Limited Carbohydrate Diet

(not for children, nursing or pregnant women)

Duration: 21 days

Healthy foods to eat:

• Vegetables: broccoli, carrots, cucumber, celery, green beans, squash, salads, freshly-made vegetable juice, onions, garlic, beets, cabbage, spinach, bell pepper, sea weed, asparagus, olives, etc.
  • Veggies may be fresh or frozen; plain or steamed. Try to avoid canned vegetables. Peas are okay
  • No potatoes or corn
  • No mushrooms
  • No soy foods
  • No condiments such as salad dressings, other than olive oil,  lemon juice, and spices.
• Fruit: fresh coconut, berries, grapefruit, tomatoes, green apples, pomegranates (fresh), lemons, limes, black olives, avocado. Two to three servings per day, maximum.
• Nuts: almonds, pecans, cashews, walnuts, hazelnuts
  • No peanuts or pistachios
  • Plain nuts are best, but they  may be dry roasted and/or salted. You can dry roast and salt them at home as well. Avoid peanut-oil-roasted nuts.
• Protein: meat (especially grass-fed), eggs, chicken, fish (wild, or ocean fish), plain yogurt, wild meats (not corn-supplemented)
• Sweeteners: Stevia, honey, xylitol (hard-wood tree xylitol), agave nectar
• Beverages: filtered/purified water, green tea, herbal tea.
  • Do not drink milk or fruit juice
• Use butter instead of margarine or other substitutes
  Cooking oils: Olive oil, grape seed oil, macadamia nut oil

After the 21^st day:
(Children, nursing and pregnant women should start here)

Chose from among the following and start with 2-3 servings a week. Work your way up to 4-5 servings a week on the grains--fruits you may have more often. Keep the majority of your food selections from the Limited Carbohydrate Diet, still.

• Oatmeal--Oatmeal is best prepared by boiling the rolled or cut oats (i.e., it's best not to use instant oatmeal).
• Spelt/yeast-free spelt bread.
• Other fruits (pears, red apples, kiwi, mango, papaya, etc) except bananas, which have constant mold problems (http://members.tripod.com/foro_emaus/BanPlantsCA.htm  May 2006)
  • Be cautious with oranges, melons, and dried fruits, which are quite high in sugar.
  • Regular consumption of fruit juice--even freshly-made-- should still be avoided. It's always better to eat the fruit.
• Yams (Dioscorea spp.)  or sweet potatoes (Ipomoea batatas)
• Cheese: mozzarella, feta, gouda, ricotta 
• Beans--pintos, black beans, lentils, etc.
• Rice--brown rice is best, if you have a choice
• Peas are fine
• Pasta--2 times a week maximum, unless you're a child, active teen, or endurance athlete. In all cases, organic pasta is NOT better than conventional pasta, and may, in fact, contain higher levels of mycotoxins. (Czerwiecki, L., et al. On ochratoxin A and fungal flora in Polish cereals from conventional and ecological farms. Part 1: Occurrence of ochratoxin A and fungi in cereals in 1997. Food Additives and Contaminants. 19:470-477) ALSO (Gonzalez, L., et al. Occurrence and daily intake of ochratoxin A of organic and non-organic rice and rice products)
  • No potatoes or corn
  • No mushrooms
  • No soy foods
  • Do not drink milk--you might use goat's milk or rice milk for cooking certain recipes, or making smoothies or protein drinks. Heavy cream may also be used in cooking. Use only egg-white protein for smoothies or shakes. If you are allergic to eggs, use Brown Rice protein powder. Children and adults can get plenty of calcium from yogurt, almonds, and green leafy vegetables, and plenty of Vitamin D for their bones from sunshine and cod-liver oil. Carlson's®  and Nordic Naturals® make wonderful, flavored cod-liver oils.

If you drink coffee, keep it to a minimum and avoid a lot of the sweeteners that are added to some of the specialty coffees. Caffeinated espressos made from an espresso machine or Moka brewer contain the lowest amount of naturally-occurring mycotoxins. (see our article on coffee and fungus) Green tea would be a healthier alternative, overall.