Tangerine, tangerine,
living reflection from a dream…

That’s what I was singing this morning. Not just because Led Zeppelin is the best band to ever exist, but because I was unpeeling what was going to be the first citrus fruit to cross my lips in 5 months. Today was citrus challenge day!

I never cared about fruit before ~ in fact, I downright hated it (see this, this and this post) ~ until I went on a low-histamine and low-sugar diet and, suddenly, a grapefruit sounded like the forbidden sweet treat of my dreams. Then, a few days ago, I eliminated oats for breakfast and, faced with the option of nothing but meat and veg in the morning, I started craving fruit like never before. So, this morning I had a sweet, succulent tangerine and tonight I had orange, beet and red onion salsa. Yum! 

This is a multi-faceted challenge. The Good Doc wanted me to add back in certain things that typically can contribute to fatigue and pain, citrus being one. However, citrus is not low-histamine, so, even if I don’t have a worsening of my usual symptoms, it could be filling up my histamine “bucket”, which could contribute to a flushing episode or angioedema now or in the days to come.

The rest of my dinner was lamb sliders on sweet potato “buns”. We used this Nom Nom Paleo recipe for the lamb (minus the pomegranate molasses). Damn, they were good!

Even though I haven’t written the second part of my Diet post and you’re not intimately acquainted with the hell that is my current food life, I want to post some recipes. So, as I mentioned in my last post, I am gearing up to try a month (or a lifetime) of an AIP (autoimmune paleo)+Low-Histamine diet. The only things I have left to eliminate for the AIP protocol are seeds, almonds and rice.

Here are some other AIP+Low-Histamine recipes that I have loved:

Radish, Mint and Cucumber Salad: This recipe is totally AIP, but, for low-histamine, remove the lemon juice, zest and ACV. I used olive oil, lemon juice and tahini for the dressing because I haven’t eliminated all seeds yet.

This Artichoke-Zucchini pasta recipe is my all-time favourite comfort sauce. I had it just like this over rice pasta (not AIP), then froze the rest and later had it over spiralized zucchini (spiralised courgette ;)) and grilled chicken breast. If you are strictly low-histamine, be careful of the thyme and the arugula.

This Chicken Bacon Alfredo was so good, I ate it until I couldn’t breathe. Strike 1. Then, the next night, I ate the leftovers and had that bad flushing episode I talked about in my last post. Strike 2. So, no more bacon for me. I’m back on the strict-ish low-histamine train. But, without the bacon, it is AIP+low-histamine and I bet it will still be delicious (watch the thyme, if you can’t tolerate it).

I wish I’d taken more photos!

“If you can’t fly, then run. If you can’t run, then walk. If you can’t walk, then crawl, but whatever you do, you have to keep moving forward.”

— Martin Luther King Jr.