Wheat

I had noticed at the time of this first flare that I had been eating a lot of whole wheat muffins, made with wheat germ. They were homemade and delicious and I thought they would be healthy. It was here that I got my first clue that wheat may be a problem for me. I started by eliminating all wheat products from my diet; cereal, pizza, bread, bagels, cake, cookies... This immediately helped me, but not 100%.

Gluten

I then turned my attention to eliminating gluten as well. Gluten is a wheat protein, but also found in other grains such as oats and rye. I eliminated these as well. I could still eat potatoes and rice as well as gluten free noodles for my carbs.

Corn

It wasn't until I eliminated corn and all it's derivatives that I finally found 100% relief. This meant popcorn, corn starch, corn syrup. As well as corn derivatives such as white vinegar, citric acid and xantham gum. There area sites on the web that help list corn sources and derivatives. There are a lot! This was not an easy task for my to do. It also meant giving up soda pop! Now I drink Virgil's Cola, which is made from sugar, found in health food stores.

What I Eat

It seems that I would be very limited in what there is to eat. This is true, but I've learned to make substitutions. My basic diet:

All fruits and veggies (except corn)
chicken, pork, beef, fish (no lunch meats)
tuna and sardines
potatoes, rice and gluten free noodles
spaghetti sauce
peanut butter (Jiff)
jelly (without corn syrup or citric acid, hard to find)
pure maple syrup
plain yogurt
most cheese (not soft)
milk (not chocolate)
butter (in moderation because of fat) (no margerine)
olive oil and canola oil
apple cider vinegar
beans, chic peas
eggs
chocolate (pure, read label)
cream of rice cereal
gluten free waffles

Much more which I will go into in the future.