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The sunflower seed and spinach thing

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Ulcerative Colitis
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Posted 9/29/2008 5:49 PM (GMT 0)
Okay, I am willing to try most anything at this point and am willing to try the sunflower seed and spinach recommendation that I keep reading about on here. I got a jar of "Sunbutter" (sunflower seed butter) this weekend. So how much do I need eat?

Also, concerning the spinach, will canned spinach work? Or does it have to be fresh? Frozen? How much do I need to eat?

Any pointers, recipes, suggestions are welcome. Who all has this worked for?

Thanks!
Posted 9/29/2008 8:34 PM (GMT 0)

Its worked for me.  You'll see many of my posts under the other spinach thread.  I always eat frozen or fresh just because I dont like the taste of canned stuff.  I ate about 2 portions (about the size of your palm) of cooked spinach every 2 or 3 days.  Also I eat sunflower seeds every day or every other day - a couple of handfuls.  The originator of this reccomends a whole can of spinach every day until remission then scale back from there.  I believe the amount is different for everyone.  I used less than a can a day because more caused looser stools for me, but everyone is different.  I think you just have to try it and find the right amount for you. I also changed more of my diet. Once I began to see results I changed more of my diet to include a greater variety of fruits and veges and much less processed foods.  I believe cutting out processed foods also helped as well. I now think more about getting nutients and vitamins into my body and how great I now feel.

And for anyone skeptical, and I was also in the beginning.  Just like CfromUtah says if I go too many days without eating spinach or seeds I begin to get symtoms return.  But once I eat seeds and spinach I am fine again the next day and every day after as long as I continue to eat spinach and seeds.

As far as recipes - I think you get the most from just eating spinach alone because you will get more volume of it that way.  But you can try incorperting it into everday meals like baking it into lasagnas or into a quiche.  If your afraid of eating seeds they can be put thru a food processor and used in dressings for salads or meats.

 

Posted 9/29/2008 10:45 PM (GMT 0)
I initially did canned spinach and ended up in worse condition (although my worsening condition may have been related to some pickle juice I drank). I eventually started eating fresh spinach (one half of a small dish worth) instead and it got me to having just two BMs in the morning although I continued to have plenty of blood but most mucus subsided.

about a month ago I started on a new approach to eliminate the bleeding. The bleeding stopped after about a week but I don't care to elaborate on the approach yet since there were comments that the approach was SPAM. My BMs (one or two a morning) are now loose. I will post my experience in a month or two.

- Tom
Posted 9/30/2008 12:44 AM (GMT 0)

Tom

Please give me an idea on how to stop the bleeding. I am desparate. I cant wait another month.

Posted 9/30/2008 1:29 AM (GMT 0)
WeirdBeard, I am the original poster about the spinach and seed diet. yes canned spinach works, it is what I used. I originally said one can a day till you reach remission and reduce from there but I think even 1/2 can a day or every other day is ok as long as you eat plenty (maybe 4 tablespoons or even more if you can) of the seed butter daily. Here is a cool website that you can find the amount of magnesium, beta carotene and other nutrients in foods.

Nutrition facts, calories in food, labels, nutritional information and analysis – NutritionData.com

Post Edited (Cfromutah) : 9/29/2008 7:53:46 PM (GMT-6)

Posted 9/30/2008 2:01 AM (GMT 0)

toriblue said...
Please give me an idea on how to stop the bleeding. I am desperate. I can't wait another month.

I had good success with the spinach taking me out of the worse part of my flare.

The blood didn't cause me any problems other than knowing that my insides were not healed. Given that my mother died at 36 from colon cancer I am now trying to find a way to eliminate the bleeding forever. I'd give you a reference to the original message that kicked off my current approach but it appears to have been deleted.

- Tom

thomas.tap.peterson at gmail.com
Posted 9/30/2008 2:28 AM (GMT 0)
I'm curious how many people have had luck with the spinach/sunflower thing.  I tried only sunflower seeds a while back, and they didn't help (but I wasn't eating spinach).  Wondering if I should try again with both of them...

Posted 9/30/2008 5:39 AM (GMT 0)
The seeds are hard to eat to be honest, I have been having spinach - a handful every 2 days... and my symptoms aren't too bad either. You have to take a long term view IMO and eat spinach as a regular diet
Posted 9/30/2008 6:16 AM (GMT 0)
Although I can't say the spinach and sunflower seeds have put me in remission, I think they are helping a LOT and I've been only doing it every day for about 3 weeks.  I at least must have needed the magnesium or the beta carotene or whatever, for sure, because I feel much better... rarely nauseated or having the fluish feeling, even when I had several stools a day.  In general, everything has been better.   

I use the canned spinach, about 1/4 can a day, usually with an egg and a piece of thinly sliced swiss cheese.  Yum.  I figure the canned spinach is condensed and therefore the vits and minerals are too.  Besides, it's easy for me to use.

As far as the seeds go, I also use sun butter (sunflower seed butter) which is like peanut butter only a little more liquidy.  I keep it in the fridge and put it on my metamucil wafers, about a tablespoon each if I'm just using that and no nuts.    I was eating cashews and regular seeds but went into a mini flare last week end so went back to the sun butter. It's easier to eat.  I'll go back to the seeds/nuts again in a couple of days if I'm still doing well. 

Good luck

Posted 9/30/2008 10:35 AM (GMT 0)
Tom if you post your experiences on here I can't see how that is spam, and if its helped you it may help others.

I think this forum must be near it's bandwidth allowance or something as the moderators object to long posts and signatures longer than a few lines (maybe 10?)
Posted 9/30/2008 12:32 PM (GMT 0)
I have eaten the Sunbutter for about 2 days and had my first formed BM in about 4 months this morning. Wow! I will have spinach tonight for sure.

The Sunbutter seems very rich after surviving on white rice and bananas for so long. smilewinkgrin

The link to the the nutritiondata.com site is fascinating. Thanks for the link.

I am going to continue to pursue this and let you all know of my progress. So, besides these two items, should I be looking for other foods that are high in magnesium and beta carotene? Is that what makes this work?
Posted 9/30/2008 12:43 PM (GMT 0)
Thanks to all who shared their experience.  I think I will give this another try and use the spinach.  I love both the seeds and the spinach, so it couldn't hurt.  I'll let you know the results after a couple weeks.

Posted 9/30/2008 12:51 PM (GMT 0)
What is sunflower butter?  Is it sold in regular grocery stores?  Where do you find it in the store?  I like sunflower seeds and would rather eat them the way they are.  Just curious about the butter.  I'm off to the store today to buy seeds and spinach!
Posted 9/30/2008 2:20 PM (GMT 0)
Just bought sunflower butter at the grocery store. It was in the health food aisle, where they sell things like organic canned/boxed foods and gluten-free stuff. I also eat the seeds, but I figure the butter is a lot more concentrated.
Posted 9/30/2008 3:14 PM (GMT 0)
Possibly stupid question, what does sunflower butter taste like? I need to re-try this spinach thing b/c I'm still not in remission after 4 Remi infusions!
Posted 9/30/2008 4:51 PM (GMT 0)
Pretty close to peanut butter. It has a little bit of a seed-like taste, but I find that pleasant.
Posted 9/30/2008 5:10 PM (GMT 0)

I am going to try out the Spinch thing.  I had been doing really well up until this last Sunday.  I didn't know anything about the Spinich, but had been eating Spinich salad's at least 2 -3 times a week a couple weeks ago and hadn't had any symptoms. (I always toss on sunflower and pumkin seeds too).   I haven't had a Spinich salad in over a week and Sunday, started bleeding again.  I am willing to try anything!!!! :)

Will keep you posted! 

Danni

Posted 9/30/2008 6:22 PM (GMT 0)
I was just reading the link from the original post about what the symptoms are of a magnesium deficiency, one of them is heart palpitations.  I've had some major palpitations lately, I'm wondering if everything is related to a magnesium deficiency.  We'll see how things go...

Posted 10/1/2008 2:41 AM (GMT 0)

WeirdBeard said...
I have eaten the Sunbutter for about 2 days and had my first formed BM in about 4 months this morning. Wow! I will have spinach tonight for sure.

The Sunbutter seems very rich after surviving on white rice and bananas for so long. smilewinkgrin

The link to the the nutritiondata.com site is fascinating. Thanks for the link.

I am going to continue to pursue this and let you all know of my progress. So, besides these two items, should I be looking for other foods that are high in magnesium and beta carotene? Is that what makes this work?

Just don't eat too many bananas per day as they are quite high in sugar...12 to 14 grams to be exact.
Posted 10/1/2008 3:18 AM (GMT 0)
cfromutah had originally said he eats carrots with his spinach too.
Posted 10/1/2008 7:27 PM (GMT 0)
The Margaret Holmes brand of canned spinach has turned out to be be best tasting so far for me. Not slimy at all. Anybody else have a favorite brand?
Posted 10/1/2008 7:43 PM (GMT 0)
What is all this about sugar? I love sugar stuff, is it seriously something that makes us bleed?
Posted 10/1/2008 7:44 PM (GMT 0)
LondonRed, I am not sure I understand it either, but I saw a naturopath today and the first thing she did was cut out all white sugar. I can have fruit, but nothing with sugar. She was telling me how people have gone into remission by doing some of those steps.
Posted 10/1/2008 7:55 PM (GMT 0)
A while back I read a book about cutting out certain types of sugars (including fruit) and wheat bran fiber. Apparently when the two mix together in the gut it creates bad bacteria.
Posted 10/1/2008 8:05 PM (GMT 0)
Since I started doing this yesterday, I've had a huge increase in diarrhea. I suspected that would happen because of the spinach. Will this go away? How long do I wait? Has anyone else experienced this in the beginning?
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