A world without olive oil? Vinegar?
Somebody pass me the smelling salts!
I am fruit-intolerant, including avocados. I am also intolerant to the combination of grains and potatoes within 4 hours.
Yes, it made me sad, but only for a little bit. Because within just a few days of making some changes I noticed one big difference – the pain was gone. And since I’m all about avoiding pain, I’m not going back.
Here’s the low down on this blog. Any recipes posted will be fruit-free according to the guidelines given to me by my Naturopath. Product info and recipes that are grain-free or potato-free will be marked as such. If a product or recipe happens to be gluten-free, sugar-free, vegetarian, or vegan, I will certainly mark it as such, as well. However, fruit-free, grain-free, potato-free are already tough, so I will not post things specifically designed to accommodate gluten-free, sugar-free, vegetarian, or vegan. I think my head would explode if I had to figure all of that out! Besides, there are tons of other websites with info for those who need those accommodations. Fruit-free? Grain/potato combo-free? Not so much. I’m working on finding a quick, easy visual for marking what’s what. When I find it, I’ll update this page.
Something super important to keep in mind is this: I am not a doctor. I am not qualified to give medical advice. If you suspect you may have a food intolerance, please consult your medical professional.
I firmly believe that in life we have a choice: laugh or cry. I choose to laugh. When I found out I was fruit-intolerant I had different fruits stamped onto each of my nails. It’s my way of staring it down and taking charge. I want to keep this as light-hearted as I can. Because, come on! We have to have at least some fun with this, right?
I’m so excited that there’s another one of “me” out there! I found out yesterday that I am fruit and honey-intolerant, and intolerant to grains and potatoes within 8 hours. I’m going to be visiting your website a lot in the coming days, I am sure. I am so sad about fruits…I was so sure that I was going to be intolerant of something “normal” like gluten, or dairy, or eggs…so this was almost more of a shock and more disappointing. I’m so glad to hear a person can survive this 🙂 Thank you for being so happy in your posts about this! Looking forward to learning from your experiences.
Oh, Breanna! Now I know there are at least 2 of “us” out there! And I get it, I get it, I get it! The whole reason I started down this path is because I thought it would be something like gluten or dairy, maybe nightshades, anything “normal.” Because let’s be honest, all of that is accommodated at the grocery store, right? Oof!
My advice is two-fold:
First, give yourself a few days of wandering around in a fog saying to yourself over and over, “Fruit? Really. Fruit. Huh. Fruit. Seriously? Fruit?” I think it took me 3 or 4 days of complete disbelief and staring at the test results to come back to the reality. Seriously, give yourself some time.
Second, cut yourself a lot of slack. I mean a lot. This is weird. It’s hard. It’s hard to explain. Sometimes it feels like there’s just so dang much to remember. Like yesterday I was at a writers conference and they served lunch. By the time I got to the lunch area there were only vegetarian sandwiches. Whole grain bread? Check. Cucumbers, red peppers, lettuce, tomato? Check. No olives or avocado? Check. Good to go. Except it didn’t occur to me to see if there was hummus, and there was. A very thin layer I didn’t even notice over the other veggies. Hummus = olive oil and lemon juice. Crap. So then I pull out the bag of potato chips and read the label and remembered, “Well, duh! I just ate a sandwich. On bread. Put the chips back.” But the hummus? Oops. Couldn’t be helped.
I said “two-fold,” but I like odd numbers, so here’s the third thing: It’s okay to get frustrated, too. It’s almost impossible to find nutritious recipes that don’t involve fruit in the form of olive oil or coconut oil. You’ll feel really good about getting something with no citric acid but totally miss the apple cider vinegar. But please hang in there, and don’t beat yourself up! Even with the little goof-ups, you’ll still feel so, so much better!
Welcome to the weirdest group you’ll ever be a part of!!
Thank you so much for all your advice!! You’re totally right…I’ve been completely overwhelmed a few times just trying to figure out what I *can* eat. I’ve been eating the same quinoa salad for dinner the past three nights just because figuring out a new recipe that doesn’t have anything I can’t eat in it just sounds exhausting. The weirdest things I’ve been running into are not being able to have lemon, olive oil, and citric acid (which is in so many things, like cheese!).
All that’s to say…thanks for being so welcoming 🙂 this is going to be hard, but nice to know that people like you can do it too!
Quinoa salad recipe? Care to share? And yes, olive oil, lemon, and citric acid. It’s in freaking everything, isn’t it? Ugh! Like I said, hang in there, my newest fellow fruitie! We’ll get there!
Definitely! It’s actually really fantastic – nothing to complain about, even if I do eat it every night 🙂 I don’t really have a recipe with amounts, I just throw stuff in, but here’s what I use:
Cooked quinoa (I usually make about 4 cups cooked so I have lots of leftovers)
A couple of carrots, chopped
A handful of fresh chopped parsley
Chopped raw almonds
Chopped red bell pepper
Chopped green onion
Cumin
Sea salt or kosher salt
Toasted sesame oil
Dump everything in a bowl and mix! It’s good for about a week in the fridge but mine usually doesn’t last that long…even my meat-and-potatoes husband loves it 🙂 I used to make it with olive oil, but tried the sesame oil when I found out I couldn’t have the olive anymore. And my husband says he actually likes this better! But I’m going to have to try the oils you posted about recently…hazelnut oil sounds amazing…ooh, and if you chop hazelnuts instead of almonds and put those in here? Probably killer.
Okay, you might be tired of it, but that looks and sounds absolutely delish and super easy! Not to mention, it looks like a really good summer dish. Mind if I post it so our other fellow Fruities have another good go-to recipe?
Go for it! It really is a good go-to, and you can throw whatever veggies you want in there. I feel like chopped asparagus would be awesome, or edamame, that sort of thing. Yay for not-boring food that we can eat! 😉
Wahoo! Thanks, ma’am!
Add me to the intolerant group! Primary: fruit. Combo: potatoes and grain within 6 hours. Do you have a facebook page?
Welcome, Carla! You and I share the same intolerances. I don’t have a Facebook page, but that’s a great idea! I think I’ll set one up (today, maybe?) and we can all share more that way. I think support is best when it’s community-based. Wahoo! Off to set up a page. I’ll write a post when I do 🙂
Okay, Carla – your wish is my command! https://www.facebook.com/FruitFreeNut
I just left my naturopath’s office after being told that I have the same intolerances as you. I definitely cried when I found out because I felt defeated. Thank you for making this blog and helping me see that I can be successful in this new way of eating.
Welcome! First, know that you’re not alone. There are lots of us struggling through this weird thing we all share in common. Second, you can do this! It takes time. It’s a process. There’s no such thing as perfection. We’re all doing the best we can, and that’s all you can ask of yourself. Welcome to this weird little community! xo