Foods you can eat during taper

[[Po...]]

I can't eat sugar, or MSG.  Wondering if anyone had recipes that they made during taper that they could eat?  Even if you just list the food item and no recipe, such as potatoes.

 

If anyone has any smoothie recipes, i would also appreciate.  I read over the recipes on "sharing recipes" but they are more for when you are not tapering.  Thanks in advance.

 

PCL

[[Wi...]]

I have ALL kinds of restrictions for ALL kinds of reasons, but the foods that seem to work best are in their most simple/natural form like (ie not processed).  I have to be wary of most sauces tho and have learned to use spices instead when cooking:

 

Nuts (Every night I throw a small handful each of almonds, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds and raisens into a bowl and have at it, good and good for you)

Beans

Meat

Lots of salads with fresh vegi's i like ( usually vinigarette dressing), chicken or steak or hamburger (I also add canned beans to them sometimes)

Greek or middle eastern food ( mostly meats, vegi's, w/rice or potatoes, although I can't do the pita)

Turkey/chicken breast sandwiches (for me with gluten free, multi grain bread but that's a celiac thing)

 

Most of the above is pretty low glycemic so not a real sugar hi/lo thing going on.

 

I'm hungry now...

 

 

 

[[ch...]]

Dear Friend,

Oh, I went through those food sensitivities while tapering! I loved to have a protein shake in the morning and I did it for years-- until I tapered and they made me sick. Most protein powders have an ingredient called turgreen (not positive of the name) which is a derivative of MSG and a neurotoxin. I stopped drinking them. I did not drink anything but water, but I also have diet restrictions due to IC.

 

This is what I tended to eat during my taper: for breakfast I had an organic brown rice cake with organic peanut butter, for lunch I had a salad with vegetables and maybe leftover stuff from dinner and I made a dressing from olive oil and balsamic vinegar, for dinner I made chicken with roasted vegetables, or steak and salad, or turkey chili, etc. I never ate processed foods. For snacks I ate apples (from an orchard), popcorn, organic tortilla chips and organic salsa, and that's about it. Once I was done with my taper and about 4 months away from it, I could be much less strict about what I ate.

 

My son had downloaded lists of known neurotoxins and we went to the store looking through ingredients. You'd be shocked at how many foods have additives and weird stuff in them.

 

Simple is best.

 

I wish you a lot of luck in your taper!

 

xo

PS someone here has a great thread about making green smoothies during tapering. I bought all the books and even bought an expensive juicer on ebay but it turns out the seller was scamming and I didn't get it and by the time I figured it all out, I was too overwhelmed with it. BUT, if I had a little help, I would have done it so it may be worth looking into it. If I can find the link, I will paste it to you later or maybe someone else can weigh in.

[[ch...]]

 

The following quote is from my own posting about this last year. It is not called turgreen, it is called carageen. One of the people posted about different forms of glutamate is what made people sick. 

 

"Whoever told me about the different forms of glutamate hit the nail on the head for me. I drank protein shakes for years with no side effects. Over the last couple of months if I had that for breakfast within 3 hours I was hit with a disabling headache. If I didn't have it for breakfast: no headache. SO, I know it was that but I didn't know why!I looked yesterday and it had carageen. Same with herbal tea and artificial sugars-- there was a consistent pattern of heightened withdrawal when I drank them"

[[Wi...]]

The sweetener I use is Stevia.  It's not in a lot of diet soda products or food products but I use it in diluted green tea or totally diluted decaf.  I don't believe it contains carrageen and it has Dr. Oz's seal of approval lol.  Good to know about carrageen.  thanks chrysanthemum

[[ch...]]

 

 

Finally found the link about the green smoothies:

 

http://www.benzobuddies.org/forum/index.php?topic=44666.0

[[ch...]]

The sweetener I use is Stevia.  It's not in a lot of diet soda products or food products but I use it in diluted green tea or totally diluted decaf.  I don't believe it contains carrageen and it has Dr. Oz's seal of approval lol.  Good to know about carrageen.  thanks chrysanthemum

 

I tried Stevia and it made me really sick, but it may have to do with the opiate receptors, too. I know for sure that anything with carageen was terrible for me. I don't have the list of neurotoxins my son found but it really did help. My NP actually looked into some of the ingredients and how they blocked receptor sites. It all sounds so silly, but I know for a fact that those things made my symptoms a lot worse.

Nice to see you WW!

[[La...]]

When I'm not in the mood for any other food because of nausea of benzo belly, a simple banana shake works well.

I break up ripe bananas into pieces and keep them in a ziploc bag in the freezer. I throw a handful of those in the blender with a handful of crushed ice, 8 oz of milk or almond milk, 2 heaping T peanut butter, 1/2 c plain yogurt. Dash of cinnamon or cardomon, couple drops of vanilla. Blend til smooth.  Easy on the stomach, good protein, potassium, not too much sugar (except for banana & milk sugar). Plenty sweet for me but you could add a t or so of honey if you like sweeter.

[[Ho...]]

Hi - just wanted to add that not ALL protein powders have the turgreen or the carageenan....I have two different ones that I switch off and on...if anyone is interested, I'll give you the names....

Hoping2BFree

[[Ho...]]

Also wanted to ask about neurotoxins....are these things we should avoid ONLY while in w/d and recovery....are they KNOWN to cause reactions in most benzo w/d folks......or can some people take them with no problem while in w/d?  I would love to find that list of neurotoxins Chrysanthemum if you can remember where it was....love to know if perhaps I am eating some things that I should not be eating and am paying the price for it.  Thanks!

Hoping2BFree

[[ch...]]

  I would like to know the names of the protein shakes.

 

I do not have the list. My son found one on line a year ago and I no longer have it.

 

For me, once I was a few months out from my benzo taper, I could tolerate a lot more different foods. So, I am not sure about that question. If I find a list, I will post it. For me, I tried to keep it simple. Once I realized that certain things set it off, I just tried to eat clean, which is better than pouring over a list. No chemicals, or dyes, just plain ingredients.

 

Thanks!

[[ch...]]

Here is a list that may be helpful.

 

http://www.naturalnews.com/026244_food_MSG_neurotoxins.html

[[Ho...]]

Thankyou  Chrysanthemum....I do try to eat very clean - no packaged foods at all...but sometimes, some things just slip in there.....and one of the neurotoxins listed is "whey" ... that makes me wonder about my protein drink every morning....

Here are the two that I have used to make my smoothie every morning....

    IMMUNPLEX Undenatured Whey Protein  by ProHealth  www.ProHealth.com

      Ingredients:  Provon undenatured whey protein isolate (typical protein composition: beta-lactoglobulin 51%, gamma-lactalbumin 23%, glycomacropeptides 18%, bovine serum albumin and immunoglobulins 5%; lactoferrin, lactoperoxidase and others 2%) natural vanilla flavor.  All that info listed above is pretty foreign to me....but this was recommended to me by someone I trust. 

 

      MATRIX MEAL Organic Greens Plant Protein by NuLife Herbs...www.nulifeherbs.com

This has a large list of ingredients so it would be best to check this out on their website....but it is FREE of Genetic Modified Ingredients, Maltodextrin, Artificial Sweetners, Preservatives, Flavors, MSG, Coloring, Animal products, Dairy, Sugar, Fructose, Caffeine, Salt, Wheat, Yeast, Eggs, Whey or Soy Protein.  No Hexane, Gluten, Lactose. 

    this products has MACA in it and I was hesitant to take it as I heard MACA can rev up sx....but I put a half scoop along with the whey protein into my smoothie and so far so good.....

 

        I also have heard that the SunWarrior products are very good as well.  There is so much information out there to try to sift through and to KNOW that you are taking the absolutely best thing for yourself is hard....

        Thank you again chrysanthemum for that list - I'm going to copy it and take it with me when I go shopping...the best thing we can do if we are able is to only eat food that is in the same shape it came out of the earth.....just pure natural food...and if you can do organic, then that is great.

 

    Thanks again

Hoping2BFree

[[Ho...]]

Chrysanthemum - do you know anything about "whey protein?"  I have been putting it in a smoothie for about a year now, and everything I read about it was good....but now I see it as an item on the list from your link and it is listed as an additive which could be harmful.  What am I missing?  Does anyone have any info?  I think I will also put this out on the forum as it's own topic....

Hoping2BFree

[[ch...]]

Chrysanthemum - do you know anything about "whey protein?"  I have been putting it in a smoothie for about a year now, and everything I read about it was good....but now I see it as an item on the list from your link and it is listed as an additive which could be harmful.  What am I missing?  Does anyone have any info?  I think I will also put this out on the forum as it's own topic....

Hoping2BFree

 

No, I don't know. I DO know that I drank protein shakes for years with no issue and that once I was doing a benzo taper they made me very sick. It could have been the carageen or the whey; I really don't know. I did better when I stopped drinking them.

 

I know how hard it is to try and figure things out.