Why Should We Think Outside of the Bread box?

As a practicing nurse practitioner, I have encountered many patients experiencing various, multiple food intolerances and/or allergies. What I am finding is that it becomes increasingly difficult to give up foods that are causing physical or mental symptoms when they are reliant on replacing those very foods in a different form. For example, it is great that we can find gluten free blogs and web sites that have done an excellent job of making copy cat recipes of our favorite gluten laden favorites. There is nothing wrong with having some GF cake, cookie or bread on occasion. What is actually happening though is that GF foodies are having these items with a much higher degree of frequency. These foods contain many different forms of carbohydrates resulting in sugar addiction as well as weight gain and adverse health consequences from relatively high sugar content. These constant feedings of our desire to have foods that remind of us of our gluten laden favorites that we miss make passing up on the gluten laden goodies when we encounter them more difficult.

Another reason to avoid succumbing to these food replacements is the pocket book. I was in a womens group earlier this year and one of my friends is GF as well as 4 of her kids. She had a limited amount of grocery money for a given week and was so worried she couldn't feed her kids because she couldn't afford GF bread and other processed (boxed, bagged or canned) GF products during that week. When we rely on these processed convenience products it can really take a toll on our pocket book as noted in this article, "The Expense of Eating with Celiac Disease". In my GFCF menu planner, I strive to ensure that the foods presented in the recipes are 1. affordable, 2. simple to make, 3. nutrient dense, 4. family friendly, and 5. creative. Unfortunately, kids are being trained to desire GF processed cereals, granola bars, cookies, breads, waffles and frozen foods, all loaded with tons of sugar. A high sugar nutrition plan can cause children to have difficulty with behavior and concentration as well as packing on the pounds. Children are growing and developing, requiring critical nutrients not found in processed foods.

Processed foods that are lacking nutrients, will keep us unfulfilled and constantly hungry. And we will find ourselves in a vicious cycle of wanting the very foods that are not giving our bodies the nutrition they need to heal and be well.

The natural, organic and health food industry has us tricked into thinking because it is organic, natural or labeled healthy that it truly is health food. These are processed foods masquerading as health foods in an expensive store. If labels are carefully reviewed most of these products will be loaded with unnecessary sugar and calories with little to no nutrients.

We have assigned agave to be the sweet substitute of choice because it has a lower glycemic index, yet it still IS a refined sugar just as organic cane sugar, raw sugar, and honey.All may have varying degrees of positive qualities, but they will cause your blood sugar to rise, insulin to be released and increase in inflammation in the body (think of an infected wound or asthma attack as examples of inflammation). Roller coaster blood sugar levels lead to emotional upheaval as well and continued craving for the very thing that is causing the emotional distress that drives our desire for our favorite comfort foods.

This is why thinking outside the bread box is critical. Think of how to enjoy food, eat to live not live to eat and don't look for a piece of GF bread, pasta, tortilla or cookie around every corner. Once you give it up completely, you will find that only an occasional sting of the GF cookie bug will hit you and its ok to bite!

If you found this article useful, you can find more like them, with more detail in my GFCF menu planner.

P.S. Here is an article on GF foods and tax deductions.

Gluten Free Casein Free Menu Planner

When I was growing up, food allergies were rare. Some people could not have shellfish, but it was unheard of to have a life threatening reaction to peanuts. Today nut free schools are commonplace, thousands of gluten-free products are showing up in local Wal-Marts, and everyone knows someone who is avoiding sugar, dairy, soy or some other food that is common in the Standard American Diet (SAD).

Gluten is the protein found in wheat, rye, barley, triticale, spelt, and/or cross contaminated in oats. Casein is the protein found in all animal dairy products. Casein is also found in many processed foods.

Celiac disease is a digestive disorder that causes the body to attack the small intestines when wheat/rye/barley and/or spelt products are consumed. These grains contain the gluten protein. The journal Gastroenterology noted in 2005, "Celiac Disease is one of the most common lifelong disorders worldwide." Symptoms vary widely and can include: fatigue, mood disorders, diarrhea/constipation, poor growth (in children), hair loss, neurological problems (seizures, impaired concentration and/or memory), anemia, mouth ulcers, abdominal pain, bloating, infertility, anxiety, depression, bone pain, weakness, liver disorders and/or malnutrition issues such as osteoporosis. Many who suffer from autoimmune disorders have gluten intolerance without intestinal symptoms. I gave up gluten, then reintroduced it a few weeks later. Within hours it felt like I had been hit by a truck.

At the age of 11, I became tired and very pale. I was diagnosed with mononucleosis and severe anemia (a shortage of red blood cells), which almost required a blood transfusion. Diagnosis: none. Treatment: take 6 iron tablets daily. After this episode I had chronic strep infections almost every two weeks for the next 7 years until I had my tonsils removed at age 18. I had almost constant antibiotic use during this time. In my 20's I discovered a goiter, had symptoms of low thyroid function (hypothyroid) and was diagnosed with Hashimoto's Disease, which is the leading cause of hypothyroidism in America. It is considered an autoimmune thyroid disease which eventually results in malfunction of the thyroid (which regulates metabolism, body temperature, and generally making the whole body run the way it should). Then I started down a road of chronic fatigue, depression and a constant state of feeling unwell. I have also had eczema every since I can remember, suffered from a terrible premenstrual syndrome and started to have very heavy, painful periods.

Finally, 4 years ago, I saw a Denver gynecologist who is an integrative doctor utilizing alternative and conventional therapies with a focus on health. For those who don't know (men), women often use gynecologists as their primary care physician. I told her about my mood issues, female troubles, poor thyroid and constant fatigue. She did a test for anti-gliandin antibodies (antibodies which indicate gluten intolerance) and they were sky-high.

I finally had a diagnosis! Over the course of 20 years, I had seen too many doctors to count. This is common for those who are suffering from a gluten and/or dairy intolerance. Multiple trips to different doctors, lots of testing, no results, no diagnosis and no help. The median time for diagnosis is estimated at between 8-11 years with a patient seeing at least five different physicians. Finally, I had an answer and some relief from many of my symptoms, mainly the fatigue and depression.

I tell my story because it is the story of many Americans. Millions of Americans suffer from autoimmune diseases, depression, fatigue, neurological problems, mood disorders, poor digestion and/or irritable bowel syndrome (what a diagnosis! - those who have it already know their bowels are irritable). The underlying problem is a food intolerance (or multiple food intolerances) leading to malabsorption of nutrients needed for cellular repair and maintenance. At age 11, my anemia was a symptom of the food intolerance. Because gluten intolerance is insidious in the ways it shows up, it is difficult to find unless you know what to look for. Since it is not confined to the gut, testing for it can lead to false positives and false negatives.

Modern conventional medicine continues to view gluten intolerance or celiac sprue as an intestinal disease. Reviewing the studies regarding this issue, we find it is a systemic, inflammatory problem that can manifest itself in any part of the body.

Health care practitioners who treat those who have autism will mandate a gluten and casein free diet as part of an overall treatment plan. Why? Wheat and dairy are considered the staples of life - why take that away? There are many reasons why so many people cannot tolerate gluten and casein. Some can no longer break down the protein(s). Intestinal inflammation can ensue, causing a "leaky gut," a permeable intestinal wall leaks out these undigested proteins, and for those with autism, and possibly other disorders of the brain, these peptides get lodged in the brain. Brain inflammation is found in many with mood and neurological disorders. Alzheimer's has been characterized as a brain on fire. See a brain scan here: http://www.loni.ucla.edu/~thompson/AD_4D/dynamic.html.

Some of the reasons these staples are wrecking havoc are: over consumption of gluten/flour products, premature introduction of grains into the infant diet, hybridization of wheat, artificial processing of flour, inappropriate preparation of grains, pasteurization and homogenization of dairy products, all of which causes damage to the enzymes that breaks down gluten or casein.

There are long term consequences to gluten intolerance, as it can over stimulate the immune system, causing systemic inflammation in the body. Intestinal lymphoma , autoimmune disorders and premature death can result from a chronic state of inflammation if an affected individual continues to consume gluten despite having intolerance . This happens because so many people are undiagnosed or misdiagnosed or fail to comply with a gluten free diet

What's the solution? If you suspect that gluten and/or casein (these two culprits tend to work together) are the cause of your ill health, I advocate a trial abstinence from both of these proteins. The abstinence period should last at least 3-4 months, and then reintroduce each one, separately. Gluten and casein are different from other food intolerances in that they can have a lag time of up to 4 days to show any symptoms. If you find that abstaining from gluten improves your symptoms, you should continue a gluten-free diet. LivingGlutenfreeCaseinfree.com offers a 4 week menu plan to help get started with a gluten-free diet.

We all scream for ice cream!

Who doesn't love ice cream? Unfortunately, for some people ice cream does not love them. Some people cannot tolerate casein, a protein found in animal dairy products. There are children and adults with autism spectrum disorders will be asked to abstain to institute a gluten and casein free diet.

Autism spectrum disorders are typically characterized by difficulty engaging in social interaction, marked psychological dysfunction with some developmental delay. There are many different aspects of this disorder.

People are becoming increasingly allergic to dairy products whether lactose (milk sugar) intolerant (can’t digest milk sugar) or casein intolerant. Many people who have celiac disease or gluten intolerance will also have difficulty digesting casein. This may occur because the intestinal lining has been damaged from the inability to breakdown gluten (protein found in wheat/barley/rye/spelt or triticale grains) causes an inability to digest casein as well. These two will sometimes be joined hand in hand. Other reasons may include inflammation from long term undiagnosed food intolerances, lack of enzymes to break down these proteins and/or the processing of food (in case of milk, pasteurization which kills vital enzymes that enable our systems to metabolize the dairy products).

If you have an autistic child who is utilizing biomedical approach (utilizing nutritional and nutriceutical interventions with detoxification of heavy metals) treating their autism then you know how hard it is for a child to give up the simple pleasures of eating certain foods. It isn’t any easier for adults either.

Many people find that removing these two proteins will help improve the symptoms of autism. It is theorized that in autistic individuals that casein and gluten are metabolized into peptides that will fit into the opioid receptors (this is where pain medications, narcotics and illicit drugs such as heroin attach inside of the brain) of the brain, causing dysfunction. Other causes may be brain inflammation from the digestive system's inability to metabolize these proteins effectively resulting in intestinal inflammation and the ‘leaking’ of intestinal contents into the blood stream. The body must then deal with continual inflammation from the over use of the immune system.

Many people who suffer from autoimmune conditions such as myself, must find what foods have adverse effects on our health. I have rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and dairy causes increased joint pain. This is true of many who have RA. I do on occasion eat raw milk cheese or eat goat cheese without ill effect. When you have a chronic condition, it takes some time to find out what foods aggravate your condition.


Here is an ice cream that you can easily make for your child that is delicious, gluten and casein free that the entire family will enjoy. This ice cream recipe is easy and is great for those who are not following a special diet. It is low in sugar, has no gluten or casein. It brings quick satisfaction!


Banana Ice Cream

6 ripe bananas peeled and frozen solid
1/4 c. Agave nectar (optional)
1 can of coconut milk, not lite
1 TBS. gluten free vanilla

Remove the bananas from the freezer for at least 30 minutes. Process in a blender or food processor until slightly chunky. Add the Agave, coconut milk and vanilla. Process until smooth. Place in a container and chill in refrigerator at least 2 hours. Freeze in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer's directions. Serve immediately. If you can't serve it when it is done freeze it and then take it out 15 minutes prior to serving so it can thaw slightly making scooping easier. Makes 6-8 single scoops.


Resources:

Biomedical/integrative medical practitioner
www.acam.org

Biomedical medical practitioner to treat autism spectrum disorders
www.defeatautismnow.org