Can I eat that?

(List below was given to me in June 2010, click here for current list, as of 2014)

NO:
-Caffeine
-Alcohol
-Anything containing yeast
-Breads- cereal, cake, rolls, pretzels, pastries, cookies, sweets, pizza
-B-complex vitamins or selenium (unless labeled Vegetarian and "yeast-free")
-Vinegar- mustard, salad dressing, pickles, BBQ sauce, mayo, olives
-Commercially prepared or processed food- soup, dried nuts/fruit, chips, cider, soy sauce, root beer or sauerkraut
-Pickled, smoked or dried meat
-Pork or Beef
-ALL cheese or milk product (except one serving yogurt or cottage cheese at designated time)
-Mushrooms
-Tempeh
-Tamari and Miso
-Peanuts, pecans, or pistachios
-Malt or chocolate
-Canned/prepared tomatoes (fresh ok)
-Sugar- honey, syrup, brown sugar, fruit juice, processed, high fructose corn syrup
-High glycemic index foods
-Spices
-Citrus
-Tofu or soy products (including edamame)
-Figs, prunes, dates, raisins
-Artificial colors or flavors
-Anything processed, frozen or canned (unless DR approved)

NO, for now:
-Barley
-Spelt
-Whole wheat
-Fruit (except for one serving of aproved fruits when blood sugar is low)
-Fresh coconut
-Couscous
-Walnut and cashews

***EDIT: Bolded items above now on yes list as of 2012!***

YES:
-Fresh/steamed vegs:cabbage, kholrabi, brussel sprouts, brocoli, cauliflower, broc sprouts, onions, kale, garlic, beets, artichokes, red/green vegs, leafy vegs, corn, fresh tomatos, rutabegas, avacado, celeriac, snow peas, chives, collards, turnip, squash, dandelion, wax beans, green beans, eggplant, zucchini, kohlrabi, leeks, okra, spinich, cucumber, lettuce, watercress, romaneesco, ginger, endive, fennel, asparagus, bok choy, arugula, celery, chard, pepper, mustard greens, radish, sweet potatoes(sparingly)
-Fresh/free-range/organic/lean protein-chicken, turkey, egg white, fish once/wk
-Herbs(fresh, organic)- basil, mint, cilantro, chervil, dill, parsley, rosemary, tarragon
-Shitake or maitake mushrooms (not recommended)
-Raw lacto-fermented pickles (Bubbies)
-Beans- yellow & green peas, lentils, kidney, pinto, mung, garbanzo (chickpeas), adzuki, red, lima
-Complex carbs (15g/meal, 50g/day max)-buckwheat, millet, quinoa, whole grain oatmeal
-Rice- brown, rice cakes(DR approved), rice crackers(DR approved), rice pasta(sparingly), rice milk(sparingly)
-Unprocessed nuts & seeds- flax, pumpkin, sesame, sunflower (butter, too), almonds (butter, too)
-Unrefined oils- olive, sesame, safflower, corn(try to stay away)
-Fruit- banana(sparingly), lemon, lime, black currents, cranberries
-Coconut oil- organic, unsweetened
-Stevia sweetener(sparingly)
**Additions to YES as of 2011**

*Approximately 70% of my "approved foods" I have never tried, or even heard of.

"A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step."

In February, I went skiing for the first time and rode down the bunny slope on my face(I'll tell you that story another time), enduring second degree ice-burn on my nose.



Then, got a bacterial infection in the wound and was given antibiotics.



However, as a result of having been prescribed too many antibiotics over the years, they weren't working. In the meantime, my nose kept getting sunburned and progressively more infected.



I was prescribed a very heavy dose of antibiotics and it started clearing up(or I thought it was).

Then, I contracted Chronic Mucocutaneous Candidiasis in my nose wound and on my hands and feet.





Apparently those heavy antibiotics were wiping out my immune system and all the probiotics in my intestines. Let's also mention here that I have IBS. As a result of that, and having basically no probiotics in my intestines, the Candidiasis spread to my GI tract where it turned into Candida Albicans. (You still following this?)

Then (yup, there’s more), apparently I have leak-gut due to my weakened immune system and IBS, so the infection spread to my blood, becoming a Systemic Candidiasis. Once the infection was in my blood is spread rapidly to all my organs. This includes EVERY cell of my body: skin, eyes, lungs, heart, brain, liver, kidneys, etc., etc. (Wait, there’s more) THEN, I got Aspergillus fumigatus.

By that point, in early May, I was horribly sick, but they couldn’t figure out what was going on and since I don’t have insurance I was reluctant to let them perform all the tests they wanted to…then, things got pretty scary and ugly(I’ll spare the gross details here, but feel free to ask me).

I had no choice but to agree to the tests and by the end of May they finally figured out what I have, much to the doctors’ surprise. Apparently only people with HIV, HPV or cancer and premature infants contract Aspergillosis (none of which apply to me).

(Wait, there’s more) On top of having Aspergillosis, it turns out I am also Hypoglycemic (yay, go me!) The problem with having both these conditions is that Aspergillosis feeds on sugar, so, in order to kill the fungus, I have to eliminate sugar from my body, however, due to my Hypoglycemia, my body NEEDS the sugar (cue the violins).

Apparently the chance of all these factors aligning for me to be in the position I’m in is one in a trillion, thus confirming just how special I truly am.

So, in addition to all my medications, being overwhelmingly exhausted, and in quite a bit of physical pain, I am now on a very regimented, restricted and monitored diet which excludes gluten, dairy, sugar(except for one serving of fruit if my blood sugar is low), anything processed, most things cooked, most carbs(I can have up to 50g a day-but only 15g at a time- 50g is equivelant to a tortilla, in case you were wondering) and basically everything that I normally eat.

Honestly, changing my diet has been the hardest part of this entire process, and I'm barely a month into it. I’m starting this blog to document my journey through this whole new way of eating. So I’m raising a glass of herbal tea(I hate tea, btw) to this new endeavor. Cheers.