The Great Tofurky Experiment

So, the nutritionists say the poultry is a bad thing for me because it’s pro-inflammatory. They told me to eat more soy and seafood. Seafood didn’t seem right for Christmas dinner, but there’s something in the health food stores called “Tofurky.” It’s kind of fun to say but I was a little wary of trying it. Feaux vegetarian meats have been a kind of scary thing, though they’ve been getting better the last 15 years as “vegetarianism” has hit the modern grocery store instead of just in hidden health food stores.

Anyway, so this Christmas, I decided to go for the whole Tofurky affair. I found a whole dinner at Wild Oats. According to the box:

A Delicious Vegetarian Feast

Feast Includes a Tender, Juicy Stuffed Tofu Roast, 8 Delicious Cranberry-Apple, Potato Dumplings, Rich Tofurky “Giblet” & Mushroom Gravy, and Our Signature Tofurky Jurky Wishstix

More

Tags: Tofurky, vegetarian, Christmas, dinner, nutrition, fibromyalgia, cooking

Chicken Substitute

O.K. So I don’t eat much red meat and when I do, I can probably use the soy ground meat substitute found at the grocery or portabella mushrooms for the steaklike recipes.

However, I do eat a lot of chicken breasts.  I remember seeing those little mock “chicken” nuggets and I’ve seen mock “chicken” patties, but what’s a weekend chef person like me to do if she wants to alter a favorite recipe to fit her new non-poultry diet?

Is there a good chicken substitute out there and how hard is it to find it?  Will I be able to find it in the Hannaford or Wild Oats or even in the Whole Foods that’s opening hopefully in February?

Tags: vegetarian, chicken substitute, alternative nutrition

Trying Something Alternative

I spent Monday focusing on my stomach.

Well, sort of.

Monday morning, I met with two GPs, who specialize in alternative medicine, specifically nutrition.  Rather, I was referred to them to get counsellings on what changes to make to my nutritional diet to decrease inflammation in my body since I can no longer take anti-inflammatory drugs due to my kidney disease.  I guess I kind of expected to get a list of foods to avoid and a list of foods to eat and a sample diet and have that be it, but that’s not really how it went.

First, I’m being referred to an acupuncturist for the pain.  I’m going to try it out.  I’m not all that excited about the needles thing, but at this point, I’m willing to try it.  They got me after a week of moving and being slave-driven by my parents who don’t believe in taking rest breaks, so I was particularly tender and in no mood to argue.

As for nutrition:

• Gradually decrease the caffeine in your diet.  For some reason, they think I’m an addict.  Who didn’t see that coming?  They said not to do it cold turkey though…apparently I’m not as young as I once was.
• I have to do half my morning coffee as decaf.  Bah!  That’s just wrong!  A crime against nature.
• I need to start cutting my Diet Pepsi with Diet Rite (which is not caffeinated).  Another crime.
• Take out foods with aspartame.  Substitute with non-aspartame products.
• Again with the Diet Rite.  Though Pepsi One is made with Splenda.
• I need to find a yogurt I like that doesn’t sweeten with aspartame.  I loved Blue Bunny in the South but haven’t been able to find it here.  I’ll be making my own again once I get settled in my house, so it’s just for a short time.
• Use Olive and Canola Oil.  (I already do that.  Vegetable oil is too heavy.)
• Decrease how often you are eating out down to 1-2 times per week to keep dinners healthy.  They got me there.  I had gotten to the point where I was eating out pretty much every night and you can’t control what other people put in your food.  It’s a good thing I love cooking.
• Add Ginger and Tumeric to foods.  Apparently these have anti-inflammatory properties but they take a few weeks to build up in your system.  They said to just toss a little into my soup or whatever I’m having for lunch.
• Substitute Soy and Seafood for red meat and poultry.  Apparently red meat and poultry have pro-inflammatory properties.  I already wasn’t eating much red meat.  The poultry will be harder to give up.  I find it a little odd that I already had been unconsciously making this move toward semi-vegetarianism.  I’d been naturally making the choice to use Soy substitutes of meat for about half a year on my own, not out of any pro-animal or anti-meat industry ideology but just because I felt it was better for “me” personally.  Who knew?
• Increase fruits and vegetables.  The goal in anti-inflammatory diets is 6-8 servings a day.  Damn, 5 servings a day was hard enough.  Well, I just have to work at it.  V-8 here I come.
• Try adding small amounts of nuts or seeds (especially almonds) for a snack.  About a handful a day would be good.  Almonds have particularly good anti-inflammatory properties.

As for exercise, they checked on my water physical therapy referral which is still in the queue and suggested I start wearing my pedometer again and start increasing my steps.  Like I’m going to be able to find my pedometer in the chaos.  The idea is that I should take short walk breaks at work.  Do these doctors have time to take short walk breaks at their job?
They wanted to suggest some vitamin supplements but decided to hold off until my next appointment so they could do some research on how the supplements my affect my IgAN.  I like doctors that research how things will affect your illnesses.

Tags: Wellness, alternative medicine, nutrition, acupuncture, IgAN, fibromyalgia, anti-inflammatory diet