Friday, September 2, 2011

wellness and food, part 3

Here is the last installment of "food my brother made." :)
(It's true, I am a proud big sister.)

In all seriousness, Sean's visit couldn't have come at a better time. For the past 3 weeks, I have been doing the elimination diet, trying to figure out if I have any food allergies or intolerances.
Sean's meals have been a welcome (and delicious) change to the dishes I was preparing day after day.

What I have discovered on this diet so far is that I don't seem to have any major food intolerances (knock on wood) but that my body is particularly sensitive to acidic foods and beverages, and that I feel my very best staying on a primarily alkaline diet. I pretty much already knew that, but it's been interesting to have it re-confirmed during this process. For example, I have cheated on the diet a few times. With my brother's visit and lots of late night talks, I re-introduced wine earlier than I should have. While I felt fine at first, I felt like hell after a couple nights of drinking. Same goes for decaf coffee-- I can tolerate it without a problem if my eating has been really clean and non-acidic, but if I do it every day, my stomach starts burning.

Since I love wine and coffee, I don't plan on eliminating them from my life completely. But I can see how I need to be extra vigilant about the rest of my diet if I want to enjoy them.

I still haven't re-introduced dairy, gluten or sugar which are huge contributors to inflammation and acid in the body, so we'll see how I feel when I eat them again. I have a feeling it's going to be on a very limited basis. I am okay with that, though....there are so many great alternatives!

Oh, before I forget, Sean just started a blog where he'll be sharing some of the recipes I have been talking about. You can see that here.

Anyway, here is what we had last night....

salmon ceviche with avocado
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zucchini "pasta" with kalamatas and tomatoes three ways (sundried, roasted & fresh)
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coconut milk custard with cardamom
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raw corn salad with toasted cashews
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3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Amazing! Beautiful photography as always and I love hearing about your life
Ashley DeLatour

Vera said...

Looking forward to reading up on the links you posted. Thanks for sharing :)

Janet K said...

Beautiful photos...and the food looks great. I will have to check out the link you posted....I am finding certain foods definately irritate my body...though I am not "allergic"...all of the photos you posted look delicious!!!