten are amazing, but found this: http://www.cassiopaea.org/forum/index.php?topic=15404.0 but I found this website too
_http://www.foodreactions.org/gluten/ which did suggest poor absorption, which may answer this problem I have which I posted here:
http://www.cassiopaea.org/forum/index.php?topic=19843.msg196509#msg196509

I went back on Gluten after a month because it was too much too quick, having 6 children, and a vegetarian wife. However, this has just served to make me come up with a slightly different approach because I can feel the difference already and I don't like it. My first approach was to try and change all the flours, pastas, etc etc to gluten free, and this is where I was hitting a brick wall, and trying to do to much too quick. It just seemed that everything we are eating involves either pastry or pasta. This time, my approach is to start looking at meals that simply do not require flour, pasta etc, get back to the basic meat and vegies, stews, soups etc and fruit.

Anyway, thought I'd share that in case it can help anyone else

 

[Thor]

I have now been on the USD for ten days and I wanted to share some of my experiences and ask a couple of questions along the way.

I went cold turkey on coffee, sugar, dairy, gluten, soy, wheat and corn, sticking only to the very limited safe-list of ingredients. On the first day I was feeling surprisingly good but on the second day I was hit with headaches most of the day, accompanied by not being able to get warm inside no matter how many clothes I was wearing.

Then on day three an interesting thing happened. It was as if a thin veil of depression lifted. It was very subtle but quite distinguishable, none-the-less. A negative weight had been lifted from my mind. I was amazed and wondered whether this was due to three days on the diet or maybe the 5-htp I had started taking a week previously. It was a feeling that had been with me for many years and it wasn’t until it was gone that I noticed how much it had dampened my mood even though it was very subtle.

By day four and five I was getting seriously tired of the vegetables I had been eating: carrots, sweet potatoes, seller and parsnip along with the broth made on the same vegetables, where Hokkaido and Jerusalem artichokes had been added. On day five I got hit by a major case of flu-like symptom and was shaking half the day, every cell in my body was aching. I was completely miserable and feeling like I was going to die (dying from a fever probably feels a fair bit worse, but that’s how it felt in the situation, anyway). However, on the following morning it was gone, so I think that it was die-off symptoms rather than the flu, as I have never had a one-day flu before.

On day seven I had dinner at my mom’s place. I had told her about the diet and she had cooked chicken with root crops baked in the oven – very considerate. She had also made a green salad and I thought that as it was made on only dark green salads it would be OK. The dressing was made on olive oil, mustard (non-organic) and red wine vinegar. About 10 minutes after eating the salad I got a faint head ache. I wonder if I had become sensitized in just one week and thought that I would make a mental note of it but that I shouldn’t jump to conclusions.
On day 8 I was missing something bread-like like you wouldn’t believe it. I finally got some buckwheat flour and made my first batch of buckwheat crepes. It took me a while to get the heat and the timing right but towards the end I managed to make some quite nice ones. The smoked salmon-cucumber buckwheat wrap I had for lunch was nothing short of divine! I thought that now was the time to start testing different foods and since I had bought a couple of organic steaks, they were to be the first item to be introduced. The steaks were good and I was feeling fine. However, as I had eaten all the fat that was on the side of the steak, my stomach was feeling a little overworked. This has happened every time I eat something that is very fatty, so I am considering getting some digestive enzymes with ox-bile.

On day 9 I lost my patience. I thought that since I had had no reaction to the steak the night before, I could introduce soft fried onions to go with a hamburger steak. I didn’t seem to have a problem with that and they were really yummy. I had made some gravy by mixing some buckwheat flour with ghee and adding ultra-broth, salt, pepper and the juices from the pan. It wasn’t perfect but definitely something to continue developing :) However, I also thought that a mandarin after dinner would be OK. It didn’t make me feel really bad but I got a slight head-ache. Now I started asking myself, was it the mandarin or was it a delayed reaction from the steak. I am not sure, but I am leaning towards the mandarin as it came pretty shortly after eating it. It’s quite a pity as I really like citrus fruits and it would be a loss to have to let them go.
The following day I decided to have some fresh fruit with my shake in the morning. As I don’t use stevia and haven’t tested for xylitol yet it is not very sweet or tasty but I try to cheer myself up by thinking of its health value. I had been using goji berries for the first couple of days but when reading up on nightshades I found out that goji-berries, despite all their superfood antioxidant properties, are nightshades, none-the-less, so they will have to be tested separately at a later stage. I had a banana, an apple, a Sharon fruit and a pear for my fruit salad. It was delicious and sweet but the sugar left me all jittery and unable to focus. Another note to self: have no more than one piece of fruit at a time.

Yesterday, I wanted to make a hamburger wrap and added some salad and spinach and some raw onions to the wrap, thinking that the salad and spinach were probably fine and as I thought that the beef was also fine, I would be testing the onion that I had also had the previous night. The wrap was tasty but afterwards I felt a little off. It was subtle, but it was there. Now, was this due to the onions, the salad or the spinach? Again, I have found myself to have tried to introduce too many things too fast so I’ll have to start over with the testing :( . I decided that I’d go over to my mom’s place to have a hot magnesium bath. On the way there I noticed that I was happy. While this may not seem like a huge thing, it took me by complete surprise. I used to be a very happy person but for the last eight years I just haven’t been. It was like rediscovering myself and I couldn’t believe it. What a difference. It wasn’t that I was over joyous or manic but just smiling at the world and liking being me. Wow. I am so thankful already and it’s just been ten days.

My back problems that I have written about many other places on the forum are also less than they have been for eight years. The combination of the FIR sauna every day, the right patterns for taping and the diet have really put things on the right track. I have tried the DMSO, but even in a 25% solution, the skin on my lower back will only tolerate it for about two minutes and that is not enough to achieve any pain relief lasting more than a couple of minutes. Also, just ten days into the diet, my body feels lighter, I find myself jumping off the furniture, I can feel the energy in my body and it really a noticeable difference. Thanks to everyone for making this forum such a wealth of valuable info!

I have been wondering about sardines. They usually come in a can in some sort of oil. If you get the real expensive ones, you can get them in olive oil but I haven’t seen any in organic olive oil. How do you get sardines? I was also wondering about the baking powder for the crepes. No matter what kind I look at in the organic shops, they either contain organic corn starch or organic potato starch. What to do?

I know I have been rambling quite a bit so I’ll stop here. I just wanted to share some of my experiences with people who know and are interested in these sorts of things – I don’t know that many in the ordinary world who fit this description. Also, I am hoping that it might help someone who is not quite decided on the USD. It will be hard the first days but it’s nothing compared to the gains :) :D :D

 

[truth seeker]

Thanks for posting your experiences with the diet Thor. :) To me, it sounds as though your initial symptoms could be related to die off or detox reactions. You sound as if you're doing well with regards to being aware of what you're consuming and how they may be affecting you so I think that's important. I also now experience sinus/headache type symptoms if I test for something I shouldn't have. Not sure if you've sent your list to Psyche yet to find out if you may need specific supplements. If not, you may want to do so.

Not sure about the olive oil in the sardines - have you tried going to a health food store? Also depending upon where you live, you may be able to get them fresh. It will take a bit more work to prep them but I personally like being close to my food that way - it makes me appreciate the animal that gave it's life for me to eat.

I would also suggest looking in the health food store for baking powder as well. I've made crepes without it and think they come out okay. You may also want to try that and see if it works for you.

Last, as you've said, try testing for one thing at a time so as to be certain what exactly you may be having a reaction to.

 

[3DStudent]

I have been wondering about sardines...

The olive oil sardines are more expensive than plain water ones, even though they are so good ;). So I usually just get the canned sardines in water and drain as much of the water that I can get out of them.

I was also wondering about the baking powder for the crepes. No matter what kind I look at in the organic shops, they either contain organic corn starch or organic potato starch. What to do?

If you can find it with the potato starch instead that would work if you tolerate potatoes. But if you use it a lot maybe a better idea would be to use a baking powder substitute: 1 tsp. baking powder = 1/2 tsp. cream of tartar and 1/4 tsp. baking soda (sodium bicarbonate). I use this and it works pretty well.

 

[Ollie]

I have been wondering about sardines...

The olive oil sardines are more expensive than plain water ones, even though they are so good ;). So I usually just get the canned sardines in water and drain as much of the water that I can get out of them.

I was also wondering about the baking powder for the crepes. No matter what kind I look at in the organic shops, they either contain organic corn starch or organic potato starch. What to do?

If you can find it with the potato starch instead that would work if you tolerate potatoes. But if you use it a lot maybe a better idea would be to use a baking powder substitute: 1 tsp. baking powder = 1/2 tsp. cream of tartar and 1/4 tsp. baking soda (sodium bicarbonate). I use this and it works pretty well.

I agree with 3D Student's thinking. In fact, for sardines (and mackerel) the oils that they are packed in causes problems for me (unless it is extra virgin olive oil), so I naturally look for fresh or tins of sardines packed either in water or brine. And, it is possible to buy G-F baking powder in the UK.

 

[Gertrudes]

It's good to hear that the diet is having such a positive effect on you Thor :)

Again, I have found myself to have tried to introduce too many things too fast so I’ll have to start over with the testing Sad .

Just a quick note, on the USD guidelines given by Psyche a while back, it is recommended to introduce only one food at the time every 4 days. It does take a while to test all of them, I began in the end of July and there is still a lot that I haven't tried. But interestingly, you might find that as you start loosing some cravings, you feel more satisfied with the foods that you are already eating.

 

[Thor]

Thanks to all of you for your replies :).

I will look for the sardines either fresh or in water or brine. Also, I find the advice on introducing things one at a time every three to four days makes a lot of sense, although it strongly activates my impatience program :( Also, I was hoping to be able to reintroduce a couple of things to make me seem less of a freak at Christmas when everybody else is having a feast. Well, I'll make my own USD feast :)


Two things that I have noticed that I thought I'd see what other people's reactions have been, are the following:

Whenever I eat something fat there is a gurgling sound in my lower right hand side of the abdomen - probably midway between the hip and the navel. I think it is the same (or close to it) spot that gurgles when I do coffee enemas. It is not painful or uncomfortable. Is this something to be concerned about and if so what would be the recommended remede (digestive enzymes, coffee enemas, liver/gall bladder cleanse programs or something completely different?)

Another thing I have noticed is that my elimination is not at all working regularly. Quite often I find things have a laxative effect on me. Almost every time I have done a FIR sauna session I have to go to the bathroom. When I had too much fruit I have to go to the bathroom. Before starting on the diet, I would go every morning after drinking my coffee but I figured that it was due to the caffeine. I would also happen when I had an Elvis smoothie consisting of one banana, 1 tbsp of honey and 2 tbsp of peanut butter topped up with either milk or soy milk. Drinking it a little at a time would be fine but gobbling it all down at once, which is the natural thing to do as it is extremely tasty would send me to the bathroom within ten minutes. I therefore think that my intestinal health may not be all that great. If any of you have advice I would be highly grateful. It is not the end of the world but it is annoying :)

Thanks, once again for all your support.