Daily Intake = BORING
Among other things, I’ve recently discovered that I apparently have a salicylate sensitivity. It’s not a food allergy, but a pharmaceutical reaction to those chemicals in food and other items.
I've always had lots of problems with allergies and allergy symptoms. I had severe asthma as a child and am frightfully allergic to dust, mold, dander, poison ivy, etc and there has been a time or two when I thought I might have a food allergy, but I was never able to tie it to something.
Well, this makes sense. Because I'm not reacting to a specific food, but to a specific chemical in a variety of foods.
This all came up a couple weeks ago when I woke up in the middle of the night COVERED in hives and the only thing I could think of that I had been exposed to that might be responsible was I had eaten a big bowl of cherries in place of breakfast or lunch. When I did a search for "cherries food allergy" just to see if people could be allergic to cherries, salicylate sensitivity came up.
I have all but one of the reaction symptoms on a fairly regular basis and almost the entire list of non-food sources of salicylates are things that I know I have allergic reactions to, (shampoos, soups, perfumes, scented lotions, medications, etc).
What does this mean, practically speaking?
Well, I’m currently on a salicylate-avoidance diet. And, believe me, that is surprisingly limited.
My options look basically like this:
Pretty Much All I Want To Eat:
Garlic, Cabbage, Lettuce, Onions, Celery, Cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, Bamboo shoots, Mung bean sprouts, Shallots, Leaks, Asparagus (fresh), Rutabaga, Chayote, Peas, Green beans,
Other “Green Light” Foods:
Spit peas, Lintils, Beans (dried), Oats, Brown rice, Barley, Rye, Millet, Buckwheat, Tofu, Fish (esp. oily fish), Eggs, Poultry, Cottage cheese, Yogurt (all natural only),
Eat In Limited Amounts:
Lamb, Veal, Cheese (pref. soy/rice - and no blue vein cheeses), Rice milk, Soy milk, Potatoes (white), Bananas, Pears, Lime, Asian pears, Papaya, Paw Paw, Tamarillo,
And…that’s it.
That right there is pretty much the entire list of food I am supposed to consume.
Food I’m NOT supposed to eat is much more extensive.
(I have decided that salicylates must be where the FLAVOR is contained in food. Because things like pineapple and oranges and tomatoes and cherries and pretty much ALL berries and fruit and many vegetables, and anything caffeinated, and almost all herbs and spices, are ALL high to extremely high in salicylates.)
However, in the time since I have been eating like this, I have not had one single headache (other than a medicine headache in the first day or two when I was taking antihistamines around the clock to clear up the hives), no hives or rashes or excessive itchiness, no stomach pain or problems, no sleep problems, in general I've felt incredibly good. AND, on Saturday night I let myself go off-book a little bit and eat some "fun" stuff at a couple parties I went to ... Monday? I had a whole rash of itty-bitty hives all over my hands, and my face was mildly broken out.
So, I'm sticking with it for now. The nice thing is that supposedly, if I go salicylate-free for 6-to-8 weeks to clear it out of my system and give my body a chance to calm down from the chronic state of reaction it's been in all these years, I should be able to go back to eating pretty much whatever I want, as long as I keep an eye on it and don't push my system back into a reactionary state.
We'll see. I can handle boring for a month or two. And, regardless, it's a good way to control my calorie intake and get back on track with losing weight.
I've always had lots of problems with allergies and allergy symptoms. I had severe asthma as a child and am frightfully allergic to dust, mold, dander, poison ivy, etc and there has been a time or two when I thought I might have a food allergy, but I was never able to tie it to something.
Well, this makes sense. Because I'm not reacting to a specific food, but to a specific chemical in a variety of foods.
This all came up a couple weeks ago when I woke up in the middle of the night COVERED in hives and the only thing I could think of that I had been exposed to that might be responsible was I had eaten a big bowl of cherries in place of breakfast or lunch. When I did a search for "cherries food allergy" just to see if people could be allergic to cherries, salicylate sensitivity came up.
I have all but one of the reaction symptoms on a fairly regular basis and almost the entire list of non-food sources of salicylates are things that I know I have allergic reactions to, (shampoos, soups, perfumes, scented lotions, medications, etc).
What does this mean, practically speaking?
Well, I’m currently on a salicylate-avoidance diet. And, believe me, that is surprisingly limited.
My options look basically like this:
Pretty Much All I Want To Eat:
Garlic, Cabbage, Lettuce, Onions, Celery, Cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, Bamboo shoots, Mung bean sprouts, Shallots, Leaks, Asparagus (fresh), Rutabaga, Chayote, Peas, Green beans,
Other “Green Light” Foods:
Spit peas, Lintils, Beans (dried), Oats, Brown rice, Barley, Rye, Millet, Buckwheat, Tofu, Fish (esp. oily fish), Eggs, Poultry, Cottage cheese, Yogurt (all natural only),
Eat In Limited Amounts:
Lamb, Veal, Cheese (pref. soy/rice - and no blue vein cheeses), Rice milk, Soy milk, Potatoes (white), Bananas, Pears, Lime, Asian pears, Papaya, Paw Paw, Tamarillo,
And…that’s it.
That right there is pretty much the entire list of food I am supposed to consume.
Food I’m NOT supposed to eat is much more extensive.
(I have decided that salicylates must be where the FLAVOR is contained in food. Because things like pineapple and oranges and tomatoes and cherries and pretty much ALL berries and fruit and many vegetables, and anything caffeinated, and almost all herbs and spices, are ALL high to extremely high in salicylates.)
However, in the time since I have been eating like this, I have not had one single headache (other than a medicine headache in the first day or two when I was taking antihistamines around the clock to clear up the hives), no hives or rashes or excessive itchiness, no stomach pain or problems, no sleep problems, in general I've felt incredibly good. AND, on Saturday night I let myself go off-book a little bit and eat some "fun" stuff at a couple parties I went to ... Monday? I had a whole rash of itty-bitty hives all over my hands, and my face was mildly broken out.
So, I'm sticking with it for now. The nice thing is that supposedly, if I go salicylate-free for 6-to-8 weeks to clear it out of my system and give my body a chance to calm down from the chronic state of reaction it's been in all these years, I should be able to go back to eating pretty much whatever I want, as long as I keep an eye on it and don't push my system back into a reactionary state.
We'll see. I can handle boring for a month or two. And, regardless, it's a good way to control my calorie intake and get back on track with losing weight.