Multiple intolerances - please help me figure out what to eat

[kenneth88]

Hi,

Well, where do I even start? I've been ill for several years now and only recently linked my health problems to the foods I've been eating. I started off with cutting out gluten and have been on a paleo diet for quite some time, which seems to help in giving me more energy. BUT, I've noticed reactions coming from foods I didn't even know could cause reactions. I'm talking foods like cabbage which can cause me to feel blue, tomatoes which can cause me to have diarrhea or even spinach. Just to name a few... I honestly don't know what to eat anymore. I'm quite sure I have leaky gut. Ever since I stopped eating gluten I dropped about 45 pounds and am no longer overweight (in just 2 months time). I'm prediabetic so losing the weight definitely helps but I still can't tolerate sugar, sugar in particular is what can make me feel really bad. 

Foods I know I can't have: Tomatoes/nightshades, gluten, legumes, sugar, pastry, pasta, citric acid, crisps, shellfish, cookies, soda, pizza, processed foods, additives, salty and/or smoked foods, canned foods, fruits high in sugar, fatty foods, beets, vinegar, nuts, cabbage, etc. 

Foods I know I can have: Meat (except pork), salad, cucumber, andive, fish (fresh), brocolli, butter, celery, asparagus (fresh)

Grey zone: eggs, rice, fermented cheese (goat/mutton), onions

Are there any other foods out there which are known to heal leaky gut and won't cause any reactions to the vast majority of folks? My concern is mainly a practical one since I never know what to eat in the mornings. I used to eat canned fish but I know it's not the healthiest choice... Eggs sometimes make my stomach ache but overall they don't cause fatigue like the other stuff does.. Meat is excellent, I do very well on protein. 

I feel better when I eat less or nothing at all. I'm concerned that if I only eat the things I can have I won't be getting all of the nutrients, but I just want to get my energy back and with the right foods, I know it's possible. Unfortunately fresh foods tend to cost more than the junk food. So cheaper foods that are gut-friendly would be welcome... 

Thanks,

Ken

[GFinDC]

Hi Ken,

How about trying some sweet potatoes?  They are a great replacement for regular white potatoes and they are not nightshades.  Sweet potatoes have more nutrition than white potatoes also.

I sometimes eat Jif brand natural peanut butter on rice cakes for breakfast.  Quaker brand rice cakes are usually gluten-free, and are marked gluten-free in some cases.

Mission brand corn tortillas make a passable replacement for bread.  There are several kinds of gluten-free wraps/tortillas available, but the corn tortillas are generally much cheaper.

I like Polar brand canned sardines, as they are boneless and skinless and have lots of vitamin D.

You could try duck eggs and see if they are better for your digestion than chicken eggs.

Avocados are $$$ but they have good protein and nutrition in them.

Sauerkraut is supposed to be good for replacing good bacteria in the gut.  Actually, many fermented foods are supposed to be helpful for gut issues.

Some of your food reactions may go away after awhile on the gluten-free diet.  Some may stick around though.

I am surprised to hear you lost so much weight after going gluten-free.  Usually people gain weight after going gluten-free.  It that weight loss continues, maybe you should check with your doctor for other issues.

I have food intolerances to nightshades (tomato, potato, peppers and eggplants), dairy, soy, carrots, celery, caffeine, sand gluten.  I avoid most sugar also.

Maybe you could try cutting out dairy completely for a week and see if it helps?  There are dairy free alternatives for many products these days.  Like DF milk, cheese, ice cream etc.  A lot of those products have soy in them though, which I avoid.  Except soy lecithin, which doesn't seem to be a problem for me.

Please check you spices and drinks like tea etc for gluten also.  It's unusual but sometimes they do have gluten ingredients.

An elimination diet is a good way to identify other food intolerances.  But at the beginning of the gluten-free diet it can be confusing to do an elimination diet because our gi system may be going through so many changes it is hard to tell for sure what food is causing symptoms.  That's where a simple, whole foods diet comes in very helpful.

 

[kenneth88]

Hi,

Thanks so much for the thorough reply. I really appreciate it. 

Dairy is something I cut out of my diet too as indeed, I reacted to some things too... But dairy isn't as much of a problem as is sugar, in my case... I don't really know for sure if I'm gluten intolerant, but I guess, some of my reactions may have been caused by the sugar that is in products with gluten, I just don't know but just to be sure and because they damage the gut lining I banned gluten from my diet too... 

Yeah, I lost a lot of weight quite fast after changing my diet, it seems I really got my metabolism going and I'm sure it's for the better as I was, and am, prediabetic, so I hope my efforts pay off eventually, I'm not interested in having to manage my blood sugar levels. I just know that with the right diet, I can recover. Anything with sugar in it will cause a negative response in my case, so just to be sure, of the foods you named, does anything contain fructose or glucose? What about the sweet potatoes? I normally don't quite tolerate starchy vegetables. Avocados is something worth considering. I had eggs tonight and so far they do not cause any extraordinary reaction. 

Gluten free products is something I'd rather not consume though, especially the rice crackers, I feel my body is really craving an all-natural approach. In that respect I really appreciate the paleo diet, unfortunately even that diet sometimes stresses out my gut apparently... 

Caffeine is something I don't tolerate either. Sauerkraut I'm pretty sure I won't tolerate, unfortunately, since it's rich in probiotics. 

Oh well, as long as I don't starve and start to feel better I'll manage I guess. 

Thanks again

Ken

[Ennis-TX]

Yeah I found myself having issues with a whole list of foods, and do not digest carbs well. I have moved to a diet of mostly protein powders, nuts, seeds, egg whites, and veggies with small amounts of fruit. Few thoughts, try carton eggs like Egg Beaters, it might be a issue with digesting the yolk in eggs. And perhaps adding nutritional yeast like Braggs or Kal to your food. It has a whole bunch of nutrients and can be used as sprinkle on condiment or blended into sauces and eggs. At least you can eat meats, I lost the ability to process them without a bunch of enzymes and only in small amounts blended.

 

[fergusminto]

Hi Ken. I know how you feel. I am Coeliac (UK!) with multiple intolerances and it has taken me meny years to isolate exactly what the problem foods are. I cannot really advise you what to eat or to avoid as everyone is different but I can suggest you "go back to basics" - in other words absolutely no processed foods even those that are heavily advertised as Gluten Free etc etc - just have a good look at what is in them. Basic food, cooked from scratch is healthier and much easier to isolate foods that you may be intolerentto.

I cannot eat:

Gluten, including Oats, all dairy, eggs (whites are worse than yolks), soya (a real b---h), preservatives (phosphates, sulphates, sulphites -which rules out 99.9% of wines and most bottled drinks) and various veg/fruits including butternut squash, cashews, grapes, pears, leeks, Celery (sulphites) and artificially "smoked" meats and stock cubes (I keep all bones and make my own stock, free!). I now cure my own bacon (simple - belly pork with dry cure of rock salt and molasses/demarara sugar for 5 days in fridge) but stay away from all pre-packed sliced meats which are full of preservatives) and the only bread I can eat is Seattle Brown Loaves. Keep well away from "E" numbers and any foods that require processing in their production and beware of "Vegetable" oil which is usually soya. Use Corn oil, Ghee (salted butter melted in a pan, remove the scum which is the protein and you are left with a golden liquid) or walnut/coconut oils. Also beware of Crisps/Chips (USA term). Most are sprayed with some liquid prior to cooking and only one type does not affect me - Kettle Crisps/Chips, low salted only NEVER take artifical flavourings in any foods - hidden in E numbers.

If I do eat any of the above the symptoms are basically the same, headaches, wind, tiredness, migraines and a feeling of "low" almost depression but not quite as bad. Can last for up to 5 days but usually 1/2.

It is really the caveman diet - absolutely no fast foods. I can make myself a meal in a few minutes with anything I have in the house. I eat any meats, most veg (onions, carrots, garlic, peppers, potatoes, of course, green veg etc). A wok is good to have as is a pressure cooker for making stock out of bones.

Menus: Breakfast, bacon, fried potatoes, onions peppers. Tea with Honey and Coconut cream (coconut a gem!) and Seattle bread toasted (best that way with "Pure" Sunflower spread) . Lunch: soup, toasts and meat of some kind. Apples, oranges etc Dinners: staples of potatoes, pastas (Gluten free of course), rice, meats, veg, fish. Never concern yourself with what you cant eat, concentrate on what you can and I enjoy cooking my own food and I can also prepare a dinner party and nobody knows it is designed for me!

Best of luck, it is a change of lifestyle for the good. Excuse ramblings at times as I keep remembering things as I write.

[fergusminto]

Error - Ghee is UNsalted butter!

[fergusminto]

As for eating out, I have found anywhere in the UK that in even semi-decent restaurants I can tell them exactly what I want. Look through their menu and pick things you like and tell them what you want and how to cook it. Most decent chefs will like a change and a challenge and I have been pleasantly surprised with the help that they have given. After a while you will have list of decent restaurants that you can trust. Usually I ask for a rare staeck cooked in Corn oil or olive oil with boiled potatoes and non-buttered veg. If you starts thre the chef usually gives other suggestions but make sure he/she is well aware of basic coeliac gluten cross contamination in kitchen, esp deep fat fryers.

[kenneth88]

Thanks for your replies...! 

Thanks for all the tips, I am indeed on a caveman diet and trying to figure out what works best. I had rice on Friday and unfortunately did get a reaction (bloating/nervousness), which for now makes carbs a thing of the past. I do indeed do very well on protein and am becoming picky about the ingredients in foods as well. For example I had asparagus the other day but they were packed in citric acid. Little did I know citric acid had sugar. Suffered a severe reaction. All-natural indeed is the only way to go when it comes to curing this thing.. 

Well, it's a valuable lesson. I never drank enough during my childhood but I'm trying to drink at least a bottle nowadays. It probably contributed to my gut issues. 

I'll do my best and see how it goes. 

Thanks again,

Ken

[flutegal64]

Do you have any diagnosis from a doctor?  Weight loss like you are describing could signal a serious issue that you shouldn't be messing around with.
You shouldn't be cutting out all of those foods without going to a doctor to figure out what is going on.
A doctor would be doing testing to make sure nothing serious is going on.
I'm the first person to say I haven't found a good doctor and I'm suffering with serious pain and issues because of that so I am altering my diet, but I'm following up with the doctor.  So if you haven't schedule an appointment with a GI doctor or some doctor.
 

[kenneth88]

Hi, thanks... Yes, I was diagnosed with glucose intolerance by an endocrinologist. That's when I started cutting back on sugar. Other than some deficits (chromium, testosterone, D + B-12) they found nothing. Except that I also have mild ostopenia, and I often get kidney stones which is strange but they told me not to worry about it and to get more exercise etc. Which is exactly what I've been doing. I can tell you, banning gluten and sugar from my diet is the best thing I've ever done in terms of diet. The pounds came right off. But don't worry, I'm not a walking skeleton yet, lol. Fortunately the weight loss is a result of my diet, I had problems losing weight before the diet and even when exercising. But it all makes sense now. I easily store carbs as fat and have a hard time losing them. I still have the intolerances though... I had a high white blood cell count but they thought nothing of it. It all points to inflammation in my gut somewhere. But hey they're the doctors if they tell me not to worry about it I'll just have to try and figure it out on my own I guess. Meanwhile I'm really happy to see the belly blubber disappear. 

Cheers

[Beverage]

I lost 30 lbs within a month after going gluten free. It was all inflammation! I do not believe it was because my metabolism suddenly revved up, I believe it was water weight from the inflammation, my doctor concurs.  My doc said he has had Celiac's who lost over 300 lbs after going gluten free!!!  Due to the malabsorbtion caused by Celiac's, underneath I had lost bone and muscle mass and looked emaciated.  It took over a year and with gradually increasing exercising, at first very very light.  I have gained 5 lbs and feel must stronger. So be careful now that you have lost the weight, you may need time to build back your structure and you don't want to break anything that may be compromised.

[Really]

Hello Ken, 

Over a period of ten years, I had reactions to foods one after another. I had already stopped eating gluten when the doctor who did my colonoscopy ordered a blood test for gluten intolerance. Of course, it was negative. I broke out from tomatoes, melons, pumpkin, and the list goes on. I had eliminated so many foods, and thought I was allergic to them. My allergist and internal med Doctor were of no help whatsoever. Last week I had sinus surgery. Prior to surgery, the ENT surgeon ordered tests in multiple departments. The allergist tested me for those foods to which I thought I was allergic.  Negative. I asked him why I had reactions to those foods when the tests showed negative.  He answered that some foods naturally contain histamine. All I was thinking was that now I can eat yogurt. In moderation. After a couple days I realized the stomach ache was from yogurt. Along with that uncontrollable cough. Then I thought about histamine. I googled histamine problem with food. Lots of info. After perusing many websites, I began to understand histamine intolerance.  I had already eliminated many foods, and from reading, saw that those foods are higher in histamine. One product I saw mentioned on different websites is Enzymatica Digest Gold with ATPro. It contains numerous porcine kidney enzymes. I figure I may be deficient in diamine oxidase in my gut, so I take a capsule before each meal, drink some grape juice for vitamin C, make certain I take a multivitamin daily. After 2 1/2 days, the coughing that had plagued me for years was gone. 

Ken, please read the info on this website for a better understanding

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