Nooooooooooooooooo! I got my food sensitivity testing back, and I am severely intolerant of wheat (along with clam, crab, halibut, and snapper) and mildly intolerant of gluten and casein, so I'm told I should eliminate barley, oat, and rye, and avoid milk. I could just cry!!!!!! What the heck am I going to eat?!
I'm also moderately intolerant to tea, butternut squash, button mushroom, cabbage, celery, corn, cranberry, ginger, grapefruit, hops, lime, peanut, scallop, spinach, and watermelon. And mildly intolerant to avocado, banana, basil, black pepper, broccoli, cherry, coconut, egg yolk, eggplant, green pea, parsley, pear, pecan, plum, rice, salmon, shrimp, string bean, sweet potato, tomato, tuna, vanilla, white potato, and something called candida albicans (which apparently means sugar because they say to limit cane sugar, fructose, and honey).
Good Lord, does that leave anything?! Doesn't seem like it. I honestly have no idea what I'm going to do. I have pizza at least once a week, love me some burritos, and am always wheating it up (bread, cereals, cream of wheat, etc).
On the other hand, hopefully this is a good explanation for the ulcerative colitis, and maybe the endometriosis, because I've read that endo is an autoimmune disease. So, the theory goes that if your body has an intolerance to certain foods, when you eat them, it activates your immune system.
I just don't even know where to start, though, with the menu planning. Oh, and get this total injustice. My husband was also tested because he was diagnosed with diverticulitis and chronic inflammation of the colon. NONE of the things he is severely or moderately intolerant of are things that he even likes. So freaking unfair!!
Y'all, what am I going to do? I know you can buy gluten free things, but how do you get fiber if you can't have most grains? And, I think most GF people don't have to avoid milk. Is anyone else out there limited to such a strict diet as me? Have any advice? So sad over here . . .
I would check in with TCIE and/or Polkadot - they have pretty limited diets. (I know there are others, those two just come to mind first.)
ReplyDeleteI eat {mostly} gluten free - getting better every month at staying completely GF - and there are actually lots of cereals that are rice-based, and Chex has a whole bunch of GF chex cereals that are yummy - the honey nut ones taste just like HN cheerios. I also find the need for fiber isn't as much of a "need" b/c I'm not ticking off my digestive tract with gluten... Finally, I don't tend to buy lots of the GF stuff (it's EXPENSIVE), I just eat other things. When I'm really wanting a sandwich I do buy a loaf of bread, but that's about it - the rest I just eat other stuff. (I realize with your list that is more challenging though :(.)
Keeping you in my prayers.
Oh, maybe try the Paleo diet? Isaiah has some good stuff on her site about it.
I am so sorry that your list is so extensive!
ReplyDeleteI haven't had a food intolerance testing done so far because I dread the results! I am not any restricted diet. So, I don't know much about GF/DF diet.
Hopefully, you can figure out some alternatives to wheat and rice. Maybe Quinoa and Buckwheat. I like Quinoa. Since pretty much all seafood is there on your list, you could go for chicken, turkey, beef & pork.
And veggies like carrot, okra, zucchini, cauliflower, lettuce, onion, kale, bell pepper, cucumber. Fruits like apple, orange, mango, apricot, peach, fig, dates, berries.... I know it's not all that helpful with meal planning but that's all I could think of.
And maybe Almond Milk instead of Dairy & Coconut Milk.
My test results showed that I was severely intolerant to all dairy tested (milk, cheese, yogurt, goat's milk, etc.), chicken eggs, and gluten. I also had others that I was moderately intolerant to, but I started with those that were most severe. Dairy and eggs weren't too bad to eliminate; gluten was a little more challenging, but I felt so much better after those were out of my system. That was a year ago for me, and we ended up getting pregnant 3 months after those eliminations. I've found now that I can have some gluten, dairy, and eggs on occasion, but I definitely can tell when I've had too much.
ReplyDeleteDon't try to eliminate them all at once. Start with 1 or 2 and then take it from there. Good luck. You can do this. You will feel so much better!!
Sew from Sew Hormonal (blog) would be a good resource for you. She emailed me pretty quickly. Candida is a type of yeast btw. I am dairy free and LOVE coconut milk. Isaiah is a good resource too. She has a " hunny what's for dinner" tab with recipes on her blog.
ReplyDeleteOh man! What's left?? That stinks! Hope the other gals have some good advice.
ReplyDeleteI have no advice for ya. I was hoping to "borrow" some of the advice you were given. :-)
ReplyDeleteI hate the diet limitations. It wouldn't be so bad if we didn't know about all the "good-tasting/bad-for-you" foods out there.
You can do this. Start with what you can eat. Make a list of everything you can think of, like BlessedBeLord started for you above. Include spices. Plan meals around that.
ReplyDeleteI did the food testing two years ago, but my list wasn't as long as yours, although it did include most meats, which was hard. I didn't eliminate everything on my list all at once, but did it gradually over the course of a month or so. I eliminated each food for at least six months. I have been able to reintroduce most foods except soy. Right now I'm gluten, dairy, and soy-free, along with a few other random foods.
I get the impression that the combination of GF and dairy free is pretty common. In searching for recipes, I've often seen the label "GFCF" (C=casein).
I like almond-coconut milk (Blue Diamond, but there might be other brands too) and coconut milk (SoDelicious) a lot. Almond milk takes a little getting used to, but the vanilla-flavored version is better. (that won't help you, though) I've been thinking about pureeing strawberries and mixing it with almond milk to improve the taste.
Millet is another GF grain. Beans (various kinds) are a source of fiber. I add ground flax seeds whenever I can (smoothies especially). Visit a health food store to find GF items if your regular grocery store doesn't carry them.