Starch on elimination diet - potato, rice, or other?

[seeljanerun]

Hello all =)

This is my first post in this community, although I have read threads in the past.

I have had lymphocytic colitis for the last 6 years of my life; It started as a teenager and I have essentially had no normal poo since =(

I have tried medications, like asacol (which did nothing for me), and entocort, which put me in remission for about two weeks, and then without any dosage changes, I went right back to where I was.

I have always known that diet is the key, and if I just ate the right foods, I would stop inflaming my digestion; yet, I have always been hard-headed about food.

I have been "kind-of" paleo for a year or two now, but I think it never healed me because a) I was still eating foods that, mechanically, I just couldn't digest (i.e. raw nuts, raw veg, raw fruit etc.) and I was never strict about avoiding potential allergens in sauces/medications etc. (soy, gluten). I also never strictly avoided milk, as I would put it in my coffee now and again, or whey protein after a work out. I would go off it on vacations and eat bread and cake etc. I have also never avoided nightshades.

Yet, I recently have had some life changes, and I feel like I am finally at the point where I am ready to commit to a lifestyle change and be healthy. In the next week or two, I would like to begin an elimination diet, but I wanted your feedback about what starch to include.

I have read that the recommended foods are chicken, bananas, and potatoes. However, I have a suspicion that I might be sensitive to potatoes. Sweet potatoes have remained a constant in my diet; so has the diarrhea! Also, when I peel potatoes, I get itchy skin where I touch the potatoes. I know that's not much to go on, but I am wondering if it makes sense to avoid all potato on this diet, since they are a nightshade and are known to cause problems in people. But, then what would an alternative be? Rice? I have read that some people react to rice as well. Pumpkin and Butternut Squash come to mind for me.

What would the problems be, if any, of just eating meat & banana/applesauce/pumpkin or squash on the elimination diet? Even though I have been eating low carb for awhile now due to the paleo diet, I know I can't exclude all carbs because I work out 5x a week with cardio and also have an active job. I know chemically your body can do just fine getting calories from dietary fat alone, but carbs are a quicker resource and I have always had more energy when I include at least 100-150g in my diet.

So just to clarify, my main questions are:

- what starch(es) should I include on an elimination diet? what have your experiences been?
- Does anyone foresee a problem getting my starches from squash/pumpkin instead of potato?

Thanks in advance!

[tex]

Hi Jane,

Welcome to our internet family. You seem to have an accurate assessment of your situation regarding diet, specifically that getting the diet mostly right most of the time won't get the job done with MC — we have to get all of it right, virtually all of the time, in order to control the disease, especially in tough cases. If our diet includes a single food (or drug) that causes a significant reaction, stable remission will be unattainable. So with your new mindset, you should be able to heal your gut and put the disease into remission.

Note that sweet potatoes and yams are not nightshades, nor are they closely related to Irish potatoes. That said, it's possible for either one to cause problems for some of us, though such intolerances are not common among board members here.

With the proper diet changes, you should find that Entocort will work for you to mask your symptoms while you're waiting for the diet changes to heal your gut. The reason why Entocot stopped working the first time is probably because your food sensitivities were generating inflammation faster than the budesonide could suppress it. With those foods out of your diet, you won't be continually generating new inflammation, so Entocort becomes a viable option, in case you want to stop the symptoms ASAP. I'm not promoting the use of budesonide (I didn't use it when I was recovering), I'm just pointing out that this option should be available to you, now that you are making drastic diet changes, in case you might want to get your life back sooner.

- what starch(es) should I include on an elimination diet? what have your experiences been?

That's a tough question to answer, without any reliable stool antibody testing to verify how your immune system responds to various foods. We all have to find a safe elimination diet that will work for us, but the problem is that there is no such thing as an elimination diet that will work for everyone

A few of us react to chicken, for example, and those individuals can usually tolerate turkey instead. Sensitivity to rice is not common, but it happens.

Are you sure that you have a problem with nightshades in general? In some cases white potatoes are a problem not because they are nightshades, but because their predominant starch is amylose, which is not easy to digest when our digestive system is compromised by severe inflammation. The starch in red or yellow potatoes for example, or other types of waxy potatoes, is generally easier to digest. For a quick primer on potato starch, please see my second post in the following thread:

http://www.perskyfarms.com/phpBB2/viewt ... ch+amylose

- Does anyone foresee a problem getting my starches from squash/pumpkin instead of potato?

No. As long as you don't overdo the fiber, those should be healthier/safer choices than potatoes.

Good luck with your treatment program, and please don't hesitate to ask anytime you have a question. It's always better to ask than to suffer because of an unfortunate choice. Again, welcome aboard, and please keep us posted on your progress.

Tex

[seeljanerun]

Tex,

Thank you for the quick response & all of your help! I am feeling pretty prepared to take the plunge; just cleaning the kitchen out now so I'm not as tempted.

I think I want to try and control it with diet alone; I would rather not be on medications. In fact, I believe an SSRI contributed to the onset of my colitis, but I could be wrong.

I will keep you posted =).