Mango

I dug out the last list the dietician gave me - a mere five years ago. It was meant to be more subtly graded than the earlier ones - but resulted in supposedly safe zero salicylate items such as cauliflower, papaya and golden delicious apple being ranked as "low" with items such as mango, pineapple juice, tomato, hazelnuts, peanut butter and horseradish.

I tried pineapple juice a few years ago but gave up rapidly because of the effects.

Somebody gave us a mango so I tried that today. There wasn't much substance to it. it was mainly stone. It had a tangy but insubstantial taste and an unpleasant after-taste. I definitely prefer papaya. I used to like mango juice but I think it would be a bad idea. Also pure mango juice is hard to come by.

Now to see if there are any after-effects.

I went to fetch the list off the kitchen noticeboard to write this - and found it had already come off and was starting to drift around the kitchen. Time I scanned it in - although, regrettably, in spite of the care that went into compiling it I still prefer the original lists which had a greater range of "negligible" items.

RAS

Redbush tea

The dietician wants me to start reintroducing some very low-salicylate foods, such as carrots, mushrooms, mangoes and maybe even onions.

She's also unable to say whether redbush tea is any good. Most herbal teas are dangerous but caffeine-free tea is okay.

Redbush is a caffeine-free, low tannin strain of real tea so should be okay. So yesterday I had a cup of redbush and a raw carrot, followed by carrots for lunch today.

One or other does not work, almost certainly the redbush tea. By yesterday evening my vision was blurred and print was out of focus. Today I have had to apply Anthisan cream to my midriff as large itchy red spots emerged. And I have a tummy ache.