Some of you guys have asked what foods I can or can’t eat.
This is sort of a reference post that I’m creating for those who are curious or who may have health issues similar to mine. I will probably link here from time to time, and I plan to update these lists as my diet gradually changes (once in a while I add or remove something), or as I remember items I forgot to list.
One request for my dear readers:
Please do not comment here or contact me to tell me why I really should be able to consume a certain food, drink, or supplement, without first asking and seeking to understand the reason(s) why I cannot. I have legit reasons for avoiding the foods that I do, which are based on personal experiences with foods, research I’ve done, and other information picked up along the way – much of which I’ve learned from my doctor. If you have relevant info regarding my particular genetic conditions or are aware of ways to mitigate the effects of broken biochemical pathways, I’m definitely interested in hearing about it. 🙂 Other advisory messages regarding food – well-meaning as they may be – will likely be a waste of your time as well as mine.
You are more than welcome to share your experience here with fighting/recovering from a food sensitivity/allergy or GI/autoimmune condition. And most other well-considered comments are welcome. 🙂
I reserve the right to delete any and all comments with or without reason and with or without notice, and to choose not to reply to any emails.
Thank you. <3
This request comes after multiple experiences of people essentially arguing/suggesting that my dietary restrictions aren’t necessary or that it shouldn’t be necessary to eliminate entire food groups from the diet or that I’m “just not getting enough nutrition” (and should therefore resume eating the foods I’m avoiding), or of receiving messages from others to the effect of “You look almost anorexic!” or “Do you need to talk to someone?”.
Please don’t be alarmed. I care a great deal about my health, as evidenced (I think) by my willingness to actually follow this non-toxic diet and feed my body only the cleanest foods which it is also capable of tolerating. And I’ve actually been gaining a bit of weight recently (actually, maybe a bit too much). :/
I may have originally chosen to start the elimination diet on my own, but my doctor agrees that it is necessary, and certainly discourages me from introducing harmful or potentially harmful food groups – such as dairy or wheat – that many people seem to label as “important food groups”. (Btw, you know how people suffering from anorexia are often advised to eat pizza or hamburgers? On so many fronts, this is not sound advice. 1) If you feed a starving person a hamburger, you could potentially kill them, 2) a person suffering from anorexia ultimately needs nutritious foods [especially as anorexia can lead to electrolyte deficiencies], not simply highly caloric foods, and 3) Wheat and dairy are two of the most common food allergies, and sometimes people fighting anorexia are also fighting other gastrointestinal disorders, which may be exacerbated by these foods.)
(In all likelihood, I’ll probably never add wheat or dairy back into my diet. At most, it’d probably be sheep dairy. Not even goat.)
And it’s not like I don’t miss eating some incredibly delicious foods! 🙁 But I definitely don’t miss the physiological and mental torment they gave me (many of these foods seriously impacted my nervous system). Following this relatively “ascetic” diet will always be worth the health benefits (and more importantly, worth the avoidance of health problems).
Foods, Drinks, and Supplements I Can’t Consume
- Eggs (whites and yolks)
- Cow, Goat, and Sheep Dairy (except grass-fed ghee) (Wanting to try camel dairy soon)
- Wheat
- Barley
- Rye
- Spelt
- Anything containing gluten
- Grains (rice, millet, oats, etc.) AND pseudograins (amaranth, buckwheat, quinoa)
- Nuts (except macadamia nut oil)
- Peanuts (listed separately because not technically a nut)
- Coconut (including coconut oil)
- Most legumes (beans, lentils, etc.)
- Chocolate
- Coffee (regular or decaf)
- Food or drink containing caffeine or theobromine
- Soy
- Corn
- Nightshades (tomatoes, potatoes, red pepper, paprika, ashwagandha, eggplant, okra, etc.) (I am sensitive to solanine as well as likely some of the lectins and the calcitriol [a powerful hormone which acts as a tissue calcifier/hardener in the human body])
- Cruciferous vegetables (broccoli, cauliflower, brussels sprouts, kale, cabbage, etc.)
- Most other vegetables (thankfully I have been able to reintroduce some recently! See below). Recently tried beets and those are still a no, except small amounts of beet juice for coloring in foods. My blood pressure got too low (accompanied by symptoms) when I consumed a low to moderate amount of beets recently.
- Most leafy greens – including arugula, kale, and spinach. Hoping to try chard again soon.
- Garlic
- Onion
- Olives
- Mushrooms
- Avocado
- Sunflower seeds
- Flax
- Pears
- Pineapple
- Most or all melons (definitely watermelon/cantaloupe)
- Squash (including pumpkin)
- Cucumber
- Kiwi
- Banana
- Grapefruit
- Grapes
- Raisins
- Most dried fruit
- Beef
- Lamb
- Pork
- Chicken
- Most fish
- Farm-raised fish
- Fermented foods
- Vinegar (including apple cider vinegar)
- Yeast
- Cured meats
- Chicken broth
- Carageenan
- Canola oil
- Cottonseed oil (Honestly, no one should be consuming this [as of 2015, approximately 94% of U.S. cotton crops were genetically modified]. Cottonseed oil can be found in many snacks, such as roasted/salted almonds.)
- Refined sugars
- Artificial sweeteners, such as aspartame or sucralose
- Nutmeg
- Curry
- Chamomile
- Spearmint
- Peppermint
- Wine (I’m sensitive to alcohol, as well as the glutamate in grapes and the sulfites in wine)
- Beer
- Unfiltered city water (by the way, some popular filters like Brita® don’t remove the fluoride [a neurotoxin and magnesium binder])
- Grape Juice
- Calcium Carbonate (found in many multivitamins)
- Iron supplements
- Copper supplements
- Vitamin D
- Chlorella
- MSM
- Alpha-lipoic acid
- Milk Thistle
- Folic acid (my system cannot process this form of B9, due to MTHFR mutations)
- Methyl-B12 (methylcobalamin) (Problematic because of CBS mutations)
- Probiotics
- Baking powder (I make my own with baking soda and cream of tartar)
Foods, Drinks, and Supplements I Can Consume! (Thankful It’s No Longer Only Five Foods)
- Tiger nuts (these are root vegetables, not nuts)
- Cacao butter, in moderation (bothers my stomach and head if I eat too much)
- Ghee, in moderation
- Olive oil
- Macadamia oil (new food introduction!)
- Chia seeds
- Hemp seeds
- Hemp oil
- Turkey
- Turkey broth
- Wild-caught cod and salmon, in moderation (I typically use the fish from Orca Bay). Have had to avoid this lately, and it might be going on the “can’t eat” list soon. Thinking I might be allergic to fish….
- Celery (reintroduced!!!)
- Butter lettuce (probably) (reintroduced!!!)
- Asparagus, in moderation (reintroduced!!!)
- Cilantro (reintroduced!!!)
- Parsley
- Clementines
- Limes
- Lemons, in moderation
- Cherries (note: helpful for reducing inflammation and relieving pain, but can feed candida infections)
- Apples, in moderation
- Blueberries
- Strawberries, in moderation
- Raspberries, in moderation
- Blackberries
- Peaches
- Dragon fruit
- Tulsi / holy basil
- Raw unfiltered or gently filtered honey
- Monk fruit
- Gluten-free vanilla extract
- Ginger
- Cinnamon, in moderation
- Cloves, in moderation
- Basil, lavender (used to not be able to tolerate this!), rosemary, thyme, and (I think) sage and oregano, in moderation
- Cream of tartar
- Baking soda
- Rock rose
- Stevia
- Xanthan gum (reintroduced!!!)
- Arrowroot
- Spirulina, at least in very small amounts (for coloring)
- Water, filtered (including fluoride-filtered)
- Well water
- Magnesium citrate/malate
- Zinc Picolinate
- Vitamin B6 (P5P form)
- Silver
- Activated Charcoal
- Molybdenum
- Boswellia
- White Willow Bark
For more specs on the food and supplements I use, please see the Resources page.
Please see disclaimer.
© 2018 Kate Richardson All Rights Reserved
