Sally Bee's journey to gluten free-dom
Sally Bee documents her journey to a gluten aware lifestyle and reveals why making the change was the best decision for her health and happiness!
About 3 months ago a dear friend told me that she had to stop eating gluten because of health reasons. She was tearful and fearful about what she could no longer eat! "I'm going to be living on yogi berries and yogurt and I'm going to feel hungry all the time! she cried. So, being the kind of friend that I am, I heard myself saying that I would commit to 2 weeks of gluten-free food so that I could walk in her shoes, feel her hunger and maybe come up with a few recipes that I felt would fill the gluten gap. (That was 3 months ago!) The day I decided to stop eating gluten – or become ''gluten aware'' was one of the best days of my life!
Because of my dodgy ticker and my desire to live as long and as fully as I can, I ALWAYS eat a diet packed with nutrients and health benefits. Because of this, I didn't imagine that cutting out gluten would make a big difference to me. How wrong was I?!
Why I became gluten awareMany of us are not Coeliac, but may be gluten intolerant. I clearly fell into this category but didn't realise it. Before making the changes to my diet, I would always feel very bloated and have tummy ache after eating certain foods especially pasta and bread, even though I thought I was being super-healthy by eating brown, nutty bread. (Now I just eat the nuts...without the bread!) I would get big dips in my sugar levels which would make me feel very tired at odd times during the day and then I would get the strongest of hunger pangs.
When I digged a little deeper into what gluten does to your body, it became clear that this was possibly what was causing my problems. I must point out that I didn't realise that I could feel better in this way – I simply thought that the feelings of fatigue and bloatedness where just ''life'' at 47 years old! Without getting into the science too deeply, gluten is a protein composite found in several types of grains, including wheat, spelt, rye and barley. When flour is mixed with water, gluten forms a sticky gluey substance and when this reaches the digestive tract and is exposed to the cells of the immune system, they mistakenly believe that it is coming from some sort of foreign invader, like a bacteria. In certain people who are sensitive to gluten, this causes the immune system to mount an attack against it which can also damage the digestive tract tissue.
Eating gluten also affects your insulin and sugar levels so this is what can cause big dips in your energy levels and bring on hunger pangs when they shouldn't be present.
Coeliac disease is diagnosed when there is a serious allergy to gluten that affects the lining of the digestive tract and therefore the absorbsion of nutrients into the body. If you have been told you are Coeliac, you will need to look at every ingredient that you eat to ensure that there is no hidden gluten. Eating a fresh, healthy, unprocessed diet is the easiest way to deal with Coeliac disease because you will know every ingredient that has gone in to making your meal. Processed foods often come with hidden nasties, so even though there are now good ranges of gluten-free products on the supermarket shelves, I still believe its better to give the processed, often high sugar products a miss and go natural!
The first changes were relatively easy to navigate. I guess we all know that bread and pasta contain gluten, and although I wasn't eating a lot of either, once I cut them out completely, I immediately felt better, lighter, less bloated and more energetic. Indeed, in the first week I lost a staggering 6lbs in weight! I hadn't been expecting to lose weight but clearly my body was hanging onto something it didn't need! The great thing about cutting a food group like this out of your diet is that it stops you from being lazy. I could no longer relay on a quick slice of toast as a snack, and instead I had to think of something else to fill me up that wasn't glutenous! I started to have scrambled egg without the toast, instead I'd have half an avocado on the side.
I started eating more potatoes as these are carbohydrates that would fill me up (and just happen to be loaded with goodness), not something that most people think of as a healthy food, but actually are more nutritious than a bowl of pasta and are entirely gluten-free, therefore are processed through the body in a different way. Changing any processed food I ate wasn't too much of a problem because I eat very little processed food anyway. Breakfast cereal became a bit tricky, and I have tried the odd packet of gluten-free muesli – but to be honest, I haven' fallen in love with any of them. So, instead I have a handful of nuts and raisins and a piece of fruit, or as I've said some scrambled egg without the toast!
My trial ended after 2 weeks ... and then began again for life! I promised my friend I would be gluten-free for 2 weeks, but actually I have continued on this track and will not be drawn off it! I have never felt better! To test the theory, I've had had odd days where I have eaten gluten, and I have felt lethargic and bloated with aching legs and a headache! So as much as gluten-free bread isn't quite as good as a freshly baked bloomer, I don't intend on turning my back on my ''gluten aware'' diet.
Sally Bee's four-week menu plan