Category Archives: Diet for Autoimmune Conditions

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Diet Day 36… No supplements Day 5

I have been strictly gluten-free now for over six months. Not a grain of gluten, not a crumb of bread, not a noodle of pasta, not a crust of pizza, not a spoonful of couscous, not a whiff of malt, nothing. I feel no difference whatsoever except a deep longing for tortellini. I haven’t broken the autoimmune diet that the Good Doctor put me on over a month ago except I still cheat with oats and sugar (actual and fake sugar), but that’s it. And I probably eat more condiments than she would like (Veganaise, salad dressing etc.). And I probably eat more red meat and oil-soaked chicken than she would like (I ordered a steak and grilled chicken from a local restaurant last night and split them with my husband. Lots of greasy meat. YUM). But, seriously, there are only so many salads a girl can eat. Oh, and I feel no difference whatsoever except a deep longing for popcorn.

This is the fifth day of no supplements. I have been taking vitamins, just no borage oil, alpha lipoic acid etc. I decided to give myself a week off to see if they were contributing to my headache. No such luck so far. My head threatens to explode all day, every day. Yesterday I took 500mg of tylenol and a half a Solpadeine (250mg of tylenol and some codeine). They didn’t seem to help my head and my breathing was tight all day, so now I am paranoid that the Solpadeine, like the Norco, depresses my respiration. I must figure out a pain killer option ASAP.

So, I’ll start back on all the supplements on Tuesday. I’ll do it until the end of the year. That is my commitment. Definitely until Thanksgiving. And I’ll continue this diet until the end of time, what do I care? At least the diet doesn’t cause a rash or my chest to close or my tongue to swell… I don’t think it does, anyway. It probably contributes to the depression, though!

When do I start the Chinese Herbs? He says it is a six month to a year commitment… Ugh.

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Diet Day 23… I ate this for dinner today.

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Heehee!

But, seriously, if I never eat fruit or veg again it’ll be too soon. I’m even sick of fish and nuts. Don’t let anyone tell you they start to enjoy eating a raw or paleo diet. It’s bullshit. I like it just like this – doesn’t need seasoning, doesn’t need butter, yum! Unless you have a personal chef or unlimited funds, your dinner does not taste as good as pasta and garlic bread, I don’t care who you are.

Pasta carbonara, garlic bread, red wine…pizza…tortellini…ham and cheddar toastie, pint of ale…peanut butter and jelly sandwich –ANY sandwich… burger, fries… kettle korn… irish coffee….Mmmmm…

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Fruit still sucks!

Who knew this would turn into a 4-post day? But I had to share one more thing. Never, in 39 years, have I ever seen anything like this. Fruit hates me. When I opened my banana to make a smoothie this morning, there was a weird red tinge, so I cut a slice away lengthwise and ~ just look at the photo below. I’m not kidding you, that whateveritis was red —RED— and dotted with MOLD. What IS that?! Red moldy internal banana bleeding? Seriously, if anyone has ever had peach earwigs, a moldy apple core and a red banana bruise in their LIFETIME, let alone ONE MONTH, I want to know about it. EW!

PS: We happened to have a pear in the house and I knew from the menu that Anna had linked to on one of my earlier posts, that I could use a banana or a pear as a good smoothie base. Never would have occurred to me. Thanks, Anna!

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Diet & Supplements Day 20… not much to report.

Not much to report. I’m just plugging away on the diet and supplement plan. I feel EXACTLY the same. Even healthy people feel better when they radically modify their diet and start taking vitamins, right? Am I the only one on the planet who doesn’t feel better on a gluten-free, dairy-free diet??

I finally got my Vitamin A, so I’ve started taking 10,000iu/day. I’m still relying on homemade granola and smoothies for breakfast, salads and boring veg for lunch and dinner. The most success I’ve had is eating salads at restaurants. Our co-op deli has fun salads that I couldn’t make at home without buying 20 different ingredients and then having WAY too much and having to eat it for days. I had a romaine salad in a restaurant the other day with beets, bacon (shh, don’t tell the doc), avocado, tomato, grilled chicken and a delicious salad dressing. I realise this means I should just try to cook at home ~ or, at least, chop up veg and make something interesting rather than just dumping greens from a bag into a bowl ~ but I’m just not up for it. Produce keeps dying in the fridge. And raw meat turns me off. I’m just not enthused. When my Dad was here, he cooked some lovely food that he made look easy. It just seems like such a chore when I’m so exhausted.

Anyway, my smoothie skills have improved. My go-to breakfast blend is: banana, berries, almond/coconut milk, ice, vanilla extract, maybe some agave syrup depending on my mood. Or add apple sauce, walnuts and cinnamon. Yum. I also have become addicted to apple slices with pecan butter ~ a good snack, just ask Moms. Seriously, I feel like a Mom trying to get a kid (myself) to enjoy eating well. I put pecan butter on a celery stick and dotted raisins all down it like ants on a log or whatever they were called… So, ludicrous! And, PS: they don’t taste very good. Kids are right.

Finally, Theo chocolate bars are 70% cocao and have none of my restricted ingredients.

Oh, and these are the Lara bars I keep talking about, which have fewer ingredients than any other bar I can find (for example: “cashews, dates”).

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Diet Day 16… Breakfast Oat Bars: Dairy-free, egg-free, sugar-free (one of them).

So, here are the two different versions of breakfast oat bars I made. I think they’re both pretty good and it was only my first try, so I’m sure I’ll make them even better next time.

Baked Oatmeal Sugar-free Bars

Ingredients

  • 1.5 cups rolled oats
  • 1/2 cup any chopped nuts
  • 1/2 cup any dried fruit
  • 1/4 cup any seeds
  • 1 tsp cinnamon
  • 1 tsp kosher salt
  • 1.25 cups soy milk
  • 1 egg (I substituted apple sauce)
  • 1 tsp vanilla

Method:

  1. Preheat oven to 350*
  2. Mix dry ingredients.
  3. Mix wet ingredients.
  4. Pour wet into dry. Stir to combine.
  5. Pour into a 9×9 baking dish either coated in cooking spray or lined with parchment.
  6. Bake for 40-60 minutes.
  7. Cut into squares.

While delicious, the only sweetness in these comes from the dried fruit. Add in 1/4 – 1/2 cup brown sugar  or splenda or agave syrup or whatever sweetener you like.

Chewy Oatmeal Bars

Ingredients

  • 2 cups rolled oats
  • 1 cup quick cooking oats
  • 1/4 cup any chopped nuts
  • 1/4 cup any dried fruit (optional)
  • 1/4 cup shredded coconut
  • 1/4 tsp cinnamon
  • 1/8 tsp kosher salt
  • 1 tbs olive oil
  • 1/4 cup agave syrup
  • 1/4 cup maple syrup
  • 1/4 cup vanilla-flavoured almond milk

Method:

  1. Preheat oven to 350*
  2. Process 2 cups rolled oats in blender until they become flour-like.
  3. Mix “oat flour” with dry ingredients in a bowl.
  4. Mix wet ingredients.
  5. Pour wet into dry. Stir to combine.
  6. Pour into a 9×9 baking dish either coated in cooking spray or lined with parchment.
  7. Bake for 20-40 minutes.
  8. Cut into squares.

Of course, I prefer the second “chewy” ones because they have all that syrup and coconut, but that’s not the only reason. The first ones are kind of wet. It’s like the milk bound to the oats, sunk to the bottom and got claggy. It’s not bad ~ it looks pretty on top with all the nuts and fruit, but I think perhaps I need to cook it more. Next time, I think I will make the second version, add seeds and dried fruit (which I left out) and omit some of the syrup…