Sensitivities vs. Foods that initiate the reaction

[Lucy]

Hi gang,

For a long time, I've wanted to explain the difference to people about having foods "set them off" immediatetly after eating vs. the foods that really CAUSE the reactions that they ate a day or two before.

This is why new diet attempters often think a food will "set them off" one time, and not the next. I always wondered this myself until I got off ALL the sensitivities, and now, my sister has figured this out too as she's new to the M-I routine.

Now neither those foods nor stress will "set us off" as long as we are gf,casein- f, yeast-f, egg white-f, and at least in my case, sf. Matter-of-fact, now NOTHING sets me off. YEAH!

I also worry about new attempters because I know that when I first got started, I was getting gluten in restaurant foods that I was told were free of all gluten containing grains.

There's just too much to say about a dietary attempt to explain to someone who's just giving it a try and doesn't know much, in their very first question about how to do it.

For this reason, I think that we should come up with an easier path to follow that wouldn't freak people out right at first, yet would keep them from thinking, "been there, done that" when they couldn't possibly KNOW that as quick as they report back to us that it didn't work. I know that I certainly wasn't free of gluten when I was almost sure I was, so don't expect others to be any different.

I was wondering what the others, particularly the M-I's think would be the SIMPLIST way to instruct someone from the beginning, not knowing which foods they'd be sensitive to right at first. Some people seem SOOO sick right at first, that it's hard for them to imagine eating even fewer calories, etc. Others get overwhelmed as they think it's hard, and still others think it's GOT to be expensive. You get my drift -- just don't want people who ARE sensitive to the usual food/s getting discouraged taking the slow boat like so many of us gf and eventually M-I people did.

I was lucky in two respects -- first that I was having an acute arthritis reaction that resolved completely (after having these symptoms a lonnnng, long time), even without having found all the hidden sources of gluten, much less my other triggers, even though the D, which did improve greatly, continue whenever I got smaller amounts of it, or with the other, then unknown trigger foods.

Some people I've read here seem to get as severe or possibly worse reactions to casein, and other foods to which they are sensitive. This must be even more confusing to people who've removed just the gluten at first, or THINK they have.

That would've made ME think I wasn't sensitive to gluten, so I would've quit the diet, and not be totally free of symptoms for well over a year now!! Yeah!

Anyway, I was thinking that if there were some way to put this type of warning -- how to prevent "false negatives" on food sensitivity trials or something -- right up front, perhaps we could just refer new diet attempters to this location in the site.

In the past, some of us have questioned whether it's better to eliminate foods one at a time vs attempting to start out with a simple, not-too-allergenic diet, and gradually add foods back into the diet after the symptoms resolve.
I often wonder how I would've responded to this approach, and if I would've been able to stop the D immediately that way. I'm looking for a sort of fool-proof system so that it's easier to identify the typical triggers if someone's not able to do the stool tests.

Can anyone come up with a scientifically based set of instructions for checking each of the M-I's common foods to which we are sensitive/intolerant without getting them mixed? Further ideas?

What I DO like about the total removal idea right at first is that it does give the person some pretty quick relief, usually, and that makes it easier to think about how to go about the rest of the problem solving.

Please post what you think, and I'll try to get back, maybe tomorrow. Wow, the sleepies hit me sooo fast anymore that I can hardly read the things posted, much less respond as often as I'd like.

Yours, Luce

[Babci]

Hi Luce

I agree. If you read my post "am I in remission?", you'll see that I did just that. Eliminated most foods & kept the initial diet very simple. Made it easier for me & stopped the D very quickly. Not sure what all the "safe" food are but I know my little plan based on input from you all definitely made me better. Love & light, Rita