Waiting - WEEK 4/Introduction Diet Stage 2 - 2.5

We stuck mainly with stage two of the intro diet this past week. However, after adding kefirkraut juices to our soups for a week, I did start adding some kefirkraut to my meals with success (an element of stage three). My husband tried, but it seems to aggravate his symptoms still, so he is waiting a little longer to introduce it. We have been persevering with soups, broths, stews, and oven "casseroles" (by which Dr. Natasha means mean and vegetables boiled in a casserole dish in the oven instead of in a pot on the stove).

We have been adding raw egg yolks and cooked egg white to our soups as well. I tried to make soft-boiled eggs like Dr. Natasha says, but frankly, they are just beastly to peel and it is impossible not to waste part of the egg. So I came up with my own method:

• Separate the yolk and white. 
• Put the yolk in your empty soup bowl. 
• Bring your soup to a boil in a pot on the stove. 
• Pour the egg white to the soup in one rapid stream to the center of the pot. Turn off the heat and let the soup sit with the egg white for a couple minutes (I don't time it). Of course, if you like egg-drop-style soup, you can just mix the white into the soup broth well as you slowly and steadily pour it in.
• Dish out the soup with cooked egg white (it should be cooked all in one big glob) into your bowl over the raw yolk.

We have also been adding a teaspoon of homemade ghee (clarified butter) to each bowl of soup. Other than that, it has been a pretty boring week on the food front. We are ready and waiting for stage three!

As for symptoms, my husband's bleeding is still gone, but his stools are still often a 5-6 on the Bristol Stool Chart (BSC). However, he has less frequent bowel movements, and now experiences a BSC 3 or 4 about half the time. My abdominal pain, bloating, and gas are still better. I have had occasional loose stools, but mostly 3-4 on the BSC. And this improvement is in spite of having to temporarily suspend our probiotic supplement for a week or so in the midst of this (due to advice from our alternative doctor that we should finish our parasite cleanse before starting the probiotic supplements).

It is slow going, but already it is worth it, and we are encouraged at our progress.