Thinking about going gluten free?

A lot of people have been asking me if the gluten free diet is right for them.  Their doctor may have recommended it or they just don't feel great.  Here's my advice and nuggets of knowledge for people before venturing into the gluten free diet, a gluten free introduction before Gluten Free 101, so to speak.  Remember: I am not a doctor or nutritionist.  I am a very well read gluten free blogger with a Bachelor's degree in Theatre and Creative Writing who is passionate about helping people.  I literally read every book the Chicago Public Library had on gluten free within my first three months on the diet.  My gluten free diet started in June 2010.  I have been lactose free since spring 2009.

Trust your gut.  Literally.  Listen to your body.  Do you need to take a nap after eating a piece of bread?  Are you sent into the a fit of stomach cramps after a cupcake?  Are things "unusual" in the bathroom after a bite of wheat?  What symptoms do you have?  Write everything down.  Even the stuff that you don't think matters - everything in your body is all connected.  It does matter.  Everyone's symptoms are different.

Know thyself.  Are you okay with going on a gluten free diet for the rest of your life without a confirmed diagnosis of Celiac Disease?  I had the following tests done and my results were always negative: blood work, stool testing, upper endoscopy, colonoscopy, and allergy testing (skin testing).  The only test left was the gene testing.  By the time my doctor suggested it (a new one at this point - I saw four gastros in less than two years), I knew I needed to be on a gluten free diet and was rocking it for over a year and a half.  She stressed to me the for the rest of your life part.  "Forever is a long time at your age."  (I'm 27 years young.)    Honestly, the only thing a positive gene test would change would be to require all my paternal relatives to get tested as well since it is likely from my Italian side of the family.  If the test were negative, I would still eat a gluten free diet.  It cost thousands of dollars to figure out that I did not have Celiac Disease and only one week on a gluten free diet to realize that it solved all of my problems.  (I started the diet on Monday and by Friday was back to normal.  For more on how the gluten free diet flipped the light switch in my body, check out this NBC clip: http://www.nbcchicago.com/news/health/Gluten-Free-Diets-Help-More-Than-Just-Celiac-Patients-110238099.html)  For me, I spent so much time, effort, agony and money and was literally wasting away.  I had nothing else to try but a gluten free diet.  It saved my life.  I'm stubborn enough to stick with something and am passionate enough to do all the research and whatever it takes to keep my body going in a positive direction.  Officially, my gastro wrote down "gluten intolerant" in my chart.  I later found that there was a fancier name for it: NCGI - Non Celiac Gluten Intolerance.  Yes, you can have gluten intolerance without Celiac Disease.  The treatment is the same.  The diagnostic tools aren't defined yet.  Here's my simple test: do you feel better off gluten?  If yes, then stay off it!!!  
Remember: you need to be eating gluten if you want to have your doctor run tests!  Do not start a gluten free diet unless you are okay with never having an official test done to confirm your diagnosis.

No cheating.  When I told my dad that I was going to be gluten free, he asked if I could have a roll with dinner if I was gluten free all week.  Nope.  Not even a bread crumb.  My reactions were pretty mild when I was cross-contaminated or ate the wrong food (why in the world would people put malt in cereal?) my first few weeks of going gluten free.  After that, my reactions got more severe.  Now, if I am glutenized, I miss a day of work, spend five days having my body recover, lose two pounds and get either a cold or migraine (my immune system goes into hibernation after a reaction...)  My mildest gluten hangover is much worse than my worst alcohol induced hangover.  I can't try a piece of my brother's wedding cake next month - not even a sliver.  And when that bread basket goes around the table, I lean back in my chair and let people pass it over me so I don't touch it.

Have a "last meal".  My original expirement was going to be one week off gluten, one week on gluten, then report to my doctor how I felt.  It turns out that I felt so great off gluten that I didn't want to go back on.  I knew I needed to try it again to make sure that no other factor triggered the radical change in my body.  I only made it one meal on gluten.  My "last meal" was ravioli from Whole Foods (finding some that were dairy free was a royal pain two years ago) and a (soy) ice cream sandwich.  After that in June 2010, I never consciously ate gluten again.  For me, it immensely helped to be emotionally ready to move to a life without gluten.  Most of the time, I enjoy the diet.  The negative feelings I have tend to have (and they are rare, but worth noting so you don't think the diet is all sunshine, rainbows and frosted cupcakes) are rejected (going to a party without anything but a glass of wine to eat), annoyed (why the bleep did you put gluten in this food?), sad (I'll never eat Jimmy John's again), and nervous (concerned about safe food options at unknown events).

Eating isn't as spontaneous.  You will become a label sleuth.  Gluten free means more than just wheat free.  You need to be free of malt, barley, rye and most oats.  Oats make the list due to cross contamination issues since they often share the same fields and equipment as wheat.  Did you know that beer and soy sauce contain gluten?  Did you know that companies like Bard's Beer and San-J offer even better alternatives than the original variety?  When dining out, I use restaurant cards to inform my server and chef of my food intolerances.  Almost all of my meals outside the comfort of my kitchen have been fantastic!  Check out some tips and tricks on dinning out.

Gluten is everywhere!  In your lipstick, shampoos, and even medicine!  (Gluten and lactose are often binders on medicine - lactose is especially common.  If you are considering a gluten free diet, call the manufacturer and ask if the product if gluten free.  There's nothing worse than a raging headache made worse by ingesting gluten.)  Companies are being much more proactive about labeling things as gluten free every year.  At my dentist, the fluoride they used said "gluten free" right on the front!

You'll eat healthier.  That's not to say that you'll stop eating bread, cupcakes, donuts, and cookies.  There are plenty of those out there - and they taste wonderful!  But they are pricey so you'll find yourself reaching more for fruit to satisfy your sweet tooth.  I increased my vegetable intake a crazy amount after going gluten free.  Diets like the paleo diet are great for meal inspiration.  Paleo is also known as the caveman diet - so you eat what our foremothers and fathers could hunt and gather.  It is naturally dairy and gluten free!

You'll try new foods.  Have you ever tried millet before?  Tastes great!  (Yes, Mom, this is the same grain that you feed your bird.  But mine is cooked!)  I love using brown rice flour for coating chicken - it has much more flavor than wheat flour.  The diet had me trying new things - like summer squash!  (I know, not a radical thing for most people, but I never tried it before going gf.)

You'll be part of a growing community.  When I first figured out I had NCGI, I felt like an impostor.  Could I go to Celiac events and meetings?  Was I any less gluten intolerant than other people since that had a biopsy test they could point to?  The answer is no.  No matter how you found out or what your doctor says, you can proudly wear the gluten free label.  I am the co-leader of the Chicago chapter of the Gluten Intolerance Group.  I "like" a lot of companies on Facebook and stay up-to-date with their latest products - and even snag some coupons!  This week, I have pizza plans with two other gluten free gals.  My life isn't slowing down on a gluten free diet!

You'll get crafty in the kitchen.  There are so many recipes to try!  With the convenience of fast food taken away, I learned how to cook great tasting meals.  I normally cook 4-6 servings at a time and freeze the leftovers in individual portions so I can have homemade frozen meals at my fingertips.  I work over 50 hours a week and have time to work, cook, clean, and enjoy my life!  If I can do it - any one can!  (I was a horrible cook before going gluten free - but an amazing baker.  Now I can proudly wear my chef's hat and my baking apron in the kitchen.)

You'll use social media in new ways.  I have a blog, facebook page, pinterest account and twitter account...in addition to a social media-free day job!  It can be a lot, but I feel fantastic and inspired being part of this larger community.

https://pinterest.com/windycitycookin/

https://www.facebook.com/WindyCityCooking

@windycitycookin

What advice would you give to someone considering a gluten free diet?  Anything you wish someone told you before you started?

Fructose Intolerant

When I first started my blog, I chose windycitycooking because that's preciously what I was doing: cooking in Chicago. I didn't want to make it uniquely gluten and lactose free, even though that is what everything here is about (except for the occasional mention of goat and sheep cheeses which I tolerate). The hope was that the lactose intolerant issue would go away after being gluten free for a few months. For one of my long time lactose intolerant friends who went on the gluten free diet, that was exactly the case. He can tolerate dairy now. Me? My reactions are milder than they were before, but I have still noticed when I took the wrong hashbrowns from my mom's fridge (one was cooked with butter, the other in olive oil) or when the restaurant used butter on my dish.

Going dairy free was emotionally challenging for me. I was a hot mess removing dairy from my life. I started the diet in the spring and eliminated obvious sources of milk and cheese but kept some things that incidentally contained milk in my diet for a few months. As time went on, my reactions grew stronger, so by Thanksgiving, I was 100% dairy free - even off of butter which has the lowest amounts of lactose. I was angry. So many foods were off limits. Crackers, cookies, ice cream, milk, string cheese. Milk was hiding in all the packaged foods, put there simply to mock me.

By the time we figured out I was gluten intolerant, I was so low and so desperate that I had no choice but to embrace it. I was walking around in a fog. Later on, I realized the connection between Dunkin Donuts bagels and leaving work after 30 minutes for feeling so sick. My only saving graces were skipping breakfast and eating rice and meat for lunch. Somehow, I saved the gluten for dinner most days so I was able to keep working without greatly effecting my output. Initially, the gluten free trial was supposed to be a week off gluten, a week on, then a trip to the doctor. I went from feeling 15% to 100% in less than 5 days. When I went back on gluten, I crashed so low again that I barely made it through the day. I had my final meal of ravioli and said goodbye to gluten. Everything from that point happened so fast in my gluten education. I had no choice but to fully embrace the diet and learn everything I possibly could about how I was going to be eating. If I had to do it again, I would have started reading cookbooks and blogs about a week before starting the diet so I had more recipes and meal ideas in my back pocket. When I went to the doctor for my appointment, I was a completely changed patient: no longer looking near death, I was vibrant, knowledgeable and full of life once again. Throughout the past year and nine months being gluten free, I've had several reactions that send me spiraling downwards over the smallest crumb or cross contamination or poor label reading. I fully accept that one day I'll be in a nursing home quizzing the poor nurse about whether or not my meal is gluten free. It is a large part of who I am at this point. Without health, you have nothing. And now my health is largely dependent on eating delicious gluten free foods.

A few months ago, I started feeling "off". It was the diference between feeling 95% and feeling 100%. I knew how fantastic performing at my healthiest was and I was determined to do whatever I could to reach the top again. Each month, I started slipping a little further. Once at 90%, I gave up and called the doctor. I thought I was having reactions to corn: my symptoms got worse when I had things like powdered sugar (made with corn starch) and my mom is allergic to corn. Meanwhile, I switched to having a large glass of juice every morning and eating more fruits and veggies than before. The doctor ran a bunch of tests, including a hydrogen breath test for fructose intolerance. A week later, I received a phone call.

You tested positive for fructose intolerance.

At first, I was thrilled to have answers to my questions right away. This was by far the fastest turnaround time for identifying my food intolerances. But sugar free? Could I do it? Then I chatted with the dietitian and received a one page list of what I can and cannot have. There were a lot of delicious staples in the "no" list, including all fruit, tomatoes, sweet potatoes, onions, bacon, honey and so much more. The "yes" list looked pitiful in comparison: salt, pepper, 10 vegetables, and a few more things. I would go completely fructose free for two months then start trying to reintroduce foods.

The day after hearing my diagnosis, I went to Michaels to sign up for the next Wilton class. I have no idea how long my fructose free lifestyle will last and I wanted to take the class and eat the cake. I decided that the day after the final class, I would have a slice of chocolate cake and say goodbye to fructose. With a tangible end in sight, I was emotionally prepared as I started my research.

This is not going to be an easy road for me. Already, I had a few big warning signs that weekend that worried me:

• The day I got my diagnosis, I was invited to see (and eagerly attended) Accidental Rapture at 16th Street Theatre. A play about the end of the world (literally) at the theatre where I missed my only performance as a stage manager ever since I was recovering from my appendectomy that brought on my food intolerances.
• The next day I wanted to get some Jamba Juice and have my full of fruits. But there was a helicopter in the way. In the loop in Chicago. Seriously?
• When I called my health insurance company to see if a dietitian would be covered, the hold music while the friendly associate tried to find a loop hole in the plan was Over My Head by The Fray.

Will it be easy? No. My spare room is currently holding 5 full brown paper grocery bags with everything containing an offending ingredient of has 2 or more grams of sugar per serving. I'm depressed by even that fact.

Am I up for the challenge? Some days. Other days it is just hard. It makes gluten free look like a cakewalk in comparison. I have plenty of foods I can eat in my fridge and cabinets, but there is difficulty in coming up with meals. And snacks. After my two months on a very low fructose diet, in an ideal world, I'll turn into someone who cannot have fruit juice (every day). But I could be like the woman who can have one strawberry every other day. So many fructose low/free resources use fruit but my dietitian has me completely off it. No lemons or lime for my fish.

I fell behind in blogging the past few months as I started looking into this new way of eating. If you stumbled upon my blog as someone with fructose malabsorption, please make sure to look for the Low Fructose label at the bottom.

Disclaimer

This blog should be viewed as informational and opinionated. It is not a source for nutritional information, nor does it even attempt to be. It is not a source for medical advice - this blogger graduated with a double major in theatre and creative writing. I will be using links to help point you to reputable sources from people who know much more than I do about gluten and lactose intollerances. This blog follows the life and food of a twenty-something who became lactose intolerant and gluten intolerant as a young adult and is taking charge of her diet. Always remember to read labels. Twice. Even if you bought the same thing last grocery trip.

Full disclosure: this is from the viewpoint of someone who used to be a VERY picky eater but had to reevaluate all food choices after quickly becoming severely lactose intolerant and then gluten intolerant a year later.

Join me as I start my gluten free life. This blog will be filled with easy-to-make and healthy (always lactose and gluten free) food, shopping experiences, book reviews, and restaurant adventures. I am new to gluten free living after figuring out lactose intolerance this past year. Living in Chicago, I am fortunate to have access to a variety of grocery stores and bakeries, especially those that cater to those with food allergies and sensitivities.