A DIET EVOLUTION
NO WHEAT, NO DAIRY, NO SUGAR
Showing posts with label gluten free. Show all posts
Showing posts with label gluten free. Show all posts

Sunday, December 2, 2012

Six signs you might have gluten sensitivity and not know it



Recognition of gluten sensitivity and the consequence of Celiac Disease is that if sensitivity is ignored it is not so easy to determine early. Medical tests fail often enough, turning up negative while people who are gluten intolerant continue to suffer a plethora of symptoms.

Those people are often told it's all in their heads after testing shows up negative. But traditional gluten intolerance blood testing looks for only one of six polypeptides in wheat, gliadin.

There are five others: wheat germ agglutinin, glteomorphin, gltueinin, prodynorphin, and omega gliadin. Any one or a combination of these five can cause anyone to have reactions to wheat.

Symptoms alone can be attributed to several other issues. Even gluten intolerant or Celiac Disease sufferers will manifest a variety of different symptoms. It's rather complex.

Sometimes these symptoms appear right after meals and don't last long. In other cases, the symptoms can last for weeks or even chronically, which then often leads to a diagnoses of an autoimmune disease instead of gluten intolerance.
Six common symptoms of gluten intolerance

(1)  Obviously, there are gastrointestinal (GI), stomach, and digestive problems. These can include one or some of the following: Gas, bloating, queasiness, abdominal cramping, constipation, diarrhea, or an alternating combination of both - IBS (Irritable Bowel Syndrome).
 
(2) Headaches and/or migraines.

 
(3) Fibromyalgia is not a disease, it's a syndrome. Getting a medical diagnoses is bogus. You don't need to be told you have muscular and connecting tissue aches and pains. That's what fibromyalgia means. Fibro= Connective Tissue; Myo= Muscle; Algia= Pain. Thus fibromyalgia.

 
(4) Emotional issues involving chronic irritability and sudden, irrational mood shifts.

 
(5) Neurological issues, including dizziness, difficulty balancing, and peripheral neuropathy affecting nerves outside the central nervous system and resulting in pain, weakness, tingling or numbness in the extremities.

 
(6) Fatigue, whether chronic or almost after every meal. Chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) is, like fibromyalgia, a syndrome, not a disease. If that's what you're diagnosed with, it means your doctor can't locate the cause of your fatigue.

Yes, all of the symptoms are common to other health issues and diseases. That's why symptoms alone as a diagnoses is perplexing.
Go on a gluten-free diet for 60 days. If you feel you can't, that may already indicate you're addicted to gluten. We are often addicted to things we're allergic to.

That gluten-free diet would eliminate wheat, rye, barley, spelt, kamut, oats, and triticale which are grains with gluten. Quinoa, buckwheat, and sorghum grains are gluten-free. So is rice.

Packaged foods have different ways of sneaking in gluten. Read those labels carefully. Here's a reference site and source for all foods (http://www.celiac.com/). This can be simplified by ignoring processed foods, sauces, and salad dressings and preparing meals from bulk items.

After the 60-day period, go over your notes and see how many of your symptoms remain. If they are mostly gone, you might decide to stick with your gluten free diet. If you're uncertain, go back to your former diet to see if those symptoms come back with a vengeance.

Dr. William Davis, author of Wheat Belly will be on the Dr. Oz show Monday December 3, 2012. This should be interesting and informative to watch. 

Healthy life.
Suzanne

Monday, July 9, 2012

Why I love coconut milk?

There are so many benefits to coconut milk. We enjoy it a lot. We make chocolate pudding and lots of coconut milk ice cream.


Benefits of Coconut Milk:
Following are some of the health benefits of coconut milk:
  1. Helps to maintain blood sugar places:
Glucose intolerance may cause manganese deficiency in your body. Coconut milk is a rich source of manganese. Nuts are some other excellent sources of manganese.
  1. Keeps skin and blood vessels flexible and elastic:
Copper is a very important mineral for most of the bodily functions. Copper and vitamin C help to maintain the flexibility and elasticity of the skin and blood vessels.
  1. Aids in building strong bones:
Coconut milk is not rich in calcium, but it is rich in phosphorus. Phosphorus is an essential nutrient that the body needs for strengthening bones. It is must to take phosphorus with calcium particularly to prevent bone loss because it supplies phosphate to the body.
  1. Helps to prevent anemia:
Lack of iron is the most common nutrient deficiency among the people throughout the world. Iron deficiency in body does not allow the body to develop enough hemoglobin for keeping sufficient oxygen levels in red blood cells, resulting in anemia. Each cup of coconut milk supplies the body with nearly a quarter of daily value of iron.
  1. Relaxes muscles and nerves:
Whenever you feel muscle cramps or muscle soreness, have some food along with coconut milk. It is rich in magnesium and can help you in relieving the problem. One of the functions of magnesium is it acts as a gate block in many nerve cells. If magnesium is not present in body, nerve cells become very active because of calcium that activates nerves. Excess contraction of muscles is caused by over-active nerve cells.
  1. Helps in Controlling Weight:
This can be good news for people who are trying to reduce weight. Coconut milk makes you feel full very quickly because of high concentrations of dietary fiber.
  1. Decreases the risk of joint inflammation:
Selenium is an important antioxidant. It controls the free radicals and thereby helps in relieving the symptoms of arthritis. It is observed that people with low levels of selenium may suffer from rheumatoid arthritis.
  1. Helps in lowering high blood pressure:
People who are concerned about their blood pressure will not face any problem consuming foods containing potassium. Potassium helps in lowering blood pressure levels in the body.
  1. Helps in maintaining healthy immune system:
Coconut milk helps in warding off colds and coughs by keeping the immune system healthy. It supplies vitamin C to the body which boosts the immune system.
  1. Promotes the health of prostate gland:
Zinc plays a vital role in promoting the health of prostate gland. A preliminary study showed that it slows down the activities of cancer cells. 

I hope the above mentioned information helps you in understanding the relation between health and coconut milk. It can also be consumed by people with cow’s milk allergy. It is free from gluten and soy. Hence people who are allergic to these substances can also use coconut milk. 
 Even some of my family who can eat dairy find the taste of the coconut ice cream better than regular ice cream from the store. 
Healthy life
Suzanne
 

Tuesday, April 3, 2012

Paleo Pizza




If you are looking for an easy meal, look no further. This pizza comes together very quickly. You can serve it with a large salad or as I did with a stir fry of zucchini, mushrooms and garlic.

 

 

Meat Pizza

1 pd ground meat (beef, chicken, or turkey)
½ cup almond flour (if it seems too wet add a bit more)
2 tsp. salt
Oregano, basil, rosemary
1 cup SCD friendly tomato sauce (no sugar or additives)

  1. Heat the oven to 425.
  2. Mix meat, flour, salt, herbs, and ½ cup of tomato sauce in a bowl.
  3. Spread meat mixture on lightly greased 10 inch pizza pan.
  4. Cook for 20 minutes. Meanwhile cook mushrooms first in a little oil. Take out and some more oil and then add thinly sliced onions and brown a bit. Take pizza out of oven, pour other half tomato sauce over top and spread to edges.
  5. Sprinkle with some more herbs
  6. Cover with cooked mushrooms, cooked onions, green olives thinly sliced, tomatoes sliced and a little bit of grated cheese. (whatever is tolerated)
  7. Bake uncovered 20 minutes. Broil a bit to finish cooking.

Good eating,
Suzanne