The Elimination Diet Results: The List 2010

I'm not so sure if this is the best post, post Thanksgiving. I honestly apologize for using digestive upset words today, but this is the end of my epic journey I began in September, so I'm sharing.

Certified organic, non GMO corn, is safe. I repeat. Corn is safe. Can't believe it, but it is true. Gluten free oats, are NOT safe for me. Grass fed and finished beef, is safe. Yesterday I was planing on dairy in the form of whole milk organic plain yogurt. I was still processing the half of an English walnut pie I ate Thursday night, so I didn't think it was the best idea and put it off for tonight. This morning, I blindly poured cow milk into my coffee. It was a really, really bad mistake. Not just the lactose intolerance symptoms of gas, abdominal pain, bloating, and diarrhea, but vomiting. Milk, does NOT do this body good. It clearly makes me sick, so I'm not even testing it. This diet...is DONE.

The idea that the well informed natural foods cook, has been walking around so sick for so long and having no idea why, makes my head hurt and did make me cry a few times. I've been a buyer for natural food stores, cooked for numerous restaurants, for unique clients from all over the world, on a movie set, music festivals all over the country, metaphysical and nutritional retreats of all kinds, for huge busy families w/ mixed allergies and 3 main dish requests a night...and I had no idea I was partially so sick because of food. D'OH!

BAKER'S YEAST: severe abdominal bloating, pain, and general intestinal explosion
WINE YEAST: see above
WINE VINEGAR:see above
BREWER'S YEAST: see above
EGG WHITES: itchy mouth and face, chronic rash trigger
TOMATOES: major inflammation and migraine trigger, acne like rash on face, fatigue
SOME POTATOES: headaches, fatigue
PEACHES: itchy mouth and face, some burning where juice dripped on wrists
STRAWBERRIES: itchy, swollen lips and mouth
MANGO: raw cut feeling on roof of mouth, digestive discomfort
BANANA: see above, less acute if cooked.
PECANS: raw cut feeling on roof of mouth, digestive discomfort
MACADAMIA NUTS: see above
GF OATS: digestive discomfort, eliminations issues... just like gluten was in me
DAIRY: severe abdominal bloating, pain, vomiting, gas, and diarrhea

So many basic foods that I have to rewrite more than 2/3rd's of my cookbook, though I am leaving my now forbidden recipes here on my blog, for people who may not have as many restrictions and are just looking for plain old good gluten free food.

An Ode To My Friend, Vitamin D

As I've shared, I grew up in New England. From the time I was 12, each Fall, around Thanksgiving...I became depressed. I suffered from Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD). My memories include sleeping 18-20 hours a day, being home-schooled for 1/2 the year, and staring into huge full spectrum light boxes, to no avail. Moving to the Inferno, sounded like the best idea I had heard in my in life. My first Winter here, my Mom died. Though I did deal with the situation depression that a major death normally brings...I wasn't SAD.

Why on earth am I thinking about the Winter Blues in July?

Fast forward a few years, from that first Winter here. We are still living in the Inferno (also known as southern AZ), and it's July. July means 110 and humid. July means avoid the sun at all costs. I found myself pale and...SAD, all over again. I'm now sick, in the middle of my mystery illness. I've put 2 and 2 together and I ask my primary DR for a Vitamin D test. She laughs and tells me we live in the Inferno, there's no way I'm D deficient. By December, I am using a walker, I am erratic, and in constant deep pain. I am then sent to a Rhematologist. He runs the requested D level. Low normal is a 40. I was a 4. Yes, FOUR. He asked me if I had killed my husband yet, tried to hurt myself, and HOW I was functioning with virtually no D in my system. 8 weeks of 50,000 IU's a week later...a layer of ouch is gone, as is my depression.

The Summer seems to be a mix of overexposure or not enough sun. Most of us live inside, work inside, drive in cars, we cover ourselves from head to toe with SPF80 to avoid skin cancer. We need at least 20 minutes a day of full on sun exposure for it to trigger D production. If you really think about it, those 15 seconds from house to car and from car to office...aren't enough. A weekly sunburn (or a dozen eggs yolks), is not a good idea nor enough exposure to effect regular daily production, or moods. A little bit of daily sun and high quality supplementing if needed, is the only way.

I see an awareness in northern climates. More and more people take their D all Winter. It never dawned on anyone (but me) that a pre-menopausal desert dweller, could also be D deficient (in July). I live an hour from Mexico and I had virtually no Vitamin D in me. Now, between eating gluten free, tank top-no sunscreen gardening every day, and continuing a year round daily maintenance dose of 2000 IU...I am maintaining normal levels and have remained SAD free. I look back and can't help but to think that perhaps some vitamin D, along with those lights in New England...may have changed the outcome of my entire life.

Don't wait until the Winter Blues come a ' knocking. Get your D level checked!

http://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/vitamind.asp

The pictures that say more than a million words...

What a difference gluten free living has made!! I'd like to share my "mystery illness" photo with you, for anyone who might think gluten intolerance only manifests in digestive issues. I felt and looked like a different person with swollen eye lids and sockets, and the rash making my nose swell. I was loosing clumps of hair. I was covered in a flaky rash, had swollen joints, peripheral neuropathy, mood swings, vision issues, cognitive decline, EXTREME fatigue, and was dealing with a big weight gain due to medications and not being able to move. I was using a walker and found simple tasks such as the dishes... took all day. I was terrified and constantly anxious because I was pretty sure I'd be dead by now.

I don't know how to edit photos, so YES, this is real