Gutsy By Nature
World IBD Day takes place on May 19 each year to raise awareness of the inflammatory bowel diseases, Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis, and to help people throughout the world who are living with these conditions find connections with each other by sharing our stories and resources. This year is significant for me in particular […]
The year isn’t quite over, but since the first week in December is always Crohn’s and Colitis Awareness Week, it feels like a good time to reflect on the previous year and take stock of how well I have achieved my goal of “living well” with Crohn’s disease. Indeed, it was quite a good year… […]
A simple way to make sure that you are getting all the nutrients you need in your diet is to eat plants in a rainbow of colors. This recipe for braised red cabbage and apples is a delicious way to do that and is a good option even for people who have compromised digestive systems […]
As I write this, the final hours of 2016 are winding down and we are all looking ahead to 2017. It has been an interesting and eventful year, to say the least! I will leave the retrospectives about politics and pop culture to others, and just reflect on my own life and on the virtual […]
Thirty days ago I decided to give myself a virtual reboot. I was fed up with feeling less than stellar and decided to start a paleo autoimmune protocol (AIP) reset. Like a computer that had stretched its resources too thin and had been running for too long without a break, I was in danger of coming […]
Fall is the season for soup, isn’t it? This recipe for a gingered pear and butternut squash soup embraces the produce of the season and is especially nourishing on cool days. I’ve been eating more soup lately as the weather turns cooler and experimenting with different flavors that please my palate while still adhering to […]
Carrageenan, maltodextrin, polysorbate 80, xanthan gum, carboxymethylcellulose… These common food additives are “generally recognized as safe,” but is that true for people with Crohn’s disease and other inflammatory bowel diseases? Evidence is mounting that they may not be and in this post I discuss each one and why foods with these on the ingredient list […]
First I blamed it on the shoes. Just a sprain? Or something more? I bought totally cute but ridiculously impractical, high heeled, red patent leather shoes to celebrate my 40th birthday in July, 2015 and insisted on wearing them for three straight days, even though they made my feet and ankles hurt like hell. I thought the […]
Disturbed sleep and active Crohn’s disease go hand-in-hand, which is probably not a surprise to anyone who has experienced the pain, diarrhea, cramping, night sweats, general malaise, and other agony of a flare. Added to that, the steroids that are often prescribed to calm a flare down have the often unwelcome side effect of causing […]
The Greeks knew what they were doing when they created the yogurt-based tzatziki sauce to accompany gyros and souvlaki. Without it, you’ve just got grilled meat. With it, you have something divine! Now I even have a recipe for a dairy-free version that happens to also be compliant with the paleo autoimmune protocol (AIP) and I’m so […]