I'm Sick Of Eating The Same Food

[jasonD2]

my diet is so restricted now that i'm miserable. I make 4-6 trips to the grocery store every week and keep eating the same crap over and over again and its making me miserable. everything is bland and boring. chicken, salmon, rice, quinoa, potatoes, sweet potatoes, broccoli, spinach, olives, perky-os with rice milk and gluten-free cornbread..thats IT!! I cant live like this any more.

[missy'smom]

How long have you been gluten-free? It can seem so limiting at first but as time goes on you'll find that there really is quite a variety that we can have. What are you missing or craving? Maybe we can gives you some recipes or product names.

[DawnS]

I would suggest trying things you've never eaten before just because you never felt like you needed to for variety. I've learned to love new vegetables. Using new spices and vinegars can add lots of variety to your food even if you're using the same basic ingredients. I could eat rice every night of the week and never have it taste exactly the same. Get a good cookbook or peruse the internet for new ideas. You could just google "quinoa recipes" and find all kinds of new things. Try quinoa (or even quinoa flakes) with fruit, nuts, cinnamon, etc for breakfast instead of cold cereal and milk. I'm not sure what you're specific sensitivities are, but I have lots of them and on top of that I'm veg by choice. I go through periods where I am bored, but mostly I'm getting to try new stuff all the time. Feel free to post or send me a message with your sensitivities and I'll see if I have tried anything that you might like. Good luck

[RiceGuy]

To my knowledge, gluten is not a spice, so a gluten-free diet need not be a bland one. Do you use any spices?

What about carrots, peas, beets, green beans, parsnips, turnips, squashes, zucchini, cauliflower, cucumbers, onion, garlic, celery, kohlrabi, scallions, radishes, brussels sprouts, and bok choi, just to name a few?

There are lots more, and also plenty of fruits, nuts, seeds, beans, etc.

[ShayFL]

Are you limiting yourself because of multiple intolerances? Or because you just dont know any other types of foods?

Why just salmon? Why not cod, flounder, grouper, mahi mahi?? Shrimp? Scallops? Mussels?? Clams?

Turkey?

Beef?

Pork?

FRUIT????

Other gluten-free mixes: muffins, breads, brownies, etc.

Eggs? Veggie omlets?

[jasonD2]

I have multiple intolerances....cant eat soy, dairy, citrus, eggs, berries, nuts, spices, vinegar as well as others. so the Gluten isnt the problem, its really everything else

[missy'smom]

Sorry you're having a rough time. Be sure that you don't unnecessarily limit yourself. If you haven't been tested, you may want to get tested for allergies, intolerances or depending on your symptoms, go to a GI and make sure that you don't have any other GI issues going on. Consider seeing someone who can help you with your diet. Sometimes being on a restricted diet we can end up with nutritional deficiecies that can lead to other health problems. It's hard to trust doctors but sometimes we can get valuable info. from making use of the tests that are available.

[MyMississippi]

Hi,

Sounds like it's time for you to sit down with whatever doctor put you on such a restricted diet, and see if some changes could be made

I don't blame you for being so frustrated ! !

[Rachel--24]

I have multiple intolerances....cant eat soy, dairy, citrus, eggs, berries, nuts, spices, vinegar as well as others. so the Gluten isnt the problem, its really everything else

I'm dealing with the same thing....only a short list of foods that I can get by with (you can count them on one hand). Honestly, there is nothing that I can consider truelly "safe" though. I've been doing it for awhile.....I have things pretty well under control and I do have plenty of days where I treat myself to other stuff....just cant do it on a daily basis.

Have you been tested for any of the issues which are associated with multiple food intolerances? You most likely are dealing with leaky gut....is your Dr. looking into this or testing you for gut infections?? Dysbiosis is the most common cause and there are some good tests for determining this. I'm not aware of mainstream doctors running any of these types of tests though.

I've done alot of different things which have helped me (mostly detox stuff). I've improved a ton in the past year.....except for my gut issues (food iontolerances)...which we are now just starting to address.

[Rachel--24]

Sounds like it's time for you to sit down with whatever doctor put you on such a restricted diet, and see if some changes could be made

Unfortunately, some people do have that many food intolerances.....so the diet can get pretty limited. Its not all that easy to make changes when you're reacting to over 95% of whats out there....and even on the cleanest diet possible.

[Sweetfudge]

I have multiple intolerances....cant eat soy, dairy, citrus, eggs, berries, nuts, spices, vinegar as well as others. so the Gluten isnt the problem, its really everything else

What spices are you intolerant to? All of them? If you're worried about contamination from dried herbs and such, you can always grow a tiny herb garden, it's really easy! Even doable on the windowsill in the kitchen. That way you can still flavor your foods without risking CC.

How did you find out about all your intolerances? Just curious, trying to figure out my own.

I'm dealing with the same thing....only a short list of foods that I can get by with (you can count them on one hand). Honestly, there is nothing that I can consider truelly "safe" though. I've been doing it for awhile.....I have things pretty well under control and I do have plenty of days where I treat myself to other stuff....just cant do it on a daily basis.

Have you been tested for any of the issues which are associated with multiple food intolerances? You most likely are dealing with leaky gut....is your Dr. looking into this or testing you for gut infections?? Dysbiosis is the most common cause and there are some good tests for determining this. I'm not aware of mainstream doctors running any of these types of tests though.

I've done alot of different things which have helped me (mostly detox stuff). I've improved a ton in the past year.....except for my gut issues (food iontolerances)...which we are now just starting to address.

what kind of detoxing have you done Rachel? I've been trying to eat gluten-free and DF, but still have this constant (mild) ache in my stomach, almost like cramps. And rather than go to the dr (have had several allergy tests, all saying different things), I'd rather just try and eliminate what I am not tolerating. But I'd like to clean my system out just to make sure nothing is lingering.

[Rachel--24]

what kind of detoxing have you done Rachel?

I didnt do anything on my own...no cleanses or anything like that. I had different treatments under the care of my Dr.'s....including chelation for heavy metals. None of my doctors are mainstream.

For me allergy testing was not helpful since I have intolerances...not true allergies. Even though I reacted to everything...including environmental stuff...I dont test positive for anything in allergy testing.

Even IgG testing for delayed food sensitivities didnt help me. I reacted to nearly every food and yet in the testing nothings showed up...out of about 130 foods...there was only a handful of things that I had a mild intolerance to.

It ended up that I dont react to the foods themselves...I have difficulty breaking down the chemical compounds which are found naturally in the foods. So its an enzyme problem and an inability to process food chemicals. Thats the reason my intolerances are so extensive....and yet nothing shows up when the foods are tested. I dont actually have antibodies to these foods. I cant process the chemicals and they accumulate in my system causing reaction.

[RiceGuy]

With numerous food intolerances, I'd be wondering if there wasn't an intestinal yeast overgrowth. This and leaky gut (which contributes to food intolerances) seem to go together for a lot of people.

[Sweetfudge]

I didnt do anything on my own...no cleanses or anything like that. I had different treatments under the care of my Dr.'s....including chelation for heavy metals. None of my doctors are mainstream.

For me allergy testing was not helpful since I have intolerances...not true allergies. Even though I reacted to everything...including environmental stuff...I dont test positive for anything in allergy testing.

Even IgG testing for delayed food sensitivities didnt help me. I reacted to nearly every food and yet in the testing nothings showed up...out of about 130 foods...there was only a handful of things that I had a mild intolerance to.

It ended up that I dont react to the foods themselves...I have difficulty breaking down the chemical compounds which are found naturally in the foods. So its an enzyme problem and an inability to process food chemicals. Thats the reason my intolerances are so extensive....and yet nothing shows up when the foods are tested. I dont actually have antibodies to these foods. I cant process the chemicals and they accumulate in my system causing reaction.

wow, sounds complicated and frustrating! guess i should count my blessings to only have to avoid a couple foods.

[ive]

For me allergy testing was not helpful since I have intolerances...not true allergies. Even though I reacted to everything...including environmental stuff...I dont test positive for anything in allergy testing.

Even IgG testing for delayed food sensitivities didnt help me. I reacted to nearly every food and yet in the testing nothings showed up...out of about 130 foods...there was only a handful of things that I had a mild intolerance to.

It ended up that I dont react to the foods themselves...I have difficulty breaking down the chemical compounds which are found naturally in the foods. So its an enzyme problem and an inability to process food chemicals. Thats the reason my intolerances are so extensive....and yet nothing shows up when the foods are tested. I dont actually have antibodies to these foods. I cant process the chemicals and they accumulate in my system causing reaction.

Rachel,

My allergy tests did not show anything either, even wheat / gluten sensitivity. I got tested positive through Enterolab for gluten sensitivity / intolerance. I do feel better on gluten-free diet, however, my issues didn't go away after almost 6 months on this diet and I am starting to think that gluten is just one answer, not the complete answer to my issues.

I wonder if I too react not just to foods but to their chemical compounds. I know that if I eat too much animal protein I will have a reaction either this or next day. Also if I eat too much food rich in histamine I will be more reactive in general. My reactions are not gastrointestinal, they are more like allergy-like reactions. I found it out by myself, mostly by trial and error. There are no knowledgeable doctors helping me. Could you please tell me how you found out to which exact chemical compounds / foods you react? And which chemical compounds / foods you react to? If you prefer, you can send me a PM.

Thank you very much!

[tarnalberry]

my diet is so restricted now that i'm miserable. I make 4-6 trips to the grocery store every week and keep eating the same crap over and over again and its making me miserable. everything is bland and boring. chicken, salmon, rice, quinoa, potatoes, sweet potatoes, broccoli, spinach, olives, perky-os with rice milk and gluten-free cornbread..thats IT!! I cant live like this any more.

there's so much you can do with just those foods that you listed (and most of these suggestions really aren't very complicated)!

sweet potato fries made in the oven (salt and pepper, or spiced up with some cayenne and garlic salt; mashed w/ canned pumpkin; microwaved or baked just like a regular potato)

potatoes (roasted w/ olive oil, salt, and rosemary, mashed w/ garlic and broth, nuked in the microwave if you're busy, sliced and pan fried w/ salt, cubed and sauteed w/ cauliflower in olive oil and cumin)

chicken (use it in a salad w/ spinach and some red onions; baked in the oven w/ quinoa and sweet onions and carrots and some herbs; in a soup with rice, onions, carrots, zucchini, bell peppers, green beans, and italian spices; in a stir fry with, broccoli, onions, crush red peppers, garlic, and san-j's tamari (or omit for no soy) and served with rice)

salmon (also in a salad w/ spinach and red onions; in a pasta salad w/ rice pasta; in a stir fry like above)

find some cookbooks, look at the recipes on here... get creative! there's lots you can do to vary the flavor of the same foods in many different ways.

edit: upon a full read of all the responses, I realize some of this may not apply (some still does), but when you say "intolerant to spices", what does that mean? "spices" is a generic, colloquial term that we use for a wide variety of different plant species, and finding out that you're intolerant to, say, cinnamon, doesn't necessarily mean that you're intolerant to, for instance, rosemary. some spices come from seeds, some from leaves, some from roots, some from flowers, and from such a wide variety of family types, that it's going to be unlikely that there is *NO* herb/spice/flavoring that you can have. with such a restricted diet, it may be worth some investigation (even if you're starting out with just books to be kind to your gut), to find out if there's a chance there are some other ones you can have.

[Rachel--24]

Could you please tell me how you found out to which exact chemical compounds / foods you react? And which chemical compounds / foods you react to? If you prefer, you can send me a PM.

I found out by doing alot of various elimination diets, keeping very detailed food journals, lots of research, paying attention to my body, etc. It was all trial and error.

Also with understanding some of the possible underlying things that could be going on I was more able to make a connection to why some of these food chemicals would be causing problems. It didnt make sense to me until I started learning more about what types of "disturbances" in the body can result in an inability to process these chemicals.

So while there is no test available for these types of reactions...there ARE tests to determine other factors which might be contributing.

I have been tested for phenols and its always showed up as an issue. The tests were all using alternative methods (Electrodermal screening, ART and applied kinesiology). None of my doctors were looking at phenols specifically.....it was just one of hundreds of things they tested.

At the time they werent really focused on that...but since I was already aware of my own reactions and had already been researching I just made a mental note of it.

I react to all the food chemicals....salicylates probably being the worst. Oxalates are probably a big problem as well. The oxalates can be detected in urine....the test is OAT and its done by Great Plains Laboratory. They test for several organic compounds in the urine (most unrelated to food).

I avoid foods which contain significant amounts of salicylates, amines, oxalates, glutamates, sulfur/sulfites....and in addition to that I avoid the food dyes, preservatives, additives, nitrates, BHT, BHA, TBHQ and other synthetic chemicals.

I started on the Feingold Diet and then expanded that so that its more in-line with the Failsafe Diet.

You can look up those diets for more info.

There is no easy way to identify which food chemicals are causing problems....but most people who react to one will also react to others.

There is some info. on this site Open Original Shared Link

The problem is usually related to enzyme dysfunction...so thats where my focus is. Different problems can lead to enzyme dysfunction....or an overload of these chemicals. Phenols dont only come from food sources...some of them are produced by our body (adrenaline is an example) and they are also produced by organisms such as yeast or clostridium bacteria. Other sources of phenols are fragrances...such as perfumes. Some phenols are natural while some are synthetic.

[ive]

I react to all the food chemicals....salicylates probably being the worst. Oxalates are probably a big problem as well. The oxalates can be detected in urine....the test is OAT and its done by Great Plains Laboratory. They test for several organic compounds in the urine (most unrelated to food).

I avoid foods which contain significant amounts of salicylates, amines, oxalates, glutamates, sulfur/sulfites....and in addition to that I avoid the food dyes, preservatives, additives, nitrates, BHT, BHA, TBHQ and other synthetic chemicals.

Rachel,

Thank you very much for your answer. I too do a lot of my own research. Your post gives me a lot of material to think about and to research.

I too react to the food dyes, preservatives, additives, nitrates, BHT, BHA and other synthetic chemicals. Also perfumes, tobacco smoke, household cleansers (non-natural), etc. That was actually the first thing that I discovered and so I cook almost everything from scratch for more than a year now.

Thanks again for your informative post.

[debmidge]

my diet is so restricted now that i'm miserable. I make 4-6 trips to the grocery store every week and keep eating the same crap over and over again and its making me miserable. everything is bland and boring. chicken, salmon, rice, quinoa, potatoes, sweet potatoes, broccoli, spinach, olives, perky-os with rice milk and gluten-free cornbread..thats IT!! I cant live like this any more.

Jason

Your diet is pretty much like my husband's....what happens when you eat foods outside of what you have listed? For example, my husband is soy intolerant/allergic, and has spice intolerances in addition to celiac. He gets extreme bowel problems/gas/diarrhea, indigestion/intestinal pain...

D.

[tami28]

I have multiple intolerances....cant eat soy, dairy, citrus, eggs, berries, nuts, spices, vinegar as well as others. so the Gluten isnt the problem, its really everything else

I had difficulty too as I was always hungry and nothing was filling. If you have a Trader Joe's by you (mostly coastal locations) they have some great choices. They have the most awesome gluten-free brownie mix that everyone loves. It obviously contains chocolate though. You can use an egg substitute. They have Gluten-free ginger cookies that are okay. Rice will help fill you up. I also like Orville Redenbacher's Smart Pop. Keep reading labels. New things pop on the market every time.

[darlindeb25]

everything is bland and boring. chicken, salmon, rice, quinoa, potatoes, sweet potatoes, broccoli, spinach, olives, perky-os with rice milk and gluten-free cornbread..thats IT!! I cant live like this any more.

Well, the only thing in your list that I can have is salmon and chicken, and only the white meat!!! My diet is much more limited than yours, and believe me, you can live with it. I can't have any grains, I would love some cornbread, I would love to be able to eat rice again, potaotes were my favorite thing growing up...broccoli and spinach, loved them.

I recently got the answers to why I am the way I am. I have double DQ1 genes, and many people with double DQ1 are intolerant to so much. We also are more likely to have neuropathies, which I also have. I have figured out my intolerance's over time, by trial and error. I finally am at a place where my tummy is usually doing ok.

It's a mindset, you have to decide to make the best of things, as they are.