The Starch Solution - Dr. McDougall

I am close to 3 months in on eating by the Vegan eating plan by John McDougall. I just can't believe how much a difference food has made in my body healing itself. 3 months ago my body was in chronic pain. I could not open a water bottle any more, my hands hurt so badly and were so stiff just holding onto something without dropping it was a rarity. I value both traditional and holistic medicine, however, from research I knew that traditional medicine offered me no cure, only harsh medication to slow the process and that would cause more problems at the same time. So I went to a holistic doctor in the Dallas area that I had gone to before. I had just finished the Whole 30 which is a protein based diet, much like paleo. No grains, no sugar,... All of this pain had happened to me over the previous 12 months, with the last 6 months the progression happening at a startling rate. During the Whole 30 my pain and stiffness became substantially worse. When I went to my holistic doctor he kept me on a similar plan as to the Whole 30 with some minor alterations. Something inside of me, (Thank you, Jesus) prompted me to research for myself about diets that help RA. Within a couple of days I found the Paddison Program and John McDougall's website. The first 12 days I followed the Paddison Program (a strict elimination diet, Vegan) and then on day 13 moved over to the McDougall plan which is also Vegan. After the first 3 days I had full use of my hands again. My RA score went from a 39 (high) to a 23.3 (still high but much lower) in 6 weeks. This plan works for general health, auto immune diseases including RA, issues with cholesterol, everything....

It is important to not think Vegan eating is purely veggies and fruit, this plan includes starches as the basis of each meal, then veggies and fruit. I am never hungry after I eat, I stay full till it's time for my next meal, my brain functions well (no brain fog).

I still have a way to go to have a score of normal when it comes to inflammation, but I know as long as I feed my body what it needs it will get there. God made our bodies to heal themselves, like a cut heals on our arm or leg, but we have to give it the nutrients it needs to make that happen.

I followed John McDougall's website for the first 10 weeks with just info on line which is free, but recently bought his book. It is filled with lots of great information, all the how and why it works and what led him to start testing his theory of a Vegan based eating plan as compared to traditional meat based diet.

Let's Get A Little Bit Rowdy...R.O.W.D.Y. with Kim Chi

This week I tried for the first time a Gluten Free, Vegan tortilla that actually holds up to rolling food inside. Here is the link, it's an Almond Flour tortilla. I had seen it advertised a couple of months ago and someone posted on FB that they were in town so I made a point to go by Natural Grocers to buy a pack. I made a huge mistake assuming that the Cassava and Coconut tortilla's by the same company were also Vegan. They are not...as pictured by the nice pink cow on the front of the package...rushing while buying Vegan food is never a good idea. Must. Read. All. Labels. The Almond Flour tortilla was super yummy. I made a pot of pinto beans in my crock pot, then piled on a bit of brown rice, and then because I was feeling crazy...doppled some Kim Chi on top of that. We like sauerkraut in our house, I have NEVER tried Kim Chi (that's how this brand is spelled) before but it looked super spicy and yummy so I gave it a try. This particular brand includes kale in the mix. I really liked it. The pickly spice went well with the rice and beans. We have enjoyed eating on the pinto beans for a couple of days. Today I sautéed some red, yellow and green bell peppers and some onions, then mixed it with the beans and rice and made a couple of tacos with the almond flour tortilla's. Super yummy. Vegan eating is super inexpensive...as long as you don't buy too many of these delicious tortillas...you might have to sell an arm to pay for them. In all seriousness, Vegan eating is very inexpensive if you cook at home. Veggies are a bargain, even organic veggies are a bargain as compared to meat and cheese.

Zoodles, Rice and Pasta

One of the easiest meals I love to make is a zoodle (zucchini noodle) based pasta sauce dish. However, on this starch based vegan eating plan that I follow there's only one thing missing when it is just the zucchini and the pasta sauce..the starch. This night I decided to add rice to the zucchini and sauce. It was pretty good. I keep some sort of rice, lentil, quinoa or brown rice pasta on hand, white potatoes are great also. Dr. McDougall, whose plan I follow spouts the benefits of the humble white potato all the time. Starches (should be 70%) of your meal, along with the veggies and a bit of fruit are what heals your body. The starches are super important in giving our bodies what it needs to heal itself from disease, and in my case the auto-immune disease of Rheumatoid Arthritis. This goes completely against many current thoughts on food, but I am living proof of feeling better, my body healing itself of RA, crazy good energy and losing weight.  I watched a Vegan food show on You-Tube this week and the woman who was doing the cooking shared that the cost of her main ingredient...dried chickpeas which she cooked then used as the base of her family's meals for 2 days cost $2. Amazing. I love my Vegan eating plan.

I Scream, You Scream, We all scream for Ice Cream (sort of)

It's a good world to live in when even though you can't have the real "cream" in ice cream, there are great alternatives to be found. 

If someone is choosing to follow a Vegan diet to heal from an auto-immune disease the amount of fat taken in must be at a minimum for maximum benefit. I will buy these ice "creams" knowing that I will only have a spoonful or two every couple of days. 

These are my two favorites. 

Of the nut cream alternatives...Almond, Coconut and Cashew milk ice creams, by FAR my favorite is the Cashew Milk, and while I haven't tried them all because Abilene's selections are a bit lacking my most favorite flavor is the Salted Caramel Cluster that I bought in Tucson at Sprouts. The Cashew Milk is super creamy and is the closest to real ice cream. All that to say - the only flavors I have seen in Abilene are a Chocolate flavor and Snicker-doodle, which Natural Grocers carries. I have requested Market Street carry the Salted Caramel Cluster, it's a brand they already carry but they haven't stocked this flavor yet. If they don't stock it soon I am going to ask again. I have requested lots from Natural Grocers lately, I don't want to wear out my welcome!

Then there is this.  Sorbetto....think sorbet (no dairy) along with gelato. Natural Grocers carries this and I have to say, it is by far my favorite chocolate ice cream whether it is vegan or not. I just closed my eyes when I tried it for the first time today. Rob even gave it a big thumbs up, I shared...one bite.

Summer Tomatoes

There is not much more flavorful than a fresh grown, vine ripened, farmers market bought summer tomato. This was a meal I threw together wanting to make the most out of the fresh tomatoes on my counter. 

1 Tomato cut in half

A couples thin slices of onion

Salt and Pepper

Cheese - I used the cheese pictured below, it is made from coconut and is non-dairy (Natural Grocers).

Vegan Parmesan 

Assemble all but the Vegan parmesan. I baked this in the oven at 350 degrees for 15 minutes. Then added the Vegan parm and turned the oven to broil...I watched it till the cheese and parm started to brown and voila it was done!!

RA Update and Spicy Lentil Hummus Snack

I am about 3 months in to my Vegan eating plan. I love it and am I am finding it a bit easier to manage each day. I am working on finding a balance between easy-to-make meals vs. pre-made vs. time heavy prep meals. I went back to work full time shortly after I made the switch to Vegan and have spent many afternoons on Sunday preparing food for the week. I would like a bit more time just to rest. So easy prep simple vegan meals is my current go-to. Green juicing in the morning, rice and beans, soup, baked potato (sweet or white) for lunch and then more of the same for dinner. To find the eating plan I follow click here.

I haven't had blood work done since my last Dr.'s visit. I need to try and get that done ASAP. Blood work is SO important to have a good measurement on what is happening with RA. The aches and pains might be less but they are still there and they are still finding new places to show up. For the last couple of weeks my ring finger on my left hand has had a lot of trouble. I am trying to keep stretching it for full range of motion, but left a lone it wants to just curl up and not have full range of movement any more. I am bound and determined to not let that happen. So I am constantly stretching it out. My right wrist is also hurting when it never has before. I take solace in the fact that the Paddington Program tells me that this will happen. Aches and pains move around, they have good days and worse days, but as long as I stick to the program of Vegan eating my body is healing and eventually will not have RA anymore.  On a positive note, everything else continues to feel so much better. But I just want to be sure and share that in my experience it has not been without ups and downs. The key is to stay the course.

I am not a big snacker in between meals. If I eat a snack then more than likely it becomes my meal. This is my favorite..snack becomes a meal right now. I love spicy. I buy this Yellow Lentil Hummus at Market Street and Mary's jalapeño crackers at Natural Grocer's. 

I eat gluten free as well as Vegan but am preparing for a mission trip to Haiti in a couple of weeks. 2 of the meals would be something that has gluten (the other 4 are rice and beans which is right up my alley!!), I will have protein bars...these are my favorite but it would be nice to eat what has been prepared, so I tried eating food with gluten in it last night to see how I would tolerate it. I have done great, so Haitian spaghetti...here I come!! (see below for an update)

Thanks for following along in my journey. I would welcome any recipes you would have to share, and your stories, too. Thankful we don't have to walk the journey alone.

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Added 24 hours of trying gluten: I had my most painful RA joint pain to date starting late yesterday afternoon. By last night I couldn't move my wrist and it felt like a white hot poker was in my wrist joint. While I have been off of Ibuprofen for months I broke down and took two last night and went to bed. I woke up this morning with my wrist still swollen but the harsh pain was gone. Whether this was an affect of gluten or if it was a flare up of RA not having to do with gluten I don't know. I will have to wait for a later time and try again. I decided to go back into my original 12 day Paddington Program starting today as a cleanse to see if that will help the pain and swelling move through quickly. RA is super scary and super painful and last night was both of those.