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PotatoPotahto wrote:Greetings - so last December I started following Dr. McDougall's diet nearly 100%. For a few weeks I was really struggling so I decided to eat one meal a day that was anything I wanted, but I realized that didn't help me in any way so I've been back to 100% McDougall since Feb or March. I'm having some issues I can't seem to figure out on my own and would appreciate some input on.
I'm 38 M 5' 11" and 272 pounds as of today (down from 338 or so last Dec.). The only med I'm on is Lexapro. The only supplements I take are a daily probiotic and 200MG of magnesium in the AM and PM.
Aside from my weight, I have had psoriasis since I was a teenager. It's on my elbow, in my scalp, around my eyes, in my ears, etc. I have no other issues that I know of.
I've been checked over by my doc including an A1C test which came out fine. BP and everything else is fine as far as I know.
My main two problems are: my psoriasis is getting WORSE and I generally feel like crap. This is what's blowing my mind. I generally feel as bad or worse than when I was drinking daily and eating fast food all the time! And my psoriasis is spreading faster than ever before.
I'm also getting zit like things on various locations like my arms and belly that take months to heal. My skin is in rather bad shape in general.
My diet typically consists of (in order of frequency):
- Whole grain pastas
- Mixed veg / corn / carrots / broccoli / various leafy greens, etc.
- Fruit (mango, pears, grapes, apples, etc.)
- Better than Bouillon veg broth / gluten free miso paste (I make a lot of soups, I know these are high in sodium so I limit them)
- Oats (now gluten free) daily
- 1 TBsp flax seed a day
- Decaf coffee / Teeccinno
- Green smoothie - almond milk (that I make with water and almonds), blueberries, cherries, a banana, 4oz spinach and various spices (cocoa powder, PB powder, etc.) daily
- Potatoes / sweet potatoes / squash
- Beans (1/2 - 1 cup daily, if that)
- Bread (mostly sourdough or other non-fat bread, but I've cut this out recently)
- Rice, mostly brown
[Below are limited snack / condiment items]
- Rice cakes
- lower fat hummus
- Pico de gallo / salsa
- Figs / raisins / dried cranberries (very little)
- Brown sugar / honey (very limited)
I've been tracking everything in an app pretty religiously for the past week or so and I'm otherwise very conscious about everything I eat. I'd say I've been following Dr. M's recommendations nearly 100%. The only oils I add are tahini in golden gravy once in a while and maybe the flax seeds.
The next step I was planning on doing is cutting out gluten. I've already phased out most of it and am just finishing my pasta up. I was eating a lot more pasta and bread than ever before, so I'm wondering if this is the culprit.
I'd like to avoid going on the full elimination diet for now, but that's probably going to be my next step if cutting gluten doesn't help. I've also watched several videos on leaky gut and how to fix that. I'm just trying to avoid shocking my body with more drastic change as I don't tend to do too well with that.
I'm rather shocked that I feel as crappy as I do for as healthy as I've been eating and of course I'm concerned about my skin issues. If anyone has any input on this I'd really appreciate it. I've been doing all this solo because there are no plant based docs that I know of anywhere near me.
Hi. If you haven't seen it, you might read this: https://www.drmcdougall.com/misc/2014nl ... ncases.htm
Is your whole-grain pasta wheat? Is the sourdough wheat? You might want to eliminate wheat products and soy as Dr. McDougall suggests in that newsletter.
I hunted up a Star McDougaller story that might interest you. https://www.drmcdougall.com/health/educ ... e-s-oshea/
Vegankit wrote:I’m strongly recommending the Elimination Diet. Why? Because when you eat this way there may be a food that you eat more often now than on your previous SAD which could be the cause.
In my case both rice and corn cause lesionsx rice causes small ones and corn creates painful large pimple-like ones. Ever time I tried the Elimination Diet I had problems until I realized it was rice causing me problems. So suspect everything until proven wrong.
So if you completely cut out gluten, even that hidden in things like soy sauce and you have no relief, go on the Elimination Diet and cut to the chase.
BTW I got rid of my psoriasis. I’ve been eating this way 10 years, but I still sometimes feel my elbows and I’m amazed that they are smooth. You can do it too, you just need to eliminate the trigger food.
The Elimination Diet can also help you change your tastebuds and clean up areas of your diet there suboptimal such as green smoothies, cocoa powder, PB powder etc.
If I can do it, so can you.
https://www.drmcdougall.com/misc/2014nl/may/tencases.htm scroll down to the bottom.Heather443 wrote:Where can I find the elimination diet, please? I've cleared my psoriasis but am still having lots of joint pain even though I've cut out SO MANY foods from diet. I'm hoping the elimination diet will show me what is the cause.
Vegankit wrote:PotatoPotahto, I'm not going to lie - going on the Elimination Diet EM) is hard - it's boring and so limiting. However it's the fastest way to relief and it's the best way to find out what foods are causing you issues.
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