If anyone is interested in further exploring undesirable reactions to food whether or not re-introducing food after the elemental diet, here are some websites worth looking at.

The Royal Prince Alfred Hospital Allergy Clinic website has some information on their Elimination Diet and challenges, but most of it you have to pay for (only $AU8.00 plus postage though). It has lots of info on Salicylates, Amines and glutamates that are naturally occuring in food. It is at:
www.cs.nsw.gov.au/rpa/allergy

There is also a lot of information on natural and artificial food chemicals, what they can do to you and especially your kids, and how to avoid them, in the books, cookbook and website of Sue Dengate. It is at:
www.fedup.com.au

One thing interesting to note is that undesirable reactions can include problem behaviours such as inattention, anxiety, restlessness, easy to anger or annoy, defiance, skin reactions, asthma or runny nose, headaches, and of course the gut reactions we all know about. So when looking for undesirable reactions, you should be listening to your whole body (and your family when they tell you that you are not your usual self), not just your gut !

Thank you, Carolyn, for sharing those websites.

I did check out the "fedup" website and that is quite interesting.

You're absolutely right, too, that we need to listen to signs from our entire body when eating a "challenge" food for testing after a period of elimination! And good point about listening to our families when they tell us we're not our usual self.

Non-gut reactions Jini mentions in her books are skin reactions, shortness of breath, fuzzy head or drugged feeling, sleepiness, headache or joint/muscle pain. (pgs. 241-242 of LTYG, pg. 98 in the IBD Remission Diet.)

Keeping a food diary makes it much easier to pinpoint things, particularly if you're not strictly introducing things one at a time into your diet after following the elemental diet.

Thanks, again, for sharing those websites you found. It is appreciated.

Sincerely,
Nicole

In a similar vein, I've wondered about the order of food reintroduction. In my particular case, I have a couple of "internal" fistulas (lead back to intestine) so I try to minimize/avoid foods that could aggravate it (similar to diverticulitis sufferers). For instance, squash and cucumbers are among the first foods suggested for re-introduction. I'm guessing most of the sequence suggestions are based on common allergy potential, but I'm wondering about the seeds in these foods and whether people have had any problems with them. I've already tested squash (steamed so the seeds are very soft). Haven't tried cucumber yet and I'll probably wait on it for a while.

I just started introducing solid food after spending around 12 weeks on the Elemental diet (and pretty much just Vanilla Absorb Plus). Good to try food again and I'm taking it slow. Carrot was the first food and my gut seemed to handle it fine. Squash less so, but it does have skin where the carrots were skinless ("baby" carrots). I'm onto rice noodles and that's where I've noticed some regression. My main issue at this point is narrowing. I'm also wondering if all my years minimizing wheat and consuming a lot of rice in it's stead has led to some sensitivity/allergy to rice (a bummer if true). However, it's great to finally really test foods - something I meant to do for years, but lacked the discipline/motivation.

Brett

Hi, Brett.

Can I assume you've already read the section in Chapter 2 of LTYG regarding fistulas?

Yes, the suggested re-introduction is based on which foods the majority of people can tolerate and goes forward to those foods that fewer and fewer people with digestive issues can tolerate easily. That way, there's less risk of setting your healing back by aggravating the gut with a more difficult food early on.

Even now there are some "Stage 4" foods that I can't eat without having symptoms.

Have you already tried the zucchini peeled and de-seeded? Cukes can be prepared for cooking the same way and even though we aren't typically used to cooking cucumbers, they're actually pretty tasty sauteed in a bit of olive oil.

I don't know why, but I had some problems with rice and other grains when I was testing them after following the IBD Remission Diet for the first time, too. The grain just didn't seem to get digested....in fact, it didn't even change color on its way through the GI tract.

Now, I generally have one serving of starchy carbs (either grain or potato) per day and have no problems whatsoever with this.

So it could be that you'll see a similar progression over time.

While you're introducing foods, my suggestion is to note which ones seem problematic, eliminate them for two or three months and then re-test them. As long as you continue doing everything you can to promote healing in that time, I think it is likely that you'll find you can gradually tolerate more and more foods, including ones that your body didn't initially like.

Just keep those initially problematic foods in mind, though, because when you're under a lot of stress, or just don't "feel" right, etc., you may want to proactively eliminate them and stick to more fool-proof foods for awhile. The whole process is pretty fluid and the longer you're at it, the better you'll get at reading your body's signals when they're only whispers, versus when they've escalated to shouts.

Hope this helps provides some encouragement.

Nicole

Actually, your observation about grains being difficult to digest is interesting....and actually normal.

Grains are difficult for ANYONE to digest and all primitive peoples fermented or soaked grains before consuming. This "pre-digested" them, deactivated harmful substances, and added beneficial enzymes and bacteria which further aided digestion.

Sally Fallon and Mary Enig PhD have written a book/cookbook called "Nourishing Traditions" and it's the next step on after LTYG.

Once you've healed yourself, you're ready to start eating whole foods again, and this is the absolute BEST guide for how to do that in the right way for maximum ease of digestion and absorption. I highly recommend it.

Two resources for learning more about this way of eating (based on Dr. Weston A. Price's research - who travelled the globe studying healthy tribes and what they ate in the 1930's) are:

http://www.westonaprice.org
http://www.ppnf.org

all the best,
Jini

Hi, Jini.

I actually just purchased that cookbook a couple of weeks ago. I got sick of waiting for my turn to come up for borrowing it from my local library!

What do you think of the idea of using lacto-fermented foods (like maybe the fermented carrots recipe) as a stepping stone between eating everything cooked....as I do now....and starting to introduce some small amounts of raw vegetables?

I do have lettuce salad (made with lettuce fresh out of my garden.....yum!) several times a week with no problems and I'm feeling the urge to eat a bit more raw food. I thought maybe some of those lacto-fermented vegetable recipes might be a good way to start out.....

Hugs,
Nicole

Hi Nicole,

Yes, I think that's an excellent idea - start with veggies that you tolerate really well (like carrots) and then move on from there.

let us know how it goes.....

Jini