Meal Plan for Vanilla-Free Diet

A vanilla-free diet is a short term test diet used to diagnose increased catecholamine production. Vanillylmandelic acid (VMA) is excreted in the urine and for the test, it's necessary to follow a diet eliminating food items containing vanilla essence that may give rise to a falsely elevated VMA level in urine. Increased catecholamines may give rise to high blood pressure, palpitations, weight loss and chest pains.

Urine is collected over a 24 hour period, but the diet needs to be followed for at least 72 hours.

It's necessary to avoid all obvious vanilla containing foods, but there are also a number of other items which should be avoided:

• Bananas, citrus fruits inc organs, lemons, grapefruits, etc
• Cornflakes
• Sweat biscuits
• Cakes
• Blancmange, custard powder, instant desserts, e.g. Angel Delight, Dream Topping, ice cream, bought puddings, sweet sauces and vanilla flavoured products
• Nuts – all types
• Caramels
• Chocolate, fudge
• Tea, coffee, drinking chocolate, mated milk drinks (e.g. Horlicks, Ovaltine)
• Cola
• Citrus fruit juices
• Cordials

It's also necessary to avoid aspirin, sympathomimetic agents and MAOI drugs during the trial period.

The following is a healthy meal plan which excludes the above, ensuring you have a balanced diet during the trial period.