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Spinach Update

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Posted 6/1/2008 7:22 PM (GMT 0)
Is the spinach helping anyone else on here? Has anyone new tried it?
Posted 6/1/2008 10:22 PM (GMT 0)
just started today, and it wasn't easy finishing the can. I wonder if I should heat it up or something.
Posted 6/1/2008 10:55 PM (GMT 0)
Yup, I think canned spinach will taste better if heated up.

:)
Posted 6/1/2008 11:20 PM (GMT 0)
I agree, but kudos for getting it down cold heh
Posted 6/1/2008 11:26 PM (GMT 0)
Well I did it for three days straight and my stools were definitely firmer, but other that that I'm not sure if I saw any other improvements. I took two days off as I ran out, but will try it again for a week and report back.
Posted 6/1/2008 11:54 PM (GMT 0)
I had a can yesterday - heated it first....smelled bad, but tasted pretty good... I felt like popeye.

I still like the frozen "spinach bricks" - had one w/ dinner tonight.

Cant complain - I like the stuff....

Now I seem to have an internal hemorrhoid - that has been bothering me a lot - waking me up at night - itchy and uncomfortable!
Posted 6/2/2008 4:30 AM (GMT 0)
interesting to see this post! I was thinking abt posting abt Spincach...
Last week i had a big Spinach dish for the first time in ages, which resulted in bulky, green stool the next day. At first i got scared because the Spinach looked to be undigested, i thought it was the first sign of a flare, but then i realized that the stool was formed and normal and there was no pain with it.
it must be something with the spinach. it was a natural metamucil!
It helped bulk up but i have no intentions of replacing meds with and experimenting.
Posted 6/2/2008 3:11 PM (GMT 0)
I bought seven cans on May 22nd and began eating a cans worth every day with dinner. Prior to starting the spinach I was having a couple of semi-solid stools in the morning with blood and mucus and then a few more blood and mucus stools in the afternoon. As I noted in the closed thread, my stool the following morning (Friday) after the first can was deep green and blood free but still had mucus. I had one other stool of mucus on Friday as well. Here is a summary of the following days...

Saturday - same stools as Friday
Sunday - one semi-solid stool with mucus and two stools with mucus only
Monday - one semi-solid stool
Tuesday - two semi-solid stools
Wednesday - one stool with blood and mucus in the morning and then multiple mucus stools in the afternoon
Thursday - one stool with blood and mucus

Things started going bad on Wednesday. For some reason I was very very depressed all day and I could feel discomfort spread throughout my lower-left back later in the day. I had my seventh can of spinach on Wednesday and haven't had any since. I was severely depressed on Thursday as well and did some research to address it. So I updated my Vitamin D intake (by having more milk) and then by Friday evening I was experiencing much physical discomfort when eating. My stools since Friday have been filled with blood and mucus and I continued to experience pain both when eating and randomly throughout the day. It has been years since I have had such bad symptoms.

Now I'm just waiting patiently for a few more days to see if things get back to the pre-spinach state. If not then I'll need to order up some prednisone.

I'm guessing that something in the spinach caused me to become depressed. The last time that I was that depressed was prior to finally being diagnosed with UC over a decade ago and I was in immense physical pain at that time.

Oh well. Maybe if I can get up the nerve I'll give Cassava Flour (Tapioka) a shot.
Posted 6/2/2008 3:44 PM (GMT 0)
I don't think the spinach caused you to be depressed but maybe you hyped yourself up so much with this and expected to see amazing results fast and when you didn't you got depressed. I wouldn't ever expect something to work as quick and effective as prednisone works for me.

Also I wouldn't throw any new food in high quantity into my diet b/c your body isn't used to it. I would try to incorporate it gradually.

Posted 6/2/2008 9:40 PM (GMT 0)

Tap, are you crazy?  a FULL CAN of spinach with dinner?  And you carried it on for 7 DAYS ? No wonder you're having problems!

That's about 420g and way over the 'suggested serving' for such a rich vegetable.

You've consumed a ton of iron in the space of one week and I suspect that you've shocked your system and aggravated your colon to the point of increased inflamation.

I'm gonna try spinach myself, I rarely have it except in the occasional burrito. I think I'll start with small portions gradually working up to about a third of a can max. 

Good luck coming down from you spinach overdose Tap!

Posted 6/2/2008 11:32 PM (GMT 0)
Ha never thought of an OD on spinach! I have to watch my intake as well - ate a whole can for lunch once and was planning on a full frozen brick tonight....maybe 1/2 will do.
Posted 6/3/2008 12:04 AM (GMT 0)
I started last friday with a spinach smoothie, which is very tasty. I mixed half an avacado and banana with 5 oz of blanched fresh spinach in a food processor. in the last few days I've done 3 oz of spinach and 2 oz of lettuce. I also add a little bit of butter, the smoothie is warm after blanching the greens. i find it tasty that way. So my mucous has gone way down, no blood. I don't have urgency. I was eating goat's milk yogurt and when I eat that I noticed that I get mucous and some urgency. so for now I'm avoiding it. I also don't eat grains, so no wheat, corn, oatmeal, etc. i'm only on asacol and canasa now. at one point had to take remicade and pred, but with diet it hasn't gotten to that level again. I also started taking cod liver oil on friday. also take lots of probiotics. with the spinach the stools did get loose, not d. though, but i'm happy with this if it means no urgency or blood. bms also seem to be more formed of late.
Posted 6/3/2008 3:18 AM (GMT 0)

tap, I get depressed too when I eat too much spinach, I also get the same depression when I eat too many carrots so I think the depression is somehow from high beta carotene. Also milk(because of the calcium it containes)  counter acts magnesium, they compete for each other in your system so I think its not a good idea to drink a lot of milk when your trying to get your magnesium levels up from spinach and such. Are you eating sunflower seeds too? If eating the spinach is making you too depressed and you cant handle eating a can every day try eating a half of a can a day or every other day or whatever you can handle and maybe eat lots of sunflower seeds daily for the magnesium instead of large amounts of spinach every day. it will work, just stick with it. Also don't have high amounts of sodium. I have been in remission a few times and have eaten high sodium foods like a bunch of pickles in one sitting or lots of potato chips and it has brought back UC symptoms so I have discovered also that high sodium somehow causes problems in UC. magnesium, calcium and sodium are all electrolytes and can interfere with each other. the one that you want high is the magnesium I have learned so eat lots of sunflower seeds if you can to get your magnesium levels up and get things balanced and as much spinach as you can handle. its what I do to get in remission, low sodium, high magnesium from foods (mainly sunflower seeds and as much spinach as I can handle) and not a lot of refined sugar. I do have a little milk every morning with my oatmeal but other than that I try to avoid too much milk and cheese because I don't want the calcium competing with the magnesium I am trying to build up in my system.

Post Edited (Cfromutah) : 6/2/2008 10:19:21 PM (GMT-6)

Posted 6/3/2008 5:08 AM (GMT 0)
Ok, I am not providing any opinion on if this dietary change is or isn't benficial, I am just providing some of the information I have dug up after researching this for myself over the past week.

For those of you who do not know - spinach is NOT a good source of iron. Although it contains more iron then your average green leafy vegitable, it also contains high levels of oxalate. Oxalates basicly stop iron being absorbed by the body. You will get more iron from broccoli.

I have also dug up some reference material about this for those that are interested.

I will also point out that there are many "carotene's". Most vegitables contain more then just the beta form.

Finally, there are a sweet ton of beneficial chemicals in spinach (and all vegitables for that matter), most being complimentary to one another in a health sense.

As with all healthy eating, everything in moderation and balanced with the intent of providing beneficial nutrition to the body, while minimising foods that are harmful.

Finally, for those that want to try this or any other diet. Phase in the change over the space of a couple of weeks. Suddenly shifting your diet drasticly overnight will generally result in a negative reaction, especially if you have IBD and are flaring.
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