26
Food Intolerances: Why We Each Require a Unique Diet
In the previous chapter you learned that eating foods containing yeast may be standing in the way of successfully overcoming your weight problem. Could there be other specific foods that will make you miserable and also block your best efforts? If your lifetime eating plan is to be a complete success, you have to restrict these foods. I ' ve witnessed such a scenario hundreds, if not thousands, of times. This cautionary note to all of you is based on a simple, self-evident truth: Everyone is different.
An Individual Approach
A good nutritional plan can ' t be bought off the rack; it must be custom-fitted, like a madeto-order suit. Following a healthy controlled carbohydrate approach will do a lot for your body. Finding out what foods you can and can ' t handle will give you an Atkins nutritional approach that is truly yours alone.
Happily, the most common sources of food intolerance are generally found in foods I recommend you either avoid entirely or approach very cautiously. The foods to which people most commonly prove intolerant are grains, such as corn, wheat, rye and oats; soy, milk, cheese, brewer ' s and baker ' s yeast and eggs. The only three you might be eating during the Atkins weight loss phases are eggs, cheese and soy in the form of tofu and other products.
But those foods are hardly the end of the story. There are many others that produce intolerances. Strictly speaking, you could react badly to any food you eat. A few of the other very common allergy-causing foods are those in the nightshade family: white potato, tomato, eggplant, paprika, bell and other peppers and tobacco. Add to that sulfites, coffee, chocolate and citrus fruits. Among the acceptable foods when you do Atkins, shellfish, beef, chicken, onions, mushrooms, pepper and other spices, plus artificial sweeteners, can also provoke a response.
Alas, the Foods You Love
Perhaps the first and most basic principle of a food intolerance is this: The foods you eat the most often and love the best will frequently be part of your problem. Many Asians are allergic to rice, many Italians to wheat and many Mexicans to corn. This is yet another reason why many carbohydrate addicts experience the elimination or reduction of nagging physical ills, from headaches to diarrhea, when they start to do Atkins.
225