Diet Archives - My Multiple Streams

Best Way to Start Your Day: Lemon Water

May 16, 2014 by Jeff Davidson Leave a Comment

When my anxiety and stomach issues started up a few years ago I cut out a lot of things from my diet. First sodas then coffee, basically every thing with caffeine and sugars. So now all I drink is water and smoothies, and the water tends to get a little boring after awhile.

So now I drink nothing but filtered water with fresh squeezed lemon, sometimes to cure the carbonation craving ill use Perrier. Typically I will do a 32oz bell jar of iced water and a whole lemon. You can squeeze these by hand but one of the best inventions ever invented is the Lemon Squeezer! You just put a half of a lemon in it and squeeze and you will get so much more juice out of the lemon than hand squeezing, and the best part is that you won’t get the seeds in your drink. If you don’t have one of these you have to get one, just be sure you get a good quality one that is made of metal. I first bought a plastic one to try and save money and it broke after a week. The little bit extra for a metal one will go a long way!

Best Thing Since Sliced Bread

Lemons are packed with vitamins and minerals and great for pain management. Some of the health benefits are:

Aids Digestion
Boosts Immune System
Helps Lose Weight
Reduces Inflammation
Helps Fight Viral Infections
Reduce Anxiety and Depression
Prevention of Acne and Wrinkles

Now since I have started (over a year ago) Ive been doing this almost everyday, starting first thing in the morning (best before breakfast) and through out the day. Hasn’t eliminated my health issues totally of course but I do believe that it has helped quite a bit. I’ve even planted a lemon tree last year in hopes to not have to shop as much. Lemon prices seem to have been going up. I still get them at Sprouts at 3 for a dollar but that still seems high to me. Problem is the lemon tree only puts out a handful a year, maybe I need to plant a small grove.

Oh if you want to grab your own lemon squeezer from amazon the one I use right now is OXO Good Grips Citrus Squeezer

Do you drink lemon water? Have you noticed any benefits?

How Can You Tell What’s Working When You Try So Much

September 10, 2013 by Jeff Davidson Leave a Comment

With fibromyalgia different treatments effect different people in different ways. It’s often like that expression lets throw everything at the wall and see what sticks. When you are trying so many things at once how do you know what is really helping and what is not?

Treating Fibro is very much trying many things and finding a right combination that helps you the most, most of the time. Along with this thought process I have been doing many things and adding more to the tool box as I discover them. Starting of course with medications that got me to a point where I could focus on doing more here is my list of what I am currently doing:

Effexor
Ambien
Gabapentin
Vitamins D3, B12, B Complex
Fish Oil
Magnesium

Meditation
Mindful breathing
Yoga
Cycling/Walking
Swimming

Chiropractic
Massage therapy

Diet changes
Pain Management Therapy

May seem like a lot but again you want to try any and everything to find relief. I didn’t just start doing everything at once but been adding things the past couple months. Some are daily, others a couple times a week or month.

So there in lies the problem. I have been for the most part been feeling better. More tolerable may be a better term. Of course I still have those days that are not so great (especially with this last heat wave) but overall decent and more functional. So how do I know what has worked and perhaps what is a waste of time?

I ask more rhetorical cause like I mentioned I think it’s a combination of treatments so I really don’t see me cutting anything out. Well I would of course like to be more drug free but we’ll see how that goes.

So for any of you that are still seeking a solution, I say keep trying new ideas. Add to your tool box of relief until you find the right combination.

Whats in your tool box?

A New Conclusion, I Hope

May 15, 2012 by Jeff Davidson 1 Comment

Been having issues of late almost everyday and a timely blog post came across my feeds that reminded me of something that I had forgotten about this past year, REFLUX! You see the post was from the Dropping Acid Cookbook Blog and was the results of a poll on the most common symptoms of reflux sufferers. The result may surprise you that heartburn is not number 1, but quite further down on the list. The top ones are post nasal drip, chronic throat clearing, hoarseness, and lump in throat feeling. All symptoms of LPR which I had (have).

Lately these symptoms have been getting worse again after being dormant for a long time and I have been ignoring them. Not to say that I still dont have the anxiety issues, I know this cause once I start concentrating on the symptoms wondering whats going on I can feel it getting worse. Then I do the breathing exercises and talk to myself it comes back down. But one of the symptoms, the heaviness in the chest like I just ran a marathon may be from the LPR rather then totally from the anxiety (at least it starts that way)

You see I havent been taking the Prilosec for awhile maybe once in awhile if I remembered. Diet hasnt been the best for LPR and the wife took the wedge pillow for herself ages ago. Mornings of course have been the worse. I’d eat right before bed and go lay down flat to sleep. Classic scenario for night time refluxing making me wake up with the big ole lump in the throat, bad case of post nasal drip, and all the drip in my stomach making my stomach ill and not wanting to eat for quite awhile. As well as that acid (and/or Pepsin) in my upper respiratory giving me that feeling in the chest which has lead to anxiety as well. Seems all logical to me, now to fix it.

So I’m diligently taking the Prilosec twice a day (at least for a couple weeks) and going to call in a refill today in case I need the doctor to ok it. Back to a low/no acid diet as much as I can. The common thought now is that the main culprit to the damage is not really the acid but pepsin from the stomach. The pepsin comes up with everything else and bonds to the tissues. It does need acid to activate it but that can be from the stomach acid or acid from your foods. It takes about 2 weeks for the pepsin to disappear so the idea is to limit the acid in your foods to about zero as you can along with the meds and eating/sleeping habits to start the healing process. Meaning back to eating about 2 hours or more before bed and taking the wedge pillow back from the wife.

Ill try to keep up here on how it goes, even after one night on the wedge I seemed to feel a bit better upon wake up but that could just be in my head.

Rice and beans Recipe

June 14, 2011 by Jeff Davidson Leave a Comment

E2 Beans and Rice

Sounds kinda bland but trust me this is delicious. This recipe originally came from the E2 diet (you can get the book over there on the right) and I modified it a little as shown below. Did this mainly because of acid reflux, so removed the tomatoes and salsa but did keep the chili powder. Also added mushrooms to make up for the removal, and I just like mushrooms 🙂

I also removed the Bragg liquid aminos. I figured the recipe puts it in there for added protein as well as taste, but from some of the things I have read about it I’m not sure I want to try it. Besides it still adds a lot of sodium to the mixture.

Brown Rice – 16 ounces
black beans – 16 ounces
vegetable stock – 32 ounces
chili powder (red) – 1 teaspoon
green onions – 2 ounces
corn (fresh, frozen, or canned) – 16 ounces
bell pepper (red, yellow, or green) – 20 ounces
Mushrooms – 1-1/2 cups
avocado – 8 ounces

DIRECTIONS
Sauté rice in large skillet on high heat for 5 minutes, stirring constantly until rice begins to brownand pop. Add vegetable stock. Reduce heat to medium, and cook uncovered for another 25 minutes or until the liquid has been absorbed and only a few bubbles of water show between the grains of rice. Turn off heat, cover, and let rice sit on warm stove for 10 minutes.

Heat the beans with water or stock, and chili powder.

Place the chopped vegetables in individual bowls. You can either mix them in with the rice and simmer for a bit or serve them fresh on top of the rice

Same with beans, either mix in or ladle on top of rice

Add avocado on top of the beans. ( I even added a little Feta Cheese to top as well)

E2 Beans and Rice leftovers!

Whats great is that it makes quite a bit so the next day I had left overs for lunch, with out the avocado though. For lunch I took a piece of whole wheat tortilla, warmed up, and spread Roasted Red Pepper Hummus on it then scooped a generous amount of the beans and rice for a nice burrito

Recipe: Lemon-Feta Chicken Pasta

June 11, 2011 by Jeff Davidson Leave a Comment

Lemon-Feta Chicken Pasta Found a great recipe today that sounded so good I had to try it! It called for crab meat and a couple things I didnt really want so of course made some modifications. Crab meat is very high in cholesterol and sodium (and cost alot)

8 ounces spaghetti or other pasta ( I used a rice based spaghetti for the gluten free peeps)
1/4 cup olive oil
2 cloves of garlic, thinly sliced
1/2 teaspoon Greek seasoning or dried oregano
4 strips of chicken chopped and diced
1 1/2 cups roughly chopped spinach leaves
1 cup grape tomatoes, halved
1 green pepper diced
2 cups sliced mushrooms
Juice of one lemon
Zest of one lemon
3 ounces feta cheese, crumbled

Cook the pasta according to the package directions so that it is al dente. Keep warm.

Meanwhile, heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the shallot and the garlic and cook for about 2 minutes. Add the Greek seasoning.

Stir in the chicken meat and veggies. Cook for another 2-3 minutes or until chicken is heated through and spinach begins to wilt. Add the lemon juice and zest and toss to combine.

Add the chicken mixture to the warm pasta and toss. Season with salt and pepper to taste, and sprinkle with feta. Yield ~ 4 servings. According to my calorie tracker this is about 610 calories, 23g fat, 81 carbohydrates, 19g protein per serving.

The original recipe can be found at Vintage Victuals

Wonderful Cholesterol

June 8, 2011 by Jeff Davidson 1 Comment

Yep one of the other items found at last doctors appointment was High Cholesterol. I had this many years ago as well and back then was put on Lipitor for a while but then taken off I think because of some liver tests. This time around my total was 239, HDL 45, LDL 173. Didnt get the Triglycerides results (make sure I get those next time).

According to WebMD your levels should fall in these ranges

Total Cholesterol	Category
Less than 200	Desirable
200 – 239	Borderline High
240 and above	High

LDL Cholesterol	LDL-Cholesterol Category
Less than 100	Optimal
100 – 129	Near optimal/above optimal
130 – 159	Borderline high
160 – 189	High
190 and above	Very high

HDL Cholesterol	HDL-Cholesterol Category
60 and above	High; Optimal; helps to lower risk of heart disease
Less than 40 in men and less than 50 in women	Low; considered a risk factor for heart disease

Of course the doctor put me on Statins, Simvastatin. Otherwise known as Zocor. I went ahead and went along with it. As mentioned in previous posts earlier on I was getting the shortness of breath in the morning and muscle weakness and I was thinking it was residual anxiety (this was the second week on lexapro) and then last week in the evening’s I was have a big spike in this where it was hard to breath as well as bad headaches. Again I have been doing lots of reading on these conditions and the meds I was taking and saw that with this statin muscle weakness (and pain) as well as headaches was a side effect, with the shortness of breath sometimes. Also found out long term effects were not desirable either. Those headaches and breathless spikes were about an hour after takeing the statin as well (also toke the ppi at same time but its a process of elimination) So sunday night was my last one and Im going to try and lower the numbers naturally through diet, exercise and if needed some supplements. Only been a couple days but since have not had the evening spikes or headaches. Still have the morning shortness a little but have read that it can take 3-4 days for the statin to completely get out of your system, and it could be something else but still want to be off this.

I will go more into how Im doing it in other posts but the big change is going to be diet, going mainly plant based and quickening the pace to all whole foods. My biggest cure ball will be giving up (or at least severely decreasing) cheese. I love cheese 🙂

Doing alot of reading I’ve decided my goals are to get my total number below 150 and my LDL below 80, would also like to see my HDL above 60. I go into the doctors today but since I had the last test with them 4 weeks ago I may not get another, but I will find a place where I can go in myself and get tested once a month and will let you know my progress. With today’s diets I would get tested at least once a year, you are never to young for high cholesterol. When I had my first high results (higher then now) I was 35. There are now symptoms of high cholesterol and with out testing you’ll never know until your first heart attack, and that could be to late.

Changing Diet and Recipe

June 7, 2011 by Jeff Davidson Leave a Comment

Creamy Fettuccine When of the big things in controlling acid reflux, cholesterol, and even anxiety is to change your diet. All the processed foods and especially fast food have so much stuff in it that is not good for any of these or just general health. You look at the ingredients of your processed foods you will see many names of things you cant pronounce and definitely not food. If you are trying for a low acid diet look again most have acids added for preservation.

So in a bid to remove these things from my diet Im slowly moving to a whole foods diet as much as I can. Now with work (and just being lazy at times) Im still eating some processed foods, but I am looking at labels a lot more and going for low fat, low cholesterol ones. Even the frozen vegtables I’m looking for organic and no preserevative styles. Increasing more fresh vegetables and fruits to the diet as well.

So in my quest for a healthier diet I actually cooked my first whole food meal from scratch last night. With one minor problem it was actually pretty good. Wife and daughter enjoyed it as well. The minor item was didnt read right and used the quantity for dry sherry (1/2 cup) instead of for the sherry vinegar, so it was slightly tangy tasting (but still good).

INGREDIENTS

12 ounces whole-wheat fettuccine (I used spinach fettuccine)
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
4 cups sliced mixed mushrooms, such as cremini, oyster and/or shiitake
4 cups thinly sliced Broccoli
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1/2 cup dry sherry, or 2 tablespoons sherry vinegar
2 cups low-fat milk (used rice milk)
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour (I used a gluten free flour)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
1 cup finely shredded Asiago cheese, plus more for garnish (store was out so used parmesan)

PREPARATION

Cook pasta in a large pot of boiling water until tender, 8 to 10 minutes. Drain, return to the pot and set aside.
Meanwhile, heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add mushrooms and Brussels sprouts and cook, stirring often, until the mushrooms release their liquid, 8 to 10 minutes. Add garlic and cook, stirring, until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add sherry (or vinegar), scraping up any brown bits; bring to a boil and cook, stirring, until almost evaporated, 10 seconds (if using vinegar) or about 1 minute (if using sherry).
Whisk milk and flour in a bowl; add to the skillet with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring, until the sauce bubbles and thickens, about 2 minutes. Stir in Asiago until melted. Add the sauce to the pasta; gently toss. Serve with more cheese, if desired.

Original recipe had the following nutritional info Per serving: 385 calories; 10 g fat ( 4 g sat , 2 g mono ); 22 mg cholesterol; 56 g carbohydrates; 19 gprotein; 10 g fiber; 438 mg sodium; 467 mg potassium.

With my substitutions hopefully decreased the fat and cholesterol even more

Original Recipe came from www.eatingwell.com

Supplements: Vitamin B for Anxiety and Reflux

June 2, 2011 by Jeff Davidson Leave a Comment

The B complex vitamins are extremely beneficial for a number of conditions and may be necessary in extra amounts at certain times in a persons life. Many individuals suffer from anxiety and stress at one time or another and research has found that the B complex vitamin can be advantageous in helping alleviate the symptoms. When your body is going through stress it depletes stores of B vitamins. The B vitamins are necessary to help maintain the proper functioning of the nervous system. Deficiencies in Vitamin B can lead to anxiety, irritability, restlessness, fatigue, etc. There is more than one kind of Vitamin B. It is best to take all eleven of the B vitamins together in a B-complex supplement since they tend to work together. Generally available in a 50 or 100 complex of all eleven B vitamins which can be taken once a day (or twice during high stress times).

For those that suffer Reflux and are on a PPI medication this supplement can be extra important. With PPI’s reducing the acid in the stomach this can also hinder the absorption of nutrients from your foods, especially B12. This is also true if you just take antacids for any length of time

Vitamin B may also help improve your reflux. According to a study in the October 2006 “Journal of Pineal Research,” supplementing your diet with vitamin B-12 may aid in the regression of GERD symptoms, a more severe form of acid reflux. Also that Folic acid, a B vitamin, and vitamin B-6 are two other vitamins that may aid in reducing symptoms of acid reflux. The same study found that GERD symptoms were relieved upon supplementing the diet with these vitamins. Also common sense tells you when you are stressed and anxious this churns up your stomach acids and can increase reflux symptoms.

Currently I am taking a B complex 50 which I may be going to a 100 and adding a separate B12. You can also get a Stress B Complex which adds Vitamin C to the mix.

As always its best to talk to your doctor if unsure.