December 6th, 2012.... I had enough. Too many years of feeling unwell, bloated, acne issues, skin issues, itching, pain, weight fluctuations, moodiness, and generally feeling like I had lost my mind. It was suggested to me by a Naturopath over 20 years ago while living in Toronto, that maybe (the issues above) were food related and I should try eating a clean allergen free diet and slowly introduce foods back in to see what triggers me.
Of course he wanted me to eliminate bread, cheese, milk, eggs, ice cream, sugar etc... I think I read through everything he gave me and decided there was no way it could be all of the foods I loved so much, he was a quack and that was NOT the solution to my health issues.
Fast forward to last year and for whatever reason my symptoms were exploding. I was constantly itchy all over, constantly bloated, never knew when I'd have an attack and not be able to leave my house, my acne problem was returning (I'm over 40, shouldn't I be outgrowing this!) and I was having all kinds of dermatology issues with skin lesions. What was going on?? I couldn't ignore all my symptoms any longer. Were they all related somehow?
How come every time I went to my family doctor, she'd run all kinds of tests which came back normal? Shouldn't something show up in the results to tell me what is going on? Well they didn't.
Last December I was at the point of frustration and decided to go in for a visit at my local wellness spa for yet another foot detox (maybe THAT would solve something??!!) and chat with the owner who was a great resource for Natural Remedies. She encouraged me to go to a Naturopath and have some testing. She suspected I might have Candida (an overgrowth of yeast in the digestive system) or issues with Food Sensitivity/Intolerance.
I went to my local Naturopath (Dr. Carly Wendler) and after two visits had testing and results were
that I was highly intolerant of Gluten, Dairy, Eggs and a few other things (no such a big deal) but the main things were things that were in my diet pretty much every meal! Even eating Chicken & Turkey I am moderately intolerant of too! I was really surprised by this until I did some research and realized it made sense... Wheat and Corn is a staple for raising poultry (yeah, issues with corn too!).
|Almost 10 months later and I am amazed at how much better I feel. People who I hadn't seen all winter long were shocked at the drastic change in my physical appearance in such a short amount of time. My skin looked much better (clarity and texture) and a bonus side effect was a dramatic weight loss in a fairly short amount of time.
Everyone is different and what works for one person, may not work for someone else. All I can tell you is what MY journey was. It has been a slow process to learn how to live the way I HAVE to now. I am still learning and couldn't possibly know all there is to know in this short amount of time. Anyone who has any sort of health issues needs to be their own best advocate and learn what they can to deal with their condition.
Good news for me at this point in time, is that it has never been a better time to BE Gluten Free (and dairy free). Grocery Retailers and Restaurants are catching on to this growing demographic and options are available to us more and more everyday.
This blog will be dedicated to whatever I find on being Gluten Free & Dairy Free and sharing that information. I am not a medical expert, but I think that as a community, we can share great things together.
I plan to share tips on restaurants, new products at the grocery store, recipes, promote other great Gluten Free sites and blogs (there are many) and review great Gluten Free products (maybe ones that disappoint too... found many horrible alternatives that I would just rather do without than resort to their alternative).
My goal is to eventually replace everything in my life with Gluten Free products... you'd be surprised at where you find Gluten. It is a crazy amount of detective work to find out what of your regular products have Gluten in them. Have you ever considered your toothpaste, shampoo or multivitamin?? It is great to have a company that separately promotes the items that are certified Gluten Free. I have been using Melaluca Products for 2 months now and will be over time replacing everything I use with Melaluca Gluten Free products. Currently, there are 133 products on their website
http://www.melaluca.com/ProductStore/ShopForList.aspx?id=177#&&selectionSort=MostPopular&pageLimit=134&pageNumber=1 and with time, that should grow. Do you look for Gluten in your multi-vitamin??? I never thought to look there.
I have moved over from being a customer to now selling the product. Message me for more details if you are interested in becoming a customer or sharing the opportunity to sell. I began using their products for the Gluten Free options... but now believe in them because of the safety, wellness and
quality of their all natural non chemical formulas. They are a company that is 25 years old and they put all of the money into research and development, not marketing which is why you have probably never heard of them.
I hope you subscribe to my posts and share with me and others some great advice and tips for being Gluten Free/Dairy Free.
I am going to give this recipe a tree this week to see how it works out. Our local Waterdown Goodness ME! has a great cream cheese alternative (soy based) made by Tofutti. I am thinking between that and the right egg alternative... it just may work. Doesn't this picture look amazing??!! I am really looking forward to perfecting this recipe to be both GF & DF!
