Elisabeth Veltman, The Tender Foodie
My Story - The Short Version
Holistic Nutritionist Brooke Kaufman and I were speaking on the phone one day, and I shared with her some of my own food allergy struggles. I don't open up about that very often. Even though global understanding and eradication of food allergies are passions of mine, and even though I HAVE to talk about them to both do my job and stay personally safe, and even though I counsel people regularly to embrace their allergies and not be embarrased by them . . . I'm embarrassed by mine. Most people are incredibly kind and understanding, but a few have not been. So I hesitated when I chatted with Brooke and said, "I'm a strong chick, but my gut is weak. I need to do something about it, and do it now, or I"m afraid that my health will once again spiral out of control."
So I"m telling you part of my story, chapter 27 or so, of this epic gumshoe tale where trenchcoated, sillouetted figures appear and disappear in the billowing smoke, revealing themselves either as red herrings or hardboiled facts. OK. I'm telling you this part of the story, because it might help some of you. I hope it does.
Like a 1940's Film Noir - Chapter 27
I had been on a fairly even keel for a while, had a pretty set diet, and felt OK, not great, fairly stable. Like many of you, I had a list of allergies and sensitivities ranging from very severe to seemingly mild. I was instructed by doctor and allergen testing company alike to rotate those foods that tested low, and then remove the more highly allergenic foods on the list. I hadn't touched the top allergens in years, so I removed the new / low ones believing that they would eventually go away. That often happens, some delayed reactions can go away if you avoid the food for a while. I did this, and then one day, my beloved blueberries and strawberries made my lips swell, my spine inflame, my hands and joints swell and my heart palpitate. It felt like a cloak and dagger event, where something I trusted and loved betrayed me. These two berries were on the rotation list. The instructions were, "Don't eat more than every 4 days", which I abided by diligently, until summer came. My beloved berries became the "berries fatale" in a 1940's detective-style film noir.
At the moment of the reaction, I cut out every bloody thing on my list of allergens. Read every label for my entire list of allergens, even things sweetened wtih fruit juices. This helped. But sure enough, when I did eat parsley by mistake, for instance, the same symptoms returned. Plus a lovely knife through my head, and the feeling that cold, steel fingers wrapped around the back of my neck and into my throat. I have had constant pain in my right side and lower back from inflammation in the gut for a number of years. And no one could tell me what to do about it. Even smart people. And I worked with some great detectives.
Going Grain-less - Not Without Surprises
But after cutting my entire allergen list from my diet, I simply didn't feel quite right and decided to cut out grains and seeds, as well. Some grains, and grain-like seeds like Quinoa, have a similar enough protein structure to gluten that some folks' immune systems might mistake it for gluten. I went all Paleo (grain-free) and started consuming Tapioca in the form of this incredibly delicious bread. Tapioca is also a replacement for soy lecithin in chocolate. Much to my chagrin, tapioca can also cross react with / as gluten. I found this out as an allergy to it started building. It started as a runny nose every time I ate it, then I felt exhausted, bloated, and watched as this lovely fat began building around my mid-section, and my pain became worse and worse. Then I had to run from a yoga class because I started sweating profusely and it felt like I was about to hurl an alien being henceforth from my stomach. I wasn't sure which food was causing this discomfort at first, then went into a bit of denial. I mean, tapicoa is yummy, and it just couldn't be that!. I ignored the clues. Then one night about 2 hours after I had worked on a recipe for a lamb pizza w/ tapioca flour, consumed it, and had eaten some tapioca-based chocolate, I woke up with heart palpitations so severe that I nearly called 911. I've had heart palpitations many times before but had never, ever had them this badly. I started down the stairs to drive myself to the hospital. My face was hot and terribly swollen, as were my hands. I decided to sit by the phone for a bit and wait to see if my heart and breathing calmed down. I didn't call because I didn't want to (YOU should call). I was also afraid they would use epinephrine on me. I have a severe reaction to epinephrine - go figure, it makes my heart palpitate quite badly. Finally, the reaction calmed enough so I could breathe again, and I got a few hours of sleep. I didn't have any Benedryl in the house. Now I do. And believe me, I'm also researching other means of rescue besides an Epi-pen and will pass this on when and if I find it.
Grainless Had Unexpected Benefits, Too
Going grainless has given me an unexpected benefit: I no longer need thyroid medication. At least not right now! Hallelujah. There could be other factors that have contributed to this small miracle, but it seems that others have let go of their thryroid meds as well after going Paleo. I don't plan to keep grains out of my life forever, because I do feel like my particular body needs them. We are all unique, after all. I will reintroduce them carefully, however, and start with fermented grains as the GAPS Full Diet suggests (after finishing the intro gut-healing phase). Right now, I feel like grain-less is the right move to be able to heal my gut.
The Last Egg
As I adjusted to the Paleo Diet, I found myself consuming many more chicken eggs than normal. Guess what, my intuition started warning me to lay off the eggs (pun intended). I noticed a similar kind of build up that I experienced with tapioca, so I took them out of my diet as well, and felt better. Then one night I decided to try them again and woke up with a swollen face, hands and all of those other symptoms. The reaction was not as bad as the tapioca reaction, but a repeat performance of THAT was not a desireable situation. Plus I took Benedryl immediately which helped. But chicken eggs are now out. New swear words are in.
Could This Spiral Out of Control?
So I spoke to Brooke, the Holistic Nutritionist, because I fear that this vicious cycle will spiral even more out of control. This was simply not an option. Constant testing is very pricey, can be inaccurate, and simply not desireable - even though there are new tests out there now which I intend to explore further for us all. I had been taking lots of medical grade supplements to heal the gut, prescribed by my wonderful doctor, but nothing was working. I had been researching different diets and had heard some amazing things about the GAPS Diet.
So I've decided to try it, and invite you to try it with me!
Nutritionists Who Know Their Stuff Are Awesome
In my conversation with Brooke, she said that she had healed her gut by doing the Intro portion - the gut -healing phases - of the diet a few years ago. As we talked, I decided to do the GAPS Intro, and then get retested for allergies later. I asked her if she would help me, because this diet is not easy. If you have the right information, it isn't that hard, but without it, it seemed overwhelming.
Brooke is not only a Holistic Nutritionist who makes great recipes, she was a vegetarian in a great deal of distress at one point in her life (read her story here). The GAPS diet helped her heal and as she says, "it changed my entire paradigm about food and diet."
I've been on the diet for four days now, and already my right side and lower back pain have already greatly subsided. The Intro Diet is meant to "heal and seal" the gut lining so good bacteria/ flora can thrive and have the strength in numbers to elbow out the bad stuff. Bad bacteria and any parasite overgrowth are also starved of their food - they love starch, sugar, and fiber. A leaky gut (aka, the entire digestive tube) attracts these nasty little buggers, and allows unbroken-down food proteins past the intestinal wall, and this is what puts the immune system on high alert for multiple foods, creating more sensitivities and even allergies. A healed and sealed gut reverses both of these problems.
I plan to go through the entire 6 week intro phase to heal my gut with Brooke's support. Many of the foods on the diet I'm allergic to, so she is helping me find alternatives. She will support all who participate in the Challenge, through 3 of these stages. That's 21 days, the ideal time that experts say it take to make a change!
I look forward to the rest of this healing journey.
Join Me!
If you are ready to join me in this challenge, Brooke and I have developed a program that gives you the maximum support for a very reasonable cost. If you feel the GAPS Diet is for you, join us next week!
