View Full Version : Non-simplicity: allergy elimination diet
So my Dr recommended I go on an elimination diet for 4-6 weeks - and that I 'allow' DH & DD to participate, too. For those of you who enjoy brainstorming foods, here's another opportunity! I'm going to be doing some planning and prep-ahead over the next few days, before we begin. The hardest part will be coming up with foods for breakfast that DH will like. I'm pretty much ok with eating vegetables, chicken, and rice as needed.
The parameters are:
NO gluten, dairy, eggs, soy, peanuts, beef, pork, chocolate, citrus, corn, bottled condiments, baking soda, sweeteners except brown rice syrup.
I did the Whole30 a couple months ago --- it eliminates grain (inc. rice), dairy, sweeteners, processed foods.
I felt good during the process, and the good news is I didn't have an averse reactions when I re-introduced foods.
Prior to doing the Whole30 and now still after, I do keep my grains in general to a low level.
http://whole9life.com/category/whole-30/
What can you eat?
I'm pretty much ok with eating vegetables, chicken, and rice as needed.
;)
For reference, here's the 'menu' I'm going to post on the fridge so DH and DD can see some of the choices available. There are many more foods possible but these are just the ones that are likely to appeal to them. I'll be planning dinners, so these are just the choices they'll make. Their lunches need to be packable, and DD can't heat hers, though I can put soup in a food jar. The baked items listed will all be experiments at the beginning...
Breakfast
Fruit and Nuts
Quinoa
Oatmeal
Granola with almond milk
Smoothie
Brown rice porridge with cinnamon
Lunch
Lentil Soup and chickpea crackers
Chicken slices with lettuce wrappers
Beans or chickpeas
Almond butter and jam on gluten-free bread
Salad with beans or nuts
Roasted sweet potato sandwiches with almond butter
Sides and Snacks
Pickles
Carrot sticks
Red bell pepper
Cucumber
Radishes
Peas
Rice cakes
Fruit
Nuts
Sunflower or pumpkin seeds
Chickpea crackers or bread
Hummus or bean spread
Smoothies
Homemade popsicles
Salad
Soup
Desserts
Rice pudding
Fruit-nut-coconut treats
Blueberry tart
Cookies
Baked apples
Fruit crisp
Muffins
Sweet potato pudding
Sending support your way Rosemary! Great list!
Thanks, Mrs. M! Today was day 1 and it went pretty well for everyone. I've got a lot of foods prepped so whenever anyone's hungry, there's something ready. And I hid all of the foods that aren't on the plan. DH could locate them with a short hunt in the pantry, but since he often can't see things on the top shelf of the fridge, I suspect he won't go looking for them. I also supplied him with a container of cashews to keep at work for when he needs a snack.
As for me - I'm glad this coincides with the beginning of spring weather and gardening, because I've been outside more in the past 2 days than I have for months. It's a good distraction, and there's a lot of work to do outside.
Great news Re: everything going well for you so far Rosemary! I find the older I get the harder it is to alter or change the way I eat and what I eat. As for busying yourself outside, that's great! Perfect time of the year for it. I've been trying to brainstorm a few other additions for you but no such luck. You've put together such a wonderful and thorough list.
I was surprised to see nuts on the menu: they are among the top foods people become allergic to. I can only eat them occasionally myself, otherwise I wake in the night gasping for breath.
Good morning Rosemary. Just wanted to let you know I'm thinking of you and wondering how your allergy elimination diet is going.
Thanks, Mrs. M! It's going pretty well. All that food prep has paid off. Yesterday some friends came over for lunch and it was easy enough for them to bring foods that fit into the plan. Usually we meet once/week at a local cafe, but we'll have to change our routine for the duration of this experiment!
It's too early for all those foods to be completely out of my system, but yesterday I noticed that my nose/sinuses felt unusually clear - as if I could take in twice as much air as usual.
That's great news Rosemary! Here's hoping you can banish a majority of your allergy suffering through this. It almost makes me want to try the diet even though I have no allergies. (Who knows, maybe I actually do have one or two allergies I'm not aware of and the results of being on the diet would uncover them).
Hi Rosemary. Just me again thinking about you tonight and wondering how things are going. When you can, do check in and post an update.
Hi, Mrs. M! It's going well. DD has complained a few times but in general is happy with the food. I am loving all the fresh, whole food - and my baking experimentation has given way to experimenting in other ways that will help my cooking even after most of these foods are added back in to the shuffle. My mom is visiting and on the diet as well, hoping to find if, in particular, going gluten-free results in a reduction in her migraines. Bonus, in the first 2 weeks I also lost 5 pounds that were hanging on after the long winter!
Hi Rosemary! Fantastic news! I've been rooting for you! I'm currently trying to introduce more raw vegetables into my diet (family too). I am so happy to hear there are noticeable changes and improvements in your health! Keep up the great work! :)
So, we are at the end of week 4. I decided to begin introducing foods - every 4 days.
Results so far:
I lost 8 pounds and am a little below my usual end-of-summer weight (I have realized that winter in MN just is hard to get through without about 5 pounds added). I'm happy about this! This was actually with a decrease in exercise and the changed eating. And I wasn't counting calories or trying to eat less - just eating a lot less stuff made of various forms of flour, and no refined sugars. Lots and lots of fresh vegetables. It wasn't low-carb either - we ate 2-3 servings of fruit most days, in the form of fresh, whole fruit. I also ate a lot of dried beans and lentils as well as some rice.
Looking at recipes that use dairy or sugar or wheat flour makes me think, "Oh, anyone can make stuff taste good with all that in it. No challenge, no creativity." I feel like my taste buds are completely realigned. The gluten-free banana muffins that I made are sweetened only with the usual amount of banana plus 6 dates for a 12-muffin batch. They taste good to me - white sugar in them would be cloyingly sweet, I think. I want to keep sugar out of our regular rotation as much as possible once we're done with this experiment.
My acid reflux is somewhat better but not resolved. I still have flares. However, I'm not taking any medication and I'm waking in the morning with clear ears rather than feeling like I'm underwater, so that's a big improvement.
I discovered that I have possibly inherited my mother's migraines, but just hadn't experienced an aura until this week. I know what my mom's food triggers are, and haven't noticed that they bother me, but this week I had avocado, banana, and nuts within 2 hours, and 2 hours later experienced an aura and an impending headache. It was interesting once I realized what it was, and somewhat alarming before that. Anyway, those 3 foods are on the list of potential triggers. It was also a very stressful few days and my sleep was lacking - so I suspect it was a combination of all those things.
Since week 2 of this experiment I've felt like I could breathe much better than usual. That has mostly continued daily. I will be watching nasal congestion as I reintroduce foods to see what has been causing that.
Some friends are coming over for lunch tomorrow. I think I'll get some of those muffins out of the freezer to see what they think of them - because I'm guessing they will think they are not sweet at all. DD is going to a birthday party on Saturday; I need to bake some cupcakes so she can take her own treats with her. I got some coconut milk-based "ice cream" that is very tasty. So she can have her own cake and ice cream, certainly healthier and probably tastier than the store-bought cake that is likely to be there.
Final observations:
we spent a lot more on groceries this month. I haven't run the final numbers yet. But it involved buying a lot of items that we'll still have when the month is up, such as the coconut aminos that are a soy sauce sub.
I would be pretty happy to keep eating this way - but it will be nice to go to a restaurant again once in a while. That won't be for a couple of months, which is how much longer it will take us to test all the foods.
I spent a lot of time in the kitchen, but not much more than I usually do in the summer when fresh produce is in season.
DH has been telling everyone how good all the food has been. This is amazing to me, because usually he is the pickiest eater in the house.
What great results, Rosemary! I have been reading your blog and following this thread because I started an allergy elimination diet about the same time that you did. I am not nearly as creative so I am glad that you have been. Started out with mostly rice, lamb and pears, and have learned a few things since starting to do some food challenges. I also lost weight; about six pounds, no trying and no hunger. I have found out that I react with immediate histamine response to citrus (which I really DID not know)...or at least to lemon juice, and it was so scary that I have hesitated to try anything else. I don't seem to react to corn, but I have been eating oats (not GF) and last night kind of went overboard with steel cut oats and this morning I am stuffy, headachy, muscles ache. I am confused, though, because I also have seasonal allergies and they are active right now.
I thought I'd jump into the challenge phase but I notice that I am holding back quite a bit. I don't want to lose my "gains" of not eating sugar, and minimal gastric distress. I also have wondered about the nuts especially since I seem to be eating a lot of nuts (including almond milk). But the upside is that my diet is vastly more diverse now than it was before. And most things feel MUCH better, though I am still quite fatigued (seasonal allergy?). Anyway, I just wanted to say congrats, thanks for all the things you have posted, and you have not been doing this alone....I've been out here, lurking and eating allergy-free.
Leslie
Clap, clap, clap! So happy for you Rosemary! :) By the way your blog is awesome! So many incredible recipes!!!
Leslieann. Wishing you mush success too! Congrats to both you and Rosemary on your weight loss! P.S. You guys aren't allowed to show up here in your skimpies although, rubbing it in and all! :)
I'm a long way from skimpies, Mrs. M. In fact, one reason I went to a naturopath to get started on this program was because of the 20 pounds of me that I would like to release to the universe...but have been struggling with.
It is kind of fun to try out this way of eating as an experiment. I tried to do the no sugar challenge with you and babr, but kept falling off the wagon. Somehow, with the accountability of having to see the doc, I guess, I am able to stay sugar free. I know that feels MUCH better.
Thanks for the cheerleading....following Rosemary's progress has been really helpful, and so has her blog.
Congrats to you, too, LeslieAnn! And Mrs. M, I have appreciated your support throughout this experiment!
re: giving up sugar - I found it much easier to give up gluten + sugar at the same time, than just sugar. Last year I did a gluten-free month and found that my sugar intake was drastically reduced. This time I really was completely off sugar, because we didn't eat any products that contained sugar, e.g. regular jam or tomato sauce etc.
I guess there's no perfect time to reintroduce foods, but I am also mindful of seasonal allergies this time of year - for me, trees and weeds can be problematic. I am going to keep track of what I eat and anything I experience, and if there is a possible correlation I will stay off that food and try again at a much later date (several weeks) when the pollen distribution has changed.
Like you, Leslie, I anticipated that I would really want to jump back into the foods, but this just feels like such a healthy way to eat in general. If there are no problems, I probably will go back to baking bread for DH and DD but I will try to keep my own consumption of flour-based items to a minimum, and continue cooking with dried fruit for sweetener. I have baked a few things while on this diet, but in general have tried to limit my own grain consumption.
My thought is that if I generally continue cooking like this at home - fresh and whole foods - that food out can be the occasional treat, and that I won't need to think about it so much.
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