Cole's wild mackerel

Protein is always a challenge on the fibroid shrinking diet. Especially convenient and tasty protein. So I'm glad to have discovered a product that is both of those -- Cole's Wild Mackerel. It's a tin of tasty fish in olive oil.

I keep a bunch of them in my cupboard for impromptu lunches. Today I had the mackerel along with roasted beet on top of spinach and arugula. An excellent fibroid fighting repast -- and it was delicious too!

When I first discovered it, I was a bit worried about the mackerel, was the mercury level high? Couldn't find anything online so I emailed the company and got this response:

It is Atlantic Spanish mackerel..small fish..in the 2-4 lb range..low mercury as the life span is short

Phew!

The rainbow trout from this company also looks good but have not tried it yet, it's a bit more pricey.

I got my mackerel at Whole Foods, it's also available here.

By the way, there was a recent article in the Wall Street Journal about how pouches of mackerel are used as an alternate currency in many prisons. One reason they are popular is that the prisoners don't want to eat the fish. They must use a cheaper grade of mackerel than what is in this Cole's, because the Cole's really is scrumptuous! I doubt the prison stuff is in olive oil either.

Ayurfood Lentil Khichadi

I have bought a bunch of Ayurvedic cookbooks but I have to admit I find them rather intimidating and I have only made a few things from them. Plus the recipes usually take a lot of potchky (fuss) as my grandmother would say. Which is a shame because Ayurveda is a holistic medicine system with deep roots, and it is said can help a lot with fibroids. And those Ayurvedic recipes I have made have for the most part been quite yummy.

So I was delighted to find in the packaged food area of Whole Foods a new product line of pre-packaged Ayurvedic foods by a company called AyurFoods. All you need to make a nourishing Ayurvedically balanced meal all there in one package. I tried the Khichadi and the Lentil Khichadi. The Khichadi was a bit too salty for me but the Lentil Khichadi was really amazing with just the right balance of spices. Warm and comforting and easy to make; you can also dress it up with some fresh vegetables.

Something perfect to keep in the cupboard for lunch or any other meal in a pinch. A vegan dish with a good amount of protein, the Lentil Khichadi is ideal for fibroid shrinkers. Khichadi is an Ayurvedic dish mean to rest the body, and is used as part of cleansing -- the Ayurfoods site even has info on how you can use it for a cleanse (although I don't think I could eat this 3 meals a day even though it's delicious!)

apple pear crisp recipe

This dish is a good dessert or breakfast that is sweet and satisfying, yet chock full of good things for fibroid fighters. We had dinner at friends' yesterday and it worked well as a festive dessert.

Notice that there is no added sugar in this

Filling:

About 5 cups total chopped up apples and pears, skins on, or whatever fits in your casserole dish
Juice of one lemon
1/2 cup water
generous sprinking of cinnamon
1/2 cup goji berries
1/2 cup dried cherries


Topping:

1 cup oats
1/3 cup flour (either wheat or something like rice if you are avoiding gluten)
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup coconut oil, melted
generous sprinkling of cinnamon

While cutting up the apples and pears, toss them with the lemon juice to keep them from turning brown, then mix in the goji berries and cherries. Grease your casserole with coconut oil. Place filling in the casserole. Sprinkle generously with cinnamon, then pour in the water.

Mix together the oats, flour, and salt. Add the melted coconut oil and mix till blended. Spread the topping over the filling.

Bake for approx. 40 minutes at 375 degrees until tender and your house is filled with the smell. Cover for the first 30 minutes then remove cover for the last ten.

Delicious and no guilt!

pineapple this week -- killing two birds with one stone

I am TTC and have heard that pineapple promotes implantation, so am eating fresh pineapple every day this week.

Here is a typical post talking about pineapple for this purpose. Some people say it's the bromelain in it, and some people say it's the selenium content. It's hard to find good info on this, seems like all the websites are just reporting hearsay. I originally heard about it in the book The Infertility Cure: The Ancient Chinese Wellness Program for Getting Pregnant and Having Healthy Babies (which incidentally has an excellent chapter on fibroids).

Plus, am thinking the pineapple could help the fibroids too. Bromelain is an enzyme, which reduces inflammation in the body. And perhaps like other enzymes (nattokinase, protease, serraptase, etc.) might be able to help shrink fibroids.

This page mentions pineapple specifically for fibroids, so do this one and this one and this one. Wow, a lot of people are talking about it.

Bromelain is also an ingredient in the anti-fibroid enzyme pills FibroVera and Wobenzyn. These are two of those high-priced enzyme supplements often touted on the web that I believe one can do just as well by getting the ingredients separately.

For TTC purposes, one is only supposed to do the pineapple during the week after ovulation. Before that, and it could make you too acidic which is bad for sperm. After that, and pineapple supposedly can bring on miscarriage.

If one were not TTC, then eating pineapple or taking bromelain all the time sounds like it would be a good addition to a fibroid shrinking regimen (bromelain on its own might be better as it's more concentrated and might not make you acidic the way lots of pineapple can ).

supplement update

Some more slight adjustments to my supplement regimen, from this week's acupuncturist visit.

ELIMINATING:
Standard Process Catalyn
Megafoods Iron Free One Daily
Solgar Vitamin E
Futureplex Antitox Drainage Complex

ADDING

Juice Plus Orchard and Garden Blend


It's not that the Catalyn and Megafoods were bad, those are both whole food based supplements also, it's just that somehow my body seems to have tired of them.

The Juice Plus are multivitamins, but in the form of whole food -- basically they are powdered concentrated fruits and vegetables. Although nothing specifically fibroid-related, there is a lot of research behind them, including research showing that their use during pregnancy leads to fewer problems. Incidentally both the Juice Plus products contain beet, which as mentioned in a previous post is supposed to be particularly good for fibroid shrinking.

ADDING BACK

Theramedix DGX/Digestion Formula

(After a few days not taking them, felt like I needed them...)

fighting fibroids -- a budget buster?

One of the people on a fibroid listserv I'm on took a look at this blog and felt that doing the things I am doing are way out of her budget, and found it daunting. Just wanted to comment on that.

Acupuncture and supplements can indeed add up. But not all the things one can do holistically to fight fibroids are expensive. Eliminating meat and dairy, and eating more vegetables, legumes, and healthy grains such as quinoa, amaranth and millet can be done on a budget (and can help a budget since legumes and grains are good protein sources and less expensive than meat). Blackstrap molasses is also inexpensive and seems to help a lot of people. Yoga can be done in your own home not going to a class.

Acupuncture and supplements are helpful but there are things one can do that don't cost as much, and should help.

a box of goodies landing on my doorstep each week

Those who have been reading this blog for awhile may remember that this spring I got so overwhelmed trying to cook things that would fit in the fibroid-fighting diet that I hired a chef to cook meals for me. Just thought I would update people on how that experiment went.

This was a good idea at the time, as it took some pressure off at a time when I was very stressed, and added some variety. However, even though I had found someone who worked at half the typical price of a personal chef, it was still expensive. Also after a couple of months I found that her creativity started to wane a bit and I was less pleased with the meals.

So I told her I was taking a break for the summer, when I was not going to be around. Then in the fall I didn't really have a desire to start up again. I'm more in cooking mode now. I'm now in my new house which has a lovely kitchen, I have some great cooking implements received a wedding presents. Also I have a husband who loves my cooking, and would eat goodness-knows-what for dinner if I weren't feeding him. So I am a lot more motivated to cook.

But I still don't really like food shopping and getting inspiration for meal planning can sometimes be difficult. But I have found a helper that I really like -- I have signed up for a weekly box of organic vegetables delivered from a local farm. This is what is now known as "community supported agriculture" and is currently quite trendy.

My food boxes are coming from Capay Farms "Farm Fresh to You" here in the San Francisco area. I am quite pleased with the assortment, quality, and quantity of the weekly box. And having yummy organic veggies land on my doorstep without my having to think about choosing them in the store and lugging them home is wonderful.

Somehow it's more fun to eat something that you know came straight to you from the farm. And figuring out what to make with the veggies in season that week is a nice challenge. Last night it was a butternut squash soup with apples, onions, and garlic -- 100% made from ingredients from the farm! I don't want to waste the box contents so I think it helps motivate me to eat more veggies and find ways to use them. I also feel like the box is a good deal compared to what these items would cost if I bought them at Whole Foods.

With all the frustration of trying to maintain the fibroid shrinking diet, a positive thing related to food is quite welcome. Check out this directory of CSA's and see if there is one near you!

update to my regimen

A visit to my acupuncturist today led to some updates to my supplement regimen. It's very important to update what you are taking, to address the changing needs of your body as you continue to heal. Also, I think one's body tends to get bored and needs to have different stuff to wake it up once in awhile.

First of all, happy to report excellent results from my first use of the Bach Flower Remedies. As you will recall, these work on the emotions. Last time I was in, I was feeling very frustrated with my husband (getting used to living together and cooperating!) and Chicory came up for me. As soon as I took it, my mood changed a lot. This time my acupuncturist checked (more later on how she does that) and as I had guessed I had moved beyond that, to Hornbeam. Wow, looking at the description of this is exactly how I feel, as I feel exhausted just contemplating the pile of work I have to do and trying to get my office organized after our move.

Right now am pre-ovulation so am hitting the fibroids with the Chinese shrinking herbs, have now switched back to the mixture of Chai Hu, Dang Gui, Bai Zhu, Fu Ling, Bo He, Bai Shao, Mu Dan Pi, Shan Zhi Zi, Zhi Gan Cao, Sheng Jiang, Dan Shen, Cong Lou and Du Zhong that I was taking this spring (modified Free and Easy Wanderer).

My digestion is bothering me so we switched me from the DGX to Bioset Probiotic.

even more additions to my fibroid-shrinking regimen

A few more changes to my fibroid-shrinking regimen, as a result of my visit to the acupuncturist yesterday.

Stopping the Women's Precious formula.

Starting with Bach Flower Remedies, in my case Chicory(Acupuncturist thinks the Chicory has to do with my relationship with my husband!). Bach Flower Remedies are a type of homeopathic, that work on your emotions. This page and also this page discuss use of the Bach remedies for fibroids.

I am also adding Premier Research Quantum Kidney Complex and MSM. The Kidney Complex is more something that will help indirectly. The MSM came up because joint issues came up on the scan she did, although poking around on the internet I find this page and this page that suggest that MSM may be helpful for fibroids.

maca -- another addition to my fibroid shrinking regimen

While poking around on the internet, I found this page which discusses the Peruvian root maca in detail and mentions that women had shrunk their fibroids with it.

Maca is a food and has various nutrients and acts as an adaptogen. The biggest reason that it seems to be helpful for fibroids is that it balances hormones and increases progesterone production. For this reason it's also said to be good for fertility purposes. And it increases energy too. Sounds like it would be perfect for me!

I ran this by my acupuncturist and she said "Oh, I love maca, and indeed it would be helpful for you." Which makes me wonder, why didn't she suggest it before? But I have found that even with the best practitioners one needs to be proactive in bringing things up (that's what happened with the noni too, I found info on the internet and ran it by her and she said "oh yes, noni is great"). Also from the practitioner's point of view, they might not want to be seen as pushing too much stuff on you (not everyone is as gung ho about taking stuff as me!)

I just ordered some of these Maca Crispy Bites, we'll see how they taste!