Help me interpret my elimination(ish) diet results

Regarding the bread you ate in sandwiches while in the Central American countries, any idea where the wheat used in the bread was produced/manufactured? There are a lot of studies related to allergens in the fungal amylase used to process wheat flour in the US which may not be used in other countries. So, you may not actually have celiac disease, but could be allergic to something else in the bread--which I suspect is true for a lot of us! Some relevant journal articles: Allergy to flour and fungal amylase in bakery workers: http://occmed.oxfordjournals.org/content/47/1/21.full.pdf Is fungal alpha-amylase in bread an allergen?: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10718854 There are some other interesting items related to the phytic acid used in white bread processing leaching magnesium: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/14985216 Magnesium deficiencies can wreak all kinds of havoc with the system--especially and including digestive issues. Another thing to watch out for is Yellow #5: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tartrazine (found this by accident when researching why I got shortness of breath/heartburn when drinking Tang!) If you've recently taken antibiotics, eating yogurt or kimchi or sauerkraut (live) or taking a probiotic can help with the digestive issues, too. (Fun little graphic about our microbiome: http://www.wired.com/magazine/2011/09/mf_microbiome/) Anecdotally, I've found that cutting wheat-based items (produced in the US), processed sugar (especially sodas with phosphoric acid, and anything in cans due to BPA content), avoiding yellow #5, methylparabens (now in lots of food, for some reason), and oils like cottonseed, plus taking a magnesium supplement helped me *immensely.* You can take too much magnesium, though, so if you supplement, don't overdo it. It is, of course, difficult to know which of the aforementioned really matter, though. I have a suspicion it's the magnesium. Also, intermittent fasting has helped me a lot (but IANAD & IANYD); if I know I'm not going to be able to avoid eating bad stuff, fasting 16-18 hours beforehand (and before a "big week," 2 days) has kept the symptoms away (in my case, symptoms that are pretty evident after eating too much white bread include heartburn, peripheral neuropathy, brain fog). Also, with this diet, I can drink alcohol moderately without heartburn or other negative side-effects, which is a nice benefit!

Note to other commenters: OP said she doesn't have health insurance so presumably seeing a doctor right now is not what she wants to do first. And having been tested for celiac disease, the accurate tests are super expensive even if you have insurance. One thing I would *highly* recommend is keeping a detailed food diary and also keep track of how you feel. You are trying to process a lot of information - make it easier on yourself and write it down!

I think doing an actual elimination diet is a good plan. But I strongly suspect that if you started by eliminating pre-packaged foods and focusing on vegetables, beans and other high fiber foods, that might go a long way toward replicating the results of when you were in Central America pretty well. If you're eating frozen foods/pre-packaged foods, and what you describe as "very salty" foods, I'd bet you could actually be underestimating the quantity of sodium that you are ingesting. I like the fitbit website (you don't have to have the device to use the site) for tracking, but there are tons out there. I think fitday actually had better nutrient tracking, but it's been some time since I've used it. Good luck!

I'd recommend actually DOING an http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elimination_diet I did just recently and I'm shocked by what I discovered. I actually bought the book, http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0373892713/metafilter-20/ref=nosim/ because it was very detailed about how exactly to do the elimination diet and how to reintroduce foods to determine if I was reacting to them. So here's what I discovered, I react quite badly to wheat, eggs, peanuts and chocolate. When I eliminated these from my diet, I no longer had dibilitating diarrhea, gas or rashes. I also stopped feeling so fuzzy headed. Do spend about $13, get the book, and see what you discover. You're very lucky in that you don't need to see a doctor to do this, it's just common sense.

I had everything you have for years, minus the pain. For years, I thought I had some sort of sensitivity to salt. Nope. 1) I was diagnosed as hypothyroid, and after many trials and tribulations ended up on the right dose of meds. 2) More importantly, I was diagnosed as hypoglycemic, and counseled to maintain a high-protein + veggie diet. 3) Neither of these things really helped the bloating, barring an early period in my new diet when I was off all grains almost entirely. What DID help the bloating, finally, was discovering that some of what looks and feels like bloating is actually constipation. And then discovering that I'm slightly low potassium (for years, I'd thought I simply couldn't handle much salt), and slightly low iron, which can cause constipation! 4) At the suggestion of my doctor, I also gave up wheat, and when I've gone back to it, I've had some allergy symptoms from time to time, though I'm not sure I'm truly allergic. That said, I was always one who'd happily fill up on lazy wheaty things, and the prohibition forces me to put the effort into eating high protein meat. Nowadays I don't bloat nearly at all. My skin is still too dry, but that's partly correlated with low thyroid. And the difference between a day with high protein and a day without continues to blow my mind. Try that first. My suspicion is a lot of women, in particular, undereat protein, and then wonder why they've no energy ... to wit, this was me for years. But I've seen it with countless roommates, too. If you want to try to increase your potassium levels, the safe-food way to do it is with low-sodium V-8, or in a more moderate way (packing far less punch) by eating/drinking whole avocados/bananas. A V-8 4 or 5 times a week makes me feel much better, especially if I start to see signs of bloating. The avocado/banana thing simply doesn't provide me with enough. You can also take iron OTC if you think this might be useful. But as someone above advised, I'd do a few weeks on Fitday.com first, to see what that reveals. In my case, my iron was coming in borderline (70%); and my potassium levels were closer to 50%. Foolishly, I ignored the potassium for a long time because I mentally coupled it with salt. So I think you're wise to have considered it.

I would make a list of what you eat here that you didn't eat there, the eliminate those things one at a time for a period of a few weeks and see when you start to feel better. Other than the onions/garlic, you don't specify how your diet is different.

OP, you are describing me, EXACTLY, when you talk about your symptoms. The thing is I too improved dramatically when I went to South America. I spent two weeks on a small cruise ship traveling in Antarctica and then onward up the coast. It was a cruise so I ate like a pig, all my favorite foods, which do include a lot of veggies and fruits as well as meats, cheese, and desserts. Yet oddly, my bloating disappeared and I lost 5.lbs (something no amount of exercise and diet had been able to help me accomplish back home). When I got home my bloating and all the other symptoms returned within a week. I have been to 5 different doctors including a gastrointestinal specialist and have been tested for Celiac disease amongst many other things. I've been told I have IBS which is basically doctors telling you they don't know what is wrong. It's gotten so bad that sometimes my stomach bleeds and I have gained twenty pounds. The only things that have ever helped even the slightest bit is cutting back/out cheese and gluten and taking a probiotic ( I like Align, they are expensive but effective). These things by no means cure my problems they just alleviate the worst of it. In my unprofessional opinion the food in the US is made from so many additives and genetically modified ingredients something has gone wrong. I saw a study done in the Netherlands that showed feeding chickens feed made from *Round Up Ready * corn killed the good bacteria in their systems and left the bad bacteria to multiply out of control. I think something similar is going on for people in the US. If you find an answer to your problems I hope you will follow up here. I will crossing my fingers for you. I know how miserable it can be. Good luck!

My morning brain fog disappeared after I went gluten-free for a while as a test. But it turned out not to be the gluten! It was that I was no longer eating pure carbs in the morning, but more protein-heavy items, and it seems that I require protein in the morning for my brain to work. I also experience painful gut issues and tracking what I ate with one of those online diet-plan services showed me that I require at least 20 grams of fiber a day to not have problems. Fewer than that, bad news.

Okay, I feel like a heel now for missing the part about not having health insurance. All of the theories you listed are valid reasons for why you might be experiencing fluid retention. It kind of sounds like a perfect storm of little things all adding up resulting in monster fluid retention. I know it's hard to motivate yourself to make a BIG lifestyle change when you're feeling crappy, but just think about how much better you felt and push yourself over the hump. It really can take 60-90 days to see significant changes from a dietary modification so be persistent and don't get discouraged! Enlist a friend if you need help doing that initial round of grocery shopping/cooking lunches/etc. You can do it!