I am going to start journal of my Non Starch Diet experiment. I hope to use this to review my progress, and it would be wonderful if someone else gained insights that helped them also. Comments and discussion are welcome within my journal.
FYI, my AS symptoms are not severe; I would describe them as moderate, but I do have pain in my mid back and it is bothersome. Most of all, the progressive nature of the condition has motivated me to be proactive now to avoid further future problems. I am very sympathetic to those who deal with worse pain and immobility than I do.
Below are a few journal entries which I have made over the past few days. In the future, I intend to make entries into the post topic each day.
10/12/2014
Began the Non-Starch Diet (NSD) this evening.
10/13/2014
Breakfast was almonds, yellow SunMaid raisins, red apples with almond butter, and Tuna fish
Dinner was steak strips on salad, with shitake mushrooms sautéed in olive oil, and steamed broccoli. Salad dressing was light application and Trader Joe's Tuscan Italian. I began testing all foods for starch using iodine. Everything checked out fine.
Snacks throughout the day were almonds and raisins.
Drinks were only water.
Bowel movement was more difficult this evening. Straining, and small, loose stool. Wondering if it is from all the protein. Also, I rarely eat red meat, but starting the NSD, I may have to add a moderate amount of red meat to my diet to have enough good food options . Sometimes red meat has caused me some constipation. I have not had IBS for many months prior to tonight.
Note: I did get a flu vaccine and TDAP vaccine today, which needs to be considered as I monitor how my AS feels. I know that when I have the flu my AS symptoms minimize, and I have read that can happen as it re-directs the auto-immune response from my normal symptoms to fighting the flu virus.
