The RANT Post and Elimination diet for hashimotos

 After having met Amazing Dr.Sandeep Chaudhary (Endocrinologist), I firmly believe the best, way control my Hashi's is through diet, I have been successfully gluten free for more than a month and feel amazing even without starting on medication of any kind. My palpitations/Anxiety has gone and I haven't experienced any joint pain at all. On top of that the intensity of my anger has reduced a LOT!!!But I really want to starting getting a control over my weight now. I have gradually over three years piled up 40lbs and to me that's a lot to lose!!.

I have always had a tough time losing weight even though I have been a very healthy eater for the last ten years!! I've had to eat very little and work out a lot. To me that's a tough act to follow with a full time job as a homemaker in the US. I have not had any symptoms of a indigestion/constipation even before I went gluten free. But I have read that even having Hashimoto's is a sign of leaky gut!

The first step in treating a leaky gut is to stop eating the culprit foods that cause leaky gut in the first place.And the more I read the more I think that an Elimination diet is very important, So as to find out the foods that I am Allergic to. This diet is only to find out what foods I am reacting to, Others may react to other foods too so if you are planning to follow this please tread with caution )  I am planning to follow this elimination diet for 23 days, Since I read that it takes 21 to 23 days for any detox to work completely into our system.

There are chances that the weight that is lost during this elimination diet may even come back after weaning off it. My main goal here is to heal my system by identifying the allergens and prevent me from putting on weight easily for no reason at all. I am adult enough to understand that IF I ate junk I will put on weight, but what stumps me is that I put on weight even when I follow a healthy diet, I lose only when I eat next to nothing or less than 1000 calories, and I don't believe in eating like that!!

I am planning to follow Dr. K's autoimmune diet for my elimination diet and will be posting my menu for every day for the next 21 days and if there are any differences in weight/ emotion/quality of life.

FOODS TO EAT :

Most Organic Vegetables: including anise, artichoke, asparagus, beets, bok choy, broccoli, cabbage, carrots, cauliflower, celery, chives, cucumbers, garlic, kale, kohlrabi, leeks, lettuce, mustard greens, onions, parsley, radishes, rhubarb, shallots, spinach, squash, sweet potatoes, water chestnuts, watercress, yams, zucchini

Fermented foods: including kimchi, kombucha tea, pickled ginger, sauerkraut, unsweetened coconut yogurt.  You must make your own or buy one of the few brands that are genuinely fermented (not made with vinegar) and free of sugars or additives

Meats: including beef, chicken, fish, lamb, turkey.  Fish should be ocean caught with a low mercury content.  Swordfish, most tuna, and king mackerel are very high in mercury.  Select hormone-free and antibiotic-free chicken, turkey, and lamb.  Select beef that is grass fed, hormone free, and antibiotic free.  Best choice are grass-fed and pastured meats from a local farm.  Second best is organic.  Avoid factory-farmed meats that contain antibiotics and hormones.  For a source of good meat near you, Dr. K recommends the Weston A. Price Foundation as a resource, as well as ordering through his Resources page.

Low Glycemic Organic Fruits: including apples, apricots, avocados, berries, cherries, grapefruit, lemons, oranges, peaches, pears, plums

Coconut: including coconut butter, coconut cream, coconut milk, coconut oil, unsweetened coconut flakes, unsweetened coconut yogurt

Noodles: brown shirataki yam noodles (sold in Asian grocery stores).  Avoid the noodles that also contain tofu

Herbs and Spices: including basil, black pepper, cilantro, coriander, cumin, garlic, ginger, lemongrass, mint, oregano, parsley, rosemary, sage, sea salt, thyme

Other: apple cider vinegar, herbal teas, olive oil, olives

FOODS TO AVOID :

Sugars: including agave, candy, chocolate, corn syrup, fructose, high fructose corn syrup, honey, maple syrup, molasses, sucrose

High Glycemic Fruits: including bananas, canned fruits, dried fruits, mango, pineapple, raisins, watermelon

Grains: including amaranth, barley, buckwheat, bulgur, corn, couscous, kamut, millet, oats, quinoa, rice, rye, spelt, wheat, wheat germ

Nuts and Seeds: including almonds, peanuts, sunflower seeds, sesame seeds

Gluten-Containing Compounds: including barbecue sauce, binders, bouillon, brewer’s yeast, cold cuts, condiments, emulsifiers, fillers, chewing gum, hot dogs, hydrolyzed plant and vegetable protein, ketchup, soy sauce, lunch meats, malt and malt flavoring, malt vinegar, matzo, modified food starch, monosodium glutamate, nondairy creamer, processed salad dressings, seitan, some spice mixtures, stabilizers, teriyaki sauce, textured vegetable protein

Dairy Products and Eggs: including butter, cheeses, cow milk, creams, frozen desserts, goat milk, margarine, mayonnaise, sheep milk, whey, yogurt (except coconut)

Soy: including edamame, miso, soy milk, soy protein, soy sauce, tempeh, tofu

Fungi: edible fungi and mushrooms

Alcohol: all alcohol

Beans and Legumes: including black beans, lentils, peanuts, peas, pinto beans, soybeans

Nightshade Foods: including eggplant, paprika, peppers, potatoes, Tabasco® sauce, tomatillos, tomatoes

Other: canned foods, coffee, processed foods

I do realize that it leaves me with very few options as i just tolerate FISH and I am vegetarian otherwise. This is a true challenge :)


 

Neeraharam - நீராஹாரம்

If there is one thing that i have learned to do over time is Understand instincts and signs. When the UNIVERSE gives u a SIGN u listen!!!.The day after my doc visit where I was told that I might have Hashimotos, I came across an article on Neeraharam the magical food of past south India. Apparently one of the very few sources of Vitamin B6 and B12 for vegetarian. No wonder my Vegetarian Appai ( Paternal Grandmother) is still healthy at 80 with NO B12 deficiency, Which I have managed to achieve @ freakin 27. And in the same week my Dad called to tell that he and my mom have been having Neeraharam for a while now. I would have to be a colossal dumb ass to not take the signs.
So now for the last month Neeraharam has been the breakfast for the family on most days.
I intersperse it with idly or dosai once a week just for a change of routine.

Now for the RECIPE:

1 cup Organic brown rice ( the best option)/ or any other cooking rice of choice.  COOKED and COOLED
2 or 3 cups of water
1/2 cup curd
1 tsp salt

METHOD :

Pour 3 cups of water to cooked and cooled rice close and let it stand overnight.( Never add water to hot rice.).
Next day morning drain the water and keep aside.
Now mash half the rice and add to the other half of the rice.
To the above mix add curd and salt and mix well.
add some of the drained water to this and serve with raw pearl onions or pickle.
The DRAINED WATER is very IMPORTANT. make butter milk out of it and drink through out the day. The water contains probiotic bacteria and vitamin b12.


 

Lost time

A whole 2 months have passed by without a single post mmmhmmm...looks like the chaos is getting to me...But NO, I have been drafting out a new mode of displaying my blog post with hand drawn representations of the recipe. This is something that I used to do when taking down a recipe from some one else (psst esp my mom over the Phone ;P (don't smirk! I Know u all do it too). What better way to give a personal touch and also தூசித் தட்டிfy  my sketching/drawing skills from college years.Only when I started did I realize I have really lost touch, So please excuse my excuse of drawings, I'm hoping it will get better with time.

Also another big development over these months is I was diagnosed with mild Hashimotos by my general practitioner and have spent insane amount of time finding Gluten free and almost grain free recipes to relive the symptoms and heal. So behold people am planning to layout a lot of healthy and gluten free recipes. Don't be put off guys as my diet is primarily south Indian my recipes are mostly by default Gluten free. So the baking recipes needed tweaking and its a whole new world out there.
Some of my recipes might be a replication of other gluten free/ grain free divas out there. what I am planning to post is just how I have modified/ incorporated them in my daily life.