I have discovered something that I think will help you too. PART 2

This is really interesting and I am going to try it. It makes sense as things like coffee and alcohol can make the problem worse, so it stands to reason that other foods can help.. I have a question though, I'm recently off steroids and still on imuran. I was diagnosed for the first time in April 2008 with severe ulcerative colitis. Since then have lived through a nightmare. Had 8 blood transfusions and hospitalized 3 times. I am in the process of losing my hair and have many bald patches... ( the doctors have reassured me that my hair will return though) anyway, my question is, does the abdo pain ever go away? It's when I eat for about an hour afterwards and its quite sharp on both sides... just curious when I do go into remission if the pain will still be there?

i have been trying spinach for 2-3weeks now but not the canned stuff, il get some 2moro, i also tryed sunflower seeds for a good 3-4weeks but they just made my flare worst, well i think spinach might be making me a little better or mb its just the preds, but il keep taking it since its not making it any worst.

 

Tea42, The pain goes away completely. now that I know what puts me in remission and keeps me in remission( high magnesium foods such as sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds and most all nuts and seeds are high in it and spinach) I am completely symptom free with zero pain. This diet absolutely works but you need to give it time to work. before I discovered I was in extremely bad shape and I tried many medications and nothing worked except for prednisone but I refused to take it. now that I discovered these foods heal me I have been in remission for over two years except for a few times when I experimented with not eating these foods to see if it was really what was helping me and symptoms started to return, then I added them to my diet again and was completely symptom free again.

or you could just take a magnesium supplement if you think that's truly what's helping...

This is my first post to the site but have been a reader for a year or so. Many times I read the posts and they have been helpful...sometimes just to let me know I am not alone or crazy with some of the physical and mental symptoms we all feel. I did start(not always regularly) eating the spinach. I too cannot eat the sunflower seeds as they are too hard as I am coming out of a flare. I did however find sunflower butter (like peanut butter) which I might add is very tasty. I do find that I am better when I do eat these things (at least I think so) Sometimes I thought it was maybe something I ate the day before that was causing the loose stools but then I would look back and see I didn't eat any canned spinach the day before either. Like I said I am coming off a flare and am on prednisone and recently started immuran. I started the spinach before being put on these two meds and did see some improvement when I did eat it but wasn't consistent in eating it. I am definitely going to keep doing so. I try to eat at least a half of can of spinach a day. My question for sore_guts and cfromutah is how much spinach and sunflower seeds did you eat daily and have you ever tried juicing?

mommafreds, I think a half a can a day is plenty as long as you eat other foods high in magnesium like the sunflower seed butter that you mentioned. I have not had a bad flare since discovering that this diet works for me  but I have had a few small self induced flares by stopping eating these foods so I could see if it really was these foods that was helping and it only took me a few days of eating spinach and seeds and nuts to get back to being symptom free and I was probably eating a can every other day or so and if I was really desperate to get back into remission maybe sometimes a can a day . I would eat seeds and nuts daily but mostly in the evening and I would have apx 6 to 8 handfuls of sunflower seeds and also would eat peanuts. but back when I was in a flare for two years straight and my colon was in really bad shape and then started eating spinach I was eating it for over a month (or longer) before it put me in remission and I think I was eating approximately a can every other day and was also eating sunflower seeds and pumpkin seeds at that time but I cant say exactly how much. I think with the seeds and nuts the more you can eat the better because you want to get as much as the nutrients from these foods as possible in your system and I would eat at least a can of spinach every other day. I have not tried juicing

Post Edited (Cfromutah) : 9/17/2008 10:47:06 PM (GMT-6)

I also have not tried juicing, mostly just because I love spinach and like to eat it cooked.  I found that I couldnt eat it raw when I was flaring, but havent tried raw since remission.  I also found that I couldn't eat spinach every day - just to much for my body.  But I did eat sunflower seeds nearly every day.  I had no trouble with them at all, even in the beginning when still flaring.  I added lots of other foods high in mag and other vitamins like black beans, halibut, yellow squash.  I think eating all those made up for me not being able to eat spinach every day.  I also ate a lot of carrots.  I think the trick is just finding the right amount of things for your own body.

Cfromutah said...
Sara14, magnesium in high doses such as in supplements can actually cause D and run right through you. Magnesium is what's used in some laxatives, milk of magnesia is one such laxative that uses magnesium. So I think its best to get it from food because it is better absorbed.

Okay, that makes sense.

My doctor looked at me like I had two heads when I told him about the spinach/sunflower seeds. I actually had him test my magnesium level and it was in normal limits. I think its helping but like I said I am on prednisone too. Thanks for all the advice. I am going to keep eating away. I actually am eating carrots too. I have been eating them at lunch and dinner. Funny my whole family is eating eat too. Sure beats potato chips at lunch. My husband said he could eat spinach everyday he like it so much. (good thing because I am going to cook it everyday). I find it very aggravating that doctors don't look into non medical treatments more. I am going to a new G.I. on september 25th. I plan on telling him about the spinach. I will keep you updated. I feel I am out of a flare now and I have been decreasing prednisone. Currently on 10 mg daily.

mommafreds, I just want to mention something. You say that you had your doctor test for magnesium levels and it was in the normal limits. I have read several places that blood magnesium level tests are not a good indicator of total body magnesium and that there are no reliable tests for total body magnesium levels.

Right I am going to give this a go, what's the dosage? Can I have say half a tin of Spinach every other day? Or does it need to be more?

not if eaten alone......this explains it.  

http://www.healthcastle.com/iron-spinach.shtml

quincy said...
not if eaten alone......this explains it.  

http://www.healthcastle.com/iron-spinach.shtml

    I will happily drink white wine with my spinach!!