Can you tolerate any processed or convenience foods?

[Artemisia]

I see people who live alone with moderate to severe ME say they survive by microwaving frozen dinners, canned soup etc. But I seem to have zero tolerance of almost every type of processed food -- that is, the fillers and preservatives in processed food.

I ate a soup a family member made. It was almost from scratch but had a dry soup mix as a base. I'm guessing it had some MSG, "natural flavors" or similar because I had anxiety and GI issues... all of which build up to make me crash.

So no shortcuts in meal prep for me. Which is a major burden as I'm dipping into severe category living alone with minimal to no help. A lot of my meals are like 2-3 ingredients. It's a lot to cook even this kind of food for me.

It would be nice to be able to eat a protein bar or canned soup when I'm crashing, or just for variety, but no.

Anyone else?

 

[Artemisia]

It's also quite frustrating that I'm eating a near 100% whole food (mostly organic) diet (plus water I distill myself) and am this sick (plus overweight-- that's such a slap in the face to be fat while not eating anything fun).

While I see people eating fast food every meal yet living full lives.

Obvs I know health is much more than diet but no one in the mainstream got that memo, because all I hear are normies saying good health only comes down to "choices."

 

[mattie]

all I hear are normies saying good health only comes down to "choices.

normies dont know sh**t
If they could only feel for just a minute or two what PWME feel every single day…

Cooking a whole foods meal every day is quite hard;
I also try to keep meals as simple as possible, but still, preparing healthy and tasty food takes a big chunk out of my daily energy.

Gochujang ramen with tofu is quick and tasty. Its one of my gotos when energy is low.

https://rainbowplantlife.com/gochujang-noodles/
(Can be tweaked or simplified for faster prep)

 

[southwestforests]

I can get away with a certain amount of processed foods and convenience foods and fast foods.

Which foods and what amount of them looks to depend on variables that I do not know all of.

Known factors are how much bread, how much beef, how much pork, how much dairy, are in it.
The less, the better.
And there seems to be an issue with some cooking oils; other than cottonseed oil usually leads to nosebleeds I've not been able to pin down what the other oils are that seem to be a cause of disagreeable digestive effects.

Am deeply craving pizza right now but am well aware there will be consequences.
A trip to Taco Bell also sounds delicious.
The current #6 combo, 2 chicken chalupas supreme with crunchy taco.
And buttermilk biscuits with sausage gravy at the restaurant in our little farm burg's downtown sounds delicious.
A fresh hot stack of pancakes or waffles soaked with butter and syrup sounds delicious.
But among other negative effects the syrup will have my mouth tasting just like crushed leaves smell for several days, a sensation I do not enjoy.
So,
Nope, today is not the day to have those.

Pancakes bring to mind that there is something in those tubs of soft butters and corn oil margarines that my body objects to.
I can get away with a little bit of hard stick butter or margarine, but the soft kind in the tubs, nope, none of it is tolerated by my body.

I do keep chicken nuggets and some microwave dinners on hand in the freezer for low energy days.
And again, there is a point where my body will make it known that I've had too much of that in too short a time.

 

[wabi-sabi]

Yes, I can eat processed foods just fine. They are often easier on my stomach than healthy foods when I am in a flare up. That being said, I don't eat fast foods. I mean ultra-processed frozen stuff from the grocery store.

When I am feeling happy, I am grateful I can eat whatever I want and it doesn't affect my illness. When I am feeling sulky, I am annoyed I can't make my illness better with healthy food.

 

[southwestforests]

When I am feeling sulky, I am annoyed I can't make my illness better with healthy food.

perhaps a bit of a tangent ...
THIS!

My Mom was a dietitian, we learned healthy eating whether we wanted to or not!
And with my body's born difficulties I had to eat at least reasonably healthy anyway if I wanted to be functional.

"Well if you would just eat healthy you wouldn't have these health problems, they would go away."

(saying my real feelings about people saying that to me would get me a few notes from the moderators)

(rates right up there with the conversation which goes like,)
("You weigh 205 pounds? If you would lose weight you would get better. How much did you weigh when you started having health problems? If you go back to that weight it will help a lot.")
(When the health problems started I weighed eight pounds five ounces)

(at this point on the calendar it is beginning to look like the best way to cure my health is to change who my ancestors are)

 

[Artemisia]

Interesting. I am jealous... would be nice to get away with convenience foods now and then. I can't eat any of the food mentioned above!

This would also be less of a burden if I wasn't hungry all the time and needing to eat frequent meals (thanks to low carb diet that wrecked my ability to store glycogen. - no low carb proselytizing please)

 

[Artemisia]

"You weigh 205 pounds? If you would lose weight you would get better.

I get this too. I point them to all the underweight ME patients who aren't getting better.

 

[southwestforests]

I get this too. I point them to all the underweight ME patients who aren't getting better.

When ME/CFS and Fibromyalgia symptoms began I weighed 147lbs, 66.7kg, at 5ft 11in, 180cm, tall.
"String bean" is a historical term sometimes used.
When they were officially diagnosed the following year I'd picked up weight to about 154 or 157.

 

[Zebra]

Hi, @Artemisia

I wish I could join in on the conversation, but struggling quite a bit right now.

On a super duper practical note, one of the "short cut" meals I go to during fall/winter, is getting a whole organic rotisserie chicken from Whole Foods (or similar market). You can find some that are only seasoned with salt and pepper (and you can easily avoid eating the skin if that's your preference).

I will then roast organic veggies that I have washed and chopped myself.

I consider this half "convenience food" plus half cooking from scratch.

Because I'm dependent on grocery delivery, securing fresh rotisserie chicken has been a gamble.

Of course, I realize this may be more than you can physically manage. Sometimes it is for me, too.

I'll take a look in my cupboard and freezer and see if I have any clean convenience foods that you might be able to tolerate.

 

[Dysfunkion]

Same here,, I don't know how they do it but I guess not all of us have severe food sensitivities. I have to be very careful eating out because never mind the base foods themselves, the additives in the food matters too. When I do go out I stick with places I been a lot and tried many things at so I can what I want but suffer less. Keyword less there since after eating out I'm never better than I was going in. At home I tend to eat the same things all the time because being too adventurous usually results in disaster these days.

I'm in a horrible flare right now because some days ago I tried some curry noodles from a takeout place, don't know what it is about curry powder and my body but never again! Minutes into eating it felt like someone had ripped the electrical wires out of their sockets in my brain. I've been in a fatigue, lead body, and brain fog nightmare for days now that is only just starting to get a bit better tonight here. I had to work today too and it was torture. Felt like I weighed more than gravity, constant relentless brain inflammation, I was only able to go through the motions because the brain fog wouldn't allow me to do any complex problem solving (good thing I can do the job in my sleep or I would have really been in trouble), my face/head would not stop flushing and overheating at the slightest stimulation, and socially interacting with people properly was mission impossible. I haven't had a flare of anything this bad in quite a while. Going out later tomorrow to some burrito place and I'm praying that what I get there plays well with me. I haven't had anything with any kind of salsa in it in a very long time so there's only one way I'm gonna find out if I have another safe enough thing to eat out occasionally or not.

When ME/CFS and Fibromyalgia symptoms began I weighed 147lbs, 66.7kg, at 5ft 11in, 180cm, tall.
"String bean" is a historical term sometimes used.
When they were officially diagnosed the following year I'd picked up weight to about 154 or 157.

I can't keep anything ,much on, I been stuck at a range of 128-130 pounds for many years now. My body seems to have just stopped growing. In that respect it doesn't really seem to matter what I eat but if I eat less than I do now I just feel like I'm going to collapse. It's as if my body doesn't really use much from anything I consume.

 

[wabi-sabi]

I still try to eat healthy because I don't want to add diabetes or high cholesterol to my list of diseases. So I try to comfort myself that even if I have ME, I don't have to have a preventable illness too.

 

[southwestforests]

so there's only one way I'm gonna find out

To borrow some world famous words, "Aye, there's the rub."

The only way to find out what eating a thing will cause is to eat it and see what happens.

 

[Azayliah]

No takeout for me. Some processed foods are fine... things like tortillas, rice cakes, taters, spring rolls, and sometimes potato chips. Most of my food is cooked by my carer though; I'm allergic to many things and have to be choosy about what to eat. I've ended with a diet that's fairly high carb and maybe a bit low in animal products, but it feels better this way, and I'm finally losing weight now where before I was struggling against gaining weight... so I guess I'm eating better for me overall.

 

[southwestforests]

so I guess I'm eating better for me overall.

And there is what it comes down to, finding what works for you in your specific health situation.

 

[Dysfunkion]

To borrow some world famous words, "Aye, there's the rub."

The only way to find out what eating a thing will cause is to eat it and see what happens.

I take it that whatever happens I'll survive and learn something useful. I've found some surprising things out about processed food my body is absolutely fine with too. You know that popcorn from the movie theater with that fake butter garbage? My body for some reason is completely fine with it but if I even look at for example a "healthy" super processed food like most factory made tofus my body has a fit.

 

[bad1080]

for some reason i tolerate frozen pizza but a lot of other convenience food is a no go for me. i recently started making itsuki udon ramen and i tolerate that as well (very little ingredients and no additives) plus it's quick and easy to make. https://www.itsukifoods.jp/lang/eng/products/udon.html "UDON 3 w/SOUP, SOFT" (it's a 3-pack)

 

[linusbert]

normies dont know sh**t

!

 

[Dysfunkion]

Tofu tends to have a strange brain burning effect with me, I like it but I stay away from it in all contexts. Udon though isnt a problem with me besides gluten in a very general way not making me feel so hot. If I'm at some Japanese place its one of the safest things I can stick with besides fried rice dishes in general.

 

[Wishful]

My ME gives me plenty of weird food intolerances, but the level of processing doesn't seem to be a factor. Highly-processed "cheezy poofs" don't bother me, but whole grain, even if organic and unprocessed aside from chewing, would. It's the specific molecules that I'm intolerant to.

whole organic rotisserie chicken

While not organic, I like the Walmart rotisserie chickens because they're one of the few pre-cooked products I can enjoy (few ingredients) after a shopping trip. Unfortunately, the last one gave me serious food poisoning. Something in their food safety chain failed (I did report it). That can happen with any cooked product, so I'll buy it again.