You, Me & Gluten Free

Preaching Gluten Free

I am hopping up on the soapbox for just a moment.  I want to explain why I seem to be gluten free crazy.  Its not just because I have to be, it is because everyone should be.  Gluten is reeking havoc on our bodies, but its addictive nature makes it hard to walk away from.

 

Everyone can put wheat, rye, barley or oats in their mouth, chomp it up and swallow, but this does not mean we are suppose to.  The human body (your body) is not genetically designed to process gluten properly.  Glutens were brought to the table only a few thousand years ago, too short of a time period for humans to make the genetic alterations necessary to handle eating gluten.

 

Filling up on foods that do not fit our genetic code are taking their toll.  A recent study lists 55+ diseases associated with eating gluten, like ADD, ADHD, anemia, anxiety, arthritis, asthma, autism, autoimmune diseases, cancer, canker sores, dementia, depression, digestive problems, epilepsy, fatigue, irritable bowl syndrome, lupus, malnutrition, migraines, multiple sclerosis, nerve damage, obesity, osteoporosis, thyroid disease and much more.

 

It is heartbreaking to read story after story about people suffering for years, even whole lifetimes, because of gluten.  It is also unbelievable how many people waste time, money and energy on "cures" that are nothing but (truth be told, I was one of them).  I am even more devastated when friends and family tell me about health problems, but refuse to even consider gluten as a cause.

 

There is sooooooooooooo much research out there saying what we are eating is killing us, but no one seems to care (no one, except maybe the health insurance industry who is now looking for ways to cut their losses and save millions).  I just wish my loved ones would take action instead of taking another gluten filled bite.

 

Those bites are killing you and, to be honest, it is an extremely hard addiction to break.  That’s right!  Time to wake up and realize this is an addiction (a serious addiction with serious side effects).  When little bits and pieces of unprocessed gluten (called peptides) enters your blood stream it cruises up to and reacts with the opiate receptors in your brain*.  By mimicking the effect of narcotics such as heroin and morphine, it gives you that nice happy, cozy feeling.  (They do not call it "comfort food" for nothing.)  But the party does not stop there.  It affects and damages your cognitive and sensory functions as well as several of your organs (should we revisit the small sampling of diseases I listed above?).

 

Friends who are actually listening to my preaching are finding their health issues disappear after going gluten free.   I am, by no means, a practicing medical professional, I do not pretend to be.  I am asking everyone to do some research and look into what gluten does to our bodies.

 

Here is a list of what contains gluten: Reading Labels for Gluten and Wheat

 

*Casein (the stuff in milk) does the same thing. Click here for: Gluten Free & Dairy Free Alternatives to Milk

 

Keeping on Our Toes with Gluten Free Eating

Ahhh...nothing like vomiting, passing out or having heart palpitations to remind you that you HAVE to keep on your toes with any allergy.  Recently, I found myself fending off a gluten reaction when my favorite local Japanese restaurant added some "special" sauce to my usual order of sushi rolls. 

It was a good reminder that we cannot rely on restaurants to provide the same recipes in the same manner as they did yesterday.  And we cannot forget the all important contamination of food that happens everywhere (including home).

Restaurants (and occasionally the chef on duty) will make minor adjustments to dishes to add flair or flavor, so double check before placing your order, no matter how often you've eaten it in the past.  And even if you let the server know that you have a gluten allergy, you need to make sure that they fully understand what that means - INCLUDING preparation & presentation all performed separately from glutenous foods to avoid cross contamination. 

Cross contamination almost deserves its own blog.  Contamination of food seems to be overlooked more than the actual ingredients in a dish.  Often times chicken tenders, corn dogs, and onion rings find their way into designated fry fryers.  Not to mention bits of pieces of who knows what is left behind in pans or griddles.  Recently I found out that it is almost impossible to wash gluten out of wooden cookware/utensils.  Wow...I now have marked "black rings of death" (black permanent marker rings on the handles) of wooden spoons that are used for cooking foods containing gluten. 

Another contamination people do not always think about is how gluten works its way into various layers of a dish.  At a gluten baking class I attended on Tuesday a girl asked this question.  She wanted to know why she felt sick after eating the non-gluten layer of a desert.  Most people chuckled, including myself, but I only laughed because I did this myself.  I tried things like eating the toppings off a regular pizza and sampled the frosting on a cake...none of which worked out well.

Parties also have their own contamination problems.  I am trying to figure out what to take tomorrow night to an event that does not involve dipping or such.  It never fails, no matter what you place around the dip, someone will find bread or gluten filled crackers to dip in it.  I even have tried to mark things gluten free (I have other friends who are on the same diet), but unless you are going to play dip monitor for the evening, stay clear.

So there it is - a friendly reminder to stay on your toes and be aware of what you eat and how it is treated.  Please, eat safely and make sure it tastes good!