At First Glance, This Seems Okay.
After five years of experimenting, and two doctors guessing about what I can and can’t eat, I have finally gotten the results of my Mediator Release Test (MRT). And I’ve received my personalized LEAP program.
This is the answer I’ve been seeking, but not the answer I expected.
The MRT uses my blood to discover which specific foods are causing my body to go kerplooey. And the LEAP plan tells me what I should eat for the next six months so that my body can get healthy again. In June, I may be able to reintroduce some of the foods that have been destroying my body. But some of those foods may make me sick for the rest of my life.
I was surprised to find that I can still eat dairy. I was not as surprised to find that my highest sensitivity is wheat. I also have problems with things I don’t even eat – like beets and cantaloupe. Chicken and turkey, which I don’t even like, are a problem. I also can’t eat shrimp, which is a favorite.
The most daunting item on the list is corn. I can’t eat corn. At first glance, this seems okay. I can’t eat corn chips, corn tortillas or popcorn. When coupled with my wheat issue, this means it’s going to be very challenging to eat Mexican food.
But upon closer inspection, corn is in everything. Corn syrup. Cornmeal. Corn starch. Baking powder is made with corn starch. One site says 75% of processed foods contain some form of corn.
This does explain why my first doctor-induced diet (no wheat, corn, potatoes, fruit, sugar or nuts) worked so well.
Not including everything associated with wheat, beet, plum, butternut squash, potassium nitrate, cantaloupe, pumpkin, carrot, saccharin, cauliflower, shrimp, chicken, sunflower, corn, turkey, hazelnut, venison and orange, here is my list of corn-related items to inspect and/or avoid:
Anything that says CORN; alcoholic beverages, aspirin, baking powder, bacon, baked goods, candies, cheeses, cooking oil, corn starch, starch, corn syrup, cereals, dessert foods, dextrose, maltodextrin, Equal, Splenda, Sweet & Low, fruit juices, fructose, graham crackers, gravies, gum, ahm, hominy, jellies, ketchup, lozenges, Mexican and latin foods, margarines, peanut butters, popcorn, processed meats, soft drinks, toothpastes, vegetable oil mixes, vitamins, vinegar, glucose syrup, quinoa pasta, some iodized salt, some medications. Extremely sensitive people may react to cow’s milk, if the dairy cow has eaten corn.
There are YouTube videos from dozens – if not hundreds – of MRT/LEAP-test customers. Some of them follow the program religiously and feel great. Others follow it to their own specifications and do well. These videos are so interesting to me, because they each have their own sets of foods and their results are all pretty much the same: they feel better.
They feel a lot better. Even the ones who weren’t sick feel better!
Still, others decide the plan is too hard, and don’t do it. This is an expensive test; I’m not sure why anyone would do it without following the program.
So: I now have natural thyroid medication, supplements to support it, and a very detailed food plan. Finally, finally, finally: I am on the road to recovery.