This is the beginning of the food part…

I mentioned in my first blog post that my relationship with food was to change “FOREVER” and this blog post is self-explanatory as to why. I have generally always had a healthy lifestyle, I eat a lot of fruit and vegetables, and I try where possible to get my “five a day”. I drink two litres of water per day and exercise at least three times a week (a mix of stretch, strength and cardio). However, risk factors that probably worsened my condition included eating my fair share of junk food and occasionally indulging in a few glasses of red wine…ok fine, a few bottles! Red wine contains polyphenols, they’re good for you, but you actually need to keep it to a maximum of 1 glass a day, and don’t drink and drive…I digress!

I am eager to share with you everything I have learned about food in the last three months. If you are like me, struggling with gastric issues or you generally just want to get healthier then you might learn something that will help you and it might save you a lot of stomach and research pain.

Part 1: Foods I have eliminated or reduced from my diet and why:

Foods I have completely eliminated from my diet

Fruit juice:

Drinking fruit juice is like drinking a straight shot of sugar. This bad for your body because it causes your insulin levels to rise really fast. It is particularly dangerous if you are diabetic. Our bodies are not made to absorb sugar this way. Additionally, it makes my acid reflux flare up so quickly.

Carbonated drinks:

These drinks are sugar, sugar, sugar and acid…That and my doctor told me that anything that goes “ttttssssss”, when you open the bottle is off limits. Yes, he literally said that!

Foods I completely eliminated and started to add back to my diet slowly

Gluten (wheat, rye and barley):

Most people live with gluten intolerance and don’t know it. The problem is that if you are intolerant, it can irritate your stomach and cause hidden inflammation. For someone with my condition especially, any inflammation can be the difference between a quick or long and drawn out recovery process. Since I am not able to get a gluten tolerance test, I preferred to err on the side of caution.

Lactose:

As an adult your body does not really need lactose. Additionally, if you have lactose intolerance, hidden inflammations (same as point above about gluten). It’s not worth it, put the milk down, save it for the children. I find milk substitutes “coconut, soy and almond milk” equally delicious and healthier. I however, still eat soft cheese every once in a while.

What could help you is to keep a food diary and just write down everything you eat. When you start to add lactose and gluten back to your diet, take note of any changes your body might experience. This is how I found out that oats make me really bloated.

Tips: do not add both of these back to your diet at the same time. Give it a difference of atleast one week. This way you will be able to determine which one affects you.

Foods I have greatly reduced from my diet:

Acidic foods (citrus fruits; oranges, grapefruit, pineapple, tomato and tomato sauces, most foods that give you that sour taste in your mouth):

My stomach is sensitive to acid, I have to take an anti-acid after almost every meal. I had to reduce my acid intake to avoid further corroding my gastrointestinal (GI) track. If you are a healthy person reading this blog do not cut out “whole citrus fruits or tomato” from your diet, you may want to avoid fruit juices but whole fruits are great for you, get that vitamin C!

Refined foods:

Processed foods that have some components removed or added to make them “taste better”, look better or have a longer shelf-life. The fact is that most of the nutrients and fibre are removed and these foods contribute virtually NOTHING but empty calories to your diet. Examples of refined foods include sugar and white flour, potato crisps, biscuits, carbonated soft drink, the list is endless. I still enjoy the odd biscuit and crisps here and there, but prefer to snack on whole fruits and raw nuts these days.

Preservatives:

Preservatives make you food last for a longer time. I am trying to stick to whole and natural foods and these were not made to last forever. Basically what I am saying is, if you are eating whole foods, you will eat less preservatives as these are commonly found in processed, refined and packages foods.

Alcohol:

From my internet research, the arguments I have read about whether or not alcohol has an effect on gastrointestinal health are so far inconclusive. However, I know that drinking alcohol does make my symptoms worse and I have the acid-reflux to prove it! Most doctors will recommend you completely stop taking alcohol for a certain period to speed up your healing process or to significantly reduce your consumption. Which is good advice for all of us generally.

Foods I cried about when I was told to reduce them from my diet

Beans:

I love beans, beans are amazing, a most marvellous creation if I ever saw one! Beans are high in protein, iron, folate, fibre and they give you gaaaaaasss, you guys, gas for days. At this point my stomach cannot handle that. So, no beans for me. But you should eat your beans for every meal, on my behalf, please. Unless you have ulcers, don’t eat beans if you have ulcers!

Sweet potato and cassava:

I have no idea why? The cassava I don’t mind, I am not a big fan anyway. My beloved sweet potato however, I miss so much! I haven’t had a single bite since March☹. . The doc said no sweet potato but online I can’t find any reason why. If anyone knows please educate a sister! I will experiment with adding it back to my diet sometime soon.

Other foods you should consider reducing from your diet:

• Caffeinated drinks; caffeine may aggravate your symptoms
• Chocolate; contains lots of sugar and caffeine
• Spicy foods; may irritate your stomach lining
• Muesli; the doctor said, and I am paraphrasing here “unless you are chewing that stuff really, really well, all those lovely, pointy grain husks in your cereal may stick you right in the ulcer”. I go for soft oat porridge with mixed seeds instead.

Please read this:

completely cutting certain foods out of your diet (lactose and gluten for example) for a prolonged period of time, could cause you to develop an intolerance to them, that is if you aren’t already. Do not completely cut certain foods out of your diet, unless this is recommended by your doctor or if you can live with not eating those foods for the rest of your life.