You've now identified that food chemicals are an issue for you.

In here, we'll help you to :

1- Identify signs and symptoms that indicate that your bucket is about to overflow... so you can prevent 'The Great Flood!'

2- Understand your bucket and its size, what changes its size, and what fills it up quickly for you.

3- Fine tune your threshold, which is the amount of food chemicals you can safely eat without experiencing symptoms. This will change over time.

4- Empty your bucket quickly if it overflows (to reduce your symptoms).

The idea is to eventually begin to gradually add some of these 'symptom inducing' foods back into your diet over time. You will not be stuck eating a limited diet forever... but it is important to reduce your symptoms so that you can feel better now. 

IDENTIFY SIGNS AND SYMPTOMS

Your symptoms are likely to be the ones that came back when you tried to re-introduce some food chemicals as part of the 'Adventurous Diet'.

If you've identified that you have issues with both histamine and salicylates, it can be helpful to understand which signs and symptoms are specific to each for YOU. But please note that there can be some overlap.

For instance, let's say that you had headaches and a runny nose before starting the supersafe diet and these symptoms improved a lot during the supersafe diet. However, when you re-introduced some foods high in histamine during the 'histamine test', these symptoms returned ;-( If they did not return during the 'salicylate test', this means that these symptoms are very likely related to histamine intolerance for you. But maybe you had other symptoms during the salicylate test, such as anxiety and irritability.

We highly recommend using a journal or symptom tracker like the one below to help you clearly identify your body's signs and symptoms.

UNDERSTAND YOUR BUCKET

As mentioned in the Introduction to Food Chemical Sensitivities Section, we each have a food chemical 'bucket'. The smaller your bucket, the more sensitive you will be to food chemicals.

You may also recall that many factors can make your personal bucket smaller and influence how quickly it gets filled up.

This is why it's important to remember that although food is a big contributing factor, there are other things to consider.

For instance, your food chemical bucket will be smaller during certain times of your menstrual cycle. This means that you might need to be more careful with your food around these times.

Another example is when you're experiencing more stress than normal. Again, this can make your bucket smaller, meaning that you might have to be more careful with your food choices during times of high stress.

Something else worth mentioning that can have a great impact on the size of your bucket is chemical exposure. This can be anything from artificial fragrances, VOCs, new things (furniture, car), etc. For some people, very little is needed to fill up their bucket quickly. It might simply be a matter of sitting next to someone who is wearing perfume or hair spray.

One more thing... some foods might fill your bucket a lot faster than others.

Here are a few other things that can make your bucket smaller:

• Cold, flu or other illness
• Lack of sleep
• Positive 'stress' (overextending yourself to do something you're passionate about)

Using a journal or the symptom tracker below can help you to identify what fills your bucket quickly and what makes it smaller. This will help you better manage your diet, environment, lifestyle and therefore your symptoms.

FINE TUNE YOUR THRESHOLD

Knowing which foods fill your bucket faster and which environmental factors are also contributing the most to your bucket size, will help you fine tune the amount of food chemicals your can safely enjoy at various times.

Let's imagine that you have just had your period and you are enjoying a stress-free time in your life. You have been eating a fairly low chemical diet for a while... so your bucket is empty. You might be able to eat 4 strawberries and a piece of chocolate every other day with no symptoms. However, if you're just about to start your period (when food chemicals sensitivities can be heightened) and you just lost your job, this is going to be a time when you really want chocolate. Unfortunately, because your bucket will be much smaller, you might not even tolerate 1 strawberry or one tiny piece of chocolate.

It's very helpful to have some 'safe treats' on hand for the times when you just really need some comfort food! For instance, we have a white chocolate recipe in the recipe section that would be perfect to try.

EMPTY YOUR BUCKET

So... you've overdone it... and you've consumed way too many food chemicals. Don't feel guilty, we've all done it!

Your bucket is overflowing and you're feeling terrible.

What can you do to feel better quickly?

Here are a few tips to empty your bucket as quickly as possible, so that you can reduce your symptoms and feel better again.

• #1 and the most important: go back to the Supersafe or Safe diets for a few days or until your symptoms reduce. This will help to very quickly empty your bucket
• Binders can also be helpful. Zeolite would be your best option (Toxaprevent is great if you can find it). You can learn more about binders here
• Support your kidneys by drinking plenty of filtered water
• Specific tip for salicylates: take 1/2 tsp of sodium Bicarbonate (baking soda) mixed in water in between meals a few times per day. Don't take it too close to a meal as it will lower stomach acidity.
• Make sure you're not exposed to chemicals in your environment
• Epsom salt baths: 4 cups in your bath
• Practice some activities that help you feel calm. Anything that works for you (walk in nature, gentle movement, reading, gardening, etc)

USING A JOURNAL AND SYMPTOM TRACKER

As mentioned above, you can use this Journal and Symptom Tracker to help you manage your food chemical sensitivities.

Here's some things you could journal about and track:

• All foods and liquids consumed
• Symptoms you experience, whether you think they are food related or not.
• Mood changes (e.g., anxiety, restlessness, depression, etc)
• Medications and/or supplements you may be taking.
• Any additional stress and stressful events
• Your menstrual cycle (if applicable).
• Exposure to strong smells, such as fumes, chemicals or artificial fragrances etc. Hint: some of these may be from your personal care and/or household cleaning products.

Examples of possible symptoms: headaches, migraines, flue like aches and pains, joint pain, fatigue, hives, itching, sinus/nasal congestion, runny/sniffly nose, itchy/puffy eyes, stomach/bowl irritation, bladder irritation, heart-rate increase/tachycardia, breathlessness, severe PMS, painful periods, irritability, moodiness, restlessness, anxiety, 'brain fog', impaired cognition.

A CAVEAT ON FOOD ADDITIVES IN PROCESSED FOODS

Food additives are used to enhance the flavour, appearance and freshness of foods.

If you have a naturally occurring food chemical sensitivity/intolerance, you will also most likely have an artificial food chemical sensitivity/intolerance.

Sulphites and nitrates/nitrites can be of particular concern for people with food chemical sensitivities. These are often used in packaged meats, especially in supermarkets, to make them appear fresh and to prevent them from going brown. Most dried fruits are dried in sulphites. Antioxidants can also be a problem. These can be found in many commercial cooking oils.

It is always best to avoid artificial colours, flavours, preservatives and pesticides.

As a general rule, if it comes in a packet, be suspicious. Always do your detective work and read food labels. This is why it is so important to buy all of your food as fresh as possible, from a farmer's market and/or a trusted organic store and/or butcher.

FEELING EMPOWERED & TESTING YOUR BOUNDARIES

First of all, remember that as you progress through the phases of this program, you'll be able to continue testing your boundaries and gradually add new foods back in.

For instance, if you're sensitive to histamine and your symptoms are severe, you might want to choose foods from the 'low' column in the Histamine Food List until your symptoms improve. Once you start feeling better, you can start experimenting with adding a few foods from the 'moderate' column and see how much you can tolerate. Once you can eat most foods from the 'moderate' column, then you can start experimenting with adding a few foods from the 'high' column. And so on... you get the idea! However, when it comes to adding in foods from the 'very high' column, we recommend only trying one of these foods every few days to begin with.

Don't be tempted to overindulge in high or very high chemical foods too soon, as this can result in 'ups and downs' and erratic symptoms.

It's important to understand that it's not about becoming obsessed with each individual food. It's simply about listening to your body and adjusting your overall food chemical load accordingly.

Once you get to know your 'bucket' really well, you'll then feel much more confident and empowered when it comes to knowing what foods are right for you and it will become much easier! You can then start playing around a bit more with foods from the various columns (low, moderate, high and very high) as you better understand your threshold.

For instance, let's say you want to go out for dinner later in the week (or have a piece of chocolate or even a small glass of wine!) and you know you'll want to have some foods from the 'high' or 'very high' columns. You might want to 'save' your bucket space for that event and only eat foods from the low and moderate columns for a few days before and after (to empty your bucket again!).

You'll also be able to come up with your own recipes that feel good for your body. And of course you can get inspired by our recipes.

You might like to write down your own favourite recipes and share them with others in the Gut Transformation private Facebook group.

If you take one step at a time, you will eventually arrive at the top of the mountain, but remember to stop and enjoy the view along the way. ;-)

FOOD LISTS

DOWNLOAD ALL FOOD LISTS HERE (Histamine, Salicylate, Oxalate and Combined Lists)