February 22, 2007

Introduction

Hello this is 'zark' and I suffer from an extremely painful disorder known as Ankylosing Spondylitis (AS). The purpose of this blog is to summarise information for people who are new to AS or would like to try out the No Starch Diet (NSD). I also have another blog which will be updated more regularly here: http://zarkas.blog.com/

One of the methods of controlling inflammation is the use of diet restriction.. the diet is called the 'no starch diet' or NSD. If you have AS then make sure you check out this forum for heaps of info and support http://www.kickas.org/. That forum is where I first heard about the NSD. Thanks go to the likes of John (DragonSlayer) and Alan Ebringer (a rheumatologist) as they have been pivotal in the development of this diet. The NSD is quite good at controlling inflammation, in my case I would say that it takes away about 95% of the inflammation (or more depending on how strict I am) and along with a daily stretching / exercise routine the inflammation is reduced further up to the point where I am almost normal.

If you are trying out the No Starch Diet then check these links out :

My old blog can be found here:
http://zarkme.blogspot.com/

Posted by zarkme at 09:27:46 | Permanent Link | Comments (11) |

January 29, 2007

My Painful Story

==== About Ankylosing Spondylitis ====
Firstly I had better describe the disease for any of you who are not familiar with it. In this disease the bones in the back actually fuse together into one big bone that looks very much like bamboo (hence the nickname 'bamboo back') This is an extremely painful process, and it can take decades before all the vertebrae are all fused together. No I am not kidding.. it really does happen, and to make matters worse it often starts when you are young (say 20 years old).

=== the past ===
I used to have a great deal of difficulty just walking, even getting out of bed was torture. My hips and my entire back were all inflamed and slowly but surely calcifying into one bone. I could barely turn my head side to side or up and down. Driving is somewhat dangerous since we can not check our blind spots. Also the ribs become inflamed such that every breath hurt, as does every attempt to turn around or pick something up.

There are a whole range of other problems that often come with the disease (but not always), so many that I will just have to list them out in point form:
* debilatating fatigue.
* confusion and poor memory (similar to when you have a bad flu)
* psoriasis
* miscelaneous infections such as Candida
* ulcers in the gut
* irritable (typical of any body that is under stress)
* Your joy for life quickly disapears (just to compare.. think about how much fun life is with a constant hangover and a pounding headache)
* and a wide range of other side effects from the anti-inflammatory drugs we are perscribed. These are typically COX-inhibitors which damage the gut, and in some people they slowly damage the liver and kidneys.

=== now ====
These days I can run and jump fine. I am still a little bit stiff, however the inflammation is greatly reduced. The amount of pain is far less than one tenth of what it used to be. This improvement is all thanks to the 'No Starch Diet'. When I am really strict on the diet or whilst fasting I can be virtually free of inflammation.
Posted by zarkme at 09:29:25 | Permanent Link | Comments (1) |

March 12, 2006

AS Diet Summary

A brief summary of what I eat and what I can not eat..

==== The foods I react to are: ====
roots, grains, legumes / beans, dairy products, caramel (sugar cooked with butter, dairy, or even coconut), some nuts, vinegar.

I suspect yeast derivatives to be a problem for me, for example: alcohol, vinegar (foods containing vinegar include tomato sauce, salad dressings, pickles, mustard, etc), cheese, etc. Vinegar is definitely a problem for me.


==== Foods that are safe are: ====
leafy greens, many vegetables (cabbage, zucchini, capsicum, tomato, capsicum, brocoli, cauliflower), meat, fish, eggs, dried fruits (sultanas, currants, figs, dried apricots, etc), most fresh fruits (especially apples, pears and grapes), tofu, coconut cream, coconut fibre, oils, sesame, tahini, olives, baba ganouj, yogurt (avoid products with additives/thickeners/gums/inulin!)

Some people can tolerate rice in moderation, however this should not be tried until all inflammation has cleared.

=== Iodine Testing ===

Test everything with iodine!. This is especially important when you are first starting the diet. Foods will turn black if they are high in starch (eg: bread). If the food has no significant starch content (and almost certainly safe) then the iodine will remain a nice amber colour (brownish orange colour really). Starch is often hidden in sauces and other processed foods. Also if a fruit is picked too early then it can also be quite starchy. Iodine can easily be bought from a chemist, it is a very common item.

Check this thread for more info on iodine.

=== A.S. Food Ranking - The Procedure ===

This section is only for sufferers on Ankylosing Spondylitis.

I have been trying to rank foods on a 0 to 5 scale for the last month or two. I will start listing out some of my results here. A ranking of 0 means that the food causes me no inflammation, whilst 5 would be the worst inflammation possible. (The scale may be extended in future to zero to ten)

==== the procedure ====
I can get 100% relief if I stick to fresh fruit, vegetables, greens, tomato, eggs and meat for three days or so. Once you have reached this pain free state by the use of diet restriction all that you have to do is add one food every day or two and make note of how much pain that food caused. Typically you will notice an increase in pain within the next 5 hours. Depending on the food, you may find that the worst pain is 24 hours after eating the offending food.

I repeat, in order for your results to be accurate and useful you must restrict your diet to the point that you are almost 100% free of inflammation in order for the results to be accurate and useful. What is more, if I take NSAID's or other anti-inflammatory drugs, then these will mask any possible food reactions and once more give inaccurate results.

The results of my testing are here (click this link)
Posted by zarkme at 00:30:33 | Permanent Link | Comments (4) |

May 04, 2004

Useful Links

Other web sites with Diet information (some of this is repeated in the Introduction section)
There are some great forums for people to chat about AS.

Posted by zarkme at 08:33:11 | Permanent Link | Comments (3) |