So… Here I am in the middle of the third week of this elimination diet my integrative doc put me on. I have been ridiculously good, but not quite perfect. I am supposed to be eliminating all beef, nightshade veggies, oranges, GRAINS, dairy, caffeine, and of course all processed foods. I’ve done a very very good job, but definitely not perfect. I have here and there slipped and had a bite of something I shouldn’t. I feel pretty good though, and definitely know I’m detoxing, which is the whole point of this. I had assumed this was to try to figure out what sort of things I’m allergic or sensitive to, but from what I gather the further we go with it, I think it’s to detox. It’s to detox and set my body up for a healthful nutritional plan I can follow for the rest of my life and really thrive. So, while I haven’t been perfect, I’ve done well and I do feel GREAT. I have tons of energy. I’m calm, relaxed and not stressed. I’m sleeping very soundly at night. I’ve lost some lbs (YAY!). My acne is clear. My thinking is SO much more clear. I’m focusing better at work. I feel happy.
….. then I got the results of my allergy panel back. And.. whoa. Let me give you a little background on my pre existing food allergy situations.
So, I have had a strange dairy allergy on and off my whole life. I remember having a spreadable cheese when I was very young, maybe 10, and suddenly feeling like I couldn’t breathe. My throat felt like it was closing. My parents gave me a breathing treatment and it slowly, slowly resolved. I started realizing that if I ate ice cream, the same thing happened. Then it happened once with cheesecake. I made sure I always had my inhaler on me because as soon as I felt that feeling, I stopped eating what I was eating (it came on immediately), took 2-4 puffs and relaxed best I could until it passed about 1/2 hour later. I ate a whey protein bar once in high school and my throat closed. My inhaler once again saved me, but it always caused so much panic and an uneasy feeling. I finally started realizing that I needed to stay away from processed cheeses as much as I could. It was weird though, because never did I have a problem with cheddar, mozzarella, feta, and other cheeses. Something that sucked was I realized I got this reaction when I went to pot lucks because many of those dishes are condensed milk based casseroles. Really bad. I decided to get an epi pen from my doc, just in case. PS those are EXPENSIVE.
So I have always known I do definitely have food allergies. It seems to be things that have a concentrated dairy or whey protein content. I’ve had random reactions to foods that Im not 100% sure what all the ingredients are (usually home made by other people). SO.. although expensive, I was super stoked to finally get an official allergy panel done to see at a cellular level what my body is NOT liking.
Here’s the list of things I have a true allergy to:
Almond (therefore all tree nuts are off limits), Corn, Egg white, Milk, Peanut, Soybean, Tomato, Wheat
… WHAT?! seriously? That. Sucks. The milk and wheat doesn’t surprise me as obviously my hx with milk, and wheat has been tearing up my stomach SO bad… but the rest of them? Almonds? Really? Which REALLY sucks, because, on this elimination diet, I’ve been eating almonds every day. The Egg white part sucks, because, that is such an excellent (Eggcellent.. HA) source of low calorie protein. The peanuts and tomatoes… I’m blown away. Who’s allergic to tomatoes? Obviously the thing is, I’ve been eating almonds, tomatoes, peanuts.. and i don’t get a rash. I don’t get short of breath or throat swelling. BUT… apparently… on a cellular level in my body, those foods are causing inflammation, damage and making it work harder than it needs to to heal itself. This is exactly what I wanted to know- I wanted to know the things that are going to give me the best life possible. I want to thrive, and I want to decrease inflammation in my body as much as possible. My knee pain? Acne? Bloating? And any other symptom? It’s all inflammation, and that’s what an allergic reaction is.
Because I have so many true allergies, I’m also prone to many sensitivities as well (intestinal permeability). Foods that I am not truly allergic to but sensitive to are:
Banana, Egg Yolk, Flaxseed, gluten, grapefruit, Oats, Poppyseed
Banana?…. siiiiighhh. I honestly don’t think I can live without banana. And Oats??!? What?! That is honestly probably my favorite food in the whole world. All I’ve been wanting is to have a big bowl of oatmeal when the elimination diet is over. My doc said that the sensitivity ones are things I could add back in, but the allergy ones, not so much. I question this, because, if something gives my body a bad reaction, whether is a sensitivity or full blown allergy, I feel like I would probably want to avoid it. But I dunno, I don’t know if I can not eat bananas and never eat oatmeal again. Wheat and dairy are something I definitely need to avoid at all costs, wheat because it tears up my stomach, and dairy because its not worth possibly being able to not breathe.
So I’ve been trying to cut out nuts from my diet (it’s been HARD….), and also bananas. I have not been perfect, but I’m trying. At this point my diet consists mainly of fruit, veggies, occasional chicken, avocados, small amount of olive oil, plant based protein powder, and small amount of daiya vegan cheese for a little variety. I’m looking forward to being able to add back in some things like rice and quinoa.
I have been recently adding in a LOT more veggies, and more fruit than normal. In 2 weeks I read Joel Fuhrman’s book Eat to Live. It is an incredibly comprehensive review of studies behind why a plant based diet is the best thing to follow for optimal health. He recommends eating 1 lb of raw veggies, 1 lb of cook veggies, a variety of fruits, 1 serving healthy starchy veggie, and one healthy serving of healthy fat such as avocado or nuts. He recommends avoiding dairy, oils, animal products and processed foods. It’s super aggressive, and basically to me, what seems to be the best thing you can do for your body. Flood it with the nutrients, vitamins and minerals of a super high amount of leafy greens and other things that come from the earth. Some might ask where’s the protein? But 100 calories of broccoli has more protein than 100 calories of steak. So if you really eat this many veggies and fruits in a day, you’re getting more than enough of every. Everything maybe except for Vit B12, which is easily supplemented.
I’ve been trying to increase my fruit and veggie intake (especially since having to cut my nut intake) by using my vitamix. I’ve been making sure that I always have a blender full in my fridge so I can easily get lots of veggies in per day. I’ve been making green smoothies by:
add water (a few cups) and 1/2 a lemon to the blender. Fill the rest of the blender with spinach and then add some kale or swiss chard or another leafy. Put the lid on and blend on the smoothie setting. Add in fruit such as a banana, apples, strawberries, and peaches. Also add ice. Blend once more on the smoothie setting. Enjoy 😀
I finish this blender in a couple days, so I’m eating a very large amount of spinach and other leafy’s as compared to what I was before. The key when making these smoothies is 1. use a high powered blender that actually pulverizes the greens 2. make sure to use a ton of spinach, spinach will make your smoothie sweet. trust me. and 3. use enough fruit to cover up most of the green taste. It should taste earthy, but for the most part fruity and sweet.
I have an appointment with the doctor and nutritionist next week (4th week of elimination diet) to talk about a eating plan. I’m debating on whether or not its worth it to talk to them about the Joel Fuhrman way of eating, as I’m interested in doing it/continuing it. I have a feeling they would probably push more animal protein and less fruit than the plan calls for, but I’m not sure. Maybe they’d be open to the idea. I really really want to lower my cholesterol, keep my weight going in the right direction (I was up at about 174 something and today I was 167 something.. yay!), and become what Joel Fuhrman describes as a Nutritarian.
A Nutritarian. That is AWESOME. It means that while others are focusing on being the type of eater that is defined by meat eater, or veggie eater, or no grain or low carb eater, or plant and meat eater… I will define myself as one who focuses on ingesting nutrients. Yes. I’ve been waiting for that concept.
So not as easy as it sounds though. I have been doing pretty well, but I also feel like if I don’t have a peanut butter cookie or a piece of pizza or SOMETHING junky, I’m gonna explode. I do love eating well and ingesting mostly fruits and veggies, but yes, I do still unfortunately crave crap. I just do. Sigh. I hope it gets better, or that I find a true balance of being able to do a 90/10 rule or 80/20 and maintain a healthy weight and a healthy life.
If you’ve made it this far, I applaud you. Lately I feel like theres soo much going on in my life on the health front these days and I’m stoked to share it but having trouble organizing it. Hopefully this made some amount of sense. I recommend reading Eat to Live by Joel Fuhman. I recommend investing in your health, whether its an allergy testing panel, drinking more water, moving more, or investing in a high powered blended so you can make spinach and kale taste good. I’m so loving my journey. It’s grand 🙂 The prospect of learning new things every day that will prolong and improve my life is exhilarating and I can’t seem to soak up enough. If you have your own tips, tricks, questions or comments on how you incorporate more fruits veggies, or how you cut down on the junk thats poisoning our society, please share!
Cheers, to your health! Eat your veggies! 🙂
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