As you may know, I must adhere to a
gluten free diet (see this post for
background information). After learning that I must be on a gluten
free diet for the rest of my life I purged my kitchen of all
gluten-containing foods. It lurks in many places, including things
as surprising as soy sauce. I replaced what I could with gluten free
versions, and bought plenty of gluten free grain products, because
wheat and other gluten containing grains had been my primary diet for
as long as I had control over my food. I did spend my first two
gluten free weeks on a gut healing diet (well, the first week was
mostly only liquids because I took an iron pill which caused horrible
pain for days).
My health slowly (very slowly)
improved. It has not yet been a year since I have been on a gluten
free diet, and it was a rocky start, too. I got accidentally
glutened a couple of times, and learned to avoid most restaurants. I
then went on an international vacation, and did well until I misread
the ingredients list (hey, it was in a language I don't really know).
Now I know that I get trouble with peripheral neuropathy, among
other problems from the type of gluten in barley (It's months later
and one of my big toes hasn't fully regained feeling yet). After
that trip I began to realize that I have to be even more careful,
because gluten containing products could have been used in the
manufacturing of things I wouldn't suspect, and cause me problems
from cross-contamination.
I soon also realized that I need to be
careful about breathing flour dust. One day I found a container of
flour I had missed on my earlier gluten purge. I opened the
container and dumped the flour into the trash. I smelled the flour
in the air, and I got a return of my symptoms. Now I know I must be
careful wherever flour dust could be in the air. More recently I
also found that many things like skin and hair care products can
contain gluten. I had to get rid of my favorite conditioner (but my
skin and scalp are happier now that I have purged all gluten
containing products).
One problem did start to appear after
months on a gluten free diet. I started to put on a little extra
fat. Not OK with me! I had been concerned that weight gain could be
a problem on a gluten free diet, because the replacements for wheat
typically are lower in fiber and higher in carbohydrates and starches
than wheat products. I decided I needed another diet, and began to
look into a modified version of the paleo diet. My plan was to cut
out grains and replace them with fruits, vegetables, and protein
sources. This kind of helped, but not quite enough.
Extremism here I come! I decided to
cut out sugar, and foods that my body readily converts to sugar. So,
that means no sugar, honey, sweet fruits, legumes, protein powder or
starchy vegetables (and no grains of course). I have been following
that diet for three weeks. The first week was very hard, because
I've been a major sugar addict for my entire life. I felt dizzy and
weak. But I got over it, and then felt healthier than ever. I have
been eating vegetables, meat, eggs, tart berries, and nuts as my
primary diet. I have not cut out dairy. I still will use ghee,
butter, cheese, yogurt, and kefir. But I have noticed that aside
from butter and ghee, cow milk products make me very sleepy and
tired. I do fine on goat milk products, though. What about the fat?
Well, I have been enjoying delicious butter on my food, and the fat
is melting off my body. Even the lower back fat pads that no amount
of exercise has touched for decades are shrinking. I'm already
fairly thin looking, but I know how big my underlying frame is
(tiny), so I know that it is not unsafe for me to be getting thinner.
I'm also loving the increase in visible muscle definition!
After three weeks on my new extreme
diet I have decided to allow a small amount of fruit back in, but now
a bit of fruit is like a dessert, and too much makes me feel off-
like I just ate too much cake. So I don't have sweet fruits every
day, and when I do it is in small amounts. The hardest thing has
been redoing my green smoothies. I had green smoothies once or twice
a day since going gluten free. Unfortunately they were like sugar
bombs! Even though I added no sugar or sweetened things to them,
they had so much sweet fruit like banana, and pure fruit juices, that
the glycemic index was high in them. I still haven't come up with a
green smoothie recipe that is low glycemic and tastes good-
but I'm trying. I had a good one in Scandinavia, so I know it's
possible.
I plan to stick about 90% to my extreme
diet, and simply make it a part of my lifestyle. I won't permanently
say no to honey, just because I have a few jars of really yummy raw
honey and specialty honey that I don't want to waste. After they are
gone I won't be buying any more, though. I also plan to do a bit of
intermittent fasting. I've read some good things about it, and some
days I get so busy I forget to eat anyway. This is so far away from
my past diet! I used to put 8 spoonfuls of sugar on my breakfast
cereal (types that already had some sweetness to them at that). When
I worked really hard on my will power to get it down to three
spoonfuls I thought I was doing great! Ha ha!
ETA: I discovered that raw cow milk does not make me sleepy...odd. But I still don't plan to include milk much in my diet anyway.
:)
:)
