Anybody on the paleo diet?

I've been a vegetarian for over 20 yrs. I have had some family issues and coping with a child with special needs for the last 7 yrs has taken a toll on my diet. I've become more of a lazy vegetarian-not eating fast food, but definitely eating too many carbs which has caused my glucose level to be 104. I definitely think the paleo diet has some merit to it. I still can't do meat for my own personal reasons. Grass fed and free range are better but my stance on slaughterhouses still keeps me away from eating meat. I don't ever fault anyone else for eating it though. So I'm trying to eat at least one meal a day grain free.

I'm curious to know if anyone here is on the paleo diet and what effect, positive or negative it has had on your UC.

I'm the opposite of Pluot because I was a vegetarian for years before getting UC. My diet now is Paleo/SCD and it has been very, very successful although it took some time to figure out which other foods/drinks my gut just would not tolerate until it got more healed.

Bottom line is that animal protein and low starch veggies make my gut happy as can be. I don't eat a lot of meat protein, 4 oz. meat/shrimp/fish at dinner for example plus large portion of veggies. I eat hard cheese as snack for energy (swiss, sharp cheddar) and nut butter bread (rather than almond flour bread).

Whenever my gut acts up I go back to basics: chicken, chicken broth, spinach or other leafy green (cooked). When I began this diet mod. I could not tolerate yogurt, it caused D and cheese caused C but now that my gut is healed more I can happily eat both of those and almost every other dairy there is. Dairy should be avoided if still having D or urgency problems.

I do not eat much fruit and always skin off. I rarely eat grains and have been gluten-free for 2.5 years.
I try to eat grass-fed meat and antibiotic-free chicken and eggs.

Try it and see how it works for you. keep a good notebook and don't look day-to-day for patterns rather week-to-week. Sometimes it takes a couple of weeks for your gut to show progress. It's not an overnight cure.

chrissy, i found these cool sites about paleo diet. the diet today called "paleo" is not accurate with what actual paleolithic people ate.

http://www.slate.com/articles/life/explainer/2012/02/the_real_caveman_diet_what_did_people_eat_in_prehistoric_times_.html

http://www.scienceschool.usyd.edu.au/history/2009/media/lectures/4-brand-miller-chapter.pdf

the second site has some really cool graphs and a lot of information on the protein, fat, and carbohydrate make up of paleo meals.

I have found great success with Paleo as well. There does seem to be some conflicting information about what to eat on this diet out there, but if you can take out Loren Cordain's book from the library it is a great read and will give you a good idea of what to eat. I also found Robb Wolfe's book useful as well.

I eat tonnes of veggies, meat and some fruit. I find it hard to keep weight on, but after a few months my body seems to have adjusted and things have settled out about 5 pounds under my norm. I eat no dairy, grains or legumes and I also avoid eggs, nightshade veggies and nuts (except a few walnuts here and there).

For breakfast I generally eat cut up avacado, 2 servings of fruit (mango, apple, kiwi, strawberries etc), maybe a few walnuts, some left over meat and lemon juice and flax oil. Lunch is generally romaine lettuce, grated carrots, meat, steamed veggies (broc or some chinese veggies). Dinner is often similar to lunch. I find that more than two servings of fruit per day and I begin to get very smelly gas and loose stool. Snacks are Kale chips!!!!!!!! Kale chips are incredible. I eats pounds of kale. I can easily go through two bushels in one sitting.

To give you a bit of history, I have had UC for 20 years and have tried a lot of diets, including GF, DF, SCD etc. I have also tried many alternative treatments including HPI (by Dr. Borody in Aus), whipworms, hyper-baric oxygen therapy, IV vitamins, VSL#3, aloe vera juice, wheat grass, juicing, etc. Nothing really worked for me except steroids. Now steroids are off limits because I was diagnosed with Osteoporosis a couple of years ago and I am mid thirties. This led me to Remicade. Before you assume that I am seeing improvements from Remicade and not Paleo you should know that I was on Remicade for well over a year before starting Paleo. I think Remicade has helped, but I still had to eat GF and use psyllium seed powder to manage the diarrhea. Remicade probably kept me off steroids, but my guts were still inflamed and I was not well.

When I tried Paleo I did it gradually. I was hooked on SCD yogurt and I was not keen on giving it up. So for a couple of weeks I dabbled in Paleo, where I still ate yogurt and the odd bit of rice in a sushi roll. When I finally committed to the diet the change was incredible. The first day I didn't go the bathroom at all. I hadn't done that in 20 years! When I did finally go I couldn't believe the formed stool I produced. Being on Paleo for over 3 months I am on average a solid type 4 on the Bristol Stool Chart. I occasionally lean type 5 or 3, but average out to 4. It is great. I rarely have urgency and my energy is vastly improved. I can't believe how much lettuce I can eat and I don't see it in the toilet bowl. When I was eating rice and dairy I found lettuce would rip through my system and come out completely undigested.

Paleo has also helped my gerd immensely. I am completely off PPI's. I was stuck on them for almost four years and really couldn't stop taking them. It was awful. Lately I have been experimenting with yams, but I am finding they can cause some heartburn/gerd so I am going to stop eating them. It is tricky to find the balance between carbs and fats so that I keep my weight on, but manage symptoms. Like you I am not too keen on industrialized meat production so I would prefer to get my calories from carbs rather than meats.

I know everyone is different and you can see that from Pluot's post and some of the others, but I would definitely put Paleo on the list of diets to try. It actually makes me a little sad when I see it not work for other people. I have been there so many times where you commit to a diet and see people say how great it works and then get no results yourself.

Post Edited (robray) : 6/22/2012 3:55:22 PM (GMT-6)

I don't know the specifics of this paleo diet but it seems to be similar to the way I eat. I don't eat commercially produced meats and I limit grain.