What to eat when you can't eat anything!

After many years of suffering with a dodgy stomach and low energy levels I finally bit the bullet and got the Fitzwilliam Food Intolerance Test done (more information available at www.fitzwilliamfoodtest.com/). It only took about five minutes for Michelle to perform a pinprick blood test, and ten days later I received my shocking results!

I had already cut out wheat from my diet as I had discovered years ago that it was a factor in my bloating, so I wasn't surprised to find out that it was one of the main foods that I was intolerant to. There were however a number of items I was shocked to discover that I needed to cut out of my diet for 6 - 9 months to give my body a chance to heal before re-introducing them one by one to see how my body can tolerate them.

The foods I am highly intolerant to are: wheat, cow's milk (including cheese, yogurt and butter), corn (including corn products like polenta, popcorn and tortillas) cashew nuts, oranges, peas, haricot beans, kidney beans and ginger so was advised to eliminate these from my diet for at least 9 months.

I have a borderline intolerance to carrots, almonds, mussels, sheep's milk products and brewer's yeast (which includes wine, beer, cider, vinegar and all other fermented products) so I need to eliminate these for at least 6 months. Apple cider vinegar is the only vinegar I can have. I'm not sure why it's different, but I'm just happy to have that as an option.

When I got the results and saw that I couldn't have dairy, corn or wine especially for the foreseeable future I was traumatised, and was left wondering 'what CAN I eat! I'm already a pescetarian, so I don't eat any meat either,  my diet options suddenly seemed very limited.

I needed to come up with a sensible plan to make sure I keep eating enough, have a variety of different foods so I don't get bored, and don't feel deprived of foods I like as this isn't a diet, it's a way of trying to improve my health.