My doctor did a blood test for magnesium and potassium levels because of the terrible leg cramps I've been having off and on. The tests said that both are fine. I don't think my calcium levels are low either because I have enough in my diet, but I haven't had that tested. I suspect that dehydration may be contributing - one time they occurred just after flying to Europe and those long flights can be very dehydrating. But drinking a lot to stay hydrated doesn't seem to solve the problem. Barb, what is "the soap thing"? These really can be terribly painful. The worst for me is that I sometimes get them in opposing muscles at the same time, e.g. in the arch and the top of the foot or the shin and the calf at the same time, so I can't do a stretch. Heat is the only way I've found that works to relax the cramping muscles once it's happening.

David and quietlife were at least reading the newspapers ;-); this is not an entirely fabricated concern. There *has* been a food shortage, boys and girls - Africa and Asia have borne witness to it this year. In Asia, India and China - remember the two countries with the two most massive populations? - went from being a net exporters of food to net importers. Both Asia and Africa - beyond the standard stock of drought-prone areas - were sorely short of food. Both continents saw a huge uptick in food prices, and, btw, so did we with bread and bananas grossly more expensive than even just last year and most vegetables substantially more. (Last week on either WSJ or NYTimes or WashingtonPost or The Economist there was a comparison made of the price of various food commodities betwen 1998, 2007 and 2008 - in general, small differences in price between 1998 and 2007 but LARGE differences between 2007 and 2008 for most of those items). I never did get so panicked about food that I would horde it (I'd rather reduce my intake and eat less of the fresh stuff than continue to eat the same quantity of canned/tinned/stored food). But I certainly noticed it in the RAPID and substantial increase in our green-grocery bills this year - and in my house, it is just DH and me. I can't believe you folks didn't notice it! You all have to tell me where you live so I can move there because out here in Boston parts, we certainly felt the pinch. Oh yes, in addition to the increasing cost of food, I did notice that there were more empty shelves at times also - in particular, I think, over the summer time. Causes for the shortage (yes, shortage) and the high costs in the US? Well, this was all being speculated on A LOT earlier this year. High oil costs and some climactic crises were thought to partly blame but those are 1-off things, right? True, but one concern the economists had was if the weather thing was going to be more habitual than aberrant if this is a by-product of climate change. For the veracity of that hypothesis, I imagine we'd have to see what next year and the years after bring - if more food shortages in India/China/Africa; well, that does put pressure on global food stocks. More pressingly, as quietlife said, the wide-scale subsidies on food crops and the huge market for ethanol - which is not subsidized - was considered much more worrisome as growing corn for ethanol is so much more lucrative for farmers over growing food. I'm a bit surprised that so many of you missed all this debate about the food crisis - whether it was the shortage overseas or the price hikes globally. WSJ and The Economist were all over this subject for several months earlier this year.

Tami, there's probably a lot of ladies that want to avoid your diet, lol! LPink, I think you and I could go to one of those restaurants that serve huge portions and share a dish with no problem. As I read your post, I was thinking uh huh, yep that's me, to everything. Although I do love cheese and put it on almost everything myself, and Chipotle is fine in small doses. Love cilantro, hate iceburg lettuce, and would feel cheated if I paid for a salad and all I got was a wedge of iceburg lettuce with some creamy dressing on it. Rachelellen, I appreciate your efforts at the restaurant you worked at. I've never eaten anywhere that was pricey enough to stack their food. The grocery store I shop at the most puts two, count en, two stickers on their organic produce. One is the upc code one with the name of the fruit. The other just says organic. When I shop for those products, I peel the organic stickers off and stick them on the display. I don't want to have to deal with extra stickers at home, and the other stickers have the price on them, so I'm not trying to cheat them. As for the checkers not knowing what the produce is, watch out when you're checking out. I purchased some leafy red lettuce one day at Wally World, and had to argue with the checker that no, it's not Romaine. The checker in the next aisle heard our argument, looked over, and confirmed that I was correct. Turned out the twist tie thing that had the price on it was incorrect, so whomever wrapped them up for sale didn't know what they were doing, either. Cathy, I guess many of us are airing pet peeves, as well as what we're so over. Oh, here's another one I haven't heard mentioned. I'm so over loud, loud loud restaurants. Turn the volume down, please! And have either the t.v. or the music off - they don't both need to be on. Sally

My diagnosis for arthritis happened about 7 years ago. I was on DMARD meds and went off them to get pregnant, which was great because I would go in remission with pregnancy. Anyways, that one pregnancy turned into two and after the birth of my second it came back fiercely. This was last year. I started with anti-inflammatories because I really didn't want to go on harsh meds again, which worked for 6 weeks, then went to Celebrex with worked another 6 and had to move to the DMARDS again. I had a pretty strong reaction this time which really worried me as my blood count got really messed up and this when I started a natural route. I did an elimination diet and had results within 10 days - I could pick up a plate with one hand, turn a door handle, pick up my 1 1/2 year old. At the beginning of the diet, if I ate the wrong foods, the inflammation occurred instantly so with paying attention I could really find my agitators. At this point I was at about 80% (3 months in) so I got an IgG test (food sensitivity) and found dairy and soy to be very high on the list. I now eliminate those but will have a cheat with them every so often. Basically, I follow the 80/20 rule. Eighty percent veggies and fruit with remaining being fish, meats, grains, etc. An ideal day for me could be a spinach salad for breakfast (topped with walnuts, fruit), 1 cup cooked oats with 1/2 cup blueberries, an egg with sauteed spinach, onions, asparagus or zucchini - lunch would be something similar, or meatballs with squash, a soup, rice cake with almond butter and sliced banana, dinner can be a salad with souvlaki, hamburger with green pepper and onions, etc. It got easier as I got into it and more food options became available as to what was good for me. I found it hard going by a book as I do believe each person is different for what it good for them. Since being on the diet my blood count (specifically my ESR rate) has changed, my anemia, gingivitis, fatigue, tooth sensitivity is gone. These are all physical changes that happened - I have psoriasis, which is pretty much cleared except a couple of spots but no dry skin either. I have had all these conditions all my life, as they have been monitored, but not in the past 6 six months since starting this diet! My last dental appointment - no lecture! A first for me. I brushed and flossed regularly beforehand and would always get a tutorial and I would follow and would get the lecture again at the next checkup. It's hard and frustrating but I am glad I didn't give up. The next round of meds suggested scared me. I will no longer be skeptical if someone suggests something to me because if I didn't have that reaction to my medication I wouldn't have done it (the natural route). Sorry it's so long.