I have embarked on the most difficult month of my life – an elimination diet. I have been having random allergic reactions over the past year to different foods, all seeming to be unrelated. After doing some research, my triggers all appear to be related because of high histamine levels, which puts me having more of a histamine intolerance instead of true food allergies. I have narrowed the ingredients down to a few potential triggers – nightshade vegetables (tomatoes, eggplant, peppers, potatoes) and citrus fruits (oranges, lemons, limes, grapefruits). Usually, I just try to avoid having a lot of these foods and I’m ok, but when I have what my body considers too much, I break out in super itchy hives. The last straw for me was this past week when I had orange juice 3 days in a row. I scratched myself so hard I ended up with bruises (yes, I was that itchy). I hate not knowing all of my triggers since this is a relatively new thing for me. So my diet for the next month is super low histamine, anti-inflammatory, and with few irritants – no nightshades, no citrus, no nuts, wheat, soy, corn, dairy, coffee, sugar, etc. I know, what do I eat since I’m already vegetarian? Its actually not terrible when you get creative. Day 1 I ate rice cakes with apple butter, a banana, quinoa, brown rice, sweet potato, blueberries, cucumber, and hummus. Delicious and healthy. I miss some of the treats, ice cream, bread, cheese, but I think I’ll survive.