Last week, I shared that I have been performing a dietary science experiment on my own body. The experiment involved removing gluten from my diet.
I know this can skew blood test results but I wanted to see how I felt before I went any further. Several good friends who were recently diagnosed with both Celiac Disease and gluten sensitivity, shared their symptoms with me. As I listened to the list of issues that they were finding, I mentally ran through my own list of symptoms. Fatigue? Check. Stomach issues? Check. Nausea? Check. Digestive issues? Check. Unexplained aches? Check.
All of this from gluten? I thought it might be from turning the magic 4-0. Could it be that this was all in my head?
Almost immediately, I felt better after removing gluten. My energy improved and most all of the my symptoms started to go away. Of course, none of this is proven to be a result of Celiac Disease, especially since I removed gluten before I had blood work performed.
I would not recommend this to anyone as I am now faced with the daunting task of having to resume eating gluten and feeling possibly even worse than before just to confirm my hypothesis.
It makes me wonder why anyone would eat gluten, though. And why the heck is gluten in virtually everything we eat or use daily? As my dear friend Angela pointed out, it is even in the sticky part of envelope adhesive.
Good grief!
During my gluten free adventure, I discovered a delicious bread mix from Hodgson Mill. I am calling this a craft because this is something fun that you can do with your children as well as by yourself. Wrap it up in cellophane, add a pretty ribbon and you have a gift for a neighbor, relative or friend!
The bread mix reminds me a little of my beloved beer bread. The consistency is thick and the bread is heavy, with a good crunchy crust.
We made our version in a bread machine set at medium brown crust for breads that are 1 1/2 pounds.
The ingredients:
1 package of Gluten Free Hodgson Mill Bread Mix
1 1/2 cups warm milk
1 whole eggs
1/4 cup melted butter
1 tsp. cider vinegar
1 packet fast rise yeast
Starting with wet ingredients, layer into the bread maker pan. Add dry ingredients and finish off with the packet of yeast. I believe our cycle took about three hours to make.
I had just made freezer jam during strawberry season, so we tried that as well as a jar of Georgia peach preserves that we had picked up from a farmer's market on the way back from Disney World this spring.
Both were delicious. As would be nut butters, honey or on the savory side, herbed cheese or olive oil with spices.
Anyway that you choose, it is nice to know that if you are going gluten-free, there are choices for bread that tastes much like any other variety that you are currently eating. Without a bread maker, consider trying UDI's breads. They even have bagels, hotdog and hamburger buns!
Wish me luck on blood testing! We've got some work to do to find out a few more answers.
If you do have to go GF, Betty Hagman (sp?) wrote some great cookbooks. She was a chemist who loved to bake and who was diagnosed with CD around the time that she retired (before a lot of the commercial mixes were around). She spent her retirement fooling with recipes and was able to come up with some interesting stuff using her chemistry knowledge. Also, the Betty Crocker GF baking mixes are quite good. Williams Sonoma carries some GF mixes (a little pricey but the red velvet cake mix is yummy for a treat!). csaceliacs.org is a good resource for a GF food guide. Also, for next year, try a trip to Southfield during Passover to one of the Jewish bakeries. Due to Kosher dietary laws (separating wheat and dairy), the baked goods that are labeled "Kosher for Passover" are GF. My Mom and Dad make a trip and stock their freezer every year. A lot of it has carb counts/ingredients on it.
ReplyDeleteKaren, That is fantastic list of resources! Kosher for Passover - had no idea. Thanks for sharing this information... we have many new CD diagnosis in the T1D community and this might come as a silver lining for many. Even those with a sensitivity. Thank you!!!!!
ReplyDeleteIf you need more resources, let me know...I know people! My Dad is a past President of CSA USA and spent almost 2 years helping write all the new food labeling laws with the FDA. He is still quite active (keeps him out of trouble in retirement) and he and my Mom are still resources for celiacs.
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