Hello.
Hope you are all well. Raining away at the moment but sun is forecast for the afternoon.
Yesterday I was like a proper keeper of a house and did cleaning and baking. I baked a loaf, not from scratch I just added water to a packet mix. I have tried many times and many ways to make bread without success and this joined the pile. However I did salvage the ends and we had jam on them. I also made a pizza base but unfortunately the scales broke at the moment I was weighing up the flour. Hence a rather doughy pizza was made and eaten. Shame as it was the scales from my childhood.
After my pizza lunch I felt sluggish and kept yawning on the dog walk. Then when I had the bread that evening I started aching all over - legs, back and neck. I have arthritis in my neck, I suffer from lower back pain and often get a heavy achey feeling in my legs. However this was quite a quick onslaught of all 3. I did a google and apparently gluten can cause inflammation and not just gut problems. I knew a long time ago I needed to limit the amount of bread I eat as I can verge on suffering from IBS and bread was definitely a trigger.
I know a little knowledge can be a bad thing but I am wondering whether to do a little test with myself and see if I can eradicate gluten for a couple of weeks and watch for results. My only drawback is it may get pricey and laziness: the thought of planning and cooking meals quite strictly. I'm not a planner and but for having to feed someone else would happily live on toasties. I have avoided taking sandwiches to work for a fortnight but end up going hungry as the alternatives have been yucky. However I did have an Uncle Ben's rice pot thing and it had plenty of sauce and was quite edible. Cannot bear dry food. The rice is white though and so I was really hungry a few hours later. Bread and pizza fills me up for hours.
Does anyone have a few tips please? I am going to try a meal plan for this week to avoid gluten. If I can manage to incorporate it into meals without having to cook separate meals I have more chance of sticking to it. Breakfast could be yoghurt instead of cereal I suppose. Not sure for lunches yet.
Off to plan.
Take care x
Hi Hazard, I am sorry you have this diet problem thing. I don't know anything about gluten free because I have never had to look for it but I did give up dairy products a few years ago, and bread, for seven months to appease my doctor, and I lived on lots of canned sardines and avocados and baked beans. Not too expensive either. I felt more healthy than usual not having dairy products. I still don't drink milk, only soya milk, and make porridge with it. Hope that helps a bit.
ReplyDeleteThanks Rachel, not had sardines in years - what a good idea. I buy rice milk for my son as he is dairy intolerant. I love milk and cheese and would find it near impossible to give them up although I want to for moral reasons. I think beans will be a good inexpensive filler. x
DeleteYou may be intolerant to gluten or just to wheat. Oats contain gluten, unless labelled gluten free, but I can tolerate any oats very well. Rice is gluten free of course, and quinoa which makes a great salad. Rye crispbread may or may not be wheat free (some are purely rye and some contain wheat) but are not gluten free. My advice would be to try gluten free, see what happens, then if you are better, try some oats or rye If they are ok then wheat is your problem. I like gluten free pasta; I find asda has it cheapest, their own brand is £1.35 for 500g spaghetti or shapes. Hugely expensive, I know but I have seen it for much more. Polenta is gluten free, as is cornflour/meal but I'm no expert on them.
ReplyDeleteThanks Attila there's some great ideas here which I'll work my way through. Never been too keen on rice or pasta but found I love the Heinz gluten free mac. Hopefully it's just wheat and not gluten as just been through the cupboards and there's gluten in nearly everything in there x
DeleteHi Hazzy, I had to go gluten free last year after suffering severe abdominal pain which then left me very sore for days after. The doctor after testing me for celiac disease then decided it was gluten intolerance. I have some gluten free recipes on my blog that may be of use. I make big batches of things for myself which last a few days, puy lentils with roast veg for example which I take to work for lunch. Home made chunky soup is filling for lunch if you can reheat things at work. I make pasta dishes at home which nobody notices that they are gf. Big bags of Sainsburys Scottish porridge oats to make my breakfast with have never affected me as they only contain oats, and porridge is very filling, but I know some people can't tolerate oats. Polenta 'chips' are something everyone in the family likes. As Attila said rice and quinoa are good alternatives. If you drink beer don't forget that contains gluten, I caught out with that in the early days and was in agony for days. If you do think gluten is the problem and decide to get tested you actually need to eat gluten for the tests to work. Gluten free stuff can be very expensive so I do cook from scratch. Hope this helps. x
ReplyDeleteIt does help Chickpea thanks. I have had bad abdo pain in the past, where I have not been able to stand up. I know cutting out bread helped. Thanks for the ideas am going to write all these down and will check recipes on your blog x
DeleteI try to limit the amount of bread that I eat, purely because I like it loaded with butter. Have a look at Frugal Queen, she is eating gluten free and has lots of recipes.
ReplyDeleteThanks Pam I will have a look on her blog x
DeleteHi Hazzy. Basmati rice is suppose to keep you fuller for longer rather than the regular rice. if that's any help. Porridge made with rice milk is delicious.
ReplyDeleteCarolx
Thanks Carol, funnily enough basmati is usually the rice I eat as it seems a bit more edible. I also make porridge with almond milk and it is nice but to be honest I cover it in golden syrup. Thanks x
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