Thriving on a Starch-Free Diet for Ankylosing Spondylitis (FREE starch-free food list included)

Recently, I met up with a friend at a splash park. We chatted as we watched our kids dash through the streams of water in the blazing-hot sun. She told me about some of her health issues and asked what I had been doing to combat my ankylosing spondylitis. I shared about my diet and lifestyle.

Then the inevitable question:

 “So, what can’t you eat?”. 

I can eat everything. The problem is that I feel debilitating pain and stiffness when I eat certain foods. As such, I choose to eat foods that make me feel great.

“What don’t you eat?”

That’s such a loaded question because, frankly, there is a load of food I do not eat. A look of pity is guaranteed.

I don’t eat starch, which means I don’t eat gluten, wheat, oats, rice, or any other grain. 

I don’t eat refined sugar, unhealthy oils, or dairy.

 I don’t eat carrots, potatoes, rice, bananas, yams, peanuts, cashews, many supplements, sweet potatoes, corn, peas, and tapioca, as they all contain starch. 

The list of ‘don’t’ is long. 

Honestly, even I feel overwhelmed when I look at that list.

 “What do you eat?”  

Naturally, this is the next question. I find it easier to answer because the list is shorter and reminds me of all the nutritious and delicious foods I can eat to feel great.

At one point, my diet was very restricted. The answer to the above question was “chicken seasoned with sea salt and broccoli for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.” I am glad those days are over. Meal planning was easy with such few ingredients, but it got monotonous. In hindsight, I am thankful I chose to limit my diet so much for a time as it allowed my gut to heal rapidly. It also allowed my symptoms of ankylosing spondylitis to calm down to a point where I knew what I was reacting to once I started reintroducing new foods. The longer I was strict, the more successful I became at reintroducing more foods. 

 I have been on a starch-free diet for about 2.5 years now. The first eight months were crazy restrictive and limiting. However, I have since been able to reintroduce lots of delicious foods. I now eat a nourishing, healing, and delicious diet that allows me to live a relatively pain-free life. Since starting a starch-free lifestyle, my AS has not progressed (confirmed through bloodwork and radiographical imaging). I am thankful I do not need medications to control my AS symptoms. I thrive as long as I eat the right foods for my body and take care of myself in other ways (reducing stress, proper rest, stretching, etc.).

Because AS is a disease of chronic inflammation, it is critical to discover which foods are inflammatory for each individual. While starch tends to be a common source of inflammation for those with AS, a host of other foods can cause inflammation. Other commonly inflammatory foods include dairy, eggs, nightshades, nuts, seeds, etc. The trick is: that every individual body and situation is unique. Unfortunately, diet does not appear to be a one-size-fits-all deal. As such, many people who have seen success in treating their AS naturally have done a form of an elimination diet (GAPS, SCD, AIP, for example – with the recommended additional elimination of starch) to discover their sensitivities. 

 I have attached to this post a list of starch-free foods that I eat freely (see below). It is important to note that individual sensitivities to other commonly inflammatory foods discussed above may still cause reactions even when one eliminates all starch from a diet.

 Ultimately, changing my diet felt like one big experiment. I needed to advocate for myself because the mainstream medical professionals I saw had no interest in discussing dietary modifications for my AS. I did not start to thrive until I embraced my restricted diet. I came to a point where I realized that dietary and lifestyle modifications were better, in my opinion than the alternative of being medicated for life. 

And, frankly, the food on my plate generally looks much more appealing to me than that of others. You can keep your mac n’ cheese from a box as long as I can have my homemade fish tacos!

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