Well for those of us living in the States another Thanksgiving has come and gone.  For many of us living with IC the holidays can be a constant reminder of what we can no longer eat but I would like to offer some studies surrounding one popular food component of Thanksgiving: pumpkins.  Many articles I have read state that eating raw pumpkin seeds can be beneficial to the prostate and improve bladder and urethral function (all things that would benefit an IC patient). 

Along with eating raw pumpkin seeds there are also benefits to consuming pumpkin seed oil.  Benefits cited in other articles state that it can reduce inflammation and helps the prostate and bladder.  It would seem that either consuming pumpkin seeds or consuming the oils can benefit anyone but IC patients might find some benefit from this cheery orange squash. 

I for one am willing to consume the pumpkin cooked in casseroles with cheese and I love to eat pumpkin seed oil drizzled over my salad greens.  It seems there are many natural and wholesome foods that can help both healthy people as well as people with IC if we only do a tiny bit of research.  Of course the symptoms of IC are as individual as the person so I would suggest introducing either raw pumpkin seeds or pumpkin oil in very limited quantities to test for a possible reaction.  But I am happy to announce the pumpkin has more uses throughout the year besides carving faces on Halloween and turning into super sweet pies over Thanksgiving.  And that is something else to be thankful about this year: the benefits of pumpkins.


http://health.learninginfo.org/herbs/pumpkin-seeds.htm

http://www.healthy-oil-planet.com/pumpkin-seed-oil-and-prostate.html
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Cravings 04/05/2010
 
A lot of people have asked me how I deal with cravings for sugar and other items that are not on the good list for IC patients.  I have also seen people on blogs lamenting getting flareups after eating junk food and wondering about a quick cure to ease their pain and discomfort.  On both fronts I have some coping mechanisms but they are not cures and they are not "quick fixes" unfortunately.

The only way I was able to get rid of some of my IC pain and discomfort was by following (strictly) the IC elimination diet.  Now just because I followed this diet doesn't mean that I did not have cravings for sugar and all of the foods that weren't on the approved list.  In fact, the more sugar, yeast and bacteria that I removed from my body the worst I felt, and the more intense the sugar cravings became.  Some days it was pure hell having an intense sugar withdrawal headache knowing that I could not have some chocolate to ease my discomfort. 

I eventually approached my healing (and being on the elimination diet) the same way that drug and alcohol addicts deal with becoming clean: acknowledging that it is a painful process which CAN be accomplished through self will, support and knowing that it is a step by step process. Daily affirmations about proper food choices, supplements and increasing water intake can go a long way to help along the path towards health.  Avoiding places and situations where sugar (and non-IC safe foods) might be around is another way to prevent eating something you should not and then dealing with an IC flare.  Prevention is so much easier to deal with then trying to soothe a bladder/vagina upset by eating junk food. 

IC is not an easy disease to deal with.  It can be incredibly depressing to deal with the food issues in addition to the pain and other side affects.  Please find an IC support group, friend or family member to help you meet your nutritional goals to support your IC symptoms.  And eventually those "cravings" will be distant memories.
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