>> so I tried drinking the occasional beer ... within a few weeks, I started getting
>> a few AS twinges
I used to have problems with beer too. I've noticed that I can drink all beers quite safely now without any pain, fortunately.
I can tolerate starch perfectly well and without any other adverse problems as long I stick to very low GI starches and prefer less refined less processed ones too. Also I have to eat in moderation now. So my tolerance level has dropped a little bit !. If I go to a restaurant or a wedding and eat as normal people do then I can be in quite a bit of trouble - lots of oily foods and refined starches.
Mixing oil and starch is a noticeable problem for me now and it brings on AS symptoms again for a day or so. It is curiously common among the processed foods, eg. pizza, biscuits, crispbreads (even 'healthy' ones like vitawheets), cakes, battered foods, donuts, instant noodles, etc.
I can however eat the following starches safely: pasta, hummus (although that is quite fatty so go figure), semolina (cream of wheat), soy milk, cashews, peanuts (initially they weren't good for me but tolerance gradually was gained), bananas and many other unrefined starches too of course.
