The ALCAT

I had blood drawn and sent off to ALCAT back in March. I decided to test my blood with 500 foods to see how my immune system reacted and the results were quite surprising. Not what I expected. Overwhelming.
I have severe sensitivities to Avocado, Basil, Coconut, Duck, Goat's milk, Honey, Kidney Bean, Lentils, Lima Bean, Mint, Parsley, Pear, Pinto Bean, Safflower, Sesame, Sole, Spinach, Turkey and Turmeric. Moderate sensitivities to Acorn Squash, Almond, Baker's Yeast, Black Current, Brussel Sprouts, Buckwheat, Cardamom, Chamomile, Chili pepper, Hazelnut, Nectarine, Paprika, Pumpkin, SAlmon and Tomato. 33 more foods I'm mildly sensitive to like cow's milk and lots of veggis I ate regularly. I've been avoiding all of these foods for almost 2 months, except for a couple accidental exposures from a restaurants and I did get horrible stomachaches both times, the most recent for 48 hours. I had been eating many of these foods thinking they were healthy for me!

I have been keeping a food journal since doing the Candida diet back in 2006-2007 in hopes of finding what foods were bothering me and to record how I was improving or not. I had some improvements with the Candida diet and anti-fungals but I still had recurring digestive issues and lots of anxiety. I should mention I was tested for Pyroluria last summer and the test came back boderline, I started taking B6 and Zinc with positive results with less anxiety and nervousness. I also tested low in vitaminD, too. Looking back, I found I had anxiety almost everytime I ate turkey but I was looking at every other food, I never would have suspected Turkey! And Coconut! I used coconut milk, organic extra virgin coconut oil internally and externally, I LOVE coconut, I have coconut flour, too. I used peppermint oil in water for my recurring stomache aches! My all time favorite soap is Dr. Bonner's peppermint! I had everything mint available. I honestly couldn't think of living without mint, thankgoodness for tea tree oil.

Alcat recommends eating foods in a 4 day rotation, this has been a huge challenge for me because although we do eat a variety of foods, many foods do seem to creep into our daily lives, like rice, oats and a variety of oils from butter subs. like Earth Balance, I mean what do we eat on warm fresh bread but buter and jelly?!!?? Pre- Alcat, dairy, albeit raw and organic, was a daily food. Now, I'm trying to keep our favorite dairy sub, soy milk, to a minimum, we are so accustomed to creamy foods, I'm trying to wean myself and Lucy off little by little. Oatmilk is great to put in the rotation and easy to make, as well. I will try to make rice milk soon, Rice Dream has safflower oil, as do many healthfood store foods.

I'm being a brat about coffee, though. I don't want to rotate it with green tea and black tea, I like those in the afternoon, you know tea time, not in the morning, that's my coffee time, the horrible part is I've been putting that fake creamer in it instead of the real stuff, alternating with soy creamer, I know that's one of the worst things I can ingest BUT I love really creamy coffee. I hope to get to a better place with the coffee issue. I tell myself rotating it at least every other day would make it so much better, special. Hmmmm.....

One interesting revelation in trying the rotation diet: I live in the past, during the time of high anxiety, I worried at night what I said the day or week before, what may have offended or was the wrong thing said, I write in my journal about what I've already eaten or felt or done. I do plan some for the future but it isn't my focus, I don't spend too much time on it. I TRY to live in the present as best I can. I noticed after seeing Vikii, my accupuncturist, the first time, she asked many questions about my being and one was what do you think about when your mind is racing or worrying, I never questioned that, I just worryed and all that worrying was about hte past. So the rotation diet is forcing me to look ahead, plan for the next day/week instead of looking in the fridge and figuring out what I would cook the next meal. This is soooo good for me. Meal planning for the week, what a concept. I ususally bought what was on sale and/or what was in season and made meals around that now I look at the days allowance and plan meals around that, still sticking to what's in season.

What I have noticed so far is an absence of bloating, stomache pain, anxiety, low blood sugar symptoms and less impatience/anger. I have been feeling so much better that I've started running, ok so I can run 1/4 mile right now but I wouldn't have thought to run 2 months ago. In a couple more months I'll test my cortisol and hormones again to see if there's an improvement. I really hope this clears up alot of my problems. By taking this test I realize even healthy foods can be problematic and I knew nothing about what my body was telling me, I could hear the complaints but I would have never figured these sensitivities out on my own.