After the Gluten-Free, Dairy-Free Diet...

On my lunch break today, I decided to return to this blog. It has been a year since my month-long experiment to eat a gluten-free, dairy-free diet.

It was very difficult and I wasn't completely successful. I did come to the conclusion that my allergies were not based on either of these things. Later I did a pin-prick allergy test that confirmed what I already knew - dustmites are the real culprit!

Some of our pillows were already in special covers, but we decided to encapsulate the whole bed and every pillow - this did make a difference. This winter, we moved to a different house that gets a lot more sunlight - and this has made a huge difference. My allergies have not been nearly as bad.

I also try to take the Bromelain Sinus Ease supplement - I seem to notice a subtle difference with this. One change since my visits with a naturopath doctor last year is that I have gotten into the habit of drinking more medicinal tea and introducing more vitamins into my diet.

I recommend that everyone take these daily:
- Multi-Vitamin
- Vitamin D
- Flaxseed Oil
- Green Tea

In periods of low energy add:
- Extra Vitamin C
- Pro-biotic
- Mate Tea

In periods of stress:
- Extra B-complex
- Extra Vitamin C
- Kava Tea

One thing I've also learned about allergies and chronic health issues is how related they are to general immune system health. Check out this blog entry:

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Natural Cure Strategies for Sinus Infections & Ear Aches

I found that repeated allergies, sinus, and ear aches are the result of a "weakened immune system" mainly due to "antibiotic overuse." Antibiotics kill good and bad bacteria in the colon resulting in poor digestion and impaired absorption of nutrients.

In addition to impairing the absorption of nutrients, antibiotics impair the mucosa (the inner lining of the small intestines) so toxins that should normally exit the body, get absorbed into the blood stream instead. Toxins in the blood stream can cause various allergic reactions such as hives, body aches, sneezing, itching, and a runny nose. Runny noses and fluid buildup provide the breeding ground for bacterial sinus infections and ear aches.

The first step toward long-term healing is to supplement with Lactobacillus Acidophilus ( friendly flora), which is a good bacteria that will repair the mucosa by replenishing the natural balance of friendly flora in the colon that the antibiotics has destroyed. Acidophilus boosts the immune system and helps prevent ear aches and sinus infections.

Other factors that wear down the immune system are:

• Stress
• Poor diet
• Lack of sleep
• Food allergies
• Food additives
• Food preservatives
• Environmental toxins
• Toxins from protein digestion

There are thousands of man-made chemicals today that did not exist a hundred years ago. Today our children’s immune systems are overloaded with toxins and have to work harder to remove them. Working overtime causes the immune system to run out of essential elements (necessary oils and enzymes), which are the fuel it needs to carry on. When your tank is out of gas, you fill it up, right? And likewise, our immune system is no different. It needs fuel in order to remove toxins and prevent earaches.

To fuel up we need "basic building blocks" called "amino acids" (protein) and "essential oils" (omega 3) to strengthen the immune system and heal chronic diseases. Toxic overload without regular refueling will cause the immune system and the liver to burn out. The end result is low "immune system function".

Cutting back on processed foods that have toxic food additives and preservatives can make a huge difference. Replace processed foods with whole fruits, grains, and vegetables. You will be surprised how much better your child will feel. In addition, attention span and ability to focus will improve.

One of the most common processed foods to eliminate is white sugar. Excess dietary sugar is toxic to the body and promotes fungal infections in the gut, ear, nose, and throat. Many chronic earaches and sinus problems are actually fungal infections. An effective remedy to prevent fungal sinus infections is an All-Natural Sugar substitute that is safe for kids called Xylitol. In fact, Xylitol used as a nasal spray (called xlear) actually prevents infections by making your cells slippery so the bacteria can't attach to cell walls.

Quick Chile

Last night I went to a potluck event and it wasn't so bad. Gluten-free/Dairy-free cookies happened to be on sale at our neighborhood co-op, I got the shortbread and topped each one with a slice of kiwi.

Tonight I sauteed some onions, carrots, and garlic with dried chilies, splash of red wine and a cup of the Master Cleanse lemonade! Then I added some veggie broth, beans, green chile, and a couple scoops of tomato sauce. The chili was simmered then topped with a healthy portion of avocado and cilantro - surprisingly tasty!

Bodies are Amazing Things

I'm slightly worried about you, you should probably eat a normal diet for a month to regulate your body and then get blood work to check for celiac disease and have a lactose test to see if your lactose intolerant. Just an idea. You don't need to "detox" and clense your body, bodies are amazing things and are made to clean themselves.
- An e-mail from my loving little sis

I let her know that I'm fairly certain that I don't have celiac disease because I do not get severe sudden allergies when I eat wheat, but that doesn't mean that I don't have a slight gluten intolerance. This has a slower onset and may be hard to diagnose due to the broad range of symptoms and causes.

Both celiac disease and gluten intolerance can be exacerbated by emotional and physical stress. Some of the symptoms of a gluten intolerance or celiac disease include:

• Nutritional deficiencies e.g. low iron levels
• GI problems (bloating, gas, constipation, diarrhea)
  
• Aching joints
• Depression
• Eczema
• Head aches
• Exhaustion
• Irritability and behavioral changes
• Infertility, irregular menstrual cycle and miscarriage
• Decline in dental health

Undiagnosed for long periods of time, food intolerances have been found to contribute to diabetes, bowel cancer, anemia and osteoporosis.

My sister's right, I could go get bloodwork done that will test for raised levels of certain auto-antibodies in my blood. If the results indicate an allergy, a doctor would then perform a small intestine biopsy. This will reveal any damage to the villi in the small intestine. And before doing the biopsy it is important to eat an "ordinary diet" including gluten, before being tested.

But this all brings to question: what is considered a "normal" or "ordinary" diet?

Some experts speculate that gluten intolerance has been around since humans switched from a diet consisting of meat, fruit and nuts (hunter and gatherer lifestyle) to a cultivated agricultural-based diet including grains, like wheat.Others point to the mass-production of processed foods. A fellow blogger in Australia explains:

I would often visit our local bakery with my uncle, who home-delivered bread for many years. During the 50’s, the US-based bakery giant Tip Top came to Brisbane, and started to buy up all the small bakeries it could; other giants competed with them, meaning that in very quick time we had only 2 or 3 bakers in the entire city, and same with all other parts of Australia.

One of the very first actions these corporate bakers were to take was to introduce the fast loaf (3 hours from start to finish), effectively eliminating the need for half, or one entire shift, of their labour force. This was actually required by a new law called The Bread Act.

This seemingly innocuous cost-cutting decision would relentlessly impact and compromise the health of each and every bread lover since – very basic bread that had once been fermented for a healthy 8 hours or more was now brewing in just 2 hours! Yeast levels were increased, accelerants and proving agents introduced. Glutens, starches and malts were not given the remotest opportunity to convert to their digestible potentials, in a sickly anti-nutrient-laden, gluepot stew.

Breads are still made this way, even the so-called health breads! Fast-made bread is one of the most destructive implementations into the modern diet. It has become normal fare, and poorly-prepared and poorly-digested wheat is the chief contributor to the current plague of “gluten-intolerance”, obesity, diabetes, candida diseases and many allergenic conditions.

The catastrophic changes in bakery procedures were a disaster that went largely unnoticed in the 50’s, except by my baker/uncle and a few other observant souls. Of course the 50’s also saw the introduction of mass pasteurisation of milk and other food perversions, so there were several developing culprits. This period marked the beginning of the end for bread and milk as healthy, nutritious staples, and signalled the onset of the demise of food in general.

The tremendous upsurge in cases of gluten, carbohydrate and lactose sensitivity is a totally modern phenomena, and finds its origins in quick, economically convenient, and incorrect food preparation - forging a delusional, diversionary path that we have charted in just the last 50 years, far far away from traditional lines.

Bodies are amazing things. We have been able to adapt from a whole foods diet to a highly processed diet in under a century. Humans have had thousands of years to adapt to the agriculture-based diet, but less than a hundred to adapt to the industrial-based diet.

I can't wait to explore more...

Beginning Again...

Today is Monday, May 4th.

The true beginning of my detox diet. Really!!!

The number one thing I will need to focus on this week is drinking enough liquids. I've decided on the goal of drinking at least a quart of Master-Cleanse Lemonade each day. Not only is it good for cleaning out the system, but it also quells cravings.

I will prepare a glass jug of this before I go to bed every night and take it with me to work. Today I also added a little cranberry juice (just cranberry).

I started the day with a glass of water and then a cup of Mate tea. I packed leftovers from last night - wild rice, collard greens, red beans. And an all-rice tortilla with goat cheese and sun-dried tomatoes. And some radishes and cucumbers in apple-cider vinegar. I also had some fruit, nuts, and a cocoa ball. I had lots of tea and lemonade. This was not a difficult day to get through, I think drinking all the liquids helped.

Tonight we had rice and black beans with plantains (cooked in coconut oil with onions and chiles) and a mango-cilantro salsa. For dessert we had an apple crisp (un-peeled), sweetened with agave syrup and topped with a gluten-free topping that was surprisingly good. We ate it with a scoop of Coconut Bliss's Cherry Amaretto.

Nick says that he will do the diet too, if it is always this delicious.

A Rocky Road Start

I set out to start my new diet on May 1st. Here are the foods that I won't be eating, based on the most common foods that cause reactions:

• Dairy (cow-derived, I can have goat or sheep)
• Gluten (Wheat, Barley, Rye, Beer, etc.)
• Soy (Tofu, Edamame, Soy Sauce, etc.)
• Corn
• Sugar
• Eggs

Cocoa Balls:

In a bowl combine the following dry ingredients:

• Cocoa baking powder
• Seeds (sunflower, flax, pumpkin, etc.)
• Raisins (and any other small dried fruit pieces)
• Shredded Coconut
  
• Crushed Nuts (pecans, walnut, etc.)

Add one scoop of peanut butter and one scoop of honey at a time.
Use your hands to mix the dough until it is the perfect consistency to shape into small balls.

The Cholesterol to Cortisol Connection

My naturopath doctor suggested that I try an "elimination diet" after I had mentioned suffering stuffed-up sinuses (chronically for years). I also occasionally get itchy-swollen eyes, seemingly random rashes, and sometimes just feel all-around sluggish and low energy.

I have never been on a diet before. I’ve never needed to go on a weight-loss program. In fact, my doctor also said that if it turns out that dairy isn’t the culprit… she is going to prescribe me milkshakes! I have a pretty low Body Mass Index and to tackle the irregularity of my periods (and increase my fertility) I will actually be working on increasing my cholesterol.

This is quite a different scenario than most Americans. Many of us are having to lower our cholesterol… but what I learned from my doctor is that every sex hormone (estrogen, testosterone, and a whole bunch of others) and every stress hormone (cortisol, etc.) are all derived from cholesterol.

Now, that doesn’t seem all too surprising, but what really got me thinking was the fact that the cholesterol prioritizes manufacturing stress hormones, and if there’s either a lot of stress or not very much cholesterol, then the sex hormones end up getting very little juice to work with.

This diagram helps to explain the dominant pathway to cortisol:


Not only should we be mindful of this relationship, but also the fact that there may be a difference between say avocado oil vs. bacon grease. Our hormone factories may actually be more effective if they're working with more quality cholesterol.