Still in Remission from Spinach/Sunflower Seeds 3 Years Later

Wow, I am definitely willing to try this. Few questions though

How do you cook the spinach & how much do you have?

What brand is the sunflower seed spread/butter? where do i get it from

Can you link me to the other thread you're talking about because i can't find it and i'm not sure
what to have the spinach + sunflower seed spread with, whether its with a normal diet etc or how much to have throughout the day.

Thanks!!

Post Edited (Sami127) : 10/17/2012 9:50:26 PM (GMT-6)

Sami127 - Mostly I just thawed out boxes of frozen chopped spinach, but sometimes I would cook down fresh spinach in a non-stick pan.  I would recommened using the frozen stuff, because it's very inexpensive. 

Typically I ate 1-2 cups of cooked spinach and a few tablespoons of sunflower seed butter each day.  I used the Sunbutter brand, which I just bought in the healthy section of my regular grocery store.  I know that Trader Joe's has their own brand, too.  Both are good, but I prefer Sunbutter's flavor.

You can just use the Sunbutter as a replacement for peanut butter on a pb&j sandwich or eat it straight off a spoon.  For the spinach, I just looked up recipes on the web that called for cooked spinach and made those recipes.  I also have a good recipe for quesadillas, which I'll post later (I'm not at home right now and don't have access to it).

As for the rest of my diet, I followed the guidelines that are on the links I posted in a reply to aguywithUC (in this thread).  Check those out and let me know if you have questions.  I found those tips very helpful.

Once your symptoms are gone you can slowly start to cut back on the amount of spinach and sunflower seed butter you eat.  But go slow and watch your symptoms closely.  Now I eat these foods about once a week to maintain remission.

kerplunk - If you're not currently flaring, you should be able to eat spinach salad.  Fresh spinach is just a bit too rough on people who are having trouble.  I know it seems difficult to eat a lot of spinach, but if you find a few good recipes it really becomes a lot easier.  Also, if you eat it cooked, you'll eat a lot more of it than you would eating it fresh; but again if you're not flaring, you may not need as much. 

I haven't had any trouble finding sunflower seed butter.  They sell Sunbutter at Jewel (in the healthy/organic section), and Trader Joe's sell their own brand.  I would think Whole Foods would have it, too, but haven't need to go there to get it.  If all else fails, you can even order it from Amazon.

The sunflower butter I bought is pretty sweet.. and has a fair amount of sugar I think. Now, sugar doesnt seem to be hurting me lately, but I had sort of been avoiding it.

freddyj/Andrina,

To avoid sugar I tried the organic version - www.sunbutter.com/products-organic.php, but I did not like its taste. So I am back to regular sun butter with sugar.

So, organic version is an option for you if you want to avoid sugar.

-RayOfHope

Hello, I am going to give this a try this as I am currently in a flare. I started with the spinach for lunch and my wifey will pickup Trader Joes brand of sunflower seed butter and will have that tonght. I plan on using frozen chopped spinach that I cook myself and then can add salt if I want. I will keep everyone updated. I will eat a sunflower seed butter sandwich on gluten free udis bread to be safe.

I am not currently taking any of my meds so this out to be interesting.. I havent taken them in over 4 months and was in remission up till 3 weeks ago. Of course during remission I ate everything and anything and also was backl to having alcohol time to time. I was in remisson for about 3 months from the end of june till almost 3 weeks ago. I attributed the remission to taking alot of garlicon and oregano oil and then when I was feeling really well added vitamin E enemas. I also remember not eating much if any fiber to heal.

 I am currently taking only one garlicin and one opregano oil a day to keep any infection at bay. I also take a ultimate flora probiotic of 50 billion and time to time use psyllium seed powder.  I almost forgot but I started drinking my marshmallow and slippery elm tea today again. My stools are coated in blood but are formed to partially formed. The last few days I have a movement of just some blood and no real puss to speak of but mostly one to 2 movements a day. Not huge or alarming amounts of it blood either. I was dx'd back in Feb 12' with lowe left sided colitis/crohns 4cm section. I am coming up on my one year with this and with 3 of those months I felt perfectly normal which was my only and last remission.

Steve

Post Edited (twiggs) : 10/18/2012 12:33:35 PM (GMT-6)

Kiss520 said...
kerplunk - If you're not currently flaring, you should be able to eat spinach salad. Fresh spinach is just a bit too rough on people who are having trouble. I know it seems difficult to eat a lot of spinach, but if you find a few good recipes it really becomes a lot easier. Also, if you eat it cooked, you'll eat a lot more of it than you would eating it fresh; but again if you're not flaring, you may not need as much.
I haven't had any trouble finding sunflower seed butter. They sell Sunbutter at Jewel (in the healthy/organic section), and Trader Joe's sell their own brand. I would think Whole Foods would have it, too, but haven't need to go there to get it. If all else fails, you can even order it from Amazon.

Jewel...now that sounds like Chicagoland.

SCD is ok with nuts as well yet outlawed here => http://www.helpforibs.com/diet/trigger2.asp

I find that strange, nuts are loaded with nutrition and usually healthy oils but there are bad ones to be avoided.

Aguywithuc - Yep, Chicago burbs! I bet the ibs site says no to all nuts, because they're so rough. I don't know why this works, but it does.

Andrina - I'm with you on the sugar. I almost never eat white sugar anymore. It's so bad for you, even if you don't have health problems.

Kiss520 what if i were to eat spinach all the time because i love it?

Well not all the time, just when i can, so snack on it here and there!

Kiss- Let me get this straight, you literally ate sunbutter and spinach to gain remission? I don't understand because sunbutter is seed so that is high fat and tough on digestive system isnt it? I don't get how those 2 things could cure a flare. I am confused! I had some sunbutter today and I got insane cramping, did you get that? I don't think i tolerate nuts/seeds atm.

Kiss thanks for the reply. I haven't had alcohol in at least a month and dont plan on having any for for the forseable future. I never felt my meds did anything for me and was in remission without them or the help from them prior. I will keep a close eye on my progress and if I get much much worse then perhaps I will take them but dont feel it will help. When I am flaring I am very careful on what I eat especially fiberous or fatty/greasy foods which I avoid. I am really hoping the sunbutter and spinach this works for me. I love spinach so that is not a problem and find the sunbutter sandwiches with my fav strawberry preserves a tasty additioon to my diet. I just havehad Igg and Ige food sensitivities tests done and all came back negative with the exception for shellfish (shrimp. crab and lobster) which I knew about already.

I lost weight over the last year but was putting some back on when I was in remission but have since lost what I had put on. I was eating basically everything in sight when I was in remission and mentally felt I was cured and didn't think about it much to be honest. I think that is where I made my mistake and here I sit in a flare. I was wondering does it matter if you eat these things seperate or together did it matter to you? I plan on eating my 2 heafty tablespoons of sunbutter and jam sandwich in the am and for lunch having my big bowl which is at least 2 cups of cooked spinach. How does that sound? I ate a bowl of spinach and a sandwich yesterday and had my sandwich this am so I am on day two..Oh btw are you med free after 3 years?

Thanks again

Steve

Post Edited (twiggs) : 10/19/2012 7:54:57 AM (GMT-6)

Andrina - The one I buy is the Sunbutter brand, and it does have sugar.  The sugar never bothered me.  It should be easy to find.  It's a pretty popular alternative for people with peanut allergies.

Steve - My meds never did anything for me either - they seemed completely useless.  I just kept taking them because I was scared not to.  I lost about 20 pounds when I was flaring, and I could tell I was getting well when I started gaining it back. 

You do not need to eat these foods together.  I used to make meals with the spinach and then eat spoonfuls of Sunbutter in between meals as a snack.  Or sometimes I'd make a sandwich with it.  The diet you have planned sounds good to me.  Just try to make it enjoyable by using the spinach in recipes you really like.  That way you'll want to continue eating it.  The quesadilla recipe I posted earlier in this thread was how I liked to have my spinach.  You can even warm up the spinach mixture and spread it on bread rather than making quesadillas.  

Steve - Your soup sounds great, and I'm sure everyone who's interested in doing the diet could use some good recipes.  I'm excited to hear about how this goes for you and look forward to your posts.