Do any of you guys have food triggers? Foods that make dryness and other symptoms worse? I would be interested in hearing some of them. I think sugar may trigger an increase in normal dryness for me. Curious if it does for anyone else....
I think many of us probably have food triggers. I also think that not eating well can cause our gut microbiome to not be in the best of shape that then leads to more inflammation. I know from experience that sugar, gluten, and dairy cause me to hurt more and be more tired. And I hate to admit it, but often out of rebellion and denial I eat them anyway - and not in moderation! What is wrong with me!?
alcohol, gluten, too many carbs in proportion to veggies/protein, too much cow dairy, too much sugar, lots of processed foods.
I feel best when I stick to a gluten-free, low-dairy, low-sugar, low-grains diet of whole, natural foods - lots of veggies, fruits, nuts, lean protein (organic meats and good-quality fish), and tons of water.
I do "cheat" every now and then and indulge in something not on that list...but it always makes me feel yucky. Sometimes it's worth it - sometimes it's not! ;)
You might want to explore "salicylates" in foods. I have salicylate sensitivity and it does make my eyes worse when I eat anything with high sals.
Even foods high in histamine will do that to me.
Sugar and carbs does it to me. I start getting very dry about an hour after eating it.
Oh yes, I know certain foods really bother me. Dairy especially causing the sinuses to plug up. I try and stay away from anything with preservatives and nitrates in it as well. Its amazing how much better I feel when I don't eat much.
gursie
I never had obvious allergies when I was a kid but as I got older and SJS my food sensitivities are over the top....seems like rice/quinoa w/butter and cottage cheese is one of my only safe meals that I eat all the time
but too much dairy like yogurt even not good--gluten has been out since like 2002 or bad things happen
eggs and garlic forget it, almonds nope
makes it hard to eat out!
Besides my usual dietary restrictions ( never gluten, dairy, nuts, chocolate, soy) and avoiding grains, seeds, beans, etc., I always feel worse when I eat dry foods. Flour (even alternative). Foods that feel dry in my mouth and need to absorb moisture to digest. Also black pepper (talk about hard to eat out!). Lots of food triggers. And yes, never overeating at any one time.
ah Sooki--helpful observation about the "dry" aspect---I also don't usually feel too good eating even gluten free , vegan bakery....I crave it but most of the time since quit gluten its better to not try to recreate pseudo-gluten stuff like pasta etc....rice is great for me tho it seems
I was reading about how nightshade family veggies are bad for inflammation, but I think it would be more difficult than gluten for me to cut out of my diet. Potatoes, tomatoes, peppers...sounds like a real challenge.
Right now I'm just trying to ease into it as best I can, taking them in moderation. I was doing the same thing with gluten for a while, and I think that made things easier when I developed an allergy to it.
Sugar and simple carbs increase my joint pain. Dairy products make my mucus thicker.
I haven't noticed any particular food or ingredient making a difference in my mouth or eye moisture level.
I've heard more and more about the dietary changes and I'm overweight, so I tried this diet program that fit the bill. No dairy no gluten, only fresh organic food. By day 3 all I was doing was throwing up...I went back to eating normal..my Dr said I changed too much too fast.
Gluten causes bad issues as does soy and soy products. I also watch sugar and try to only eat complex carbs - although once a month I have to have some fries and sauce.
Oh, gosh yes!!!! Im really starting to pinpoint mine. Dairy seems to be the worst for me, as well as anything that has preservatives, nitrates, artificial stuff. Eggs seem to bother me as well. I feel so much better when I don't eat?
Gursie
Hi :)
I've discovered that sugar triggers Lichen Planus in my mouth and no sugar means infinitely fewer mouth ulcers.
Take care - Scottie :)
Very similar to Sleepy in Seattle...I feel better when I avoid sugar, flour, junk food, salty foods and eat lots of veggies.
I gained weight over the holidays and have been slow to get it off. I'm buckling down now. I've always felt better drinking lots of water between meals and it helps me lose weight. And I like certain waters better than others. My number one choice is Mountain Valley in the green glass bottles and number two is Evian. When on sale, I buy a ton. Anyway, I'm drinking a lot of these waters between meals and not only losing weight, but along with what I said in the first paragraph, my dryness is better.
Simply put, trigger foods are junk foods, too much sugar, flour and all salty foods. Lots of good veggies throughout the day and a lot of good quality water between meals are noticeably helpful habits.
In 2008 an Integrative physician recommended that I take a food sensitivity test, the ALCAT, and it showed that my immune system is triggered by a number of things I wouldn't have expected, ie apples...and dairy was on there too, and I love yogurt, but did quit for 6 mo.s and when had some again got pain in my body within a few hours and the next day....if I eat it all the time its harder to discern
the test has gotten more expensive but you can find it easily online
MSG, canned tomatoes, paste or sauce, too much gluten, potatoes and eggplant. I can eat some flour but there is a threshold.
I recently added white sugar back to my diet and I believe it's made things worse again...
Wendyoh- what is the cost of the ALCAT?
the company that makes the test is called cellsciencesystems---if you google them and go to their site they can send you providers in your area that do the test--they also show how much the tests cost if you look around on their site---it has gotten a lot more expensive sorry to say
When I was googling it just now I learned too that it is still considered controversial, not accepted by mainstream medicine apparently---I have to say though that a lot of the results were very helpful for me and the physician who prescirbed it for me, Dr. Paul Cheney, is a nationally revered integrative doc, quite intelligent
I also found that if I google alcat there are a number of other sites that will offer it to you without finding a local doc and they will send someone to your house to draw the lab etc if you are interested
Thanks Wendy!
I know it's considered controversial, however conventional medicine has not helped me in the least so far
while natural supplements have.
wendyoh,
Did you use the results of your alcat tests to adjust your diet? If so, has it helped?
SjoDry
hey Sjodry--I did adjust my diet--I went off all of the offending foods for about 6 mo.s and then started trying the ones I wanted to and if over time I noticed I still reacted I have tried to cut them out---for example, almonds garlic and eggs have just gotten worse over time for me so avoid them like the plague
dairy I struggle avoiding, but if I quit it for a while again I notice when I start it up again that I do get more of a certain kind of pain
It appears from reading about the Alcat testing is that it's not reliable. High probability for false negative and positive (kind of like autoimmune bloodwork) why are docs still use those tests I don't know. My doc told me before getting my bloodwork that they're not reliable. So it seems that a better way to test for immune triggering foods is through an elimination diet such as the paleo immune. You do it for at least 30 days or more then slowly introduce one new food. It sounds hard but it makes more since too me. Apparently our bodies are just too complicated for a magic blood test of any kind.
Wal I have also done elimination diets and found that method helpful with the Alcat---I don't think I would pay the prices of the Alcat today but I am glad I did it because a lot of the info did fit with my experience, I think it is a tool, perhaps not 100% reliable, but also with some merit in my experience
I do prefer science based medicine but I have to say, the "science" of modern medicine is incredibly lacking in my opinion.......I have found a combination of no. 1 my experience and knowledge of my body being most important guide and then a combination of integrative alternative and when tolerated, mainstream approaches to be the route I usually take
My guess is that we cannot find a fair assessment of the Alcat in today's world and reality is they are onto something helpful that your local allergist will not explore
there isn't the research money nor political drive to follow up on a lot of promising concepts and methods
here is an example of the slow glacial speed of medicine, antibiotics for h. pylori is another one that took about 25 years to become standard practice after the research came out---it was denied and ignored
http://host.madison.com/wsj/news/local/health_med_fit/antibiotics-for-asthma-a-madison-doctor-decries-lack-of-interest/article_c459c6a4-dc9e-5b7a-960a-6437ab79de9f.html