Kickas.org Forums Treatments, Drugs and Alternatives NSD and diet-related; keeping the pounds on while on the LSD/NSD

Hi all,

I've been trying to cut back on as much starch as I reasonably can since this strange illness has beset itself upon me over the past four months.

I've managed to cut the carbs down to just a little granola with breakfast, some occasional spelt crackers, and soy noodles. I'm imagining some also slips in elsewhere because i haven't been terribly strict with it - mainly because it keeps on getting worse and spreading despite my efforts. I've even started shying away from dairy and nightshades just to be thorough.

But my diet consists largely of fruits, green vegetables, fish, soy, nuts and seeds.

Over the last month and a half since I changed my diet, I've lost close to 20 pounds To me that doesn't seem terribly healthy, considering I wasn't overweight to start with.

I'm wondering if anyone has any advice as to how I can keep the weight on and not be hungry while adhereing to an LSD or NSD?

Thanks,

Colin

Hi, Colin:


Please compare your food choices with the 'starch content of foods' list. Be careful because soy, peanuts, cashews, etc contain too much starch. In fact, you are not NSD or even LSD with your present diet and it is not something that you can do halfway and even expect half success. It would be better for you just to fast! You will get over the AS more quickly and lose less weight while doing so.

My grandmother used to tell the story of her friend who wanted a short-tailed dog, but did not want to hurt her long-tailed dog too much, so just cut a little off each day.

That is how too many people approach the diet--it is incremental torture that may not be worth it when it does not work! Don't get caught in that mind trap--or set yourself up for failure.

I know our human nature wants an easier way, but in the end it is just you against yourself. Many of us NSDers seem like real jerks because we paid really tough dues learning that nothing worth having is obtained without effort--and there is only one reality. The fantasy world of being the magic one the diet 'didn't work for' is shattered permanently.

I've been on the NSD and now LSD for almost ten years and at first I lost weight, but I have gained all that--and more--back! You can manage your energy and go through carbohydrate withdrawals by drinking unsweetened concord grape juice and taking 500mg glutamine 3X daily with 6-8oz juice at the same time--between meals.

Go STRICT early enough so that you can enjoy enough healing that you do not need to be so strict later on.

Finish each meal with dessert--something rich and sugary; do just the opposite of Atkins recommendations. Snack often and don't let yourself get hungry and keep dark chocolate morsels, raisins, and almonds handy at all times.

The gnawing hunger pangs will pass, but it takes about six weeks of eating enough proteins and fats and don't forget simple sugars are the kindling we need to get everything else going. The transition is not easy, but it is worth getting your health back--and you will if you stick with it!

So--NO crackers, noodles, granola of any kind! Not even popcorn as a "reward" for being so good. We have to do this 24/7 for a long time; we did not get sick overnight by eating wrong and we will not get well overnight by eating correctly--even once we learn what "correct" is--and that can take months, too!

Hang in there,
John

Hi Colin - unfortunately you will not see any results until you are strict 100% no starch. I understand it could be a transition for some people, to make all the changes in diet, but realize you will not see results until you have made the transition 100%. I went through much trial and error in the beginning, becoming inflamed accidentially. I remember just licking my fingers while making gravy for my family to have on a roasted chicken and becoming inflamed and a cripple for 4 days just due to that one little mistake. Its been almost 2 years now, and I feel confident I can live without ever having any starch again. Being pain free is too amazing.

Switch to eggs for breakfast, I like them poached with sauted swiss chard and chorizo. I prepare the swiss chard and chorizo sausage ahead of time, and just have to make the eggs fresh everyday. Be sure you sausages are starch free, no fillers. I get mine at Whole Foods.

Eat lots of healthy fats. I cook with coconut oil and add avocado to many meals. You can even just eat the coconut oil for energy.

http://www.westonaprice.org/knowyourfats/coconut_oil.html

Giving up dairy and sugars in the beginning is a good idea as they can only add to our AS problems due to a weakened immune system and gut problems. Buy lots of fresh local fruit in season, its sweet, delicious and very satisfying. Nuts are moldy and also cause me problems so I had to give them up. You'll have to see what you can tolerate. Keep a food journal to see if things get better when you eliminate or worse when you reintroduce. Be patient. This is possible. You will be feeling better.

If you really have trouble abstaining, try Overeaters Annoymous literature or meetins. Check out my blog for helpful resources.

Hey, thanks for the advice.

I really find myself wondering if this is being caused by problems in my stomach. Because I've never really had any.

This started all of a sudden after I had a flu a few months back and has been slowly creeping upon me since then...and it hasn't impacted my lower back that much at all yet. It seems to be focusing more on the periphery.

I'm thinking mine might be a case where the NDS might not work.

Colin

The diet without starch is but easy to understand we see if it like " diet of substitution of almidón".
Of that form we will try to replace the iron, magnesium, the energy… etc.
That we lose, by other foods that contain what we stopped ingesting.
In my case and long moments of remission, like very many fruits droughts, but when I am a little weak, the bananas or too many fruits droughts they can give problems me.
At the outset also I lost weight, but in I recovered them to months and I am stable now.
The honey, the quince, the jam, inlays without flours….they will help to take energy in the morning you.
The fruits droughts, apples, coffee, pure chocolate help you throughout the day.
To make the diet by halves, finishes haciéndote suffering and you do not find a prize that helps you to follow.

Greetings and luck.

Hi Colin,

For me, energy/weight was big issue early on, and I had very little weight to lose.

What helped me...
1. Yogurt - Stoneyfield Farms - some react to yogurt
2. Apple diet - helps clean up GI so I assimilate food better and can eat less
3. Nuts (walnuts and some almonds)
4. Here in Argentina - ice cream. In states I struggled with ice cream most of the time. At times I could eat Breyers.

Hope you can find some answers

Tim

As everyone says here you've gotta go strict to see the results - at least initially. (not even that lil bicky that you snuck in whilst the klebs weren't looking

I pretty much cut out everything...no milk or their products, no bread, no pasta, no soy noodles, no nuts or seeds, no mackas, no take away, no sugar and the list goes on - no processed foods at all. Even be careful of the fruit you are eating. I even noticed a problem with broccolli and olive oil myself last month!!! Dont understand that one. (EVOO too - hey, it aint that bad I don't have SI pain now things start to look up soon I assure you)

Research "in season" fruits for your area and eat those ones.

Don't be afraid of eating bacon and other fatty things - protein - eat the fat on a porterhouse steak (yum), but stay away from pork if you can. I certainly love fish myself. I was watching a David Attinbourough DVD the other day on North American Bears and to fatten up on those salmon that they eat...in a good season...they only eat brains and caviar...they leave the flesh..you need your fats. Your body will change from sugar/carbs burning to fat burning.

Yes, I know its against the food pyramid..(and who came up with that?? - humans) once the pain has subsided, you can start making sure you are getting the right vitamins and minerals. I even advocate staying away from those mutivitamin pills you buy at the chemist...get your vitamins from WHOLE foods if you can.

I don't know how much weight you still got left on you're bones but most people have got enough body fat to last a few weeks at least without anything at all. (I won't recommend that for you at the minute though - however, fasting is good - does wonders - wish I could go a week or 2 I know it'll alleviate ALL symptoms - research before you attempt)

Keep eating the green veges to get the vitamins...Then as you heal you can add more wholesome unprocessed WHOLE foods back in...then...once the pain has subsided a bit...start supplimenting to heal the GIT lining - but watch pain levels with what you suppliment with...steady as she goes.

I did the diet by itself for a while and always had good results - but its only half of the equation...heal that gut and you'll be even further on your way to good health.

I must admit...I can still get hungry..even if I eat a tonne of meat or fish (perhaps I need some north atlantic salmon brains). But now, I can go all day without eating (not that I do often) and not get dizzy spells like I used to or have the 3pm sugar cravings.

Geoff

Hi, Colin:

Quote:

---

I really find myself wondering if this is being caused by problems in my stomach. Because I've never really had any.

---

This is an important point, and I'm not challenging just your own subjective observations, but nearly everyone with AS thinks about a couple of things when confronted with the diet:

A) I could ALWAYS eat starch as a child--certainly I had the gene but no AS!

B) I NEVER had any stomach problems!


A) We are not the same persons (physically) we were as children and the cost of aging has been that we do not heal our gut lesions as rapidly as before (when the growth hormone was being produced in quantities required for bone growth), so the age when we achieve our maximum height is the average age we get AS. All those childhood diseases come back to haunt us in the form of bowel lesions they left that we stopped healing over so easily later in life--what did not kill us did not make us stronger, in this case...

B) How do we know?!! Many people have actually died by not knowing they had bowel issues--some of these can be totally asymptomatic. A minor leakage (increased permeability)? NEVER noticed directly--AS is the INDIRECT consequence.

Regards,
John

Hi Colin,
You are on the right track. It took me three months to get some relief from the diet. For me, the life change had to be very severe at first. LSD had little effect. Every little bit of starch caused an instant 3+ day setback. I could not and still cannot get away with the granola. I miss it so much. Potato chips, pasta, even beans or ground nuts can be a good medium for growing the offending organisms. Now, years later, I must have healed some as very small amounts of these foods don't make me hurt.
Try not to only focus on the things you cannot do. Your diet can be very interesting without starch. Eggs are a wonderful food that I noticed was not a staple for you. Introduce yourself to this wonderful complete food and it will help. I'm not sure what magical properties are present in the simple egg, but I find them to be beneficial not only in a lack of starch, but also, in that they seem to make me actually feel better. I only get them from local farmers. Most eggs from commercial sources have an after-taste and do not, on the whole, seem to actually help me to move. Anecdotal-- yes, but so is the NSD according to MD.
Another thing you can do, especially if you are like I was..Grouchy, is to make regular exercise part of the new you. It will build the muscle that your bones love to be wrapped in. I would suggest the swimming pool as the best place to start. Gravity can be such a pain for all other exercise and stretching in water is much easier.
As the other posts point out,(I only wish my advice was as good) the weight loss is a normal part of a massive change that will pass with the pain. Don't let pains in extremities throw you off track. These too, will pass.
AS can be a minor inconvenience or a gigantic pain. I sure you know where. It kicks you or you do the kicking.
Good Luck,
ike