My New 4-Day Rule For Testing New Foods

Hello my fellow ICers!  I hope this Friday finds you well.  If you are familiar with the standard Elimination Diet, it advises to test new foods in small and increasingly larger quantities for three days in a row to see if they irritate your IC or are safe to add into your IC-friendly diet.  This is the rule I have gone by for nearly 10 years, but a recent experience has completely changed my protocol.  Three days is not enough.

When I re-tested organic green seedless grapes earlier this year, Day 1 was okay, Day 2 was a little iffy but it didn't cause a flare so I continued onto Day 3.  Day 3 caused zero irritation, so I got very excited and added it into my diet as a safe food, or so I thought.

Day 4?  ONE OF THE WORST FLARES I HAVE HAD IN YEARS.  So please, when you do the Elimination Diet and/or test new foods, please add them in in an increasing quantity for FOUR days straight, not three.  I have had similar experiences with other foods I have tested since then so have made it my standard rule.  I highly suggest you do the same.  It's really important to be sure and it's also important to do the Elimination Diet more than once. 

Looking back, when I first came out with my (faulty) results the first time around, almost everything in my diet was an irritant.  It was just that it was keeping me at a consistent level of pain so nothing stuck out as a problem.  At least 15 of the foods I was eating back then were MAJOR irritants and if I ate them today, I would end up in so much pain that I would be vomiting, crying and fainting on the bathroom floor in an hour or less. 

I realize that I am especially sensitive with an especially bad case of IC, but that is why I created this blog:  For the super sensitive ICers.  Most of the other IC blogs out there are unfortunately not helpful to me when it comes to food because I'm too sensitive for what they advise.  Of course, everyone with IC is different and that is why the Elimination Diet is so important, because individual results differ greatly. 

I wish you all the best testing new foods – if you try out the 4-day rule, please comment to let us know your experience!   Good luck!

Sincerely,

Kat 😘

Kat's IC Friendly Bran Muffins

Hello fellow ICers!  I haven't had these muffins in ages because it is extremely difficult to find organic wheat bran where I live and unfortunately, non-organic wheat bran really flares my IC.  They're delicious so I wanted to share them with you! 

As a disclaimer, this recipe is only okay for ICers that are okay with butter.  I included the brands of some of the ingredients because these brands consistently don't bother me.  Even though I am usually okay with butter, sometimes if I have a different brand, it will flare me.  I've also had a hard time with different kinds of sea salt and especially with egg whites so I hope that if you're in the same boat, these brands will be safe for you too!

I generally cut the recipe in half since I live in a 2-person household, but if I'm going to a gathering or a potluck, I make the whole recipe and have something 'normal' that I can enjoy with others.  These bran muffins are moist and delicious.  I hope you like them!  Enjoy! 😊

Ingredients:

• 1 cup filtered boiling water
• ½ cup Lactantia salted butter
• 3 cups organic wheat bran
• 2 ½ cups organic all purpose flour
• ½ teaspoon baking soda
• 2 teaspoons Maison Orphée Grey Sea Salt
• 4 Homestead Farm Free Run XL egg whites (or if you can have egg yolks, 2 large eggs)
• 1 ½ cups old fashioned brown sugar
• 2 cups Lactantia 1% Lactose Free Milk

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400° F and put 24 standard sized muffin cups in your muffin pan(s).
2. Stir ½ cup of Lactantia salted butter into 1 cup of filtered boiling water until melted.
3. Stir in 1 cup of organic wheat bran and set aside. 
4. In a separate bowl, combine the organic all purpose flour, baking soda and grey sea salt.
5. In another large separate bowl, beat together the 4 XL egg whites, brown sugar and lactose-free milk.
6. Once that is combined, mix in the wet bran mixture that you set aside in step 3.
7. When combined, add in the dry ingredients and then 2 cups of organic wheat bran.  Stir only until moistened.
8. Spoon the mixture into 24 muffin cups in your muffin tray(s) evenly.
9. Bake in preheated 400° F oven for 15-20 minutes.
10. Let cool and enjoy!

Makes 24 medium sized muffins.

To eat these muffins, I take 1 Lactaid Ultra and 7 Prelief.  If you have IBS, make sure to drink Choice Organic Mint Tea with it and limit yourself to one muffin a day.