Kickas.org Forums Treatments, Drugs and Alternatives NSD and diet-related; Why is my body starting to respond to more foods

Let me first say I am so greatfull to this site and the No Starch diet. Following it has allowed me to live a normal life and without any regular medicines except Pred Forte eye drops. Which is a good thing because my body hates meds almost as much as it hates starch. But as I read other testimonials about the diet after a while others seem to eat more and more varieties while I am having to cut out more and more as the years go by. I don't eat anything that test positive with iodine. If I do I will flare. But I use to be able to eat any all natural yogurts, almonds with skins, walnuts and so much more. The gums like guar and xanan and locust bean at one time didn't bother me. Ground flax seed didn't bother me. However I always responded to cabbage. I could cheat every now and then and have a little banana in my smoothies. I could handle a little shaved carrot on my salads. But now all the foods I listed will cause me to flare. I tried antibiotics but got too sick and couldn't continue. I am allergic to Sulfasalazine. I experience the oddest but known to only pharmacist side effects from almost all medications. So I should be greatfull no matter how strict I need to be on the diet. But I am now 115 lbs. I don't know what that is in kg. This is still okay even though my normal weight since the diet has been 122. I was 130 years ago before the No Starch diet. When I first started I dropped down to 109 until the flare was over and I learned more food to eat. But I am concerned that eventually I will have no food left to eat. Why is this happening and what do I do? I think eggs my staple food is starting to effect me. And dairy. And forget starchy spices I use to tolerate cinnamon and pepper. Even ginger but I haven't gave that up yet. Apples left last year.

Hi 2young4this,

When I read you post I instantly think it's time to focus more on gut healing!! I would suggested finding a Functional Medicine Doctor in your area to run some in depth tests with your blood/urine/poop, to see what all you are dealing with in your unique body. You may have a parasite, other strains of bad gut bacteria, mineral deficiency, heavy metals toxicity, a food sensitivity/intolerance, etc. As there has got to be an underlying cause to why your gut is in a sense becoming more "leaky" and food sensitive. You just need to find out what is going on in your body and a functional doctor can then outline the best tools and treatments, which often includes specific supplements your body needs based on testing, probiotics, digestive enzymes, and maybe some diet/food modification (if there is a certain food in your diet you have developed intolerances too contributing to the leaky gut), you can use to overcome these things. I honestly think once you get to the bottom of it, you will start feeling better and healing again!

And you can try incorporating some new probiotics into your diet. I have used both Perscript Assist and Megaspore Probiotics, and while can't say I have noticed direct benefit to these, as I did not have any noticeable differences before/after taking them, I do still believe they are likely helping me, as my gut couldn't be happier these days. I take them once a week, but I would start off daily if I was trying to overcome gut issues. I have also found taking a 5 drops of oregano oil in a little water when I feel a flare up coming on helps knock out the bad gut bugs, but I urge serious CAUTION to using oregano oil too much, as it is very powerful and can contribute to worse GI systems by overuse and killing off the good gut bugs as well if used too much. I approach gut health with the main focus on building up and nurturing a strong army of gut bacteria, rather than focusing too much on just the killing of the bad gut bacteria. Basically like growing a healthy garden by adding the right organic compost and soil, rather than trying to grow a garden by putting all the focus on spraying everything with nasty chemicals and pesticides.

It's been over 4 years of dedicated super low starch eating for me, and I am continuing to add more and more ingredients and foods into my diet, many of which were ones I did not tolerate in the beginning, like I now do awesome with goat and sheep cheeses, goat yogurt, spaghetti squash, all apples, unripe fruits, pumpkin seeds, etc are are now staples in my diet even though I did not tolerate them early on. I am also becoming less sensitive to nightshades, though do my best to really limit those.

I also incorporate probiotics into my diet everyday in the form of Jun Tea (see recipe on my website), goat milk kefir ice cream (recipe on my site), I eat goat/sheep cheeses that are also cultured, fermented veggies and sauerkraut.

I think once you identify the main culprit causing the leaky gut issues, you will be back to healing and feeling awesome again! Also stress can contribute to leaky gut, so if you had any big changes in your life recently that are causing you stress, that may be a contributing factor also.

I hope you are feeling better soon!

Hi 2young4this,

I can relate to your situation.
I've been on the diet since 2007 but like you have gradually found that the variety of foods I can tolerate has shrunk over time - not increased like nearly every one else finds.

I've found that my safest food is seafood.
These days I've cut back on muscle meats and instead substituted organs meats like lambs fry (sheep liver) or ox liver. Ox liver is good because it is high in iron, and I know that I would quickly develop Fe-deficiency anaemia without it.

The problem with removing fatty cuts of muscle meat is that I've lost even more weight and now even I think I'm too thin, whereas in the past I never felt that way.

Regards David

I also have found similar issues. less and less food I can tolerate. I know I do have a problem with leaky gut and also possible small intestinal overgrowth as well as a history of lyme. With the help of my functional GI doc we have tried addressing these but I still struggle. I do take L glutamine for the gut but probiotics have cause some issues.

Interestingly enough my first year on NSD I dropped 30 pounds. Now I find I have gained back about 10. Not sure why and for me I was happy with the extra 10 gone. I eat a decent amount of protein but I would not say a ton. For veggies I eat spinach, cucumbers, toms, radishes and now thanks to Andrea's new recipe, golden beets. I usually have eggs in the morning and treats made with almond flour, lara bars, homemmade icecream, almond butter serve as snacks and fillers.

Thank you for your tips? Are the prebiotic and supplements you take starch free? How do I find a functional doctor? What do I look for? I will check out your website tonight. I respond to so many things in different ways. Like tart cherry juice gives me headaches even though it's amazing on relieving the inflammation. I have had vitamins that are starch and all bad stuff free still cause me to flare. I am sure I am deficient though my blood test come back normal on the low end. Except vitamin D is always below.

Hi David, sorry you have been through a similar journey. Thank you for letting me know I am not alone. I will try adding the organ meats. I hope you feel better also. And yes seafood is still safe with me also but can get costly.

Thank you lulu12 for letting me know I am not the only one. I tried L glutamine but it gave me headaches real bad. I am still eating eggs in the morning even though I am getting suspicious of my tolerance to them. When I have time I make treats with almond or coconut flour. I don't trust lara bars as I am not sure if the almonds in them contain the skin and if the apples in them would cause me to flare as apples do. I can still have Haagen Dazs vanilla ice cream. I think but all dairy is seeming suspect now too. I need to do another elimination diet to see but I would be too hungry. And I dont want to get any smaller. I just had to fold and sew all my bra bands tighter. They were 34s I guess I made them 32s.

Haagen Dazs icecream? Yikes, I would be sick for sure with all that sugar and dairy in it.

I have very low sugar since I left complex carbs behind. I tried cutting sugars but I couldn't work or drive with out the dizzy spells and lighthead. I would have to try one day if I ever have a month that I don't have to go to work. Haagen Dazs has all real ingredients. I do eat a lot of sugars. I use to eat a lot of dairy. I really feel like what can I eat. And sugar could be hurting my gut even if it isn't directly causing me to flare but I have been lightly hypoglycemic for years now. My body acts as if it needs the sugars. And I eat all types of sugars. White, brown, maple, honey, molasses, fruit, depending on what I'm baking or cooking or eating. Though these days I don't eat anything with added sugar. I don't bake much. My diet is eggs and spinach for breakfast. 8oz fruit and veggie smoothie with magnesium and L-lysine for snack. Chicken, spinach, onions, mushrooms for lunch. No dinner. And water all day. I can't eat much more my stomach hurts and takes all evening to digest the 2 meals. And I am constipated all the time the way I was years ago before NS diet.

I started to supplement with probiotics my 2nd year on diet, I think that has helped me, I have been able to bring a few more things into my diet including some dairy, almonds, cashews, pistachios...

I also do apple fast on occasion that I believe has helped me with gut healing as well.

My plan vs AS is basically the diet, sauerkraut and apple fasts.

Regards

Tim