JamieOliver.com

John H · Mon 10 Aug 09 3:01pm

Hi all. smile

I'm stuck in a bit of an awkward situation right now. I'm currently 20kgs underweight (I'm 29 and 6'3"), which has been confirmed by my doctor. However, after going through the process of finding out what the problem is, I've since found out that I have quite a list of food intolerances.

I have very limited cooking experience and I just can't seem to find recipes that are free from ingredients on the list of foods I need to avoid for the short-term. The problem is I also have some serious other health problems that I'm not going to be able to recover from unless I sort this, so I'm feeling a bit hopeless and I was hoping I could ask for some advice.

It's probably easier if I just list what I have problems with, so here goes:

Casein (protein found in dairy products)
Meat: Duck, lamb, veal, beef
Fish: Trout, salmon, halibut, herring, sardine, sole, plaice, lobster
Fruit: Orange, pear, currrants, sweet cherry, grape, tangerine
Nuts: Walnut
Beans/legumes
Potato
Vegetables: Asparagus, spinach, onions, lettuce, pepper
Herbs/spices: Paprika, mustard, chilli, nutmeg, juniper, cinnamon
Olive oil.

As you can see, it's quite a list and because I'm underweight already, I'm really struggling to work out what I can do. I have found I can replace cow's milk with soy and I think I've also found a butter spread made purely from vegetables too, so that's not a problem. However, I'm finding it really difficult to find any recipes that don't contain any items on that list.

I've been trawling through a lot of different websites looking for recipes (mainly from the BBC) and whilst I've not had much luck, I did stumble on a great site for nutritional information, for anyone that's interested: (edit: I can't post links on my first post: nutritiondata dot com) It gives a breakdown of all the vitamins/minerals and general nutritional information for lots of different foods, including glycemic index and inflammatory value.

I know it's a big ask, especially as it's my first post, but could any of you suggest any possible recipes I could try? I'd be ever-so-grateful.

Thanks in advance,

John

mummza · Mon 10 Aug 09 3:10pm

Welcome to the forum John H smile

You seem to have joined on a rare day when the threads are not working as they should !

On the forum we have 'Sune Nutrition ' who is a Nutritional therapist , I think that she might be a good person to give you advice.
http://www.jamieoliver.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=42076

ljbritt50 · Mon 10 Aug 09 3:56pm

Hi John,

I'm in much the same position. For the past 2 years, I've been struggling to identify my food sensitivities. I think I found most of them now. I do cook and actually enjoy it. That's a good thing because I have to do it every day. I look on it as my job. I cook so I can get well again. The payment is my improving health.

I'm here to reassure you that it is "do-able", even though it seems overwhelming now. Just start slowly and build on what you know.

Rather than focus on what I can't eat, I made lists of what I can eat in categories. I then began using the list to build meals and recipes.

For example: meals need protiens, so start there. You can eat eggs, cheese, chicken, cornish game hens, guinea foul, turkey, pheasant, partridge, scallops, shrimp, tuna, mussels, oysters, monk fish, pickerel, perch, bass and mullet to name but a few. Make as complete a list as you can. Then do the same for other food groups like fruit, vegetables, grains etc.

Then you can begin to put meals together. The recipes will follow as you master the basics of cooking. You can contact me through my web site if you wish. I will help you in any way I can. I'm not a specialist of any kind, just someone like you who's trying to feed myself in a healthy way so I can get better. smile

www.foodchallenges.ca

Last edited by ljbritt50 (Mon 10 Aug 09 3:58pm)

MsPablo · Mon 10 Aug 09 4:12pm

I agree with lj, list what you can eat and if you want, list it here and it'll help us give you suggestions. lj seemed to think cheese was ok, but is it ok for you? That's such a valuable ingredient IMO for flavor, but if you can't have it, there are many options. Right off the bat, I thought you might try some japanese dishes since you can have soy and rice.

You can't have lettuce, try slaw recipes.

Although many people say substituting in recipes isn't desirable, I disagree, for a new cook, it's helpful to base recipes on classic recipes and learn how to substitute to create new dishes. You don't have to stuff cabbage with beef or pork, it's excellent stuffed with turkey or chicken.

Good luck!

Last edited by MsPablo (Mon 10 Aug 09 4:18pm)

ljbritt50 · Mon 10 Aug 09 4:41pm

You're right MsPablo, I missed that. Sorry John... my mistake. I found this information that might be of help to you John, in regard to the casein issue.

http://www.breakingtheviciouscycle.info … tivity.htm

My experience has been that the more questions we ask and the more information we acquire, the better choices we can make.

John H · Mon 10 Aug 09 5:01pm

Wow, thank you all so much for replies, encouragement and information! I never expected to get as many responses as this, especially in such a short space of time!

@ mummza,

Thanks for the thread link. 13 of the 14 pages aren't working for me at the moment, but I'll check back on that.

@ ljbritt50,

Thank you so much for your advice. It's made a lot of sense and it's sort of the way I was planning to do things, it's just my cooking knowledge (well, lack of ;-)) has made it a little difficult to get going. I read the story on your site, too, and whilst mine doesn't quite compare to yours, especially the length of time, I'm heading down a similar route. I know I can get better if I can find the right information and develop the right skills to help myself.

I noticed you mentioned an inflammation-free diet on there, so I think you'll probably find that nutrition data site to be quite useful if you've not seen it already, as it allows you to check individual foods quickly to see what their inflammation levels are.

@ MsPablo,

Again, thanks to you as well. I have actually switched to the approach of trying to substitute things I can have, into recipes that are familiar, as that seems the best way forward in the short-term. I just see all of this as the catalyst for helping me to learn to cook for myself properly.

For anyone that's interested, here's a list of foods that I was given that I can eat, but it's not complete:

Chicken, turkey, pork
Eggs, soy milk, rice milk, goat's cheese (not confirmed yet)
Cod, tuna, prawns, oysters, muscles
Pineapple, apple, strawberry, grapefruit, peach, gooseberry, lemon, plum
Hazel nuts, mixed nuts
Cauliflower, peas, carrots, celery, tomato, white cabbage
Soya, barley, oats, corn, rice, rye, wheat flour, wheat bran
Cayenne, curry powder, peppermint, rosemary, sage, thyme, parsley

I can have quinoa and couscous too. Took me a few tries to get the quinoa right but I managed to cook that properly a few nights ago.

I really can't thank you all enough. It's nice to know there's a place where I can ask for help. smile

MsPablo · Mon 10 Aug 09 5:41pm

John, can you have tomatoes, any members of the allium (onion) familiy such as garlic or leeks, avocados?

It'd be useful to make your own doughs and stocks and if you can have couscous, I assume you can have dry or fresh pasta. Rice dishes are easy to customize.

John H · Mon 10 Aug 09 6:03pm

Hi MsPablo,

Tomatoes are fine, as are avocados. I think garlic and leeks are fine too, but I'd have to try and see if I have any kind of reaction. Pasta is also fine. smile My idea was to rotate over 4 days between quinoa, couscous (although maybe something slightly more substantial), pasta and rice.

mummza · Mon 10 Aug 09 6:08pm

Thats good... you can eat rice... how about making Risotto ?

ljbritt50 · Mon 10 Aug 09 6:49pm

John H wrote:
Hi MsPablo,

Tomatoes are fine, as are avocados. I think garlic and leeks are fine too, but I'd have to try and see if I have any kind of reaction. Pasta is also fine. My idea was to rotate over 4 days between quinoa, couscous (although maybe something slightly more substantial), pasta and rice.

The idea behind roation diets is to allow the body time to totally eliminate or process the protiens associated with that food. That takes about 4 days. Some people it takes 7 or 10.

Seeds: quinoa, amaranth, buckwheat groats, flax, chia
Grains: rice, millet, corn
Gluten Bearing grains: wheat ( kasha ) ( pasta, couscous, orzo ) barley,
Root Vegetables: potatoes, parsnips, yuca, sweet potato

So, couscous is a form of pasta, just like orzo.

I have an article about the "flours" and their foods sources. If you are going to rotate starches, it might be of use to you, so you can see what sources and plant families they fall into.

http://foodchallenges.ca/?page_id=14

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forum: Food advice

#1 Mon 10 Aug 09 3:01pm

John H

Special diet + beginner cook.

#2 Mon 10 Aug 09 3:10pm

mummza

Re: Special diet + beginner cook.

#3 Mon 10 Aug 09 3:56pm

ljbritt50

Re: Special diet + beginner cook.

#4 Mon 10 Aug 09 4:12pm

MsPablo

Re: Special diet + beginner cook.

#5 Mon 10 Aug 09 4:41pm

ljbritt50

Re: Special diet + beginner cook.

#6 Mon 10 Aug 09 5:01pm

John H

Re: Special diet + beginner cook.

#7 Mon 10 Aug 09 5:41pm

MsPablo

Re: Special diet + beginner cook.

#8 Mon 10 Aug 09 6:03pm

John H

Re: Special diet + beginner cook.

#9 Mon 10 Aug 09 6:08pm

mummza

Re: Special diet + beginner cook.

#10 Mon 10 Aug 09 6:49pm

ljbritt50

Re: Special diet + beginner cook.

John H wrote:

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