# Food intolerance, Hunter's exclusion diet



## Tina Carioca (Jan 29, 2011)

Hi everybody,I'm new to this group and I've just spent 2 hours reading posts, this is a great page, a great group and I'm really happy to have found a community with so many people willing to help others. I think it's easier if I start with the beginning. I used to have a very bad acidity problem, which included gastritis in the stomach and also other things such as bad breath, mouth ulcers, bad skin and at least 2 urinary infections a year (for more than 10 years). I managed to reverse the situation with changing my diet and today I can say that THIS problem is pretty much solved: I haven't had a single mouth ulcer or u. infection in over five years. I also noticed it made a huge difference on something else: I stopped having a bloated stomach, felt less tired and had less gases, and suddenly I stopped having diarrhea in the mornings and constipation in the afternoon (which until then I thought was something normal that everyone in the world suffered just like me). SO I realized, once the problem seemed solved, that I probably had IBS since childhood but just never knew about it.Apart from that, I started realizing there were some foods I just simply seemed allergic to: wine (+ champagne), ginger, mint tea and, sometimes, vinegar, cured ham and strong cheese. I also developed a strong sinusitis, which seems to get worse with stress or certain foods. Whenever I take any of the above foods, I get rashes, my face flushes badly, I get drowsy and nauseated, I get pimples and bad skin and, if I decide to drink more than half a glass of wine, I get a really annoying cough and my digestion gets nuts for about a week. I had an allergy test which turned out negative. Soon afterwards, I went to a dermathologist and he told me I have bad reactions to histamine - whatever that means. So I try to avoid these foods as best as I can, but that's really not that simple, especially living in Spain. Plus, doing acupuncture against my sinusitis last year the acupuncturist told me I have a really bad liver; I have to have it properly tested, but that really scared me, since I only drink about one/two glass(es) of wine every month (and no other alcohol) and have a fairly balanced diet, with lots of vegetables and little meat.Now the thing is, it's getting worse. Sometimes I get rashes after eating and I don't even know what triggered them, and I've been having more problems with digestion lately (wind, constipation, diar. in the mornings), and sometimes I get very tired after eating, especially after lunch. I get the feeling this is absolutely not under control, so after a long time trying to avoid it I finally made up my mind and am taking the exclusion diet, as proposed by J. Hunter in "Solve your food intolerance" (I'm on the third day today).But I'm doing all of this on my own so I've got loads of questions: Am I doing the right thing? Should I stop? Is there another diet I can try? Or is there an easier solution, a test I can take?? Does anybody know someone in Madrid who can help me? I've been eating a lot of rice and lentils (red lentils) the last few days, but also fruit, salad, chicken. But I've been constipated, my nose is blocked and I can feel my face getting hot and blushing after meals. Is this normal? Will it pass, or should I change the diet? Should I stop eating lentils?And then there are instructions which I don't know how to follow: First of all, when it says you should not drink tap water, does that mean avoiding to cook with it, too? I've read the posts here on water quality and I think this is something to consider, but, on the other hand, I've never felt water makes me feel bad... Then there are things I don't quite get, like: I should not eat yeast in the first two weeks plus, but I can eat soy yoghurt? Doesn't any yoghurt contain yeast? What about baking powder? Does that count as yeast or not? And I'm not supposed to eat baked beans, but can I have white beans?I am really, really sorry this post is so long, but I didn't know what to cut out or where to split it. Thanks a lot in advance for any help or answer!!


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## Kathleen M. (Nov 16, 1999)

Yogurt typically contains bacteria, not yeast.Baking powder is a chemical reaction for making things rise, no yeast in it.Baked beans usually have a bunch of sugar and other things in it that plain white beans would not have.Chinese medicine having a problem in an organ system (like liver which is the liver and gall bladder as well as a number of tissues, a couple of energy meridians and other things the liver system controls) doesn't mean you have a disease with it as we understand disease in the west, so may not be what you are thinking (like liver damage from drinking).Not sure about which diet to try or what your symptoms after eating really mean.


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## ziggy7 (Oct 24, 2009)

this link has my safe foods scroll down at it till you see my post.http://www.ibsgroup.org/forums/index.php?/topic/128769-feeling-alone/do not eat soy it is very toxic stuff.follow my safe foods and also try doing the atkins diet. i have a feeling that you are just not eating enough fat in your diet. you know there is 2 main metabolisms a glucose burning metabolism and a fat burning metabolism. your body can't run off protein. you will get very sick if it's forced to run off protein for any amount of time.also when you drink wine you are temporary an alcohal burning metabolism.eat the non starchy vegeables and eat lots of chicken eggs and unsalted butter that sounds like it would be good foods for you. also here is a few weblinks that may help you.http://www.westonaprice.org/http://www.biblelife.org/bowel.htmhttp://www.atkinsdietbulletinboard.com/forums/atkins-low-carb-dieting-faqs/6781-what-foods-can-eaten-induction.htmlhttp://www.atkinsdietbulletinboard.com/forums/atkins-low-carb-dieting-faqs/hope it helps


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## Tina Carioca (Jan 29, 2011)

Hi Kathleen and Ziggy,Thanks a lot for answering! My main symptoms are: I feel nauseated, flush, feel very drowsy. I'm not sure if that's really related to IBS but everytime I look for information on that I end up on IBS forums and IBS pages.Thanks for the help on beans, yoghurt and chemical baking powder. I think I see things clearer now.As to the Atkinson diet, Ziggy: thanks, but I feel whenever I eat too much protein I feel worse... I need my carbs, and I eat fish or meat about every 2-3 days. But I'll check out your safe foods and the links you sent me! :-D


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## ziggy7 (Oct 24, 2009)

glad i could be of help also atkins is a high fat, medium protein, low carb diet. so you don't need to eat alot of protein.my diet is generally around 74% fat, 24% protein, 2% carbohydrates. and atkins induction on avrage is around 65% fat, 30% protein, 5% carbohydrates. it sounds hard but it's actually quite easy. a chicken egg is 61% fat.and if you do decide to give up your carbs and eat low carb atkins like then you should know that there will be alot of processes your body will go through all at once. the switching to a fat burning metabolism. the entering of ketosis. the requireing of your muscles to adapt to low carb. so with all that happening they nick name it the 14 day induction flu when ever someone starts the atkins diet. so ya it's normal to feel sick after giveing up carbs till your body has time to complete the changes. heres a link about it too xDhttp://www.biblelife.org/ketosis.htm


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## em_t (Jun 8, 2010)

Hi Tina,I remember reading in John Hunter's other book Irritable Bowel Solutions that sometimes people feel worse during the first 3-7 days of an elimiination diet so hang on in there, it might just mean it is working. Of course if you persevere for 2 weeks and you still feel miserable then I can't really see any point in continuing. If you're constipated make sure you're eating enough insoluble fibre, usually thought of in things like brown bread (which I assume you're not eating) but also brown rice, so if you're able to eat this maybe include it too. I always find fruits with pips in them particularly good for constipation good too, kiwis and raspberries in particular.Good luck on you diet and hope you feel a bit better soonEm


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