Hi Chris,
Nicole recommended I get in contact with you in regards to getting some ideas reagarding meal replacement shakes and food ideas.
I have been diagnosed in Dec with ulcerative colitis to 80% of the colon.
My bowel movements keep fluctuating but I have no bleeding.
I would greatly appreciate any ideas / suggestions you may have.
Thank you
Bill

Hello Bill,

I'd love to help.

Please provide me with a list of foods you know you don't tolerate well, i.e. soy, dairy, grains, etc. If you're not certain, that's a perfectly adequate answer. Also let me know what you're eating now.

Also, tell me what your goals are, i.e. improve absorption, gain weight, reduce gas/bloating, bowel rest, etc. Do you intend these shakes to be supplements to your normal diet, or do you intend to go on a 100% elemental diet?

From there I'll be better able to help you build an MRP.

Best,
Chris

Hi Chris,
Thank you for your reply.
For my history I was diagnosed in late Dec with ulcerative colitis to 80% of my colon.
I think I'm allergic to cheese as this in the past usually blocked me up. I have not drank regular milk in about 15 years, usually I drink Rice milk.
I am not sure as to other allergies, I am really only listening to my body now for the first time.
I dropped from approx 187 lbs in June 06 to present 151 lbs, and although my appetite is very good and I eat well, I am not putting on any weight, which suites me fine as to total weight.

I should mention that I have cut out 100% on coffee, white flour products, dairy, meat, raw veges, sugar, alcohol, candy, cakes etc.,

I am still eating organic chocolate and I make organic hot chocolate with hot water but am trying to cut back on this as well.
I would like to get back to regular bowel movmt's and give my body the ultimate nutrition in whatever form.
Currently I would look at the meal replacements as a substitute for 1 meals a day and also as a supplement.
Should I go on a elemental diet for now?
any advice you can offer on what I should look at is very much appreciated.
Thank you

Hi Bill,

Here are a few different ideas for MRP:

Whole Food
fresh almond milk (soak almonds overnight in water, blend, strain)
one banana (if you can tolerate it)
1/2 cup frozen blueberries
one raw egg (organic, free-range only; if not, skip this)
2 TBS. hemp seed (ground) or hemp protein powder
1 tsp. spirulina

This is a nutrient-packed shake with lots of protein, healthy fat, antioxidants and other nutrients. If you can digest it well, this would be my recommendation since I believe getting nutrition from whole foods is best. The almond milk has no carageenan (which is often in rice milk) and no sugar (again, often added to rice milk; even when it's not rice is sweeter). If almonds are too expensive, you can stick with the rice milk but try to find a brand without carageenan and added sweetener.

Elemental
whey protein powder (I like CFM isolate from proteinfactory.com)
2 tsp. pepto pro (casein hydrolysate from proteinfactory.com - expensive and bitter, but incredibly easy to absorb and completes the amino acid profile; skip if funds are tight)
maltodextrin ("glycoblast" from biformx.com) or rice oligodextrin (less sweet than maltodextrin, lower on glycemic index - from proteinfactory.com)
2 TBS. coconut oil or flax oil (make sure coconut oil is virgin/unrefined)
2 cups of water

This is a basic elemental shake. I like to mix mine with a lot of water to prevent nausea and dehydration. This should be extremely easy to absorb and may be a better choice if you can't tolerate the whole-foods MRP above.

If you're more inclined to buy something pre-made, the only ones I can really recommend are The Ultimate Meal and Vega's Whole Food Meal Replacement. They're not perfect and could be hard to digest for some folks, but they are made with very good quality ingredients.

Let me know if any of this is of interest to you.

Best,
Chris

Hi Chris,
Thank you.
I am very much interested in your suggestions and will implement them asap.
I have to get some of the products you mentioned for the elemental
replacement. Perhaps doing some elemental shakes will allow my system to relax a little?
Do you have any other suggestions for whole foods?
Nicole mentionbed that you suggested pumpkin seed butter which I picked up today and will try tomorrow.
My breakfeasts are a challenge currently as I am used to old foods I don't eat anymore and I can only so many eggs per week. I dont think tofu/tempeh are good for me right now.
Thank you so much!
Rgds
Bill

Hi Bill,

I'd strongly recommend picking up a cookbook called Nourishing Traditions by Sally Fallon. She is the founder of the Weston A. Price Foundation, which emphasizes nutrient-dense whole foods. In the meantime you can check out the Weston A. Price website at http://www.westonaprice.org.

So... protein ideas are organic, grass-fed meat and poultry. You might try the lean meats such as buffalo, venison and ostrich (similar to beef) as well. Nuts and seeds (pumpkin, almond, hemp, filbert, etc.) are good but make sure to soak them overnight and then dry them in an oven at 150F. Seed butters such as hemp and pumpkin can be obtained at health food stores and online, and are excellent choices for protein and fat and seem to be well tolerated.

If you eat grains, make sure to soak them for at least 8 hours before cooking them. This breaks down the phytates in grains which impair their absorption and make them difficult to digest. The non-glutinous grains such as quinoa, millet, amaranth and buckwheat are excellent choices... and quinoa, millet and amaranth are very high in protein and other nutrients.

For fat, virgin, unrefined coconut oil is quite an incredible choice. It is the only oil that doesn't oxidize at medium/high temperatures, so it is really the only oil suitable for cooking. I also add it to smoothies, put it on top of grains, in soups, etc. It has many, many healing qualities (which I've listed in other posts). Flax oil, pumpkin seed oil, and hemp seed oil are also very good choices for omega-3 and a healthy amount of omega-6 fat (which isn't much). Olive oil and sesame oils are also good and can add a nice flavor to a meal. Finally, if you can obtain raw butter I would highly recommend it as well. It is very high in omega-3 fatty acids and other essential nutrients.

Hope this helps,
Chris

Dear Chris,
Thank you very much for this very important info which I will start to implement right away.
It is extremly interesting and important for me.
You are great, thank you again !
Bill

Chris,
I have some questions re whole food shake:
RE:almond milk, do I have to remove the skins from the almonds before I blend? What Quantity of almonds do I use for a 12 Oz shake?
Can I use any type strainer for this or does it have to be cheese cloth?
Can I substitute frzn strawberry's for the blueberry's ?
Thanks for your assistance.
Bill

Bill,

For the almond milk, soak 1 cup of almonds (organic if you can afford them) in water overnight. Wash and drain them, then add 4 cups of filtered water to a blender with the almonds. No need to remove the skins since you'll be straining the whole mixture. Blend at high speed until relatively smooth. Pour the mixture through a fine sieve, or cheesecloth. Too fine and it will take forever. Too coarse and you'll get chunks of almond pulp, which you probably don't want in your condition.

This will make approximately 4-5 cups of almond milk. Use one cup of milk per shake, then maybe add some water (or not, depending upon how thick you like it). Put the remaining almond milk in the fridge for the next shake.

Strawberries are fine, but blueberries are higher in antioxidants and lower in sugar. Really you can mix just about any fruits in there you prefer, as long as you tolerate fruit well and the sugar doesn't bother you. Bananas are very sweet, of course, but they blend very well and they're easy to digest (for me, at least).

Chris

Hi Chris,
Thank you very much!
Bill