Just before New Year's I went back on the gluten-free dairy free (GFCF) diet. I'm making great progress with regaining my health. I have almost no headaches anymore- didn't even get my pain meds refilled last time.
I'm also doing Chi Gong, which is somewhat similar to Tai Chi. It is a healing art, adn you don't need to be strong or young or even flexible to do it.
So when I posted on facebook the other day that I was making a tasty batch of gluten-free dairy-free bread in my bread machine, i got lots of questions about gluten - what is it, why am i not eating it, should they stop eating it, and what's my recipe for bread.
My recipe is to buy a bag of Bob's red mill bread mix (available in many grocery stores in the organic food section or at www.vitacost.com ), add rice milk instead of milk and olive oil instead of butter, put it in the machine and wait 3 hours for extremely tasty bread. So much easier (and tastier) than when i went gluten free in 1994!
Many people assume I have celiac disease when I mention I'm eating a gluten-free diet. I do not feel obligated to tell them that I have a lupus diagnosis, and I prefer not to mention that diagnosis, esp. since my blood tests now say otherwise. So I just say (because I think words matter),"No I don't have celiac, but i have a history of other autoimmune problems, and this helps prevent a recurrence." It's not that I think I'm cured, I just believe that I am free from disease at this moment and i want to stay that way- and I know I have to be vigilant in order to stay that way. Not just in what I eat, how I manage stress, but also what I say.
But the interesting thing is Celiac is *also* an autoimmune disease! And according to the book "Alternative medicine" (future medicine pub.) 100% of lupus patients have food allergies.
As to why I chose the gluten free/ dairy free diet, it was originally suggested to me by an MD (who is a pretty progressive guy, is into nutrition and chelation therapy and other stuff that other doctors would give him a hard time for). I had a food allergy blood test and i did come up sensitive to wheat- and cheeses and milk. Other practitioners have since brought it up (after I fell off the wagon). I've done it 3 times now, about a year the first and second times, and it really works. My energy returns, my face clears up, my headaches disappear and other symptoms improve as well.
So if you're intrigued and wondering whether you might have a gluten sensitivity, and therefore could improve your health b y eliminating gluten from your diet, here's an article to check out:
http://ezinearticles.com/?Gluten-Intolerance-Symptoms---How-Do-You-Know-If-Gluten-Is-Making-You-Sick?&id=479404
and here's Bob's wonderful bread mix:
Carla Ulbrich
The Singing Patient: Author, Speaker, Humorous Songwriter and Entertainer
www.thesingingpatient.com
www.facebook.com/TheSingingPatient
www.twitter.com/singingpatient
www.youtube.com/user/carlaulbrich
www.linkedin.com/in/carlaulbrich
http://tinyurl.com/348hroc - Carla's book "How Can You NOT Laugh at a Time Like This?"
I'm also doing Chi Gong, which is somewhat similar to Tai Chi. It is a healing art, adn you don't need to be strong or young or even flexible to do it.
So when I posted on facebook the other day that I was making a tasty batch of gluten-free dairy-free bread in my bread machine, i got lots of questions about gluten - what is it, why am i not eating it, should they stop eating it, and what's my recipe for bread.
My recipe is to buy a bag of Bob's red mill bread mix (available in many grocery stores in the organic food section or at www.vitacost.com ), add rice milk instead of milk and olive oil instead of butter, put it in the machine and wait 3 hours for extremely tasty bread. So much easier (and tastier) than when i went gluten free in 1994!
Many people assume I have celiac disease when I mention I'm eating a gluten-free diet. I do not feel obligated to tell them that I have a lupus diagnosis, and I prefer not to mention that diagnosis, esp. since my blood tests now say otherwise. So I just say (because I think words matter),"No I don't have celiac, but i have a history of other autoimmune problems, and this helps prevent a recurrence." It's not that I think I'm cured, I just believe that I am free from disease at this moment and i want to stay that way- and I know I have to be vigilant in order to stay that way. Not just in what I eat, how I manage stress, but also what I say.
But the interesting thing is Celiac is *also* an autoimmune disease! And according to the book "Alternative medicine" (future medicine pub.) 100% of lupus patients have food allergies.
As to why I chose the gluten free/ dairy free diet, it was originally suggested to me by an MD (who is a pretty progressive guy, is into nutrition and chelation therapy and other stuff that other doctors would give him a hard time for). I had a food allergy blood test and i did come up sensitive to wheat- and cheeses and milk. Other practitioners have since brought it up (after I fell off the wagon). I've done it 3 times now, about a year the first and second times, and it really works. My energy returns, my face clears up, my headaches disappear and other symptoms improve as well.
So if you're intrigued and wondering whether you might have a gluten sensitivity, and therefore could improve your health b y eliminating gluten from your diet, here's an article to check out:
http://ezinearticles.com/?Gluten-Intolerance-Symptoms---How-Do-You-Know-If-Gluten-Is-Making-You-Sick?&id=479404
and here's Bob's wonderful bread mix:
Carla Ulbrich
The Singing Patient: Author, Speaker, Humorous Songwriter and Entertainer
www.thesingingpatient.com
www.facebook.com/TheSingingPatient
www.twitter.com/singingpatient
www.youtube.com/user/carlaulbrich
www.linkedin.com/in/carlaulbrich
http://tinyurl.com/348hroc - Carla's book "How Can You NOT Laugh at a Time Like This?"
