Almonds and skin problems

[kellysensei]

I'm wondering if anyone has had problems with introducing almonds or other nuts into their diets. Before I went Paleo six months ago, I had a peanut butter sandwich 2-3 times/month, and that was the extent of my nut consumption.I almost never ate almonds, cashews, or other  nuts because at the time, I thought the fat was bad for me. 

 

Since going Paleo, I've eaten nuts (except for peanuts) on a near-daily basis.They have become my go-to snack because of their convenience and fat content. 

 

The trouble is, my skin (on my face) has been worse than ever in the last six months. I get at least one new pimple every week, and many of them are scarring (or taking 2-3 months to fade). I'm starting to believe it's the nuts, especially the almonds, since that's what I eat the most of. Has anyone else experienced skin problems with nuts? I made No-Fuss Salmon Cakes last night (with almond flour), had 2T of almond butter with my banana this morning, just ate a Larabar that contains almonds, and am having leftover salmon cakes tonight. Perhaps not surprisingly, I found a new pimple above my lips when I got home from work. Grrrr.

 

I plan to cut out almonds starting this weekend, limit (but not eliminate) other nuts as well, and see if that helps. Hopefully, I'll be able to eat almonds once a week or so when my Whole30 is over.

 

For the time being, what can I add to my lunches, or have as an occasional snack, besides nuts (and hard-boiled eggs)? I need more sources of fat. I can't do avocados because I've discovered they were the source of all the severe stomach pains I started getting this fall - I suppose I was probably eating too many of those, too. I dislike olives...

[kirkor]

Man, if you want convenient on-the-go fat sources, and you're going to eliminate nuts, eggs, avocados, and olives ...

[kellysensei]

That's not very encouraging. :-(  Seriously, I don't know what to do.

 

I can still do eggs. But I don't want to start eating multiple eggs a day, either, when I'm not used to it. I don't want to develop an egg sensitivity like I apparently have with almonds and avocados.

[kirkor]

If you're just looking for portable fat, you could do something like this: http://www.agirlworthsaving.net/2014/01/bulletproof-coffee-drops.html

Some other ideas (watch for SWYPOs): http://nobunplease.com/14-fabulous-fat-bomb-recipes/

[ShannonM816]

Make some mayo. Eat it as is, or turn it into a creamy ranch or creamy italian dressing, or make chicken or tuna salad with it.

 

Try Chimichurri sauce or Moroccan Dipping Sauce or Hollandaise Sauce -- any of them would be good on eggs or meat or veggies. And if you don't feel like making a sauce, just find some olive oil you really like and drizzle some over veggies and meat at your meals.

 

How do you feel about coconut? There's coconut flakes, which are really good toasted, or coconut milk, or coconut oil, or coconut butter -- Those last two are both good on baked sweet potatoes. I would say, though, don't have all coconut all day as your fat source, since you're already having issues with other things. Start with a serving one day and see what happens. Some people really ramp up the coconut consumption when they go Paleo and find that it doesn't always agree with them.

 

And, try to find fattier sources of meat for your meals. That could mean choosing salmon over some of the other fish, or getting tuna packed in olive oil instead of water, chicken thighs and legs over chicken breasts -- and leave the skin on, or, if you're buying grassfed beef, getting fattier cuts. (For the beef and chicken, that's assuming you can buy organic, pastured, grassfed. Check the Paleo Poor shopping guide for more on that. If you can't buy the better quality meats, go with leaner and find other fat sources.)

 

I'm told that there are different varieties of olives, and that if you keep trying them, you may find some you like. I haven't really found any I love, but you might. 

 

I realize these are not snack-y type things that you can easily carry anywhere, but if you have plenty of food at your meals, you really shouldn't need much in the way of snacks. 

 

For the eggs, if you don't have a known sensitivity to them, you might try having more over time. If you have one a day now, maybe have two one day and then go back to normal for a day or two and see what happens. You should probably wait to try this until you're feeling better, if you're still feeling the effects of the nuts, so it will be easier to see if that's what you're reacting to, if you do have a reaction. I will also say that for some reason which I haven't figured out, I can eat three scrambled or fried eggs with no problems, but three hardboiled eggs leave me gassy and bloated. I don't know why, and I've never heard anyone else say they have that reaction, but it happens to me.

 

It might also be possible that the problem was not just that you had some nuts, but maybe you had a lot more than normal. It might be that, over time, you find you can have a handful of some kind of nuts every few days with no problems, but having them every day or multiple times in one day may not be the best idea. I also know that there are people who swear by soaking and sprouting nuts, but I don't know if that would make a difference for you or not. I've never tried it personally, but it might be something to look into.

[Tom Denham]

You can live without nuts and Larabars. In fact, you would almost certainly be much better off if you would. Eat more fatty cuts of meat like sausage, pork, etc. Choose higher fat ground beef, etc. Use coconut oil, mayo, and ghee liberally. 

[kellysensei]

Thanks for the replies and all the links! Kirkor, that second link looks like something good to come back to next month. :-)

 

I'm trying to be careful with what and how much I consume because I've had bad experiences. Last year when I introduced coconut oil, I started consuming about 1T a day, and within a week, I had the worst heartburn of my life. Within a month, even coconut milk and coconut flakes gave me heartburn. I had to eliminate all coconut products for over two months. But now I seem to be fine with all things coconut. I'm hoping I can reintroduce avocados at the end of this month.

 

I don't have any digestive problems with almonds, but besides the skin problems, I'm wondering if they're contributing to my sinus issues as well. I was having a fantastic allergy season until mid-October, when I reintroduced dairy. The dairy led to congestion, a cold, a sinus infection, then the return of a chronic cough. I cut out dairy again almost five weeks ago but am still having problems, so maybe cutting out almonds for a bit will help that, too.

 

I guess I just have to douse my lunch with olive oil, LOL. And give olives another try. It's almost impossible for me not to have a snack in the afternoon, because I only have 15-20 minutes for lunch at noon, and because of my sons' schedules, I can't sit down for dinner until at least 6:15. I can't eat enough at lunch to fill me up for six hours. I guess I'll have to stick to apples or something for snacks. Sucks that I can't do carrots and guacamole!

 

Oh, and neither my blender nor my food processor are powerful enough or modern enough to make mayo. I've tried. My husband got me a nice new Ninja blender, but he won't let me use it until Christmas.  So no mayo for me until then.

[MeadowLily]

Kelly, on your other post...shared you've been eating almonds in several forms for awhile now.

 

It has  been known that if we are allergic to something, we may crave that very food. A craving for wheat can mean we are allergic to wheat, one of the most common food allergens. The reason this happens, is that when a food allergy causes stress, our body produces endorphins, which comfort us and make us feel good. Unfortunately we perpetuate exposure to the irritant because we want more of the compensatory good feelings.  It's possible  that you've been allergic to almonds but actually crave them.

[kellysensei]

I don't crave almonds. I've just been eating them because they're convenient. I'm not crazy about almond milk, and I prefer cashews, pecans, and macadamia nuts over almonds. 

 

I've had allergy testing twice for multiple foods, including nuts, and everything has always come back negative.

[GFChris]

 

Oh, and neither my blender nor my food processor are powerful enough or modern enough to make mayo. I've tried. My husband got me a nice new Ninja blender, but he won't let me use it until Christmas.  So no mayo for me until then.

 

I'm not sure the Ninja is your mayo solution. Many folks on the forum have tried a Ninja in the past for mayo and found it's way too fast. You need a blender or hand/stick blender that works on slow speed to make good, thick, creamy mayo.

 

I have this stick blender and it's worth every penny. Been making my own mayo since last summer and it's worked perfectly every.single.time.

[Mary Carmosino Beougher]

I'm not sure the Ninja is your mayo solution. Many folks on the forum have tried a Ninja in the past for mayo and found it's way too fast. You need a blender or hand/stick blender that works on slow speed to make good, thick, creamy mayo.

 

I have this stick blender and it's worth every penny. Been making my own mayo since last summer and it's worked perfectly every.single.time.

I have a Ninja and it's less than useless for mayo, unless you want mayo the consistency of soup. I use an immersion blender. Perfect every time.

[kellysensei]

Hmmm, I wonder if I should even keep the Ninja, then? With a stick blender, isn't it hard to hold the blender with one hand and drizzle the oil into the bowl with the other hand? 

[kirkor]

Per the comments on mel's site and my own experience as well, with a stick blender you actually can put all the oil in at once! 

[GFChris]

With a stick blender, isn't it hard to hold the blender with one hand and drizzle the oil into the bowl with the other hand? 

 

Never had a problem in over a year - been making mayo that way since June 2013.  

[ShannonM816]

Hmmm, I wonder if I should even keep the Ninja, then? With a stick blender, isn't it hard to hold the blender with one hand and drizzle the oil into the bowl with the other hand? 

 

This is the recipe I started with. You can change it up, different oils, different acids, different spices if that's your thing. You definitely don't drizzle the oil, and you don't even have to let it come to room temp first. And since you can make it right in a pint-sized wide mouth mason jar, you can store it in the container you make it in, and have one less dish to wash.

[kellysensei]

Thanks for helping me not waste a bottle of olive oil to make mayo that's going to fail! Shannon, thank you for the recipe! Looks like I'll be ordering a stick blender from Amazon today...I haven't used mayo in a few weeks, and I'm missing it!