Food (or DIET) as an Inhibitor
CharlieBarleyMom
Posts: 727 Member
Folks -- I've had this nasty disease for 30 years and I've gone through some heavy times with it and some light times with it... sometimes thinking it was in remission. But in the past I have never watched what I was eating with how my body (HS) reacted within the next couple of days. That all changed a few months ago.
I've read quite a few blog posts (outside of here) and signs are pointing to HS being an auto-immune disease that may be linked to "leaky gut"... every person will have their own take of this... and depending on how serious you are about the possibility of a "cure" (because I don't know if this will make it go away or put it in remission?), you may try this.
Last year this time I changed my eating pattern to follow the "Eat to Live" diet... which is all RAW foods... and puts you in the classification of Vegan I suppose... but I still had whey and milk products like cheese. This was a very healthy diet but didn't work for me because I feel most satisfied with warm (comfort) meals. I didn't see any difference in my HS, but I wasn't doing this particular diet for HS, just for overall health.
In May of 2012 I tried (for 4.5 weeks) to stay away from the nightshade vegetables because I had read that this worked for someone else... didn't cut it for me - I saw no improvement or, on the other hand, I didn't see any worsening of my condition so I went back to incorporating nightshade veggies into my diet (boy how I missed my eggplant and peppers!).
Starting on January 2, 2013 I changed my diet to follow Paleo... mostly... I haven't given up nuts & seeds fully, as I am a flaxseed junkie (I find it works to keep my arthritis and plantar fasciitis in check). I also love my chia seeds and hemp seeds... as for nuts, the Paleo guide says to restrict them as they are heavy in calories but also they are the seeds of the plant and they could react the same way as seeds supposedly do in our systems (you have to read up on this yourself because I can't put it all here and you'd understand it better reading it for yourself).
I have seen, in the 5 days (and the 5th day has not ended yet), one of my chronically open and active sites (under my right breast, ick!) closed... this is not to say that I don't have any of the smaller outbreaks, I still have remnants... but the biggest one I've had for months and months finally becoming inactive????? How huge is that?
I have also kicked gluten to the curb for right now. These things, if they work to help me with HS will be so worth the "loss" of what I am not eating. Although, since I put loss in quotes you can probably see that it hasn't been that big of a deal to me. Actually, it's been eye-opening-- staying away from the refined sugars and carbs of breads and other processed foods has broken my addiction (I hope) to sugar. I haven't had any bingeing this past week and I've been full with my high protein, high FAT breakfasts -- for 5+ hours (unheard of!)!!!
If anyone wants more information or has specific questions, I'll try to answer!
Wishing you pain free,
Peg
I've read quite a few blog posts (outside of here) and signs are pointing to HS being an auto-immune disease that may be linked to "leaky gut"... every person will have their own take of this... and depending on how serious you are about the possibility of a "cure" (because I don't know if this will make it go away or put it in remission?), you may try this.
Last year this time I changed my eating pattern to follow the "Eat to Live" diet... which is all RAW foods... and puts you in the classification of Vegan I suppose... but I still had whey and milk products like cheese. This was a very healthy diet but didn't work for me because I feel most satisfied with warm (comfort) meals. I didn't see any difference in my HS, but I wasn't doing this particular diet for HS, just for overall health.
In May of 2012 I tried (for 4.5 weeks) to stay away from the nightshade vegetables because I had read that this worked for someone else... didn't cut it for me - I saw no improvement or, on the other hand, I didn't see any worsening of my condition so I went back to incorporating nightshade veggies into my diet (boy how I missed my eggplant and peppers!).
Starting on January 2, 2013 I changed my diet to follow Paleo... mostly... I haven't given up nuts & seeds fully, as I am a flaxseed junkie (I find it works to keep my arthritis and plantar fasciitis in check). I also love my chia seeds and hemp seeds... as for nuts, the Paleo guide says to restrict them as they are heavy in calories but also they are the seeds of the plant and they could react the same way as seeds supposedly do in our systems (you have to read up on this yourself because I can't put it all here and you'd understand it better reading it for yourself).
I have seen, in the 5 days (and the 5th day has not ended yet), one of my chronically open and active sites (under my right breast, ick!) closed... this is not to say that I don't have any of the smaller outbreaks, I still have remnants... but the biggest one I've had for months and months finally becoming inactive????? How huge is that?
I have also kicked gluten to the curb for right now. These things, if they work to help me with HS will be so worth the "loss" of what I am not eating. Although, since I put loss in quotes you can probably see that it hasn't been that big of a deal to me. Actually, it's been eye-opening-- staying away from the refined sugars and carbs of breads and other processed foods has broken my addiction (I hope) to sugar. I haven't had any bingeing this past week and I've been full with my high protein, high FAT breakfasts -- for 5+ hours (unheard of!)!!!
If anyone wants more information or has specific questions, I'll try to answer!
Wishing you pain free,
Peg
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Replies
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First of all, congrats on that big active site closing up! That's huge
I've read about paleo, and I actually own the book eat to live, but my concern is similar to yours. I love warm food. Warm food makes me happy. I know that sugars cause a lot of problems for my skin and waistline, so I largely eat less processed foods- but milk is still a killer. I need to really cut down on milk. It's just one of my big protein sources, and it's so delicious.
I'm ready to jump back on losing weight, but I also have PCOS, so I'm really trying to link and balance (link carbs with proteins, focus on less processed carbs, and never go over on carbs- excluding veggies, go crazy with veggies). I think I'll try to make my linked and balanced meals be lower on the glycemic index and try to reduce the amount of processed food in my diet. Thanks for the post!0 -
Paleo allows you to cook food and eat warm meals. I think if you drop the milk protein you could be feeling better... try moving to So Delicious brand Vanilla flavored Almond Milk - it has 5 grams of added protein. Or get your protein from chicken and beef. Or -- switch to RAW milk... and make sure it is organic... you don't need the added hormones.
I haven't come close to going over on carbs in the past week since trying to be Paleo!
Maybe it is wheat or other grains. I have dropped the grains... no pasta, no rice, no quinoa, no oats. (the oats part sucks because I really like oatmeal)... I will reintroduce the stuff slowly if, at the end of 6 weeks (or less if it really works), I find that my skin is really clearing up... because I want to know what my triggers are.0 -
The big draw back for me with paleo (and many other diets) is the fact that I'm a vegetarian. I have been vegetarian since age 3, so as much as I'd like to change that, I just can't. I'm *always* deficient in protein. I'll definitely try the almond milk. Do you know if other forms of dairy (mostly thinking greek yogurt, maybe cheese) is better for you?
I like the idea of removing and adding in slowly to determine the triggers. I'll try that, but since my skin condition is mostly phase 1-2, I don't know that any differences could be logically associated with the food. I'll have to play around with it. I thought paleo included unrefined grains though. It doesn't?0 -
My condition is mostly Stage 1 & 2... sometimes Stage 3...
As to better cheeses and Greek Yogurts, do you mean for HS? I haven't yet had the chance to figure that one out. From what Paleo eating says, dairy is okay as long as it is from Raw milk... I was able to buy an Organic Raw Milk Cheddar Cheese at Aldi's the other day that tastes pretty good. I've never had raw milk otherwise.
I use Fage 0% or 2% plain Greek yogurt and mix in my own fruit &/or honey. I also add Hemp seeds or flax seeds or chia seeds. Yum!
You want to change from Vegetarian? Most vegetarians are happy about that... do you get sick when you eat meat? My mother stopped eating red meat when she was in her 30s and if she accidentally ate red meat she would become violently ill.
I feel for you with the protein. It is hard without eating meat. Greek yogurt, greek yogurt, greek yogurt!0 -
Yeah, I'd love to start eating meat again. Every time I've had so much as a tiny taste though, I start to feel nauseous. I don't think my body can metabolize the proteins
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