Goodbye Potatoes

We have now entered Phase 3 of the Elimination Diet. At this time you can add a lot of great food, like nightshade veggies, soy products, and my beloved pineapple.

Unfortunately, I'm not quite there yet because for people with health issues, it is recommended to add the nightshade vegetables one at a time. Adding each vegetable individually will be a more accurate representation of what upsets your body.

That means this week is 3 days of potatoes, 3 of peppers, and then tomatoes. I'm not worrying about eggplant because I rarely eat it.

At first I was really excited to add these foods back, but the potato seems less than appealing. Maybe its because sweet potatoes have so much more flavor? Or because I enjoy potatoes the most with eggs, which aren't allowed yet.

Day 1 we tested the potato with some oven baked french fries. I had to eat mine plain, but since Aaron doesn't have any health issues, he got to have ketchup with his. Bleh.

Day 2 was this baked potato stuffed with broccoli, onions, and adzuki beans.

It was pretty tasty. As good as a potato without cheese, sour cream and butter can be. I also took half of this potato with me for lunch today. Unfortunately, about a half hour/hour after I ate my lunch, I started to get a stomach ache and felt warm. By the time I was ready to workout, my stomach was twisting in knots. I walked a couple blocks and decided to turn around and do pushups in my apartment instead. Sad.

Of course, being the stubborn person that I am, I wanted to make sure to give the potato its due and I went through with putting potatoes in my dinner. After all, we drove all over Madison to get those leeks.

Day 3 (today) was a chunky leek and potato soup, with fresh thyme and coconut milk in place of regular milk.

While trying to figure out where the name "nightshade" vegetable comes from, I did some research. I learned that nightshade veggies contain alkaloids, which some people are more sensitive too. I hope I'm not, but honestly it would be better than being allergic to gluten or yeast. Apparently, many people who suffer from fibromyalgia or other chronic pain can lessen their problems by cutting out all nightshade vegetables, because alkaloids effect joints and the nervous system. You can read more about it here.

Crazy, who knew so much was lurking in that pretty little tomato?

Anyway, if I react to the other nightshade vegetables as well, this will be an unpleasant week for me. For now it looks like potatoes are out.