Vegan Tips for Living With the IC Diet

Some of these are ideas that I've found on forums and others are from my own experimentation. Everything on this list has gone in my body and come out safely. BUT!! Every body is different and you know your body best. Don't try anything you think may cause a flare. 

Soy sauce:

Simmer molasses and water and add to stir frys to give them their familiar taste. Cook the sauce with red bell pepper chunks to lend a teriyaki flavor to the sauce. Add sesame oil and fresh ginger if you can tolerate it. Kafir lime leaf and lemongrass make the sauce a bit more savory. 

Soft drinks:

Torani makes fruit flavored syrups (Regular and Sugar Free) for Italian sodas. If you can tolerate them, add a tablespoon to a pint of cold water, sparkling if you can tolerate it, to make a tasty drink. Or you could make kafir lime infused water, add coconut, watermelon/blueberries (chunks, purée, frozen chunks), or chilled chamomile/peppermint tea with agave or honey for sweet tea. 

Pickles:

Bubbies dill pickles and sauerkraut are full sour. They have no vinegar or preservatives, but be wary of the sodium. Also, you can cook cucumber slices in salty sweet syrup with some mustard seeds to fake bread and butter pickles. The same goes for red and yellow peppers. 

Broth/Bouillon:

Zucchini/red pepper/potato purée thickens soups nicely as does a good roux made with plain unsweetened almond milk. Earth Balance makes a good soy free vegan margarine. Using herbs to flavor your cooking liquid helps too. Also, wine becomes less irritating when the alcohol is cooked off. And if you really miss grilled onions, carmaluze sliced fennel. It's anisey and sweet without being pungent like onions, but has a similar color and texture. See my cooking instructions here. 

Boyajian:  

Boyajian makes citrus oils--lemon, lime, and orange that you can use to flavor baked goods and sauces. I've used them in salad dressings and Daiya cream cheese to make cheesecake. Olive oil is often infused with other flavore, citrus being most popular. I use limonolio to flavor foods that call for lemon juice. 

Dips:

Salsas can be made with savory ingredients without using chiles. Roasted red pepper and sweet corn makes a great base for salsa. I've read that chile oil is not irritating, but it doesn't taste like jalapeño so I skip it. You can add dried parsley and avocado chunks to make a great party dip. 

Make your own hummus. Garbanzo beans, tahini, and limonolio make a good dip. You could add blended roasted red bell pepper or roasted eggplant to cut the calories too. The same goes for baba ghanouj; just add limonolio instead of lemon juice to brighten the flavor. 

Protein:  

Wheat gluten is a great source of protein. Unfortunately, seitan is the easiest product to find and it almost always has soy sauce in it. You can make your own; several brands of gluten flour are available at natural food stores. If packaged veggie meats are bothersome, you can still get concentrated protein from beans, nuts, and seeds. Ask your doctor/nutritionist for I nformation about food combining to help you make complete proteins. 

If you have any tips to add to this list, please share :)