Micki Rose’s low glycaemic load, gluten-free, dairy-free diet!

Fed up with having to ‘cobble’ bits of diets together for her food-sensitive patients, naturopathnutritionist Micki Rose decided to write a diet plan herself. You can get the full plan as an e-book on her website, but here’s enough to get you going.

Quick Summary

Your diet should be based around organic meat, fish, eggs, nuts, seeds, fruit, veg, salad, sprouted beans and seeds, gluten free grains and pulses. There are no gluten or dairy foods and sugar is very limited. It’s a medium protein, lowish carb, non-allergenic, blood sugar balancing healthy and nutritious diet.

But remember:

• Cook for as little time and at the lowest temperature possible to retain nutrients and avoid trans fats. Grill, stir-fry, poach, casserole or slow cook.

• Do not buy or store food in plastic packaging.

• Choose low GL always, or put high fibre and protein with medium GL foods.

• Eat plenty and regularly. Graze through the day with small meals every 3–4 hours to keep your blood sugar stable.

• Remember to drink plenty of water throughout the day.

• Watch food labels like a hawk – things change constantly.

• Adapt the diet guidelines if you are allergic or intolerant to other foods.

Foods to eat lots of:

• Fish, especially deep sea and oily. Not tuna unless organic. (At least three times a week.)

• Poultry: chicken, turkey. Not fried (except stir-fried). No skin.

• Game: pheasant, ostrich, duck and goose (no more than once a week).

• Eggs: low heat omelette, boiled or poached is best.

• Beef, lean, any cut or minced.

• Veg, lots of. Include a daily salad and veg with your main meal. Squash, pumpkin, avocado, carrot, swede, beetroot and sweet potato in moderation – always have with high protein and fibre.

• Sprouts: any pulse sprouted. Add to salads or use in stir fries.

• Fruit: fresh or frozen. Three portions a day. Limit dried fruit and soak first.

• Nuts and seeds. Fresh, unsalted, unroasted. Use in cooking or for snacks. One handful per day recommended. Tahini in hummus. Minimise peanuts.

• Fats: cook only with olive oil, use flaxseed oil or extra virgin olive oil as dressings (with lemon, mustard or whatever you like).

• Seasoning: a little sea salt is fine, tamari, herbs, spices, mustard, seaweeds.

• Sweet stuff: fruit preferably. Limited Xylitol (Zylosweet) for sprinkling and in cooking. Blue agave syrup or fructose in moderation. The odd square of Green & Blacks dark chocolate is fine unless it makes you crave more sugar. A teaspoon of honey here and there is fine.

• Water, lots of. Four pints of pure, filtered water a day. Preferably reverse-osmosis filtered. Warm with lemon in the morning.

• Alcohol, with meals. Six glasses a week max. Best GL in descending order: neat spirit, white wine, red wine, beer

• Drinks: water (sparkling if you must), green tea is especially good for a low GL diet, redbush (rooibosch) tea, caro, dandelion coffee, herb and fruit teas. Avoid anything caffeinated or with sweeteners, sugar or chemicals. Tomato juice. Small glass of fruit or veg juice 50/50 with water.

Foods NOT to eat lots of:

• Dairy foods: anything from another species like cow, sheep, buffalo or goat. No milk, cheese, yogurt, cream, butter or dairy spreads.

• Gluten: no wheat, rye or barley or anything made with them. Some people are also sensitive to oats so avoid these if you need to.

• Grains generally and legumes (peas, beans and peanuts): eat in moderation as these contain major anti- nutrients that can block digestion and absorption of foods, compromise your body and slow down your ability to heal yourself. Although they are mostly good for you, they are high in carbs as well as protein so you could easily overdo it. Sprouted pulses and grains or sourdough varieties are much better for you so add these to your salads. Soak grains like rice or oats overnight to neutralise some of the anti-nutrients and make them more digestible. See next page for specific recommendations.

• Grains: oats, quinoa, rice, polenta and buckwheat. In moderation. No more than three times a week. Corn pasta is great if combined with protein. Brown basmati rice is the lowest GL rice and short grain rice is best for a sluggish bowel, but have only a small amount with plenty of protein and fibre.

• Legumes: lentils, aduki beans, black-eye beans, miso, mung beans, white beans (for example haricot, cannellini, borlotti, butter), shoyu, peas, tempeh and tofu. In moderation. No more than four portions a week. If you have an underactive thyroid, soya is not a brilliant food for you, so eat it in moderation.

One-Week Quick Start Plan

This plan is not calorie-counted or measured in any way so you can mix and match meals or swop anything you like; it’s simply here to give you a place to start if you need one. All the meals are taken from the ‘Meals To Enjoy’ section of the E-Book and I have tried to make the meal plan realistic to fit in with daily life. It’s probably not perfect, but it’s good enough – and that’s how your attitude should be. You don’t have to let it take over your life – and you should enjoy your food.

I have assumed you are like me and work Monday to Friday, don’t have much time in the morning, are too tired to cook on Friday night after a long week and have a family roast on Sundays. I have also assumed it’s easier to take leftovers to work for lunch the next day.

Start the day with a glass of hot water and lemon, drink pure filtered water through the day and other drinks of your choice. Eat slowly, preferably with no distractions and chew well.

Monday
Breakfast:
Bowl of fruit smoothie sprinkled with seeds
Snack 1:
Handful of mixed nuts and a pear
Lunch:
Slices of beef/chicken/ turkey from yesterday’s Sunday dinner with salad
Snack 2:
3 squares dark chocolate
Dinner:
Spanish omelette and roasted veggies
Supper Snack:
Dish of olives

Tuesday
Breakfast:
Melon, berries and soya yogurt
Snack 1:
Two oatcakes, hummus
Lunch:
Left-over omelette, salad
Snack 2:
Pumpkin seeds and a few cherry tomatoes
Dinner:
King Prawn stir-fry
Supper Snack:
Few squares of dark chocolate

Wednesday
Breakfast:
GF muesli, berries and soya milk
Snack 1: few olives
Lunch:
Chicken or crab/mayo lettuce wraps
Snack 2: nuts and fruit
Dinner:
Tofu and veg casserole with quinoa
Supper Snack:
Strawberries, soya cream

Thursday
Breakfast:
Soya yogurt, seeds, chopped nuts and fruit
Snack 1
Raw broccoli – hummus
Lunch:
Tin of sardines in tomato sauce and salad
Snack 2:
Piece of fruit and some pumpkin seeds
Dinner:
Chicken kebabs or organic salmon fillet and a little brown basmati rice, millet or quinoa with roasted tomatoes and pine nuts
Supper Snack:
Bowl of spicy popcorn

Friday
Breakfast:
Fruit compote, soya yogurt, flaked almonds
Snack 1: small Innocent smoothie and a few nuts
Lunch:
Left over chicken kebab or salmon and rice
Snack 2:
Few squares of chocolate or a cold hard boiled egg
Dinner:
Thai curry takeaway and portion of bean sprouts. Glass of wine.

Saturday
Breakfast:
Non-buttered, naturally smoked kippers
Snack 1:
Handful of cashew nuts
Lunch:
Mushroom omelette (at home or out)
Snack 2: Dish of olives
Dinner:
Steak and salad
Supper snack:
Strawberries, soya cream

Sunday
Breakfast:
Mushrooms, tomatoes and two 100% meat/ gluten-free sausages
Snack 1:
Some raw veg such as carrot or broccoli pinched from lunch!
Lunch: Sunday roast (meat or nut) with roasted veggies and GF gravy, followed by baked apple. Glass of wine.
Snack 2:
I would hope you’re full!
Dinner:
Salad leaves with olives, pine nuts and antipasti
Supper Snack:
Cherries or half a melon

Best Low GL Choices
Veg: Avocado
Fruit: Berries
Breads etc: Oatcakes
Cereals: Oat porridge
Grains: Quinoa
Dairy Alternatives:
Soya milk (unsweetened)
Snacks: Olives
Meat/Fish/Eggs:
Any organic, free range

Worst Low GL Choices
Potatoes
Dried fruit
Rice cakes
Rice Krispies
Millet porridge
Rice milk
Corn chips
Processed foods eg quorn, soya mince, bacon

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