cooking with nothing

Allergic to animal fats? And hypoallergenic chilli!

It’s no wonder I needed to do this strict elimination diet, as finding the cause of IBS issues can be really confusing. While you’re busy thinking one thing is the problem, focusing all your attention on a certain food group, it may be the last suspect that’s causing all the issues. I remember a post I wrote many months ago (when on the FODMAP diet) about how I thought a glass of sweet bubbly had sent my stomach over the edge. A lot of people have issues with fructose malabsorption and I thought I could be one of them (just as I’ve thought I could be gluten-intolerant, lactose-intolerant and FODMAP-intolerant, too) and at the time, it did make sense. My food diary was full of mangoes and other high-fructose fruit.

Now, after finally finding a naturopath who specialises in cases such as mine, I feel like I’m on the home stretch. Looking at what else I’d had with that glass of bubbly (kedgeree made with smoked mackerel, eggs and butter) may have given me a clue, but my symptoms were so sporadic that even with a detailed food diary it was so hard to pinpoint the cause.

My naturopath thinks my symptoms sound like I have an intolerance to animal fats. Aha! I remember my symptoms easing slightly when I tried being a vegetarian but then coming back in full force, obviously due to the fact that I still consumed dairy products. Looking back through my food diary I had issues after eating fatty fish such as salmon (usually in a salad that also included potential suspects vinegar, capsicum and tomatoes) but after a steamed piece of white fish I was fine. I kept doing the food diary math and realised that animal products under 10g fat per 100g didn’t seem to give me any issues, but anything higher did.

This is quite the revelation for me but as I’ve been fooled before by my tummy before, I’m not coming to any conclusions just yet. What I will do, however, is continue the challenge phase of the hypoallergenic diet without any animal fats at all, just to make sure they’re not interfering with my testing. I’m currently trialling tomatoes and they seem to be going generally okay but have given me a mild ‘fuzzy’ feeling on my tongue. Apparently this is quite common with items from the nightshade family (tomatoes, eggplant, potatoes, capsicum/peppers) but my senses are well and truly heightened from the elimination diet.

Here’s a recipe for hypoallergenic chilli:

Serves four

• 1 x onion, diced
• 1 x cup black beans, soaked overnight
• 1 x cup kidney beans, soaked overnight
• 1 x cup chickpeas, soaked overnight
• 1 x bay leaf
• 2 x celery stalks, diced
• 1 x carrot, diced
• 2 x garlic cloves, diced
• 1 tsp x oregano
• 1 tsp x cumin
• 1 tsp x cinnamon
• A handful of fresh coriander
• Juice of 1 x lime
• 1 tsp x coconut oil

Heat the coconut oil in a pot and add the onion, garlic, celery and carrot. Stir for a few minutes until the onion turns translucent. Add the cumin, cinnamon and oregano and stir until fragrant.

Add the beans and the bay leaf to the pot and pour over just enough water to cover the beans.  Bring to the boil, then simmer with the lid on for about 1 hour, adding more water if necessary. When the beans are tender and the water has reduced down to a sauce-like consistency, the chilli is ready. Squeeze the fresh lime over the top and serve.

I served it with a handful of fresh coriander on top and some quinoa tortillas, although I found them a little bitter. Perhaps adding some roasted garlic to the mixture would help.

Whip up some fresh guacamole on the side and you have yourself a pretty delicious spread!

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