Thanks for posting this article.  It really helped me to understand the relationship between illness and the gut better.  You are such a valuable resource to us!

Thanks for sharing this, Jeanette!

Thanks for posting.  I am still trying to figure out if gluten bothers me.  I know for sure popcorn, oats, potatoes and rye do.
I am not sure about wheat and spelt.  I rely on that and rice, but I see I may need to give up ALL grains..since I am not improving much.
Do you really NEED grains?  I just dont want to do furhter  damage by not having any!
Melissa

you need some form of carb or your body will go into ketosis(is a state of the organism characterised by elevated levels of ketone bodies in the blood, occurring when the liver converts fat into fatty acids and ketone bodies (which can be used by all of the body for energy as an alternative to glucose). These ketone bodies are a by-product of the lipid metabolic pathway after the fat is converted to energy)
Grains are particualy hard esp in the begining. You might find that you don't tolerate rice but rice crackers or cakes are ok even rice flour. Try different forms. It's going to be hard to figure it out in the begining and esp hard because your not on proper herbs yet. You might look into trying out some of the gluten free flours and making your own bread.

thanks for the links Jeanette I am passing these on to my friends and family. My sister just got a UTI yesterady for the first time and she has a yeast infection from the antibiotics. She asked me if this is how it feels to have IC and I said it was a part of it. It's nice now she can relate to me. I mean i don't want her to be sick but now she can stop asking me why I don't just man up. :) I will pass this on for sure.