14 April 2008

Wheat Sensitivity

I have discovered that I have a wheat sensitivity. I never knew how much wheat we eat until this past month.

I went to the doctor in February for a checkup and to ask about a few things. Mainly I wanted to know if I have arthritis in my hip (Lymes disease a few years back), and if there was anything I could do for my digestive disturbances.

The doctor gave me some meds - which I took for a few weeks and then kept forgetting to take. I am terrible with medications. I never remember to take them. I think that had I noticed a marked difference that I would have remembered them better. But during those weeks I did not notice any improvement at all. In fact, the symptoms seemed worse if anything.

I did some research and the most often item that popped up in my reading was wheat allergies and wheat intolerances. Many of the sympoms for wheat intolerance were really close to what I had. so I thought I would try not eating wheat for a while and see if it helped.
Read more (includes a recipe)...


Today marks the third week with no wheat. I have to say I feel much better. When I forgot and ate wheat one day I could tell the difference the next day.

It is hard to find pre-made food though - of any kind. And eating out consists mostly of salads and veggies. All good, but I sure miss chocolate cake and designer sandwiches and giant burritos at Chipotles. Maybe I will end up losing some weight without those things in my meals.

I love breads, and that is the hardest. I bought some of the wheat-gluten free breads, but they tend to taste weird and most of them have a disturbing texture. So I have started making my own baked goods.

The best is a cookie/scone-like concoction that I made up a recipe for:

1 cup butter (sorry, not organic - yet)
1 1/2 cups of homemade vanilla sugar (two vanilla beans in a 1/2 gallon jar filled with organic raw sugar and let sit for a couple weeks - more sugar added to replace what I take out)
2 large eggs (local and organic)
1/2 tsp of aluminum-free baking soda (Bob's Red Mill, I think)
1 1/2 organic oat flour, oat bran flour, brown rice flour or a combination of any of them
2 cups organic rolled oats (not quick ones)
1 cup organic coconut
1 cup organic chopped dates (or more if you like really chewy baked goods)
1 cup organic pecans, almonds or walnuts - chopped
1 1/2 cups organic chocolate chips

Do the usual when making cookies - cream the butter, add sugar, mix well, add the eggs. Sift the dry stuff (including all the goodies) and then mix them into the butter-sugar-egg mixture. This doug will be pretty stiff, so butter up your hands and make balls - I make mine about the size of a tangerine - and flatten them slightly on a baking stone or cookie sheet.

They take a long time to back (at 350 or 375), so do not rush them. But you need to also be sure not to over bake them.

***************************************************************************************************************

No comments:

Post a Comment