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** Images For Use By Upgraded+ Only ** Hi, I'm Elle. I'm based in Auckland, New Zealand. I'm the mother of two young adults, the wife of an entrepreneurial gamer and the Queen of Unfinished Projects. This blog will contain poems, short stories, possibly photos and book reviews if you're lucky, and my thoughts on a variety of topics. Hope you enjoy it. |
Transformation. ~ "30-Day Blogging Challenge ON HIATUS"  A couple of weeks ago, I sent away hair samples from myself, Steve, Jayden and Caitie, to have us tested for food intolerances. I got the results back last night. Super interesting. I was a little skeptical, because the tests weren't expensive. I thought the key would be if the things we already knew about turned up on the tests, right? If they didn't turn up, the results were obviously bogus. Things we knew beforehand: - Steve is intolerant to cow's milk. He can tolerate goats milk though, so it's specifically cow's milk. - I'm allergic to penicillin - There's something in the UK that gives me an allergic reaction, possibly a grass or flower pollen. Current symptoms: - Steve has rashes but we already know these are triggered by cow's milk, although they have never gone away completely even when he's dairy-free. - I have headaches and migraines. - I have stomach pains sometimes that the doctors can't pinpoint a cause for. - Jayden has major stomach issues (the reason we got the tests done in the first place). Steve's test results Food intolerances:  Anchovy Basil Bay Leaf Blueberry Buckwheat Carambola / star fruit. Chickpea Chicory ;ettuce Cumin E 151 Brilliant black BN, black PN E 163 Anthocyanins E 440 Pectin, amidated pectin Garlic Jasmine tea Lactose Macadamia nuts Onions Peppermint oil Spelt Brown sugar Sweet Freedom sweetener Thyme White teaNon-food intolerances: Artemisia Salina (fish food) Duck feathers Elm trees Mugwort Penicillioyl (penicillin)So, Steve's intolerance to cow's milk did show up on his test results as an intolerance to lactose. So that's a point in the test's favour. But we know that Steve is better with goat's milk, but goat's milk also has lactose in it. So.... that's a point against the test?? Lactose is also found in breast milk and we know Steve was allergic to that as a baby. But he wasn't allergic to goat's milk as a baby.  Interestingly, I Googled lactose intolerance and people who are lactose intolerant can eat hard cheeses. So there you go.Steve's results include a LOT of the things used to flavour foods. Garlic, onion, Worcestershire sauce (anchovies), basil, bay leaves, cumin and thyme. We don't use cumin and bay leaves a lot, although we do use them, but we use the others all the time. Garlic and onion are in just about every evening meal we make! Interestingly, as soon as I saw duck feathers on the list, I remembered that we used to have a duck down duvet that Steve reacted to. So that's a point in the test's favour. Elle's test results Food intolerances: Buckwheat Butter lettuce White cabbage Chamomile tea Chicken Clove E 325 Sodiumlactate (salts from lactic acid) E 460 Cellulose, microcrystalline cellulose, cellulose powder Egg white Iceberg lettuce Jasmine tea Milk Millet Olive oil Pecan nuts Pine nut Rosemary RyeNon-food intolerances: Barley Canaries Goldenrod Japanese cedar Kentucky bluegrass (also known as common, smooth meadow grass) Penicillioyl (penicillin)So my allergy to Penicillin did show up, so that's a point in favour of the test. It also came up with a few different plants for me, including a grass that is very common in the UK. The worst reaction I ever had when I was in the UK was when I was at Urquhart Castle and the groundsman was mowing the grass. That's when I first thought it was grass rather than pollen. And look, apparently I'm intolerant to 'common, smooth meadow grass'.  But let's just take a minute here. I'm intolerant to chicken and egg whites?  Those are my favourite proteins!  And I'm a really fussy eater, which some of you may know from the years I've been on WDC, but let me tell you this - the only salad greens I eat are iceberg lettuce and cabbage. I don't eat those stupid frilly leafy lettuces. Just crisp iceberg lettuce or cabbage. BOTH OF WHICH ARE ON MY LIST!  I would usually have lettuce or cabbage at least five times a week. I looooove cabbage. It's one of my favourite vegetables.  I also love pine nuts, but I don't have them often, so that' s not a major. Olive oil though - that's going to be tough! And why is olive oil on there, but not olives?? I'm pretty gutted by my results, I gotta say. Why does my body hate me?  Jayden's test results: Food intolerances: Red cabbage Cardamom Coconut oil Cornflakes Crab E 479 Thermo-oxidised soya oil Margarine Marshmallow tea Noodles Peppermint oil Rye Brown sugar White wineNon-food intolerances: Artemisia Salina (fish food) Elder Guinea pigs Japanese millet Thistle TulipHoly shitballs, Jayden's intolerant to instant noodles!  It specifies that it means 'ramen type noodles (found in ready to go noodles - Pot noodles, supernoodles)'. Not pasta, but instant noodles. Not sure what the difference is, but that's hilarious. Jayden's intolerant to instant noodles! One of his favourite convenience foods. No wonder he has a stomach ache all the time. Interesting that he has red cabbage and I have white cabbage. Margarine, eh? That's interesting too. Don't know what the fuck marshmallow tea is, but it sounds hideous. Why cornflakes and not corn? And white wine is interesting too, as we use that sometimes in cooking (e.g. in my rice risotto). Caitie's test results: Food intolerances: A-Lactalbumin (a major protein found in milk and obtained from whey. Whey protein and milks should be avoided) Barley Chicory lettuce Coconut oil Coriander Cumin E 162 Beetroot red (betanin) E 479 Thermo-oxidised soya oil E 952 Cyclamate, Cyclohexane sulphamide acid (an artificial sweetener) Margarine Poppy Seed Rabbit Red kidney bean Rosemary Sweet Freedom sweetener Brown troutNon-food intolerances: Alder Aspergillus Niger (black mould that appears on fruit, vegetables and nuts) Buttercup Fox epithelium (skin) Pigweed Spelt Stinging nettleSo Caitie is intolerant to the protein in milk and Steve is intolerant to the lactose in milk... But I'm just intolerant to milk full stop. What the fuck? I'm definitely going to be sending them some questions.She's also intolerant to margarine, same as Jayden. And barley, which rules out beer.  You know, I think between all of us we have ruled out everything we use to flavour food, except salt and pepper. Basil, bay leaves, cumin, garlic, onion, thyme, cloves, rosemary, cardamom and coriander! Holy shitballs. The test recommends you eliminate all the foods on your list for eight weeks, then slowly bring them back one by one, allowing two weeks between each reintroduced foods to check for any symptoms. Any that trigger symptoms are removed again. There's simply no way we can cook meals as a family and eliminate everything on all four of those lists. What the fuck are we going to eat? Red meat and potatoes? I'm thanking my lucky stars that I didn't have nectarines on my list. Those are my favourite fruit. And Jayden didn't have apples or tomatoes which are his favourite. Oh, I guess I should take the noodles out of the box of groceries I bought him for Christmas.  Oh, and I can still have my Sprite Zero.  Caitie can easily avoid red kidney beans, although she loves chilli. We can just use a different bean. Although obviously not chickpeas as Steve's intolerant to those. He loves hummus, so that's a bummer for him. There are definitely aspects of the results that make me think the tests are accurate. Steve's milk intolerance, my intolerance to penicillin and grass, Jayden's intolerance to noodles... But man, how can we possibly eliminate all those things? Mum suggested we start by eliminating only the things we're 90% intolerant to or more. But that doesn't actually narrow it down a lot. The test results have a red dot next to the foods that you're 95% or more intolerant to, so maybe those are the ones to worry about. Although that's still a LOT. The current plan is for me to print out the test results, and we'll sit down with the kids on the weekend and talk through them and decide what we want to do. Interestingly, these were the things that we were 100% intolerant to: Steve: Chickpea E 440 Pectin, amidated pectin SpeltElle: MilletJayden: NoodlesCaitie wasn't 100% intolerant to anything. Only time will tell how transformative these results are. They were certainly interesting though! My sister is keen to do the tests too. They have a help desk and say they'll answer all your questions, so here's what I want to ask: 1. Why does my test say 'milk' whereas Steve's says lactose and Caitie's says milk proteins. What is it about milk that I'm intolerant to? 2. How come I'm intolerant to olive oil but not olives? 3. How come Jayden is intolerant to cornflakes but not corn? 4. How do instant noodles differ from other forms of pasta? Why is Jayden not intolerant to all pasta? 5. How come Jayden is intolerant to white wine but not white grapes or red wine? |
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