Getting it down to the gluten - a process of elimination

I tried eliminating many different foods and drinks before I finally found out what was causing my digestive disturbances.  The first thing to go was red meat.  That was about 25 years ago.  I was newly single and cooking for myself.  I hadn't made a steak for myself in months and as I wasn't a fan of hamburgers, they had gone from my eating habits too. It wasn't a conscious decision.

Then one Saturday night I went to an event with friends and prime rib was on the menu.  I dug into it with gusto!  The next day I was really sick.  I called my friends.  Were they sick?  No, not one of them.  A couple of weeks later, I ate my first hamburger in ages.  Next day - sick again.  Slowly it began to dawn on me.  My gut just found it tough to digest red meat.  When I looked back into my eating history, I could see other occasions on which red meat had made me sick.  I stopped eating it and have never returned.

The next thing was alcohol.  My insides seemed relieved and I no longer had a pain in my side after the previous evening of drinking.  Then came caffeine.  My doctor recommended cutting down on coffee and anyway, I was beginning to like herbal tea a lot more.  Cola and soda went next.  If I was going to adopt a healthier lifestyle, I couldn't really justify consuming them.  About five years ago, I realized that, although I was still eating chicken and turkey, I wasn't enjoying it very much.  Maybe I would let those go too.  I did.  I kept eating fish (I still eat fish) but I didn't miss the white meats at all and......I did feel somewhat better.

The results of all this food elimination were variable.  I did feel a little better with each food given up but I hadn't got the results I wanted.  Then came the years of the creeping digestive eruptions.  The upsets got worse and worse.  Eventually it was happening every ten days or so.  Enough!

I went to my doctor who tested me for everything she could think of, including celiac disease.  Results - all negative.  Now what to do?  Even though the Celiac test was negative, I still had a nagging feeling that I ought to try eliminating wheat and gluten.

The rest - as they say - is history.  Three days was all it took to reveal that my body loved being gluten free, and another three weeks to discover that it also wanted to be free of soy.  Not a lot of time in the grand scheme of my whole life.

Although my process of elimination took a couple of decades, it was helpful for me to see what effects taking certain food and drinks out of my diet would have.  I could see the benefits of each one although none of them was as spectacular as being gluten and soy free.

If you suspect you might be intolerant or sensitive to gluten or soy or both, just try it for a few days, maybe a week.  This isn't long in the whole spectrum of your life.  If you don't see any benefit at all in that time, then maybe that isn't the answer for you.  I suspect however that, if that is the issue, you will begin to feel better very quickly.

I'd like to hear about your experience below!

Let's start with Chocolate Chip Cookies.....!

I was born and raised in the UK and only came to the US in my early thirties.  On my first trip I spent a lot of time in the local grocery store.  Why?  Because I had never seen anything like it in my life.  In the UK in the late seventies, grocery stores were still tiny and local.  They sold only dry goods, cans and the like.  If you wanted produce you went to the greengrocers.  If you wanted meat, you went to the butcher's.  If you wanted a prescription filled, you went to the drugstore or "chemist" as it is called over there.  To find everything - and lots of it - in one store was amazing to me.  I was fascinated and it kept me entertained for hours as I poured over every aisle from cereal to shampoo.

The best aisle however, was the cookies!  In the UK these items are called biscuits.  There are many varieties but they all have something in common - they are crisp and crunchy.  I wasn't familiar with American cookies so I purchased my first box of chocolate chip ones and took them home.  I bit into the first one with great expectations.  Ugh - it was soft and chewy.  I thought I had got a stale box.  I was ready to march it back to the store but before I did, I happened to mention it to someone.  It was then I learned that the perfect chocolate chip cookie is maybe a little crisp on the outside but soft and chewy on the inside.  What a revelation!  I revised my view of what a cookie - or biscuit - should be and embarked on a romance with chocolate chip cookies.

Forward to 2010 and my new gluten soy free path.  Oh my goodness!  What was I to do about the Chocolate Chip Cookie Problem?  I couldn't do store bought anymore.  Even the gluten free ones were not soy free (I'll talk about the lecithin and margarine issues in later posts) so there was only one answer.  Make them myself.

Baking gluten and soy free presents many challenges (also topics for future posts) but I was determined to conquer the Chocolate Chip Cookie Challenge.  I set to work.  After several false starts using special gluten free recipes found on the Web, I went back to the original Tollhouse recipe found on the back of the chocolate chip package.  Could I adapt this successfully?  I'd try.

I substituted for the butter and the peanut butter (I prefer almond) and the flour, put the results in the oven and held my breath.  Ting!  I opened the oven door.  They looked perfect, but how would they taste?  They were wonderful!!  In fact, my husband - who does not have to eat gluten or soy free - declared them the best he had ever tasted.

In later posts, I will write about the substitute ingredients that I use in baking, but for now, sufficient to say that, after conquering the Chocolate Chip Cookie Problem, I no longer have any fears or worries about eating gluten and soy free.  I truly believe I don't have to go without anything as long as I am prepared to do a little work and research.

And nor do you.......

Who knew it was the gluten.....and the soy?

By September 2010 I was finally fed up - fed up with the gastric distress I had suffered my whole life that was getting worse and worse.  I had already given up meat, alcohol, soda, coffee and (for a short while!) sugar.  Everything I excluded made a difference but nothing had completely relieved the life-impacting symptoms.  I was down to trying the only thing left, the one thing I never wanted to do - eliminate wheat from my diet.

I balked at the thought of doing without my favorite breads, cookies and baked goods not to mention breakfast cereals, sauces and the many other things made with flour.  At last, however, the discomfort won out.  I would try it.  I would go without anything containing gluten.

I got online and did some research so I could avoid hidden gluten and embarked on the experiment.  I wasn't convinced it was going to work but I was at the point where I was prepared to try anything.  I was depressed at the thought not only of doing without my favorite foods but also at the time it might take to see a difference.

Three days into my gluten free diet I was amazed.  It was like night and day.  I felt SO much better.  It was a miracle!  The improvements lasted three weeks and then.....I got sick again.  What was going on?  This time I went to an allergist and was tested for food allergies.  Yes, I was allergic to wheat but I was also allergic to soy.  Back to the internet, back to modifying my diet.  Eliminating soy turned out to be more challenging than gluten.  Soy is in almost everything.  But I rose to the challenge and figured out what to avoid.  A week later my health and wellbeing were back on track.

Now, eight months later I can't imagine going back to eating the way I used to.  Feeling well and healthy is more important to me than apple pie!  And - surprise, surprise - I don't have to do without apple pie, or cookies, or bread.  I have learned so much in such a short time; not just how to eat but how to cook gluten and soy free.

I've started this blog to share not only what I have learned but also the differences the gluten and soy free life has made to me. I would love to hear your comments and experiences too.  Let's walk this road together.......