For most people, eating and drinking are fairly simple tasks. Sadly, this is not always the case for those with chronic illness, where food often becomes a central concern. Many of us have intolerances to certain foods/drinks/chemicals, and these certain ingredients trigger stomachaches, migraines, rashes, fatigue, and/or general malaise. As a result, the decisions of what to eat and drink become a whole lot more difficult.
I have Celiac Disease and Lactose Intolerance (although failures in following the Celiac diet result in MUCH worse symptoms than the latter). I also have a wide variety of unexplained stomach pain and problems.
In my 11th grade of school - I experienced the real hell of autoimmune attacks. My body became coated in urticaria and angiodema for nine straight months. I had to carry around epi-pens and the pain and itching was beyond my comprehension. I resorted to a lot of repression to stay alive during that period. I saw numerous doctors, took endless pills (antihistamines and prednisone), and had to eliminate EVERY common allergy food from my diet, only to have it be diagnosed as autoimmune.
I still go back and forth on what foods can help me versus harm me. I have a problem with constant dizziness and vomiting, so food has to be easy to prepare and digest. Also, there are special foods recommended for ME/CFS and Fibromyalgia - so there is constant research needing to be done!!
Most of the time though...I just wish I could take food in a pill form, as it would save a lot of energy.
Instead, a presentation of things I wish I could eat!:
How has your life been impacted by the foods you can and cannot have? Are there particular foods that are immense triggers for you??
xoxo,
Annie
I still go back and forth on what foods can help me versus harm me. I have a problem with constant dizziness and vomiting, so food has to be easy to prepare and digest. Also, there are special foods recommended for ME/CFS and Fibromyalgia - so there is constant research needing to be done!!
Most of the time though...I just wish I could take food in a pill form, as it would save a lot of energy.
Instead, a presentation of things I wish I could eat!:
(Images from WeHeartIt)
xoxo,
Annie
9 comments:
what you can eat might be limited but at least you can still enjoy the taste of the things that aren't aggravating your body.... pills would be no fun at all! haha
I'm just thankful that chocolate doesn't seem to bother me! I'd hate to have to give it up. It's my comfort food.
Hey! I can relate, I also have Celiacs and Lactose intolerence .. I also have trouble with anything that contains Amines such as chocolate and some vegetables ... blah blah blah ... however ... I am soooo lucky because there is a pizza place near me that makes pizza I can eat ... and it's DELISH!!!! mmmmmm pizza ..... LOL
After work today, I will stop by will some great blogs and websites. Most focus more on the Celiacs... but there are easy substitutions for the Lactose stuff. I can't have either of these or a slew of other food. I'm allergic to so much that I tend to just rotate what I'm avoiding because it is too expensive for me to avoid all of it. plus I am a total foodie.... so... I do the best I can, and wether that is good enough or not, sometimes I just don't want to give up one more thing in my life.
I agree - gotta keep the few good things in our lives that we can!! Thankfully I still have chocolate too!
I go crazy when people tell me I should eat garlic because it will cure everything that's wrong with me... except, of course, for my allergy to garlic. "But a little bit won't hurt!" Yes, yes, it will, so get away from me with your evil anti-dracula foods! *sniff*
I probably think way more about food than I should. I really obsess about trying to eat as healthy as possible. Am I getting enough protein? (I'm vegan) Am I eating enough greens?
I eat a couple small pieces of dark chocolate every day. (It has antioxidants! It's good for you)
What I keep craving is pancakes, though I keep gluten free too. But there's a place here that delivers kamut (sort of gluten free, depends) pancakes until 11pm and I think about ordering from them ALOT.
pancakes, pancakes, pancakes...
A little over three years ago my favorite foods were milk (and chocolate milk) and fluffy white bread. Now I never think about either. You can set a whole plate of dinner roles or a big long crispy baguette in front of me and I don't mind at all. So tastes can change over time.
Most of my food comes from a local farm so I eat at least 50-60% of my diet raw. The rest is veggies and fruits and chicken and fish. I only eat fish from Alaska that is wild caught and I eat only chicken raised on the farm.
I now eat raw cheese or cheese imported from Europe as they have little to no chemicals unlike American cheese does. I use to be told I had a milk intolerance but when I added digestive aids to my meals, I no longer had a problem...so, as long as I stay with the cheese that is raw form or from Europe and take my digestive aids, I'm good.
I still eat ice cream - Hagaan daz or completely organic only and organic ginger snaps or gluten free peanut butter cookies.
I actually love my new eating plan because I am not suffering all the horrible side effects like bloating, gas, constipation and all that junk.
Life in the food area is good. I do get frustrated when I have to be away for a while (like I will this summer at my daughter's wedding) and I have to eat 'normal' food. The side effects always seem to come quickly.
If you have time, you might want to catch the movie, "Food Inc." Disgusting what is happening to our food. No doubt this is why so many people are getting sick.
A lot of food reacts with either my body or my hypothyroid medicine. I have a very low tolerance for junk & processed food naturally and I have to steer clear of liquid caffeine and high sodium (which isn't terrible) but the hypothyroid meds will become wonky if I consume:
- soy
- raw strawberries
- raw peaches
- raw pears
- Cruciferous vegetables (they must be cooked)
and other food high in Isoflavones
plus the majority of the meat I eat should be organic to avoid oestrogen dominance.
Oh, and I recently found out I am allergic to rice. Hurrah.
Food is my life, and my livelihood, so my relationship with it is love/hate at the moment as I try to work my way around the do's and don't's and never go overboard.
Post a Comment