Hi T-Nation, i’ve been sick for over 18 months now, just turned 18 and been through nearly every GI test there is, results are sporadic, the closest i’ve gotten to something tangible is gastroparesis. Regardless, i’m here to ask help on how i can support myself nutritionally on liquids for a few weeks to ease the pain. I have tremendous pain when i eat, so i typically fast all day and eat 1 big meal at night and than lose sleep due to pain, distention and regurgitation. I’ve tried small meals to no avail, that causes moderate pain all day as opposed to severe pain at night.
I don’t think i am sensitive to whey, my plans are to get a good MCT powder, Whey protein, liquid multivitamin, omega-3 fish oil, glutamine as a base. Any suggestions for how i can make a fortified liquid meal drink that can sustain me alone for a few weeks.
Look into bulk Hydrolyzed Caseein or Whey (whey is much cheaper) for easy digesting protein. Humapro isn’t a bad choice either but I would personally opt for hydrolyzed whey for cost-effectiveness.
Sorry to hear of your ailment, that sounds really hard. Have you considered “juicing,” i.e., blending mountains of vegetables into smoothies? It’ll give you at on of micronutrients and might even make you feel better/cure you. Who knows. Hope you get well soon.
Thanks for the links/advice guys. I did a 7 day juice fast with about 1200 calories from fresh vegetable and fruit juice. I was feeling amazing because i had nothing solid in my gut for so many days, but on day 5 i began to experience intense stomach pain again. After breaking the fast slowly i experienced no improvement in symptoms.
Despite all this shit i still get stuff done in the gym. Train 3x a week with strong lifts template, my 1RM for the following is (Bench - 225lb Squat - 315lb, Deadlift - 320lb, chin-up - 75lb. I’m 5"8 172lb most definitely >8% body fat. Recently i’ve been feeling run down so i dropped back to a starting strength program with less volume.
For supplementation, glutamine is definitely what you want in order to repair your gut lining. Unfortunately, it sounds like you may be experiencing “leaky gut” or something more serious like colitis.
Supplementation wise, I’d DEFINITELY go with the glutamine. And not just 5-10g here and there. I’d be pounding back 80g per day, spread over 7-8 servings. Just mix it in your water. This will repair your gut lining. Secondly, I’d look at a probiotic supplement to ensure that your colon has plenty of good bacteria! I’d also look at supplementing Cod Liver Oil as Vitamin A will also repair the mucosal lining.
As for food I’d try eliminating two big things for good - WHEAT & DAIRY.
For protein, look for a brown rice protein, or pea protein blend (NO SOY). Sunwarrior seems to have the best brown rice protein (and I think other protein types), or at least they have the most hype.
Lastly, I’d like for a medicinal food from one of the book nutraceutical suppliers like Metagenics or Genestra.
All the best my friend!
Thanks Coach, i’ll be sure to drastically up the glutamine intake. At the moment i am getting 250g protein from Healthy N Fit Egg protein (this seems to agree with my stomach), 450billion bacteria from 1 prescription strength VSL D3 packet, 4x Dr. Ohirra fermented probiotic, 10g enteric coated fish oil.
I like sun warrior’s protein, it is the least chalky, but the fiber content becomes to much when i use it as a main source of protein as in a liquid diet. its 32g of fiber for 250g of protein, a bit to much fiber considering i am eating nothing solid.
About glutamine, the 80g per day is the ‘loading phase’. 5 days at 80g then maintenance doses at 5g twice per day. I guess the loading couldn’t hurt but I just take 5g 2-3x per day on an empty stomach.
Also, check out this thread. It may not cure you but it does have a lot of good info in it.
MAF14, I agree that this would be a loading phase for the avg person. However, a damaged gut like lzqosoz94 could use that dose for a much longer timeline, imo. Great link on improving gut health.
As for your last post lzqosoz94, I’d just be careful with doing the egg base everyday & allday. You can develop an intolerance quickly without taking a break from eggs. Perhaps once/week you can vary your protein blend and avoid eggs for that entire day. Sunday seems like an easy one for that; although it depends on the schedule. The rest of your protocol sounds good - i’d seriously consider going for the cod liver (will still get your omega 3’s, but you’ll get tons of A too). Great call on the fiber.
All the best!