Photo courtesy of Almond Board of California
I am not really sure even where to begin this post. I have struggled for about 15 years with, uh, certain digestive issues that haven’t been able to be resolved. I have gone to numerous doctors, done hours and hours and hours of research, and resigned myself to just live with it.
Until this summer. I went on a weight loss system and I FELT GREAT!!!! I really did, for the first time in so long, feel great! Not only did I lose some weight, but I no longer dealt with those issues. Upon examining exactly what I was eating I found that I was hardly eating any gluten. The more research I did, the more I became convinced that I was gluten intolerant. Now, keep in mind that I haven’t been diagnosed by a doctor, this is just what my research has led me to. I haven’t had any testing done. However, I feel better, and I know my body is reacting favorably to cutting gluten out of my diet. (I am no longer on the weight loss program.)
So I have been spending almost all of my free time researching all about being gluten free. I don’t believe that I have Celiac’s Disease, but I do believe that I am gluten intolerant. Many of my symptoms match what I have read. In an article here Dr. Mark Hyman writes all about the dangers of gluten to those who are sensitive to it. The thing that sacred me was that SO many people have it and don’t even know it. He writes:
A review paper in The New England Journal of Medicine listed 55 “diseases” that can be caused by eating gluten. (iv) These include osteoporosis, irritable bowel disease, inflammatory bowel disease, anemia, cancer, fatigue, canker sores, (v) and rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, multiple sclerosis, and almost all other autoimmune diseases. Gluten is also linked to many psychiatric (vi) and neurological diseases, including anxiety, depression, (vii) schizophrenia, (viii) dementia, (ix) migraines, epilepsy, and neuropathy (nerve damage). (x) It has also been linked to autism.(ix)
He does say that not everyone who has these “diseases” are gluten intolerant, but it’s worth looking into. I also read somewhere that it takes the average person with gluten sensitivity 11 years to get a correct diagnoses.
The next step for me was to figure out how to live without gluten. This was actually really depressing to me. I love to bake. I have been told that I am quite good at it too! We eat a lot of whole wheat products, in the interest of being healthy. I had done a lot of research of the benefits of whole grains, wheat and barley mostly. To try to cut these out of my diet was overwhelming to me. Do you even know HOW MANY THINGS WHEAT IS IN??? Seriously! I found it easier to just eat things that I knew didn’t have any wheat or grains (unless brown rice) in them.
Gradually I tried some pre-packaged alternative breads and cookies…I can say with a resounding YUCK! It felt like I was eating sand. Plus everything GF is really expensive. We just don’t have the budget to support that. So I thought I would try to make some of my own stuff. That’s pretty much what I did before. I ordered some cookbooks. I looked at GF blogs. What was frustrating about those was every author seemd to think that they have the best mix or method of baking GF… and they are all different! Rice flour, potato flour,sorghum flour, bean flours, tapioca starch, xanthan gum, arrowroot powder…the list is endless, and confusing.
I was also concerned with the nutritional value of all these alternatives. The majority were higher in calories, and lower in protein, fiber, and nutrition. I didn’t want to take a step backward in eating healthy. So I kept looking. I think that I have stumbled on two flours that I want to try. Neither of them call for multiple flour blends or tons of extra additives to make a recipe work.
The first is almond flour. It is very high in protein. (100g = 21.94g compared to 9.71g found in white wheat flour.) It also is great for your heart and easy on your blood sugar. It is, however, very expensive. It will not be my every day bread flour. The cookbook that I will be getting most of my almond flour recipes from is this book.
The other flour that I am really excited to try is coconut flour. I have known for years the benefit of coconut oil, and the flour sounds just as amazing. It is really high in fiber and is also great for blood sugar levels. It is a good source for trace minerals, and allows your body to absorb them easier. It is more reasonably priced, but still quite a bit more than wheat flour. The book that I will use for these recopies is this one.
I am by no means an expert on this subject. I feel most days like I am trying to wade through knee deep mud. However, I would love to share my findings with you and hopefully even share some recipes!
By the way, the pancakes in the photo were made with almond flour! Looks good, huh?
Andrea, Sounds like you have found a way to be gluten free. I’m still working on it and know I feel better when I avoid wheat. It’s hard though.
Wheat is in so many things. Soy sauce an licorice for example. I’ve had some success converting recipes, but my family will remain wheat eaters. It doesn’t bother them so I’m in this journey myself. Gook luck as you continue to find what works for you.
Thanks, Sheila. I am continually surprised at the things wheat is in. I can’t even lick envelopes anymore! My goal is to find recipes that even the gluten eaters in my household will like!
Andrea,
If you would like some GF recipes please let me know. I do not know if Kristi told you this but I have been gluten free for several years. There are a few things that I make that have become staples in this house like chocolate chip cookies and waffle mix. If you want any of these just friend me on Facebook and I will send them to you.
I’ll do that. Thanks Karie!
You are doing a fabulous job getting healthy and doing your homework! It can seem so very daunting at the outset in a society that seems to hinge on wheat flour! LOL! I have been doing this nearly a year and some days feel as if I have just scraped the surface. Every victory and every tweaked recipe that works and is accepted by the whole family is reason to celebrate! The rewards of seeing our son and his behavioral issues improve so much is worth continued effort though! Keep it up, my friend
Thanks for sharing. I am studying this for a few of my children right now. I didn’t know about almond flour! Sounds good.
Andrea
Hello! I have not visited the site for awhile ( I have to be careful..I get tend to lose all track of time!)
My sweet husband was diagnosed with Celiacs a year ago. To say it has been a challenge is putting it mildly.
He packed peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for his lunch for 27 years. You are so right about the GF products that are ready made….so expensive and the bread was AWFUL. Your best bet for bread is to come up with an all-purpose blend. One flour won’t do what you want. Make it up ahead and you’ll have it on hand for quick bread, muffins etc. By the way…we have found some good GF selections at Morrow Brothers down on Division that are reasonably priced. With Celiacs, it doesn’t matter how little gluten there is, the result is the same. Over time, he has come to accept the fact that there are more foods he CAN eat than NOT eat!
We aren’t gluten free per say but we have cut it out a TON! My family prefers the coconut flour over the almond as the almond is more grainy to bake with. But eating veggies and fruits is just so much easier