Fast forward to my 20’s, I decided to try an allergy
elimination diet. I was into trendy, healthy life style stuff and thought I
would see if my stomach aches, acne, etc. might be related to food allergies. A
lot of my friends were trying this at the time so I thought I could try it too.
One of my friends had found out he was allergic to eggs and once he stopped
eating them his chronic acne went away. I did not have the same issue but was
curious what it might do for my overall health.
In an elimination diet, you take 3 weeks and refrain from
eating all the foods that are common allergens.
These foods are eggs, wheat, dairy, peanuts and corn. After the 3 weeks
is over you re-introduce the foods one at a time in a concentrated form. For
example when reintroducing dairy you would drink a glass of milk while testing
dairy, verses eating a cookie with milk in it. Then you wait for an hour to see
if you have an allergic reaction. These reactions can be tricky and varied. One
reaction is swelling, soar throat, flu like symptoms. Another is digestion
issues, stomach cramps, nausea. Another allergic symptom is sores that can
develop on the insides of your lips after eating the food. The first time I did
this diet it was really hard to tell what was an allergic reaction. It seemed
like all the common allergy foods made me feel high and fuzzy. Eggs seemed to
have a stronger sensation but it was hard to tell. The only one that had no
side affects was dairy. Luckily dairy and my stomach have always been friends.
After doing this diet once and having such varied results I
ended up feeling like it was a waste of time and just went back to eating
whatever.
Enter pregnancy a few years later. My body completely
changed, even the way I digested food seemed to change for the better. I had
suffered for a time with stomach ulcer like symptoms pre-baby, post baby the
ulcers resolved. After having the baby, Sweetpea, I was over joyed and super
focused on her more then myself. However, I did notice while nursing Sweetpea
that wheat bothered me. It was hard to pin point why but I could tell after
eating wheat I did not feel good, more lethargic, more sores on my lip, and sometimes
hot or burning sensations. I really noticed the symptoms when I was on a trip
to Italy. Italy as a country actually has a lot of Gluten Free (GF) options. At
the time, I was not restricting my eating and enjoyed lots of pasta and bread.
Everyday I felt more and more out of it. My head got really itchy, something
inside me kept saying, “this is related to wheat” but I didn’t want to hear it.
A few years passed
after the trip. Over new years, a friend and I decided to set some resolutions
around our health. I wrote, “get to the bottom of any health issues” I had. I
started this resolution with a 40-day allergy elimination diet. This time I was
going to pinpoint the foods I suspected I was allergic to, eggs and wheat. Forty
days with no wheat or eggs was rough as most prepared foods contain both these
ingredients. Most prepared GF foods have eggs in them, so it was almost all
home cooking for me.
I was diligent this time, not eating the foods I knew I
shouldn’t and letting go of the random wheat and egg treats that are prevalent
everywhere. I just did not partake. A pleasant experience from this is I lost
about 10 pounds; the random treats really did add up. I was hoping to lose my baby weight from my
second child, Little Pickle, so I was able to check off two new years
resolutions at once, score!
A memorable moment in the allergy elimination phase was at
an office party where everyone was having decadent cupcakes. I had forgotten
about the party and busted out my sunflower butter and jam rice cakes that I had
planned to have for lunch. Everyone felt bad for me but I laughed it off
explaining my new diet.
After 40 days I re-introduced eggs, whites then yolks.
Absolutely no allergic reaction! I was very pleased to see this. On to wheat, I
ate half a baguette for lunch. Right afterword I felt woozy. My lips started to
sting my throat was sore. The rest of the day was a blur and the next few days
I felt like I had the flu. It was terrible and a big wake up call. My body was
fighting off an allergic reaction every time I ate wheat. It was inflaming my
back, giving me chronic back pain, it made me gain weight and made me feel like
crap. It was time to stop eating wheat.
Sense the initial elimination of wheat and subsequent weight
loss, things slowed down into a routine. The first year was all about experimentation,
trying new GF products and figuring out how to eat happily with my wheat eating
family. Thankfully I was somewhat skilled in this having lived my childhood
with my GF brother. Often when I cook I just cook GF for everybody. My husband
will do things GF for me as well but sometimes I just eat my own meal. One of
the health benefits I noticed was less back pain. I was working with a cranial
sacral therapist to help with this as well. I think wheat was inflaming my back
and not eating it anymore made my body feel less irritated and tense.
It is now year 2 of being GF. At this point it has become routine.
Like a vegetarian I just know there are certain foods I can’t eat. I don’t even
really miss them. I associate the wheat foods with the allergic symptoms and
that really helps. I occasionally long for real Italian bread but I also know
what will happen if I indulge. It is not worth it. It can be a bummer when you’re
on a special diet especially when negotiating dinning out options with my family.
One day I just let us go to the pizza place and I ate a hearty salad instead.
Most of the time though, I can find something GF and tasty on the menu.
There are a lot of alternative baked goods out there now, but
they vary in quality. I know to not eat most pre made GF muffins unless I want
a dry, sandy overly sweet flavor in my mouth. GF frozen waffles however taste
great. GF pop tarts- nasty, GF cinnamon sugar doughnuts-super tasty. I am very
particular about the mixes I buy and alternative breads. Bob’s Red mill makes 2
great all purpose GF flours one is garbanzo based, a little healthier, the
other is potato starch and tapioca based, it is not very healthy but gives the
fluffy soft rise when making pancakes. We use these flours combined with almond
flour for most things. Canyon Bakehouse
makes my favorite, whole grain GF bread so far. This bread is my indulgence at
$6.99 a loaf but I love toast and eggs for breakfast each morning.
My brother had this disease from when he was a toddler. I
watched him deal with this his whole life. I am blessed to become GF in a time when there is a lot more
information & products out there. I wonder how much of my allergy is celiac
and how much of it is related to all the chemicals put into wheat and the genetically
modified seeds that I am having a reaction to? I will eventually get tested for
celiac; for now being GF is what works best for me.
What are your favorite GF foods? What have you figured out
about this disease?
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