icemilkbeansfruits-deactivated2 asked: What's one thing that you learned recently?
Icemilkbeansfruits, if you’re out there somewhere in the ether of the internet, hear this: BEWARE THE GLUTEN!
Let me take a step back so you can understand how I have come to preach the gospel of Gluten-Free Living. All my life, I thought I was just a gassy person from a gassy family (no, really). Often, meals left me feeling slightly uncomfortable, as if I had not digested properly. Other times, the gas would be so painful that I thought I had an ulcer. Then there was the food coma. Many of you must know the food coma. I could never understand why certain meals were so fatiguing, rendering me immobile for an hour or more.
Then one day this summer, my friend told me about her discovery of gluten intolerance. Basically, this is the inability to digest the protein compound that derives from wheat, barley, and rye. At its most extreme, it is known as Celiac’s disease, which is an autoimmune disease that essentially causes your immune system to attack the lining of your small intestine because it thinks that gluten is a nasty intruder. Other folks (like myself) are lower on the gluten intolerance spectrum, merely experiencing one or more of the symptoms I mentioned above. Among the gassiness, here is a list of other joys associated with the intolerance:
- Abdominal pain
- Diarrhea
- Bloating
- Fatigue
- Depression
- Eczema
- Allergies
- …and many more!
You may be thinking to yourself, yeahhhhh right. Gluten-schmluten! I thought that too, even though I do lean hippie. After all, that would mean I’d have to abstain from so many foods I love that contain any form of wheat, barley, or rye….like fresh baked bread, homemade pasta, egg noodles, cupcakes, THE BREADING IN FRIED CHICKEN.
What made me see the light, you ask? Beer shits. Yup. Apparently, they are not a normal consequence of drinking beer. I’m not talking like a total bender, I mean sometimes even just one pint. Once I started asking my friends, “Hey, do you get super gassy and diarrhea when you drink beer?” I was astonished at how few people answered in the affirmative. Seriously? You mean, gassy discomfort and diarrhea are not the tradeoffs for drinking beer? If you’re not following me here, let me connect the dots - barley and wheat are the most commonly used grains fermented in the brewing of beer. Hence, Oktoberfest is actually Gluten-fest and a Celiac’s worst nightmare.
Now, many of us like to laugh at a good fart every now and then (god knows, my family has bonded over lots of them). However, once you learn that flatulence as a persistent state can be avoided, it’s hard not to take that seriously. These are symptoms that are probably among the least pleasant to discuss with your friends and family, but you could be suffering in silence unnecessarily!
You may still be skeptical (heck, sometimes I’ll eat a burger just to test if I am being a hypochondriac…then I feel icky and fall asleep for three hours), so I suggest doing your own research and an elimination diet. The most common food allergies are wheat, soy, and dairy/casein. You could cut out all of these and then gradually incorporate them into your diet - monitoring how your body reacts. If you feel better during the clean period and then start to re-experience symptoms after reintroduction - sorry, join the club.
This WebMD article is a nice place to start reading and includes a list of foods that are safe and not-so-safe (hint: gluten is hidden in a lot of stuff like soy sauce, salad dressings, anything w/ malt flavoring). Awareness of gluten intolerance has exploded, so there is no shortage of resources and cookbooks on the topic.
I’m experimenting with gluten-free recipes, especially around baking, and hope to get up to speed with documenting them on the blog. Like I said, I feel lucky that I don’t have a full-blown intolerance so some days I’m going to have a beer, a burger, or fried chicken….and I’m totally celebrating the passing of my prelims (insert another fart joke here) with my colleagues over a gluten-extravaganza at Bar La Grassa next week. However, I’m also mindful that I really feel my best when I stay away from the gluten (not to mention, I’m a lot more pleasant to be around). Stay tuned for more more gluten-free adventures.