Should You Avoid All Foods In A Category/family

[CantEvenEatRice]

I am reading so much great information on this board! I am so glad that I found it!! I am sure this has been discussed before, but should you avoid all foods in a particular family if you are having trouble with some? For example, I cannot eat most beans, but I don't seem to react from green beans or peanuts. Same with rice-sometimes I can have rice cookies, but if I eat plain rice or rice noodles, I can really sick within 24 hours. As for corn, I can eat things with cornstarch and corn syrup, but real corn and corn chips cause horrible stomach reactions. I suffer from constant fatigue though so I am wondering if I eliminate everything from a category, will I feel better?

Noelle

[jerseyangel]

I am reading so much great information on this board! I am so glad that I found it!! I am sure this has been discussed before, but should you avoid all foods in a particular family if you are having trouble with some? For example, I cannot eat most beans, but I don't seem to react from green beans or peanuts. Same with rice-sometimes I can have rice cookies, but if I eat plain rice or rice noodles, I can really sick within 24 hours. As for corn, I can eat things with cornstarch and corn syrup, but real corn and corn chips cause horrible stomach reactions. I suffer from constant fatigue though so I am wondering if I eliminate everything from a category, will I feel better?

Noelle

Hi again Noelle

Food intolerance is a pretty individual thing. If you are fine with a particular food, then eat it. It's not necessary to cut out a whole catagory of foods (for example, lectins), if you only react to a few.

As for whether or not you will feel better by eliminating a whole group, the only way to know for sure is to give it a try. I know that's not much help, but like I said, we're all different so whats right for me is different than what's right for you.

The process takes time--I would suggest keeping a food log where you write down everything you eat and how you feel that day. You might also jot down what personal care products you are using. That way, you will begin to notice a pattern between food, mood, physical symptoms, etc.

A good way to start is to get down to a basic diet of meat, veggies, fruit. When all of your symptoms are relieved, begin adding suspect foods, one at a time. Wait a week or so between foods so you can get a clear idea of how (or not) it affects you.

This was the approach that my allergist suggested to me for determining my intolerances.

[eKatherine]

It's possible that you are sensitive to some component that is not present in all forms of the food, or that a small amount won't bother you, while a large amount eaten on an empty stomach will for sure. Why don't you try a challenge? Give up all forms of something that bothers you for a couple of weeks, then eat the form you suspect is OK and see what happens?

[CantEvenEatRice]

It's possible that you are sensitive to some component that is not present in all forms of the food, or that a small amount won't bother you, while a large amount eaten on an empty stomach will for sure. Why don't you try a challenge? Give up all forms of something that bothers you for a couple of weeks, then eat the form you suspect is OK and see what happens?

My post does sound funny when I read it again! I know that the only way to really know for sure is to try. I guess we all want magic answers. It is so hard to give up so many foods but it is nice to know other people are going through the same thing-not that I would wish it on anyone though! Thanks for all the help!

[tarnalberry]

There are some theories that there is a threshold level of everything that we can tolerate. For most people for most foods, the threshold is so high, you never notice. But for some items, it's much lower. The theory says that for many items, it may be just high enough that you can have small amounts occasionally, but eating the item every day, or the primary component every day, would be a bad idea and would get you past that threshold. For instance, a little bit of cornstarch in gravy might be fine, but a whole ear of corn every day might be too much. It's, as everyone has noted, a very individual thing. Don't forget, also, that intolerances are *usually* to the protein, so corn on the cob and corn in the form of chips (for instance) might be a problem where corn starch (with the protein removed) might not be.

[lorka150]

In addition to everyone elses responses, I will add:

I am intolerant to rice, but rice starch doesn't bother me. Rice flour and actual rice and everything else does. I am intolerant to the onion family (garlic, onion, leeks, asparagus), but I can have powder of garlic and onion in very small amounts. 'real' onions give me hives and my chest gets very, very tight.

i learned this all by trial and error, to see if my intolerances were disasppearing. I am intolerant to the whole buckwheat/rhubarb/sorrell family - and all three bother me instantly, in all forms.