Thursday, July 02, 2009

ALCAT test results

As I said, I received my ALCAT test results.

[I hope I don't regret making this information totally available. I'm going to assume my readers will be more interested in understanding--and will have more of a capability to understand--what the ALCAT does than they will in trying to find a way to put me in pain by feeding me foods that, at this time, I ought not to eat!]

As you can see at the bottom of the first page, when a food or substance is marked RED, it "indicates a severe intolerance . . . and these items should be avoided for a minimum of 6 months." After six months, I have now been told, I can try, gently, to reintroduce them into my diet. It is possible--especially if and as I do some other things to reduce "leaky gut" and improve certain other aspects of my health--. . . It is possible, indeed, they say, quite probable, that I will find myself free of my hypersensitivity to these foods.

"ORANGE indicates [I have] a moderate intolerance and these items should be avoided for a minimum of 3-6 months"--after which time I can attempt the same thing as mentioned above for "RED" foods.

"YELLOW indicates a mild intolerance and these foods should be avoided" for three of every four days. In other words, if I ingest any of them on one day, I need to lay off of those foods for three days, minimum, before ingesting them again.

"GREEN indicates acceptable foods/no reaction." --But, what I just found out from the nutritionist at Cell Science Systems (CSS; the people who do the ALCAT test): I still ought not to eat any of these foods more than once every other day (i.e., one day I can eat it, the next day I ought to avoid it).

Why?

"Because more frequent ingestion may lead to a sensitivity reaction in the future. You want to give your body time to clear itself of each substance."

One of the hardest things to understand is the YELLOW category.

I have found the once-every-four-days freedom most particularly important in the area of carbs. Man! I "just" get starved for them.

So how I have been attempting to use my freedom is to determine that one day will be a potato day [notice that white potatoes are in the yellow column]. The next day may be a rice day [a "green" food!] Then, maybe, I'll have a corn day [yellow column]. The day after could be a gluten day [notice the second blue box down, down toward the bottom of the left-hand side; all the gluten-bearing grains count as a single "substance" or "food" for the purposes of meal planning. It doesn't matter whether I eat oats, wheat, rye, barley, or whatever--or all of them together: I must not eat any of them again for a minimum of four days after I've eaten them one one day].

I love the way they've split out all the "green" foods. I hate the way they have listed the "red," "orange," and "yellow" foods solely by alphabetization!

So I created my own document that splits those foods I should always avoid (i.e., the "red" and "orange") from those I can eat once every four days (the "yellow").

I also added a bunch of "hidden" ingredients based on information from Barbara Allan's book.

And I arranged them by general categories, the way CSS does for the "green" foods:


AVOID ALWAYS4-DAY ROTATION
All DAIRY (severe Whey reaction)

Vegetables/Legumes/Salads
BEAN, LENTIL
BEAN, NAVY
BOK CHOY
BRUSSEL SPROUTS
SWISS CHARD
TOMATO

Fruits/Juices
CRANBERRY
LIME
NECTARINE
PEAR

Carbohydrates/Grains: Gluten-Free/Corn-Free
BARLEY . . . including MALT (except Wheat days)
BUCKWHEAT
CORN (except on Corn days)
MALT (except Wheat days)
OAT (except Wheat days)
RYE (except Wheat days)
SPELT (except Wheat days)
SWEET POTATO

Herbs/Spices/Seasonings/Hidden Ingredients
ARTIFICIAL FLAVORINGS (unspecified)
BAKING POWDER (contains CORN or POTATO)
CAROB
CASEIN(E)
CASEINATE
CORN STARCH or SYRUP (except Corn days)
DEXTRIN from corn or wheat
EXCIPIENTS (may include corn starch)
EGG WHITE
FOOD STARCH (unless specified non-corn)
GELATIN (unless specified non-pork)
GINGER
GDL/GLUCONO-DELTA-LACTONE
HIGH FRUCTOSE CORN SYRUP (except Corn days)
HYDROLIZED PLANT or VEGETABLE PROTEIN
KELP
LACTOSE
MALT not from rice (barley, corn!)
MALT VINEGAR
MALTODEXTRIN
MILK PROTEIN or SOLIDS
MODIFIED FOOD or WHEAT STARCH
MONO- and DI-GLYCERIDES not specified (corn)
MSG/MONOSODIUM GLUTAMATE
NATURAL FLAVORINGS (disallowed grains)
PEAR JUICE
POTATO FLOUR or STARCH ((except Potato days)
PSYLLIUM
SALT (unless pure sea salt)
SORBITOL
SOY SAUCE (except Wheatdays)
STARCH (unless specified non-corn)
TABLE SALT (because of Corn Dextrose)
TARRAGON
TEA, BLACK or GREEN
TOMATO
* VANILLA EXTRACT (beware corn syrup!)
VINEGAR (unless NOT from wheat or corn!)
VINEGAR PRODUCTS (pickles, etc.)
WHEY, WHEY POWDER
XANTHAN GUM (except Corn days)
YEAST, BAKER'S or BREWER'S

Meat/Fish/Protein
CRAB
CRAYFISH
LIVER (BEEF)
PORK
TROUT
TUNA

Nuts/Oils/Miscellaneous
BRAZIL NUT
CORN OIL (except Corn days)
MACADAMIA NUT
SAFFLOWER OIL


Vegetables/Legumes/Salads
AVOCADO
BROCCOLI
CABBAGE
GREEN PEPPER
PINTO BEAN
SPINACH
WATERCRESS
ZUCCHINI

Fruits/Juices
BLUEBERRY
CANTALOUPE
CHERRY
DATE
FIG
LEMON
PEACH
PLUM
POMEGRANATE

Carbohydrates/Grains
CORN
POTATO, WHITE
WHEAT (Barley, Malt, Oat, Rye, Spelt)

Herbs/Spices/Seasonings/Hidden Ingredients
BASIL
CARAWAY
CARDAMOM
CINNAMON
CURRY POWDER
FLAXSEED
LIQUORICE
MINT
MUSHROOM
PARSLEY
THYME
TURMERIC


Meat/Fish/Protein
CHICKEN
CLAM
DUCK
EGG YOLK
HALIBUT
SHRIMP

Nuts/Oils/Miscellaneous
PINE NUT

More later.
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