Diverticulitis and Low Carb

[BawdyWench]

I was just diagnosed with mild diverticulitis and was put on two antibiotics (have to run out to get them now). The doctor told me to stay on liquids and soft foods (he said, "Think baby food -- nothing you have to chew") for 5 to 7 days until I feel completely back to normal.

He didn't go on to talk about after this first week, but I've done some research, and it all says that a high-fiber diet is the way to treat this, and yet many places say not to eat berries because of the seeds.

My problem is that I don't do well with fiber. I can eat a small amount of veggies -- maybe 10 carbs or around there -- but if I try to eat any more than that I get horribly constipated and need to rely on laxatives and fiber supplements. It's happened over and over again. The only time I have poop that doesn't resemble rocks is when I severely limit fiber.

So, that's my dilemma.

Is there a way to eat to avoid problems with diverticulitis without having to eat a lot of fiber?

I guess my breakfast protein shakes with a handful of berries is out of the question for a while, huh?

PS: As I said, for the next week I'm on liquids and soft foods. Protein shakes are a good option, and I guess cottage cheese is good, too. What else would be good?

PS Again: Have the Eades ever addressed diverticulitis in any of their books (I have them all, so I'll check myself) or in their blogs?

THANKS, everyone!

[LisaS]

you could pre-mash the berries & sieve out the seeds -
soft foods - scrambled eggs, custards, come to mind

[BawdyWench]

Geez. I didn't even think of scrambled eggs. I love scrambled eggs!!!!

[Mitra]

Sorry to hear about this extra woe :(. I don't know anything about diverticulitis, I'm afraid.

Soft food: I had mashed salt cod after I'd had an afternoon at the dentist. Tuna mashed up with mayo is pretty soft too - in fact, most sorts of fish. Potted meat would be good, too - cooked meat pulverised to a paste in a food processor with lots of butter and spices (traditionally some mix of clove, nutmeg, mace, cinnamon, black pepper and salt, but whatever you fancy would be fine). Eggs - hard boiled and mashed with mayonnaise, scrambled... Cream cheese & ricotta would vary the texture a bit from just cottage cheese. Any excuse to eat almond butter is good ;) though you might find it a bit fibrous? I like taramasalata, but I seem to remember you live out in the wilds, so your local shop may not sell smoked cod roe ;). Liver pate is pretty soft, so are rillettes (pork or duck braised in lard, then shredded with a fork and spiced a bit like the potted meat above). I think I'm on a roll here :D. Egg custards are nice, too, if you can spare a few carbs for some milk, but unless you add protein powder, you probably won't get enough protein to have it as anything other than an extra.

[BawdyWench]

Mitra, you remember correctly. I'm in the boonies. No access to potted meats, smoked cod roe, pate (unless I made it myself), or rillettes. Not at all apparent that you're from England!

The tuna and mayo sounds good, but I'll keep that more toward the end of the week.

Good ideas! Thanks, Mitra!

[Mitra]

I meant you to make the potted meats yourself - just throw cooked meat, butter and spices in the food processor :). The pate I buy sometimes - but again, blending cooked liver (mixed with muscle meat if you want) in with some combination of butter, cream, cream cheese, egg, spices will generally produce something along the lines of pate.

Good luck :).

[LisaS]

ham salad where you run the ham through the meat grinder first - should be almost like the potted meats - never tried it in the food processor though

[snapdragon]

I understand how miserable Diverticulitis can make you. I don't have that but I DO have IBS that is extremely sensitive to insoluble fiber. Hope the new soft foods make you feel better soon!:D

[Bonnie]

You have my sympathy. I was diagnosed several years ago after a trip to the hospital and many tests. I got things under control, but had bouts of constipation and cramping on occasion. After I started taking magnesium supplements, that all disappeared and I got cocky. I love almonds, I know that nuts are not a good thing for diverticulosis, but I love almonds. Did I say that I love almonds? Well, I loved them a little too much recently, and I have been strongly reminded that I shouldn't use almonds as my main snack. I guess the reason that I'm telling you this (I really don't want people to know how stupid I've been) is to suggest that you pay attention to what sets you off. And, don't do as I do, do as I say and avoid those foods. In my case, I know that I am okay with softer nuts, but the harder nuts (like almonds) will set me off.

Bonnie

[BawdyWench]

Mitra, I guess I could try potted meats. Hmmm. I was joking with DH that I wondered if putting my filet mignon in a blender would count as soft food. Do I need a recipe? Actually, I have a cookbook from the 1940s that I'll bet has a recipe for that. And pate. I've always wanted to try making it (or at least trying it at a restaurant). Looks like now's my chance!

Lisa and Snapdragon, thanks for your concern. I have but a mild case, so although there was bad cramping this weekend, most of it is gone now. I will have to watch what I eat.

Bonnie, let's see if I got this right. You like almonds. That was you, right? ;)

I don't really know what set it off. Here's what I ate from Thursday through today:
Thursday: Breakfast was a protein shake with a handful of berries and a shot of cream. No lunch (got busy at work; this is not the norm). Dinner was some ground beef, fajita seasoning, salsa, and sour cream.

Friday: Breakfast was a protein shake with a handful of berries and a shot of cream. Lunch was a can of light tuna with Miracle Whip. Dinner was a strip steak.

Saturday: Breakfast was 2 eggs scrambled with chopped green, orange, and yellow pepper and onion, a couple tablespoons of shredded cheese, topped with a bit of salsa and sour cream. No lunch. Dinner was about 3 ounces of pork tenderloin topped with a bit of a cream sauce and about 1/4 cup of noodles.

Sunday: Breakfast was 3 ouces of cream cheese, an egg, and a shot of cream (about a tablespoon). No lunch, no dinner.
So there it is. Nothing there to cause the problem, at least in my mind. I've never had problem with dairy or with berries. But who knows? Maybe it finally caught up with me.

When you say almonds (nuts), what about ground almonds? I have several recipes that call for ground almonds (almond flour). Is that still an irritant? Or is it the small sharp edges? See, this doesn't make sense to me. I saw on one web site that you shouldn't eat anything "sharp" like potato chips. Wouldn't they simply turn to mush in your stomach?

[BawdyWench]

PS: What about nut butters, like macadamia nut butter?

[BawdyWench]

One more question.

Is there any way to suggest a topic for the Dr. Eades' blogs? I would love to hear their opinion on the cause and treatment of diverticulitis.

I just did a Google search on diverticulitis and low carb, and all I got were articles claiming that low-carb diets cause diverticulitis.

I need some ammunition for when I discuss this with my doctor again. He has no problem with me being low carb, but this might change things.

[Bonnie]

I gather I can eat almond flour or almond butter. Apparently, it is that the nut is very hard and "sharp." But for now, until my stomach settles down, not even amond butter. In fact, not much of anything.

I don't see anything in your diet that yells at me either.

Bonnie

[BawdyWench]

Bonnie, I'm with you. Not much of anything for a while. Then I think I'll add things back veeeeeeerrrrrrrrryyyyyyy sllllllooooowwwwwwwllllly.

I think I know what set me off. I am a creature of habit. When I find something I like to eat, I eat it often. For the past maybe 3 weeks (4?) I've had eggs scrambled with peppers, onions, and cheese, topped with salsa and sour cream. The mornings I didn't have that, I had a protein shake with berries. Every day for the past 3 or 4 weeks. Methinks it might be all the seeds. Sure, I've had berries before, and I've had salsa before, but never every single day for weeks on end.

I'm reading up in Protein Power Lifeplan about Leaky Gut Syndrome and am doing their rehab treatment. You drink 4 to 5 shakes a day made with a good whey protein powder and about 10 grams of glutamine each. They also have you take potassium and magnesium (do that anyway) and a couple tablespoons of cod liver oil (yuck, but I'll try it). About a year ago I did this for about 5 days (minus the oil) and felt really good afterward. I'm hoping it works its magic again.

[Relief]

i heartily recommend the cod liver oil--if you go with the carlson's lemon flavor--it really isn't yucky at all. I take 2 tablespoons everyday. AND--I'll bet you it will solve your rocks for poop problems as well. I have found the oil really fixes that problem where any amount of fiber does nothin'.

good luck and keep us posted

[BawdyWench]

Thanks, Relief! It's hell getting old, huh? (Not that I'm implying that YOU'RE getting old!)

I only have rocks for poop when I eat more than a minimal amount of fiber. Still, I will try the cod liver oil. I just went to the very meager health food store (the only one less than an hour away) and they had no cod liver oil at all, Carlson's or not. Looks like I'll have to wait until I go back to work in "the big city" maybe on Friday.

[Bonnie]

You might try mineral oil. That has helped me in the past. My doctor did say not to use it every day.

Bonnie

[LisaS]

re: soft foods - I made a wonderful one last night -
usually I make a mean garlic cauliflower mash - but last night I steamed a 1 lb bag of cauliflower with a handful of broccoli florets and 5 garlic cloves - mashed with my stick blender adding salt, pepper, garlic powder, butter & sour cream. Then stirred in about 1 oz of shredded cheddar with 1 oz more scattered on the top - and finished it off in the oven just to brown the cheese.

Oh My Goodness was it good. Looked like something out of the Exorcist film but it tasted wonderful. Better than w/out the broccoli I think.

[Mitra]

Something has been puzzling me as I've thought about this soft food question. As far as your colon is concerned, why can't you just chew it up well? Does your colon know the difference between something pulverised in your mouth, and something pulverised in a blender?

[BawdyWench]

That does sound good! I'm quickly running out of things I feel like eating. The first three days were a breeze, but now I'm getting tired of protein shakes (which aren't substantial enough to cut the horrendous taste of the meds), plain whole-milk yogurt spiked with protein powder, cottage cheese, and scrambled eggs.

This morning I had a small bowl of real Irish oats topped with butter, a couple tablespoons of heavy cream, and some SF maple syrup. Heavenly.

Tonight I'm at a loss. DH is still out of town (stupid Nor'easter!), so I'm on my own again. There's not much in the house. Maybe I'll have a can of tuna with Miracle Whip. I made some SF jello, but it probably won't be ready until tomorrow.

And stupid me, I watched back-to-back episodes of "The Take Home Chef" with that Aussie guy. The first show was a roast chicken and roasted acorn squash that looked amazing. The second was home-made pasta (don't like pasta anymore) and a red sauce that he divided and put chunks of sausage in one and swordfish in the other. I think my ycky meds would taste better than that!

I don't feel like tuna. Wah!

[BawdyWench]

MITRA! What a clever observation! You have a good point there. Hmmm. I did kind of think this at first when I had that lovely filet mignon waiting for me in the fridge. It was really tender, and I figured maybe if I cut very small pieces and chewed it really well ... oh well, the dog thinks I'm pretty great now.

Excuse me while I wander off to scrounge the fridge and pantry yet again.

[Always]

BW...I would have to agree that it's probably the berries. My Mom has this problem berries set her off.

I've put almond butter or peanut butter in a chocolate protein shake as well as cream cheese or ricotta or cottage cheese to make it more substantial. I also use pumpkin in a vanilla shake. If you can afford the carbs, use a small piece of banana. You could also just mix some protein powder in with cottage cheese or ricotta or even cream cheese for a protein shake in a bowl kind of thing.

You might try cream of wheat cereal or acorn squash or butternut squash mashed.

When I had oral surgery years ago, I remember cooking up a fish/zucchini soup and then putting it in the blender...it tasted good, but it was weird. And no, I don't remember the recipe.

Good luck!!!

[BawdyWench]

Thanks for the tips, Mary! When I mentioned all the salsa and berries (actually, it was about 80% salsa, 20% berries, if that much), he didn't think so. He said this was something that had simply been building for a while. He doesn't subscribed to the "no nuts, no berries" idea. He says to start introducing things back into my diet slowly, one at a time, and see what sets you off. He said the same thing that a lot of people around here have said -- different things set off different people.

Yesterday morning and this morning I had real Irish oatmeal with a bit of butter, cream, and SF maple syrup. For lunch just now I had tuna with mayo. So far, so good.

And although I know this isn't about weight loss at the moment, you'd think that after a week of eating about 700 calories a day, I'd have gone down at least a little bit. Not one blasted pound! I mentioned it to my doctor on Thursday, but he said not to worry about it for now. OK, but it's hard not to obsess when I have so much time on my hands.

[BawdyWench]

Almost forgot. I have another question.

Do you think it's ok to start having some cream cheese?

Cheese tends to bind you up sometimes, so I was wondering if I should steer clear of it altogether for a while.

[Gaelen]

Hi, Bawdy. While some types of cheeses can make constipation worse, I've never personally had that problem with the softer, higher fat content cheeses like cream cheese (or cheesecake...you could eat cheesecake!) or getost, or goat cheese, or paneer.

Hope this helps.

[BawdyWench]

CHEESECAKE?!?!?!?!?!?

:D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D

I have the WORLD'S BEST cheesecake recipe! And better than that, I have all the ingredients!!!!!!!

<< running to whip up the batter >>

And it's in the oven!

[Mitra]

So, while it's cooking, any chance you could share the recipe? :)

[BawdyWench]

Bawdy's Cheesecake

2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 cups sour cream (all of a 1 lb container)
1/2 cup Splenda (or any flavored SF syrup you like)
16 ounces cream cheese (2 packages, softened)
2 Tbsp melted butter

Mix together.

That's it! If you like, you can make a crust out of 1 1/2 cups almond meal (ground almonds), 1/4 cup splenda, and 1/4 cup melted butter.

Bake in a preheated 325-degree oven for 35 to 40 minutes. DO NOT TAKE IT OUT OF THE OVEN. Just turn off the oven.

It won't look quite done, but it does firm up as it cools and has been in the fridge. To help keep the top from cracking, I place a pie tin filled with water on the shelf below to keep the heat moist.

I input this into Fitday, and the totals are (using Splenda and having a crust):

4,049 calories
370 grams fat
81 grams carbs (minus the 24 grams of fiber equals 57 ECC)
92 grams protein

If you get 12 servings out of it (which are still good-sized servings, since it's pretty rich), the counts per serving are:

324 calories
30 grams fat
4 ECC
7 grams protein

And if you use a liquid SF sweetener like DaVinci's or Atkins syrups (which have no carbs), the ECC for the whole recipe drops to 39, and one serving drops to 3. Remember, a cup of granular Splenda has 24 carbs in it because of the maltodextrin filler they use so it measures the same as sugar.

Even DH didn't know it was LC. He loved it!

Also, sometimes I'll keep out a cup of the batter and add some unsweetened cocoa to taste (1 Tbsp has 2 carbs with 2 grams fiber, so 0 ECC), and then dollop it in and swirl it around.

Other people have added pumpkin and other flavorings.

It also freezes well. Same texture and flavor after defrosting.

Enjoy!

[Mitra]

Thank you. I've just used my Moderator Superpowers to copy it into the recipes section as well - I hope that's OK. But if somebody's looking for a cheesecake recipe they may not think to check out the diverticulitis thread ;).

[BawdyWench]

Gee, ya think?

Actually, it's posted in the recipe forum of another lowcarb web site, and it's the most popular cheesecake recipe there. I was going to post the link, but figured it wouldn't be kosher. So, thanks for posting it there!

[Gaelen]

Bawdy...posting links is perfectly 'kosher'...especially 'cause it's a link to your own recipe, but even if it weren't. A link is just a pointer; posting it doesn't violate anyone's copyright as direct posting of information sometimes can.

But back to the diverticulitis...
The reason that I suggested cheesecake is that...um...often on dog show weekends, we'll have a cheesecake-tasting where a couple of people try out their new recipes on the group (because dog people will eat anything!) And one thing I've noticed is that I'm fine at digestive control until the day or two after a cheesecake tasting, when I'm a little to a lot looser than normal. And when traveling makes me tense, I can have cheesecake for dessert and take care of things within a couple of hours.

If constipation is an issue, you might find cheesecake to be a happy regulator, as I do. ;)

[BawdyWench]

If constipation is an issue, you might find cheesecake to be a happy regulator, as I do. ;)

Ahhh. Life is worth living, after all! :p

Here's the link to the 20+ pages of ideas and variations for Bawdy's Cheesecake:

http://forum.lowcarber.org/showthread.php?t=224312&page=1&pp=15

PS: Don't leave out the butter. I don't know why, but it's simply not the same without it.

[BawdyWench]

Gaelen, you might want to change the title of the post you moved so that it's no longer "Re: Diverticulitis and Low Carb."

[BawdyWench]

OK, this is depressing.

I must be the only person in America (the world?) who can GAIN on 800 calories a day.

Up 2 pounds this morning. A week ago last Friday I was at 180. That hasn't changed all week. This morning I'm at 182.

:confused:

[Dodger]

Bawdy,

Maine has become an area of high gravity. You need to move to where gravity is less.

[BawdyWench]

What ... like, the moon?

:p

Actually, that's funny because I've always told DH that gravity affects me more than the average person!