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May 26, 2005
Guest Entry: MR Answers Your Questions
All:
OK, this is MR (and not April pretending to be MR) attempting to clear
up some confusion I've caused second-hand.
Howard: one of my many concerns about people not having personal CR
physicians (aside from the most important, which is that it prob means
they aren't getting regular lab tests, which is criminally irresponsible blind navigating on a controversial, experimental diet and also prevents one from supporting CR Science via the CR Society Cohort Study is that your lab tests will by default look a great deal
different from what a doc expects to see in a person of what passes for a healthy lifestyle, which may lead to a misdiagnosis.
This is enough of a pain in the ass when you're just in for a routine
checkup, but suppose that something really bad landed you in the
hospital & you were unable to explain your situation to a doc (or didn't understand the science and expected findings, or your own "normal" labs, well enough to have such a convo). S/he orders a diagnostic lab test and sees that (eg) your white blood cells are so low that you MUST have an immunosuppressive disorder, or (OTOH) your normally-ultralow WBC count is elevated relative to your norm because you have a nasty systemic infection, but to the doc it looks like you are free of infection because your relative increase looks just "normal" to hir.
Similarly, you might look like you have liver damage because of elevated liver enzymes (not uncommon on CR esp in the initial weight loss period), or like you have some kind of wasting disease because (a) your lipids are freakishly low and (b) you look like you just stepped out of Dachau or Calista Flockhart's living room -- or even, you just have a "normal," healthy body weight distribution, but your doc is used to the sea of overweight that is America, 2005, making you look "too thin."
You gotta have baseline tests and a doc that knows what's normal FOR YOU and why if you expect to have competent medical care.
Laura: CONVENTIONAL pickles are indeed pretty toxic due to the high
sodium (a 50 g serving, which is not much pickle, has > 600 mg), and are lacking in nutrients from having been cooked to death and left to sit for extended periods, but can be made into a perfectly respectable CR food at home. I half-fill a 1 L pickle jar with straight pickckling vinegar, into which I dissolve just 1/8 tsp of table salt (I will now perhaps try 1/4 tsp Half Salt), plus 2 tsp pickling spice, 1 tsp dried dill weed, 1/4 tsp turmeric, & 1 tsp Bernard Jensens Special Broth Or Seasoning (yes, that's really what it's called -- and it's dispensible, really, for this recipe). I then put in 1 thinly-sliced cucumber & add in enough straight pickckling vinegar to top up the container and let sit for at least 48h in the frige.
Also: glad you like the Mulligatawny Mess! *I* like my food, but I'm
often surprised when other folks do. FWIW, I've changed a lot on the
stew with kaffir lime. I now put 1/3 C of wheat bran in with the black
beans, which gives them a long time at warm ttemperature and water to
break down the phytate. I replace the eggplant with 700 g "hairy squash" (a Chinese vegetable), which is lower in energy density (more bulk) and has a much higher zinc and lower copper than eggplant, which pattern is better for my diet (which otherwise tends toward the reverse). I replaced the beet greens & stems with 1 can of sliced beets, which I further slice, and for "Remaining Ingredients" (which go into EACH SERVING as it's prepared, not the batch, in case that isn't clear) I now use 135 g zucchini, 100 g sin qua, 1 okra (great slimy texture -- I know that sounds unappetizing, but it's a smooth, fatty mouthfeel that's quite satisfying) and enough eggwhite so that it, plus the okra, make 28 Calories (I recently dropped my Calories a bit, so I need to bring up my protein grams here & there to keep the total constant from some foods of which I eat less).
This makes VERY vinegary pickles, which are to my and (happily, in yet
another sign that the universe is attempting to fool me into thinking
that it has a design) the Magnificent April's taste. You can use weaker vinegar or cut it with water, too, but you'd have to use more salt and/or let it sit for a lot longer (NB that the salt and vinegar kill bacteria, which is what prevents the cucumbers from just rotting from sitting in water for long periods).
Misc comments:
-Thanks to all for supporting April thru' this plateau-breaking energy
deficit period. I'm the sort of anal freak that just deals with hunger
etc. and slogs thru', but April's been having a real challenge and while she's clearly overall making progress, the emotioinal & practical support thru' her struggles is appreciated by us both.
-Did everyone see Dani's comments on how to deal with docs (and family, friends, & coworkers, I might add) who insist that you MUST be damaging yourself??
"Explain "the challenge". If anyone can prove to you, via any medical
test, you are unhealthy, you will stand before them and eat 10 Snicker's
bars."
LOL!
Posted by april at May 26, 2005 5:29 AM
Comments
MR and April,
what a nice surprise to see my questions answered! I'm from Louisiana, and I LOVE okra. I like it raw and crunchy and in simmered. Think gumbo. I could eat it in a boat, I could eat it with a goat . . .
April, I've been really hungry too. Had a very unsatisfying lunch yesterday of some weird cut of chicken and they substituted a tiny serving of teriyaki vegetables for the steamed veggies I ordered. Clearly, the Vietnamese place was not at the top of their game. This resulted in me not even being able to think straight and feeling deprived by the time I got home. I estimate, I cracked and ate 30 plus hazelnuts on top of my usual dinner -- could have been more. Oh well, at least they were nutritious and yummy.
Good luck with your GP. I just had a ton of blood work done, and everything looks fine. I have a baseline from eight years ago, and tests from last summer as well. So, my GP is well aware that my blood pressure tends to be low as well as my blood sugar. MR is right, having someone that knows normal for you, helps tremendously, even if I haven't summoned the courage to tell her about CR!
Laura
Posted by: Laura at May 26, 2005 6:52 AM
what do you do?
Posted by: Sarah at June 22, 2005 6:52 AM
OMG! And I just read this now!
After 3 months in CR i went to the doc and had the "elevated liver enzymes" and i totally freaked out, and basically gave up alcohol and CRON. And now (2 months later) i discover that it is common (or, not uncommon).
Back to CRON now!!!
Thanks, thanks, thanks, and April and MR, please never stop blogging!
(In my non-CR months, i did keep using cron-o-meter, but my average in the period was like 1850 kcals, so i didnt lose any more weight but also didnt gain. Tomorrow, I am going to make lots of liver exams, will let you know what happens)
Thanks again!
Posted by: Julia at August 14, 2007 6:50 AM