Kickas.org Forums Treatments, Drugs and Alternatives NSD and diet-related; beginner -NSD/LSD

I have found and joined recently. I was diagnosed with AS about 10 yrs ago in my early 30s and have had many episodes of iritis. But only in the last month a seemlingly endless flareup has made me aware of the damages and the danger of this disease fully. I guess I just ignored my aches and pains before and kept going until I just couldn't any longer. After reading some of the posts here and doing some searches -- I have started low startch diet last week from Monday. It has been hard -- very very hard for me who has eaten rice, pulses, cooked/fried veggies and fish curry most of her life. And my energy level has gone down a lot. I feel absolutely miserable when I get hungry but I am still going to give it a try for as long as I can. I haven't had any wheat, rice, any grain for that matter, any potatoes so far in over a week. No I haven't noticed any change in my pain and stiffness but that's ok.

From reading everyone's posts it seems most of you have done a lot of reading about which foods contain stratch and which don't, etc. Also I hear a lot of gut healing. My question is -- how do I go about finding these info/books/webpages? Also I am taking multivitamins, calcium, etc. but am wondering if I should take iron suppl. also.

And one more question for this post -- I saw somewhere raisins were ok but then the packet says it has carb. Is it really ok for no startch diet?

Thank you so much.

Sudeshna
in the sunny southwestern USA (New Mexico),
hoping to come up with some no startch curry dishes soon.

Hi there,

I suggest getting Carol Sinclair's book The New IBS Low Starch Diet. You can probably order it off the internet somewhere. I went to my local bookstore and requested it and they ordered it in for me. It's very helpful in getting started.

Also helpful is testing your food & supplements with iodine (buy it from drugstore/pharmacy) to see if it's starchy or not. Some do this and others don't. Anyway, you just put a couple of drops on the food and if the iodine changes from amber to black then the food is starchy.

Raisins ARE fine. We are not eliminating all carbs - just starch. Fruit sugar is OK.

If you are eating plenty of red meat you shouldn't need an iron supplement.

Just a note, be careful with spices as they are all pretty much starchy. Herbs are OK tho. Many people here DONT have a problem with spices as they are used in such small amounts but my husband can't tolerate them.

All the best, keep it up
Chelsea

it's good to know someone else is from NM. hope you best of luck on the diet.

Hi Sudeshna,

If you are looking for specific information about specific subjects such as Iron, raisins, or wind surfing, try using the search engine. I find it very useful.

Best of luck,
Oded.

Welcome to Kickas!

Hope you find answers that work for you as much as I have.

Here are some of the books I have read. I copied this over from the success story thread... open and read that thread if you want more of my tips.

IBS Starch Free Diet – Carol Sinclair
Breaking the Vicious Cycle – Elaine Gottschell
Alternative Medicine Definitive Guide to Arthritis – Eugene Zampieron
Probiotics – Natures Internal Healers – Natasha Trenev
Natural Ways to Digestive Health – Stephan Holt
Going Against the Grain – Melissa Dinae Smith
Paleo Diet – Loren Cordain

Gut healing I use probiotics and L-Glutamine and fish oil.

I struggled with energy for first 1/2 yr on diet... was not until I did some apple weekends did I turn that around. Now I pick a day here and there to do apples.

Take care

Tim

Thanks so much everyone for the wealth of information.

As for raisins -- I am glad to hear it is ok because whenever I go through this craving for something sweet -- I have been reaching for raisins more than ever.

So ... is there any list anywhere that tells us particularly which foods have carb but not the startchy carb, so that we can keep them?

And as for spices, Chelsea, would you happen to know which spices might be startchy? I am Indian -- I usually cook Indian food but it is not anything like the oily and thick hot spicy food that many Indian restaurants serves. It is much much lighter and I feel a lot more subtle than the restaurant variety. It usually varies according to the region of India. In anyway -- if ginger and turmeric are startchy -- I might still use them for their anti-inflam. and other good properties. But I am willing to cut down on most of the others if they are harmful for us. I haven't started the iodine test, but will soon.

Thanks again.

Sudeshna

Thanks so much Tim, for the list of books. I am a bit confused about the Sinclair book though. Is it called "IBS Starch Free Diet" or the "New IBS Starch Free Diet"? Are they two different ones or the "new" one is just a newer version? I will try searching the others.

ALso, Tim, could you tell me more about L-Glutamine? I don't think I have come across any info on it yet. How does it work? I am also taking fish oil which was suggested by my rheumatologist, but he might call the police if I tell him about my diet change. He has already complained to my PCP that supposedly I am not open to accepting treatments just because when he and all other rheumatologists pushed the TNF blockers -- I just wasn't too enthusiastic. It has been a long and frustrating journey with the medical "care" industry -- but I am trying not to get worked up about them and trying to stay positive for the sake of my body and its ability to heal.

I am on Sulfasalazine -- does it affect this diet in any way? Is it a big problem if we are trying to heal the lining of the gut?

Thanks.

Sudeshna

Hi Sudeshna

All spices are starchy, even black pepper. But as I said, most people don't have problem with them but some people are super sensitive to starch even in small amounts. My husband is one of them and it drives me crazy coz I miss having spices on things!

I wouldn't worry about cutting them out for now but if after a few months on the diet you are still not making any progress then they may be the culprit. You may have a higher starch tolerance level and be OK with them.

There's no right and wrong on this diet - just listen to your body. Some people can tolerate starchier things than others. Just like some here don't make much progress until they also eliminate dairy products along with starch.

Here's a post Bilko made that is very helpful...
The Starch Content of Foods

The New IBS Low Starch Diet book is just a more recent addition to the older one. Either book would be fine. I have the older one.

Sulphasalazine is OK for your gut. In fact, it has been said that it has mild antibiotic properties so may help to kill off some of the klebsiella bacteria we are trying to reduce with this diet.

All the best, good luck
Chelsea

L-Glutamine is an amino acid that helps to rebuild the lining of the intestinal wall. Weight lifters also use it to put on muscle mass.

The New book by Carol is more geared towards AS... she had written the first book before learning she had AS.

I took sulfasalazine and azulfadine for 6 yrs.... you may want to look into azulfadine rather than sulfa... the enteric coating is easier on stomach and also alllows for more of the med to reach intestine where it does more good.

Eventually you may want to have goal of reducing or coming off of meds, but I do not think medication would impact the diet and its chances of success.

Tim

Here is a link to a site on the web with recipes you can adapt: Specific Carbohydrate Diet Recipes

Before the site changed over to this format John (Dragonslayer) used to have a list of foods in 3 categories that one could print out, good stuff, neutral stuff, and bad-for-you stuff, that one could print out and use as a guideline. While it wasn't perfect(everybody has something they avoid that others eat with impunity) it at least gave one an idea of what could be eaten.


I am going to do a real shortened copy of this now:

avoid:
regular wheat bread and baked pastries, biscuits, crackers
All products made with grain such as wheat,rye, barley, which contain gluten
malto dextrin
modified food starch, corn starch
corn
potatoes
dried beans*, lentils*, plain rice*
very starchy nuts such as peanuts
processed sausage, luncheon meat or processed cheese or yoghurt which contain starches (read labels)
melted "butter" in restaurants, which frequently has things added to it that will make you feel sick later.
most commercial salad dressings (read the labels)
soy sauce UNLESS it is label "wheat-free tamari"

neutral sorts of foods

fresh, raw fruits
fresh raw vegetables, if it's green, it's usually good
non starchy nuts such as almonds, filberts, pecans, walnuts,pistachios
yams (less starchy than white potatoes)
eggs
yoghurt**
dry aged cheeses**
real mayonaise made WITHOUT STARCH
corn syrup
tofu
honey
coffee, tea (make it yourself ! some flavored coffees and some instant teas CAN contain wheat or other starch byproducts)
chocolate (read the label...)
butter
olive oil
chicken, beef, fish
mushrooms
olives
pumpkins
melons
artificial sweetener sacharrin (pink packet) watch out, some others contain starch, read the label)


good stuff:

raw vegetable juice
citrus juice if non pulpy
grapes, raisins, figs, prunes, dried unsulpered pineapple, currants
almonds
watercress, parsley, cilantro
oil cured olives
real apple cider vinegar made from real apples
okra
blueberries, cranberries (dark berries very good)
fresh ripe tomatoes
celery
lettuce
seaweeds
carrots
bean sprouts
artichokes
cherries
gelatin
garlic
olive oil
pomegranites
rhubarb
chard, endive
mint
papaya
squash
raspberries
ripe persimmons
mustard greens, spinach, turnip greens
wheatgrass juice


*dried beans, lentils
If you are going to eat these anyway, cook by bringing to a boil, pouring off the water, and adding more water to get rid of a lot of the starch. This is an iffy category for some people. Rice was NOT on the original list, I added it. A few of us added rice back in sometimes with variable results. Rice does not contain gluten but is starchy. If you are going to blow it, use rice and do less damage, but DON'T fry it.

**dairy products such as yoghurt and aged cheeses which have had the lactose aged out of them...your results and tolerance may vary. Some commercial yoghurts put dried milk powder in as thickener after processing, which has lactose, which sets some people off. Some processed cheeses are really funky. Be careful.

These lists are not complete and may be controversial, they are only meant as a general guideline in thinking about one's grocery shopping list. I have added a few things in like beef. I realize the rice/bean thing is almost heresy but it is based on my own reactions only after being extremely strict for a long time.

I hate *&^%$#$%&*( modified food starch.