[Update until I do an update: The CIRS: No-Amylose Diet is working for me, however, I can now have a few bananas a week, plus sweet potato fries (or mash, baked, steamed, whatever… ) and as a treat gluten-free bread (semi-homemade from the Orgran GF range. Since I travelled to Maroochydore to see one of Australia’s leading holistic CIRS practitioners, I was gifted the knowledge that I have the HLA gene for Celiac Disease—that given my intolerance to gluten, and it all makes sense: The pain I get in my stomach after eating a full meal with gluten in is intense enough to mitigate cravings.
However, it doesn’t explain all bread and grains and the problems I have with them: so, against the No-Amylose diet protocol, I’m going further against it by eating brown rice. I’m doing fine with rice, as well as a baked GF pizza that’s basically rice, also. I can use that as toast, pizza crust, even as a ‘burger’ for my veggie, lentil patties. It’s a boring diet. Although I’ve learnt to appreciate crucifiers vegetables twice a day, five times a week, good practice. And lots of avocados. The only organic we buy, due to the expense, are organic fuji apples (do you know these are technically GE?) and bananas, plus some greens when we can. There’s a lot of cooked vegetable dishes in our house. Dan and I try to batch cook on Sundays. He’s often doing this himself and I’m eternally grateful for that. When you settle down with a mate, you’d never in a million years think that you could be dependent on someone for so many everyday things, right? Lucky my man is vegan, hey?
Of course over the last two years since being diagnosed with CIRS, I’ve tried eating meat several times and I always feel sick in various ways depending on what I ate, and it blocks me up if you know what I mean; plus, knowing what I know it just grosses me out. I bought the organic chicken for the bone broth, it’s still in the freezer; vegan Dan suggested I try eating animal products, wanting desperately to help me; although, I tried eating fresh local mussels for a while, this worked for a time but it’s so much easier to pull a plant-based burger patty out of the freezer and eat that, lol.
Nutitionally though, I feel a lot better and have more access to foods I couldn’t have before. So I highly recommend this diet if you’re struggling with CIRS. Although: I am not a doctor; rather just a sickness blogger.]
This is the diet that was recommended by Shoemaker trained, Integrative Doctor and Mould Specialist whom I’ll be seeing for the 11 step treatment protocol. This diet is just while I’m recovering from and treating mould illness aka CIRS. It’s pretty easy for someone already living a vegan whole-food lifestyle; but at the same time, it’s unyielding in its approach to carb cutting. It’s similar to the Ketogenic Diet used to control Epilepsy in children; and it’s also reminiscent of the Atkins Diet.
They call it a low-carb diet but it includes all the types of foods usually on my plate: unlimited fruit (except bananas, which give me an LSD like reaction anyway, which, after making a 4 Banana and date smoothie one day and freaking out: holding onto the edges of my chair while suffering vertigo, actual spinning and nausea (I know! such a small quantity of bananas, right!?).
I nearly hit speed dial, asking FreeLee the Banana girl how the hell this could possibly happen? Ergo, I decided to check in with my Allergist and Immunologist, Dr Colin Little, about it instead. He said: “Bananas are a food just like any other. The body can develop an intolerance to just about anything.” I also temporarily (I hope) lose my sweet potato (bye bye chips!) and carrots—basically any vegetable that grows under the soil is gone—which takes me down to around 19 safe foods including heaps of vegetables and a few seeds. All grains and bread are gone, which means I lose my rice, which I had just become okay with. I’ve not been alright with cakes, biscuits or bread for years now. But we won’t go into that.
Not sure about Quinoa, will have to check this out.
If I wasn’t vegan I could have a heap of animal products like someone’s liver; but I’m not going there. I have started taking a protein powder. It’s called Amazonia. So surprised I’m okay with it because I’ve tried many protein powders from places like iHerb over the last 4 years of chronic illness and they were all a no go. I wouldn’t normally take a powdered food but since my choices are limited and cooking for myself is not always possible. I’m making this powder my friend! (I’d still rather some sweet potato chips.
Yes, I know! Deal with it. Be grateful for what is.
I’m also off all probiotics until I do the rest of my testing, which is next week. To keep this blog post shorter, I’ll leave this information about the minutea of navigating this part of the Labyrinth for another post.
This collection of foods and tips to do with the No-Amylose diet are from the Surviving Mould Illness website:
The No-Amylose Diet
If you have an elevated MMP9 level, it may be recommended that you follow a no-amylose diet to help bring this level down as part of your treatment program. Many of us are familiar with the low-carbohydrate diets that are so popular today including Atkins and South Beach. While it might seem on the surface to be similar, the amylose-free diet is slightly different from this mainstream approach. Fresh fruit is actually encouraged, and the only fruit that is restricted is bananas. The goal of this diet is to avoid foods that contain amylose and glucose which in turn cause a rapid rise in blood sugar when ingested.
The diet is really fairly easy to follow and does not require you to count calories or measure portion sizes. You might even be surprised at the foods that are on the list of allowed foods for you to enjoy. While lima beans and butternut squash are full of starch, amylose isn’t one of them, and you are free to enjoy these starchy vegetables as often as you like. For more detailed information on the diet including using it for weight loss, please see Lose the Weight You Hate by Dr. Shoemaker.
No-Amylilose Diet: Forbidden foods
- Roots and tubers including white and sweet potatoes, beets, peanuts, carrots, and other vegetables that grow underground. The exception here is onions and garlic.
- Bananas (the only forbidden fruit).
- Wheat and wheat-based products including bread, pasta, cakes, and cookies.
- Rice.
- Oats.
- Barley.
- Rye.
- Foods with added sugar, sucrose, corn syrup, or maltodextrin.
All these foods make be sick as a dog eating avocados and cannabis! (That stuff can made dogs extensively sick. Can even kill the spoilt pooches.) Except for the sweet potato which is making me so fukcen sad: my favourite meal, my go-to snack when I want to celebrate, self-soothe using food or just have a banging good lunch such as a huge bowl of sweet potato chips. Oh, well, will have to try and make them out of pumpkin or spaghetti squash!
One thing I’ve learnt about having this illness (whether it’s just CIRS or MCS as well (Which I’m thinking it’s not. Hey, LMFAO here, if people can self-diagnose themselves with MCS (which is not the way it should be Mr and Mrs Australian Government!), then I can undiagnose myself with it also (Hurry up an give us a code for MCS Australian Government!). So. I no longer have MCS. I just need to have the same accomodations and live the only prescribed and science-based treatment that actually works: Avoidance of Chemicals!
Allowed Foods
Allowed foods include basically anything that is not on the list of forbidden foods including:
- Corn.
- Onions.
- Garlic.
- All vegetables that grow above the ground including lettuce, tomatoes, beans of all types, peas, cucumbers, and celery.
- All fruits except bananas.
- Meat, fish, and poultry.
- Condiments (avoid low-fat varieties as they usually contain added sugar).
- Spices.
- Eggs.
- Dairy (avoid sugar-laden products).
- Nuts.
- Sunflower, pumpkin, and squash seeds.
This diet is based on the 00-2-3 rule and is an easy way for you to remember what should or should not be included in your diet each day. You should have 0 sugars (glucose or sucrose, including corn syrup), 0 amylose, 2 servings of protein that total at least 6 to 8 ounces, and 3 servings each of vegetables that grow above the ground and fruit (except bananas) per day. This diet allows for sufficient quantities of food so that you won’t be hungry and can actually enjoy good-tasting, high-quality meals. It just involves adjusting some of our habits and thought patterns when it comes to food. For instance, you can still eat a hamburger, just not the bun. Why not try some melted cheese and a hearty slice of tomato on top instead? Soups can be a nutritious and filling meal or snack but not when they are loaded with pasta, potatoes, or rice. Why not try some delicious black bean soup or maybe a homemade cream-based tomato soup without the added sugar so often found in canned varieties?
The other benefit of this diet is that it is also a gluten-free diet. The avoidance of wheat, oats, rye, and barley is the same for both diets. If you have also been advised to be on a gluten-free diet, no adjustments need to be made in order for you to eat gluten-free. Just follow the 0 amylose rule and you will automatically be avoiding gluten-containing products. One key difference to note is that this diet does not allow rice while gluten-free products often use rice as a substitute for wheat. This makes the no-amylose diet slightly more restrictive than a no-gluten diet. For information on how to eat gluten-free, please visit this page.
More information on the No-Amylose diet, including recipes, can be found at the Surviving Mould Illness website.
My morning drink of wonder: Amazonia Protein Powder (I had the Raw Protein Isolate in vanilla flavour but was told to get plain; I just felt like living a tad hedonistic, living on the wild side like I often do feel.) and after buying a 500 gm
I also use Xylitol. (I haven’t checked with Dr Tania Ash or her Nutritionist if this is okay but I’ve used it for years; I find it doesn’t make my skin itch the same way sugar does, if at all. It’s so easy to eat a clean diet when store bought junk-food and all sugar-based products impact on your health. (Pity it took such a disaster of mass-proportions to stomp my health into dust for me to embrace this lifestyle.) This brand here, as I find it the cheapest.
I’m thinking of opening a shop on The Labyrinth and selling things like Foil Flooring, Zeolite and Xylitol. Let me know down in comments below if you think this might be of benefit to you.
Would you like a tour of the ‘Build an Eco-Friendly, Building Biology-ed, Allergy-Free House‘ project
Interesting you say you were allowed fruit. My protocol I’ve ben given says no fruit except some occasional berries?
I would imagine quinoa would be okay as it’s technically a seed, not a grain. But what about beans and lentils? I don’t see those mental on either list. Thank you for the rest.
So could we say you eat vegan paleo if that’s a thing?
Totally! In fact, the cookbook i am working on is vegan/paleo. Paleo diet is high in fats so it fits in with that. Of course there is no dairy in there cause that’s for the calves 🙂 I miss my sweet potato chips like crazy at the moment. Hope you are doing well xoxo
Definitely all doable if one gets to eat 🙂 Avoiding starvation is a major goal of mine. Happily one that I meet easily enough that I don’t think of it often. First world privilege I guess. Getting hungry because I don’t feel like eating any more of what is available is a different story. It’s not quite that bad, but it reminds me of a comment in the book Green Mountains by Bernard O’Reilley. In the early years of establishing the farm in the mountains they brought in corned meat and flour and I can’t remember if there was another item or two by pack horse. He said if the monotony of the food made the thought of the next meal unpleasant, it was delayed until it would be welcome. I think they ate that way for 7 years.
Thanks for sharing the info, Michellina.
My diet is something I would call low-carb paleo. I can eat animal protein, nuts and seeds (sunflower, pumpkin), low carb vegetables (I have to limit most root vegetables, sweeter squashes), fruit (2 servings per day max, but no bananas). I am allowed a littlw bit of maple syrup or honey for sweeteners, which I typically have at breakfast only. The rest is off limits,and I have this rosacea spot that flares up every time I eat the tiniest amount of forbidden foods, so I get punished for cheating, plus my gut will squeak like a car being crushed in a scrapyard…
Amazonia would not work for me, I have huge reactions to fermented foods these days, but I sometimes use Pumpkin powder from Omega Nutrition, in smoothies, sauces and soups. It is pretty straighht forward, just seeds, no sweeteners. I does change the color of your food though.
Looking forward to seeing a post on progress on your new home soon, I hope. ☺
Pumpkin Powder from Omega Nutrition sounds interesting. I have wondered about the fermented ingredients but was willing it to give it a try. Love pumpkin. Looking forward to showing some positive posts on our house soon. We’ve had a couple of disasters so they’re up next. 🙁
Sounds fairly doable. I’ve been tinkering with a starch restricted diet with slightly different allowed and disallowed foods on and off for a few years and this variant sounds easier. Is it the sort of thing that could make one look healthier than one really is if one plays with the diet before commencing testing for mould related illness?
Possibly, but I don’t think being on the diet will influence the results of testing. Lol, it’s all doable if we get to eat 🙂
Nice post Misha it helps to know that there are alternatives available out there for people.
Okay…