Before I begin, I want to say thank you to all who help in this community and that everyone here is different. While I describe my needs for starch below, this is in no way a universal approach for those suffering with auto-immune disease(s).

BACKGROUND INFO: I was diagnosed with Ankylosing Spondylitis (AS) in 2003 and am HLA B27 positive. I’ve been taking Enbrel for 9 years and due to these forums decided to stop “cold turkey” in February 2012 due to all the success stories I read about on the NSD forums. The 1st two months I was mostly vegetarian, added some more protein / meat in diet the next 1 ½ months, ramped up my protein after losing so much muscle mass (doctor’s advice), and then added in starch on 6/18.

WHY DID I ADD STARCH? Due to recent test results, I must now eat starches to balance my system.

The Metametrix Organix Profile provides a view into the body’s cellular metabolic processes and the efficiency of metabolic function. Basically if you’re lacking in nutrition, this test will help find the problem areas. Here are mine:

- Fatty Acid Metabolism high – it won’t absorb DHA / EPA fatty acids in my body correctly. So all that fish & Omega-3 supplements I’ve been taking haven’t been working (and yes, I could visually see it not working). To balance, I need carnitine (found in steak / beef) & B2 . In fact, I need a B-Complex to balance out my B-Vitamins.

- Carbohydrate Metabolism Very High – Because I’ve been on the low-starch diet, I haven’t been eating nearly enough carbs. It’s so bad, I was diagnosed with Ketosis - basically the biggest reason I got so skinny & underweight; I turned whatever fat (which I didn’t have much to start with) into energy. For me, fruit isn’t enough – I need a starch.

- Picolinate is high, I need to lower the protein and add in the carbs. Again, I’ll need a starch to balance this out.

Now that you’ve heard all the science stuff, here’s what’s going on. I am headed to Ketosis because I’m not eating any starches. My protein levels are too high creating an acidic body (and increasing bacteria). My fatty acids are not being absorbed and my antioxidants are too low due to protein levels. Combine that with the idea from the USDA Food Pyramid and you’ll see that I need starchy grains. According to my food intolerance tests, the only thing I can choose from now is rice and potatoes. And thus why I went out to Publix grocery store right after the Metametrix diagnosis phone call (6/18/12), picked up organic, gluten-free jasmine brown rice and had it for lunch. Although this is a huge risk for me since it goes against my original diet plan of NSD / LSD (no starches), it’s one I had to take. More in-depth analysis is listed on this blog post I made.

HAS IT PAID OFF? ANY FLARE-UPS? Considering I was going against the core of my original diet, I was very concerned but had to take a chance. For the next week, I created a diary of each day and what transpired (middle of page under “testing rice”). The short answer is “no”, but I’m still battling the symptoms of this disease after 5 ½ months. Each week gets better and I have many ups & downs – but no flare-ups like I’ve heard people having on these forums. Most of my issues stem from not enough exercise & chiropractic work to correct my posture in conjunction with high amounts of inflammation (SED rate last checked was over 100).

CONCLUSION: I believe that the no-starch diet is a phenomenal way to begin your diet. In many cases, it removes so many foods / grains that poison our body and/or are food intolerant. Over time, though, you must get medically tested, re-tested, and get food intolerance / vitamin deficiency tests done. Without that knowledge, you will never know what you can or cannot eat. Had I not done the Cyrex test, I would be picking starches that are poison to my body. If I didn’t take the Metametrix test, I would have never known about Keytosis and the damage it was doing to my body.

Hi there,

Just wanted to point out to any newbies that you SHOULDN'T be in or heading to ketosis or overloading on protein if you are doing the no starch diet properly. This is not the Atkins diet - you are allowed carbs, just not starchy carbs. You ARE allowed sugar and fruit so you should not be in ketosis.

You mention the need for carnitine which is found in beef and dairy products - these are both allowed foods on the NSD. I know some people feel red meat is inflammatory but that is another subject and not any thing to do with the NSD itself. Certainly it is not a problem for my husband and many others although I acknowledge it may be a problem for some. But that is something to be determined on an individual basis - not a blanket elimination for everyone. And not proposed by the NSD protocol.

Carnitine is also found in nuts, vegetables like asparaus, broccoli, collard greens and kale, and apricots - all allowed on the NSD.

You mention the need for vitamin B2 which is found in dairy products, leafy vegetables (which are/should be eaten by the bucket load on the NSD), liver, kidneys, mushrooms and almonds - these are all allowed on the NSD.

To lower picolanite you say you need carbs - you can get carbs without the starch while on the NSD.

I know some people take the diet to extremes by cutting out all kinds of additional things and it is no longer the no starch diet but the no dairy, no sugar, no fruit, no nuts, no red meat, no eggs, no nothing diet. I personally don't agree with this approach and believe that it can get very unhealthy that way (just my opinion). Of course there may be a certain amount of tweaking needed for individuals but nothing too extreme.

The standard NSD protocol itself does provide everything your body needs in my opinion esp if you eat moderate amounts of red meat (twice a week or so) and plenty of greens. Green leafy vegetables are nature's power foods and are so packed with nutrients that I don't see how anyone could get deficient while eating them.

All the best to you brian. I certainly respect your own choices for yourself and your treatment of your AS.

Hi, brianzajac:

Just wanted to reinforce what Chelsea has said; I never tried to make the NSD a super-high protein diet, and that is why food selection is very important.

But I hope that You will remember that the FORM of the starch is sometimes as important as the FACT; that is natural, unrefined starches are less dangerous than refined, powdered grains like most flours. And food combinations are important, also. Please reference the Dr. Wm. Hay method used by Jackie Le Tissier who treated her AS as a vegetarian. And vegetarians can still sometimes--depending upon their status--fight AS by getting their epithelium and mucosa in good shape. So it takes the proper nutrients to accomplish this, and I hope that You will be able to stay well even while giving in to some select starches as necessary. As You said everyone is different and I only 'wish' everyone could do vegetarian diets, but perhaps it was an important life lesson for me to be forced to admit this!

Please let us know how things are going for You and remember that this forum is about diet in general as a way to control this disease, so whatever You find out and experience is worthwhile for everyone with AS.

Thank You for the technical explanation. I was always miles from benign dietary ketosis (it is not the same as diabetic or other very severe ketosis) on NSD, but I had considerable variety.

HEALTH,
John

Hello Chelsea,

You are correct about Ketosis issues in the beginning. But I believe people need testing as soon as they start this diet so they can find out if there are any issues - especially since some of these tests can take 3 weeks to get back.

The problem was that I was eating all the foods you mentioned, but the nutrients ran through my body. Absorption was the issue, not the denial of foods. The same issue applied with the carnitine - I ate, almost on a daily basis, nuts, vegetables like asparaus, broccoli, collard greens and kale. Not to get too graphic, but I saw visual cues while going to the bathroom that confirmed the lack of absorption in fat discharges and going 4 to 5 times a day. Now I'm eating those powerful nuts, veggies, & fruits in combination with the meats & starchy carbs and it's absorbing - the bathroom issues have gone away.

John, thank you for your support and comments - coming from you it means a lot to me. I agree that I didn't want to ramp up my proteins so high, but my muscle mass was getting scary (I had a comment that I was looking like a person who just came out of a POW camp - yikes!).

I could not agree with you more about the processing of starches. I have not had bread since the start of the diet and I think that's making a huge difference due to the processing + food intolerance that I have with so many grains.

Currently my diet is 1/2 - 3/4 of the protein I used to take and thus smaller food portions due to the rice. Those smaller portions are really helping out because my body doesn't have to go overboard in digestion like it used to.

Hello Brian,

Thanks for the update and good luck to you with finding the balance you need.

I had had issues with absorption as well, the apple diets and probiotics helped me. I actually started to put weight on with diet afterwards.

Everyone is different and no one shoe fits all, so hope you can find and keep a regiment that works for you. You are a true Kicker continuing to look for answers!

Best to you

Tim

Good stuff people!

Thank you all for the input!

My journey is up and down, but I do so want to control my health by self control of diet!

I'd also like to test my various food intolerances. It has been over half a year since I was on that diet but perhaps finding something a little less carb restrictive would be useful. Do you have any tests you would recommend besides cyrex? I think there is a lot more involved than just gluten for me. If I do a diet again, I would like to keep my carbs high for aerobic activity like running, biking, etc.

Thanks.

I created a blog entry with food intolerance tests mentioned from this site & other research. If you want the full details & links, go here. Here's what was mainly listed:

- Cyrex Test (Array 4) – Recommended by Dr. Joseph (my ND / Chiropractor up in Venice), I took this test and found out I was allergic to eggs, milk, milk-based products, and most of the grains listed. It took almost a month to get the results back, but has since really helped increase my energy levels. I personally recommend this test.

- Mediator Release Test (MRT) – A much wider spectrum of food intolerance testing that claims 94% accuracy. It tests 150 different foods and food additives and is able to detect specific food chemicals which the ELISA IgG test is not able to do.

- Do It Yourself / Anti-Intolerance Lab Tests: As stated on their site: The correct way to assess a suspected food allergy or intolerance is to begin with a careful record of food intake and symptoms over a period of several weeks. Symptoms such as swollen lips or eyes, hives, or skin rash may be allergy-related, particularly if they occur within a few minutes (up to two hours) after eating. Although nearly any food can cause an allergic reaction, a few foods account for about 90% of reactions. Among adults these foods are peanuts, nuts, fish, and shellfish. Among children, they are egg, milk, peanuts, soy, and wheat.

I created an update on the two main starches that were OK from my food intolerance Cyrex test - rice & potatoes. I created a detailed blog post & comparison based on research found here on these forums & being my own personal "lab rat". You can find that post with links HERE. Below is a shortened version without links:

Rice
- Food tolerant test: approved
- Personal Test: Success
- Brown Rice (1/2 cup cooked): 1.4g fiber, 1.3g soluble, .1g insoluble
- Resistant Starch: Yes | Forum
- Gluten Free (Gluten only applies to wheat, barley, rye & processed foods like thickeners)
- Mainly Made of Amylopectin Starch

Baked Potato
- Food tolerant test: approved
- Personal Test: Failed
- Potatoes (1 small): 2.4g fiber, 2.4g soluble, 4,8g insoluble
- 7% resistant starch, 13% cooled
- Gluten Free (Gluten only applies to wheat, barley, rye & processed foods like thickeners)
- Mainly Made of Amylose Starch

As you can see above, both foods are similar in being non-gluten, passing the Cyrex food intolerance test, resistant starches, and gluten free. However, rice has two main components that help me out: it has the solubility I need to “bind” the food I eat plus it’s made of amylopectin starch – an easier broken down starch than the amylose starch that I ate, and flared up, from a baked potato. The good news (which I still need to test) is that forms of waxy potatoes are more amylopectin (the safe starch):

Waxy Potatoes: Carlingford, Nadine, Round White, Round Red, Yellow Potato, Red Potato, Salad Potato, La Soda, Red La Rouge, Red Pontiac, Red Nordland, Red Bliss, Yellow Finnish, Ruby Crescent, and Australian Crescent. These potatoes are good for roasting, or in use for soups, casseroles, and potato salads.

Test Conclusions: I have safely tested white, brown and variations of them (cereals, pastas, etc.) without issue – a test that my gut health has improved. For potatoes, I will continue to test but stay away from outside the home. No matter what, I will continue to stay away from the heavily processed forms of both rice and potatoes.