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| Enjoying a pre-dinner glass of bubbly. |
I've been home-cooking great food free of gluten and cow's milk for over 4 years, after years of wondering what the source of unexplained stomach aches, bloating, headaches, and other medical issues were. I've spent hours in my kitchen exploring new recipes and flavor combinations that draw your attention to what makes them delicious, instead of what they are missing. I've scoured menu after menu to figure out the best (and worst) places for eating out on a G-free diet. I've always loved both eating out and cooking in, and have made it my mission to find ways to continue to enjoy my passions without feeling deprived.
I'm not a trained chef. In fact, it was my frustration with restaurant chefs and eating out in general that prompted me to revamp my own home cooking repertoire. Tired of feeling sick even after ordering allegedly compliant meals at nice restaurants, I decided to become my own "chef" and take back control of my kitchen and my health.
Here's my story.
Like many people, I discovered my intolerance to gluten as a result of another health issue I was experiencing: infertility. Many women (and men) don't discuss this but infertility is a very common problem associated with gluten-intolerance. Of course, like most women, I only found this out after the fact.
I had just experienced the second of what would be three miscarriages I would spend several more years suffering through that process before learning that gluten-intolerance is strongly correlated with female infertility. For over 6 years of trying to bring a baby to term, not one doctor ever asked me what I ate. Not one. It still makes me want to scream.
After my second miscarriage and a surgical procedure to try to assess the cause of my loss, I ended up having an episode of severe fluid retention. I gained almost 20 pounds of water weight in one week (on my 5 foot frame), had fluid in my lungs, and struggled to breathe. After 3 days in the hospital, I went home with no fluid, but also no answers as to what had happened to me or why.
After this series of events (and an unfortunate additional miscarriage), I noticed I was having abdominal distension and difficulty breathing. For a long time I really thought I had an imminent medical problem and battled lots of anxiety about the possible reasons for how I was feeling. I would convince myself I was over-eating, or had a serious illness, but gluten-intolerance never was on the radar. I did mental gymnastics thinking about why I felt so awful and often blamed myself for how I was feeling. It seemed like every time I ate I couldn't button my pants by the end of the meal. I felt tired, old, and bloated.
Frustrated with traditional doctors who never seemed to ask the right questions, I set up an appointment with a friend of mine at the time who was a naturopath. She suggested a battery of allergen-related tests. I was open to anything as long as it wasn't invasive. I was tired of being a patient. Much to my surprise, I was diagnosed as intolerant to gluten and, also, the proteins in cow's milk.
When I first discovered my intolerance to gluten, I was DEVASTATED and skeptical. I love pasta and bread and just about anything made with carbohydrates. In college, I think I ate pasta for my entire sophomore year. How could I live without it? I didn't know then that I wouldn't have to. I just saw a world devoid of pizza, spaghetti carbonara, bagels, and cookies. Not a very wonderful world to me at all. This was a joke, right?
I've since learned that many intolerances go hand-in-hand. Often people with one kind of sensitivity, may have a similar or related one. Still, this was a hard pill to swallow for a girl whose standby favorite meal most of her life has been macaroni & cheese and a glass of chocolate milk.
For a while, I ignored these intolerances, just denied they existed. I kept on eating the foods I liked, convinced that since I had eaten wheat and milk products all of my life, it couldn't really be that big of a deal. But I continued to spend too much time sideways on the couch or bent over the toilet, feeling sorry for myself and how sick I felt.
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| Here I am on my honeymoon, during my "high carb period" delighting in my first course: truffle lasagne, a true masterpiece. I would love to recreate a gluten-free, cow's milk-free version of this. |
And, yet, as much as I complained about the difficulty of the cleanse, I had to admit I felt and looked a lot better. My skin was clearer, my stomach was flatter, I had lost several pounds, my energy was increased, and, importantly, the stomach aches had disappeared, as had all the bloatedness. I was surprised by other positive"side effects" of the cleanse, like the way my taste buds had changed. I regained an appreciation for real food - a perfectly cooked steak, the intensity of a sun-dried tomato, the delicious luxury of dark chocolate. After 2 weeks of "eating the way cavemen used to," as my friend joked, that packet of dried processed cheese food for macaroni and cheese just didn't have the appeal it used to.
After this epiphany, I wish I could say I quickly became a true blue convert, who forever more avoided gluten, cow's milk, and processed foods like the plague. But for a time I continued to "cheat" quite regularly, always suffering the consequences. And, to my amazement, when I would get back on the g-free, cow's-milk-free wagon, everything improved from my mood to my sleep. So I learned more about how gluten acts almost as a toxin in people intolerant to it.
I began reading Elisabeth Hasselbeck's The G-Free Diet. When I read about how emotional or physical trauma and/or surgery can bring about the overt symptoms of gluten-intolerance in a person who previously did not display these symptoms to the same degree, my life changed. Literally changed. My whole convoluted health journey began to make sense - perfect sense. The bloating, my infertility, the migraines I often suffered - gluten had been a major saboteur in my life and I never really understood it until that moment. This was the moment I purged my recipe book and took back control of my life.
What once was primarily a source of pain and frustration for me is now a passion and source of inspiration to eat better, do better, and live better, as well as share what I'm learning with others. Alternatives to wheat are growing exponentially as I type this. The gluten-free landscape is constantly evolving. Yet, too many restaurants still don't understand it. Too many chefs still view it as an inconvenience or a choice. And too many of us settle for compromised food, not wanting to "embarrass" ourselves at restaurants or offend friends and loved ones who don't "get it."
For a long time, I sort of languished when it came to cooking. Previously always a foodie and avid home cook, it was hard to find an interest in food that I just didn't find very interesting. Eating out was worse. Even restaurants in my area that claimed to be gluten-sensitive would look at me cross-eyed when I would inquire about cross-contamination. One even served me wheat bread, without my knowledge, only discovering the error after I had trustingly consumed several slices. Their apology didn't make my stomach feel any better that night, nor did the fact that they charged me for it!
Now the "chef" I most trust is me, and I don't even need to leave my house. Cooking and getting creative in my kitchen has enabled me to bring fun and diversity back into my cuisine, while knowing everything I make is safe. It puts me in the driver's seat when before I felt like I was the one getting run over. Being gluten-free doesn't mean having to "give up" anything. In fact, the more gluten-free meals I prepare for myself and my family, the less I feel like I'm missing. I love the challenge of creating a gluten-free meal that is so satisfying and delicious, no one even notices it doesn't contain gluten. I've even come up with a spaghetti carbonara featuring corn spaghetti and sheep's cheese that would impress a real Italian. Just ask my husband ;P
Thank you for joining me on my g-free culinary journey! To borrow from the late, great Julia Child, happy (g-free) cooking!
