"it can be impossible at times to see what helps or hurts" .
Yep! I don't know how many times I thought I hit on something to later find out it really didn't have any appreciable effect.
I did a thread on gluten challenge if you search through my post's. I was sure strict avoidance helped me and many times attributed "reactions" to my letting it slip into my diet. I've been eating gluten since august of 2018 and not sure weather it's affecting me or not.
Interesting thing is I did have some very prominent symptoms that have appreciably subsided after I quit gluten in 2011.
Bloating, severe fatigue after meals and feeling like I was being poisoned, super high heart rate and low blood pressure, blisters inside of my mouth on lips, nueropathy in arms, faint feeling like there was glass inside my stomach. Off the top of my head.
So why I don't get any of these symptoms back, (the intensity they were) I somewhat have these things now. I don't know.
Did two blood test's, one back on 11/19 and still negative.
Interestingly I did go from junkfood eater to hard core meticulous. I think the dividends that pays are not so much illness related but long term overall health related. But the returns over time I suspect are very appreciable.
Specifically I try to include a lot of vegetables and fruits. Almost completly cut out refined sugars/carbs. This would include things like pie crust which is like putting pure sugar into your mouth. And I cut out on the other end of the spectrum refined fat's like cooking oil, butter, things like that. So no more corn chips, chocolate, which are high in both these evils.
I was on a french fri diet for about 3 years starting back in 2018 and now all my veins are showing in my forarms and my blood pressure is noticeably higher. I definitely don't buy into all the hype that "fat's are good for you"
Like everything else I think moderation is key. Lot's of fiber from plants!
And I have managed to keep my bmi substantially under 25 which I suspect helps a lot also.