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Hey folks,
Just wanted to post this to a thread regarding packaged foods. I have been in treatment for close to four years now... I have had many ups and downs and consider myself a fairly mild case. I will say that I had a major improvment in symptoms though when I stopped eating any type of processed food all together. From my own experience, regardless of whether or not it is on an acceptable list, my experience with pre packaged foods has not been all together positive. Any time I have had a flare, I can relate it to eating something that came from a box, package, etc. The more refined a food is, the easier it turns into sugar. This is why I believe that some people flare with rice flour, but can eat brown rice when they cook it. The more refined a product is, the more quickly it turns to sugar and hence makes it very easy for yeast and bacteria to break down.
I have adopted a "no package" rule in my house to teach my kids that the least healthiest option is food that comes in a bag, package, box etc. I just felt a bit concerned with some of the posts people were making could be taken out of context. I was concerned that newer people would think that eating a package of rice cakes was acceptable because it was on a green light list for them. Matia has told me in the past that every meal should ALWAYS have protein in it and you should eat that first. So if you are on list three and you are having a snack, blueberries by themselves is not acceptable... You should eat with almonds if you tolerate them and eat the almonds first and then the blueberries. Adopting this practice slows down the release of sugar from the blueberries into the blood stream
A book I would like to recommend for everyone is "Living Low Carb" by Jonny Bowden, PhD, CNS. it explains how sugar is released into the body and how horrible it is for you.
I hope this post has been helpful, I wish someone had posted this for me 4 years ago.
Box
So, do you not even buy brown rice pasta in a box? Just curious. I asked Matia if cutting out all grains would heal me faster and she told me no. We generally need some grains, but like you said with protein. This is good for me to learn now because before I was snacking on rice chips all buy themselves, and I am sure this is not helpful. Now, I know to eat an egg first:)
Packaged equals refined
I used to eat brown rice pasta along with meat etc and I found I was getting bloated. I have been doing a lot of research on low carb diets lately and all the evidence points to one major thing: how quickly your body breaks down carbs into usable sugar. if you compare equal amounts of brown rice you cook to equal amounts of brown rice pasta, it takes longer for your body to convert the brown rice to sugar than the pasta. The faster you convert to sugar, the faster the yeast gets it to stay alive.
Yes, it is very inconvenient to have to cook everything yourself, we are all in the same boat, but I can tell you that now that I don't eat hardly any prepackaged foods, I have noticed a huge increasing in my over all feeling of well being, not just with bladder, but all body aches, etc.
I think we need to remember that we have become a society of quick and easy and convenience... Myself included, I had to choose antibiotics to cure my pneumonia, because my husband lost 3 weeks of work with me having flu and then pneumonia, we simply could not wait for chinese medicine to take 3 more weeks to work. This decision had ovbious consquences....
Preparing every meal has its healthful benefits, but there are time "consequences" involved too. My strong belief though is if you invest a bit more time in doing this, you will spend less time with IC. I will put up a tips and tricks post because I think there a lot of ideas that can help us all!
I am right there with you and have found some good time saving solutions.. I will post later!
In health!
J
PS, regarding grains
I am not saying no grains what so ever, however, study after study after study has shown that those who eat very little grains and the grains that they DO eat ARE NOT refined, have the lowest inflammatory markers in their blood chemistry. So, my point is choose wisely. We are ultimately suffering from an inflammatory condition.
I am new and this is really
I am new and this is really helpful and I am amazed at the preservatives and chemicals put in foods in an ordinary grocery store. They will do anything to increase shelf life and make more profits. I have scoured the deli section of meats and am amazed at all the chemical additives...they usually add glucose or dextrose. It is very difficult to find foods with simple plain ingredients. This makes it hard for working moms who don't have alot of time to shop and cook and clean up all the time. Any time saving ideas would be helpful. Has anyone found french fries that we can eat safely- bagged from the store, or in any restaraunt? Sometimes I just need a quick snack when away from home. I don' like to pay for a burger and throw the bun away. Seems like a waste of money? I have to haul a computer into work every day and also a big bag for my lunch with lots of water. Its kind of a pain. I also bring a big bag of veggies and snack on them all day long.
I will wait for your "Tricks
I will wait for your "Tricks and Tips" post, Jeanette. Your info is making sense to me and I have had similar experience with packaged foods.... will now try the protein first rule which I didn't know and apreciate your sharing re circumstances and compromises.....thank you!
Protein Rule
I was chatting with Matia today and she said that it is ok to eat our food in any order. The main thing is to eat them in the right proportions. I will probably keep eating protien first because I have a tendancy to want to fill up on carbs.
I still do
I always try my best to eat protein first then veggies, then last carbs and eat slowly... I have come across information saying that if you have a carbohydrate craving, you can pretty much stomp it out by eating proteins. Also, you can lower the glycemic index of a food by combining it with proteins and fat. The hormonal response to food is immediate, so if it doesn't hurt anything, I eat protein first.. Like you said, better to fill up on protein and veggies first than carbs.. If I ate my carbs first, then i wouldn't want to eat as much of the good stuff I SHOULD be eating. You can also alter the glycemic index of foods yourself at home. THe more you process a food at home via cooking, chopping, etc, you raise the glycemic index. I don't know how important that is to getting rid of yeast and bacteria, but I can't help but think there is some importance to it.
I also failed to mention how
I also failed to mention how i really like how you posted that if it doesn't hurt to eat protein first, that you would still do it because it encourages filling up on the best stuff first like protein and veggies and saving the least optimal thing for last.. Who couldn't agree with that?
refined grains
I have a question--what grains are considered refined? I do buy a lot of brown rice and millet flour and make muffins out of it. If I eat potatoes (which are pretty starchy) or brown rice with every meal, I feel weak and faint, like I haven't eaten enough. I eat some spelt bread as well. Are these all considered refined grains?Great threadthanksicnot4me
How I understand "refined"
From Wikipedia
" Refined grains, in contrast to whole grains, refers to grain products consisting of grains or grain flours that have been significantly modified from their natural composition. The modification process generally involves the mechanical removal of bran and germ[1], either through grinding or selective sifting. Further refining includes mixing, bleaching, and brominating; additionally, thiamin, riboflavin, niacin, and iron are often added back in to nutritionally enrich the product."
Any flour would be considered to be refined because it has been changed significantly from its original state. So, it is not a matter of whether it is a "healthy" grain or not, but rather how much it has changed. With my own experience, my body functions more optimally when I eat things closet its most natural state. Rice pasta is made from from rice flour which has been refined. I just noticed for me, that rice pasta was making me feel bad along with rice bread, spelt bread, etc. So I just stopped and moved to whole foods. I do eat rice, and really only brown rice because it is closest to it's own natural state. White rice, even though it is in rice form, is one more level refined than brown rice. I also eat potatoes as well, but I leave the skin on (which I think helps slows down release of sugar into the blood stream)
i think that refining gets confused with number of ingredients in a product. Just because something has a ton of ingredients does not necessarily mean that the product is refined per se. For example, soup... You can put a ton of veggies in there and nothing is refined (actually, there is some changing because you are cooking the veggies, which in a way is refining)
Unfortunately, there are loosey goosey regulations that the government has for "refined" and "whole grain". I think you can have some ridiculously small amount of whole grains in a bread that is VERY refined and the government still lets you call it "whole grain". It is totally bogus.
It sounds like some people totally fine on a limited number of refined pasta, but for me, I noticed I felt so much better when I didn't have any at all. This is not to be confused that I don't have any starch, just not refined. Hope that makes sense.
For what it's worth
For what it's worth I asked Matia directly about this and she said moderately refined grains i.e. the brown rice pasta mentioned are absolutely fine and should not interfere with treatment for most and not to get all scared about eating them. (Taking into account the general caveat that a minority of people as seen on this post may react to something that's fine for most, and if you do then act accordingly of course. And of course the less refined eaten the better.)
I think the tips/tricks are absolutely wonderful, but on the other side of things while I respect that it's optimal to eat completely 'out of the box', in this day and age I just find it incredibly hard to cook from complete scratch for every meal all the time, esp if we want to create hybrid-healthy versions of meals that others can eat, and even if we use all the tips/tricks and even if we make extra batches, both of which I do.... and this is coming from someone who places my food as top priority and spends hours in the kitchen already. But still I am extremely busy and there are only so many hours in the day and if I don't react to something and it's a minimally refined product like the brown rice pasta w/ just brown rice as ingredients, I think in moderation is the least of my worries. Am I the only one that feels this way?
Agreed
You are right... It is very hard to cook from scratch... Too bad our society just does not respect taking time for making healthy meals anymore. RIGHT? It creates a tremendous pressure and stress on all of us. I absolutely agree that it is a major PAIN to have to cook everything for ourselves. At first I didn't think it was reasonable either... Like many of you wonderful gals, I work, take care of my two children, etc etc. It was just by chance that I noticed that brown rice pasta made my stomach bloat SOOOO badly and I have tried them all. Many of those brown rice breads, spelt, etc anything pre made just make me miserable... It is not like I ate a ton of it either... Maybe 1/2 plate of veggies, meat, and 1/4 of brown rice pasta... BOOM! bloating... Same with "OKed" potato chips... BOOM! bloating. I have been in treatment for 4 years and have tried a lot of stuff. It was because those things that made me bloated were on lists 1 and 2 made me assume they were ok, so I did not put together that they were making me feel miserable.
My bladder is pretty ok, but I still have problems with bloating. When I gave up pre packaged and bagged starches, WHAT A DIFFERENCE it made for me! Almost NO bloating and immediate drop of about 3-5 pounds of water retention. I just wanted to share my story because I feel that for some, it could their personal missing link. I have been very grateful to others who have shared their stories because I tried their suggestions... Some worked, and some did not... But the suggestions that did work, had a HUGE positive impact on my life. The suggestions that did not work, I realized it was not for me.
I would also consider myself very much on the mild side of IC, so that would make many people, including myself, assume that packaged foods on list 1 and 2 would be ok... IT was not for me, at all and I feel so much better for experimenting with the no pre-packaged rule. My main point in posting here is to NEVER make assumptions and be willing to try what works for you. You know your body best. I can't tolerate some things on lists 1 and 2 but am totally fine with some things on 3, 4 and ever 5.