Gastroparesis and Juicing

What is juicing?

Being on a liquid diet I try to pack as much nutrition as possible in everything I drink. Juicing has allowed me to get the nutrients from fruits and veggies that I otherwise wouldn’t get. Some may be confused by what exactly juicing is since high quality blenders such as the Nutribullet and Vitamix claim that their product can be used for juicing. To me, anything made in a blender such as the Nutribullet and Vitamix is a smoothie not a juice. The difference between using a high quality blender and a juicer is that in a blender the whole fruit is being blended up and the fiber stays, when you use a juicer the fiber gets collected in a seperate container and only the juice is consumed. As many Gastroparesis patients know, we are all advised to have a low fiber diet to prevent worsening of symptoms and bezoars which makes it difficult to include a variety of fruits and veggies in our diet due to the high fiber content. The low amount of fiber in juices makes it a great option for those who have Gastroparesis. Even though juicing is considered GP friendly, you may not tolerate it! Everyone’s body is different. I would suggest borrowing a juicer, visiting a juice bar or buying a cheaper juicer to try out.

What are the best ingredients to juice for digestion?

Even though juicing gives you more freedom you still have to be careful with what fruits and veggies you use to juice. Many people who have Gastroparesis tend to have problems with reflux and acid problems so it’s best to stay away from acidic fruits (ex: oranges). Certain veggies can cause bloating and discomfort (ex: broccoli). Some notice that avoiding high fodmap fruits and veggies allows them to tolerate juices better.  Overall some key ingredients that help with digestion include:

Ginger: This is pretty popular and is known to help relieve stomach discomfort and nausea and help increase gastric emptying. It doesn’t take much for ginger to overpower the flavor of your juice! A little goes a long way. Too much ginger can also cause heartburn and increase the risk of bleeding.

Lemon/Lime: Both help aid in digestion and can relieve nausea/vomiting. A little goes a long way in juicing as well. Avoid if you reflux, gastritis and prone to heartburn.

Pineapple: Pineapple contain bromelain which is an enzyme that helps digest food. It is known to alleviate heartburn and stomach discomfort. Pineapple is acidic so again if you have reflux, gastritis etc you should avoid it or avoid putting too much of it in your juice.

Juicing Facts & Tips

• Juice needs to be consumed immediately due to oxidation
• You can store juices in the fridge but it needs to be in a glass container filled to the brim with a top leaving no space for air
• Juices shouldn’t be kept in the fridge for longer than 24 hours
• The more time it’s spent out or in the fridge the less nutrients it will have
• Juice cannot be left out too long due to bacteria
• There will still be debris in the juice, if you can’t tolerate it you can strain it with a cheese cloth
• There are two types of juicers: masticating and centrifugal
• Masticating juicers tend to be more expensive and don’t use as much heat allowing for more nutrition
• Centrifugal juicers are more popular and inexpensive and allow bigger pieces of fruits/veggies to go through but create more heat

What juicer do I use?

I have a Breville Compact Juice Fountain. It’s a centrifugal juicer, I’ve owned it for over 2 1/2 years and still works great! I juice everyday about 2 or 3 times a day. It has five pieces (motor/stand, pulp holder, blade/filter, top and plastic piece to push fruit) and is pretty easy to clean. The pulp left behind is pretty dry so most of the juice is extracted.

               

What about all the waste (pulp)?

When you juice there will always be pulp left over no matter what. Some people say it’s wasteful because it’s not being consumed however there are other ways to use it! My family has a garden so we use it as compost for it. I’ve also heard of people using it to make soups with the veggie pulp and muffins with both fruit/veggie pulp.

Recipes

These recipes are good for beginners because the veggie taste isn’t overpowering and doesn’t require too many ingredients.

#1 FODMAP Friendly

• 1/2 small sweet potato
• 1 small carrot
• 1/2 inch of ginger
• 1/3 lime (optional)

makes 8 ounces

#2 FODMAP Friendly

• 1/2 of a beet
• 1 carrot
• 1 cup of grapes

makes 8 ounces

#3

• 1 apple
• 1 cup of spinach
• 2 small carrots
• 1/2 inch piece of ginger

makes 8 ounces

#4 FODMAP Friendly

• 1 cup diced pineapple
• 1/2 cup grapes
• 1/4 cup sliced zucchini
• 2 carrots

10 ounces

#5 FODMAP Friendly

• 1 cup of pineapple
• 1/2 of a beet
• 1/2 cup of grapes
• 1/4 cup of sliced sweet potato

8 ounces

Gluten Free Saltines

Saltines have definitely been a huge staple in my diet ever since I got sick. When my doctors told me I had to start a gluten free diet I was sad to leave my beloved saltines behind. I’ve tried gluten free crackers in the past but none of them tasted as good so I was on a search to find THE recipe. I came across this blog (http://theprettybee.com/2013/10/easy-gluten-free-cracker-recipe.html) and decided to try out the recipe. What attracted me to this recipe is how simple it is. Once I finished baking my first batch and tasted it I was excited to find out that it tasted pretty similar to the wheat filled saltines. It has the salty buttery taste and I will always stick to recipe from now on. When making these roll it out as thin as you can but not paper thin, when it’s crunchy it tastes so much better and doesn’t get stale as easily. Depending on where you live the water amount will vary so I recommend with adding 1/4 cup at first and adding a tablespoon at a time.

Ingredients

• 1 cup gluten free flour
• 1 tbsp oil or butter, melted
• 1/2 tsp honey
• 1/2 tsp salt
• extra salt to add on top

Preheat oven to 400F. In a bowl mix together all the ingredients and add water slowly. The dough should not be sticky or dry, it should feel like play-doh. Roll it very thin, remember you want these crackers to be crunchy. Cut the dough in any shape you want and place on parchment paper or aluminum foil lightly greased with cooking spray. Cook the crackers for 15-20 mins, since these are thin watch closely otherwise they’ll burn. Allow them to cool off and enjoy!

                                                          

Mourning

Being chronically ill you are constantly going through different emotions related to your illness; happy, sad, content, angry, frustrated, grateful etc. Usually we thinking of mourning when a person dies but when you get chronically ill one thing that happens whether or not you realize is that you mourn the life that you have lost and the life that could’ve/should’ve been. I got sick when I was 16 and I’m now 21, in those almost 5 years I have missed out on so much because of my illness. I often think about everything that I would’ve accomplished had I not gotten sick. I would’ve gotten my license, had a job and be finishing my last year in college to become a nurse. I try not to dwell on it because it’s painful to think about. To see your peers accomplishing things while you’re being left behind is difficult to say the least. Being young and sick we are robbed of living our life before it really began and are forced into a life filled with doctors, medications and hospital stays.

You have to remember that it’s okay to be sad and angry, a life changing chronic illness especially at a young age is difficult for anyone to deal with even the strongest people. Mourning the life that you have lost helps you to move on and accept the life you have now. There will always be days where it’s difficult physically, mentally and emotionally but you’ll get through it and it’s important not to dwell on what you cannot do and try to do things that you can that will make you happy. Yes we were dealt shitty cards but it’s up to us to turn it into something positive.  We have chronic illness(es) but they do not have us.

Two Ingredient Pancakes

If you’ve seen my blog before you’ll notice all my old posts are gone. I decided to start fresh and finally get back into posting GP friendly recipes as much as I can. My friend Torie who also has Gastroparesis messaged me a while ago saying she had a recipe that I could put on my blog if I wanted and I said yes of course! Besides this little intro everything is written by her. I made these pancakes myself to try out the recipe and I would recommend making small pancakes, it has a tendency to spread out and the bigger it is the harder it is to flip. If you end up trying it out I hope you enjoy’em!

                        

 

Ingredients:

• 1 Banana
• 2 Egg Whites

Place in blender. Add in whatever add ins you want. I like to add some vanilla or a trick for GP, place blueberries or strawberries in the blender as well. Then you can get some berry pancakes without the pain of the skins and the seeds. You can also add in some nut butter or PB2 if tolerated or cocoa to make chocolate pancakes. The possibilities are endless! While I have never used protein powder, that is also a possibility. Place on the griddle. You will notice these pancakes are a little flatter than normal ones and take longer to cook. Sometimes it takes a pancake or two to get the timing right. Enjoy with toppings of your choice. Full disclosure, I will not say they taste exactly like normal pancakes but I tolerated them very well and they are yummy!

Welcome!

Hiya! Welcome to my blog! My name is Cindy and I have Gastroparesis. Gastroparesis means my stomach empties food slowly causing severe nausea, vomiting, stomach pain, bloating etc. I’ve been dealing with it for almost 5 years but I wasn’t diagnosed until April of 2014. My goal for this blog is to post Gastroparesis friendly recipes and anything about Gastroparesis that I think may help others. Even though my recipes will follow the Gastroparesis diet rules it does not mean it will be (your name) friendly. I hope you enjoy my blog!