I previously made a post about our recent health crunch, and in that post I had promised to elaborate more on the somewhat drastic diet changes I have made in an effort to alleviate chronic pain and other problems.
Let's put it this way...
Chips: gone.
Bread: gone.
Wheat: gone.
Pasta: gone.
Bananas: gone
Cantaloupe: gone.
Yogurt: gone
Milk: gone
Diet Coke: gone.
Caseinate: gone.
Making any connections yet? It's hard to see the connections in this list (and it's a lot longer than that). My new diet that is not a diet (this is just the word that describes your food routine) does now not include gluten (pretty much all bread products: cakes, cookies, bread, pasta, etc.), it does not include processed foods, it does not include pasteurized dairy (just unpasteurized cheese 2x/weekly), and it does not include artificial flavors/colors/sweeteners (good-bye Splenda and sugar free gum).
This dramatic change was not to lose weight, though it will be nice if that is a result.
In preparation for baby (and because I was noticing side effects), I got off of what I used to refer to as a miracle drug: Advair. For years Advair has allowed me the freedom of exercise without dying from an asthma attack, and it has allowed me to leave the house without an inhaler strapped to my hand (this is no exaggeration). However, getting off of this drug is a dangerous thing to do because your asthma is seemingly uncontrollable and constant - worse than it was when you went on it. You have to really know what you're doing when you get off of it. So what did I do? I got off of it without a clue as to what I was doing. My asthma was so bad that Erik begged me in the middle of the night to do something about it (and I had reached the point of crying over being so frustrated in my fight for breath).
Nutrition to the rescue! A 30-minute phone consultation with a nutritionist at People's RX in Austin is the reason for the partially cruel food list above, and for my continued success of staying off Advair (and living to tell about it). She was able to determine that I am "sensitive" to gluten or that I have an outright gluten intolerance (like a huge portion of the population does but doesn't know it).
I won't bore you with all of the details, but there was a dramatic difference in my health on many levels once I began to restrict my diet of foods that are bad for allergies and chronic pain. I am not completely cured because I am still learning the balance, and I am still cheating from time to time. But I will tell you that I immediately see the affects in a bad way after I have cheated, and it's usually enough to keep me from doing it again. This past cheat was for my anniversary - we shared 2 desserts that I wouldn't have touched otherwise. While I will probably always allow myself to eat favorites on my birthday, anniversary, and maybe like Christmas or something, I mainly treat these no-no's as if they were poison, just like smoking. I gave up smoking, didn't I? And I don't do it "here and there", so I'm trying not to do that with foods that make me miserable either.
What I am noticing today after a weekend of indulgence (and way too much drinking) is that I am using my inhaler almost every hour, I'm ridiculously tired and unmotivated for no reason, and I'm bloated. What do I notice when I'm being good: I breathe MUCH better (using my inhaler like 1-2x/day), my stomach is normal, I'm motivated to exercise, and my hips don't ache as much. It takes several months (like up to 6) to become completely gluten-free in your body and to really begin noticing the difference. I am aiming to get to that place at some point where I can say that I'm not sneaking bites here and there (and they're usually only bites - not full-on sandwiches). But in my early stages, I am observing the affects closely, which is helping me to be serious about it and stay on track long-term.
At some point, I will go into more detail about the effects of gluten on people's system - it's fascinating (at least if you have pain and fatigue at all). The results speak for themselves...
GF, Baby!
3 comments:
I am a friend of Rayvn's and I found you from your last comment.
I read a book called "7 weeks to a settled stomach", and after going through the 7 week process, I also discovered that I have a sensitivity to Gluten! I had no idea, but it was so obvious from the experiment I did. I don't seem to have a severe reaction, but is affects my breath and it seems to slow down my digestive system. Something I also noticed is that it made me angry. That may sound odd, but my husband noticed it too. I would be irrationally angry if I was eating a lot of wheat products!
Now I am 20 weeks pregnant, and I have still been consuming some wheat products though much less than I used to. I am actually backing off again at the moment because the angry spells came back,and I started seeing the effect on my breath.
I had started eating it again because I need carbs at the moment, and I live in Germany, where they have tons of bread to give a pregnant tummy a happy full feeling.
Good luck in the transition over to wheat-free. I might suggest Spelt. They have a lot of it over here, and you can use the flour in the same way you would wheat. it's a great grain for me.
its amazing what abuse the body will get used to, and when you start to treat it better the result is dramatic! Reminds me of the theory that our natural state/inclination is health.
Banana and Cantaloupe have Gluten? Fascinating.
I definitely need to find a copy of the Intuitive Eating book for you... sounds like you're already doing it though :)
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