sauerkraut

Getting Used to This New Diet/Lifestyle

Beat Eczema / By

You know, sometimes it takes being desperate to make a big change in life.  For me, it took the misery of suffering with an irritating and embarrassing condition called ezcema.  I was definitely desperate enough to make some changes.  After 11 days of an extreme change in diet, I can honestly say it has worked!

The skin on my affected fingers and hands actually is soft now, rather than feeling like hard plastic or tree bark.  I am lovin’ it!  But, some of the nice side effects that I wasn’t expecting are:  weight loss, incredible energy, clear thinking, and best of all — hardly any more hot flashes!!!  I can barely believe it.

For the 11 days I was pretty much a die-hard with the prescribed diet in the Beat Eczema plan (except for a few mistakes), but I have had a couple of events that I’ve gone to in the last few days where I couldn’t eat the right kind of food for my diet.  So, being hungry, I went ahead and ate what was offered, even the desserts.  I wanted to see what happened.  I will say, “So far, so good.”   I think one must be very strict until getting the desired results, then a day off the diet won’t set you back so badly.

But, I will not continue to test this on purpose.  I like the way I feel with this diet plan.  I even went to a European market and bought some Polish fermented food — some sauerkraut, red bell peppers and pickles.  They all taste so good.  I wasn’t expecting to like it all so much, but I was pleasantly surprised.  These do not have any vinegar but are fermented with brine water.

My sprouted buckwheat groats turned out to be really tasty.  Who knew?!  After becoming sprouts and drying out on a cup towel on my kitchen counter, now they will last me about 6 weeks in my refrigerator.  That is good, because as they expanded each day I ended up with a whole jar of them.  It will take me that long to eat them all!

Still can’t believe I have soft skin on my fingers!  If you have eczema, it is worth the effort.  I hope you’ll try it.  To get the entire diet and plan, you can download it from the website:  www.beateczema.com.  If you have any questions about my experience in this fight against eczema, just comment on this blog and I will be happy to share.

5 Responses to “Getting Used to This New Diet/Lifestyle”

  1. Stephanie says:

    Is sprouting really difficult? I bought a special glass jar with a stainless steel mesh lid but haven’t had time to sit down and learn how to actually do something with it yet.

  2. Valerie says:

    What do sprouted buckwheat groats taste like and how do they help the skin?
    Is fermented food better for you because of the high level of enzymes?

  3. bbriscoe says:

    Stephanie, sprouting is not hard at all, but you must be at home to rinse the sprouts every so often. It is a different time frame with each kind of sprout. With the buckwheat groats, I needed to rinse them every 8 hours, and they were ready in about a day and a half (instructions said 1 to 2 days). You can see a sprouting chart at http://www.veggiewave.com/soaking_chart.

  4. bbriscoe says:

    Thanks for asking about buckwheat groats, Valerie. They don’t have a strong taste, but the taste they do have is a delightful, almost nutty taste. They are a strongly inflammatory food, which is the goal of the “beat eczema” diet. They are also rich in vitamins and minerals, especially magnesium and manganese. They provide some fiber and some protein as well.

    Yes, the reason for the fermented food for digestion is because of its high value of enzymes and probiotics.

  5. bbriscoe says:

    Forgot to mention, Valerie, that a good source of info on the buckwheat groats is http://www.nutritiondata.com/facts/cereal-grains-and-pasta/5682/2.

Best Day So Far

Beat Eczema / By

I woke up this morning with very soft skin again after removing the plastic wrap from my fingers.  This time the softness of the skin continued longer throughout the day.  I’m not sure why, but the skin began getting scaly again tonight.

This morning, I ate some organic berry apple sauce, then some organic plain yogurt with blueberries, blackberries, pecans, raw local honey and cinnamon.  Mid-morning I drank some fresh carrot juice.  For lunch I had a spring mix salad with sprouts and live sauerkraut with a sprinkling of pumpkin seeds.  Afternoon snacks included slices of apple with organic peanut butter as a spread, and a handful of walnuts, rasisins, and dried pineapple.

I splurged for dinner and had Basmati brown rice and lightly steamed broccoli again with a side of sprouts.

At work today at the spa, one of the nail techs suggested I do a hot parafin wax treatment on my hands after exfoliating them with a scrub.  Then one of the estheticians put some skin healing cream on them and gave me a sample.  This all seemed to help a lot.  I will apply this skin healing cream (Elizabeth Arden’s 8 Hour Cream) tonight instead of the Golden Salve and see what happens.  It is very greasy at first, but once it dries it forms a harder protective coating while it heals.  Will be interesting to see in the morning.

Still waiting on baby soft skin

Beat Eczema / By

Wonder how long this is going to take?  I want results NOW!!!  Aren’t we all like that?  It took my body probably years to manifest this eczema and I want it gone overnight.  Of course I do.  Why not?  Welll, I’m a week into this project, and I will not quit yet.  I’m not only doing this for myself but also for others who may come behind me and want to do something about their skin with the same problem.  So, I’m in it for you too, baby!

Okay, for breakfast after working out  at the gym I had another blueberry/blackberry smoothie with organic local honey, flaxseed meal, small amounts of pineapple juice and kefir, ice cubes, and one small addition — a T. of a green drink (superfood) powder called Green Zone by NSP.  I also ate a handful of walnuts and a handful of pumpkin seeds (both containing lots of EFAs).

Lunch was salad again:  organic mix of field greens, sprouts, sauerkraut, grated raw sheep cheese, pumpkins seeds and some Basmati brown rice.  Dinner was awesome!  Half of a baked organic Yukon Gold potatoe with some very lightly steamed broccoli (still crunchy with enzymes intact), sauerkraut on top of field greens and sprouts — all seasoned with organic kelp.  This was a delicious meal.  I’m also remembering to take my flax seed oil gelcaps daily – 8/day (a lifesaver!).

I still can’t believe I’m not wanting bad snacks inbetween meals.  Even if my hands don’t get significantly better, this diet is worth it for the weight loss, the clarity of mind, and the brighter skin (face).  Still waiting on baby soft skin on my hands.  They seem to be slightly better each day now, but the difference is so subtle.  I will once again apply Golden Salve salve tonight and wrap the fingers with Saran Wrap to keep it from rubbing off onto my clothes or sheets.  This morning when I unwrapped the fingers, the skin felt so soft, and the skin cracks were healed.  Once again, during the day though, there came new skin cracks and new scaliness.

Signing off til tomorrow . . .

Hopeful

2 Responses to “Still waiting on baby soft skin”

  1. Im not going to say what anyone else has previously mentioned, but I do want to comment on your information in the theme. Youre genuinely well-informed. I cant think how a lot of this I just wasnt aware of. Thank you for bringing a lot more details to this topic for me. Im truly grateful and actually impressed.

  2. Found some great info here today.

My hopes were dashed

Beat Eczema / By

After almost a week with no cooked food, I set my hopes on eating a meal with organic Basmati brown rice — the rice with that buttery, yummy flavor (actually in the “Beat Eczema” meal plan) – while watching the Cowboys play Minnesota today.  Not only did the Cowboys lose miserably, but my rice, after two hours of cooking, using the method described on the Beat Eczema website, was still swimming in water.  So I ditched that effort until later and changed my plan.

I knowingly ate something inflammatory but quick!  A little pasta never hurt anyone, right?  Especially since it was whole wheat pasta.  And all I put on it was olive oil and some crushed garlic and kelp for flavor.  I also sauteed some fresh spinach with olive oil and garlic.  Now that was good.  Then, finally my biogenic food for this meal was some live sauerkraut.  Yuk!  I will have to learn to like this stuff.

Now, the whole point of this discussion is to learn what to do right to beat eczema, and this may mean learning from my mistakes.  So, let me tell you that this pasta substitution was a definite mistake.  After this meal, the eczema patches on my hands got red and itchy again.  It took awhile for this to calm down.

Perhaps I should back up and talk about breakfast.  I had a blueberry/blackberry smoothie mixed with some raw local honey, flaxseed meal, organic plain yogurt, pineapple juice and some ice cubes.  And, oh yes, remember that I was going to apply the honey to my fingers and wrap them with Saran Wrap overnight?  The results were okay but not as great as the Golden Salve (from NSP) I’ve been using.  I’ll just stick with that.  It has been amazing for preventing infection and healing split skin overnight.

While waiting on the failed rice attempt, I made a snack to munch on:  an open-faced avocado sandwich (recipe found in the Beat Eczema diet).  I really liked this.  You should try it.

I also began my first soaking and sprouting experience with seeds today.  I tried some buckwheat groats –soaked 6 hours, then put in a sprouting jar — will have to rinse them before bedtime.  There was a whole lotta shakin’ goin’ on, since rinsing is required every few hours.  Quite a time investment this is.  After today, I think I’ll just buy my sprouts.

Okay, for dinner there was more sauerkraut, this time mixed in with my long-awaited buttery-flavored Basmati rice and a salad of field greens and sprouts.  My beverage was carrot juice.  Not bad.

What is amazing to me, a die-hard chocoholic, is that now when I pass by the good chocolate in health food stores, I am not even tempted.  This food I’m eating is so full of nutrients that I am satisfied with very little of it, and I am not craving carbs or chocolate the way I used to.

Can’t wait for my hands to tell the story of how good I’m eating.  I guess it takes awhile.  I’m not so good at patience, but I’m learning.  No change in the hands today, except that short reactive episode in response to the inflammatory food.

5 Responses to “My hopes were dashed”

  1. Valer says:

    Brenda-
    I love your food prep diary, glad your cravings are gone!

  2. bbriscoe says:

    Yes, they are still gone on this the 8th day, and it feels great. My mind is so clear and I feel lighter.

  3. You hit the nail on the head with that one, awesome read! Keep up the good work.

  4. These are very nice tips that I will try out, I am glad I ran into it. Thanks.

  5. You can definitely see your enthusiasm in the work you write. The world hopes for more passionate writers like you who aren?¯t afraid to say how they believe. Always go after your heart.

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