Cleaning Up Our Diet: Chapter 2. Our Daily Bread

Posted by Paulette

So what if I told you that what you had been eating all your life had been altered in some way, and that it was now poisonous? Would you stop eating it? Of course you would. 

 In 2007, I was pregnant with my 4th child and was experiencing symptoms like asthma and urticaria. Urticaria is a lovely word for chronic hives. No fun! These weren't the kind of hives that you get once and they resemble mosquito bites and they go away after a few hours. These are the kind of hives that cover 80% of your body are huge and leave bruises when they finally do go away. As a result of this, I decided to go on a gluten free diet. My hives and my asthmatic symptoms went away. I began taking a digestive enzyme and while I wasn't pregnant, I could eat wheat again. 
 Now for those of you who think that going wheat free is torture, I'm going to tell you it really isn't.
Don't these muffins look delicious?

 They are! I even learned to make sandwich bread. Still, the taste of wheat bread can't be matched, and I occasionally will have some with unhappy consequences.

 One of the mistakes I made when going gluten free was to start eating a lot of corn. At the time I didn't realize that I was poisoning myself and everyone else I was feeding it to. Modern corn has been engineered with glyphosate in their DNA. Glyphosate is an herbicide. When it is consumed it kills off the natural beneficial bacteria in the digestive system, thereby making the digestion of food incomplete. Leaky gut is one name for the consequences of undigested food. It enters your blood stream and the body thinks it's a foreign object and has an inflammatory response. This was what was causing my asthma and hives. 
 There has been research done about how gluten affects the brain, especially in children with autism. 
 In my children, I didn't notice any symptoms of disease. It wasn't until after implementing several changes in our diet that I began to see miracles. 
Now we are about 80% gluten free. The kids still take sandwiches to school, but I provide them with gluten free alternatives for snacks and breakfast. I've even added some corn back into our diet. I buy corn chips and popcorn from Trader Joes. I was told that any product with their branding on it is GMO free. And so far, I've had no reactions to their foods. 
There are so many GF alternatives available now. 

If you decide to go gluten free, you'll have to discover for yourself which brands are to your liking. I've found that I don't like boxed cookies. They have a gritty texture. And I've been disappointed by mixes. But, I've always been a bake from scratch kind of girl.

Udi's breads can be found in the freezer section of health food stores. And I've found them to be pretty decent. Sometimes I'll grab a loaf of bread and have a sandwich made at the deli at Sprouts. 

A good gf baking cookbook is essential. The best I've found is Easy Gluten-Free Baking by Elizabeth Barbone. I substitute tapioca starch for the corn starch in her recipes.
Want some good gluten free recipes? I have all of mine and some others pinned to my Gluten free Pinterest board.

Again, I am no expert on health or nutrition. These are the experiences of myself and my family. 

Next time, The Miracle of Essential Oils