Free Online Gluten eSummit

Gluten and its role in autoimmune disorders is a frequent topic of discussion amongst alternative medicine practitioners. And, for me, eliminating gluten (and dairy and several other foods I'm sensitive to) from my diet has changed my life.

At one point I was on 9 drugs, plus chemotherapy, transfusions, and Procrit shots to treat congestive heart failure, kidney failure, neuropathy and anemia, all caused by lupus. Now, my diet choices have allowed me to stay healthy with ZERO immune suppressants for the last 6 years.

So, when I saw the information about a free e-summit, I knew that I had to share it here.

http://theglutensummit.com/

Dr. Tom O’Bryan of theDr.com has gathered 29 of the world’s experts and opinion leaders on the topics of gluten-related disorders, nutrition and healthy living for a series of online interviews taking place for FREE from November 11-17, 2013. (Don't worry- it's not all day, every day! One video per day will be posted).

During the summit, you will:

• Learn about the latest research on gluten-related disorders
• Gain knowledge of proper diagnosis/treatment methods
• Ask, “Could this health issue be due to gluten?”

The Gluten Summit is targeted towards both doctors AND patients (really, anybody), so that we all have a better understanding of the issues.

The goal of The Gluten Summit is to shift the discussion and recognition of gluten-related disorders forward by five years. Meaning, lets get the "gluten" conversation between patients and doctors that will be happening five years from now to happen now.

For a lot of patients, discovering and eliminating any food sensitivity, including gluten, can mean more control over their health, fewer ( or zero!) drugs, and feeling better. That is what it has meant for me!

Carla Ulbrich

The Singing Patient: Author, Health Speaker, Humorous Songwriter and Entertainer

http://www.thesingingpatient.com
http://www.facebook.com/TheSingingPatient
http://www.twitter.com/singingpatient

Lupus and Diet

Today I spoke/ sang for a support group at the SLE Foundation in NY City. What a great group of people.
Lots of great energy and ideas bouncing around, and I was heartened and inspired by the open-mindedness, strength, willingness and ease of communication. Right near Penn Station, too- really easy to get to!

I've mentioned this before, but I'll mention it again. Support groups for lupus have come a long, long way in 20 years. When I first became ill with lupus, support groups had 2 allowed topics: prednisone and lawyers. Any talk of alternative medicine or emotional stuff was shut down. So happy to say that is no longer the case. I watched today as a patient brought up her concerns about cellcept and placquenil to the rest of us, and we were all able to inform her of our experiences, helping to ease some of her anxiety and sort things out so she could make a decision. Beautiful.

From their wall (if this were a bumper sticker, it would be like "baby on board!"):

Typically when I talk, I tell my story and how humor, creativity, alternative medicine and diet helped me get my health back. When speaking to this group today, the focus was really about how I got to be in a drug-free remission, with all my hair and enough energy to do what I want to do in life. And we talked a LOT about diet. People interjected with comments and questions, which was great- I love an interactive dialogue, versus a monologue (90% of my gigs are a "performance" and all the audience does is clap and occasionally sing along when invited to do so). I learn things too. (For example, I did not know that 1/3 of lupus patients have RA and 1/3 of RA patients have lupus. Explains why the "purple jewelry" charm bracelet I have has both an RA blue ribbon and a purple lupus ribbon).

I was surprised how very interested- not just receptive, but really interested- these patients were in hearing about diet. And that is what we talked about most.

There are 2 diets I've seen out there which both claim to heal/ help/ even cure lupus patients:
Paleo Diet ("caveman" diet that is meat and veggies- and lots of raw food)
Lowfat Raw Vegan (no meat! but all raw food, both fruits and veggies).

Seems confusing- all meat, no meat- what's better?
Perhaps a better question is: what do these 2 effective anti-lupus diets have in common? And from what I can tell, it's a lack of dairy and a lack of grains, particularly gluten. This diet is known as the GFCF diet (gluten free, casein free- a.k.a. dairy free) and has been used effectively with numerous autoimmune diseases and autism.

My hope and dream in going to speak to lupus (and MS and myositis and RA) patients is to one day hear back from some of them that they tried a GFCF  diet, and it helped to reduce or eliminate symptoms, and helped them to reduce or eliminate their need for immune suppressants. And for those who have trouble learnign this diet on their own, I offer reduced rates for patients as a health coach, where I also support and educate people so they can relearn to eat in this somewhat counter-cultural way. It isn't easy at first, but it gets easier after you adjust. And even when it's at its hardest, it's easier than being on prednisone. I have my life back. My desire is to give this gift to others suffering from lupus.

If you or someone you know would like to have a free one-hour health consultation with me, whether it's about gluten-free or not- anyone who wants to achieve their health goals, big or small- please e mail me at healthcoach@bestpossibleme.com .

On another post I'll talk again (I have before) about the other 2 bugaboos I eliminated:
MSG and nutrasweet. Happy trails 'til next posting~

Carla Ubrich, The Singing Patient

www.thesingingpatient.com

www.bestpossibleme.com - health coaching

www.youtube.com/user/carlaulbrich- funny medical songs

get the book! http://tinyurl.com/348hroc

eating out gluten free

I used to believe that if i just didn't eat wheat, I was gluten free. Then I found out i needed to avoid oats, barley and rye. Anyhow a lot of breads that say "rye" are wheat plus rye. Then I started finding out how many places wheat and gluten are hidden- soy sauce, shampoo (!), envelope glue, sauces, whipped cream, oy! Here I was having given up so many foods I love (pizza, pasta, cake, sandwiches) and I was still eating gluten and not even knowing it. That made me really mad! Then, of course I adjusted.

Eating out has been challenging, but I have found a few places near me that have great salad bars (stick to oil and vinegar dressing to be sure you're not getting hidden gluten), no croutons, no crackers. One chain I have found that is extremely gluten-free friendly is Uno's. They have a gluten-free menu that includes, among other things, PIZZA! It still has cheese, and people, we shouldn't be eating tons of cheese, but as an occasional treat, once every couple months, it keeps me from falling off the wagon after watching everyone around me eat whatever they please all day long.

I think if you join their page on facebook you can get some coupons, sometimes really good ones like buy one get one free entree.
http://www.facebook.com/#!/UnoChicagoGrill

Gluten free book

Recently got a copy of G-free Diet by Elizabeth Hasselbeck. I'm not a big fan of her in particular, but it's a great book, really explaining what gluten is, the difference between celiac disease and gluten intolerance, and all the places it hides (including the glue on envelopes! Maybe that's what poisoned George Castanza's fiancee on that episode of Seinfeld...).

If you've got an autoimmune disease, it's worth trying a gluten free diet for a few weeks to see if your symptoms subside. I've been gluten free for over 2 years and I'm doing well. I'm not on any immune suppressants, my kidneys are back to normal, no pleurisy (water on lungs), no joint pain or fevers. Gluten free is only one of the things i'm doing, but it is the one that takes the most vigilance.

This is a great book, easy to read and thorough.

The Sin of Gluten-y

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?"