Glutton for Gluten?

"A gluten-free diet in America is a very, very depressing thing.  While your friends eat oreos, cake, and other hallmarks of the wondrous American diet, you must crunch dry rice cakes and order salads without croutons or most dressings.  Gluten is basically evil. It punches the villi of a celiac's gut and it's not nice. Gluten is evil." Anonymous 

I never considered myself much of a granola-type...

No, these are not my grandparents in case you were wondering...See link to "granola" above...for Urban Dictionary's definition of Granola.  Read: so not the same thing is "hippie!"

until recently, when the need to change my dietary customs hit me like a ton of bricks.  As I previously posted, I have been reading about the Inflammation Syndrome that I am sure will expolisvely hit widespread in America in the next couple years like the plague.

So why the sudden urge to be granola you ask? Well, the part I left out of my previous post on the Inflammation Syndrome was that I had been laid out, flat on the cold hard floor last Friday night from muscle spasms in my back.

After a couple hours of rhigamortis, I had finally had enough.  Bryan had to take me to the ER in my robe, because he couldn't go to bed with me lying there on the floor, with no idea when/if my body would stop freaking out.  This incident and experience alone was enough to jumpstart my search for a natural way to make myself feel better.  (ER's, as you can imagine, are not fun at 2:30am on a Friday night, the clientele is anything but, uhem, normal) But I knew it would take something like this to make my bull-headed-Taurus-self turn a corner.

I. like most warm blooded homo sapiens, have lived my life as a glutton for gluten.  I love my chocolate, cookies, cakes, chips, and ice-cream just as much as the next person.  But, for the most part, I think somewhere within all of us, we know the things we choose to ingest are bad for us, but we rationalize and continue eating those greesy and hydrogenated foods because, well, the manufactures put crack-like additives in them! I never thought (or didn't want to believe) those comforting indulgences had any direct correlation to making me feel like, well, crap.  I could see how eating processed foods could add inches to any waistline, and let's face it, I have yo-yo dieted enough to compete with Oprah for the title of best yo-yo-er.  But this time, my cognitive process is different, and my motivations for trying the gluten-free regime is completely and utterly the following: I want to feel better.  I want my body to function as the machine it was created to be.

Common rationalizations that I have used for years such as "Everything in moderation" and "Just one won't hurt me" just weren't sitting well with me after I began to read about the harmful effects gluten has on our system.  It's as if I woke-up (metaphorically) and realized my body has reached its threshold and is literally screaming and begging to be fed the fuel it needs to do its job right!

I also had no idea that within the days following my quest for anti-inflammatory health would the solution to my aches and pains become glaringly obvious.  Literally 4 people - two friends, a co-worker and a orthopedic surgeon - told me to go gluten free.  So, I have decided I needed to push my cravings for carbs aside and head off to Mother's Market to see what food was out there that I could stomach.

I slowly browsed through the aisles filled with supplements, homeopathic remedies, organic everything, alternatives to flour, and soon realized I had unknowingly entered a world I know nothing about.  Typically, I don't just do something for the heck of it.  I usually have to have a reason behind what I do, and that reason has to at least make sense to me.  The Inflammation Syndrome book I have been devouring convinced me, however, that the change in food production in American over the last thirty years has caused a dramatic decrease in the body's production of anti-inflammatory omega-3 compounds by 40-50% while increasing the content of free radicals adding to the pro-inflammatory burden, leaving our bodies with little to no fighting power against free radicals and disease.

Anyway, three hours and a detox juice later, I was packing my trunk with $235 worth of gluten free food and natural supplements.

Krill oil (stinks!), homeopathic and all-natural remedies, gluten-free alternatives, and pro-biotics, are just the tip of the iceberg. I am going to chart my progress through this G-free journey, and hope that anyone who also struggles with inflammation, digestive problems, stiff joints, and sleepless nights, among other health restraints can also benefit from learning how to live a cleaner and healthier life.

What does my sweet hubby think about all of this?  Well, I cam home and showed him what I had bought.  I pointed out the guacamole and quinoa macaroons with enthusiasm, as if I was trying to convince a kid that broccoli tastes like chocolate.  He looked at me and said, "I still need my meat!" And he's right, there will have to be some changes and compromise in the kitchen, because we are in this together.  Although my hubby does not have the same threshold as me, I feel it is my job to be my best self for him, and to help him be his best self.  Although there may be less pizza and more Quinoa in our house, if he and I can benefit from this shift in our dietary habits, we will both reap the rewards of feeling better and living longer, healthier lives together.

Oh, and of course, I stocked up on coconut flower, G free chocolate lava cakes, and much more.  So the baking will continue, after all, this has to be a lifestyle change that you can commit to.  I can't wait to see how creative I can get using healthier alternatives through my confectionary treats!