I went Gluten-free back in 2004
My Dad (doctor) had gone to a continuing education seminar where they were teaching the latest discoveries about health and our bodies.
He learned how they were finding more and more people were having adverse affects from modern wheat. . . specifically gluten products.
As he heard about the symptoms of modern wheat on certain people’s guts, and therefore, their lives. He couldn’t help thinking that it applied to most members of his family.
But going gluten-free is a HARD step. Especially 15 years ago. And I was the only member in the family (including him, sorry Dad!) who decided to try it.
So what happened when I decided to go Gluten-Free?
1. I slimmed up really fast! My belly especially became flat. Which was awesome.
2. I stopped having “Bathroom Issues”.
Apparently, all of my family swears that they can’t eat dairy. That no one wants to be in the room with them after the consumption of milk, cheese, or ice cream, if ya know what I mean. I used to be one of them. But I haven’t had digestive problems, or irregular bowel movements since removing wheat from my diet. And my favorite thing to eat is ice cream. (my favorite healthy ice cream is REBEL) So yay!
3. If I did eat wheat, the next morning I had a mild/medium tummy ache. I know what it feels like, and yes, about once a month I feel like it is worth it.
That was how I knew that going Gluten-free was for me.
But is going Gluten-free it right for you?
Here is your challenge:
You must go 2 weeks without Gluten.
That tummy ache that I would feel? Apparently it is the gluten tearing down the Villi inside me. Those are kinda important because they are the things that absorb the nutrients from your food and send it throughout your body. No villi, no nutrients.
It takes anywhere from 3 days to 2 full weeks for the villi to grow back. So you have to give your body time to adjust to not being knocked down every meal (if it indeed hurts your body).
Then after 2 weeks, go have your favorite gluten-filled meal!
You will know within 24 hours or not if that was a mistake. Your body may be really upset that it had worked so hard in creating thriving villi, just for them to be destroyed. . . or you may be good!
Either way, now you know.
2 week gluten-free menu.
Going gluten-free is easier and cheaper than you think.
Breakfast: Chex, Cheerios, or an omelette. If you like making hearty breakfasts, you can buy gluten-free pancake mix.
Lunch: Usually I have leftovers from dinner the night before. There is gluten free bread you can buy (most aren’t great). But I also find a lot of satisfaction in a hearty salad, apples and peanut butter, celery ants on a log, chili, or baked beans and chips, or sandwhich wraps with corn tortillas (I have also been known to make pb&J tortilla wraps in a pinch. Just heat up the tortillas for a few seconds to get them soft. I’m not saying they are good, just saying they are edible)
Dinners:
I rarely work with gluten free flour. It’s really expensive, but I do keep a small bag of it to thicken soups or sauces ( 1 or 2 tablespoons)
Here is how to make a GF sauce
Walmart has really cheap gf noodles that aren’t bad.
But your main starches are Rice, Corn tortillas, and Potatoes.
So here are a few basic dinners that I make.
Tacos. (homemade seasoning, or gf seasoning) on corn tortillas, corn chips, corn hard tacos, or taco salad.
Stirfry with rice. (la choy is a gluten free soy sauce, and teriyaki sauce).
Gf spaghetti/lasagna
Potato bar with chili, sour cream, cheese and chives. (sometimes with gf bbq chicken)
Hawaiian Haystacks (rice, white sauce roux with gf flour, fun toppings like peppers, pineapple, mandarin oranges, corn, peas, raisins, coconut flakes, chicken, etc)
Cheesy potato soup (roux gf flour)
Oriental chicken salad with dang good homemade dressing.
There you go. 7 really good meals, go through it twice, and then without realizing it, you are done with your 2 weeks!
P.S. There have been some recent claims that modern wheat actually affects everyone. So as an experiment, if you take the wheat challenge, will you come back and comment on if you had a tummy ache after the 2 weeks were up or not?
I would love to know!
