Gluten-Free

Just over a year and a half ago, I was working with a fantastic wellness coach and yogi, Paleena Mason (Unique Perfections). Several times she suggested that I try going gluten-free to see how I felt. While I resisted for quite a while, in the end she convinced me to try it for 7 days (after all, its only 7 days), and then add something with wheat back in on the 8th day.

I honestly didn't notice much for the 7 days without gluten, but on the 8th day, I finally got to have my delicious bagel with egg and cheese - and immediately had a major stomach ache. Hmm, I thought, that's interesting. I guess that I'll keep the wheat out for a while. That weekend, I went home to Maryland because my very dear Nana had passed away. My Dad and I went out to dinner at a Persian restaurant, and I decided that a little wheat wouldn't hurt, so I had pita bread and hummus for an appetizer. Unfortunately, it did hurt - I was unable to use my right wrist for 3 days afterwards due to what I had previously thought was inevitable arthritis pain from an old injury. While I didn't think much of it at the time, I mentioned it in my yoga class, and Paleena asked if I had had any wheat recently. Why yes, in fact, I did. She said that joint inflammation is a common symptom of gluten-intolerance. Since that time, I have noticed that what I had assumed was early onset arthritis in my shoulder, ankle and wrist (all old injuries, 2 of which I have had surgeries for), is gone. The lack of debilitating joint pain is really what keeps me from slipping up.

I have accidentally had gluten many other times, and have had the same stomach pain, and on occasion, the joint pain. Its one of those things where JD and I have adapted so well to me being gluten-free, that the pain and uncomfortable-ness is not at all worth the convenience of being able to eat wheat.

You may be wondering, what do I eat? One thing that helps tremendously is that JD and I both cook a lot. These days, I do most of the cooking, but before he started medical school, we split the cooking duties about 50/50. Even before I was gluten-free, we didn't each much wheat - a lot of our meals are rice based, and I had cut out a lot of bread products since they were basically just empty calories. A typical week for us is: Mexican (either corn tortillas or on top of a green salad for me), red beans & rice, rice pasta, pulled pork, left-overs, salad with grilled chicken, stir fry or Thai. We've found some good flour mixes that allow me to make pancakes, muffins and scones on the weekends, and I often do oatmeal for breakfast or smoothies with greens, frozen fruit and nuts during the week. There are also more and more good gluten-free options at the grocery stores, including packaged baking mixes, sandwich bread, etc. I do really miss baking bread, and have not found a good mix that I can knead and turn into something fun. But that's a small price to pay.

How about eating out? Eating out is more challenging, but restaurants are becoming more and more accommodating. In Portland, it was especially easy to eat gluten-free, and in Gainesville, we're finding that more and more restaurants are offering gluten-free options. In fact, we have only had a problem at 1 restaurant so far, and that was because I wasn't assertive about asking whether a dish was gluten-free (it wasn't - it came out breaded, even though it didn't say so in the description).  We even found an Italian restaurant here that has gluten-free pastas! Beyond the obviously dishes to avoid (anything fried, breaded, or with pasta), some of the dishes that I know to avoid that you wouldn't necessarily think of are:
- anything with a cream sauce (the roux is usually thickened with flour)
- ranch dressing (often thickened with flour)
- anything with soy sauce or teriyaki (fermented wheat)
- anything with beer in it (fermented wheat)

Some of the easiest types of restaurants that we've found to eat at are Mexican, Thai, and breakfast places/diners (egg dishes are usually safe for me). Most of the Thai noodles are rice-based, or the curry dishes are served over rice. I have had good luck with Chinese restaurants as well, and when I go to sushi restaurants, I just bring my special soy sauce with me. At other places, such as the Red Onion restaurant in our neighborhood, I usually get a hearty salad or a steak. There's a great pizza restaurant here in Gainesville, too, that has a gluten-free pizza crust that has worked well for me as well!

Anyways, I had been meaning to write this post for a VERY long time. With our baby due any day now, friends in Gainesville have been asking me what they could bring that I would be able to eat after the baby arrives, so it seemed like the perfect time to put all the information down in one place.