you eat what you are, or living with food allergies

originally posted aug 1 2007 on myspace

back in december, i was at my chiropractor's (active life chiropractic, http://www.austinactivelife.com/), and she, dr. cynthia schade, mentioned that ALC was now offering food sensitivity testing that was thorough and rigorous. i had long suspected that i might have food sensitivities, but didn't have any major symptoms like hives or anaphylaxis. more like occasional diarrhea, cramps, gas.

dr. schade said that my health insurance would cover the cost of testing, so i thought, why not?
i had my blood drawn and sent to a lab. a couple of weeks later, i got the results: i was sensitive to baker's yeast, brewer's yeast, sugar cane, wheat, oats, tomatoes, white potatoes, kidney beans, pinto beans, and radishes. 10 things to avoid.

so, i changed my diet in january. no more refried beans, chips and salsa, my favorite comfort foods. no more oatmeal on a cold winter morning. i wasn't a big bread or potato eater. i didn't eat much sugar, and i could do without radishes altogether. tomatoes were going to be hard.
then dr. schade said that because yeast and sugar cane showed up on my list, she wanted me tested for candida as well. that came up weakly positive. i began the candida diet around the first of february.

the candida diet is even stricter--avoid fruit or fruit juice, fermented products like vinegar, most dairy, most grain products, cured and smoked products, mushrooms, alcohol, caffeine, peanuts, ANY type of sweetener except stevia, etc.

this was going to be a little tougher. soy sauce is fermented, not to mention that it often contains wheat. salad dressings contain vinegar. "evaporated cane juice" is a euphemism for sugar. potato starch lurks in health food crackers.

i got healthily obsessed with cleaning up my diet and my digestive tract. what motivated me was my curiosity about how i might feel if i tried it. if i'd been allergic to, or sensitive to, some of these foods all my life, and had never gone more than a few days without eating several of them, then i really couldn't know what it was to feel completely healthy.

i have no idea how long i might have had candida, but i suspect for years. i started taking birth control pills at 17 or 18 and took them for much of twenties. i'd had a few rounds of antibiotics. i'd had more than my share of stress.

i was open to the question, what if i could feel better than i've ever felt or could even imagine feeling? that sure seemed like something worth finding out. it would be a few months of extra attention and discipline, but what would i lose? it would be changing habits, sure, but i wouldn't starve.

so i went through my fridge and pantry and got rid of three bags of groceries. i read the labels on everything at the store. i ate mostly fish, greens, salads with annie's vinegar-free dressings, and grains like quinoa, amaranth, and millet.

i took a supplement called candex to kill the excess candida, and i started making and drinking coconut water kefir, which contains probiotics, to help populate my gut with healthy bacteria. this is part of the body ecology diet for candida (see http://www.bodyecologydiet.com/).
i saw a nutritionist, gabriella rivera, who helped me find ways to deal with the changes, like eating kale for expansion when i craved sweets and using kundalini techniques to keep my energy balanced.

i noticed changes after a couple of months. i felt smarter! i noticed that i could more easily remember the names of people i'd been introduced to, and i could read more advanced books than i'd been used to. one of the candida symptoms is called "brain fog". my brain fog lifted, and sunshine came in. i am quite enjoying this now. my mental processes are clearer.
i used to take claritin for pollen allergies. i no longer needed it.

i no longer had sudden onsets of fatigue.

wonderfully, my digestive system was stable and predictable. this is subtle, but delightful.
my energy feels more stable and balanced than it has in years. i am a different person than i was, and it has opened new doors for me.

the changes in my diet have become lifestyle changes. i don't adhere to the candida diet as strictly now, but am aware of when i eat something formerly prohibited, and try not to eat it very much or very often.

i eat a wider variety of foods and make sure to have something probiotic like coconut kefir, dairy kefir, or yogurt every day.

i've discovered that a tablespoon of wakame, a dried kelp, is as good as a bag of microwave popcorn. it satisfies that desire for something salty and crunchy.

i no longer crave sugar. i can have fruit now, and a rice cake with tahini and sugar-free black cherry preserves makes an excellent snack or dessert. i don't even like having sugar in my house any more!

when i grocery shop, i usually go to wheatsville now. my cart is about 75% produce now, with fish, dairy, and packaged and bulk items making up the rest. i also eat at home more often, and take yogurt and fruit to work for breakfast and salad makings for lunch. i spend less on food, overall, while eating more healthily.

i feel like my body is really absorbing these nutrients!

i will be retested in december, and then i will learn whether my candida is officially in balance, and which of the 10 items were temporary sensitivities, and which might be lifelong. it's been a rewarding experiment.