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- Flavour of the Week
Welcome to Issue #32
Three quick film and television reviews and an update on my journey with ulcerative colitis.
Film
Midsommar
Synopsis: A young woman dealing with the tragic death of her parents and sister travels to rural Sweden to experience a festival with friends. What appears to be an idyllic retreat slowly unravels into something far more sinister.
Likes: It's a really disturbing film, without being scary. It gets under your skin and will leave you thinking about it for days. Most of the film is shot with beautiful, bright backdrops making the creepiness that much more unsettling.
Dislikes: There's very little I disliked. It's a touch on the long side but it doesn't feel overindulgent.
Rating: 8.5/10
Television
The Apprentice (Series 17)
Synopsis: Eighteen larger than life characters, armed with their patchy business plans, compete to win Alan Sugar's £250,000 investment.
Likes: It's nostalgic. The first series aired in 2005 and I wouldn't be surprised if I've seen every one.
Dislikes: The contestants are selected to make for good TV; big personalities will always clash in high pressure environments and it works, but I'm perpetually frustrated at their decision making. The tasks are mostly ridiculous and it comes down to which of the teams did a slightly less appalling job than the other. When it finally gets down to discussing their business plans, none have been pre-vetted and it's just chance if one of the remaining five have an idea that Lord Sugar is vaguely interested in.
Rating: 4/10
The Recruit
Synopsis: A CIA lawyer starting out in his career is thrown into the deep end of international espionage after an asset threatens to expose her relationship to the agency.
Likes: It ends up being a pretty exciting adventure, with real moments of peril, whilst always staying fun and quippy.
Dislikes: Some of the characters are given one dimensional personalities. They are the definition of 'Basil Exposition', there to remind the audience of what's going on. It's lazy and doesn't give the audience any credit. I found the first couple of episodes irritating in parts, but I either got used to it, or they improved as it went on.
Rating: 6/10
Colitis
It's been a minute since my last update. I've since had a second infusion of Vedolizumab and due to have the third next week. It's difficult to know if it's doing anything, but I've been well in the last month and had next to no issues with any of the more common symptoms of a flare up.
A few weeks ago I had a consultation with a dietitian, who in the lead up to the meeting had asked me to keep a food and symptom diary. I wasn't sure what to expect going into it, but found it really helpful and more than anything, reassuring that there's nothing drastic I should be doing with my already varied diet.
I can split my plan into a few main areas:
Fibre intake - People with IBD often reduce fibre during flare ups but outside of this fibre encourages healthy fermentation in the gut. I'm trying to eat more wholegrain foods as well as increase the amount of vegetables I have with my meals.
Dairy - Milk and cream seem to be foods that I don't deal with so well, but it's important to consume calcium each day. Fermentation of dairy makes it more digestible so hard cheeses and yoghurt tends to be better, or to make sure my milk alternatives are calcium-fortified.
Oily fish - Trying to eat at least one portion each week to get omega-3 fatty acids. So far this has been coming from salmon (recipes to come in a future issue)!
Red meat - I've been told that recent blood tests show I'm iron deficient and I'm seeing if this can be fixed with my diet before taking tablets or having an iron infusion. I'm aiming to have 2-3 portions of red meat and 6 eggs each week.
Snacking - Rather than opting for chocolate or crisps, I'm trying to have healthier snacks: fruit, unsalted nuts, yoghurt, a small piece of cheese, houmous, etc. Aiming to have two food groups when having a snack.
Things to avoid - Ultra processed foods, processed meat, sugar.
I'm not sticking to this religiously, but it's certainly more consistent than it was. The 48 crème eggs my partner was gifted certainly hasn't helped, but one a day keeps the doctor away or something along those lines...
It's hard to know what I can attribute to my good health this last month. It could be the Vedolizumab infusions are starting to work their magic, it could be diet, it could be down to my own mental health and feeling less stressed or it could just be chance. Whatever it is, long may it last.
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Thanks for reading and have a great week.
Adam
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