Category Archives: my experience

Sugar

Posted on February 11, 2014 | 3 comments

Addicted

I confess. I’m a sugar addict. I gave up sugar for several months in the spring/summer of 2012 when my determination to get well overcame my desire to consume the white stuff. Then I went on holiday, slipped off the wagon and (because holidays are a relaxing time with few demands) improved. That destroyed my motivation to go back on a sugar free diet, and although I’ve had a few attempts at it since I’ve not managed to kick the habit. I’m doing my best to minimise my consumption, but I frequently succumb to some dark chocolate, or my daughter’s baking.

A sugar free diet is crucial if you are someone who is suffering from Candida or Small Intestine Bacterial Overgrowth (SIBO). It’s also an ideal for all of us. There is plenty of evidence that sugar is bad for us, and unlike some foods e.g. caffeine and red wine where there are health claims that in some way counter balance the negative effects I’m not aware of any beneficial health claims for sugar.

What’s the problem with Refined Sugar?

Whole books have been written about sugar. Since I want to keep this post fairly brief, I’ll focus on the main issues for ME/CFS sufferers:

Nutritional Value

It’s empty calories – no micronutrients, just pure carbohydrate. To heal our bodies we should be aiming for optimum nutrition from our food, refined sugar is absolutely wrong in this respect.

Blood sugar, insulin and weight gain

Sugar is absorbed into our blood stream quickly leading to a spike in blood glucose levels. Our body responds to this by releasing insulin, which reduces the level of glucose by diverting it into body tissues for short term use or storing it as fat. The surge of glucose followed by the rapid drain leaves us starved of energy, so we search for another sugar fix to bring us out of the slump. Insulin also inhibits the conversion of body fat back into glucose for the body to burn. Since high insulin levels prevent the body from burning fat if you want to lose weight it is important to keep your insulin levels low. You may have been advised to eat low GI food -this was the only nutritional advice I got from the NHS ME/CFS clinic I attended. Low GI foods break down in your digestive system at a slow, steady rate and hence do not cause such a spike in insulin levels.

Hormone Regulation

ME/CFS sufferers often have difficulty regulating their hormones, due to problems with the Hypothalamic-Pituitary-Adrenal (HPA) axis. Thus putting stress on this system, by eating lots of sugar and needing our hormones to balance is not a good idea.

Gut Bacteria

Bacteria in our gut carry out many important functions. You can read more about that in A Healthy Gut. There are many factors that can affect our bacteria, (see what causes damage to our gut). One of the factors that can have an adverse effect on our gut bacteria is Sugar. The “bad” bacteria feed on sugar and increase in number. This crowds out the “good” bacteria and can lead to a damaged gut.

My Experience

I know if I eat a lot of sugar I don’t feel good. I get shaky and weak. It’s not a nice feeling. On my 40th birthday my friends threw a small get together for me (it was all I could cope with). They baked cakes and whilst they were drinking wine, they knew I wasn’t drinking alcohol, so they had bought a selection of soft drinks for me. I was touched by the effort they had put into the evening, and whilst normally I politely decline soft drinks and stick to water I did imbibe on this occasion, along with plenty of cake (it was my birthday after all). That night I woke up at about 3 am with my heart pounding – fight or flight at its best. When I spoke to my nutritionist about this she explained it was probably due to my body trying to process the sugar – in particular my liver struggling to cope with blood so high in glucose. In simple terms my liver was struggling so the body helped by going into emergency (fight of flight mode). This experience was unpleasant enough to ensure that when I do eat sugar I usually limit the quantity and try to eat it with other foods, especially fat and/or protein which helps moderate the effect.

A way forward

If you’re eating a high sugar and high refined carbohydrate diet, don’t try and make a sudden change. Instead aim for a gradual change. Think of one thing you are going to change this week. For example, perhaps you will stop drinking fizzy pop and replace it with water and/or herbal tea, or perhaps you will swap your daily mars bar for a square of dark chocolate and an apple. As I said in increasing or decreasing it is easier to focus on what you want to increase in your diet rather than what you are decreasing.

Writing this article has made me more mindful of my own sugar consumption. I am not ready to commit to going sugar free again at the moment, but I am going to take a look at my sugar habit and think about how to reduce it further.

3 Comments

Posted in my experience, science, unhelpful foods

Christmas – a comparison

Posted on December 12, 2013 | Leave a comment

I’m sorry there hasn’t been much blog activity lately.  The good news is this isn’t because of a relapse, but because life is so busy. I am working on my pages about meditation, but I’m finding my time for writing is seriously eroded by all the Christmas activities and shopping, so they’re not ready yet.

I thought it might be useful to compare where I was last December to where I am this December, particularly for anyone struggling at the moment.

December 2012

After improving over the summer of 2012 I declined as the weather got colder and the days shorter. Last December I caught Bronchitis, and this caused me to relapse to housebound for several weeks and bed bound some of the time.

A particular low point was when my daughter was crying in her room for me to help her and I could not get out of bed to go and comfort her, let alone help her.  I can remember sobbing to my husband that evening that I couldn’t cope and I needed more help.  I can’t quite remember how we muddled through that time. I have a brilliant set of friends who took my children to and from school and various activities and cooked for us every Friday.  As usual my wonderful husband somehow held everything together – I think he must have come home from work early quite a lot.  He did all the Christmas shopping, cooked the Christmas dinner as well as the myriad of household chores he has been responsible for since my illness.

On Christmas day I managed to get out of bed for two short periods to watch my kids open their presents, and then again later for dinner.  The rest of the day was spent in my bed, alone.  I found the noise and energy of the family too much to tolerate for long.

As I recovered from Bronchitis I made a determined effort to increase my activity slowly.  By February half term I was doing some school journeys on my electric bike, and I slowly increased this until I was doing all of them.  Since Easter 2013 I have reasonably consistently managed the school run, and now I can’t remember the last time I’ve had to call a friend and ask them to bring my kids home.

December 2013

This December is a huge contrast to last year.  Here’s a list of some of the activities I’m involved in, but I’ve probably forgotten some:

  • Singing in a choir concert – extra rehearsals and the performance.
  • Taking my children to extra Christmas activities
  • Attending various Christmas events at the school: Christmas Fayre, an assembly and, next week, a carol concert.
  • Arranging household repairs.  We’ve got a leaky roof.  I’ve been dealing with the insurance company and various roofers giving quotes.  Hopefully that one is fixed now.
  • Christmas shopping  – Using the local shop mobility service my Husband and I went shopping for over 2 hours, and I’ve also done plenty of internet shopping.
  • Having relatives visit:  Last weekend my lovely nephews, brother-in-law and sisters-in-law visited.  I managed to socialise with them most of the time they were here.
  • Planning to visit relatives: This year we are spending Christmas with my extended family – there will be 14 of us at my parents house.
  • Planning a trip to London.  I plan to take my daughter to the theatre for her Christmas present.  This will be a huge challenge, but I’m confident I can manage it, otherwise I wouldn’t have booked the trip.

Between all these activities I’m still making sure I eat the right foods, as well as do regular meditation and yoga. Now you can probably see why the blogging has had to take a back seat!

I hope that if you are going through a bad time at the moment, this post boosts your belief that things can improve.

I am so grateful and appreciative of everything I am able to do, even the mundane tasks like arranging roof repairs.   ME/CFS shrinks your life to a very small core.  As I recover and my life expands I truly appreciate every extra thing I can do.

 

 

Leave a comment

Posted in my experience

Glimpses

Posted on December 5, 2013 | 1 comment

Of this our true individual life, our present life is a glimpse, a fragment, a hint, and in its best moments a visible beginning.  

Josiah Royce

 

It’s coming up to the two year anniversary of the start of my illness, and I’ve been reflecting on the pattern of my recovery. I’ve realised that my improvements are usually very gradual and tend to be a step forwards, then a step back for a whle, then a step forwards again. Often I step forwards and back several times, gradually maintaining the step forward for longer each time.

My mum recently reminded me how weak I was in the early days of my illness,  when just walking to the kitchen and eating a meal that was put in front of me used all my energy, and I had to spend nearly all my time resting.   I have come a long way since then.  Every so often on a good day I will manage to do something I’ve not  managed since I’ve been ill.  Here are a few examples of my firsts, but this list could be much longer.

  • take and collect my children from school
  • pedal my electric bike short distances
  • have a shower and not have to rest before I get dressed
  • Do a bit of washing up
  • talk to my mum on the phone without having to hang up after 5 minutes and rest afterwards
  • Go to a supermarket and buy a few items
  • take my son to his swimming training

All these are things I first tried on a good day, and was thrilled that I managed them.  I wasn’t immediately able to repeat them, but it gave me a glimpse of what was possible and something to aim for.   It took time, sometimes months, before they became things I could do most days, and I still have bad days when all of these things are too much.

Thankfully now the bad days are much less, the good days are more frequent and I am able to do much more on the good days.

I look forward to more glimpses into the future.  Recent glimpses that I’m hoping I’ll be able to repeat soon include:

  • walking to the end of my road
  • attending a yoga class without having to sleep afterwards
  • coping with my children having friends to tea.

What glimpses of improvements have you seen?

1 Comment

Posted in my experience

Taking a Step Backwards

Posted on November 24, 2013 | Leave a comment

I’ve been struggling for the last week.  I don’t know why;  perhaps it’s the change in the weather, perhaps I’m fighting off an illness.  All I know for sure is I have less energy than usual, and the everyday tasks that I’ve been gradually getting more successful at managing are once again too much for me.

So I’m writing this post as much for myself as for anyone else who’s also struggling.  Here’s what I know I should be doing to get back on track.

  1. Listening to my body, not pushing to do more activity than I feel I can manage.
  2. Getting enough sleep.
  3. Having regular rests in the day
  4. Not catastrophising.  It’s easy to let the negative thoughts take over – “I’m back to square one”, ” I’m never going to get better” “nothing I’m doing is working”
  5. Doing very gentle stretching exercises.  I’ve got some very simple yoga exercises that I do.  WIth the decrease in my daily activity and more lying on the sofa my muscles get more achy.  Gentle stretching helps my circulation.
  6. Using distraction to stop focussing on how bad I’m feeling
  7. Reducing neurological activity
  8. Continuing with my healthy eating
  9. Focusing on things I’m grateful for

So how am I doing at the above list?

  1. Sometimes with three children I am forced to do more than I feel able.  However, as much as possible I am easing off on the activity front.  My husband is being really supportive and the kids are quite good at fending for themselves (sadly they’ve had plenty of practise in the last two years).
  2. My sleep is not as good as usual.  I have been having some daytime naps because I am so tired, but this isn’t helping my night time sleep.  Moving forwards I will be trying to do more guided meditations throughout the day to stop me reaching the point where I feel I need the daytime sleep.  I will also make sure I have valerian tea before bed to aid my night time sleep.
  3. For some reason I have been reluctant to go back to my rest schedule from a few months a go – 4 rests of 30-60 minutes each.  I think this is because I don’t want to admit that I’m not maintaining my progress.  However, I know that the way to get out of this is to nourish my body with plenty of rest.  Tomorrow I’m going to be strict with myself.  This will hopefully stop my need for daytime naps and help me improve my nighttime sleep.
  4. I have had some negative thoughts creeping in, but I’m aware that they’re not reality. By using guided meditations that focus on positive visualisations I will be counteracting these thought patterns and building  positive neural connections.
  5. I’ve been doing little bits of gentle yoga and stretching exercises.
  6. I’ve watched plenty of Rom Coms and other “happy” TV over the last few days.  That’s worked well at distracting me, but I think it’s been too much neurological activity.  I’ve also been doing a bit of reading, but despite trying several books I can’t get into any of them.  I’m not sure if this is because the books are not very good, or because my brain doesn’t want to do reading at the moment.   I’ve just downloaded a new audiobook.  I’m hoping that will be a less demanding distraction.
  7. I think I’ve been having too much neurolgical activity.  When I’m physically fatigued and looking for distractions TV, computers and books are the obvious choices.  However, by increasing my rests I will decrease my neurological activity.
  8. My diet is generally good.  I haven’t managed to do my juicing the last few days; it has felt like too much effort, but my meals are still good.  I also had a piece of gluten free cake, so I have slipped on my sugar-free eating, but overall I think I’m still a 9/10 for my diet.
  9. I have found focusing on things I’m grateful for helpful in the past, and I have been using this technique to counteract the negative thoughts.

Sometimes it’s necessary to take a step back on the road to recovery.  However, I know I’m not back at square one.  I have a really good understanding of my illness and what to do to feel better.  I just need to be extra diligent at doing all these little actions over the next few days.

To anyone else struggling at the moment.  Remember, it won’t last forever, things will improve.  A book that really helped me last year was Things Get Better by Katy Piper.  If you’re struggling to cope with everything I highly recommend it.

 

 

Leave a comment

Posted in my experience, positive activities

Our Experience Of Going Gluten Free

Posted on November 23, 2013 | 1 comment

This post has been encouraged by several people who think they may benefit from going gluten free, but are overwhelmed by the idea of doing it.

I am planning another post about the technicalities of what gluten does in our bodies, this post is going to focus on how we changed my daughter’s, and later, my diet.

Why Gluten Free?

Our journey into the world of the gluten free diet began after a test, via our nutritionist, in Spring 2012 revealed my daughter was gluten intolerant.  In some ways this was a relief.  She has had health problems for years, and numerous doctors, including several gastroenterologists, had failed to help her.  She had had a blood test for coeliac disease in 2010, but this was negative, and there was no mention of gluten intolerance being possible if it was not coeliac disease.  I understand that non-coeliac gluten intolerance/sensitivity is only now being accepted by medical professionals.

Food Shopping

I was still very weak in spring 2012, so the details of how I coped with my daughter becoming gluten free are hazy.  I had only just started attempting to do weekly on line grocery shopping, and found it incredibly draining.  I was given a list from our nutrtionist of all the foods that may contain gluten, there is a similar list available as a download from the coeliac uk webpage . The obvious foods like bread and pasta didn’t phase me, I knew I could buy gluten free equivalents.  It was other stuff that I found hard.  For example many, many processed foods contain gluten.  The answer here is to cook your own food from scratch, but I was too ill to do that.  For the first few weeks, as I was shopping, every food label had to be checked .  I soon got to know which products were “safe” and which to delete from my weekly shop.  On-line shopping made things slightly easier, because I was able to look at labels from the comfort of my sofa, and do a search for “gluten free …….” and see what came up. Here are some examples of foods I was shocked to find contained gluten:

  • stock cubes (don’t panic there are now several G.F. brands around)
  • Soy sauce ( Use Tamari sauce instead)
  • Oven Chips* – some are coated in wheat flour.  It seems to be the cheaper ones that don’t contain gluten, but you need to check the packets
  • Crisps* – this is the most random one.  Some crisps contain gluten, some don’t.  Sometimes different flavours in the same range contain gluten.  Again it’s a case of checking every packet.
  • Ice cream* – this was on the list we were given, but in my experience most ice-cream I buy is gluten free.  Of course ice cream cones contain gluten. You still need to check each pack to be sure.
  • Sausages and burgers – you can buy gluten free ones, but they tend to be expensive.
  • cooking sauces e.g. sauces for chicken, pasta etc.  There are some gluten free brands available, but they tend to be more expensive.  Seeds of Change make some good sauces.

Other People’s cooking

In addition, at this time we were still reliant on other people cooking meals for us.  My friends rose to the challenge of cooking gluten free meals, but I’m sure there were occasions where meals inadvertently contained a small amount of gluten (e.g. from stock cubes).  Despite being told we needed to eliminate gluten 100% I just accepted we were doing the best we could, and was honest with our nutritionist about our progress. My mum has struggled with remembering my daughter needs gluten free food, but now, after a year and a few mistakes along the way, she seems to have  a good grasp and tries really hard to cater for us.

Packed Lunches

One of the hardest things to change was packed lunches.  My husband was (and still is) making all the packed lunches and I found it incredibly difficult to find gluten free lunches that didn’t require lots of preparation, that he was willing to prepare.  Our nutritionist sent us a list of ideas for “easy” packed lunches, but these were still too much for him to cope with, and I was incapable of adding extra cooking activity into my day.  Fortunately I found some gluten free falafels and they became the staple gluten free lunch when we didn’t have other ideas;  my daughter still has them regularly in her lunch box. This year, with my improving health my daughter and I have written a list of ideas for her lunches to encourage variation.  We have found the Lunchbox Doctor website an excellent source of ideas, although it is not specifically gluten free.

School lunches

I met with the school cook and found that the school could provide gluten free lunches on some, but not all days.  When we first began this gluten free journey the school had an excellent cook and she told me which meals she could adapt and which she couldn’t.  Since the school could not supply gluten free sausages, I arranged to supply sausages for her to cook.  This meant my daughter was able to have school lunches on more days, and took the pressure of my husband to produce packed lunches.  Unfortunately that cook left and the new one produced food that was so unappealing my children gradually refused to eat any school meals  (the school is going to change catering suppliers to improve the situation).

Eating Out

Occasionally we eat out at restaurants.  We haven’t found this too much of a problem, the key is to select a restaurant that either has gluten free options, or cooks real food.   A lot of the chain italian/pizza restaurants now offer gluten free alternatives.  If we go to our local indian restaurant my daughter orders tandoori chicken and rice.  Carvery restaurants are a good option, because nearly everything apart from the stuffing and yorkshire pudding is gluten free, so there is plenty to choose from.  We have always found restaurant staff happy to adapt food.  We did once go to a restaurant where there were no gluten free options that my daughter liked.  The chef happily made her an omelette even though this was not on the menu.  It can help to phone up before hand and discuss what gluten free options can be provided.

Home Baking

My daughter loves baking.  She was pleased to discover that almost any baking recipe can be made gluten free by substituting gluten free flour for ordinary flour.  You also need to check that your baking powder is gluten free; some brands do contain gluten.

My Experience

My experience of eating gluten free food began gradually.  Although my foods to eat less of list included grains, I had not had a test which showed I reacted to gluten of wheat.  My appointments with my nutritionist initially had to be very short, because I would tire quickly and my brain fog would make continuing the appointment impossible.  Sometimes we would break the appointment into 2 sections so I could go and rest in the middle.  Perhaps if I had been more capable we would have discussed gluten in more detail – perhaps we did and I don’t remember (the joys of brain fog!). I began to have gluten free bread and pasta, but I didn’t totally avoid gluten, and on the occasions where I did eat gluten I didn’t notice any digestive problems.  I can’t remember when I decided to get serious about completely avoiding gluten myself, but I think it was spring 2013. As my health has improved my ability and commitment to change my diet has increased.  At the moment I am gluten free, because I am wheat, oat, rye, barley free.  I am focussing on eating more vegetables and avoiding grains (except small portions of rice and quinoa).  I have found if I pile my plate high with vegetables I do not miss the grains. My reasons for avoiding gluten are:

  1. I was recommended to avoid all the grains that contain gluten by my nutritionist
  2. Because of my daughter’s intolerance I have read about gluten sensitivity and the wide range of symptoms it can cause, many of which are present in CFS/ME (more detail to come in a separate post)
  3. To aid my recovery it makes sense I am trying to eat for optimal nutrition – maximum benefit from minimal digestive effort.  The more I read about grains, the more I realise that they put a stain on our digestive system, and for some people are harmful.

Gluten free does not mean healthy

Many of the gluten free foods in the “free from” aisles at the supermarket are gluten free equivalents of unhealthy, processed foods.  Gluten free biscuits and cakes will still be full of sugar and unhealthy fats.  They should not be consumed regularly if you are trying to improve your health.  However, I have found them useful when we are invited to social gatherings where everyone else is eating cake, and my daughter would feel deprived if she didn’t have gluten free treats.

Conclusion

I hope our experience reassures anyone thinking of becoming gluten free that it’s possible to do.  The initial change takes some effort, but once you have made the change you get into a routine and it becomes much easier.

 

* if you’re trying to recover from ME I would advise minimising/avoiding processed foods like crisps oven chips and ice-cream.

1 Comment

Posted in my experience, unhelpful foods

Increasing or Decreasing?

Posted on October 28, 2013 | Leave a comment

During my recovery I have made several major changes in lifestyle.  Most of these have been done gradually, as when you have very little energy it’s hard to change anything.

I have been reflecting on how I have made these changes and realised that when I’m successful I focus on what I am increasing or moving towards, not what I am decreasing or moving away from.  Here’s a couple of examples to illustrate what I mean:

Increase rest and decrease activity

I focused on increasing my rest by agreeing a rest schedule with my Occupational Therapist and over the coming weeks my focus was on ensuring I rested at the times we had agreed.  To do this I had to stop whatever my activity was at that time and go and rest (at that time I used to lie on my bed to rest).  This naturally meant I decreased my activity, but I didn’t think about that aspect.

Increase vegetables and decrease processed food

I have made many changes to my diet.  You can view my foods to eat more of and foods to eat less of lists. Whist there does need to be some awareness of what you are trying not to eat it is much better to focus on adding in the foods you want to increase.Since we have a finite appetite this will naturally lead to a decrease in other foods (the processed stuff we want to move away from).

With this focus I can think about eating the foods that nourish my body and help it to heal, which makes me feel good about myself, rather than focusing on the foods I can’t eat and feeling deprived and negative about the changes.

I personally don’t ban any foods, I haven’t been diagnosed with a food allergy/intolerance.  So therefore if I want to eat a certain food I can. However, the more I stick to the foods that are good for me, the better I feel and the less I want to eat the foods that I’m trying to avoid.

If you’re struggling to make a change try focusing on the positive aspect of the change – know what you are moving towards and focus on that rather than what you are moving away from.

Leave a comment

Posted in my experience, positive activities

Alcohol

Posted on October 23, 2013 | Leave a comment

This post was inspired by a glass of wine on Saturday night – only my second alcoholic drink in nearly two years.

Why I Don’t Drink Alcohol

Since I got CFS/ME  in January 2012 I have avoided alcohol almost entirely.

For the first few months of illness I felt dizzy and ill most of the time, and I had no desire to add to that with a hangover.  Once I got my dizziness under control and was pacing better I decided to try a small amount of wine.  So one evening in August 2012 when my kids were staying with my sister I experimented and had one half glass.

From that experiment I discovered I was alcohol intolerant!  The next day I had the worst hangover ever, as if I’d drunk 2 bottles of wine instead of half a glass. I felt like I’d been poisoned.

That experience was enough to stop my trying alcohol again until now.

How the Body Processes Alcohol

I have picked out some highlights (relevent to CFS/ME) of what happens during alcohol metabolism from this article.

  • Alcohol is absorbed into the bloodstream through the small intestine.
  • It travels to the liver where it is converted to energy.  Whilst the liver is metabolising the alcohol it is unable to carry out other functions.
  • The liver can process 1/2 oz alcohol per hour.  Excess alcohol flows to other parts of the body.
  • Alcohol in the heart causes you to pump less blood and the blood vessels relax, causing a lowering of blood pressure.
  • Alcohol is a sedative. When it reaches your brain it slows the transmission of impulses between nerve cells that control your ability to think and move.
  • Alcohol reduces your brain’s production of anti-diuretic hormones, which keep you from making too much urine. You may lose lots of liquid, vitamins and minerals.

 What Does This Mean For Me?

  • Tests I did with my nutrtionist indicated my liver is not getting rid of toxins as it should, but is recirculating them around my body: this is probably why a small amount of alcohol had such a massive impact on me.
  • I am already eating extra salt to counteract low blood pressure, thus alcohol lowering my blood pressure is not something I want.
  • I already have brain fog, therefore I don’t want the sedative effect of alcohol dulling me further.
  • I take vitamin and mineral supplements and  I don’t want to waste them by peeing them out at a faster rate than normal.

It’s clear that the effects of alcohol are not going to help me feel better.

What happened after my drink on Saturday?

I’m pleased to report that I felt OK after my wine on Saturday night.  I think this could be because my sauna is helping me to detox, and hence my liver is better able to process the alcohol than it was.

What will my attitude to alcohol be going forward?  

It’s on my list of foods to eat less of and I intend to avoid it almost entirely, because it’s not going to help me recover and it may hinder recovery.   However, on very special occasions, if I want a drink I won’t be scared of how I’ll feel the next day, I’ll be able to imbibe if I want to.

What’s your experience of drinking alcohol and CFS/ME?

 

Leave a comment

Posted in my experience, science, unhelpful foods

Sleep and brain detoxification

Posted on October 18, 2013 | Leave a comment

This morning I heard a story on the news about sleep being a time when the brain detoxifies and I wondered if there is a connection between this study and the brain fog we get with ME/CFS.

This is purely my own speculation based on observations of my brain fog.  My brain fog improved gradually as my sleep improved (after I began treating my adrenal fatigue). Perhaps this is because now I’m able to sleep better my brain has more time to detoxify itself, and hence everything works better.

Another possible reason for brain fog is mitochondrial failure.  Perhaps our brain cells simply can’t make enough energy to operate properly.

Whatever the reason behind my brain fog, I’m glad it’s receded sufficiently for me to be able to write this blog.  I’m thankful every day that my health is improving.

Leave a comment

Posted in my experience, positive activities, science

A quick way to increase the vegetable content of any meal

Posted on October 17, 2013 | Leave a comment

In my post Foods to eat more of, I said that I am aiming for 1/3 protein to 2/3 carbohydrates for every meal, that carbohydrates should be in the form of vegetables as much as possible and that I’m trying to eat plenty of green, leafy vegetables.

For a long time I was reliant on other people cooking meals (my family still cook 4 nights out of 7), and my family usually don’t provide such a high proportion of vegetables with a meal.

Often I have dragged myself to the table from where I have been lying (sofa or bed) to discover a meal that did not match my ideal.  I’d like to stress here that I am always grateful for a meal prepared by someone else, and I certainly don’t want to criticise whoever has prepared it or suggest that their efforts aren’t appreciated.  So I need to increase the vegetable content without creating a fuss.

My solution to this is to always keep a bag of ready washed green leaves in the fridge.  This could be spinach, lettuce, watercress, rocket or other green leaves that can be eaten without cooking.  Then I simply add a handful or two to my plate.  I also try and keep a jar of homemade salad dressing (olive oil, lemon juice, garlic, herbs and celtic sea salt) to make the salad a bit more interesting.

One extra tip if you’re going to try this; darker green leaves have more nutritional value than paler leaves, so don’t stick to iceberg lettuce, experiment with other darker green leaves.

Leave a comment

Posted in helpful foods, my experience

Bone Broth

Posted on October 10, 2013 | 3 comments

I’ve already mentioned in Feeding hungry kids (and husbands) that a popular food in our house has been ready made soups from the chiller section of the supermarket.  I used to have a bowl of soup nearly every lunchtime. These were a life saver when I was too weak to cook.  However, now I’m improving I am managing to make more home made stocks and soups, although I still make use of ready made soups when I’ve run out of home made and I’m low on energy. I’ve been reading a lot about the benefits of bone broth.  It seems to be a bit of a super food.  Here’s some of the claims:

  • helps heal the gut
  • increase immunity
  • reduce joint pain in athletes
  • may improve sleep quality
  • helps the liver with detoxification
  • it’s a good source of magnesium, which I’ve found helpful in reducing restless legs and leg pain

If you want to research this further there here are some articles I found helpful:

As a CFS sufferer bone broth sounds like something I should be eating more of. I like the idea of perpetual soup.  I may try this next week and see how I get on.  I’m not sure my family will take kindly to drinking broth, but I will try it. I have made a couple of batches of chicken stock recently. I’ve used it in home made soups and various slow cooker recipes.  I still have a litre or so left in my freezer which I’m going to use in some leek and potato soup. Here’s how I make chicken stock: Ingredients

  • The remains of a chicken (carcass, skin etc.)
  • 1-2 bay leaves
  • 1-2 carrots
  • 1-2 celery sticks
  • 1 onion – peeled and halved
  • 3 peppercorns
  • celtic sea salt
  • herbs – usually thyme or rosemary (fresh or dried)

Put chicken carcass, skin and any other bits left when we’ve eaten the chicken into the slow cooker.  Add the other ingredients, cover with water to the capacity of the slow cooker.  Cook for approx 8 hours. Cool and drain the stock.  Keep in the fridge for approx 5 days or in the freezer for longer.

3 Comments

Posted in helpful foods, my experience, recipes