BIG announcement

Hi there! I bet you thought I’d disappeared of the face of the planet (or maybe just the blog-o-sphere! I’ve just been rather busy as usual, plus I was making some major changes in my life and trying to make some decisions too. Sorry it’s been awhile.

It’s been about a month since I found out and been wanting to tell you my big announcement.

What’s the BIG announcement you ask? I am celiac. I have celiac sprue disease. It’s true. All my guesses that gluten is not good for my body were correct. Even though I’ve had 2 or 3 colonoscopies, an endoscopy, 2-3 blood tests, camera tests, etc…all saying “NO”, I found out that I do in fact have it. How? After years of going to doctor after doctor after doctor (this is no exaggeration), I finally got sick and tired of being sick and tired (no pun intended). I went to see a highly recommended naturopath and she diagnosed me with iridology. She also told me I have leaky gut and candida and am malnourished. She put me on digestive enzymes at every meal (this is something I will do for the rest of my life) because of the celiac. I’m also on probiotics, and some other things. She also told me to eat for my blood type—which is where some of the big changes have come in.

Would you guess? All my staples and favorites: bananas,  yams/sweet potatoes, potatoes, tomatoes, coconut, oranges, tangerines, vinegar, pepper, gelatin, coconut oil, cashews, garbanzo beans…..and more! All of these are not allowed or good for my blood type. I can have them on rare occasions but most of the time, nadda. Following it has been tough but it has seemed to help. (I’ve especially had a hard time with subbing for coconut flour! Anyone know a way to sub? And how to sub for coconut milk? When you can’t have real cream either?)

Another big change? Since before I had only assumed that I was gluten intolerant and wasn’t even sure of that, I didn’t worry a bit about cross contamination. I was grinding my flours in a wheat grinder that I cleaned out (but it’s not possible to clean it all out of gluten entirely) to grind my gluten-free grains into flours. I was using the same toaster as my family and roommates. I was even eating standard oats. Gasp, I know! I was also not washing down the counter or table before eating or preparing. I wasn’t worrying about products like “Great Value” brand that say may contain: WHEAT (even in vegetables and spices—which by the way, I’m really annoyed about.) If it was in theory gluten-free to begin with, I thought I was ok. WRONG! So while I thought I was gluten-free, I really wasn’t. Add to that that I would cheat on occasion and sometimes for weeks on end…trying to figure out if that was really what was wrong with me.

And one more change: I now have a limited amount of dairy back in my life, at least temporarily. Mozzarella cheese, yogurt (especially Greek), and sour cream among a few other things (Ghee and ricotta—which I haven’t tried yet) are allowed for the blood type diet and she suggested I try eating them now that I know it’s probably gluten that was really bothering me. I’m still debating if I totally feel good with them or not but for the most part I seem ok with them. I love Greek yogurt having never had it before now too.

As for sugar? The blood type diet suggests you use it as a condiment. Ouch. I try to limit my sugar already (and use just unrefined) but this is pretty strong. So, I am working on that now too. And, actually I’ve been doing this for the last few weeks because I am trying to lose my sugar cravings by going sugar-free until Easter.  This doesn’t mean that I’m not going to use a little sweetener in my muffins or anything now and again. It just means I’m not going to make dessert, cookies, treats, cake, etc (even sugar-free) till then so I can hopefully control my sugar addiction.

Oh and one more thing: I’m supposed to progress eventually to vegetarianism. About the only meat allowed is turkey or chicken. And some fish. And eventually most vegetarianism is supposed to be really good for me.

So how am I feeling? So much better. Almost immediately I started to feel better. My stomach liked me again and I just felt better. I think the blood type diet has helped too…that’s not to say on occasion I don’t have a little vinegar in something or don’t make anything with potato starch…I just try not too if I can avoid it.

I am still having a lot of fatigue and a few other issues so I’m not all the way there yet, but I am getting there. I will be back at my natropath soon to see what else I can do to get well.

So for the most part, I’m on my way back to health. I am feeling better thanks to lots of prayers and help from God. I’m so thankful that through His help I’ve found some answers and am on my road to recovery.

How did you find out you had allergies or celiac?

Stay tuned for some delicious recipes and an update on McKenna!

• Posted in: Uncategorized