Elimination Diet for Lupus

[KMD]

After 30 days on the McDougall Program for Maximum Weight Loss (MWL), I was feeling much better.

The second month in, I started feeling an increase in pain. The arthritis came back; the chest pain (pleurisy) started getting worse again, etc.

I have been following MWL faithfully and it shows in my weight loss (24 lbs in 60 days).

I’ve decided to try an elimination diet to see what might be triggering these reactions. At first I was just going to eliminate the nightshades and citrus, then I decided to go ahead with the full elimination diet. The nightshades are my favorites anyway.


I’m on my 3rd day and it seems to be going smoothly. I think it is similar to a Mary’s Mini. It’s just very simple and monotonous right now.

Day 1 - 4/24

2 baked yams
1 head of cabbage boiled
½ c. sour cherries boiled in water. (I drank this as a tea)

Day 2 – 4/25

3 baked yams
2 c. baked green beans
¼ c. sour cherries in boiled water

I’ve made a list of suspect foods:

White potatoes
Tomatoes
Onions
Peppers (bell and hot)
Oats
Brown Rice
Beans & legumes
Citrus
Corn
Cinnamon
Apples

I’m not sure what I will test first.

Kathryn

[raven]

Hi Kathryn,
Good luck to you! I hope you will quickly feel better. Sounds like you are not eating too much volume - i hope you are not too hungry! My husband has a lot of allergies and has done an elimination diet several times. He has found that there are some foods, like gluten, that he can never eat, and some foods, like bell peppers, that he can stop for a while and then later have no reaction to when he tests for them. (This happens sometimes when you have multiple allergies.) An elimination diet does require some patience, but it can really make a difference in how you feel once you find the culprits!
Raven

[Burgess]

I’m not sure what I will test first.

My suggestion would be to test the food you most miss. There are two reasons. First, the sooner you can return enjoyable foods to your diet, the more pleasurable it will be and therefore more sustainable.

Second, in my experience, it is often the foods that I eat in large quantity or frequently that are suspects.

Here is my experience with the elimination diet: http://anti-itisdiet.blogspot.com/2007/ ... foods.html

[KMD]

Raven,

Thanks for the support. I know I'm not eating very much. I have lost my appetite. Most of my favorite foods are missing!

So sometimes he gets a reaction and sometimes not? That sounds maddening! Thank you for the warning, definitely something for me to keep in mind.

I'm very hopeful that this is going to work, and I'm willing to suffer diet-wise for a while to see.

Kathryn

[KMD]

Burgess,

Thank you for posting. You're blog and experiences have been a big help and are part of the reason I'm logging my experience here.

My suggestion would be to test the food you most miss. There are two reasons. First, the sooner you can return enjoyable foods to your diet, the more pleasurable it will be and therefore more sustainable.

Makes sense. Tomatoes will probably be first then.

Kathryn

[KMD]

Day 3:

1/4. sour cherries
1 baked sweet potato
4 c. california blend vegetables -nuked
1 cabbage sauteed in water

I'm already breathing better; I can tell the inflammation in my lungs/chest has diminished some. This is great news to me. From my reading I found a few mentions of Lupus being harder to heal after 20 years, and others whose arthritis took a very long time to respond to diet changes. I feel lucky.

The joints in my hands did start acting up some yesterday but nothing extreme.

My lower back is hurting, but I think it is due to overexertion on day 2.

[KMD]

Day 4 - 4/27

1/4 c. sour cherries
1 baked sweet potato
4 c. California blend vegetables
1 can of pears in pear juice

My breathing is still getting better, the arthritis in my hands is gone. Back is still hurting. I'm doing exercises for it. Like I said before, I don't think the back issue is diet related.

Picked up a few things at the store so I can have a little more variety.

Oh - I did start lightly salting my food. Before, I had cut out any added salt and was using low sodium products or home made without salt. I'm missing herbs, spices and raw, crunchy food.

[raven]

Hi KMD, Oh, i feel for you. You're at the stage where there's not a lot to eat, and you don't know what the future holds... but it's bound to be better! I would miss raw crunchy veggies too.
Raven

[KMD]

Day 5 - 4/28

1/4 c. sour cherries
2 baked yams ( I cut up one and made it into "fries")
1/2 baked acorn squash
1 c. gr beans roasted
1 c. brussel sprouts roasted
1 can peaches

My pain level is about the same; my energy level is much higher. I forgot to mention that.

I was irresponsible and let myself get sunburned while gardening yesterday. Usually that will put me into a "lupus flare", but hasn't so far.


Raven, thank you for your support. It's nice to have someone listen to my whining.

Right now with my family I feel like a 3 headed monster that they are warily circling. They honestly don't know what to think about my dietary choices these days.

[raven]

Hi KMD, It is really hard sometimes, so i wouldn't call that whining. Plus it is really hard not to be on the same page about eating with your loved ones. Eating is so fundamental and so much a community thing.

My husband and i don't eat the same food, but after a lot of discussion we have agreed to differ. I fix him what he wants, plus i have convinced him to eat a lot of vegetables. He doesn't exclaim (very often) about how much i am eating (by volume).

I knew i had turned a corner when he got himself some chocolate and didn't offer me any! Things can change, but it usually takes time. I know it's really hard for you right now. I hope you find the support you need here, if you don't have it 100% at home right now. "You can't always get what you want, but if you try sometimes, you get what you need." (Rolling Stones)

Keep trying! My you feel better and may it be easier very soon.
Raven

[KMD]

Hey Raven ~

Thanks for the note.

It's similar here. I've succeeded in getting dairy, sugar and most junk out of the house. They are eating much better, but still have that meat fascination. I wouldn't say my family has been unsupportive, just wary.

They've seen me go to MWL which was an extreme jump from SAD, then to eating from a very limited menu. Plus I quit coffee! ( I was a 2 pot a day drinker at one point.)

Funny about the chocolate. My husband offered me a bite of his peanut butter on whole wheat last night. "Um, no thanks."
I think offering people a taste is just automatically something we do when we're eating in front of someone.

Hope you have a great day,

Kathryn

[KMD]

Day 6 - 4/29

1/4 c. sour cherries
1 baked sweet potato
1 can pears
3 c. steamed California Blend vegetables

Still improving, joints in hands are acting up a little bit. We have severe thunderstorms coming in today, and my joints often react to weather. Will diet make that stop?

I am noticing that I'm not sleeping as much. I'm waking 1/2 hr to an hour earlier now.

It's all good.

[lfwfv]

KMD,

Hi, I'm enjoying reading about your journey. I'm glad you are noticing some positive changes. Burgess' journal helped me a lot too. I currently eat a very limited MWL:

fruit, veggies, root veggies (mostly yams), squashes (hardly eat these), quinoa, nutritional yeast, seaweed

I am gluten intolerant and I have found that all other grains, nuts, seeds, legumes tend to cause my skin to flare up, I get acne, and I get digestive upset.

I am currently holding strictly to this diet and I hope to retest some food groups in 6-8 weeks or so if my body seems strong and symptom-free.

My husband is very supportive, but I feel very odd about the way I eat and I am very hesitant to tell anyone about it. I feel so much better mentally and physically when I stick to my health-promoting foods though.

I hope you are able to figure out which foods help you feel best.

lfwfv

[KMD]

lfwfv,

Thanks for stopping by and the well wishes. I wish you well on your journey also.

Day 7 - 4/30

2 yams
2 c. cauliflower blend
1 c. brussel sprouts
1 can pears
1/4 c. sour cherries

Day 8 - 5/1

1 yam
1 c. green beans
1/2 c. sweet cherries
2 c. okra (roasted)
1 can peaches

Day 9 - 5/2

1 yam
2 c. cauliflower blend
1 can peaches
1/2 c. sweet cherries

I feel like I've been doing this forever. I dreamed last night that I drank 1/2 glass of orange juice before realizing it wasn't a "safe" food. Then looked over and saw that I had also eaten half of a huge plate of mixed fresh fruit.

Breathing is still better. I can take a deep breath with pain only at the very end. It's hard to explain but it's only painful at the deepest part of the lungs now, like when I yawn. At the beginning of this, I was out of breath walking from my car to the office because I could only breathe shallowly with pain. Now it's not an issue.

Minor arthritis is still active in my hands and a few other joints.

If this continues like this I may test tomatoes on Day 14.

Kathryn

[Burgess]

If this continues like this I may test tomatoes on Day 14.

As you have probably noticed, the Elimination Diet excludes almost all seed foods -- beans, peas, grains (except brown rice), and nuts.

You might consider testing tomatoes without the seeds, first. If you buy them fresh, you can spoon out most of the seeds easily.

Then, if you get no adverse reaction, you could try the toms with seeds. If you get a reaction with the seeds, then you will have advanced your knowledge about possible food causes of inflammation. Seeds are powerful foods. In the primitive, natural world, they are rare, but most people today eat large quantities of them (beans, peas, nuts, grains, and "regular" seeds like sesame and sunflower).