Kickas.org Forums Treatments, Drugs and Alternatives NSD and diet-related; Guar Gum

Hello All,

Well, it's flare time again. I've been so good on the NSD lately that my three-month-old flare was fading to nothing over the last few days. Then, I ate several items yesterday with Guar Gum in them and I'm back to square one.

I feel so foolish! You just can't let your guard down for a minute on this diet. The good news is that I can clearly see that starch causes flares. That is not even a question in my mind any more. The bad news is that I'll have to start all over now w/the NSD.

I'm pretty sure I'm just going to move to a raw foods diet. I just can't take any more of this processed food. It's exhausting and somewhat futile to try to read every single label. Eventually, something slips by.

Guar Gum. I curse the dreaded Guar Bean!!!

Best to All,

Darn those gums and other strange thickeners! Have you read recently about carageenan? (Sp?) Shudder!
I do the same thing, feeling great, then have some starch...feel fine, then have too much! Then feel awful and then it takes some time to get back on track. I agree about the processed food. I'll just shop around the perimeter of the grocery stores and keep it really simple.
Start a favorite raw recipe thread!!
Jan

Guar Gum kicked me in the teeth this week. Course I knew nothing about Guar Gum your thread set a light off. Up and Down seems I just keep riding the rollercoaster.
Darrel.

Hmmm maybe that is what has caused this latest flare of mine. I ate some coconut bliss ice cream (non dairy ice cream made of coconut milk). I've eaten small amounts before and never had a problem. I only eat small amounts occasionally but I was already slightly flared so maybe that set me over the edge. Guess I won't be eating that for awhile - dog gone it! It's sooo good.

Annette

Bob,

I'm sorry to hear that you got bitten by those hidden starches!

Like you, after I had numerous initial setbacks from hidden starches, I decided to make all my meals from scratch. The straw that broke the camel's back was some type of gum found in salad dressing. Arrghhh...

It's a drag, but it's nice to know for certain what I'm eating.

Good luck with your raw food approach!

Freddie

Hi Everyone,
Thanks for responding.

Jan- I keep thinking about doing something with recipes. I'd like to organize the ones we have here at some point...guess I'll need to work my way through some first. Made Dragonslayers (john) chile relenos dish last night and it was really good.

Darrel and Annette- Yes, I've been ignoring ingredients like thickeners forever. never again. I loves me some ice cream too, but it's just not worth it if I have to wake up feeling like this.

Freddie- Yup, I'm done with processed food. I just got Carol Sinclair's "The IBS Low-Starch Diet" book and am loving it. Lot's of great information and recipes. I'd highly recommend it if you haven't already read it.

Processed food and hidden starches are the devil!

Hey Bob,

I eat very few processed foods.. there are a few, but very few (even in the states). Spent most time in produce and meat section of grocery stores).

Not sure where you live, but if Trader Joes near you, they generally have some safer processed foods.

Tim

Hey Bob, this is weird man.

I've bought packets of guar gum and used it to thicken gravies. It tests negative for starch with the iodine test and Jon doesn't react to it even tho and he's super sensitive to starch (eg can't even have spices). We don't use it anymore tho as it didn't do a very good job... thickened the gravy but gave it a slimy texture... YUCK!

I have no experience with other vegetable gums like xanthan gum and carageenan tho so they may be starchy.

Perhaps there was something else in the product that could have caused the flare?

Chelsea

You know, I think you're right. I was just reading Carol Sinclair's book again and she mentions that pepper is starch, which I didn't even realize. And now that you mention spices, I have not been perfectly strict about my spice intake. Man! You really can't let your guard down for a minute on this diet, can you?

I also take melatonin to help me sleep and I noticed that the capsules are made of rice flour.

I'll consider myself slapped for this false alarm- honest apologies to all if this caused you any alarm or mislead you in regards to Guar Gum. Sincere apologies!

Hey Bob,

Well, just coz Jon can tolerate it doesn't mean you can! It may well be a problem for you... we all seem to need to fine tune and customise the diet to suit the individual when it comes to these nitty gritty lil things.

I still think it's a good idea to stay away from the vegetable gums anyway as I don't think they're particularly good for us. Also, as I mentioned, I'm not sure about the starchiness of other types besides guar gum... may be wise to steer clear.

Yeah, gotta watch those spices... but again it comes down to your own starch tolerance level. Some here are fine with all kinds of spices, others have an issue with them.

So I guess you have a little more experimenting to do to see which is the problem for you... spices or guar gum!

Chelsea