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Hi, all!

Before I was diagnosed with CD, I was terribly ill.  I did not realize how
badly I felt until I started to feel better.  I did not have a real
appreciation for good health until I almost lost mine and saw my husband
losing his.  What I've learned from some of you, through trial and error,
and from research I've done over these last 10-12 months has changed my
husbands and my life so incredibly that I wanted to share it with this list.

I had been looking for answers to my health concerns for all of my 57 years,
when I finally got a diagnosis for CD last year.  I was elated that,
finally, I had some answers!  I decided that if I was going to have to learn
a new way to eat, that I would look at my WHOLE diet.  I drastically changed
everything! After following this new way of eating for 10 months, almost
every symptom I was having (and I had many & was on 10 drugs) is gone. I'm
also down to 1 drug now, have lost 52 lbs., and do not crave anything!  I
had battled carbohydrate cravings all my life and would never have believed
this could happen to me.  I believe that when our bodys are getting what
they need nutritionally, we are satisfied and the cravings miraculously
stop.  Once the gluten, sugar and refined foods (I call them "packaged junk"
since there's little food value in them) were eliminated from my diet, I
began to rally and I'm still improving.  My allergies are also better than
they've been in years.  My husband and I can eat potatos or rice or corn
maybe once or twice a week now without getting indigestion whereas they
would give us terrible indigestion and bloating before.  He was having
terrible problems with his Crohn's Disease, and started to eat the same way
I was eating about a month later, after seeing me improve so much.  He also
has lost 50 lbs. and looks and feels great . . . no signs of Crohn's, other
than scar tissue, at his last check-up!  We have people everywhere asking us
what we are doing to look and feel so great.  My Mother (CD - who's lost 25
lbs. now), brother (CD), and several others that we know personally  have
responded so favorably to this "miracle diet" that we are touting it
everywhere.

Our goal is to eat as many whole, natural foods as we can (no "fake" foods)
. . . no gluten (of course), no caffine or carbonation, refined sugar, soy
(since it's controversial), corn (causes a problem for many), potatoes
(since they are so high in starch), lactose (since most CDers have lactose
intolerance), rice (also high in starch), preservatives or additives (we all
KNOW these are not healthy).  After doing exhaustive research, I spent many
hours in the store reading labels and made a list of all the foods I could
find that fit this criteria, and that's all I bought . . . and threw out
everything else, literally. Of course that meant I would have to make just
about everything from "scratch".  I knew that would be a real challenge
since I didn't like to cook.  I hated to cook because I would eat and then
hate myself for being overweight.  However, the benefits have been so great
that I actually look forward to getting in the kitchen and "creating" now.
It has become fun!

I've learned to cook "big" and freeze and rotate so I don't have to stay in
the kitchen so much.  I use a crockpot, a George Foreman grill, and the
microwave for fast, easy dishes.  I fix lots of fresh or frozen vegetables
(no canned since sugar is usually added & often not listed), salads
(couldn't eat much raw vegges in the beginning, but can now), dried beans
(there's a trick to making these easily digestable), fruits, chicken,
turkey, fish, very hard cheeses (no lactose), eggs, and beef or pork (maybe
once a week), mixed raw nuts, seeds and dried fruit with nothing added.  I
bake once a week and use only almond flour (which is loaded with nutrition)
instead of rice, potato or tapioca flours, that are practically all starch.
Baked goods with almond flour are much better tasting (no grit) and they're
more moist, also.

I make my own yogurt (once a week) and ferment it over 24 hours which
destroys the lactose (milk sugar).  It's loaded with the good bacteria which
aids in healing the intestines and improves digestion.  I don't buy
commercial yogurts since we have no way of knowing if they have have been
fermented long enough to destroy all the lactose, plus they have added
sugars which are hard to digest and feed the bad bacteria in the intestines
and cause them to multiply.  It's also much better tasting than the
commercial ones.  I make 2 quarts at a time and then use it in casseroles,
baked goods, fruit dips, smoothies, and to make frozen yogurt.  I sweeten
with honey since it digests easier and faster than sugar (doesn't sit in the
intestines and ferment), and it doesn't feed the bad little critters in the
intestines. I have CD and my husband has Crohn's and the yogurt has helped
heal our intestines and restore good digestion.  I couldn't eat but a couple
teaspoons at a time at first, but now can successfully handle as much as I
want.  We use this instead of probiotics.

I believe that many of us with CD have such compromised immune systems, that
it takes much more than just getting gluten free to feel great and regain
our health.  I also see so many of us adding sugar and starch when we leave
out the gluten and I believe this is the reason so many haven't regained
their health, energy and stamina.  Since many with CD are prone to
diabetees, I feel it's critical we limit the sugars, starches, and
carbohydrates.

Thanks for letting me share.  I've been rather silently reading this list
for a year now, trying to learn everything I can, and feel I cannot help but
share some of what I've learned.  I hope that it will benefit someone else.

Happy cooking and eating!

    Kay in Austin