Tomorrow, I’ll be starting the Paleo Diet.
Here’s a basic breakdown of what the diet entails:
The only difference is that I will also be giving up the Nightshades as well, which includes potatoes, tomatoes, capsicum, eggplant, tomatillos, paprika, cayenne, etc. These are known to be inflammatory foods that can adversely affect people with autoimmune conditions.
I know that dairy is my main trigger food for Hidradenitis, but we think it may not be the only one. I had done some light research and happened upon this blog. A woman who suffered from HS was able to use this diet to find that potatoes (of all things) were her trigger food! Now she stays away from potatoes and has little to no problems. Amazing, right?
I will follow this diet strictly for 60 days, and then I will reintroduce foods back into my system in varied amounts one week at a time to isolate the specific foods that may be harming my body. Can I have bread? How much? Maybe 1 serving a day is okay, but is there a tipping point? These are things I’ll have to keep in mind as I move forward. I’ll also be keeping a food diary so that I’ll be able to find a common denominator regarding foods that help or harm me.
I’ve told several people this, but I’m sure if I were just doing this diet to lose weight or test my willpower, I’d quit within a week. But it’s different because my wellbeing actually depends on it, which means quitting isn’t an option.
That being said, I’m trying to take this one week at a time. I sat down last night and planned out my meals for the next week, using that as a guide to create a grocery list. We’ll see if this strategy works for me!
I know I will have to get creative in order to keep things interesting. I’ll be posting helpful recipes and giving updates on my experience with the diet. Please let me know if you have tips, recipes, or any suggestions for me as I embark on this new journey to a healthy life and body!
AIPooja: Seeking Wellness through Disease 
Hi, I’m curious to know how Paleo is working out for you? I plan to try it too.
I haven’t posted much about it yet, but the Paleo Diet has been great so far! At first, I was trying too hard to be creative in fear of getting bored with the diet, but it was just too time consuming. I usually stick to basics–fruits, veggies, and meat with each meal (except breakfast–smoothies have been my go-to!), and maybe a handful of nuts as a snack late afternoon. Please let me know if you have any questions or need tips. I’d be more than happy to help in any way I can! Also, I’ve found some great dessert recipes (I must cater to my sweet tooth), so I’d be more than happy to share those as well!
How are you getting on? Any outbreaks since you started?
I could talk for hours about what I have been through so far.
Thinking of starting this very difficult diet, but would love to hear from you about it first.
Hope it’s working!
The diet was indeed difficult, but I HIGHLY recommend it. I thought dairy was my main trigger, but I actually found it to be nightshades. You’d be surprised at what you can learn about your body with this diet! I’ve had some minor outbreaks, but nothing that has gotten out of control or too painful…huge improvement! Please e-mail me if you have any questions about the diet–I’d love to help in any way I can!
Hey, can you give smoothie recipes too? Use a protein powder? Again, I don’t have your same challenges, but still wonder if any of these approaches can relive me from this neveneding cycle. Ugh. You can email me if you choose to respond. Thanks.
I will be posting some smoothie recipes soon so stay tuned! And thank you for stopping by–I hope my blog can help you in some way!
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I just started doing the paleo diet for autoimmune diseases and i read somewhere that nuts and legumes should be avoided as well, unfortunately. I love almonds and cashews so its definitely a huge loss, but hopefully my trigger is not dairy, because i wouldn’t be able to eat milk chocolate anymore 😦 are your triggers dairy and nightshades or just nightshades?
I thought dairy was a trigger for me, but it turns out that it’s only nightshades! I didn’t give up nuts while I was on the Paleo diet because I really didn’t think they would be an issue for me, but legumes are actually not paleo-friendly to begin with so make sure you stay away from peanuts while you’re on the Paleo diet. And don’t worry, it’s difficult to give things up at first but when you weight it against dealing with the disease, nothing is worth the horrible pain.
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Did it work?
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