Paola and the Nickel Intolerance

TwoMamas are two real Italian Mamas; I am Paola and I am intolerant to Nickel. 

My Nickel intolerance is relatively a new discover, and as such I am still adapting my diet and my life around the bad news. It all started with a really bad eczema, which  could not get rid of, and a lot of internet researching; Nickel intolerance does not have a lot of scientific evidence, but since I started a nickel free diet ( or maybe it would be more accurate to say since I reduced the levels of nickel in my diet) my eczema got dramatically better.

But it is not an easy life.

It turns out that Nickel is contained within an awful lot of food, and  now my diet is pretty limited. I am just now starting to learn what elements are really bad for me ( just now: chocolate, cocoa, kiwi fruits, soy and its derivatives), and the ones who I can tolerate in small doses.

Here is a list of food and ingredients divided by Nickel content:

HIGH NICKEL:
Wholemeal products, bran and rye cereals, all canned food, Herring and Kippers, smoked Haddock, Oysters, anchovies, mussels and lobster, asparagus, all beans, mushrooms, onions, corn (maize),brown rice, wholemeal Pasta, Spinach, lentils, barley and broth mix, all peas, wholegrain flour, fresh and dried yeast, pears, plums, rhubarb, tea, coffee, cocoa, chocolate, baking powder, liver, kidney, offal, all margarine, oatmeal, oats, porridge and lastly tomatoes. Tomatoes are a pain in the bum because they leach nickel from other food and what ever they are cooked in apparently because of the acidity level.

MODERATE NICKEL (TWO PORTIONS DAILY)
Cauliflower, cabbage, carrots, cucumber, lettuce, potato, broccoli, Brussel sprouts, leeks, swede, turnip, water cress, sweetcorn, beetroot.

LOW NICKEL (EAT AS MUCH AS YOU LIKE)
Meat (except liver kidney and offal), poultry, white fish, egge, cheese, milk, yogurt, butter, cream, sago, semolina, tapioca, custard, corn flour, refined breakfast cereal eexcept whole grain, white rice, white or yellow pasta, white flour, white bread, cream crackers, biscuits made with white flour, sugar, honey, herbs, vinegar (except cider vinigar), mineral water, cola, wine, corn oil, lard, marmalade and jam, fresh fruit (except pears, plums and rhubarb)
from: http://forum.allergyuk.org/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=381

This list is only a starting point; I am afraid that a food diary is in order and so is a lot of patience.

I will not be including our Natural Yeast Bread recipes in the Nickel free collection; I have been reading many different websites and opinions on wheat are not uniform; it looks like sour dough bread, what we call Natural Yeast Bread is acceptable in moderate quantities, while breads which contain fats of any kind are not; I do eat our Natural Yeast Bread as we do not add any butter or oil, we make what in Italy is defined as pane comune, common bread, and I seem to tolerate it well. I do have problems in tolerating brioche bread which contains fats ( butter or oil according to the different recipes).
Don't despair, I will be collecting Nickel Free Recipes and share them with you so that we can support each others in this difficult journey and still enjoy some tasty meals!!!