A Regimen for Remission
This log tracks my regimen of attitude, exercise, stress management, and SCD foods. Since I started this regimen in 1997, I've been able to keep my Crohn's in a drug-free remission.

Monkey-see,
monkey-don't
Even though I may have experimented beyond the SCD from time to time, one must remember that everyone is different. Follow the intro diet for 3-5 days, and stick with the SCD until you are completely symptom free for at least one year before experimenting.

Be sure to read:
Intro to Flog
Read Me
Archives
Laura's IBS log
SCD Web Library

Permalinks:
The linked timestamps are your permanent links to individual log entries.

Get the book:
Ready to get your shit together? Got the intestinal fortitude? Yearning for a nirvana of peristalsis? Buy Breaking The Vicious Cycle! Written by Elaine Gottschall B.A., M.Sc., the book includes guidelines for dietary relief and sustainable remission of Crohns, Ulcerative Colitis, and other IBDs.

Feel free to contact me if you still have questions.

FYI: Yes, I am playing around with the layout of this page. Everything should be working, though.
mhs@20:54

Dinner: leftover curried lentil dal, tossed salad, and a turkey burger.
mhs@19:00

Lunch: leftover salmon, tossed salad, and grilled zucchini.

I found this guy on our going-to-seed parsley (some sort of swallowtail?) this morning. I hope the birds don't get him!

mhs@13:20

The first week of Flog: it all started here!
mhs@09:52

Breakfast: fruit, cheese. My SCD yogurt came out horrible so I have to try making it again. I think there are two possible causes: 1) our house stays between 74 and 85 degrees. If the cooker "adds" too much heat to the ambient temperature (because it is designed for a 68 degree ambient temperature) then the bacteria will not have the necessary conditions to make good yogurt. 2) I used store-bought yogurt as a starter. I am consistently disappointed when I use store-bought; I am going to buy more starter culture from Lucyskitchenshop!
mhs@09:47

Wednesday, May 30, 2001

Dinner: tossed salad, grilled zucchini, grilled salmon with walnut cilantro pesto.
mhs@18:51

Splitty rocks!
My Zip drive managed to munge my 18MB Sent mail file. I was unable to copy, paste, move, drag, drop, edit or view it. Fields suggested using Splitty... and it worked wonderfully. I only lost the last 3-4MB of sent mail, which I can almost live with (as if I had a choice?).
mhs@15:42

Lunch: lentil dal, leftover turkey burgers, tossed salad.
mhs@13:24

Something happened to blogger: a few entries are missing. :-(
mhs@13:18

Breakfast: fruit, dccc with honey, figs, cheese, a hard-boiled egg...

Dinner, yesterday: leftover chicken, stirfried chicken with a Penang curry sauce, gazpacho.
mhs@11:04

Tuesday, May 29, 2001

Breakfast: fruit, dccc, honey.
mhs@07:21

Monday, May 28, 2001

Dinner: gazpacho, Caesar salad, grilled turkey burgers.
mhs@20:20

At long last: another chapter in the Journals of Nature's Beauty: Lizard Pushups!
mhs@17:30

Lunch: leftover chicken stuffed with chevre and spinach, black bean soup with cheese, stir-fried veggies and chicken in a red curry Penang paste.

One Usenet reader's response to the Crohn's gene / chromosome 16 / Nod2 announcement last week:
"Interesting research, and no doubt promising for the future, but I don't see any practical result for us here-and-now IBDers.
We already know that, to avoid IBD, one should avoid being born with the "bad" genes, or, if you already have those genes, one should avoid ALL of the many triggers of the disease -- some known and some unknown -- for one's whole life.
It reminds me of Will Rogers' advice on the stock market: "Buy a stock and, when it goes up, sell it. If it doesn't go up, don't buy it."
mhs@13:59

As usual, a jog around the neighborhood, followed by breakfast: fruit, dccc with honey, nuts, cheese.

According to new research by two independant groups, "Crohn's disease appears to be caused by a mix of both inherited and environmental factors...". These findings concur with the research by Dr. S.V. Haas and Elaine Gottschall implicating microbial growth as a factor in causing Crohn's disease as well as their advocating the Specific Carbohydrate Diet in altering the microbial growth both qualitatively and quantitatively.
More >>
mhs@10:20

Sunday, May 27, 2001

Dinner: red lentil dal, chicken stir fry with red curry Penang paste, and wild rice.
Again, wild rice is not SCD-legal but I'm doing my own experimentation with it. Don't try this at home kids!
mhs@20:46

Lunch: roasted chicken, tossed salad, cheese.
mhs@14:11

Breakfast: Fruit, dccc, nuts.

Dinner, yesterday: @ Soleil, a very nice French restaraunt where Laura and I celebrated our 4th wedding anniversary. A gorgeous view of Tucson, delicious food...quite nice. While this "seasoned" SCD-er splurged a little and enjoyed a few illegals (with no reaction yet), the "legals" included: a glass of merlot, warm spinach salad with goat cheese and garlic, grilled salmon with a tomato olive coulis on a bed of whitebeans (probably not fully soaked), and a bit of my wife's roasted chicken stuffed with chevre and spinach. Wonderful!
mhs@08:32

Saturday, May 26, 2001

Lunch: roasted chicken, tossed salad, cheese, and a banana.
mhs@12:32

Breakfast: fruit, dry curd cottage cheese with TJ's raw, unblended southwest mezquite honey.

Look what we found in our front yard this morning! :-) These only bloom for one night a year..and all three of them bloomed on the same night this year. They are pollenated by bats.

mhs@08:12

Friday, May 25, 2001

Dinner: grill-roasted organic free range chicken with veggies, tossed salad, and a glass of wine.
mhs@19:45

LinuxGram.com recently gave the retail market shares in the US during the first 2001 Quarter (Source: PC Data). Guess who is first?
Mandrake - 33.8%
Redhat - 30.7%
Suse - 23.8%
FreeBSD - 5.6%
Caldera - 2.5%
Corel - 2.3%
Turbolinux - 1.2%

mhs@17:27

I hate to admit it, but I had almost forgotten about scdrecipe.com! It is a truly awe-inspiring site! Not only is it beatiful (both technically and aesthetically), but the recipes and rating system are just great! You must check it out!
mhs@17:24

Lunch: roasted chicken, tossed salad, black bean soup, and some wild rice. Yes, I'm still experimenting with wild rice (see Dinner, May 22, 2001). While I have no problems to report, wild rice is not SCD-legal and I do not suggest trying this until you have been in remission for a long, long time.
mhs@13:51

Breakfast: fruit, nuts, cheese; a nice long walk before it gets too hot.

Laura and I are celebrating!
mhs@08:34

Thursday, May 24, 2001

Dinner: grilled tuna and leeks, sauteed Swiss chard.

Snack: fruit shake.

Lunch: TJ's chicken masala, tossed salad.

Breakfast: fruit, nuts, cheese.
mhs@21:05

Wednesday, May 23, 2001

Lunch: roasted chicken, tossed salad.

Breakfast: fruit, nuts, cheese.
mhs@14:28

Tuesday, May 22, 2001

Dinner: OK, a little experimentation here (which should not be attempted by the newbies. Be warned. So there!). A local nutritionist suggested an addition to my diet in wild rice. Wild rice is not actually rice, but grass... so we cooked some up this evening and tried it out. Delicious - I had forgotten how much I loved the wild rice stuffing my mom used to make!!! Along with the wild rice we feasted upon: tossed salad, roasted golden beets, and grilled swordfish. Stay tuned to learn of any negative reactions to the wild rice.
mhs@18:32

Lunch: homemade black bean soup, leftover veggies and turkey burgers.
mhs@12:44

An article in today's Wall Street Journal (page B11) indicates that scientists from two independant studies have identified a gene linked to Crohn's disease. The article goes on to say "Crohn's disease appears to be caused by a mix of both inherited and environmental factors. One theory holds that the disease results from a faulty response to normal microbes found in the intestines, leading to an exaggerated immune response against the body's own tissue. The alterations in the Nod2 protein may explain part of what leads that immune response astray in some patients." These findings (especially the faulty response to normal microbes) concur with the research by Dr. Haas and Elaine Gottschall and their SCD. The full findings will appear in a coming issue of Nature.

More related links:
http://my.webmd.com/content/article/3204.672
http://abcnews.go.com/sections/living/DailyNews/crohnsgene010521.html
http://www.msnbc.com/news/576303.asp
http://www.health-news.co.uk/dsp_loggedout_story.cfm?FORMStoryID=48768
http://www.nature.com/nsu/010524/010524-6.html
http://my.webmd.com/content/article/1728.80126
mhs@08:12

Breakfast, after a short jog/run: fruit, nuts, cheese.
mhs@07:45

Monday, May 21, 2001

As a long-time fan of Loobylu.com, I just noticed: tile-able loobylu desktop wallpaper!
mhs@20:46

DID YOU KNOW..
that you can purchase a custom bag of M&M's in the color of your choice??!?!
mhs@20:38

Dinner: Same as lunch, plus a tossed salad.
I finished making my black bean soup, but it just doesn't smell as good as the first batch did. And upon a taste, it lacks the depth of flavor. I think I the ratio of vegetables to beans was too high.
mhs@20:23

Lunch: leftover grilled turkey burgers with broccoli and zucchini, stringbeans.

Breakfast: fruit, nuts.
mhs@14:03

Sunday, May 20, 2001

Dinner: grilled salmon, steamed artichokes, and sauteed zucchini and broccoli with garlic.
mhs@20:10

Lunch: tossed salad, turkey burger cheeseburger.

Just before lunch a momma Gambel's Quail and 5 babies ran through our backyard (only 4 babies visible here; yes, I know it's difficult to find them in the photo).

Breakfast: fruit, nuts, cheese.
mhs@14:11

Saturday, May 19, 2001

Lunch: tossed salad, leftover chicken.

Breakfast: fruit, pecans, raisins.

Dinner, yesterday: same as lunch today (a bit of a drag but culinary creativity and gumption was low).
mhs@13:01

Friday, May 18, 2001

Lunch: gazpacho, tossed salad, leftover grilled chicken, strawberries.

Breakfast: fruit. Snacks: pecans and raisins.
mhs@13:55

Thursday, May 17, 2001

Linux: the Operating System of the Rich And Famous.
mhs@19:38

Dinner: a fresh batch of grilled chicken with curried mango chutney, grilled eggplant. Dessert: organic honeydew melon.
mhs@19:30

Lunch: gazpacho, leftover grilled tuna, spinach with garlic.
mhs@13:42

"Back Then"
found here: http://sung3.ifsi.rm.cnr.it/~dargaud/Humor/QuotesComputer.html

A computer was something on TV
from a science fiction show.
A window was something you hated to clean
and RAM was the cousin of a goat...

Meg was the name of someone's girlfriend
and gig was a job for the nights.
Now they all mean different things
and that really mega bytes.

An application was for employment.
A program was a TV show.
A cursor used profanity.
A keyboard was a piano.

Memory was something that you lost with age.
A CD was a bank account.
Compress was something you did to the garbage
not something you did to a file.
Log on was adding wood to the fire.

Hard drive was a long trip on the road.
A mouse pad was where a mouse lived
and a backup happened to your commode.
Cut you did with a pocket knife.

Paste you did with glue.
A web was a spider's home
and a virus was the flu.

I guess I'll stick to my pad and paper
and the memory in my head.
I hear nobody's been killed in a computer crash
but when it happens they wish they were dead !
mhs@10:30

Breakfast: fruit.
mhs@08:38

Wednesday, May 16, 2001

Dinner: grilled stuffed mushrooms, grilled zucchini with a ginger and black bean sauce, sauteed organic baby spinach with garlic, and grilled ahi tuna.
mhs@21:04

According to wbur.org, "Hundreds of SUV owners woke up today to find this tucked under their wiper blades. They hadn't overstayed their time at the meter, but were cited for overtaxing the environment."
mhs@14:56

Lunch: leftover grilled chicken with mango chutney, tossed salad.
mhs@13:25

Aw, man!!!! I just got Eazel on my Linux box and they closed today! :-( Anyway, I expect the software itself will remain available for all to enjoy but there won't be much in the way of official development going on. Eazel's Nautilus file manager is a really nice looking (think OS X) interface to access all of your Linux *and* your Windows files. Breakfast: SCD yogurt, an apple, a banana, some pecans. Dinner yesterday: leftover grilled chicken, tossed salad, celery with peanut butter, organic baby carrots.. whatever I could find.

mhs@10:10

Tuesday, May 15, 2001

Lunch: leftover gazpacho, halibut with butter, capers, and lemon; curried eggplant.
mhs@13:23

Happy San Isidro!!!

Among other things, San Isidro is the patron saint of Madrid. I believe the Vatican has selected San Isidro as the patron saint of the Internet. Happy surfing!

[Note copied from Catholic.org: "The proposed Patron Saint of the Internet is St. Isadore [of Seville; the one from Madrid was a farmer], because (as I recall) he wrote the first encyclopedia, a written form of a database. For research purposes, the Internet can be a giant database. It might be a little bit of a stretch, but I can see the analogy.
The bigger question might be, Why does the Internet need a patron saint? "]
mhs@06:16

Breakfast: SCD yogurt, an apple, some nuts..

Dinner, yesterday: gazpacho, grilled chicken breast with garlic and onion stuffed under the skin (very flavorful and juicy!), tossed salad.

Lunch: Mongolian grill @ Rose Garden. Breakfast: guess?!
mhs@06:13

Sunday, May 13, 2001

Dinner: steamed halibut with butter, lemon, and capers; tossed salad, curried eggplant with garlic.
mhs@20:45

Oooh, just in time: Monster.com's Top 100 things to do if you've been laid off.
mhs@17:28

Breakfast: SCD yogurt, an apple, a banana, some pecans...

Dinner yesterday: Malaysian take-out from Seri Melaka @ Scott & Pamela's, with 10-week old Katherine.
mhs@09:10

Saturday, May 12, 2001

Lunch: tossed salad with ground flax seeds, some leftover salmon, and sliced avocado.
mhs@14:17

Breakfast: fruit, SCD yogurt.
mhs@09:33

Dinner, yesterday: grilled salmon with butter and pepper, steamed yellow squash, sauteed Swiss chard with garlic.
mhs@06:03

Friday, May 11, 2001

Lunch: tossed salad, curried turkey salad. Snacks: a banana, some pecans.

Breakfast: SCD yogurt, an apple.
mhs@12:40

Thursday, May 10, 2001

Derek Powazek has an upcoming book about communities, especially the onlines ones. Here's the preface.
mhs@20:41

Dinner: fresh peas sauteed in butter, cauliflower "mashed potatoes", and a tossed salad with flax seeds.

Lunch: leftover chicken with curried mango chutney, tossed salad, and a pear.
mhs@20:31

Book review: "The Strang Cookbook for Cancer Prevention", by Laura Pensiero, R.D., and Susan Oliveria, Sc.D., M.P.H.

A common concern for those with IBD is the possibility of diagnosis of colon cancer later in life. I sought this book in order to discover which foods one can eat *now* to lower the risk of cancer later in life. I was especially interested in learning about foods which were particularly beneficial to the digestive system and maintaining intestinal health.

This book contains about 100 pages on the science behind cancer and the Strang Cancer Center’s guidelines for reducing risks (looking at fats, proteins, carbohydrates, fiber, fruits and vegetables, etc.). Over 200 pages are dedicated to delicious recipes with nutritional information geared towards home cooking. I found a dozen or more recipes which can be easily adapted to suit those following the SCD (by substituting sugar with honey, removing complex carbohydrates, etc.). I’m looking forward to trying some of these new recipes!
mhs@11:46

Oh, and I made a delicious fruit shake yesterday of frozen strawberries, peaches, a fresh orange, a little ice, and a dash of honey. It was great, but it blasted through me about 2 hours later (after having gone to the gym). I'll try that shake experiment again today (without the gym) to see if it is just too much fruit to digest at one time for me.
mhs@11:41

Snacks: dried figs, bananas, celery with organic peanut butter.

Breakfast: an apple with some DCCC. I wanted to have my SCD yogurt, but it does not appear to be a very tasty batch. I like it to be more tart. Also, the consistency is not as creamy and smooth ("snuggly" is the way another listserve member describes her yogurt) but a bit curdled. Perhaps the starter yogurt was old, or it was the milk.

Dinner, yesterday: leftover Italian style chicken with provolone, tossed salad.
mhs@11:38

Wednesday, May 09, 2001

A Bried History of @
An interesting article in The Standard about a character on our keyboard notes: "..In Spain, the @ sign is increasingly used by youngsters as a politically correct way of avoiding specifying gender: "Hola, amig@s!"
mhs@13:16

Lunch: grilled chicken in a mango chutney sauce, tossed salad, dried figs.

Breakfast: fruit, dccc.

Dinner, yesterday: leftover salmon, stringbeans with garlic.
mhs@13:07

Tuesday, May 08, 2001

Lunch: halibut with curried mango chutney, sauteed string beans with garlic, fresh organic carrots.
mhs@13:46

While sipping some chamomile tea with mezquite honey (from TJ's), I heard some hummingbird airbrakes.

Dinner, yesterday: gazpacho, tossed salad with flax seeds, and sauteed chicken with garlic, tomato, scallions, and mushrooms.
mhs@06:10

Monday, May 07, 2001

Lunch: Rose Garden's all-you-can-eat Mongolian grill.
mhs@13:57

Are you a "local hero" with IBD, or do you know one? The CCFA is seeking nominations for local heros!
Many people still live active, challenging lives while managing IBD symptoms. They strive to help those around them or push themselves to attain personal goals. The following are some examples of local heroes:

• A volunteer for a local charitable activity or event
• An active parent successfully managing his or her family and career
• An athlete who participates in competitive events
• A student who excels in academic and extracurricular activities

Click here for more information and the application (must be postmarked by July 9, 2001)
mhs@10:59

When was the last time you thought about your return email address and identity which are displayed (and archived) when posting to the Usenet? Well, Google just bought all of the old Usenet archives...it is amazing what you can find out there!
mhs@08:52

Breakfast: an apple, dccc, mezquite honey, and a banana.
mhs@08:44

Something to warm up before a morning jog: a cup of chamomile tea with honey.
mhs@06:35

Sunday, May 06, 2001

Dinner: grilled salmon with TJ's walnut and cilantro pesto, sauteed string beans with garlic, tossed salad, and gazpacho.
mhs@20:01

Lunch: tossed salad with flax seed oil and raw, organic red wine vinegar dressing; string beans with a sesame sauce, curried turkey with currants, scallions, and almonds.
mhs@13:29

"Strict Diet Relieves Crohn's Disease Symptoms", features information about the SCD and Mike Simons. Originally published in the February 2001 issue of Gastroenterology and Endoscopy News, the article notes, however, "lack of studies, research keep GIs from backing treatment option".
mhs@07:47

Another theory on Crohn's disease (not so new, just a new link): the MAP bacteria from cows and ground water.
mhs@07:35

Breakfast: SCD yogurt, an apple, a banana...

Dinner, yesterday: at an Indian restaraunt here in Tucson. The place has been voted "best Indian in Tucson" a few times, but it left me disappointed. While it did have plenty of curry and spice in its food, if one really wants good Indian food one needs to go to a place like New York City or San Jose, where there is a significant, discerning Indian population. Anyway, we had lamb fraizee (lamb, tomato, onion, peppers), chicken something (nuts, raisins), and a spinach dish.
mhs@07:27

Saturday, May 05, 2001

Does a nap after a meal mess up your digestion? In my case, a horizonal nap after a meal will almost always cause me a few hours' worth of diarrhea when I awake.

But, is it the nap itself, or the food that was eaten prior to the nap, or the position one was in during the nap, or the activities from earlier in the day that lead to this diarrhea? Is this unique to me? Do other people with IBD/IBS have this problem, or does it happen to everyone?

My 'gut feeling' is that the horizontal position and the duration of the nap play a significant role in what happens to my digestion. Even though I've been in remission from Crohn's for over 4 years, I find that when I take a horizontal nap of at least 20 minutes' duration within one hour of my meal, I will end up with diarrhea when I awake (or shortly thereafter). This happens irregardless of the meal which was eaten (breakfast, lunch, or dinner). I believe that the stomach must empty itself into the colon faster than usual or in such a way that whatever was in the colon is much more "ready to leave" upon awakening (as well as more liquid and presumably less absorbed than it should have been). I also have found that a nap *in a chair* of the same duration will not cause the same problem (but then again, the nap will not be quite as satisfying). Contact me if you have any thoughts or comments to share!
mhs@15:14

Lunch: leftover Italian chicken (with Provolone), steamed frozen spinach, a banana, and some leftover red chard.
Followed by a nap (hence the nap post, above).
mhs@15:14

Breakfast: dccc, apples... whatever else I can find to graze upon.

Dinner: baked Italian-style chicken, sauteed red chard, puree of butternut squash with ginger.
mhs@07:36

Friday, May 04, 2001

Lunch: leftover turkey burger and grilled eggplant, gazpacho, and some baby organic carrots.
mhs@13:44

Breakfast: DCCC, an apple, and a banana.
mhs@07:37

Thursday, May 03, 2001

Newsforge.com compares Linux-Mandrake 8.0 and Red Hat 7.1 2001-05-03
Guess who comes at the top ?
"I have to say that I prefer Mandrake -- it seems more tightly integrated than Red Hat, and is more up to date, as well as supporting ReiserFS..." This comprehensive and detailed contest points out Linux-Mandrake's continuing innovative and user friendly approach. The 8.0 version seems to be today's best "point-and-click, package-based" distribution.
Mike loves his new Mandrake 8.0 Linux!
mhs@19:36

Dinner: grilled halibut with Laura's curried mango chutney, tossed salad, and grilled eggplant.
mhs@18:51

Lunch: tossed salad, leftover turkey burgers.
mhs@15:05

Tucson has a new radio station (KCMT 101.9). It aims to play classic rock, all the time. There is no advertising yet, just an occasional plug for the station that says, "KCMT 101.9 classic rock. doubling our playlist every day". They started on Tuesday, playing Led Zeppelin's "Stairway to Heaven'' non-stop. On Wednesday they added The Eagles' "Hotel California"--two songs, back to back, all day. Today they've added Santana's "Black Magic Woman" and... well I haven't heard the fourth tune yet. What an interesting way to launch a station, don't you think?
mhs@15:03

Says one new SCD-er:
"Frankly, I am not looking forward to starting this diet and leaving so many of the foods I love behind me. Then again, it seems many of those foods I am so fond of are not so fond of me!"

One reply:
Many people find that the diet is not a diet of deprivation; it is a diet of substitution. For every food that you like that you have to leave behind, you will discover some new food or combination of foods that you never knew existed, and end up liking every bit as much as what you gave up.

In other words: it's easier than it looks.

Welcome.
More >>
mhs@06:52

Breakfast: fruit.

Dinner, yesterday: steamed artichokes, grilled turkey burgers, and fresh gazpacho.
mhs@06:46

Tuesday, May 01, 2001

Breakfast: an apple, a banana, and some dried figs.
mhs@08:12

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