“So what can you even eat then?”

I fucking hate this question. 😂

What I eat depends on my current symptoms, where I am in my menstrual cycle, and what triggers I’ve recently been exposed to.

My “avoid” list of foods is super long and complicated, so it’s easier to list the foods I can eat.

• Low histamine meat (fresh chicken, fresh cod, but sometimes I’ll eat steak or ground beef.)
• Low histamine dairy (butter, milk, cottage cheese, cream cheese, sour cream, and vanilla ice cream.) I can have small amounts of yogurt or kefir and shredded cheese when not in a flare.
• Eggs, chickpeas, and black beans when not in a flare.
• Gluten-free grains (rice, oats, quinoa.)
• Peeled apples and pears. Sometimes oranges or green grapes, but not if I’m in a flare.
• Peeled white potatoes, peeled and cooked carrots, peas, celery, corn, brussels sprouts, broccoli, cabbage, iceberg lettuce, asparagus, onion, garlic, and leeks.
• Sunflower and sesame seeds. Very small amounts of flax seeds. Very small amounts of nuts or nut butters when not in a flare. (I can handle some peanuts, cashews, hazelnuts, and pecans.) Sometimes I have vanilla cashew milk if I’m not in a flare.
• Parsley, chives, salt, garlic and onion powder. I can handle the tiniest dash of coriander, cumin, or paprika if it’s added to a recipe that serves 4 people, but not during a flare.
• Broth when not in a flare, but it can’t have poultry seasonings added to it.
• Maple syrup, vanilla, oil, sugar, starches, baking soda/powder, gluten-free flours
• Potato chips, corn chips, rice crackers, gluten-free crackers, popcorn – but only if there’s no seasoning or flavouring other than salt. I cannot eat microwave popcorn.

My Safe Meal

If I am in a painful flare, I only eat fresh chicken breast, white rice, peeled and cooked carrots, peeled and cooked apples, maple syrup, salt, and canola oil. I call this my safe meal. I’ll eat like this for a day or two, and then start slowly reintroducing other foods from the safe list.

Fasting

I cannot fast for long periods of time. My neurodivergent brain requires a schedule, and I feel very dysregulated when I don’t eat and don’t follow my schedule. My gut requires steady nutrition to heal the damage caused by celiac disease, plus I take multiple supplements that are best absorbed when taken with food. Fasting can be useful when symptoms become too bothersome, but I usually try my safe meal for a couple days first to see if that helps before I try fasting.