This is from the professional blog I wrote for three months on HealthTalk.com. While I really enjoyed sharing my experience with IBD with others, I could not continue to write for free when writing is my means of making a living. At any rate, here's one entry that I had about fats.
Fat Fats and Skinny Fats
Most of the people I know who have Irritable Bowel Diseases, either Crohns or Ulcerative Colitis or IBS, are thin. They all have stories of dramatic weight loss, usually brought on by the swift movement of food through their digestive system, so it never had time to absorb the calories that our bodies use for fuel. I am one of the few who actually gained weight once I developed Crohns. I can only surmise that the cortisone in corn oil I was forced to drink, and my inability to exercise without abdominal pain had something to do with it. That and a genetic propensity to being large. But I've had weight issues for most of my life. Once my family doctor put me on cortisone at age 5 to keep me breathing (I had severe allergies and asthma) the “satiety” hormone in my body seemed to switch off, and I was hungry all the time, regardless of whether I'd just eaten or not. So I was a pudgy kid, a robust pre-teen and a fat high schooler. You can imagine the teasing and cruelty I endured, but once I got away from home, into college, my asthma seemed to get better. Of course, my college was close to the mighty Mississippi, and I was told that being near large bodies of water sometimes helps alleviate some asthma symptoms. All I know is that I was able to cease using steroids, and after walking uphill from my apartment to the college campus, I lost 75 pounds. I started steadily gaining the weight back during graduate school in Cambridge, Mass, and was back to my fat and sassy self by the time I began working as a magazine editor in Florida. My asthma seemed to get much better in Florida, and as I was writing about a group of larger women who were opening an exercise salon for big gals, I was called on to try their low impact aerobic routines. I will never forget the founder of the salon franchise telling me “Look, if I can do this, anyone can. I bet after a month you'll be addicted to this kind of exercise.” She was right, and 16 months later, I'd lost 100 pounds through exercising for 60-90 minutes three times a week with a bunch of other “fluffy” gals (we all decided we liked the term 'fluffy' rather than fat, as the latter had too many negative connotations) and I had a ball. I dated, met my husband-to-be, and we eventually drove diagonally across the U.S. to get to Seattle. My fitness salon closed down, and I never did find another place that was as accepting, and as attuned to the needs of larger women for low or no-impact aerobic exercise and nutritional counseling. Every gym I joined in the Seattle area went under within 6 months. I began to feel like I was a jinx on gyms. Then, as I was just beginning to get into the exercise groove again, I was surprised to discover that I was pregnant. I was immediately told that because I was an “elderly” pregnancy and at high risk for premature birth, I would have to quit exercising. 70 pounds later, I gave birth to a tiny 3.5-pound boy, and at least a lake's worth of amniotic fluid. I was so busy, sleep deprived and sick with undiagnosed Crohns, I couldn't even think of returning to the gym. So I discovered, via trial and error, what foods I could and couldn't eat, and I found myself eating a healthier diet because my colon couldn't stand high-fat dairy products, eggs, nuts or lots of fried foods. Here's what I learned about dietary fats:Saturated fats are the ones that cause so many health problems, because they're dense and tend to stick to your artery walls. You'll find them in red meats, poultry, dairy products and coconut oil. I'm not the type to eat a lot of red meat, and I can't have dairy products, and coconut is actually a nut, and I'm allergic to nuts, so I don't down a lot of “sat fat” generally. Monounsaturated fats are found in regular nuts, like cashews, almonds, peanuts, etc., as well as avocados and olive oil. Monounsaturated fats are a star in the famed heart-healthy Mediterranean diet, and are therefore recommended, in moderation, as part of your daily meal plan. I can't eat nuts, and too many avocados send me into a mild Crohns flair up, but I have long been an advocate of olive oil in cooking and in dressings. I use small amounts of garlic and olive oil for sautéed dishes at least twice a week. Polyunsaturated fats are the darlings of the fat world. They're found in fish such as salmon, tuna, herring, sardines, shrimp, halibut and those salty little anchovies that they slip into real Caesar salad dressing. They're also in walnuts and flaxseed, and polyunsaturated fats contain Omega-3 and Omega-6 fatty acids that are heart-healthy and are thought to be somewhat anti-inflammatory. Since moving to the Seattle area, and having access to fresh fish and fresh salmon, I've been able to cook more fish for my family and myself, and I've loved trying dishes like mahi-mahi, which is a type of tuna that tastes like steak, at least to me. I've even been able to use flaxseed oil as an egg substitute for French toast. As you probably know, fats, though they have a bad reputation, are an important part of the human diet, as they allow our bodies to absorb certain vitamins better and they keep us healthy. I'm glad to say that though I still have a weight problem, my fat intake is as it should be.
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