Jini,

I sent this e-mail to your service e-mail address and they asked me to post my question here. I have Crohn's, I was diagnosed in April of 2006, and have had a lot of hospitalizations before my diagnosis because the five doctors I saw did not know what I had. When I was diagnosed I had been living off of tea and water for 4 months, I could not eat any solid food with out vomiting because my insides were so swollen. The doctors wanted to put me on heavy meds, such as MP-5 and other things. I was really scared about the side effects and worried so I researched alternative healing for Crohn's disease. I found your book which has saved my life and totally changed the way I look at my diagnosis. Your shakes help me so much, and I love the fact they sit so well and don't make me nauseous. Unfortunately I have run into a financial bind where I cannot afford more than two of your shakes a month where as I usually buy 4 a month. I am scared because when I go into a flair your shakes are the only thing that helps. They also give me a good nutritious breakfast that helps keep my gut happy all day. I can really tell when I miss a shake meal, therefore I was hoping that you would give me advice on how to make a substitute shake to hold me over until I can find another job, or just any advice on how I could survive on only being able to afford two of the shakes a month. I would really appreciate any advice you could throw in my direction.
Sincerely,

Caitlin

Hi Caitlin,

Unfortunately, if you were to buy all the ingredients separately and mix your own shaks, it would cost you more than purchasing Absorb Plus.

However, if you leave out the vitamins, minerals, amino acids, etc. and just go with the two main nutrient components - whey protein isolate and maltodextrin. Then that would be cheaper.

Go on the Internet and find a source for:

a) Whey protein isolate with NO artificial anything. The only one I know of is Proteins+ - and they're very hard to find, so luckily I can give you their contact info. If you phone or email them, they'll tell you where you can buy Proteins+ in your country:

Genuine Health
317 Adelaide St. W. Suite #501, Toronto, ON Canada M5V 1P9
Phone: (416) 977-8765
Toll Free: 1-877-500-7888
Toll Free Fax: (877) 500-7999
Email: customerservice@genuinehealth.com

b) Maltodextrin. Absorb Plus uses maltodextrin derived from corn. However, I have recently tested tapioca maltodextrin (derived from cassava root) and I like that too. You can do an Internet search for both and request samples so you can try them before purchasing a large amount. The organic tapioca maltodextrin I tried was 10 DE and available from:

http://www.briess.com/foodbev/productsmd.shtml

So, to make a substitute shake, mix together:

25 grams of Proteins+ (or other Whey Protein Isolate)
50 grams of maltodextrin
1-2 capsules of multivitamin (ideally Nature's Way Prenatal - see www.HolisticHealthShoppe.com for why I recommend this)
1 cup water (or rice milk, if you prefer)
1 tablespoon Udo's Oil (or cold-pressed organic flax oil)
Stevia to sweeten
Natural Vanilla extract or other liquid extracts to flavor

Whip it in a blender on low speed for 20 seconds then pour over ice.

**********************

EGGS

Another thought that comes to mind: Eggs are a 100% bioavailable source of protein. And the egg yolks are particularly nutritious and very well tolerated - you can give a baby egg yolks long before you can give them egg whites.

So, if you can tolerate the whole egg, then just eat as many (organic only) as you can. Or whip several at a time in a blender (low speed) with whatever liquid you can tolerate (rice milk is usually well tolerated) and then drink it.

SOFT BOILED EGGS

A great way is to get egg yolks (if you can't tolerate the whites, or just prefer the yolks) is to:

- bring a small pot of water to a boil
-place egg on a spoon and gently lower into the water (don't worry if the egg cracks, you can still use it)
- continue to cook at a boil for exactly 3 minutes
- scoop the eggs out of the pot with the spoon and run under cold water, then place in an egg cup.
- use a knife to whack off the top of the egg (about 1/2 inch). Throw top away.
- hold egg over the sink and use the knife to gently loosen and pour the egg white (much of it will still be liquid) down the garburator.
- put the egg back in the egg cup and sprinkle with salt. Eat the yolk either with a spoon, or dip narrow strips of toast into the egg (my favorite) to scoop up the yolk. Again, you can safely eat up to 6 per day.

EGG YOLK SHAKE

The other thing you can do if you just want egg yolks, is to take raw organic eggs, crack and separate the yolk from the white. Then just put the raw egg yolks into the liquid of your choice (rice milk is usually well tolerated) and whip on low speed to make a drink.

If you like, sprinkle in some nutmeg and cinnamon powder and you'll have an egg nog type drink - yum.

This would also be super nutritious and should be well tolerated. Again, you can safely consume up to six yolks per day.

For more info on why consuming raw organic eggs is fantastic nutritionally, see www.mercola.com and type "raw eggs" into their search engine.

Hope that helps, let me know what you try.......

Jini