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Has anyone else had trouble moving from List 1 to List 2? I'm struggling, found avocados, brussels sprouts, artichoke (tinned, find the fresh one very bitter after boiling) and asparagus led to burning. I'm too scared to try bell peppers, garlic or onions! All I've been able to add is spinach and a small cup of very diluted filter coffee, no more than one a day. Matia said I could try almond milk which I love and would add good fats, but led to intense pain - Ouch! Maybe I made it too strong. I couldn't find any to buy here in UK so I made my own, maybe it was too concentrated and I should have added more water. Be4 starting Matia's diet I found concentrated stuff like dates led to pain - does anyone else find this with concentrated stuff?
Jane Jones
I am still on list 2 and have yet to move to list 3 after about 9 months of treatment. I remember when moving onto list 2 that some list 2 foods were too almost too intense at first for me- aparagus, avocadoes and cheese- (small amounts of cheese) are allowed for list 2 but I would experience a mild or intense reaction especially if I combined one or more in a single meal or day! After a while of trying them every couple of weeks to test them out I found I tolerated them or completely accepted those items just fine. I seemed to take 1-2 months but I usually got to the point where they were accepted just fine. I can't handle more than a small amount of cooked purple onion or cooked garlic if I flavor some baked chicken . I also think that spelt grain is a little intense for me and while I can eat it it feels too acidic or something and I do better with the kamut. Almond milk sounds so good to me I want to try some! concentrated stuff is a bit much-wait a few weeks- then dilute it and try it in small doses. sometimes I wonder if its good to get our bodies re-used to the foods we used to eat but slowly re-introducing them is good. I've been really into kale lately cause the crop this season has been amazing in quality. even kale used to be a little too much but I do fine with it now. I can't drink black tea- it gives me an immediate flare but so far a cup of coffee made from spring water is fine. Somtimes this whole process is sooo agonizingly slow- I wonder if I will ever be able to enjoy a spicy curry or stirfry again without pain! Keep healing that tissue and be patient and try again in a few weeks!
Hi Jane
I'm just starting so I'll let you know in a bit, but I'm curious how soon after those foods you felt a reaction, and how you could tell? For me my pain goes up and down so it's hard to judge. Was it a clearcut "this is absolutely much worse than before eating the food" or more subtle?
Hi IC-Hope
My pain is now minimal after starting treatment - 3 months herbs (6 months diet) so its quite clear to me when I get pain after eating something new. It takes about 3 hrs or so for me to feel the effect. The almond milk gave me quite distinct pain after about 3 hours whereas the avocado (only a quarter), brussel sprouts and tinned artichoke were more subtle - my discomfort symptoms seemed worse. I am very cautious when adding foods. I also think that I can tolerate new veg more when cooked rather than raw. Also for me, I have found I can tolerate things more if I have them as part of a meal rather than on their own, I'm planning to try the almond milk again but this time more dilute and with a meal, last time was on an empty tum. My 1st dose of herbs led to pain - ouch! I had swallowed the caps on an empty tum, my 2nd dose was a different story, I opened the caps and mixed it in water and drank it at the end of a meal - which was fine. All this is only my experience tho - things may be different for you - better!I think another factor which can make things tough for us is that if we expect new foods to be 'dodgy' then we are blocking our own progress. I sometimes get my husband when he cooks to add stuff without telling me so that I don't know whether he's added salt to a soup, for example (I have problems with salt) so that I'm not expecting to feel bad. I have studied the mind-body connection as part of a course on alternative medicine and this whole IC experience has given me a lot of insight into the whole subject. On another site an ICer wrote that when she looks at tomatoes in a supermarket she immediately thinks 'bladder poison' ! Well, here's betting that she will never be able to tolerate tomatoes! (unless she unknowingly consumes some). I find the mind-body stuff to be quite fascinating and realize I need to understand it more so that I can make it work for me rather than against me.Hope this helps!
I never thought about salt!
Thanks (again) for bringing something to my attention. I add a little salt to everything. I'm going to cut it out for a few days and see how I feel. Tammy