Reactions

I'm coming up on the home stretch of the elimination diet, and have learned some pretty critical information about how my body handles different foods. The quick breakdown, without getting into the not-so-glamorous details of my various responses, is as follows:

I have shown no adverse reaction to corn (the one I was most nervous about), citrus, or any other fruits and veggies. Hurray!

I have mild reactions to aged dairy, unfermented soy, wine, and liquor. I seem to be fine if I have these items in moderation, which is good news -- I'd be pretty bummed if I could never again sit down with wine and cheese.

The bummer list is pretty short so far, thankfully. Regular dairy and I do not get along. This is one of those things I've sort of known for the past few years, but tried to ignore. After this experiment, though, I think I'll be staying away for the most part. Very small amounts seem to be ok, but anything else is not so pleasant. Good thing I really like rice and almond milks. I also can't really tolerate fermented soy (aka tofu), but I'm quite all right with that. It did add a little protein boost to my smoothie, but other than, I was never really a fan.

Then, of course, there are still the items to be tested. Soon I'll know how my body gets along with (or not) yeast, peanuts, eggs, seeds, and tree nuts. Fingers crossed.

Good News, Bad News

Friday's preemptive measures in preparation for a night of sipping wine definitely helped. This morning I woke up feeling relatively well-rested, and just about everything seemed to be in good working order. Except my lip.

I was afraid of this. For about the last three years, the middle of my upper lip has been a little swollen, some days more than others. I tried to tell myself no one noticed as much as I did, but every once in a while I'd get comments like "Did you...get collagen? What happened?" or "How did something manage to sting your lip?" For the most part, though, it just felt a little strange.

When I asked my GP, she didn't know what to tell me, and certainly didn't seem concerned, so she referred me to a dermatologist, who also had no idea what was going on. "But the tissue here feels different," I said. They didn't seem to notice. Then, on my last morning in Italy in June, I woke up like this (sorry about the picture quality):


I'd woken up early because I tasted blood in my mouth; my lips had swollen so large that they'd split open in some places. Ouch. My lip returned to it's regular, only-slightly-puffy state within a day, but it was still unsettling. When I landed, I booked an appointment with an allergist. He was the first doctor to acknowledge that my lip is not normal, that the tissue is different, and that it's something that needs to be solved. He suggested I take Zyrtec every day for two months, just to see if it helped, and referred me to a lip specialist. I didn't even know those existed. I passed on the Zyrec -- I would much rather try to figure this out naturally/holistically -- but I did book the appointment with the specialist.

While on the elimination diet, though, my lip just about returned to normal. Eva, acupuncturist extraordinaire, said it is likely a curious manifestation of inflammation, and at this point I'm nearly certain it is. In Chinese medicine, the area just above the middle of your upper lip is an inflammation point, so it makes sense to me that the center of my lip is what swells up. I believe the elimination diet cleansed my of the major inflammatory triggers, which allowed my lip to finally return to normal. Once I added the booze, the lip puffed right up. Just to be sure, I plan to have another stint (much shorter this time) without alcohol, and then add it again to see if we get the same result. I'm also very curious how long it will take the swelling to go back down.

To wrap it up --
Good News: The Great Lip Mystery may be nearly solved
Bad News: Yet another reason I shouldn't indulge in the sauce as often as I'd like

Reintroduction: Alcohol

I reintroduced alcohol this week. I should probably have chosen something else to reintroduce, like nuts or seeds, but I chose booze. And it was wonderful to be able to sip a gin gimlet in the park while listening to a free concert with some friends. And I loved talking to my family last night while we sipped a delicious pinot noir.

I did not love how I felt when I woke up this morning, though. Sluggish and bloated and just a little less vibrant than I had been. Does this mean I'm going to quit drinking all together? No. I'm not a saint, and I'm not really one for extremes. Which means maybe no more taking a sip of Bluecoat Gin right from the bottle...


Where to go from here? Back to my dear old friend moderation. Will I have a glass of wine tonight when we go out to dinner for my dad's birthday and toast his move back to Italy? Absolutely. But my goal -- and this will be a challenge -- will be to have one glass. OK, maybe a glass and a half. Knowing that I want to feel great when I wake up in the morning, though, is going to help me do that.

Additionally, I'm taking preemptive measures today. I know tonight will be rich with family, love, and laughter, not to mention the food and wine. As I lead up to that, I'm focusing on a raw vegan diet for the day. I was late to work because I was making lots of great juice, and I filled up every bottle I have with juice or filtered water. I also rinsed some cherry tomatoes and cut up a cucumber in case I really feel the need to chew something during the day. We'll see if this strategy works.

Eating Overhaul

I don't diet. I can't. It doesn't make sense to me, and trying to lose weight is never, ever enough motivation for me. I tried one once, and it lasted two hours. Then I ate some chips. If, however, I have to overhaul my diet to improve my health, then I can become a dedicated little eater.

My first experience with a radical diet change came a few months after my 21st birthday when I found out I have Celiac Disease. I couldn't imagine a life without beer, bagels, and my dad's amazing pappardelle with wild boar. Over the years I've discovered a number of great gluten-free alternatives, and the whole experience has made me particularly receptive to the idea of changing my diet to change my health.

Shortly after the Celiac Disease diagnosis, I found out I also had candida in my system, and was put on a yeast-free diet. This does not mean "don't eat yeast." It means "don't eat anything that could feed the yeast." And what feeds yeast? Sugar. Alcohol. Vinegar (which happens to be in just about every condiment made). Fermented foods, like cheese. To starve the yeast, the diet has to be adhered to 100% over a prolonged period. It was tough to start my senior of college on such a strict diet, but it seemed to do the trick. After four months I could, in moderation, add the other foods to my diet.

I've mentioned the elimination diet that I'm currently trying, but haven't explained it here much yet. When a family friend found out how sick I'd been, she suggested I get in touch with Debra Lermitte, who runs a company called HealThy Self. (I love the name.) She's fine tuning an elimination diet called FareWell, and it's been a great tool for getting to know my body better. What I really love about the program is that there's a support group component. Debra's always available for a pep talk or to answer a question, and the group of participants doing the diet (there's about six of us in my session, including fellow "Holistic Health Junkie", Jen) meets roughly once a week to trade recipes, share progress, and encourage each other.

The basic premise of the FareWell Diet is to strip all the major triggers from your diet for two weeks to get it to a clean, recharged state. After two weeks of mostly fruits and vegetables, everyone was feeling pretty good. We all reported we'd lost weight, had more energy, had clearer skin. (Caveat: the first week was tough as many of us went through withdrawal from sugar, caffeine, etc.) Once the two weeks were over, the reintroductions started, with a new "trigger food" introduced every three days. The goal is to listen to your body and discover sensitivities you weren't previously aware of.

To help us along, Debra put together clear guidelines of what foods to eat when, as well as a list of common symptoms associated with the various introduction foods. I'm about 2 weeks into the introductions, which puts me 2/3 of the way through the program, and I'm feeling great and getting to know my body much better. Debra also puts together a great weekly newsletter with health tips and interesting factoids. She even gave Full Well a sweet mention in this week's issue. You can find information about it, or get in touch with her, at her website.

Now that I've tried this elimination diet, I'm curious about some others I've heard about. Being me, I'm sure I'll be doing research in the coming weeks, and you can expect to see what I find out here. When the diet is over, I'll also post my reactions (or not) to the different foods that were reintroduced. So far, though, I haven't discover that I react to anything I really love. Whew!

Bliss.

Rocking on the porch with my niece wrapped in a blanket on a cool morning. Lounging by the pool with one of my dearest friends, my brother, and his two incredible friends from Wales and Ireland. Celebrating my aunt and uncle's 40th wedding anniversary and the birth of their second beautiful grandson. Celebrating with lobster dinner and a hilarious slide show. Talking to my dad about meditation and, for the first time in my life, what it's like to feel healthy. Waking up early to check the tide, scrub out my long-neglected kayak, and go for my first blissful paddle in almost two years. Taking a walk around the water with my mom and talking about family and food and joy. Playing and laughing with the three-year-olds tearing around the house. Having a delicious dinner with my sister and her hubby after getting back to Philly.

By all accounts, I had what can only be considered a nearly perfect weekend. It was the first time in a very long time that I visited my parents and had energy. Usually, going home was an opportunity to let myself crash. After pushing pushing pushing in my daily life, I could go somewhere safe and be taken care of and nurtured. This wasn't a conscious decision, mind you. I wanted to feel up for a paddle or a long walk, let alone both. Sometimes I would push myself (or my mom would coax me) and I'd get outside to soak up some sun. But at the beginning of the summer, that didn't seem like much of an option to me. I was sick, no question about it. On one trip I was recovering from a severe allergic reaction that caused my lips to swell up so horribly that I looked the poster girl for horrible collagen. The next trip home, for a big family party, my body was in severe pain, particularly my foot with a recent stress fracture. I was pale, weak, and unsteady on my feet. It was a few days later that I set off on Health Crusade 2008.


Health-wise, it was a great weekend in some pretty major ways -- joy, loving family and friends, outdoor activity I love, veggies. I did fall off the wagon a bit in terms of what I ate, though. I managed to abstain from alcohol (tricky for a wine lover surrounded by lots of open bottles of the good stuff), and my mom talked me out of indulging a major sugar craving this afternoon, but I did slip up on the elimination diet. No major mis-steps, but I wasn't as prudent as I usually am. And...I ate a bunch of marshmallows. And some sorbet. And lots of chips. And butter on my lobster. Whoops!


After the indulging, I had a few choices. I could beat myself up over it for not being perfect. (Doesn't seem constructive.) I could pretend it never happened. (Obviously not productive.) I could look at why I did it (to be part of the fun, and because it tastes good), how I felt (not nearly as good as when I don't indulge), and resolve to try again from that point forward (now that sounds like a logical, productive plan). I went with that last option, and I'm feeling pretty good about it.

I also decided to give myself credit for the healthy choices I did make. Yes, I had strawberry sorbet, but at least I didn't have a lot of dairy before the dairy introduction phase. Ok, ok, I had butter on the lobster, but come on. I resisted the wine. I loaded up my plate with veggies at every meal. I moved around and I laughed a lot. If you were to look at the balance register of healthy vs. unhealthy choices, I think I came out strongly in the black for healthy choices. Sometimes, perfection isn't going to happen. Sometimes, more good than bad has to be good enough.

That said, tomorrow I start again with following the elimination diet strictly. It's not that hard, it tastes delicious, I feel great when I do it 100%, and I want to know just how my body responds to these different things. Besides, I know that when all is said and done, the more healthy choices I make every day, the more absolutely blissful weekends I'm likely to have. And I happen to be a huge fan of bliss.

Oops!

Remember how I said I was going to start meditating every day for 21 days, with yesterday as my first day? I just plum forgot to do it. Oops! I think that's a pretty big indication that I should make it part of my routine, so I'll try to remember to do it before bed tonight.

In better news, I tried the tofu smoothie this morning, and, I have to say -- not bad! I started with a few cubes of soft silken tofu, a banana, and rice milk, and blended until it was super smooth (tofu chunks in a smoothie really don't appeal to me). Added some frozen mango, blueberries, and strawberries and blended some more. Delicious! I usually add peanut butter to my smoothies for a protein pop, but since that's currently verboten on the elimination diet, I've been substituting rice protein powder, which adds a slightly grainy texture to the smoothie. Tofu might actually be a great solution; if I hadn't known it was in there, I never would have suspected.

And, bonus: so far, no reaction to soy. I'm having a stir-fry tonight with edamame and tofu, and have to add more soy tomorrow before I can be sure, but I'll be happy if I can keep soy in my diet, especially as I'm trying to reduce my animal product consumption. (I find I feel better with fewer animal products in my diet. This from the girl who thinks "...wrapped in bacon" is the most beautiful phrase in the English language.) Some studies have shown, though, that soy negatively affects the thyroid. Because I have Hashimoto's Hypothyroiditis (an autoimmune disease linked to an underactive thyroid), I have to be mindful of my soy intake. But every once in a while it's a nice change.

Happy August -- celebrate with juice!

How on earth is it August already? It's shaping up to be a pretty great month -- a trip to the zoo, a mini family reunion in CT, plenty of long bike rides, and (*fingers crossed*) some kayaking. And that's just the first two weeks! To top it off, today's my friend Linda's birthday. Whew, lots of great stuff.

How to celebrate all this? Why with fresh juice, of course! I got my juicer a few weeks ago, and am crazy about it. I'd been thinking about it for a while, and then when I signed up for the FareWell diet, I needed one to follow the program. My mom treated me to the Jack La Lanne Power Juicer, and we've been spending some serious quality time together. (My friend Jen, also in the program, got the Cadillac of juicers: the Breville. I have a slight case of juicer envy. I'm not afraid to admit it.)


This morning I was really craving my favorite juice -- carrot, apple, fennel (in the mug on the right). I made myself a nice tall glass of that for breakfast, and then cleaned out my fridge to make my day-sipping juice. Usually this is carrot-beet-celery-cucumber, but I'm out of beets (boo!), and had a great tip from Jen to add ginger to the fresh juices, so I'm mixing it up and drinking carrot-celery-cucumber-fennel-ginger-apple-kale juice today. I know it sounds, well, gross. But it tastes pretty good, even though the kale is a little overpowering. I had a huge bunch of it and didn't want it to go bad, so into the juicer it went.


I just keep thinking about the crazy amount of vitamins I'm getting today, just a straight shot into my system. A heavy duty juice like this is a great way to start the weekend, too. Weekends shake up your routine and are usually a little heavier on the indulgences, so why not give yourself an edge and power up with a heavy dose of chlorophyll, beta carotene, Vitamin K, Vitamin C, lutein, zeaxanthin, and calcium? And that's just from the kale!

Juicing is great because it's an easy way to get tons of vitamins into your system, but there's always the fine print. I'm a big advocate of juicing mostly vegetables, as opposed to fruits. Because it's liquid, it gets absorbed much more quickly than it's solid counterpart. This is particularly important if you have any blood sugar concerns, like hypoglycemia or diabetes. Fruit juices tend to be loaded with fructose, the natural sugar occurring in fruit. There's nothing inherently bad about fructose, but you do want to be mindful of how much you get, and how quickly.

The other thing about juicing is that it you lose out on a tremendous percentage of the fiber. See that teeming container up there? Fiber, and even more nutrients. There's no way I could eat all the veggies I juiced this morning, but it still makes me a little sad to see all that roughage go right in the trash. (It also really makes me wish I had a compost pile and a garden in the city.) The standard American diet -- SAD (telling, no?) -- is seriously lacking in fiber, and we really need the stuff to keep things moving along. It gives your insides a nice little scrubbing, and that's got to make you feel better.

If you juice or have favorite juicing recipes, I'd love to hear what they are. I have my favorites, but it's always good to mix it up. You get new and different vitamins and minerals, and it keeps your taste buds from getting bored.