If anyone gets that title reference I'll be so happy to know there's other extremely dorky people out there also. Which would be great. Anyway! Hello:) Today I want to spread the word on GLUTEN! It's the protein in wheat, rye, and barley, but.... it's in all processed foods too - as a stabilizer, to amp up the "whole grain," for kicks - it's just everywhere. And the tough part is there's a ton of different names for gluten too. Only it's hidden under multi-syllable unpronounceable ingredients that should be giant red flags for things you're about to put in your body anyway. But what you need to know is that gluten allergies are very common. The more I read and listen to people discuss this topic, or nutritional topics in general, the more I hear them say how destructive it is to your body pretty much across the board. It's also often talked about as the problem that goes most undiagnosed in our country. I say ok, maybe if we're just talking about nutrition! Insert your own joke about humanity here.
But, so what happens with this allergy is your body treats any gluten that enters into your system as a poison, and in turn creates antibodies to destroy it. Even if we stopped the biology of it right there you can imagine how run down your body would get fighting this stuff day in and day out as you unknowingly eat your toast in the morning. Well after a while the lining of your digestive tract becomes unable to absorb food properly. Basically stuff goes right through you and the snowball affect begins. You can eat incredibly healthy and a lot of it just goes to crap... which is what happened to me! So I've been in the transition to a gluten-free diet for about a month now. I say transition because it's so hard to eat gluten free! Lucky for me I already ate pretty healthy, but to give up all things wheat: so breads, pastas, flour, beer, and not to mention learning to decode all those multi-syllable ingredients I was talking about, has taken quite a bit of trial and error. At first I was kind of bummed. I thought here I am with a food blog and I can't eat anything! Because remember I was lactose intolerant too** so all dairy was out. But I can't wait to continue this blog and discuss all the ways I am so NOT deprived, and how much I've actually flourished being inadvertently forced to dissect my diet and eat real, natural foods. Foods that go to work in my body instead of wasted.
There are other biochemistry issues involved here, but that's the meat of a gluten allergy. What I want to bring by telling you all of this is that there's a real revolution in food science just beginning to make some mainstream headway. It used to be that nutrition was only something to consider once problems began to emerge. Once you had abused your body to the point of deterioration. But I want to be part of the people working to change that culture so nutrition stops being an afterthought and begins being what it should be, which is the starting point and foundation of all health - mind, body, soul, teeth, hair, boogers, everything. And I realize that like any new concept some might be resistant to change at first, especially if all you've heard your whole life is the food pyramid or less. But I challenge you over the next couple of blogs to keep an open mind because I'm going to share with you the trends brought out in the nutrition community - and I think you'll be surprised! But I'll share all my references too so you can direct any questions, or become fans of the people who have worked hard to find out what's really going to make your body a well-oiled machine. I know I'm excited! Also, feel free to email or comment me anytime. That's all for now, more later...
Sar
p.s. There's a website where you can look into getting tested for gluten allergies: www.cyrexlabs.com. Search under their "cyrex tests & arrays" link.
**sometimes lactose tolerance can be regained after your gut heals with a gluten-free diet! Cross your fingers for me! I've already integrated small amounts of cheese again, and prospects look good!
But, so what happens with this allergy is your body treats any gluten that enters into your system as a poison, and in turn creates antibodies to destroy it. Even if we stopped the biology of it right there you can imagine how run down your body would get fighting this stuff day in and day out as you unknowingly eat your toast in the morning. Well after a while the lining of your digestive tract becomes unable to absorb food properly. Basically stuff goes right through you and the snowball affect begins. You can eat incredibly healthy and a lot of it just goes to crap... which is what happened to me! So I've been in the transition to a gluten-free diet for about a month now. I say transition because it's so hard to eat gluten free! Lucky for me I already ate pretty healthy, but to give up all things wheat: so breads, pastas, flour, beer, and not to mention learning to decode all those multi-syllable ingredients I was talking about, has taken quite a bit of trial and error. At first I was kind of bummed. I thought here I am with a food blog and I can't eat anything! Because remember I was lactose intolerant too** so all dairy was out. But I can't wait to continue this blog and discuss all the ways I am so NOT deprived, and how much I've actually flourished being inadvertently forced to dissect my diet and eat real, natural foods. Foods that go to work in my body instead of wasted.
There are other biochemistry issues involved here, but that's the meat of a gluten allergy. What I want to bring by telling you all of this is that there's a real revolution in food science just beginning to make some mainstream headway. It used to be that nutrition was only something to consider once problems began to emerge. Once you had abused your body to the point of deterioration. But I want to be part of the people working to change that culture so nutrition stops being an afterthought and begins being what it should be, which is the starting point and foundation of all health - mind, body, soul, teeth, hair, boogers, everything. And I realize that like any new concept some might be resistant to change at first, especially if all you've heard your whole life is the food pyramid or less. But I challenge you over the next couple of blogs to keep an open mind because I'm going to share with you the trends brought out in the nutrition community - and I think you'll be surprised! But I'll share all my references too so you can direct any questions, or become fans of the people who have worked hard to find out what's really going to make your body a well-oiled machine. I know I'm excited! Also, feel free to email or comment me anytime. That's all for now, more later...
Sar
p.s. There's a website where you can look into getting tested for gluten allergies: www.cyrexlabs.com. Search under their "cyrex tests & arrays" link.
**sometimes lactose tolerance can be regained after your gut heals with a gluten-free diet! Cross your fingers for me! I've already integrated small amounts of cheese again, and prospects look good!
