Inflammatory Bowel Disease Expert Elizabeth Roberts shares Inflammatory Bowel Disease management news and commentary at MyIBDCentral.com. The HealthCentral Network, Inc. (www.HealthCentral.com) is one of the top health destinations on the Web, with more than 35 condition-specific, wellness and general health Web properties. http://www.healthcentral.com/ibd/c/2623 http://www.healthcentral.com/ibd/c/2623/rss self application/xml en-us 15 120 19 http://www.healthcentral.com/images/hc_logo_sm.gif http://www.healthcentral.com/ibd/c/2623 http://www.healthcentral.com/ibd/c/2623/42996/preservatives-meat Wed, 01 Oct 2008 14:24:00 -0000 Elizabeth Roberts Let me start this week's blog by admitting that I love pork - pork chops, pork roast, pork spare ribs, you name it if it's pork I like it. And since I haven't been able to eat beef (without big, bad repercussions) for nearly 10 years, pork helps to put some variety in my mainly chicken and fish diet. But, for the past few months I've been noticing that when I eat pork I tend to feel very bloated and gassy within an hour of eating it. Bloating... http://www.healthcentral.com/ibd/c/2623/42996/preservatives-meat http://www.healthcentral.com/ibd/c/2623/42128/ibd-updates Thu, 25 Sep 2008 14:05:00 -0000 Elizabeth Roberts Spinach Well, my flare-up seems to have passed and I'm back to what is normal for me. I found the most interesting thing to be my ability to add baby spinach to my daily diet. I've not been able to eat anything green or leafy for about ten years without terrible, dire consequences. But, during my flare a fellow IBDer recommended spinach. He said that he found eating a serving per day actually really helped to calm his gut and improve his bowel... http://www.healthcentral.com/ibd/c/2623/42128/ibd-updates http://www.healthcentral.com/ibd/c/2623/40869/taking-ibd-holiday Mon, 15 Sep 2008 14:15:00 -0000 Elizabeth Roberts I think the Internet is great. And I truly appreciate websites like this one. But, if I'm honest then I have to admit that sometimes all this technology makes it far too easy to focus on IBD far too much! That's why you didn't get a blog from me last week - I needed a holiday from IBD.   I'd been in a flare for about two months and in the last couple of weeks things finally calmed down. I got to the point where I didn't really need to... http://www.healthcentral.com/ibd/c/2623/40869/taking-ibd-holiday http://www.healthcentral.com/ibd/c/2623/39235/family-friends-ibd Mon, 01 Sep 2008 20:48:00 -0000 Elizabeth Roberts Like me, my dad has UC. When I was a child I never really knew about his gut problems. I did know that he spent a lot of time in the bathroom. And that he always had a small plastic box filled with little white pills (Lomotil) conveniently tucked into a shirt or pants pocket, and would occasionally pop one of the pills into his mouth. Back in the 60s and 70s we just didn't talk about health problems like we do today.   It wasn't until I... http://www.healthcentral.com/ibd/c/2623/39235/family-friends-ibd http://www.healthcentral.com/ibd/c/2623/38478/imperfect Tue, 26 Aug 2008 00:20:00 -0000 Elizabeth Roberts Unless you are actually the one living with a chronic illness like IBD I don't think you can really understand just how exhausting and overwhelming it can become. When my symptoms first took hold of me in 1997 ALL I thought about was my gut and poo. No matter how hard I tried to take my mind off of it, I simply couldn't. I was sick and it was the IBD that was making me that way and it was all I could think of. Thankfully, my "obsessiveness... http://www.healthcentral.com/ibd/c/2623/38478/imperfect http://www.healthcentral.com/ibd/c/2623/38008/medicine Thu, 21 Aug 2008 19:35:00 -0000 Elizabeth Roberts If you are a regular reader of my blog then you've probably figured out by now that I'm a pretty big advocate of listening to my body and employing many of the mind/body disciplines to help me live a successful life with IBD. I've written quite a bit about figuring out the foods and diet that are best for me and my gut. I've also discussed my yoga, meditation, Reiki, and exercise routines that help me to cope with stress in my life, and... http://www.healthcentral.com/ibd/c/2623/38008/medicine http://www.healthcentral.com/ibd/c/2623/37082/diets-diets-diets-ibder Wed, 13 Aug 2008 19:31:00 -0000 Elizabeth Roberts   For 31 years of my life I never thought about what I was eating. I ate what I wanted, when I wanted, and never gave it a second thought. I wasn't a fast food junkie by any means, but did enjoy things like french fries, Doritos, ice cream, and Coca-Cola, as well as watermelon, sweet corn, Yoplait yogurt, and beer.   After my IBD diagnosis in 1998 I never ate any of these aforementioned foods again - and many, many others - at least... http://www.healthcentral.com/ibd/c/2623/37082/diets-diets-diets-ibder http://www.healthcentral.com/ibd/c/2623/36220/5-things-knew-diagnosed Wed, 06 Aug 2008 20:35:00 -0000 Elizabeth Roberts When I was finally diagnosed with colitis in 1998 I initially felt happy and relieved. I had lived with bowel symptoms of one sort or another since I was a child. In high school my symptoms became bothersome and I went through a series of GI tests only to be told my ills were most likely caused by stress. In 1998 my symptoms became severe, lingered, and could no longer be ignored - I had lost about 20 pounds in a matter of months. I found a GI... http://www.healthcentral.com/ibd/c/2623/36220/5-things-knew-diagnosed http://www.healthcentral.com/ibd/c/2623/35370/corn-consequences Tue, 29 Jul 2008 21:51:00 -0000 Elizabeth Roberts Even though I know what I should and shouldn't eat to keep my gut happy, this time of year simply "tempts" my limits. The farmer's markets (there are three throughout the week within 1 mile of my house!) just serve to tempt me with fresh fruits and veggies, so many of which I simply know I can't eat because they will cause issues for my gut. Over the past ten years I've learned which fruits and veggies are my friends and which are my foes and... http://www.healthcentral.com/ibd/c/2623/35370/corn-consequences http://www.healthcentral.com/ibd/c/2623/34099/omega-6-sushi-choose Thu, 17 Jul 2008 22:30:00 -0000 Elizabeth Roberts FOOD - good, bad, how do we keep track?   There was some news this week that has made me wonder about the food we're told to eat, then told could be bad for us. I'm talking about the fish, Tilapia. The news is that the farm-raised fish we've all be snarfing down these past years is, apparently, very high in Omega-6 essential fatty acids (EFAs). Why does this matter? Well, because while we all need Omega-6 as well as Omega-3 EFAs in order... http://www.healthcentral.com/ibd/c/2623/34099/omega-6-sushi-choose