Yesterday, I decided to make a barley & lentil soup so I could eat my lentils a different way. My former favorite way to eat lentils was to use this Curried Lentils recipe, which is incredibly simple and tasty. You don't actually need all the ingredients on the list either. For instance, I never used chicken broth. Instead, I used plain water and threw a Maggi Cube in the pot along with everything else and let it all simmer. Maggi cubes are a good substitute for chicken broth if you don't have any. The barley & lentil soup I made was super simple and mostly improv. I'm going to write down the recipe here in case anyone else wants to try it. The two foods in the soup that are Thiocyanate rich are the lentils and carrots. I didn't use exact measurements for the water, so if you want a thicker soup, add less water, and if you want a thinner soup, add more.
Barley & Lentil Soup Recipe
Ingredients:
1 Cup of Barley
1 Cup of Lentils
7-10 stalks of Celery
6-8 large Carrots
3 stalks of Scallions
1 Teaspoon Minced Garlice
1/2 Maggi cube (optional)
7 Cups of Water
Salt & Pepper to taste
Servings: Many!
Directions:
Rinse barley and lentils. Chop celery, carrots, and scallions. Add everything together, the barley, lentils, celery, carrots, scallions, minced garlic, and Maggi cube together in a pot. Add about 7 cups of water. Add salt and pepper to taste. Bring the mixture to a boil, then turn down the fire and let the soup simmer for about an hour, or till all ingredients are tender.
That's it! Hope you enjoy making it! Bon appetit!
Monday, June 17, 2013
Sunday, June 16, 2013
Cabbage Juice!
In my research about what is good for healing ulcers, I read about red cabbage and how it can help the stomach in the healing process. Today, I finally bought a red cabbage and pureed it and drank a cup, and have a good sized container to last me the next week and a half. I'll be drinking at least one cup a day on an empty stomach and will continue for at least a month, maybe two. Cabbage is also a Thiocyanate rich food, so I may just continue drinking cabbage puree as part of my daily routine until I get tired of it. Yet another easy way for me to stay healthy (as well as help my ulcers heal)! :D
Saturday, June 15, 2013
Discontinued Use of Liquid Chlorophyll
One thing that I haven't considered as a factor in my health for a while is Liquid Chlorophyll. I discontinued my use of it a few days before I returned to the USA, not because I wasn't pleased with it, but because moving was interrupting my daily patterns. I would say it's been about 5-6 weeks since I last took any. What I will do is first commence this new treatment with Mastic Gum for my ulcers, and once that is through, I will once more purchase LC to begin using daily. I also need to work on making sure my diet is well rounded, with enough essential building blocks such as Calcium, Iron, Folate, etc. to keep my whole body in good health instead of feeling like one part of my body (usually legs, arms, or ribs) is weaker or hurts on certain days and not others. What I want to remind everyone is that though what I am doing is not a cure, it is a new way of eating and treating my body that has worked incredibly for me, and that's why I'm sharing it with you, that way someone in your life may also have positive results and begin to feel better in their bodies.
Friday, June 14, 2013
Back Once More... and Doing Well!
Hi, Everyone,
I haven't posted in a while, but in the time that I haven't posted, my health has been pretty stable. There were a few changes when I returned to the USA, I feel that at times my body is a bit weaker, but I am keeping up with all my vegetables, and definitely sticking with my Thiocyanate rich fruits and vegetables. My favorites are bananas, carrots, plantains (especially sweet ones!), chickpeas, and lentils. My non-Thiocyanate laden favorite veggies are beets, sweet potatoes, mushrooms, black beans, green peas, and celery. Plenty of ways to combine and cook them and plenty more fruits and veggies in the stores to choose from!
As to my pain levels, they increase and decrease here and there and I manage it with 1 or 2 Tylenols (500mg) on an as needed basis. While I was away, I didn't have Tylenol after the first 2 months, so that gave my body a chance to decrease its dependence. In the past, I tended to OD on painkillers (taking more than the recommended daily dosage on a regular basis) as I didn't know how else to deal with the pain, but now I find that 1 or 2 painkillers is all I need to deal with some pain, which is usually low level or a little more than mild. Yet even the amount of painkillers I take now is no comparison to what it was before I started this diet. (I will add here that I don't ONLY eat Thiocyanate rich foods, but I try to make them the main part of my diet.) I take much fewer painkillers these days, and sometimes am able to ignore some of the (mild) pain I have, choosing to rest and increase my water intake as opposed to taking more painkillers to manage it.
The thing that is really kicking my health's butt right now is my peptic ulcers!!! They are really making my life difficult, and the doctor prescribed me Omeprazole to deal with it, but that only made me feel worse. I made the decision to discontinue taking them after 3-4 days and am once more trying the natural route. Yesterday, I discovered a product called Mastic Gum, and from the reviews I read, many people have been happy with it and say that it has helped them with their ulcers. I'll be looking to purchase it today and will let my readers know if it worked for me or not.
My view on health is that it is not just what goes on in your body, but what's going on outside of your body and how you respond to it that acts on health as a whole. Yes, I have a disease that can be devastatingly painful. But the decisions I am making now have turned that around and have made a big difference in my life. What goes into my body determines what my body will do, what I put into my body are the building blocks for my health. What I do with my body determines how I will feel. I try to walk more to keep up with my health, I try to make sure I get a good amount of water everyday, I'm making more of an effort to avoid sweets (my weakness!), pasta, white bread, and white rice. Everything plays a factor, even if it's small, and I'm going to continue to do what I can to not let this thing beat me!
I haven't posted in a while, but in the time that I haven't posted, my health has been pretty stable. There were a few changes when I returned to the USA, I feel that at times my body is a bit weaker, but I am keeping up with all my vegetables, and definitely sticking with my Thiocyanate rich fruits and vegetables. My favorites are bananas, carrots, plantains (especially sweet ones!), chickpeas, and lentils. My non-Thiocyanate laden favorite veggies are beets, sweet potatoes, mushrooms, black beans, green peas, and celery. Plenty of ways to combine and cook them and plenty more fruits and veggies in the stores to choose from!
As to my pain levels, they increase and decrease here and there and I manage it with 1 or 2 Tylenols (500mg) on an as needed basis. While I was away, I didn't have Tylenol after the first 2 months, so that gave my body a chance to decrease its dependence. In the past, I tended to OD on painkillers (taking more than the recommended daily dosage on a regular basis) as I didn't know how else to deal with the pain, but now I find that 1 or 2 painkillers is all I need to deal with some pain, which is usually low level or a little more than mild. Yet even the amount of painkillers I take now is no comparison to what it was before I started this diet. (I will add here that I don't ONLY eat Thiocyanate rich foods, but I try to make them the main part of my diet.) I take much fewer painkillers these days, and sometimes am able to ignore some of the (mild) pain I have, choosing to rest and increase my water intake as opposed to taking more painkillers to manage it.
The thing that is really kicking my health's butt right now is my peptic ulcers!!! They are really making my life difficult, and the doctor prescribed me Omeprazole to deal with it, but that only made me feel worse. I made the decision to discontinue taking them after 3-4 days and am once more trying the natural route. Yesterday, I discovered a product called Mastic Gum, and from the reviews I read, many people have been happy with it and say that it has helped them with their ulcers. I'll be looking to purchase it today and will let my readers know if it worked for me or not.
My view on health is that it is not just what goes on in your body, but what's going on outside of your body and how you respond to it that acts on health as a whole. Yes, I have a disease that can be devastatingly painful. But the decisions I am making now have turned that around and have made a big difference in my life. What goes into my body determines what my body will do, what I put into my body are the building blocks for my health. What I do with my body determines how I will feel. I try to walk more to keep up with my health, I try to make sure I get a good amount of water everyday, I'm making more of an effort to avoid sweets (my weakness!), pasta, white bread, and white rice. Everything plays a factor, even if it's small, and I'm going to continue to do what I can to not let this thing beat me!
Tuesday, April 2, 2013
Keeping Inflammation Down
A huge problem with Sickle Cell and a cause of a lot of pain is the inflammation. From what I've learned, when a crisis begins, after the cells get stuck in the veins, an inflammatory response is triggered, which worsens the pain, and which can stick around long after the actual clot is gone. In the daily diet, their are things that can be done to help reduce overall inflammation in the body. To help reduce inflammation, I first looked up things that cause it. Sugar is a primary culprit, so I try to reduce sugar in my daily diet. I try to stay conscious of how much I'm having and try to keep it to a reasonable amount. Another thing I do is avoid white rice and refined flours and pasta. I don't eat a lot of bread, eat practically no rice (such a turnaround since rice was a staple when I was growing up!), eat very little (white) bread and pasta. When I do eat the above mentioned, I do later feel a difference in my body as if there is more inflammation going on. (I also break out! -__-') These are just the things that I do based on what I've learned about my own body and the way it works (and doesn't work.) Hopefully the observations I've made can be helpful to you!
Saturday, March 30, 2013
Life without Serrapeptase/Nattokinase
I must admit, part of the reason why I don't update more often is because I've gotten a lot of page views, but very few comments, which makes me wonder if this is helping anyone at all. But maybe some people prefer to read and not comment. If so, this is for you guys!
March 15th was the day I stopped taking Serrapeptase regularly, since then I've barely taken it at all. It was making me feel like my ulcers were still bleeding, so it definitely had to be dropped from my routine. However, my body still feels good, and I still do take my Liquid Chlorophyll every morning, sometimes in the evening. I also continue to stretch every morning which has greatly helped my body. In the past, the muscle in my right leg between my pelvic bone and thigh was very weak and would sometimes cause me to limp. The muscle would sometimes get so stressed throughout the day that it would get to a point where it felt like it twisted, and then I wouldn't be able to walk for about a week. This, of course, was at times the bane of my existence. Stretching helped change all that. Since I started stretching, I noticed the muscle wouldn't hurt as much when I would walk, and over time it's become more limber and flexible, and it now feels like it works with me, as opposed to against me. All in all, stretching has helped my existence become easier! And it's such a simple thing to do, my basic routine can be done in about 5 minutes, though I'm sure sometimes I take longer with it by taking deeper breaths and just getting oxygen into my lungs. Trust me, it's a relaxing way to help start your day! Experiment with stretches and see what works for you :)
As usual, I have to put a reminder here about eating a diet high in Thiocyanate. It's simple to do once you get the hang of it, I promise! For instance, last night's dinner was beets, lentils, and roasted chicken. It was healthy and delicious! This morning's breakfast was Golden Grahams and warm milk. Variety in the diet is essential so you don't get bored and hop off the wagon like I did when I first started my new way of eating. A good suggestion for adding Thiocyanate filled foods to the diet would be to add a little bit at a time. For example, experiment with different recipes and find what works for you. Over the summer, I would make smoothies out of frozen strawberries and coconut milk ( with a bit of brown sugar and vanilla essence for extra flavor!) The smoothies were delicious, filling, and high in Thiocyanate! There are tons of things you can try, such as fried, baked, or boiled plantains, baked sweet potatoes, stewed lentils, steamed broccoli, raw carrots, bananas, and almonds just to name a few! Try them out consistently and get your Thiocyanate in large amounts as well as your other vitamins from foods that are as close to their natural state as possible. Try these out and let me know what works for you!
March 15th was the day I stopped taking Serrapeptase regularly, since then I've barely taken it at all. It was making me feel like my ulcers were still bleeding, so it definitely had to be dropped from my routine. However, my body still feels good, and I still do take my Liquid Chlorophyll every morning, sometimes in the evening. I also continue to stretch every morning which has greatly helped my body. In the past, the muscle in my right leg between my pelvic bone and thigh was very weak and would sometimes cause me to limp. The muscle would sometimes get so stressed throughout the day that it would get to a point where it felt like it twisted, and then I wouldn't be able to walk for about a week. This, of course, was at times the bane of my existence. Stretching helped change all that. Since I started stretching, I noticed the muscle wouldn't hurt as much when I would walk, and over time it's become more limber and flexible, and it now feels like it works with me, as opposed to against me. All in all, stretching has helped my existence become easier! And it's such a simple thing to do, my basic routine can be done in about 5 minutes, though I'm sure sometimes I take longer with it by taking deeper breaths and just getting oxygen into my lungs. Trust me, it's a relaxing way to help start your day! Experiment with stretches and see what works for you :)
As usual, I have to put a reminder here about eating a diet high in Thiocyanate. It's simple to do once you get the hang of it, I promise! For instance, last night's dinner was beets, lentils, and roasted chicken. It was healthy and delicious! This morning's breakfast was Golden Grahams and warm milk. Variety in the diet is essential so you don't get bored and hop off the wagon like I did when I first started my new way of eating. A good suggestion for adding Thiocyanate filled foods to the diet would be to add a little bit at a time. For example, experiment with different recipes and find what works for you. Over the summer, I would make smoothies out of frozen strawberries and coconut milk ( with a bit of brown sugar and vanilla essence for extra flavor!) The smoothies were delicious, filling, and high in Thiocyanate! There are tons of things you can try, such as fried, baked, or boiled plantains, baked sweet potatoes, stewed lentils, steamed broccoli, raw carrots, bananas, and almonds just to name a few! Try them out consistently and get your Thiocyanate in large amounts as well as your other vitamins from foods that are as close to their natural state as possible. Try these out and let me know what works for you!
Monday, March 18, 2013
Steamed Broccoli and Plantains
...that is what I am having for dinner. There is some cauliflower on my plate too, actually more cauliflower than broccoli. I brought a frozen mix and the great thing about my dinner is that everything on my plate is high in calcium. I cut way down on my intake of Nattokinase. I was also able to get my hands on some goat's milk, which I rather like, and my ulcers seem to be doing a lot better. I am not sure how long it would take for the goats milk to completely heal my ulcers, I am also not sure how strong pasteurized goat's milk is in healing them because I'm sure the raw version has more nutrients in it, but I will keep drinking some everyday until I go back home. The fact that I haven't been feeling any stomach pain that feels ulcer related since I began eating more foods that would help heal them has been very encouraging to me.
Sometimes, I get a bit frustrated with my diet and just want to eat anything I want. For instance, tonight I wanted to have frozen pizza and nachos for dinner. Since I had pizza yesterday, and I know that it's not that good for me with all those starches and all that white flour which probably is causing me to break out today and also is probably causing inflammation in my body, I compromised with myself by buying nachos. I will have pizza another day. Knowing that sticking to my diet is essential to my health and well-being is a highly motivating factor, especially on days when I'm feeling down because I'm not feeling well, and I wonder if sticking to my diet that day is worth the trouble. At this point, I probably shouldn't even call it a diet, because I've been making sure that the majority of what's on my plate each week is high in thiocyanate. It is probably safe to call it my new way of life. If I weren't dedicated to my health, I probably would have given up already. But seeing how my diet helped me over the summer, and again seeing how it's been helping me now, where I can mostly stick to my regular activities and be a "normal gal" for the most part is what keeps me going. Looking at my health charts and seeing all the information I've collected so far is also something that continues to inspire me to stay on the path that I am on. Again, I must reiterate that I haven't found a cure, and that if I don't stick to my diet, then my health won't stay as good as it is now. But the fact that I am able to feel a lot better than I used to because I am eating foods that are high in thiocyanate is truly encouraging, and I hope that other people will find the encouragement that they need here on these pages.
Sometimes, I get a bit frustrated with my diet and just want to eat anything I want. For instance, tonight I wanted to have frozen pizza and nachos for dinner. Since I had pizza yesterday, and I know that it's not that good for me with all those starches and all that white flour which probably is causing me to break out today and also is probably causing inflammation in my body, I compromised with myself by buying nachos. I will have pizza another day. Knowing that sticking to my diet is essential to my health and well-being is a highly motivating factor, especially on days when I'm feeling down because I'm not feeling well, and I wonder if sticking to my diet that day is worth the trouble. At this point, I probably shouldn't even call it a diet, because I've been making sure that the majority of what's on my plate each week is high in thiocyanate. It is probably safe to call it my new way of life. If I weren't dedicated to my health, I probably would have given up already. But seeing how my diet helped me over the summer, and again seeing how it's been helping me now, where I can mostly stick to my regular activities and be a "normal gal" for the most part is what keeps me going. Looking at my health charts and seeing all the information I've collected so far is also something that continues to inspire me to stay on the path that I am on. Again, I must reiterate that I haven't found a cure, and that if I don't stick to my diet, then my health won't stay as good as it is now. But the fact that I am able to feel a lot better than I used to because I am eating foods that are high in thiocyanate is truly encouraging, and I hope that other people will find the encouragement that they need here on these pages.
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