preface: i thought i would explain a little bit about what i've been going through lately (*ahem* the past 10+ years) that affects me on a daily basis. it has nothing to do with my blog or really anything that i usually post about but i'm kind of reaching out as i know there are a LOT of others out there affected by this and any tips or tricks are more than welcome!
ever since the end of high school and beginning of university, i've gotten stomach aches. of course everyone gets stomach aches, i realize this but every single day...multiple times a day? no, there's nothing normal about it. i would try my best to forget about them and normally i would be able to go about my regular daily activities. i had been to my doctor who told me to keep a food diary (do you know how impossible it is to keep a food diary?) she once told me i had IBS (which i read up on and didn't think i had) overall she never really seemed too concerned that i was having chronic stomach aches on a daily basis...and quite frankly, i was getting used to living with them. up until recently, as i said...i just lived with them, often times i complain about stomach aches to family or friends or mikey and i don't think people ever really understand just HOW much pain i was in...it was immense pain, sometimes leaving me unable to do anything but lie in the fetal position. i tried cutting things out like meat (i thought it was that for awhile) i tried cutting out dairy (didn't seem to help) and a few other things, but never gluten or wheat...
today i went to a naturopath who had me hold a metal cylinder in one hand and with a tiny metal poker thingy (yes that is the medical term) dipped into water and touched it to the inside of my middle finger near my knuckle...these were attached to a barometer (i think that's what it's called) and a computer and the computer had a list of foods and he would test each one and the barometer (thingy) would bring up a number...that number would then tell you if you were tolerant, mildly tolerant, moderately tolerant or severley intolerant to each of the foods listed (plus some environmental stuff like cat hair, dust, etc) well it turns out that i am moderately intolerant (meaning i shouldn't eat it more than 2x per week) to eggs, beer, rye, salmon, vodka, processed cheese, pistachios, shrimp, dates, artificial sugars or red potatoes...and more important i am severely intolerant to whole wheats and gluten.
*big sigh* finally....
to think i could have taken this $80 test YEARS ago and figured this out makes me more than a little bit angry but i didn't...the point is, i've figured it out and now i'm left thinking 'now what?' i know that gluten-free is becoming more and more common and that a lot of people have to live this way. there are a LOT of things that i will need to be eliminating from my diet (pasta, pizza, breads...which are pretty much a lot of what i eat) but i know that there are gluten-free alternatives to all of these things...they are more expensive (but also can be claimed at tax time i've heard) but overall i think it's going to be a really positive change. not eating breads and pastas all the time is way better for me anyway...it means i will be forced to eat a lot more fruits and veggies and that is okay with me! it's going to take some getting used to but i am SO freaking excited that i won't have constant stomach aches anymore...soooo very excited.
alright so, are any of you gluten free? if you have any tips or recipes or any sort of advice, i would love to hear from you, please post a comment here or send me an email at dear.love@live.ca
