Question: What do you eat for Breakfast?

Finding good food to eat is one of the hardest challenges of B6 toxicity, so I want to ask all of you: What do you eat for breakfast?

Personally, I eat oatmeal every day.

Oatmeal with

▪ Raisins (or blueberries or stewed apples) 

▪ Flaxseed (about 1 teaspoon) 

▪ Pumpkin seeds (1-2 tablespoons) 

▪ Pecans

▪ Soymilk (or milk)

It might not sound like much, but I haven't gotten bored of it after more than a year. On occasion, I have used peaches, strawberries, or mixed berries instead of raisins. On rare occasions (when I have a sweet-tooth), I will add a bit of jam or honey. 

If you've found a good low-B6 breakfast, please leave a comment below and let everyone know what it is!  If enough people answer, then eventually we should have a long list of meal ideas.

Preventing Vitamin Deficiencies: Taking B6 out of your diet takes out a lot of other things too

One of the struggles of dealing with B6 toxicity is avoiding vitamin deficiencies. Unfortunately, when you take B6 out of your diet, you inadvertently take out a lot of other things too. Over the past few weeks, I've had to closely monitor my diet and make adjustments in order to cover all the bases.

The biggest trouble-spots for me have been calcium, magnesium, potassium, and niacin. Thankfully, I've found good solutions for most of these. For calcium, I drink soy milk. For potassium, I eat dried apricots. And for niacin, I eat peanut butter (1-4 tablespoons a day).

Yes, these things aren't exactly low in B6, but I make sure to spread them out over the day so my body has time to flush it out.

The best way to prevent a vitamin deficiency is to monitor your nutrient intake. You can do this with several free online tools -- just do a search for diet trackers. You will have to log everything you eat, which is time-consuming, but if you have B6 toxicity, it's worth it. A few times now, I have developed the beginnings of vitamin deficiencies, and if I hadn't been expecting such a possibility, the symptoms might have progressed much further than they did. Since I started tracking my diet, I've felt much more secure and less anxious overall. Knowing I'm not vitamin deficient is one less thing to worry about.

Low-B6 Recipes: Pad Thai

Pad Thai
This is one of my all-time favorite dishes. And that's saying a lot, considering how low it is in B6. I often double the recipe so I have enough to last for several days.

Salad ingredients

• 1 cup red cabbage, shredded
• 1/3 cup cilantro leaves
• 1 teaspoon fresh lime juice
• 1/4 cup onion, thinly sliced or chopped
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup cucumber, thinly sliced
• 1/2 cup red bell pepper, thinly sliced and diced
• pinch of salt

 Sauce ingredients

• 1/2 cup almond butter (harder to find than peanut butter, but much lower in B6)
• 1/2 tablespoon fresh ginger, finely grated
• 2 garlic cloves
• 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• 2 tablespoons maple syrup
• 1 tablespoon chili sauce
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce
• 1/4 cup water
• pinch of salt and pepper

1. Combine the red cabbage, cilantro, and lime juice in a bowl, sprinkle with salt, and let sit for 30 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, combine all the sauce ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth, adding more water if needed.
3. Add the remaining salad ingredients to the cabbage mixture (onion, cucumber, bell pepper) and toss.
4. Serve over Asian rice noodles (sometimes called rice sticks or rice vermicelli), or over white rice. When you store the leftovers, keep the sauce and salad in separate containers.

Low-B6 Recipes: Carrot, Raisin, and Maple Salad

Carrot, Raisin, and Maple Salad
This side-dish can be served on a bed of lettuce or by itself. The maple syrup brings out the natural sweetness of the carrots.

• 1 cup carrots, peeled and grated
• 1/3 cup raisins
• 2 tablespoons maple syrup
• a pinch of salt

1. Combine the ingredients in a bowl and toss.
2. Serve immediately, or refrigerate and serve chilled.

Served with rice and asparagus.

Low-B6 Recipes: Green Beans and Carrots in Orange Sauce

Green Beans and Carrots in Orange Sauce
All the ingredients of this dish are very low in B6.

• 3 cups carrots, sliced and peeled
• 3 cups green beans, cleaned and trimmed
• 2 tablespoons orange juice
• 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon maple syrup
• a pinch of salt

1. Steam carrots alone for 5 minutes.
2. Add the green beans and steam for another 5-8 minutes, or until the carrots and beans are tender.
3. While the green beans and carrots are steaming, combine the orange juice, lemon juice, salt, and maple syrup in a bowl.
4. Add the cooked carrots and beans to the bowl with the sauce. Toss to coat, and serve.

Low-B6 Recipes: Roasted Parsnip and Carrot

Roasted Parsnip and Carrot
When roasted, parsnips and carrots become sweet and tender and can be added to almost any low-B6 meal.

• 1-3 cups fresh parsnip
• 1-3 cups fresh carrot
• salt and pepper
• (optional) any desired herbs, such as thyme
• (optional) 1-2 tablespoons maple syrup

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Peel the parsnips and carrots and cut them into even pieces, either chunks (for a meatier texture) or long strips (for a crunchier, french-fry-like quality). If using maple syrup, then drizzle syrup on top.
3. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper, lay the parsnip and carrot on top (as evenly spaced as possible), and sprinkle with salt, pepper, and any desired herbs.
4. Bake for about 15 minutes, then remove from oven and turn the pieces over. Bake for another 10-15 minutes.
5. When the pieces look nicely browned, remove from oven and serve either hot or warm.

Roasted parsnip and carrot served with basmati rice and green beans.

The roasted parsnip and carrot, tossed after leaving the oven.

Low-B6 Recipes: Bean Soup

Bean Soup
Beans aren't necessarily low in B6 (according to the USDA, a cup of pinto beans has about 0.39mg.) But they don't seem to trigger my symptoms in the same way that other foods do, and they can be quite filling even in small servings. That's why I like to combine beans with other foods to create a complete, low-B6 meal. This simple bean soup goes well with Spanish rice, roasted vegetables, and many other foods

Update (12/23/15): I've since had reactions to pinto beans, and I no longer consider them low in B6. Black beans seem to be altogether better.

• 3 cups dry pinto beans
• 6 cups water
• 1/2 cup diced onion
• 1/2 cup diced celery
• 1 teaspoon salt

1. Soak beans overnight in 6 cups of water.
2. Strain beans the next day and replace with enough fresh water to rise about 1 inch above the beans.
3. In a large pot, add the beans, water, onion and celery and bring to a boil.
4. Lower to simmer and cook covered for 3 hours. Make sure the temperature isn't too high or the water can boil over. (If you prefer a thicker soup, then cook the beans uncovered for part of the duration. But watch them closely so they don't boil dry and burn.)
5. Serve with chopped green onion, grapes, salsa, or anything else you think would be good. Add salt to taste.

Served with green onion and a dollop of salsa.

Low-B6 Recipes: Rice with Pineapple and Vegetables

Rice with Pineapple and Vegetables
White rice has less B6 than brown rice. I recommend basmati, if you can find it.

• 1 cup white rice (preferably long-grain)
• 1/2 cup peas
• 1 can of pineapple chunks, with juice
• 1/2 cup carrot, shredded
• 1/2 cup asparagus, chopped
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce or tamari

1. Cook rice according to the instructions.
2. While the rice is cooking, combine the vegetables, the pineapple, the pineapple juice, and the soy sauce in a skillet, and simmer until the vegetables are tender, 5-10 minutes.
3. Combine the rice with the vegetables, pineapple, and juice.
4. Add more soy sauce or tamari to taste.

The finished meal