I have had the celiac test, and my bloodwork was borderline but the GI doctor felt that it was more likely that I had a wheat intolerance, since I also had a skin prick test. I was not sure what to think at the time and while I had given up gluten for a spell, the doctor told me not to and instead to try and reduce the stress in my life.
Which I have been doing, and somewhat well, I would say. Stress has been greatly reduced, which is no small feat in this world of recession. I have managed. But the symptoms persisted. So I went to the chiropractor/naturopath for treatment for headaches, and he actually sits down and discusses the whole body with you and how all things are connected. It's such a nice change of pace, and one that I think it's not crazy to expect from your doctor.
So anyway, there you go. I have been gluten and caffeine free for two weeks now (I tried kamut flour today to see if I would get bloated). It's good times and I have been lucky to have found some great products to help me through. It's not easy and you have to plan out every single thing that you are going to eat if you aren't at home because it's difficult to find lunch things...
At the same time, I was reading the book "The End of Overeating" by Dr. David Kessler. This was a very interesting look at the food industry and highly palatable foods. It's a truly fascinating read. My struggles with food have been long (and the irony of my having a food blog is not lost on me), and it in reading this book it was truly like some one was saying it's not entirely your fault. The cravings and OCD like behavior towards food is not your fault. The food is engineered to make you want it. And I now really believe that. When I was eating wheat/gluten, if I ate any sort of pasta or fast food for a couple of days in a row, I would continue to crave it. Once stopped, the cravings stop. It's such a crazy thing.
What I took from Dr. Kessler's book, and this may not have been the message he wanted to get across, but what I heard is that you have to stop eating it. You just aren't that person who can have it once and get on with it and have no issues. I am not that person. I can't eat it. It's partly my fault but it's also the way that the food was created to make you want more, fat, salt, sugar, fat, salt and sugar. And I did. It's hard but I am really going to try to stop, and I figure doing it with the whole gluten/wheat-free love-in was the perfect time. So it's cold cold cold freezer-burned turkey, but there it is.
It's a trial right now and we'll see where/how it goes. The first night, we had lovely meatballs and rice...
YUM! I made the meatballs without any sort of binder, baked them for a moment in the oven and then mixed with a simmering tomato sauce and spooned over rice. I totally wrecked the rice on this one, but it was really delicious all the same... AND... we had leftovers so lunch the next day was sorted.
(Happy by product of all this wheat-free living? I've lost weight. I don't know that it's the wheat as much as I think it's the not eating the fast food for lunch, but I'll take what I can get. )
No comments:
Post a Comment