Kickas.org Forums Treatments, Drugs and Alternatives NSD and diet-related; New Here

Hello to everyone. I've just reading your posts gives me a sense of hope! Today is the first day of my NSD. I've been diagnosed with Spondy disease for about 5 years and am currently having a flare that started over a year ago with Iritis - (party time)and has kind of migrated around my joints and tendons, keeping me in fear. Anyway I think I need all the help I can get as I do believe I'm a starch-a-holic. I've already blown it accidentially by eating peanuts this morning. All hope is not lost, I do have the rest of today and am planning on a fast later in the week.

Thanks for your support!
Beth

Hi Beth and welcome!

My husband is on the NSD and we also had a hard time getting it all sorted at the start. It took us about 3 months just to figure out what was starchy and what wasn't!

There is a book we got which was extremely helpful in spelling out what foods are starchy or not: The IBS Low Starch Diet by Carol Sinclair (she has AS and also IBS).

Best of luck to you
Chelsea xx

Go for it Beth! Good luck and join here for all the questions!!

Sandra

Hi Beth,

Do not feel pressure under the diet if you slip now and then... may take some time to become comfortable with changes.

Keep the goal in mind, feeling better with less pain. I have been on the diet for 3+ yrs now with good success. Hopefully you will have similar results.

Any questions with the diet post your questions.

Tim

Day 4! I could not find the big empty stomach with a head attached icon ! Thank you for your words of encouragement, they really help.

I have decided to do a juice fast today to try and jump start the NSD. A while ago I had read that when some people with RA fasted, their symptoms diminished temporarily. That article prompted me to start fasting one day a week, which I have done for the past 5 weeks, ending the fast with a nice serving or two of starch to celebrate (didn't know about NSD).

I have struggled these past three days with cravings for bread, pasta, etc. Please tell me the diet gets easier as time goes by...

Thanks,
Beth

I believe it gets easier.... honestly, it may have taken me a 1/2 yr before I fully accepted this was my new diet. Now it is natural... rarely have cravings, but at times I do, tend to be situational cravings (movie theatre crave popcorn, baseball game a hotdog etc...).

I believe my taste buds adjusted some and now I crave foods on my diet.... fresh pineapple, steamed brocolli with lemon/lime juice, dried cranberries, dried almonds....

Keep the end in mind... living without AS pain, it is a big motivator for me.

Tim

Hey Bethe, once your metabolism converts to a fat burner instead of a carbohydrate burner, you will find the cravings for those things dramatically diminish.
The upside is you will be able to sometimes skip a mealtime without having the crisis so many people have because you are running off of slow-to-be- used- up fat. The downside is the person your're with may start whining about how HUNGRY they are and you didn't even notice it was lunchtime because you had your very adequate breakfast !!!

I have found that taking calcium supplements, with magnesium, and a good multivitamin to supply those missing nutrients you would normally get from grains to be a big help also. Carb cravings are frequently sugar cravings, and sugar cravings say your body is low on calcium. You also need to up your fat intake. Olive oil is your friend. So is butter, if you can tolerate it. Mayonaise. All that "stuff" you've been trained to avoid on a conventional diet.

I get around the pasta cravings by serving the stuff I'd normally eat on the pasta on other things. Mung bean sprouts, steamed in the microwave, seasoned with olive oil and salt, makes a wonderful base for pasta sauces or homemade pesto. Cabbage lasagne is wonderful. Almond meal makes really, really good pancakes. You can put fruit and butter and maple syrup on those pancakes...who needs flour?!!!! You can also make almond meal breads. I also admit I now eat some rice products on days when I am having a very physically taxing day, but in the beginning I was extremely strict trying to work out what to eat and what to avoid. We are all individuals. I still won't go near any wheat products, however.

Hi Beth,

Welcome

I've been on the diet for quite some years already and still help me a lot - it surely not an easy diet but it can be done

Stick to it and hope you will get some benefit like most of us.

Hugs,
Sinta

Hi Beth,

When you wake up painfree and remain that way til you wake up painfree the next day, you gotta love life w/o starch reguardless of how tough the diet is. But in fact, it does get easier.

Good luck...it's worth all the effort I've had my life back for 6 years this July thanks to the diet.

Pete

Hi Beth,
I'm 29 and on the the diet for 1 year now. The really urge for starch went away within a day or 4 or 5 with me. Sometimes a have it now and sometimes I eat rice or bread or chocolatepudding now. But the first 3 or 4 months I didn't!! You will feel so much better and almost painfree. I'm extremely happy with the diet.
Keep asking questions if you're not satisfied with the results, people can help you here!!

Good luck lady.

Sandra