Day to Day Strategies

These steps form an important part of our daily dietary and lifestyle routines:

First and foremost, the low-nickel diet doesn't replace the need to avoid or reduce your exposure to nickel in your environment.

• Avoid stainless steel cookware, use parchment paper in your bakeware.  Ideally, cook with glass, ceramic, cast iron, carbon steel, and ceramic lined metal pots and pans. 
• Be aware of nickel content in your stainless steel cutlery.  If you are highly reactive, use plastic cutlery and and ceramic knives. 
• Get your tap water tested - to be safe we need to stay at < 2 parts per million.  For the general population, it is pegged at 5 ppm. 
• Avoid contact with laptops and cell phones.  Use silicone covers, otter boxes, wear cotton gloves or vinyl gloves. 
• Become familiar with nickel content in your cosmetics, hair products and lotions and potions.
• Use simple laundry products
• Be aware of door knobs, hand rails, appliances. Think about how much nickel is in those nice stoves, fridges, microwaves, kettles, toasters that are made of stainless steel. 

Besides avoiding the highest nickel foods from the various lists,or going on a full nickel-poor diet, a couple of things should be considered "mandatory" as they might help you manage: 

These supplements should be taken every day:

1.  Vitamin C (at mealtime)
2.  Probiotic - preferably Lactobacillus Reuteri strain, or Lactobacillus Rhamnosus
3.  An iron supplement, or preferably eat animal protein and other high iron foods
4.  Vitamin D

How to approach the use of these supplements and incorporate in you diet:

1. make sure you take vitamin C with every meal.   Capsule, tablet powder or liquid
• powder and liquid form are easiest to absorb.
• The studies recommend 500 mg per meal, but it can vary from individual to individual.  It binds with the nickel in food, so we can excrete it instead of digest it and ultimately ending up in our blood stream.
• I now take 1000 per meal most of the time. But I have severe reactions that the C has really helped to keep at bay, and it helps me keep increasing my healthy food intake.     
• If you "slip up" take a little extra vitamin C after your meal.  
• Some folks have sensitive stomaches, so look for a brand that is buffered.  
• Vitamin C is also a natural antihistamine.
2. take a good quality probiotic - 
• L. Reuteri and L. Rhamnosus strains have been studied and considered most effective for SNAS.  
• This is proven to help via several studies to help increase the resilience of the gut micro biome, and in turn offer protection against dietary nickel.  It helps reduce the likelihood of skin symptoms, and helps with GI symptoms.
3. Take an iron supplement and B12 if needed, every day.  
• If your iron stores are good, you should still consider eating good quality, high iron animal protein, for iron as well as other micronutrients.  
• Iron is a nickel chelator as well. 
4. Take a Vitamin D3 supplement every day.  
• Studies have shown that most North Americans and northern Europeans are low in vitamin D levels from lack of sunshine in winter and use of sunscreens in summer (vitamin D is metabolized through exposure to sunlight.  
• Further studies are showing that those of us with low vitamin D are also gut compromised and immune compromised, so we seem to need it for efficient digestive processes, and as a boost to our immune systems.  

Also important:
A. Drink lots of water - at least 2 litres a day.  Or more. 
B. Include some dairy, especially plain, natural Greek yogurt, plain kefir, or ricotta cheese - dairy is a nickel chelator.  If you cannot tolerate dairy, omit this step, but consider increasing your probiotic. 
C.  Whenever possible, try to get as many of your nutrients from food - eat daily those foods that are high in vitamin C, iron, B12 and vitamin D.

revised 08-04-2017

nichelina & co
coachgilda@gmail.com