Dietary Restrictions

Coming to terms with

My limitations

Extracting elements of

My environment

Simplifying as means of survival

First comes the rush of energy

An amazing future reflected

In this new curated path

Seasoning every bite with hope

So why, as I envision the past

No more than a ravaged carcass

Do I long for the cold

Comfort of faded flavor?

The toothsome rush of tearing meat?

For the frothy head of cream to

Drip down my chin

Depositing on my sleeve?

Why do I pine for sensations

That can never again

Dance across my tongue?

K.B. Silver

Since I've become an adult, and gotten information directly from my doctor, not filter-fed to me through my mother, I have found I have a host of food allergies and sensitivities. Sixteen that I am currently aware of, but I can tell I need to get tested for more.

Some of these include Gluten, dairy, all cow-based products, actually, which means no gelatin, collagen, or even wearing leather on my skin is a problem. Anything that is produced by a palm tree, so no coconut anything, no dates, no palm oil. Then there are the vegetables: cauliflower, tomatoes, spinach, and avocado. Sunflower! Sunflower oil is the latest cheap oil that has been added to everything I used to eat.

I don't eat out, and I have to read every package every time, because corporations love changing ingredients whenever something cheaper comes along. The changes, time, and energy aren't really the hard part though.

Never eating pizza, ice cream, or any of the recipes I consider comfort food again, that is the hard part. Never eating out with friends or family. Not have any options for getting something quick and easy when I'm sick. Having to turn down any food gifts or offers people might make to help me out by cooking. Being completely removed from the rest of the world's food rhythms and the joy and energy that surround them, that's hard. No, getting questioned and accused of being finicky and difficult, when I am just trying to survive, that's hard.