Thankfully, there are a number of "green" foods I enjoy. It's not an incredibly broad mix (120 foods and 30 chemicals tested is not really all that many when you see the list), but it is do-able. The lab provided me with a 4-week diet (which Susan later split into two, thankfully allowing me a bit more variety) which started with a strict, limited diet for the first 7-10 days, followed by gradual, systematic reintroduction of all the green foods. The goal is for me to ultimately test all the green foods once I've calmed my system down with the strict 7-10 day limited diet and wind up with a reasonable long-term *rotation diet of green foods. After 3-6 months, I can attempt to add back in untested items and some of the yellow items and see how my body responds.
*Rotation. This word stuck out to me big time in the literature I received along with my results. I don't know about you, but I am a creature of habit. I've always had my go-to meals and snacks, eating the same thing at the same restaurants and the same snack routine at night. Easy to plan, easy to shop for, easy to prepare.
According to research from doctors who specialize in treating food sensitivities, patients often unknowingly eat their reactive foods at almost every meal, which is why they are always sick! Doctors also noticed that some food sensitive patients develop new sensitivities if they eat non-reactive (i.e. "green" list) foods too often. What's a girl to DO?
Well, in order to prevent new sensitivities from developing, doctors came up with a method of limiting exposure to the same foods while still providing a balanced, varied diet. Hello, rotation diet. Although research is still mixed, it seems the best results are experienced when we follow a three-day rotation diet. Basically, I received a chart with all my green foods split out among three days with the goal of not eating the same food two days in a row. Below is a picture of the original rotation diet I received.
The problem with this plan is the testing center did not incorporate that I am gluten free and dairy free due to the other tests, so I need to rework the plan with those things in mind.
But first, I need to make it through the 7-10 day limited diet and then reintroduce all the green foods I can eat, which will take almost 4 months. This is where it gets fun. I'm going to show you some of the meals I came up with using the limited ingredients I was given for the first part of the diet plan. Here's a teaser list of ingredients, and I'll let your imagination run wild with possibilities (haha) then come back next time and show you what I came up with.
No comments:
Post a Comment