I started introducing foods back into my diet the end of December. Since then my eyes have really been opened to seeing how foods play an impact on how we feel!
So far I’ve introduced . . .
- Bananas
- Oranges
- Red Peppers
- Tomatoes
- Wine (haha!)
- Sheep’s Milk Cheese
The wine wasn’t really part of the plan, but my life has been kinda turned upside down, because of some personal issues, and I really felt like I needed some comfort added back into my diet!
Red peppers and tomatoes are part of the ‘night shade vegetable’ group.
Overview – the basics about nightshade foods
Potatoes, tomatoes, sweet and hot peppers, eggplant, tomatillos, tamarios, pepinos, pimentos, paprika, and cayenne peppers are classified as nightshade foods. A particular group of substances in these foods, called alkaloids, can impact nerve-muscle function and digestive function in animals and humans, and may also be able to compromise joint function. Because the amount of alkaloids is very low in nightshade foods when compared with other nightshade plants, health problems from nightshade foods may only occur in individuals who are especially sensitive to these alkaloid substances. Since cooking only lowers alkaloid content of nightshade foods by about 40-50%, highly sensitive individuals may want to avoid this category of food altogether, while non-sensitive individuals may be able to eat these foods, especially in cooked form, without problem. (The World’s Healthiest Foods)
I really hadn’t ever heard of nightshade vegetables before all of this. I had read article after article about how nightshade vegetables are horrible for those with arthritis and they should be avoided. Although most articles stated that there was no scientific proof that these vegetables caused arthritic pain, I never really took stock in that information. According to the scientific community, weather doesn’t play a part in arthritic pain either… which we all know is FALSE!
I was extremely nervous to try these vegetables because tomatoes are one of my most favorite foods! I’d be SO disappointed is I couldn’t eat them. Not to mention, they really are in so many dishes. It’s hard to go out to eat and not find healthy meals that do not include these nightshade vegetables.
In the end these vegetables ended up being ‘so-so‘ for me. They never really caused joint pain, but they did upset my stomach a bit. Tomatoes seemed to be better for my system eaten raw (which totally goes against what it said above!) and with the peppers I did get a few headaches. Overall, the symptoms were pretty grave and they aren’t enough for me to avoid them all together. They aren’t vegetables I will eat everyday and perhaps when I eat them I’ll try not to eat them all together.
After the nightshades I was supposed to start to introduce dairy. I talked with my Health Coach and we agreed that there really wasn’t an exact order that I HAD to introduce the foods in. Some are better to add in before others, but it wouldn’t be detrimental to my diet if I tried to add wine into my diet before the dairy. I started with red wine.
Now, I’m not sure if many of you are familiar with West Virginia University, but that is where I attended college. During my tenure there I had a lot of … FUN! That fun definitely included many bottles of wine. The last few months I had sat back watching my friends indulge in wine and beer and it took all of the will power in me not to cave. I did it! But it was hard!!
Once the wine hit my lips it was like heaven. Yummmmmmmmm. So good. I drank the pinot noir with my dinner and after the fact felt tired. I went and laid in my bed and pretty much passed out. The next day, looking at the 3 bottles of wine I had purchased, I felt pretty pathetic. I decided that I was going to have another drink that day since I hadn’t had my ‘3 servings’ the day before 😉
Wellllllllll…. I don’t know if it was the fact that it tasted so good and I was watching the grammy’s or WHAT, but I ended up drinking the entire bottle. Whoops. All that will power I had used the previous months kinda flew out the window. I woke up the next day with a pretty good headache.
Aye! I needed that self control back because I was never going to be able to gauge the real response of my body if I kept doing that. After three days I had ONE glass of wine. It went well hahahaha I will say that it kind of upset my stomach a bit. This was a little upsetting to me because this happened previous to the diet. I thought maybe abstaining from it, letting my digestive system heal, and then re-introducing it would take away the problem. I mean, it wasn’t enough of a stomach ache to make my shy away from the wine… so to me it’s fine. Later that week I tried white wine. White wine seems to agree more with my system. I didn’t have any stomach problems.
Wine is a success! Yay!
Now I’m on to sheep’s milk cheese and yogurt. So far I’ve had one day of the cheese. It. Was. Delicious. Since then I’ve been having a lot of bloating and, we’ll just say, ‘digestive issues’. (I hate talking about that kind of stuff, but it goes with the territory of an elimination diet!) It’s been three days since I had the cheese and today I’m supposed to try it again. I was all excited and I had plans to make a pizza today! ahhhh pizza. Oh how I miss tttthhhhheeeeee.
I had my plans all laid out for the day and upon waking up I realized that they weren’t going to happen. Heart burn. Stomach and intestine pain and discomfort. Headache. This morning I couldn’t leave my house because I was afraid to be away from the bathroom for long. My knee has been really stiff the last few days too. The pain hasn’t been any better or worse, but I’ve definitely noticed stiffness.
I’m going to wait until tomorrow to try the cheese again. I hope this is just maybe a ‘bug’ and not the cheese. I’m pretty sure it’s probably the cheese… but a girl can hope – right? 😉
Wishing You A Pain Free Day!
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