My GERD has been more manageable the past week. I have been drinking tea, eating chocolate, and went off my GERD Elimination diet on Saturday, apparently with good results. I don't have an explanation, but I did notice by avoiding triggers for a few days, it allows me to then eat those triggers without penalty. (Or, immediate penalty. Hmmm.) Does anyone else notice this?
Here is our Tuesday night dinner -- roasted delicata squash (just slice, scoop out seeds, brush with olive oil, roast at 400 til soft), black beans (Cayuga organic beans that I soaked for 2 hours, boiled for 1 hour, sprinkle of salt towards the end of cooking -- these freeze very well), and frozen spinach (I was wanting greens and didn't have anything fresh left -- so this is just boiled in a tiny bit of water -- that's it). That's a semolina bread hunk in the background, smeared with probably too much Earth Balance. :) I love these rolls -- they come from a NJ bakery that sells its goods at our local greenmarket.
(And, I roasted an additional squash which I can re-purpose on top of pasta, or as another side dish. I'm always thinking ahead, plotting and scheming how to eat local / fresh / home-cooked without killing myself!)
I have a few thoughts:
ReplyDeleteOn lack of immediate penalty:
Is it possible that your body has healed some during the times that you have avoided the triggers, and that re-introduction doesn't cause an immediate reaction because you've alleviated some of the chronic, ongoing irritation that prevents your body from healing?
On Earth Balance:
If you're not avoiding dairy, why on earth are you eating the chemical concoction known as Earth Balance? If my body's reaction and the ethical issues of consuming dairy were not problems for me, and I were just able to be "vegetarian," I'd be all over a humanely-and-locally-produced stick of butter in a jiffy. Or, heck: do that bread some real justice and dip it in some high-quality olive oil.
On your previous post about the "Food Elimination Diet":
I'm not entirely sure how that's different from any other elimination diet? I mean, they all ask you to stop eating a potential trigger.
Finally... I have to say that if you're suffering from a significant food reaction, then determining what the trigger is and avoiding it isn't really an issue of convenience - it's an issue of absolute necessity. The overwhelmingly negative physical response is a massive driver. Yes, sometimes this means that my meals are less than optimal because the situation dictates that I have, for example, one of three choices: One, eat a plain baked potato and a dry iceberg lettuce salad with maybe oil and vinegar; two, eat nothing; or three, eat something I shouldn't and deal with the digestive aftereffects for hours or days. I either opt for the crap meal or the nothing. Prioritize your health - screw "convenience."
Great comments and questions. Here's my quick reply re Earth Balance. I just like the stuff, and the ingredients aren't chemicals, they're real things. (Maybe you're thinking of Smart Balance, which is horrid?) Here's the ingredients for whipped Earth Balance:
ReplyDeleteExpeller-Pressed Natural Oil Blend (Soybean (Organic Ingredients), Palm Fruit (Organic Ingredients), Canola (Organic Ingredients), Olive (Organic Ingredients)), Filtered Water, Salt, Crushed Soy Beans (Organic Ingredients), Natural Flavor (Organic Ingredients) (Derived from Corn, No MSG, No Alcohol, No Gluten), Soy Lecithin (Organic Ingredients), Lactic Acid (Non-Dairy, Derived from Sugar Beets), Naturally Extracted Annatto for Color.
It's one of the few "processed" foods I eat…so "whatever." I do a fair share of olive oil / bread dipping too… ;-)
Nope - definitely thinking of Earth Balance. I'll use it in baking where butter is required and not able to be substituted by something like sunflower oil, walnut oil, or olive oil, but it's often an item of last resort.
ReplyDeleteThink about the advice to avoid fats that are solid at room temperature... how do you think they get oil and water to stand up like that? Better living through chemistry..! ;-)