We went into town on Wednesday to do a "Healthy Shop" at the Health Food Shop (of course!) and on the way, got some fresh apples and others to top up the fruit bowls. Green bananas, a pomegranate, organic pears, some manderins (I'm not meant to have those, so my husband will eat them), lemons, and then the apples which I eat about 4 a day of. They are high in quercetin which is good for my lungs. Quercetin is an anti-inflammatory and anti-oxident (asthma is much about inflammation of the lungs). Cranberries, plums, blueberries, blackcurrants, cherries, are all fruits high in it, and vegetables onions, green chilli peppers, kale, broccoli, lettuce, chicory, sweet peppers and french beans are also high. All of these, I think I am correct in saying, I can eat. But there's a long list of stuff to avoid as well! Which leads me on to . . .
Remember my post back in January, when I wrote of "eating myself well"? Follow the link if you don't! Well, here we are again, and this time I have a very strong suspicion (shared by my respiratory nurse) that I may have histamine intolerence, probably (hopefully) caused by my gut flora being depleted after so many courses of antibiotics.
So, after doing a lot of research, I have decided to go for a month without as many high-histamine foods/drinks as I can, eating a diet which is low-histamine, and with limited foodstuffs which release histamines into the system. A difficult balancing act and at first the diet looked like it was going to be SO BLAND. Not even any curry powder, so I'll have to blend my own mix, no soy (Soy is a REAL bad guy, as is anything fermented). I have yet to start smoothie making but in the meantime I am not starving. Last night's supper was salmon steak with grated ginger and red chilli, and a pile of purple French beans from the garden and the last of the garden-grown runner beans I bought from a stall at Malvern last Sunday. Scrummy.
As you can see, I have alternative gluten-free flours for baking, though I don't think I have Gluten intolerence, but for a month . . .
I prefer organic fruits and vegetables when I can get them, although of course they carry a big premium in price. I have always been careful to wash/peel fruits and vegs because of the hideous sprays used on them which I am sure are the cause of a lot of illness/deaths.
My "treat" from this pile was the Nakd banana bread bar. Hardly two mouthfuls but really tasty, and nearly . . . well, almost . . . as nice as a bar of chocolate (which I'm not allowed, chocolate that is). The bottle with the illegible label is toasted sesame oil for stir fries.
I shall be back to say more about this I am sure. It's early days yet, but I am hoping, when I start on a course of probiotics, that things will really start to change for the better. I am following an excellent blog called the Low Histamine Chef and have downloaded one of her books to my Kindle. Onwards and upwards I hope . . .
Good luck with this, I really hope it makes a difference and I'll be interested to read about your results. I loved your Ledbury pictures, what a pretty place it is, and as for the stuffed unicorn!!!!
ReplyDeleteHugs to you.xxx
Good Luck with the new diet for the next month - hope it pays dividends.
ReplyDeleteI went gluten and nightshade free for three months but it really didn't seem to help. But I know better to eat eggplant (love) and tomatoes make my teeth and mouth itch. So I am always careful.
ReplyDeleteGood Luck and keep us in the loop if you find out anything.
cheers, parsnip
Red peppers are supposed to be especially good for asthmatics. We never had them in the house when I was a child, as my mum thought of them as "foreign". Once living on my own, I finally got to taste them and love them - raw or cooked. I love things flavoured with paprika, and can tolerate a touch of chilli flakes in home made curries.
ReplyDeleteOne of the key foods I avoid when my asthma is bad is nuts, and to a lesser extent chocolate and high fat dairy.
I only have one real food allergy though - sesame. I thought I had been getting food poisoning or stomach bugs for a while until I whittled down the suspects. I was working weekends in a Greek grocers at the time, serving in the deli, and it was while helping to make a batch of hummous that my suspicions were confirmed.
Whilst I have to read ingredient labels very carefully, and avoid certain foods (though I have found a chain that does a couple of sesame free sushi packs at last), it really spurred me to cook at home from scratch. All I need now is decent slug reduced summer when I can grow enough of my own chick peas.
Yarrow - thanks for the good wishes and it was great to chat the other evening.
ReplyDeleteRR - let's hope I can last the month! It isn't easy.
parsnip - I don't have the itchy mouth or anything, it is literally all concentrated on my breathing . . .
BS - thanks for that input. I like red peppers and try and eat them regularly. My mum had never heard of them (!) and never had one in all her life. I seem to be OK with nuts but perhaps I should leave them out this week and see. The book I downloaded to my Kindle, about histamine intolerence, said that walnuts (yuk) and almonds are OK. Mind you, Lidl have loose Pistachios again at the moment so I had a scoopful of those last week and have survived to tell the tale. I have always been a label-reader, but have to be even more diligent now.
Good luck with all this Jennie, your weekly shop looks a bit of an adventure, makes Asda look dull by comparison.
ReplyDeleteThelma - the menu plan is even more of an adventure! Like eating vegan, but without half the fruit, some of the veg and no soy products. I am currently modifying it a bit before I starve to death!!
ReplyDelete