I speculate that this is for one of three reasons:
1) genuine interest in my life;
2) curiosity to hear my rationale and see if it is something they may consider one day; or
3) because they think gluten-free is a lame fad and think I am lame and on that bandwagon.
In any case, I think it's good for me to document my rationale here seeing as how it is my health blog. Since the two choices were separate (although implemented together), I'll explain in two sections. Also, I should note that I am consulting with the dietitian at Lifetime Fitness and she is overseeing my new diet plan. I suggested dairy-free, she agreed. She suggested gluten-free, I agreed. She suggested dark chocolate as an after-dinner snack. I said, "Thank you." :)
Why Dairy-Free?
I'd been considering this for some time. There is nothing extraordinary to report here. Basically what it came down to was this:
A lot of people believe that cow's milk is not healthy for us. The major argument I have seen is that all other animals only drink milk in infancy. Human beings are unique in our milk dependance. I have been hearing a lot of buzz lately that this is unnatural. Caveat: I have no hard data to back this up. At all. I am way too lazy to research it.
Also, I know several other people who have cut dairy out and now get very sick when they do consume it. My first speculation as to why was that they developed a sensitivity to it by cutting it out. This is certainly possible, but with more research, it is likely that they always had a sensitivity but when you consume it everyday, you get used to the effects. What does this mean? You may feel mildly off and not know it. When you cut it out, you feel better and then when you consume it again, it feels bad. You may not have noticed before because you were used to it. Makes sense.
So, the question is: How do you know how good you *could* be feeling? Well, my answer is simple: remove it from your consumption and see what happens.
Why I Don't Mind: I'm not a milk drinker for the most part. I enjoy a glass of milk after eating a brownie. That's about it. Also, thanks to my friend Sean who forced me to eat Krave (AMAZING!) with Almond Milk, I saw how good it was and switched to that last month anyways.
Why It Stinks: I love cheese. Love it. Gouda is soooooo goooooooooood-a! Sometimes, I eat a block of Gouda cheese and wheat thins for dinner. Seriously. Also, I like yogurt. But I am willing to part with them. For a small bit. :)
Why Gluten-Free?
This I had also been considering, but for a different reason.
What many of you do NOT know is that I have been having some painful stomach issues lately. Not the "I'm gonna be sick" kind, but "oh my word it hurts so bad" kind. Not all the time. Only a few times in the last few months. But for over a year it has been regularly in some sort of mild pain or irritation. In August it got bad enough for me to see a doctor (this used to have to be quite serious, but now that I am on blood thinners I go more often because I fear the worst--more clots or internal bleeding!). The doctor didn't really know what is up and with my bleeding history suggested a colonoscopy.
Let me tell you, colonoscopies are super fun. The gastrointestinal surgeon suggested that we do the colonoscopy and an endoscopy at the same time since I had to get off of my blood thinners for the procedure (which is risky) and may as well check the whole thing out. Sure. Why not? Aside from 6 (pretty awesome) color photos of my entire GI tract, they found nothing. Their advice: more fiber. Awesome.
While researching what could be causing this and how to not trigger attacks, gluten came up. A lot. It just makes sense to see if I have a sensitivity to it since they are so common.
Also, since it is a current diet fad, there are a lot of gluten-free foods in regular supermarkets! Score. :)
Why I Don't Mind: I love meat. Meat does not have gluten.
Why It Stinks: I love gluten-filled products. But most of them are bad for me and Udi's Gluten-Free bread is actually quite tasty.
First 3 Days
I've gone gluten- and dairy-free for 3 days now. So far it's great. I have been off of a structured diet plan for so long, it's nice to be on track again.
I think the restrictions create a challenge for me to learn to eat differently and this meshes well with the way I work (an unintended benefit). Let me explain. I get bored a lot. I get bored with healthy eating. Figuring out new foods that do not include dairy or gluten but still nourish my body in a way I need to is new and interesting. My attention span is satisfied.
Here is one example day to see what I do:
Breakfast: turkey sausage, Udi's toast, coffee (non-dairy creamer!)
Snack: raspberries, almond butter
Lunch: salad, tuna
Snack: hummus, carrots
Dinner: spaghetti squash, sugar-free marinara, chicken sausage
Snack: dark chocolate (1 oz. that is way more than I thought--win!)
Ok. Questions? Comments? Complaints? Concerns?
No comments:
Post a Comment