Here’s how my first week of the Low Histamine Gut Rebuilding Diet is going. For those of you who are not familiar with this type of diet this is based off the GAPS diet with some tweaks to allow me to overcome a histamine intolerance as well. This is a protocol designed by Jen Donovan with a whole-Body Healing with Jen. Check her out if you haven’t already. 

Let me tell you where I’m starting from. 
I’ve cut out all food sensitivities for the last few months, limited my grain and carb intake, and limited my alcohol consumption. I was able to manage my digestion pretty well through this by taking small doses of Magnesium Citrate and Triphala daily. On this diet I will continue with Magnesium but not Triphala.

My main symptoms that I want to heal from are laid out below:
1) Constipation
2) Fatigue and muscle weakness
3) Food Sensitivities and intolerance's
4) Headaches and brain fog
5) Anxiety and Depression with obsessive thought patterns
6) Frequent congestion and seasonal allergies that didn't show up until a few years ago 
6) Shortness of breath and feeling like I can't physically get enough air 
7) Felling dehydrated constantly
8) Mid-day energy crashes 



Day 1: Started off on a great start I had braised stew meat and baked cabbage for breakfast and black coffee with a spoonful of coconut oil.
My spirits are high, I’m doing what I can to keep my mind occupied on other things, so the anxiety doesn't take over. But I’m also very filled with hope and relief that this will be the major turning point for me in my healing journey. I’m actually excited to eat this way and see how it makes a difference. And I’m ready for the die off symptoms and dark side of detox when it hits me.
Day 2 and I’m experiencing a slight headache but nothing as bad as I was before I started this, so I’ll take that as a win. Feeling some weakness but I didn’t eat a super big breakfast so that’s likely my own fault. 

Some things I’m implementing during this process:
1)Drinking homemade ginger tea through the day, specifically around meals
2)Taking a Magnesium blend in the morning with breakfast and Cod Liver Oil 
3)Allowing myself time in the morning to relax while I drink my coffee to keep my digestion going. Stress and rushing really affects my digestion.
4)Using a squatty potty for proper positioning
5)Deep belly breathing to relax my Pelvic Floor 
6)Dry Brushing 1-2 times a week
7)Castor oil packs
8)Humming and singing whenever I get the chance 
9)Writing this blog to keep my mind occupied

For my first week I’m keeping some small amounts of fruit, so my choice is pears cooked over the stove in Coconut oil with some salt until they are soft and browned. They are pretty tasty and definitely help with the sweet cravings. The idea of keeping some fruit in for now is to help my body transition. Essentially this diet puts you in a deep state of Keto and it takes time for your body to adjust to that and I would like to minimize the negative effects.

Day 2: Today was a decent day. Only major symptoms I experienced was a slight headache mid-day, but it dissipated once I had my lunch. I did some more reading on Histamine Intolerance, and I feel a lot better about it. I think the not knowing is what gives me such anxiety. Not knowing when to start re-introducing foods, not knowing when my tolerance is built up enough, not knowing when I am going to be in remission. There are a lot of unknowns in this journey and in this diet protocol. I have to have faith and just go with the flow. Thats a lot easier said than done, but I can do it.

I made a lamb roast for the first time for dinner tonight and it was delicious. We will definitely be using lamb as a staple throughout this journey.

Day 3: This morning started off with some immediate anxiety. For some reason cooking a steak for breakfast was getting to me. Having dishes in the sink was bothering me more than normal. Feeling slightly on edge. It's hard to understand why this diet causes so much anxiety for me. This is the simplest diet, just meat and veggies. But for some reason it feels so much more complicated than that. I'm trying to re-direct my thoughts to remind myself this is EASY and SIMPLE. Some of my anxiety seems to be around the meal planning and grocery shopping aspect. I'm not in a place where I know exactly how much meat and veggies to by to last me and my partner. My partner is not on the diet, but I am the; grocery shopper, meal planner, and cook for both of us. He is eating what I am eating but we are adding in things for him like rice and other spices/sauces to his liking. I am hoping as the weeks go by, I will get a much better hang of it and feel more confident in my meal planning. 

Day 6: We are almost done with the first week! I am feeling good today, but yesterday (Day 5) I hit a bit of a slump. I felt hit with this waive of fatigue and weakness that made me feel like I was moving in slow motion. I suspect this is due to my body's metabolic transition into Ketosis. I have done Keto before, and I remember experiencing this kind of feeling at the beginning. Once I ate lunch and had a glass of salt water I felt better and went on with my day.

Since day 1 I have only had 1 headache that lasted for about an hour. My head feels a lot clearer and sharper and that's been really refreshing. I have also noticed that I do not feel de-hydrated anymore. I have not felt the need to desperately gulp down water and electrolytes. I suspect this may be partly due to the increase in healthy fats. 
My anxiety is subsiding, and I am feeling more confident in my ability to do this.

I have also noticed that I am not feeling any urge to eat between meals. I used to be a BAD Snacker, had to have a snack between breakfast and lunch and one between lunch and dinner, then would usually treat myself to something after dinner. Going into this I thought I was going to struggle without my snacks, but I am not. I no longer feel hungry an hour after eating. My mid-day energy crashes are no longer around. 

I am not sure if anyone else ever experiences this but sometimes after I eat breakfast and finish my coffee, I get a feeling similar to being lightheaded, and I have not experienced that in the last 6 days. Prior to this I suspected it was the caffeine ( I drink half-caf ) but I have not changed my caffeine intake. 

Now the downside of Day 6 is die-off and detox symptoms are starting to pop up as all the opportunistic bacteria in my gut are dying off from being deprived of Starch and Sugar. There has been a significant change in digestion in the last few days, and last night I discovered a pretty intense rash on my chest. It is expected to experience the worst of this in days 3-5 or 9-11. 

Day 7: Holy die off symptoms! Today was rough. I had some serious fatigue and felt like I was coming down with the flu. I was going back and forth between hot and cold, had some stomach pains, and just overall was not well. But thankfully it all passed by time I ate dinner and I felt fine for the rest of the night. 

I spent most of the day prepping meals for the coming week and even made a batch of beef stock and Turkey stock and got all of that stored away in the freezer. Since I was not having significant Histamine issues prior to this diet I decided to start introducing stock back in after a full week of being low histamine. So for dinner I had about 1-2 tablespoons worth of beef stock with my dinner and I did not have any noticeable reactions so we will keep up with the meat stock introduction.

I really am excited to get through the stock intro and be able to start having kefir again. Especially Kefir Sour Cream. Thats some seriously good stuff.

Overall, it was a very successful week one. Woo!!