I've Got "Friends" in Low Places

I'm officially done with the 30 Day Paleo Challenge, but decided to not only continue it, but also incorporate the Autoimmune Protocol from the book, Practical Paleo by Diane Sanfilippo. This would mean removing foods known as nightshades.  What are nightshades and why would I need to remove them? Great question!

According to the Weston A. Price Foundation, "nightshades are members of an enormous family of plants called Solanaceae, represent a huge family of plants. The ones that concern us in the Western diet mainly include tomatoes, potatoes (not sweet potatoes or yams), eggplant and peppers—this means all peppers including chili peppers, habanero  cayenne pepper and paprika (not peppercorns, see sidebar). Paprika is a sneaky one, showing up in lots of flavoring mixes and often under “spices” on ingredient labels. Other nightshades include goji berries (the new darling of the antioxidant crowd), ashwagandha (an adaptogenic herb from Ayurvedic medicine), Cape gooseberries (not normal gooseberries), ground cherries and garden huckleberries (not blueberries)."

I am choosing to eliminate nightshades for the next week because I have a condition called "keratosis pilaris", commonly known as chicken skin.  From everything I've read, it's best to eliminate nightshades for a week to see if this clears up your skin instead of topical medications.  I'm sure there's nothing wrong with topical medications, but if there's a way to reduce or eliminate skin irritations naturally, I'd much rather do that.  It keeps me in control of "dosing" and reduces any side effects of topical medications.

I've been testing foods here and there, doing pretty well to not go overboard and gorge myself on foods that I had an unnatural attachment to - that is, until this weekend.  I had two parties to go to, and both included cake.  Not homemade, Paleo/Primal cake, but fancy, boutique style all out bad for me cake.  One was chocolate with raspberry filling, the other chocolate with whipped vanilla icing.  Package that temptation with family and life stresses and lack of pre planning - disaster was imminent. I thought to myself, I'll just have one piece.  I should've known better.  Like I've heard other people say, I felt great the day of - but miserable for the next two days. I was bloated, sick to my stomach and my mood was off the charts wacky.   All of my anxiety and depression symptoms came back with a vengeance.  I read this great article from Psychology Today that talks about the effects sugar can and does have, not only on our body, but our brain as well.  Fascinating insights and well worth the read. Especially if you suspect you and sugar are a bit too friendly.

So, here I am tweaking my diet - again. I believe that my gut is sensitive enough that I'll be adjusting as needed for quite some time.  I've heard that some people need to be on an AIP (autoimmune protocol) for several months before the gut heals well enough to reintroduce problem foods. It's really okay, but I've got to stop feeling deprived and feeling sorry for myself. I'll never gain any progress if I can't get out of my own head.  

And THAT, seems to be the biggest obstacle I'm facing when it comes to gaining victory over stress and food intolerances.