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| Image borrowed from http://www.healthlob.com/ |
Once I'd published the last post, I couldn't help thinking about how lonely and stuck you can feel when you suffer from any digestion issues. In my case, I isolate myself and would avoid going out, but once I had realised that I was missing out and that I shouldn't let the problems control my life I decided to brave the outside world along with it's food. How did I do that? Maternity clothing. It had enough give in it to ensure that I wouldn't suffer anymore discomfort than usual and it looked ok (ish). It wasn't the best idea, and was a short lived strategy.
These days, I don't eat any outside food unless I'm certain that it won't cause me any 'food death'. That would be my first piece of advice; try and exclude all outside food until you have a better idea of what you can tolerate. Basic and straightforward.
Before I carry on, let's reiterate a very important point; in terms of the diets discussed the best thing to do is choose whatever is right for your body; if there are certain foods that you feel aren't suitable for you (and foods that are) then by all means adapt it to what you feel is right for you and (if you're cooking for them) your family. :)
My initial exclusion diet lasted two years and was not without problems, but it did help my gut recover. Unfortunately the two diets (GAPS and SCD) have had bad press from people who don't suffer from food reactions and, therefore, don't fully understand how difficult it can get. As I said above, I am a strong believer in tailoring things to fit the individual's needs -the last thing you want to do is go on a diet that causes more symptoms. With all exclusion diets there are typical detox symptoms, and in some cases foods that you had previously thought to be inert will switch teams every now and then just to keep you on your toes!
Diets: GAPS
So, first off there's the GAPS (Gut and Psychology Syndrome) diet which focuses on stock and probiotics as a means to heal the gut. It was developed by a UK neurologist called Dr Natasha campbell-mcbride whose son was on the autistic spectrum. Ultimately, it's based on the principle that a damaged gut results in toxins being absorbed into the bloodstream, which then affects behaviour, cognition and overall health.
The GAPS diet eliminates all grains, complex carbs, dairy and starches from the diet.
L and I have both been on this diet and we are believers, at the beginning we were shells of ourselves. And at the end we were the healthiest, both physically and mentally, that either of us have ever been.
The Gaps Diet book, Gut and Psychology Syndrome, can be found on Amazon for £17.95 (+p&p) at the time of posting.
A useful GAPS & food blogs are:
- 20 something allergies, which documents one lady and her 3 year old's way through the GAPS diet,
- & The Nourishing Gourmet which discusses the GAPS diet and nourishing foods, providing good explanations behind the use of certain foods, and other products. But be warned, the recipe's aren't totally gluten free.
Useful GAPS sites are;
SCD
The second diet is called SCD (the Specific Carbohydrate Diet) and was first formulated in the 1920s by Dr Haas and popularised by Elaine Gotschall. The diet has helped in the remission of crohn's, celiac, ulcerative colitis and IBS.The introductory book to this diet is called "Breaking the Vicious Cycle" by elaine gotschall and can also be found on Amazon for £13.24, at the time of posting. The Breaking the Vicious Cycle site is also an invaluable resource.
SCD restricts the use of complex carbohydrates and eliminates all grains, starch and refined sugars from the diet. Both GAPS and SCD are similar diets, however SCD allows the consumption of dairy products whereas the GAPS diet does not.
According to various reviews the recipes found in Elaine Gotschall's book aren't that simple to put together. The two most popular recipe books for both diets are called:
Recipes for the Specific Carbohydrate Diet by Raman Prasad which is available at Amazon for £7.68 at the time of posting
and Healing foods: cooking for celiacs, colitis, crohn's and IBS by Sandra Ramacher, 2nd hand copies are available at Amazon for £32.07 (correct at the time of posting), which seems a little steep.
The recipes in both books are very simple and not too time consuming.
Useful sites for the SCD diet are:
N.B. each diet suggests the use of certain trigger foods that some people find difficult to digest. If you have trouble with raw garlic make sure that you eat it with something fatty. I've found that Toum is the best way to consume raw garlic:
We make fresh toum every few days, it’s delicious and it’s not harsh on your tummy! It’s helped us lots and is thanks to Em's mum who, like Toum, is from lebanon:
- 4 or more cloves of garlic (peeled)*
- ¼ cup olive oil
- Juice of 1 lemon
- salt to taste (Funnily enough, the salt is actually necessary to temper the harshness of the lemon and garlic.)
1) Crush or blend the garlic cloves and salt until smooth (if you’re using a blender, adding the lemon juce at this point will make the process faster).
2) Once you have a smooth paste, gradually add the oil and blend until mayonnaisey.
* If you want to increase the garlic, remember to increase the olive oil accordingly.
And remember: If there are some foods you just don't feel right about eating then leave them alone (if it hasn't happened already then once you've sorted the diet to the extent that you're mostly symptom free you'll find that your instincts will guide you).
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