DIET

I've been in a bad flare since January.  I went to see an acupuncturist who used to help me with headaches.  He did a food allergy test. Among some of the foods he told me to avoid were two staples in my diet, chicken and bananas.  I thought no way, I've been eating those two my whole life with no problems before.  Well, about six weeks ago,  I took his advice and I decided to stop eating chicken and bananas.  In these last six weeks, I have seen a big improvement  with my UC symptoms.

Has anyone else had to cut out major staples of food they used to eat?  Do you think I will be able to add them back to my diet sometime in the future?  I'm nervous about trying.  I don't want to go backwards again.

Any advice would be great.

Currently on week three of 6MP 50mg

Yeah, could be the 6mp.

Many of the diets that claim to be healing suggest you can start eating foods that you had cut out after 18 months or so. If you feel it's really helping you could try keeping them out of your diet for that long and then see what happens if you eat them again. Or you could try eating one of them again next week and see if you react.

If it is a true allergy, however, that might not be the case.

yes and yes -

There is a difference between food intolerance and food allergy.

And there are different tests out there (some quite expensive) with varying degrees of reliability.

Also, some people can test either falsely positive or falsely negative, so beware.

Years ago, before I had UC, I had an expensive LEAP test done (blood test) and it was very interesting; it revealed a scale of intolerance from highest to lowest: coconut, spinach, tomatoes, fig, acetaminophen, red dye #, grapes,  and a whole bunch of other stuff I really don't recall.

Interesting thing is that when I cut out those foods, I did feel better.

I did find out on my own that my body did NOT like: egg whites or bananas.

And then of course: Gluten, Wheat, and Dairy as well.

So my list has become quite large. But that's ok. I would rather know than not know.

 

Soystud,

Yea, lol, I don't remember which # red dye it was.

But you're right it's in everything, even medications, vitamins, vaccines....

what stereo said - i learned the hard way that for the near future i won't be doing any gluten - maybe 6 months from now, but even then it will be one meal period - till the next time which will again be months down the road - i think for most who have attained some sort of remission, the risk is too great which makes the decision to abstain almost effortless - and it's like a habit, if you can just get past that magic point (different for everyone) the craving goes away - healing has been too hard to come by - i won't let myself go back -

soystud- seriously. I am just BARELY getting to a point after cutting gluten out again to where I am not craving it as much. but what a BEAST! lol. I don't know if I can eat gluten again because I cannot control myself with it ever. It's too evil.

I have a lot of allergens too according to my blood test. so far it has been fairly accurate. mine are beef, avocado, dairy, egg, peanut/almond, kidney bean, pineapple, mushroom, gluten of course.

Here is what is weird, maybe you know InSoFia? I was on pred 20mg when we did my test, according to my doc the lab said this was ok now. I worry if the results are skewed due to this though. what do you guys think?

InSoFla said...
Stereo,
yes long list...

Have you had testing done? If so, what did your list reveal?
And how different is it from foods you have tested out on yourself?

I did a food screening tray, seafood tray and outdoor allergens test. They did little blood pricks all over my back. No food allergies!

When we did testing for outdoor allergens (trees/plants), I was allergic to absolutely everything, which explains my chronic stuffy nose/allergies. Which has me questioning about elm trees, and if slippery elm is a good for me or not.

But, when I did the Diagnos-tech saliva testing (for adrenals), I was borderline gluten intolerant. Since cutting it out, I feel better. :)

Stereo,

Interesting.

But did you find any foods you tested out and showed a different outcome from the allergy testing?

InSoFla said...
Stereo,


Interesting.

But did you find any foods you tested out and showed a different outcome from the allergy testing?

Oh yeah, gluten/wheat, bee pollen and warm apples (like in apple crisp or soups) or fruit pectin is troublesome for me, but no foods showed up on testing.

As far as food allergy testing I tried Elisa testing from a company in Florida. They turned out to be con artists. They took my credit card and then ignored my phone calls. I called Florida regulators and they said they had many complaints about them. When I called my credit card company to retract the sale, they sent me a report saying that I was allergic to the usual suspects like milk. I took the report as garbage.

Next I went to a company recommended by my PCP. This new report said I was allergic to beef. Maybe I am but I don’t notice it. I do notice thru trial and error that I have problems with gluten, kale, shellfish, plums and hummus. This new report did not mention any problems with those foods.

I would say save your money. Food allergy tests are notoriously unreliable. There are other members here on this forum who have been tested and given a green light for gluten and later found it to be a source of flares.

I recommend keeping a personal food journal.

i would definitely advise having him tested - they are not 100% but for some very reliable - what blood type is he ?