I Be a fooDie’s New Addition

Marnina and I are proud to introduce the newest member of our I Be a fooDie team…. Gutsy!  Our new mascot Gutsy is a stuffed intestine created by our logo designer Shari Bodofsky.  While Gutsy may not enjoy long walks on the beach, he does enjoy educating and raising awareness about IBD.  We decided to unveil Gutsy in honor of IBD Awareness Week (Dec. 1 – Dec. 7).

The Hype Over Probiotics

Probiotics can lead to a happy gut!

There are many therapies that have been touted for Crohn’s Disease and Ulcerative Colitis, but only a few have proven to be truly effective.  The usual medications and lifestyle adjustments are well-known, but somewhere in the midst of all the traditional therapies are the lesser-known complementary therapies, such as probiotics.  The role of bacterial flora has been postulated as a potential contributor to the cause of IBD — it is now generally accepted that the intestinal bacterial flora contributes significantly to the pathogenesis of IBD[1].   The inflammation caused by Crohn’s Disease can also disrupt the natural balance of microorganisms, which can allow harmful organisms to potentially worsen the inflammation.

For those new to probiotics, here is a quick overview:

Curried Pesto Zucchini Linguine

In a previous salad post, Marnina lamented about how she had not eaten a real salad in many years.  For the most part, the only salads that she can eat must consist of cooked veggies and a bit of iceberg lettuce if she feels like her intestines are up to the task.  She gets overwhelmingly excited when she finds a salad recipe she can eat, which is exactly what happened when we found a pasta salad made of zucchini instead of real pasta.  Zucchini is one of Marnina’s safer veggies, especially because of its soft outer layer and its low-residue nature.   Marnina aims for an intake of less than 3 grams of fiber per food item, which is generally considered a low residue/low fiber diet.

Smokin’ Hot! A Must Read!

Living in an apartment slightly limits the cooking techniques available to us.  For obvious reasons we cannot grill or barbecue, unless we use those faux grilling machines (ie a George Foreman).  Thanks to modern technology, indoor smokers are available that do a remarkably good job of mimicking a real smoker.  A smoker is similar to a grill, but while grilling usually involves cooking the food over the heat and hot smoke of a fire of wood or charcoal, a smoker only uses heat from the burning of a plant material, such as wood.  Meats and fish are the most commonly smoked foods, though the smoker used for the purpose of this blogpost states that it can also smoke cheeses, vegetables, and other foods.