Dietary Restrictions++

[rax]

After some experimentation, I'm 99% sure I have a sensitivity to nightshades and should mostly not be eating them. I'm still working on figuring out if I can have small amounts of them, and whether I have a broad sensitivity or a more narrow one. (Tomatoes and bell peppers are almost definitely no; eggplant and potato are less clear.) For now I'm avoiding all of them, although in another week or two I'm going to add back hot pepper and see if I can still eat spicy things. (God, I hope so.) People have offered their condolences but all I can do is laugh; every time I think about it I am so relieved about two things:

• It wasn't gluten.
• It wasn't soy.

Gluten-free and soy-free vegan are doable, but very very hard. Nightshade-free vegan is just annoying, especially as it's a sensitivity (nasty digestive effects) and not an allergy (anaphylactic shock) and so if I screw up it's not DEATH, just bleaugh. Unfortunately I think I may have crossed that dark threshhold into "Seriously, don't bother trying to bring me to a restaurant." Luckily I don't much care, as I still haven't eaten a meal at a restaurant in town since moving to Bloomington, and mostly because I've enjoyed making my own food. (If, say, Mary's were here, I would have gone a couple of times...)

So, uh, please don't slip tomatoes into my food, and this shouldn't be a problem. :) If I develop something else on top of this, then we could be in danger territory. But for now, hooray! Still tons of things I can eat.

Comments

[eirl.livejournal.com]

For what it's worth, restaurants should be doable with some effort. I am quite sensitive to all things in the red pepper family (including bell pepper) and am able to eat out while avoiding them if I choose my restaurants carefully. I could even, until recently, still eat some Mexican and some Italian-- recently it looks like I've developed a problem with some kind of starch, though, potentially gluten. Anyhow, I haven't tried restricting tomatoes as well, but that should not be a great additional burden beyond the restrictions I already have. Eating out should still be possible. We can talk about it sometime if you want and I can give you tips.

I find it an interesting coincidence that we're both having this problem. I've never been clear whether I have a problem with the whole nightshade family or with just the red pepper family. Anyhow, makes you wonder if environmental triggers can cause issues like this.

[eirl.livejournal.com]

Oh-- Sorry, I'm an idiot. I just remembered you're vegan. Eating out, for me, is not too difficult with a little thought. You might be right that for you it will be impossible. Most of my strategies for eating out involve eating the plain meat dish. That won't work for you. I'm sorry I forgot this-- I know it's a big part of your identity. I'm kind of stupid this weekend because I've been pretty sick. I keep losing track of what's going on. Sorry about that.

Also very sorry for your discovery about nightshades. Sounds like a big frustration for you given your food preferences. I hope you discover plenty of ways to deal with it. Unfortunately it sounds like my experiences won't be too helpful to you since our preferences for diet are so different, now that I think about it. But it looks like you have other people on your friends list with experience with this sensitivity, so I am glad to see you have resources.

[rax.livejournal.com]

If any of your tricks don't involve meat, I'm still curious. :) But yeah, the vegan thing's pretty big, and I hope you feel better!