chewy, how is the elimination diet?

[Anne]

chewy, how is it going with the elimination diet? I'm thinking of trying it in January (after the holiday uproar) to eliminate some last minor skin issues. What is your typical meal? Does the monotony make you eat less? I read the instructions, but it's hard to imagine the actual meals.

Are you using rice as your base?

I hope you've been happily free of scary symptoms!

[Burgess Laughlin]

chewy, how is it going with the elimination diet? I'm thinking of trying it in January [...] I read the instructions, but it's hard to imagine the actual meals.

Imagine simple. That is what got me through months of Elimination Diet experiments.

Every meal has three parts: Starch, Vegetable, Fruit.

Pick one or more items from the acceptable-food list for each category of starch, vegetable, and fruit. It is really that simple.

What makes the elimination diet seem complicated is trying to design complex recipes that use only those ingredients on the approved list. I abanoned the recipe approach (except for a few of the McDougall recipes that fit perfectly) and resorted to the rule of eat elementally -- in other words, eat the original foods themselves wherever possible.

A sample meal: frozen winter squash, as the starch; frozen or canned or fresh (steamed) green beans, as the vegetable; and plums as the fruit.

Another sample: canned pumpkin; canned, fresh, or frozen spinach; and canned, frozen, or fresh peaches.

Remember, you aren't limited in the amount you eat. Joke: You can compensate for the blandness by eating more of it!

(That reminds me of that old Woody Allen joke about upstate New York resort food: "It was too salty, too greasy, and it was served cold -- and there wasn't enough of it!")

[Anne]

It is the lack of spices and sauces that scares me. Try as I might, I have never developed that taste for plain vegetables. But if I want to see if dietary tweaking will rid me of the last remnants of psoriasis, I'll have to do that.

I'm planning on squash and sweet potatoes as my base, so your meal descriptions are right on - thanks!

[Burgess Laughlin]

It is the lack of spices and sauces that scares me. Try as I might, I have never developed that taste for plain vegetables.

A solution to this problem is to make your favorite spice be the first "food" you test in the re-introduction phase. You could test one spice per week. At the end of the first four weeks, you would have four spices. That should make a difference.

BTW, when I say "spice" I mean flavoring of some sort. Flavorings come from:
- Leaves: basil, for example.
- Roots: turmeric, for example.
- Bark: cinnamon, for example.
- Seeds: black pepper, for example.

If you have inflammation problems, I would suggest postponing any test of seed-based flavorings until the last. They are the ones I suspect most, as I explained on my website page (see second URL under my signature).

[Anne]

I really appreciate all the time you take to help us on this board. Your page on "itis" is great - a complete compilation.

Almost all of my inflammation problems are taken care of on the standard McDougall program - IBS symptoms disappeared, a dramatic decrease in psoriasis and my mild arthritis/tendonitis symptoms went away entirely. However, I'm aware that the problems I've had ARE inflammatory in nature, so I am trying to deal with that predisposition before something else starts up.

I'll definitely try a non-seed spice first...perhaps garlic, that should be powerful enough to flavor bland foods for a few weeks!

Thanks!

[Donna R]

Anne, I have some stubborn patches of psoriasis on my knees, which are better. I'm treating them topically with OTC coal tar and cortisone cream. I've eliminated some things from my diet thinking they might be too acid-producing--such as oat bran muffins and most nuts. I don't eat bread but do somethings have crackers. and I don't know about potatoes, since many sources say not to eat nightshades. however, a baked potato makes a good base for a meal. what's your experience with potatoes and psoriasis?

[Anne]

I tried six months without nightshades (pre-McDougall) and actually flared badly. I have some suspicion of potatoes for tummy problems and will be treating them as one of the introduced foods, but they don't seem to affect the psoriasis. If anything, tomatoes make my skin better. I hate eggplant, so I don't know if it would bother me.

These days, I only have psoriasis in small patches on my elbows and knees. It may just be something that will clear when I finally get down to normal weight, in which case I will just have to be patient for a few more months.

Dovonex (the prescription vitamin D analogue) has done wonders for me, and I also take turmeric supplements - I'm not normally into herbal supplements, but turmeric really seems to help and I can't bear to eat it every day.

I can actually live happily with the level of psoriasis I have now. I've had psoriasis since birth and have been up to 30% coverage - for all practical purposes, I'm cured. Just tinkering...

[Donna R]

Anne, so happy you don't have much psoriasis now! I never have it as bad as I did before I stopped dairy and eggs 10 years ago. (going veg was 20 years ago.) but my knees got really bad and once it's there it seems to want to stay, lol! I have cleared it before by stopping coffee but that doesn't seem to do the job now. though I do have coffee--maybe one cup once a month) and I use one teabag of regular tea a day then switch to decaf for iced tea. I think taking flax oil is helping. I've been taking some tumeric in the oil so will continue doing that. my biggest concern is I'm sure the problem with my finger (which I banged on the microwave and now it's been swollen for about 3 months) is psoriatic arthritis. now THAT"S something I sure would like to cure and not have any more of! so I'm hoping that what will help the psoriasis will also help the arthritis.

about what you wrote, I agree and will continue eating potatoes.