Kale Wraps with Garden Veggies and Spicy Chickpeas

“You're sure this will work, right?

I mean, it's summer.  There's blood 

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and it has to make it from Iowa, all the way to Florida.”

“Feeling like Snoopy or hearts?”

“Smiley faces?”

She rooted around in her drawer of band-aids, as I taped another cold pack around the small white box holding the four vials she'd just drawn.  “Remind me again, what is this for?”

“A food sensitivity test.”

Maybe it's because I'm more in tune, but my goodness, there are so many voices out there telling us their opinions about how we should be eating.  Paleo is best, become a vegan, eat in 3's, eat only raw food, count points, eat everything (but not too much!)

What I quietly want to say is, “I'm really glad it's worked for you, but 

we're all so different.”

My introduction to the idea of personalizing one's diet came around the beginning of the year when I tried Lyn-Genet Recitas' The Plan.

Could it be .. certain foods will trigger an inflammatory response in the body?  Could it be, there's more to the story than simply calories in vs. calories out?  Could it be, even foods that fall in the “healthy” column, those with lots of nutrients, may not be healthy

for us as individuals?

Admittedly, following The Plan's elimination diet exactly to the letter proved a bit more than I could do, although I've been fascinated with, and studying the concept ever since.  Certainly, there had to be a better way to gather the same information?

One of the many things I've loved about working with Dana James is her approach.  Everything is personalized, from which supplements to take, tests that might be helpful, and which foods my body responds best to

Thought it might be fun this week to share some of the information I've learned along the way about food sensitivities, the blood test you can take instead of spending months on a strict elimination diet, as well as my results so far

(Remember, what's worked for me, may not work for you.  Also, I want to stress how very important it is to have a health care professional analyze the results with you)

What is a food sensitivity?

It's a delayed reaction to the foods we eat that happens in our gut, not in the bloodstream (like an allergy).  When we eat food our body is sensitive to, our white blood cells release mediators, and it's the mediators that cause the food sensitivity reactions (said another way, our immune system has a reaction)

Reactions vary from person to person and may be anything but obvious, although there's little doubt they can make you sick.  They may cause you to gain weight, have a runny nose, headaches, pain conditions, or a host of other unpleasantries.

(Essentially, whatever your health conditions are, inflammation will be especially noticeable in those areas)

Examples of the effects of reactive foods, from some of my classmates.  The group of fifty who tried The Plan together

One person, after eliminating lentils from her diet, noticed her migraines lessened, not only in frequency but intensity as well.  (She is a vegetarian who ate lentils every day!)

Another suffered from pretty severe joint pain.  One of her biggest food offenders?  Rice.  “I was eating it with my meals, and also baking with rice flour.  All in my noble pursuit of avoiding gluten.  Who knew?” 

Another, in the throes of menopause, noticed if she had only a few of bites of oatmeal, her hot flashes were dramatically worse (for the entire day!)

Yet another reported eating a single strawberry, with a gain of 3 pounds(!) by the next morning

Me?  I've discovered inflammation shows up like clockwork, in one of two ways.

The first, brain fog.  Within a couple of hours, I'll have a terrible time concentrating, and feel very much out of sorts.

The second, lymphoma in my left leg.  The lingering effects of a blood clot that developed and damaged a vein deep inside my leg, during recovery from a car accident 28(!) years ago.  I can tell shortly after eating a reactive food; there's noticeably more swelling, along with varying degrees of a dull ache

What's causing all of these food sensitivities?  What are some of the ways we can identify them?  What are some of the most common food offenders?  Based on the results above, am I forever banned from 30+ foods; many of which I really like?

(.. to be continued .. )

Such a fun recipe from the weekend

With the weather hot and sticky here in Iowa, and sweet neighbors who dropped off veggies and beautiful leaves of kale(!) straight from the garden.  Something light seemed in order

A plant-based version of lettuce wraps, with curly cucumber noodles.  The original recipe called for a zesty peanut sauce (I fed to my husband).  I love and used Emeril's Simple Balsamic Vinaigrette, and included it here as well

Enjoy!

xoxo

ps:  You can read more about food sensitivities in  Part II  |  Part III  of the series

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~ Adapted from Clean Eating Magazine | July/August 2015