Day 31 - first tomato-less day

May 26, 2008

Teeny tiny tomato plant from our garden. Why isn't it growing? Maybe it's saving me from myself...

A day without tomatoes.

After 31 days of juice feasting, I still have quite a lot of joint pain: right ankle, left elbow, low back. Plus stiffness still in the morning as I get up and get going. I do plan to increase the MSM and I've begun to take enzymes now, but I decided to forgo the nightshades for a bit.

Here is what Frederic Patenaude says about tomatoes on pp. 62-63 of Sunfood Cuisine:

"The tomato is the most famous member of the nightshade family....but with all members of the nightshade family, it is wise to not eat too many tomatoes, or at least to not eat them everyday, because of their oxalic acid content.....people suffering from arthritic conditions should avoid foods from the nightshade family completely. This includes eggplant, potatoes, tomatoes and peppers."

And in Juicing for Life,Calbom and Keane say this on pay 52, under osteoarthritis:

"Try eliminating the nightshade family - tomatoes, peppers, potatoes, eggplant and tobacco. If symptoms improve even slightly, continue to avoid these foods."

So, of course, bummer. But, hey, once I am totally healed and free of all pain and conditions, I'm sure eating a tomato or two won't bother me!

Today's juices so far:

• juice of one orange and 2 apples plus chlorophyll and bee pollen
• 1 1/2 qt cucumber, celery, apples, orange, and garden baby greens and weeds (kale, collards, lettuce, spinach, lamb's quarters, lemon balm, brocolini.)
• peppermint tea (from a tea bag) with honey
• about a quart of butternut squash, celery, sprouts, cilantro, garlic, ginger, lemon with salt, pepper (oops! shoot), kelp, dulse, spirulina and hemp oil.
• red roobios chai (oh, does that have pepper I wonder? I'll have to check) and honey
• I'll add the rest tonight or tomorrow, probably some watermelon juice or some beet/carrot/apple...nothing made yet.

Other symptoms I'm having are strong pain (much less today, though) in my left armpit, and left outer ear pain (to the touch.)

Exercise:

I've been doing yoga in the morning for about 3 mornings in a row, now. Just a few minutes of cat/cow, down dog, plank, sun salutes, warrior, twists, squat, and then I end with handstands.

I ran (well...slowly jogged) for 30 minutes today.

So...how long is this feast going to be?

I still haven't decided how long to go for! I made the 30 day mark which was my first goal, because David Rainoshek says on juicefeasting.com that every day after 30 days doing juice feasting you go back 120 days. So, now I've started to go back in time!

The end points I'm deciding between are:

60/61 days, (two months) and then going into a modified feast, with pretty much the same amount of juice but adding a salad or other raw meal here and there (after the prunes and feast breaking, of course.)

92 days: the traditional end. The catch is that my mom will be visiting days 88 - 92. So, we'd drop her off at the airport and I'd come home and eat my prunes. Her visits are go-out-to-eat-every-meal type visits, so it may be nice to still be juicing, so as not to have to deal with temptation at my favorite restaurants.

100 days: because that's a nice round number, and it would end on August 3, and a week later is my birthday.

Possibly going to my birthday (107 days.)

Right now, the 61 or 92 day mark seems right, but, I'm not troubling myself too much about it just yet.