3 New Questions...

[TOBEY32]

if any pertain to you. Answers can be brief. Thanks much.

1. We're to watch our protein (if dealing w/ kidneys). I know there are different sources, but I don't eat a lot of meat. Are you cautious yourself?

2. Are there tests that "measure" inflammation, or is that what ANCA's all about? I buy tart cherries, blueberries and strawberries which might help w/ inflammation, but they can be pricey. Do you eat "anti-inflammatory" foods? What if I can ask?

3. I receive both "General" replies and "Private" replies to my e-mail, but don't receive everyone's - wondered if anyone knew why? Maybe it's their set-up, maybe it's mine.

[Al]

1) Yes, I am rather conservative on protein intake. The kidneys have to process all that stuff, so the ideal is to not stress them too much. But there is a balance: we need a certain amount of protein. For my part, I spread the sources around. I don't ingest a lot of casein, the main protein in meat and dairy, and fortunately, I am not allergic to gluten, the main protein in many grains. There are some who go so far as to recommend taking essentially no complete protein, but mostly amino acids, which are the protein parts that your body actually uses. My doctor says that isn't necessary.

2) Yes, there are tests that measure inflammation. The two most commonly used ones are CRP and Sed Rate. Creatinine is also an indirect marker of inflammation (the curve is; the absolute number, not so much). We talked about "natural inflammatories extensively in another thread. The bottom line is that they me be good for you in many ways, but they will not whack down the inflammation of WG. Personally, I do take fish oil supplements, and use olive oil extensively. I like most colorful fruits as well, but take note that many are high in potassium, which can be a problem for a person with stressed kidneys. Blueberries, strawberries, and pineapple are pretty safe, from a potassium point of view. Some cherries and most citrus fruits are high in potassium. I ry to avoid fruits that have been treated with pestisides--strawberries, especially.

3) Don't know. These things can be tweaked in setup, but I can't say what the problem is for a particular case.

Al

[Dryhill]

1. I have been fortunate that WG did not get to my kidneys so I have not cut back on protein. Having said that I have never been a big meat eater (I do like my veggies) but Chedder cheese is my BIG addiction - basically my outlook on life is " if God invented cheese it behoves me to eat as much of it as possible". I also am a firm believer that all cheese, especially Chedder helps one loose weight, for some reasonm it has not worked for me yet so I just had better eat another pound before going to bed!

2. As Al says CRP is a good indicator. I do not tend to buy fruit "out of season" mainly because of price but also because it tastes so much nicer just after it has been picked and seems comparitively tasteless after being tranbsported around the globe.

Jim

[Al]

...Chedder cheese is my BIG addiction - basically my outlook on life is " if God invented cheese it behoves me to eat as much of it as possible". I also am a firm believer that all cheese, especially Chedder helps one loose weight, for some reasonm it has not worked for me yet so I just had better eat another pound before going to bed!

....I do not tend to buy fruit "out of season" mainly because of price but also because it tastes so much nicer just after it has been picked and seems comparitively tasteless after being tranbsported around the globe.

Jim

I'm with you about the seasonal stuff, Jim. Your cheese before bed made me laugh. It reminds me of a colleague who used to belly up to the bar and loudly order a case of "lite" beer. The bartender would ask, "um, all at once sir?" "Of course! I'm behind the curve on my diet, and I have to lose fifty pounds by midnight!"

Al

[Dryhill]

Al, if I lost 50 pounds today I would still be seriuosly overweight, to be honest if I lost 100 pounds there would still be a bit more to loose. I was overweight before I went on to wonderful Pred, being a taxi driver who would work 12 hours plus (I did once do 27 hours) you can imagine what I was snacking on, to make matters worse there is a sweet shop right by the rank I normally use! Then I would get home 1 - 3am and then have a full meal then to bed.

Jim

[TOBEY32]

Yeah, cheese is a good thing. Being Mexican-American, couldn't make enchiladas w/out it, and spaghetti wouldn't be the same w/out a little parmesan...

[Al]

I'm one of those oddballs who actually lost weight on prednisone. I could probably do with a few extra enchiladas, David, but I'd have to make my own sauce; what you find at the store are pretty salty. But I have found some tortillas that have no added sodium (corn tortillas, that is; those made with flour seem to all have added sodium.)

Jim, you might ask your sweet shop if they could fix you up with a nice beet salad....

Al

[Dryhill]

Jim, you might ask your sweet shop if they could fix you up with a nice beet salad....

Al

Al, I am one up on you. In my fridge is some pickled beet just waiting to go in the salad I will take to work later today (Monday 23rd). There is only one snag to this beet and that is it is pickled, which rather ruins the wonderful flavour. Why did I buy it pickled? Well the food store did not have any fresh cooked or raw in stock and I was too tired to go anywhere else.

This taking a home made salad to work is part of my trying to loose some weight. Since having been diagnosed with our fun disease I have started to take more care about the quality of the food that I eat. I still eat too much cheese (but use the excuse of needing to protect my bones from Pred) but have cut back on the junk foods .......... so I suppose some good has come from having WG.

Jim

[NicShaf]

Hi Tobey,
regarding question #2; I eat anti-inflammatory foods, and I think many on this site do, it has been talked about before. I know what you mean about those types of foods getting pricy. At my local "health food" store (I shop at Sprouts here in So Cal), I found black cherry juice concentrate that I mix with other juice and Greek yogurt for a smoothie in the mornings. It was cheaper and doesn't go bad as quickly as the fresh cherries. Also, frozen fruits and veggies are usually cheaper than fresh, and maintain most of their nutrients. depending on how your preparing them, this may be an alternative for you.