New meal ideas with restricted choices

[StarryNightWithGrazingDeer]

So I am fairly recently vegan. But I have some foods I can’t eat for medical reasons. So far I am managing pretty well, but it’s getting a bit repetitive. I am supplementing B12 with drops.

I need to eat low fodmap and low sulfur for digestive issues that are being investigated. This means that I can’t eat:
Gluten
Pulses
Nuts
Onions/garlic/leeks
Cruciferous vegetables (broccoli, kale)
Quinoa, buckwheat and oats
Large amounts of reduced tomato e.g. tomato sauce
Most seeds and seed spices (so no tahini or sun Butter)
Large quantities of soya
Coconut

What I can eat is:
Mushrooms
Pumpkins and squash
Peppers
Aubergine
Most salad vegetables (lettuce, cucumbers, fresh tomatoes etc)
Rice
Maize/corn
Some gluten free breads etc
Potatoes
Parsnips
Sweet potatoes and yams
Celeriac
Most berries
Citrus fruits
Greenish bananas
Chilies, ginger

Thankfully, it is ok for me to eat fairly low calorie and fairly low protein as my gut is more efficient at converting food into calories and protein than is normally the case, so if I eat normal amounts I cause myself digestive issues in the present and could have higher risk of developing cancer in the future.

But I am bit bored of the roast veggies/baked potato/stir fries/vegan sushi I have been making. I’ve been veggie and vegan in the past but now can’t eat many of my old staples.

Any ideas? Or anyone in a similar situation (avoid cysteine and methionine and sulfur)?

Risotto eg mushroom or asparagus if you can eat it
Polenta (it's made from maize) with a vegetable stew or aubergine or peppers sauce
Home made soup
Make celeriac mash as a change from potatoes.

This is interesting. I'm severely allergic to nuts and pulses and have assumed that I couldn't be vegan as I wouldn't have a source of protein.

What are you eating for protein?

What does your dietician recommend regarding the vegan diet? I would think based on your restrictions a vegetarian or pescetarian diet might be more varied.

Risotto is a good plan AdaColeman. I’ve some dried mushrooms that would make a good stock. And maybe polenta with roast peppers. I do love celeriac, especially roast in sandwiches.

The richest sources of protein I have are king oyster mushrooms, potatoes, sweet potatoes, maize and rice INeedNewShoes. I really just have to piece my protein together from fairly low sources, any very protein rich food will be fairly high in sulphur (the amino acids cysteine and methionine both contain sulfur). I’m looking into rice protein powders, but I need to be careful about the amino acid balance.

It’s just about possible because I am small and also need to eat at the bottom of the recommended protein intake per lb body weight, if not a little below. So I only need about 30-35g of protein a day. So I don’t know if it would be possible in other circumstances.

It was my nutritionist who recommended the diet I’m on TeddyBear45. I need to eat a very low sulfur diet and all animal protein (including eggs and dairy) is high in sulfur. My body has difficulty with sulfur due to a genetic condition. It’s been overloaded with it for years, so it really needs a break.

I’ve been struggling to find a way of eating that doesn’t make me ill for years. I did well in my twenties as a vegan but I didn’t know that in my case onions, garlic, pulses and cruciferous vegetables weren’t going to work. Being vegetarian in my teens didn’t really work for me either due to the eggs and cheese. I do feel like I am finally getting somewhere in terms of diagnosis, treatment and lifestyle.

But low sulfur vegan does seem to be working well so far. If it continues to go well I might be able to add in small amounts of pulses in time, once my system has had a chance to recover.

Corn tortilla wraps with any of those veg fried to make the filling. Peppers/onions/butternut etc.

Can you have avocado? That is nice in a fajita. Some tomato for the salsa.

Oh, that’s a good thought Onatreebyariver. There are nice blue corn ones in the local health food shop. I can have a little bit of avocado. Maybe with some squishy chilli aubergine and some mint. Or corn chips with salsa as a snack.

I have used recipes from here: www.thewildgutproject.com/lowfodmap-vegan-recipes and here: www.dietvsdisease.org/low-fodmap-vegetarian-vegan-recipes/ when entertaining someone who is Low Fodmap.

I think in your case I would want really detailed advice from the nutritionist, possibly even paying someone privately to do an example meal plan. I think honestly I would have to consider whether I would also eat small amounts of whatever non vegan food I could handle, from the most ethical source I could find - but obviously you're the only person who knows the answer to that.

Good luck! :)

I am puzzled a dietician would recommend such a diet without recommending far more supplements than what you are taking.

Download either cronomer (free) or wholesome (paid) and you will see that getting the nutrients is quite tricky.

The first one you need to take are DHA and EPA, as you don't want to become demented. Brain atrophy and cognitive loss occurs in several omega 3 deficiencies. DEVA has algae based DHA and EPA supplements, then calcium as kale, almonds, and seed are excluded from your diet, zinc, iodine, iron, the list of micronutrients is quite long .

You are at risk of seriously damaging your health, some damages could be irreversible, so go back to your dietician, have your bloods taken (including omega 3 index) and repeat bloods every 6 months

Thanks for the link to the meal maker. It’s really nice of you to both be so concerned. I am seeing a private dietician already and I am taking more extensive supplementation than I mentioned (I only mentioned B12 because on vegan threads people always mention B12). I also have regular bloodwork and other tests done. I also use a special app to track macronutrients and micronutrients.

I should have been clearer that the exclusion of some vegan foods with a high sulphur content is temporary, e.g. pulses as previously mentioned, to reduce the effects of previously eating too much (for me, not for most people) help determine what types of medical treatment and diet will best suit me going forward. I’m also waiting for the results of a genetic test that should show whether I have the suspected condition and which variant.

I’m just bored of some of my recipes and I’m looking for cooking inspiration. Curries are largely out because I can’t use seed spices, and as Indian cookery is usually where I go when I’m in need of inspiration so I was really stuck.

Stuffed roasted butternut is tasty- a modified version of this. carolynnsrecipebox.blogspot.com/2011/12/jamie-olivers-hamilton-squash.html?m=1

I like to make a bubble and squeak with roasted mushed up potato, squash, parsnip etc and have it with fried mushrooms.