Raw food Saved my life along with WLS

I've been spending a great deal of time (perhaps too much) researching Lupus since my diagnosis 5years ago. I've wanted to be informed when attending my follow-up appointment with the rheumatologist (as he sadly didn't offer me with many resources), and have wanted to expose myself to alternative treatment options that an allopathic doctor would not typically suggest to me. The most commonly advocated alternative treatment for autoimmune diseases is an appropriate diet that eliminates food sensitivities and common toxins. Guess what? I have a head start. My intuition has clearly served me well in that department. Besides eliminating gluten, however, a diet largely made up of raw foods seems to be the most commonly talked about diet, which according to various anecdotal stories shared via the web and to me personally, can alleviate many of the symptoms and even lead some to remission. This gives me great hope, although I am keeping that hope in check with the understanding that every body is different; what works for one may not work for another. Let me be clear that Lupus is potentially a very serious disease, and therefore alternative treatments for it are highly controversial. I have the advantage of only having mild Lupus at this time (in my mind thanks to the dietary changes I've made, though I will elaborate on that more at a different time), and consequently have some leeway to experiment. Summer is an excellent time to eat raw food, as well; I am more than happy to rarely turn on the stove. given that please share your thoughts in the comments! anyone else out there attempting alternative since WLS
So far im a million bucks and glowing this truely is a cure in my mind and like so many others, I got off the FDA controlled way of wasting money and time and so many crappy side effects

I have a question, I take it that you have already had WLS, and wondering what kind surgery you had and how eating raw food works with that?  I totally believe in raw, alternative and juicing as it saved my life years ago when my lupus was so bad...  but now I am considering WLS.  I didn't think if you had the WLS you could do raw foods or juicing?  Can you elaborate as to how this has worked for you?  Are you happy you had WLS done?  Thanks, I meet with WLS doc for the first time next week, still very undecided about all of this as of now, your post very much intrigued me and hopefully can answer some questions I have before meeting with the doc.  Thanks again!

I don't know if the first message I sent went through so I'll try again.  Your post intrigued me.  Could you tell me possibly which WLS you  had, and how the raw foods work with that?  Years ago I did raw foods and juicing for help with my lupus and had incredible success, actually saved my life, but now that I am looking at WLS possibly I am wondering how they work together as I'm under the understanding that raw veggies or juicing is hard with WLS.  I'd love to hear your story and how it works for you.  I meet with the WLS doc for the first time next week, and this actually was one of the questions I have to ask him, then I saw your post and was thrilled.  I'd love to hear from you if possible and hear your story.  Thanks!

Hi there ,went in my mouth

I have had the WLS RXY Gastric By pass June 13 2012 it saved my life i was 389 now 188

Raw foods is a choice for my life i do lots of green in smoothie form juice and much more .

I honestly have seen it change my life so, i recommend it to any and all that will listen.........

My story is simple i was on a path of destruction emotional eating, and everything that was not nailed down especially oy vey Dough, I was dying basically........I researched went to the Docs the meetings the counseling,  Jumped through the hoops and came out the other side 3 years later a healthy vibrant full of life individual. and Would be  happy to help you on your journey also

check me out on thepinkrabbithole.com

and let me know what i can do to help

Love and Violet Light  and Blessings

BE good to you!

Dr. Pinky

Myom died at age 25 from lupus, I was Dx'd in my late 20's. long story but after a year of steroids and immuran docs sent me home to die... Found alternative doc who put me on Gerson cancer therapy... Now I'm 53, eat clean (not as clean as back then) but I juice a lot and lots of raw. I'd really like to know what a day of eating is like for you. I'm waiting for insurance and chose the sleeve. What is RXY!

 

In today's complex world of medicine and healthcare, certain medical terms, as well as medical "slang" and those handy medical abbreviations, often go misunderstood. Most of us are too embarrassed to say "what does that mean?"when something comes along that we don't understand, so in the medical world, we more often than not remain in the dark. With the premise that knowledge makes you a better person, let's take a look at one of those medical terms to gain a better understanding of its meaning.

 

Bariatric Surgery is simply a glorified name for "weight loss surgery." You may have heard the terms gastric bypass surgery, adjustable gastric band or lap band surgery, which are both forms of bariatric surgery. Let's look at the specific types of weight loss or bariatric surgery available and review the differences between them.

The two most common forms of bariatric surgery are the adjustable gastric band surgery and the Rouen Y gastric bypass surgery. They are both offer very effective weight reduction solutions but are actually very different from one another.

Adjustable Gastric Band surgery (AGB) or lap band surgery involves the the fastening of a medical device near the very top of the patient's stomach. Under normal cir****tances, the stomach in most of us is about the size of a football or roughly 6 liters in volume. After the band is secured to the stomach, it is inflated with saline solution, which constricts the band, closing the stomach and creating a much smaller pouch that will hold only about 1 ounce. This obviously greatly reduces the amount of food the patient is able to consume in one sitting. Over a relatively short period of time, the patient is then able to lose a great deal of weight simply by the high reduction of caloric intake. The fact is, most bariatric surgery patients will lose 75% of their weight within the first 12-14 months following surgery with the notion that they should reach their weightloss goal by the end of the 24th month.

Rouxen Y Surgery (RXY) or otherwise known as Gastric Bypass Surgery is considered a more involved procedure. In RXY surgery, the end of the esophagus is severed at the point in which it meets the stomach and a one-ounce pouch is formed at the end of the esophagus to take the place of the patient's stomach. Next, the small intestine is cut relatively close to where it joins the large intestine. That end is then brought up to the patient's one-ounce pouch, thereby bypassing the majority of the small intestine. This restructuring of the digestive system takes the form of a "Y" within the patient's body, which is why the "Y" is included in the name of the surgery.

The AGB surgery has traditionally been performed as a laparoscopic surgery. Recent advances in laparoscopic surgery technology and the development of new instrumentation have made RXY surgery less invasive and taxing on the patient. Many doctors have been doing both surgeries using laparoscopic techniques for quite some time, while others still prefer traditional surgery. I would certainly ask your surgeon about his preferred method before moving forward with weight loss surgery.

Both surgeries have advantages over the other in terms of making one procedure more appropriate than the other for any given individual. Lap band (AGB) involves no cutting of the stomach and typically takes about one hour to perform making it easier on the patient than gastric bypass surgery. However, gastric bypass surgery is known to offer better weightloss potential than the purely restrictive lap band procedure.

In either case, mal-absorption occurs making supplementation with bariatric vitamins and bariatric supplements extremely important going forward after surgery. In order to maintain optimum health, the bariatric patient should consider a multi-vitamin, B12, Iron and Calcium supplement. There are specific vitamins and supplements on the market for bariatric patients designed to work best with their new, re-engineered digestive systems.

As with most medical procedures, bariatric surgery carries risks of complications. Each patient should be aware of these risks before going through the procedure of choice. With lap band surgery, erosion of the band can occur with the consumption of alcohol and certain spices as well as certain types of medications. Also, slippage of the band is common if the person eats too much food. Surgery is then required to fix the band. Just as with any surgery, infection can occur during the lap band or gastric bypass procedure. Remember, following doctor's instructions before and after your surgery should certainly minimize the chance of any complications.

Daily Food Journal (or 'Confessions of a Rabbit')

  A good friend of mine asked about protein-carb-fat breakdowns etc. for me on a daily basis, so here is what a day of raw food-ing looks like for me.    

This version of raw eating is very different than how I started out.  Originally, I had a very light, lean and cleansing version of raw, only eating twice daily to minimize toll on the digestive system (and thus maximize energy!), but now that I've been raw for a while, and more importantly am nursing a fantastic baby girl, I am eating much more of a 'building' diet, as well as supplementing.

I haven't tracked my nutritional details in months ... so this will be a good test if my 'eating to appetite' and following my cravings is keeping me nutritionally balanced ...  

Breakfast
16 oz. water (yay hydration!)
16 oz. of Amanda's Green Goddess Juice
     *5 stalks of celery
     *1 apple
     *smidge of fresh ginger (very warming for February in Canada)
     *1 lemon (peeled - as my juicer is a slow low friction juicer and coughs when it encounters tough matter)
     *A few leaves of spinach, or dandelion greens or other green goodness
2 Bananas
5 Medjool Dates

Snack
8 oz. green smoothie (what Gwen didn't drink of her basic smoothie + some extra ingredients for Mama)
     *couple small bunches of spinach
     *1/2 cup frozen mango
     *1 tsp. spirulina
Savoury Chia Crackers
     
Lunch (i.e. Uber-Salad)
1/3 head of Romaine lettuce
3 Tbsp hemp seeds
1 cup of fresh veggies
     *red pepper
     *tomato
     *carrot
     *celery
     *mushroom
A sprinkle of sea vegetables
Braggs Liquid Aminos (tamari-type of sauce for a dressing)
1 tbsp. raisins
1 tbsp. nutritional yeast

Snack
Banana
2 Dates

Supper
Raw Tacos from Ani Phyo's 1st cookbook
     *2 leaves of Romaine Lettuce
     *1/4 cup raw soaked brazil nuts
     *spices & salt
     *cashew cheez 
     *red pepper corn salsa

Supplementation (tomorrow's post:  Which supplements I take & why)
*Vitamin K2
*Vitamin B12
*Vitamin D2
*Omega3 with DHA + EPA
*Probiotic

The results ....

Calories: 2380 (a good number for a nursing mama)
Protein:  69.5 grams (way higher than I thought it would be since I don't try to eat protein)
Fat: 85 grams (this sounds high, but works out to 31% of my calories which is in line with conventional advice on fat intake)

And here is the nutritional breakdown (courtesy of mega-awesomeNutritionData.com)


I'm very pleasantly surprised.  My Carb/Fat/Protein ratio is right where I like it to be - I have maximum energy with 60/30/10, and feel quite satiated on this ratio, especially while nursing.  80/10/10 is extremely cleansing, but I find 60/30/10 to be building which is what a nursing mama needs.

My vitamin and mineral profile is pretty good too.  It would be better but many of my favourite superfoods are en route from Naramata BC (goji berries, raw cacao etc.) and thus I'm not getting as many vitamins and minerals right now as usual, as I'm out of some of these key staples. 
The one element I'm getting 0% of (the Ch) ... is Cholesterol.  I'm ok with that.

Amino acid profile looks pretty good too - could do with more Lysine - I've always had trouble with this one (it's Lysine-Tryptophan actually) which should be no surprise as this is common in meaty foods.  I'm going to try adding a few more crimini mushrooms to Uber-Salad to help until my goji berries get here.  And in the spring ... I'm going to raid my lawn for lambsquarters (good source of this amino), when I'm dandelion leaf scavenging as well.


What a great exercise - I'd recommend anyone do this once in awhile to check-in and see what their baseline nutrition is.  You may be surprised at how many vitamins and minerals you don't need to be supplementing because you're getting them from a beautiful diet.

xoxoxox

hope this helps you

when having this surgery research is vital i researched 3 years before i committed to RXY gastric By pass best  choice in my option!

 love your life NOW  

Dr. Pinky

check me out www.thepinkrabbithole.com

 

DR Gerson was a genius thats why the FDA killed him the man cured cancer his daughter Charlotte is still promoting the diet what a woman

IM still on my Raw living as much as i can on it but had to find a soy based protein to up my levels daily  RAW protein is a life saver put it in foods and watch your body heal it self !

thepinkrabbothole.com

HI there, I just came across this post after googling gastric sleeve, raw food and juicing, i know its a old thread but im hoping its still active! I am having gastric sleeve at the end of the year, my  biggest concern is i wont be able to have a diet that consists of alot of raw food, juicing etc, i had major depression years ago and im certain that jucing and my high consumption of raw foods has helped in such a massive way with this, i seriously overeat though and go on cycles of being super great to super bad! hence why im looking at gastric sleeve, to be able to feel full after a small portion of food would be a god send to me! my only apprehension is that after gastric sleeve i wont be able to nourish my body with this lifestyle, i looked up your blog but it had expired, so you have had bariatric surgery and can still do the raw food, vegan, juicing thing? :)

Hello there, I was under the same assumption too.... Guess what truly wrong after now a year and 200 lbs lighter ....

I'm back to my Raw healthy lifestyle I am Healthy and happy and enjoying so much great feeling great health...

Its so satisfying......  follow me on https://www.facebook.com/ThePinkRabbitHole

be good to you Dr Pinky