Great! Now rice poses a threat!

Last night I was happily enjoying my free range chicken taco - yes homemade thank you very much! - thinking to myself, "this gluten free way of life is doable. I can do this!" Then my thoughts switched to how I could have made this meal even better.....especially for my family. I could have added brown rice! It's gluten free after all! For some reason, I decided to do a little research about rice. Now how boring is that? And I learned something new....rice contains high levels of arsenic! That's why it's important to rinse off the rice before you cook it. And that is just the start! If you are a gluten free guy or gal, you may wish to take a look at the consumer alert report on arsenic in various grains. Quinoa keeps looking better and better! And just when I thought I had learned enough, I found a recipe for quinoa tacos! www.naturesanswertocancer.com

Gluten free is so blase

Meeting with a group of friends last night....where else but at Panera Bread (not my choice).....I informed the circle of them that I was officially "gluten free for the next 24 days". And who is counting, right? Anyway, I couldn't believe the response. Nothing. Nadda. Zip. Crickets....except for the new girl to the group who said, "oh yes, I'm gluten free, dairy free, soy free, additive free....been that way for years." And here I thought I was proud! So here are my GF lessons for day six: 1) No one is impressed. In fact, I think sometimes people can look at you like, "you pathetic little thing, no white bread. What will you do?" 2) You can find GF options almost everywhere. Before I left for dinner, I googled the menu at Panera and saw clearly marked choices....black bean soup and café salad thank you very much! 3) There is always someone who is doing something more extreme than you. You know you meet them when they ask for a bite of your dessert and then wave the bowl under their nose and say, "umm, good!" and 4) Focus on the friends, not the free part. It's always better to think about what you do have, rather than what you give up. www.naturesanswertocancer.com

Not Soy Fast!

Okay, it's day 5 in my journey to the land of no gluten and I have made a decision. Thirty days and I'm refocusing my energies! I'm blessed that I do not have celiac disease, so I can make the choice to return to gluten if I want. It is too early to determine where I will end up, but tonight's dinner took me by surprise. I made stir fry, and checked the label on the soy sauce....wheat....had to go to the store to buy tamari. Got home, and saw that the stirfry sauce I use contains.....wheat....urgh! Decided I didn't need the stirfry sauce anyway. Started adding my special Chinese spices, red pepper chili sauce and then the hoison sauce......wheat! Wow. And here I thought Chinese food was served with rice! I made it through dinner with just the tamari sauce but this experience really helped me to see that I can't be a zero tolerance kind of girl, at least not when it comes to gluten. But, for now, I continue solidly on my 30 days gluten free. I did read an interesting article on how naturally fermented soy sauces are considered gluten free but also learned that the chemically fermented soy sauces have other health issues associated with them. I think it's time for Mexican food. www.challengecancer.com

Having cake and eating it too

You read the title and thought I bailed already, huh? Oh, don't freak out! I haven't given up yet! Yesterday I pulled out my gluten free pancake mix and with some skepticism, whipped up a small batch of pancakes for myself. I added fresh blueberries and diced walnuts. The Hodgson Mill's brand already contained flaxseed, so I didn't add any more. I just knew I'd be left FLAT....after all, the pictures of the pancakes on the box looked pretty sad. But, to my surprise, I had awesome, thick, hearty pancakes. They tasted really good! You know what I'm noticing when I eat gluten free prepared foods? I get full faster and don't eat as much. This is interesting to me because I know that commercially prepared gluten free foods contain refined alternative grains, so sometimes there isn't that much fiber to them. Perhaps when I combine the foods with fresh fruits and veggies, I get the necessary fiber to complete the satiation factor? The refinement of alternative grains is a concern for me, I think whole grains are the best! Last night for dinner, I tried quinoa pasta and I cooked it slightly al dente - again, it was perfect! Delicious. Not sticky (I did add a teaspoon of olive oil to the water). Here's a side by side photo of both spaghettis (one regular for my non-adventurous family and one for me, gluten free!). Can you tell which is which? www.naturesanswertocancer.com

Kids vs. Carbs

She looked up at me with those big blue eyes and with a semi-dramatic voice, my 15 year old daughter Kat began to tell me how much she wanted a chocolate chip bagel from Panera. She hadn't been feeling well and was all balled up in a sea of blankets on the couch. What mother could say "no" to a request like that?! To be honest the last thing I wanted was to go into a bread store and smell those cinnamon rolls and freshly baked multigrain baguettes...but off I went. And to my surprise, I walked in, smelled the aroma and eyed the rolls and..... Nothing. Nope! Not a thing! My resolve strong, I ordered my daughter her bagels and waved goodbye to all that gluten! It wasn't much later in the day that I realized in my busyness that I missed my ritual afternoon tea (some caffeine) and I had this amazing level of energy! Was it from not having gluten? I mean, it's only been a few days? Guess I will find out down the road. And my daughter, by the way, loved her bagel and her Mom. www.challengecancer.com

Panic in the Grocery Store

It started out innocent enough. I had just finished visiting a friend to help her set up a Tower Garden and one thing led to another....and one hour led to another....and by the time I stopped at the grocery store to stock up for my first "gluten free" weekend, I was famished. Cardinal sin #1 - going to the grocery store hungry Cardinal sin #2 - quickly strolling by the bread rack justifying to yourself that you might find some gluten free bread (there wasn't any). I quickly moved to the center of the store and that's where it happened. This registered dietitian, trained in all things food.....started to panic! What was I going to eat? How was I going to explain to my teens that, oh by the way, tonight is an official "everyone is on their own for dinner" night. Come on, don't judge....you never have one of those? So I did what any self-respecting, panic-attacked person would do: I started looking for the GF label on the packages--automatic self-help. I picked up a few things before I started noticing the outrageous prices on these special-marked packages. So I turned to the mainstays: beans, quinoa and other dry goods. Now my weekend will be busy figuring out how to make these staples taste good while I am stirring up a pot of spaghetti for my husband. And then, relief beyond belief! I found it! A sweet treat that would quell my hunger and get me back to my sensibilities. I snapped up a bag of quinoa snacks....tore open the top and took a munch. Crunch. Coconutty. And beautifully gluten free! Waiting in line to purchase my goods (and the half consumed Keenwa Krunch) I exclaimed outloud how good it was. The lady in front of me said, "what is that?" I read the label with enthusiasm, "It's coconut cranberry cashew quinoa clusters!" I started to laugh. I thought only the processed "bad" foods had ingredient labels that were difficult to pronounce!

Looks like I'll be learning a lot as I say goodbye to gluten. www.naturesanswertocancer.com

GLUTEN: Going, Going, Gone?

Sometimes I really get irritated with this wellness community. I mean, come on.....I haven't an issue with my bowels ever! Okay, if I was being honest, once in a while things didn't flow as easily as usual, but I haven't experienced the uncomfortable and very inconvenient issues that people with irritable bowel, Crohn's disease or other gastrointestinal disorders suffer from. So why in the world would I jump on the "go without gluten" bandwagon? Call it whimsy, wanting to join in with my friends who are transforming their diets, or just plain curiousity (yes, that is primarily it). So I'm IN. This registered dietitian, holistic practitioner is finally IN. I'm ready to say goodbye to gluten for 30 days.And you know what really helped me make this decision? I went gluten free for 4 days. I really didn't notice any difference. So I celebrated my successful attempt and began to indulge in our homemade waffles from scratch on Saturday morning. B-L-O-A-T! Big time. Hmmm.....probably just needed to get my gut bearings right? Let's try it again....pasta on Sunday followed by blueberry pancakes (whole grain, from scratch, good stuff, right?) on Tuesday and B-L-O-A-T! Big time. I've read enough to know that individuals without any gut issues can be gluten "sensitive" and a key indicator of that is going off gluten then back on it and see what happens. Bloating is a potential symptom that might lead us to conclude that someone has gluten sensitivity. Could that be me? Since I am still pining for the pizza and already shedding tears at the thought of giving up white crusty French rolls at one of my favorite restaurants, I thought I needed to do this right. So here goes. For the next 30 days, my gluten is going away. I'm posting to keep me accountable and because I know I can't be the only one who is curious about what giving up gluten can really do. If you follow along, you'll get the real scoop about how easy (or not) it is to go gluten free for 30 days. Hope you'll stick around! No pun intended.