Food allergy elimination diet

[Varian P]

Anyone gone mad and done this "cave man diet" thing?

After coming down sick with colds and the flu three times this winter and fighting off a recurring eye infection, on top of just feeling crappy almost all of the time, I thought I'd do the "simple" thing before exploring possibly more serious problems with a doctor.

The idea is that many people have allergies to common foods, but are unaware of it, and suffer with chronic symptoms from fatigue to nasal and lung congestion to joint pain.

On the diet, you eliminate...well, almost everything from your diet, then after a month, start adding eliminated foods back in, one by one, to see if you have an adverse reaction.

Things you cannot eat while on the diet:

martinis
brown rice
soy products (or bean or legumes of any kind)

It's enough to make a vegetarian whip up a nice rack of lamb (which you can eat on this diet).

It's been two weeks of soda water instead of soy lattes, and daily trips to the store for fresh fruits and vegetables, and lots of nuts.

And who knew I could go more than two nights without a drink?

I am a little perkier, but I probably could have achieved that by cutting back on the coffee, martinis and brie.

I'm looking forward to adding the forbidden victuals back into my menu. What should I have first, I wonder? After the martini, I mean.

 

[_Lynn_]

I did a similar elimination diet years ago. After constant health issues, my doctor recommended I try it. I discovered several foods that irritated my system that I had been eating. Leaving them out now has helped immensely.

Since then I was checked for allergies in general where a few food items came up. They too are cut out and I feel better.

 

[Varian P]

I did a similar elimination diet years ago. After constant health issues, my doctor recommended I try it. I discovered several foods that irritated my system that I had been eating. Leaving them out now has helped immensely.

Since then I was checked for allergies in general where a few food items came up. They too are cut out and I feel better.

There's the encouragement I need!

I keep waiting for this epiphany of feeling fabulous, but it hasn't quite happened, though I'm noticeably less congested and actually coherent when I wake up in the morning.

 

[_Lynn_]

There's the encouragement I need!

I keep waiting for this epiphany of feeling fabulous, but it hasn't quite happened, though I'm noticeably less congested and actually coherent when I wake up in the morning.

I have a lot of medical problems that came up after I had my gallbladder out. IBS, the acid reflux and more seemed to take it's place. For years I was on medication for each one. Then with the elimination diet, I cut tons of foods. Corn, nuts, peas, oranges...anything with seeds...the list is long. My system can't handle fruits well either. The alternative is to eat them, be miserable and take another med. It's tough, since I had to stop eating many foods I really liked.

 

[Guest]

............

 

[_Lynn_]

Food allergy elimination diet is the least expensive allergy test.

However, it isn't any less painful when you do find out what gives you problems. I found out I was allergic to chocolate, strawberries, and shrimp. It was a really sad to find that out, though at least it wasn't milk like I thought it was. I couldn't survive without lattes or cheese.

Chocolate, dairy and wheat are a few of my actual allergies.
None of them are extremely serious, though.
Doesn't bother me not having them in my diet.

 

[dr_mabeuse]

I felt best on the Stillman diet of all protein and water: great dripping gobs of meat and cheese, all the fat I wanted, but no carbohydrates (starches and/or sugars - wheat, rice, potatoes, veggies, fruits). They say that men crave protein while women crave carbohydrates, that's why men like their meat and women like their breads and desserts.

But by and large I haven't found much to that whole food allergy thing. I'm more sensitive to air-born allergens. In any case, I've stopped looking for that Rosy Glow. I just want to be strong enough to be weak on occasion.

There's something to food allergies now, though. Kids born today are just plagued with them and they're a very serious medical problem and no one knows why. The theory that sounds most plausible to me is that kids these days and their parents are raised in a too-sterile environment with not enough exposure to common everyday germs and viruses and so their immune system goes awry and allergies are the result. Americans live as if it's us versus the environment rather than us living in the environment and we try and sterilize everything. That's not the way it is. We're part of the world, not separate from it, and we're designed to interact with it. When you start spraying everything with germicide you fuck up the messages your body gets and food allergies are the result. We need to eat more dirt and stop treating it like the enemy.

I'm off to lick some floors myself.

 

[dr_mabeuse]

How do you...

Take your martini, darling? Nine to One? Or do you just wave the vermouth bottle over it?

I don't understand the dry martini myself and I'd like someone to explain it to me. Why not just drink straight gin? Though I admit, a good gin martini with a lemon twist is a wonderfully wicked drink, civilizing and uncivilizing in equal proportion.

 

[_Lynn_]

I felt best on the Stillman diet of all protein and water: great dripping gobs of meat and cheese, all the fat I wanted, but no carbohydrates (starches and/or sugars - wheat, rice, potatoes, veggies, fruits). They say that men crave protein while women crave carbohydrates, that's why men like their meat and women like their breads and desserts.

But by and large I haven't found much to that whole food allergy thing. I'm more sensitive to air-born allergens. In any case, I've stopped looking for that Rosy Glow. I just want to be strong enough to be weak on occasion.

There's something to food allergies now, though. Kids born today are just plagued with them and they're a very serious medical problem and no one knows why. The theory that sounds most plausible to me is that kids these days and their parents are raised in a too-sterile environment with not enough exposure to common everyday germs and viruses and so their immune system goes awry and allergies are the result. Americans live as if it's us versus the environment rather than us living in the environment and we try and sterilize everything. That's not the way it is. We're part of the world, not separate from it, and we're designed to interact with it. When you start spraying everything with germicide you fuck up the messages your body gets and food allergies are the result. We need to eat more dirt and stop treating it like the enemy.

I'm off to lick some floors myself.

I have more trouble with the outdoor allergies than those to foods.
Although I do know that if I have chocolate I get hives.

 

[OhMissScarlett]

Anyone gone mad and done this "cave man diet" thing?

After coming down sick with colds and the flu three times this winter and fighting off a recurring eye infection, on top of just feeling crappy almost all of the time, I thought I'd do the "simple" thing before exploring possibly more serious problems with a doctor.

The idea is that many people have allergies to common foods, but are unaware of it, and suffer with chronic symptoms from fatigue to nasal and lung congestion to joint pain.

On the diet, you eliminate...well, almost everything from your diet, then after a month, start adding eliminated foods back in, one by one, to see if you have an adverse reaction.

Things you cannot eat while on the diet:

martinis
brown rice
soy products (or bean or legumes of any kind)

It's enough to make a vegetarian whip up a nice rack of lamb (which you can eat on this diet).

It's been two weeks of soda water instead of soy lattes, and daily trips to the store for fresh fruits and vegetables, and lots of nuts.

And who knew I could go more than two nights without a drink?

I am a little perkier, but I probably could have achieved that by cutting back on the coffee, martinis and brie.

I'm looking forward to adding the forbidden victuals back into my menu. What should I have first, I wonder? After the martini, I mean.

It's much easier to just eliminate the common allergy causing stuff from your diet and then re-introduce it. My guess is that it's going to be either dairy or wheat that's making you sick. You might also try getting rid of crap foods like refined sugar, flour and processed stuff. If this doesn't work for you, you may want to go for the scratch test, in case it's something environmental or obscure. If you do have a food allergy, make sure you rotate the foods(one day on, four days off) you can tolerate, to avoid becoming sensitive to something else.

 

[impressive]

I felt best on the Stillman diet of all protein and water: great dripping gobs of meat and cheese, all the fat I wanted, but no carbohydrates (starches and/or sugars - wheat, rice, potatoes, veggies, fruits). They say that men crave protein while women crave carbohydrates, that's why men like their meat and women like their breads and desserts.

Hrm. I must be a cave man, then.



But, seriously, the biggest change in my health/depression coincided with adopting a low-carb lifestyle. Second biggest, though, resulted from a move toward single foods as opposed to prepared, processed stuff. They kind of go hand-in-hand, but there is still a bunch of processed low-carb shit out there that's full of preservatives, dyes, trans fats, etc.

Finding processed products without added sugars (including corn syrup) is rather difficult. It's simpler to buy individual ingredients and prepare stuff yourself. Takes more of a time investment, though.

 

[OhMissScarlett]

Hrm. I must be a cave man, then.



But, seriously, the biggest change in my health/depression coincided with adopting a low-carb lifestyle. Second biggest, though, resulted from a move toward single foods as opposed to prepared, processed stuff. They kind of go hand-in-hand, but there is still a bunch of processed low-carb shit out there that's full of preservatives, dyes, trans fats, etc.

Finding processed products without added sugars (including corn syrup) is rather difficult. It's simpler to buy individual ingredients and prepare stuff yourself. Takes more of a time investment, though.

Yeah, all that processed diet food, like South Beach and Weight Watchers is full of sodium and just utterly lacking in nutritional value. I think the big key to losing weight or managing food allergies is that you're going to have to prepare your own foods, no matter what your thing is. It does suck, time wise, but it's really the only way to be certain of what's in your food. I make everything up in advance and put it into little containers, so I'm not plagued by indecision when I'm hungry.

Personally, I try to go for the most natural and nutritious, veggies, lean meats, and whole grains that I can find.

 

[Varian P]

I felt best on the Stillman diet of all protein and water: great dripping gobs of meat and cheese, all the fat I wanted, but no carbohydrates (starches and/or sugars - wheat, rice, potatoes, veggies, fruits). They say that men crave protein while women crave carbohydrates, that's why men like their meat and women like their breads and desserts.

But by and large I haven't found much to that whole food allergy thing. I'm more sensitive to air-born allergens. In any case, I've stopped looking for that Rosy Glow. I just want to be strong enough to be weak on occasion.

There's something to food allergies now, though. Kids born today are just plagued with them and they're a very serious medical problem and no one knows why. The theory that sounds most plausible to me is that kids these days and their parents are raised in a too-sterile environment with not enough exposure to common everyday germs and viruses and so their immune system goes awry and allergies are the result. Americans live as if it's us versus the environment rather than us living in the environment and we try and sterilize everything. That's not the way it is. We're part of the world, not separate from it, and we're designed to interact with it. When you start spraying everything with germicide you fuck up the messages your body gets and food allergies are the result. We need to eat more dirt and stop treating it like the enemy.

I'm off to lick some floors myself.

On this Elimination/Cave Man/Rare Foods diet, you can eat all the meat and drink all the water you want (just not all the meats you want--no chicken, for example, and I forget what else, as it doesn't apply to us vegetarians). No cheese, though, and no bread (or any grains/grain-derivatives). So if your theory about men's versus women's cravings is correct, perhaps this diet would be a joy for men and torture for women.

I'm quite sensitive to air-borne allergens, too, and as a child went to the doctor every week to get two injections in each arm for my array of allergies.

I've also been asthmatic since childhood, and will certainly be amused (in a bitter kind of way) if I discover all these years later that those symptoms improve a bunch by cutting bread or something else out of my diet, since no one ever mentioned that might be a possibility.

I don't know if I'm looking for a rosy glow. I think I'm just after clear thinking for more than my one or two peak hours each day.

I think you're right about our paranoia about germ wreaking havoc with our immune systems. Every time I see a bottle of antibacterial soap on a sink I roll my eyes.

Of course, if you were there, licking the floor, I probably wouldn't notice the soap...

 

[Varian P]

Take your martini, darling? Nine to One? Or do you just wave the vermouth bottle over it?

Something between the two; I let a few drops fall in, then lt them lick the side of the glass as I roll it between my fingers, and drain the excess.

I don't understand the dry martini myself and I'd like someone to explain it to me. Why not just drink straight gin? Though I admit, a good gin martini with a lemon twist is a wonderfully wicked drink, civilizing and uncivilizing in equal proportion.

And I'm afraid I don't understand gin. I'm strictly a vodka martini girl. Twist or olive, depending on my mood. Usually the first drink is civilizing, and subsequent rounds have the contrary effect.

 

[Varian P]

It's much easier to just eliminate the common allergy causing stuff from your diet and then re-introduce it. My guess is that it's going to be either dairy or wheat that's making you sick. You might also try getting rid of crap foods like refined sugar, flour and processed stuff. If this doesn't work for you, you may want to go for the scratch test, in case it's something environmental or obscure. If you do have a food allergy, make sure you rotate the foods(one day on, four days off) you can tolerate, to avoid becoming sensitive to something else.

As a rule I don't eat a lot of processed foods, the exceptions being vegetarian "meats." I think I've grown too dependent on that stuff, and this diet has actually made me appreciate eating more fresh fruits and veggies as the staple, rather than just a garnish for kielbasa "sausage."

And, yeah, no cereal or the occasional veggie burger. Two weeks ago I think I would have been bummed to think I couldn't have bread or cheese ever again. Now it feels like, if I could just have brown rice and beans back in my diet, I'd be eating like a queen!

Yes, the guide I'm following talks about rotating foods to avoid becoming sensitive to them.

Thanks for the tips!

 

[Varian P]

Food allergy elimination diet is the least expensive allergy test.

However, it isn't any less painful when you do find out what gives you problems. I found out I was allergic to chocolate, strawberries, and shrimp. It was a really sad to find that out, though at least it wasn't milk like I thought it was. I couldn't survive without lattes or cheese.

I thought the secret psychology of the diet was that you can eat so few things while on it, you're just grateful for the things you can add back in, rather than having to cut out the things you can't have anymore.

Right now find myself fantasizing about brown rice, garbanzo beans and edamame.

 

[Varian P]

Hrm. I must be a cave man, then.



But, seriously, the biggest change in my health/depression coincided with adopting a low-carb lifestyle. Second biggest, though, resulted from a move toward single foods as opposed to prepared, processed stuff. They kind of go hand-in-hand, but there is still a bunch of processed low-carb shit out there that's full of preservatives, dyes, trans fats, etc.

Finding processed products without added sugars (including corn syrup) is rather difficult. It's simpler to buy individual ingredients and prepare stuff yourself. Takes more of a time investment, though.

I keep telling myself (kidding myself) that when the month is up, I'll continue to eat single/fresh foods and avoid processed food--it's easier than I thought it'd be, and I don't miss the other stuff nearly as much as I thought I would.

But one thing we usually do is live off leftovers. The two of us order enough Indian or Thai food for six, take the leftovers home in tupperware, and eat it diluted with tons of brown rice over the course of four or five meals.

Now I find myself wondering how much junk is in food like that? Realistically, I doubt I'll cut that stuff out, long-term, just because of the variety and convenience it offers.

 

[jomar]

Closest I've come is going on the South Beach Diet (I wish they'd just go ahead and call it a lifestyle instead of diet, but I guess that would scare people off). Anyway, with that one you eliminate most things, especially carbs for the first two weeks, then gradually add things back in. I dropped twenty pounds in a matter of months and didn't feel deprived. Never bought the SB brand foods though.