tomatoes – the good, the not so good, and relish.
I’ve been doing a lot of diet-related reading at the moment. The majority of my Candida-related symptoms have diminished considerably, and I have been able to introduce fruit back into my diet with no noticeable effects. I have however, still been suffering from some unexplained stomach discomfort – every day. I started really trying to tune into this problem – the pain happened around the same time (after lunch) even though I have something different to eat for lunch most days.
I have narrowed it down to
a) Tomatoes
b) Chickpeas
Most days, without fail I would consume both of these foods – I love them. They are common characters in a lunch time salad bowl, that’s for sure. I started reading up about the Blood Type Diet – an idea I am quite familiar with, although I chose to ignore previously as I refused to give up these 2 foods. Stubborn? Yes. Stupid? Yes, that too.
Anyway, being a Type A of the blood variety, both tomatoes and chickpeas are considered not beneficial for me. I thought I would stop eating them for a few days, just to see what happened. Lo and behold, the constant stomach ache has gone. Fancy that. The Blood Type Diet is quite a fascinating read…. it also suggests that my blood type refrain from hard physical exercise (e.g. the dreaded cardio) and embrace gentle forms such as yoga and walking. I like the sounds of that regime, for sure.
Anyway, just another interesting dietary experiment, that seems to be relieving me of the mysterious stomach pains. What are your thoughts on “Eating Right For Your Type?” – is this a new concept to you? Do you even know your blood type? Viper doesn’t.
Maybe it’s because I’m not eating them any more – but it seems as if I have an over-stocked supply of tomatoes. I decided to use them up by making a sweet balsamic relish to accompany Viper’s dinner – he is a huge condiment fan.
- 2 1/2C cherry tomatoes (I used half red, half green) – you can chop them in half if you like, or leave them whole, it doesn’t really matter – it all cooks down to mush by the end of the exercise.
- 1C water
- 1/2C balsamic vinegar
- 1/2t sea salt
- 2t whole grain mustard
- 4T rapadura sugar (or any type of granulated sugar)
- Black pepper to taste
- Combine all ingredients, except the black pepper in a small saucepan.
- Bring mix to the boil, and let it continue at a “rolling boil” for a bout 5 minutes, while keeping a close watch that it doesn’t boil over.
- Reduce to a simmer, and cook until the mix reduces – at least 2 hours.
- Carefully pour into a clean glass jar.
- Store in the fridge.
I may or may not have “foraged” the green tomatoes. I swore Misty to secrecy.
After a few hours of cooking – sweet, sticky, syrupy tomato relish. Viper enjoyed this with his never-ending-chicken-lentil-curry that I made a ridiculously large batch of. Not the usual accompaniment to a curry, no – but no mangoes in the house meant a tomato-stand-in did the job. Frugality encourages creativity, that’s for sure.
Viper says that he is sad for me, as he knows how much I love tomatoes and chickpeas…. if I can be without stomach pain though, I am willing to make the sacrifice. So far so good.
19 Responses to “tomatoes – the good, the not so good, and relish.”
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Vegan. Stay at home Mum of Misty. Yoga teacher in training. Passionate about REAL food - creating it, eating it, sharing it. I can never stick to a recipe.
It was the ‘type 0′ diet that really got me going in the right direction with curing my arthritis. Jase is an 0 as well (he just found out), so I’m steering him away from grains and gluten. I actually do think there is something in the blood type diet. I mean, it makes a little more sense than most because it is individual and based on the way your plasma reacts to the lectins in various foods. I also looked into the ‘genotype diet’ (same author), which attempts to narrow down the BTD and involves measuring your body parts, looking at which finger is the longest etc., but that got a bit complicated and I couldn’t really sort it out.
Yeah, from my reading, I feel as if it has a lot more scientific “substance” than many of the diet fads around…. plus it helps my stomach feel better
I’m blood type A too. Might have to look back into the diet. I was given the ‘Eat right for your blood type’ book a few years ago and pretty much ignored it as a fad.
It’s pretty interesting to read up on…. I thought it was a fad initially too, but there is a bit of science behind it, which gives it a little more “substance” if you get what I’m saying?
What a lovely relish! So sorry you aren’t able to enjoy it, Lou! But not having stomach “issues” is a pretty nice side bennie.
Totally! I am willing to forgo tomatoes/chickpeas for a happy belly
I do know my blood type, but I do not know what foods upset my tummy. I do get gassy with certain foods, I should look into it. Sad day that you can’t have tomatoes..but I know you will find something to replace them!
Look into it! Next time you get a blood test, ask them to check it – it’s super interesting!
This post made me laugh a little. Not because you are having digestive discomfort- that’s never fun! Rather, because I too have looked into the blood type diet but chose not to follow it despite some of it’s logic and benefits because it would mean me giving up so many staples! I’m type AB and that means I get the problems of both types A and B which made the task seemed so daunting! I keep coming back to the idea though. Maybe this will inspire me!
Yeah, it’s something I have been ignoring for quite awhile – I first looks into the blood type diet about 8 years ago, but was too stubborn with my love of chickpeas. I think for my stomach’s sake I need to avoid them for awhile!
Well, in all honesty I don’t have any patience for that, but I do know that my and grandma are allergic to tomatoes (amongst other things) so it doesn’t surprise me that they could be an issue for someone. Fingers crossed chickpeas can be allowed back for you! (Having grown up without tomatoes, I don’t feel at all upset about never having those
)
Yes, actually a LOT of people have trouble with tomatoes – a friend of mine cured his crippling psoriasis (after about 15 years of steroid creams) JUST from cutting out tomatoes. Crazy.
Yeah, it’s a bummer about chickpeas cos I LOVE them – but I have always known that my tummy didn’t feel too flash after eating them (albeit I generally eat them in HUGE amounts!) Maybe if I practise moderation, hmmmm?
Tomatoes are a surprisingly common trigger food… MANY people I know can’t eat them! I actually never knew my blood type till I got pregnant (and they told me while running my routine blood tests). I’m B positive… I have no idea what that means as far as foods to avoid etc. but I find this blood diet very interesting…. I think I will look into it! PS my husband also has NO clue what blood type he is.
It’s definitely a good thing to find out your blood type – I mean, what happened if you were in an accident & it turned out you had a super rare type or something? Get your husband onto it (and I shall make Viper do it too!)
Totally have a look at the food-lists…. I find it quite interesting reading – a lot of it makes sense to me too
I chuckled at the thought of you foraging tomatoes
I am not a big fan of the blood type diet, in truth, but I am a big fan of people doing what is right for them so am glad you have hit on something that does work for you!
Me and Misty found a HUGE rouge tomato plant on our wanders – it was in a public area, so I reckon foraging was OK (!)
I’m not really “doing” the blood type diet – just avoiding the tomatoes/chickpeas…. it seems to help my belly problems, so that’s a great bonus…. I’m not one for sticking to the rules of ANYTHING
I liebstered you (but changed the rules so that it only takes 2 minutes to involve yourself
http://www.fittoblog.org/2012/12/liebstering-for-busy-bloggers.html
Chickpeas often cause great stomach pain for me too. I’ve been interested ib the past and thinking about the blood type diet recently. (I just haven’t wanted to pay for the book.) Your relish sounds fantastic.
Do you know your blood type? Just google your blood type + then “food list” – it will tell you all the good/not so good foods for your particular type
I don’t even own the book!