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Thread: Going gluten free?

  1. #11
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    Red face

    My PCP has been after me to eliminate wheat, corn and soy since I started having respiratory problems in August 2011. I have resisted. The soy is not an issue, or even the corn. My PCP is an integrated physician and has done wonders building up my bones (measurable improvement in my bone scans) using calcium and vitamin D - and NO medications. She says even organic wheat, corn and soy have been so disturbed by the introduction of GM agriculture - that switching to organic for grains and soy unfortunately does only limited good. Although eliminating pesticides IS a big plus of going organic - no matter what it is. The nutrition level might be the same between GMO and organic - but who wants to muck about with pesticides and animal antibiotics?

    Still ... I LOVE bread. In the past few months though I have found myself using less bread because I discovered that I love rice cakes. Now that I have a tentative diagnosis of wegener's - I decided to really make a 100% effort. I found some great gluten free bread mixes. Also - Tinkyada organic brown rice pasta is just as good as regular pasta. You just have to cook it much less than the package directions. I am blessed to be near two grocery stores that carry a wide variety of gluten free substitutes. But - if you are not so fortunate - much of it is available for purchase online. I have really changed to composition of my pantry, fridge and freezer. But my cooking stays the same. The same recipes can be easily adapted to my new eating habits. I followed one of the links to a site by JJ Virgin - and discovered that my fridge/pantry now almost looks exactly like the ones she recommends!
    Last edited by BookNut; 03-12-2013 at 07:42 AM.
    Jacquie (aka Lifelong Booknut)

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  2. #12
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    I was waiting to see who else might respond, Booknut.

    There's a lot of talk lately about eliminating certain foods to lower inflammation, lose weight, etc., and of course, wheat and gluten are among them. I have a couple of friends who are big on eliminating wheat, the theories behind it, a book called Wheat Belly that you might want to check out on Amazon.com or wherever, and there may be a variety of specific viewpoints. I've heard of two people personally who have had some relief from arthritis from quitting wheat. I'm not sure how important the GM aspect is in all the theories, though that is certainly a concern. I haven't looked into corn or soy at all really, but know the GM aspect is important there, too, and maybe even without that, those two are also on some people's lists of what not to eat.

    Anyway, I went ahead and tried quitting wheat. I lasted for a couple of weeks, but just today went out and bought a loaf of bread. I really didn't have much problem for the two weeks, was eating a lot of rice cakes with interesting things like hummus on them, or peanut butter, and eating a few corn chips with bean dip, etc. I was eating potatoes, not sure if good or not, and eggs. I was eating cheese and yogurt and a treating myself to a little chocolate or ice cream here and there (not a good thing). I was eating a few more salads and other veggies than usual (a good thing). So yeah, I was doing OK, and then just today, I said "I've had it!" and felt like nothing was going to satisfy my hunger and I had to have some bread! I love bread, too. So I've got it in the house again and am eating it. And I'm feeling pretty good today, no adverse effects. During the time without it, I didn't notice any improvement in how I felt, but then I didn't give it enough time, I'm sure. Today, I feel my breathing is better than yesterday and previous days when I was off wheat. But then, I'm taking Wegs meds, so it would be pretty hard to gauge what is doing what.

    Not sure what to say about your PCP's advice; sounds like she's done some great things for you. I'm impressed about the bones. I'd like not to take Fosamax and in fact have been flaky about it lately. I do take calcium and Vit D3. Haven't had my bones evaluated for awhile, due for it. As for the elimination diet she recommends, I don't see how it would hurt. I like the sound of the gluten free alternatives you have come up with. It sounds like a win-win, since you like those things and are eating them, yet can still allow yourself a little bread now and then. (And I did check out JJ Virgin on TV recently. Need further research ...)

    All that being said, you do need a WG dx, if you have it, and will need to take the yucky WG meds! But we've told you that before. And we can all use healthful diet changes whether we have WG or not.
    Anne, dx'ed April 2011

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    Anne,

    My library had "Wheat Belly" and I read it then put it aside.
    I'm sorry but it seemed to be like all of the other books I've read wherein the author seems to infer that 'he knows best'. (Pritikin Diet, Low GI Diet, No Fat Fit for Life, No Gluten etc)
    Apart from him wanting you to give up wheat he also wants you to give up carbs and other things.......sorry, it was way over the top and more than I was prepared to cut out.

    I guess people take what they want out of these types of books or take the entire lot, I think I could take a little bit of each book and come up with a good heart health diet but little else. I really should just start watching what I eat and don't go overboard with the processed etc and not worry what the books say.

    However, I have one daughter who swaps between Vegan and Vegetarian and adds some chicken every now and then, and another daughter who, well, eats everything and anything but loves vegetables and has started to give the reduced wheat thing a go (not a total wheat cut).
    Neither have an AI disease.

    I look forward to other peoples aspects and also results from going wheat free........my mind is open
    Keep Smiling
    Michelle


    Live your life in a way that you wouldn't be ashamed to sell the family parrot to the town gossip - WILL ROGERS

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    LOL Mich! Read my current signature tag!
    Knowing how to think empowers you far beyond those who only know what to think. -NdT


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    Michelle, I personally haven't looked at that book. I have a friend who is way into it and is also a small farmer who wants to someday grow the "old style" wheat that hasn't undergone genetic changes as a result of 20th century practices of breeding for high yield. Between her and another person I'd heard of whose arthritis had improved, I decided to cut out wheat and see what happened, but without any other dietary restrictions or changes. Needless to say, that experiment is over. I think on Wegs drugs it would be pretty hard to tell anyway if it was doing anything for inflammation, and there are many ways of approaching the weight issue.

    I too am pretty skeptical of the fad diets. I know what I should be eating more of and less of and that I should be getting more exercise, and that's pretty much the bottom line. I'm also interested in the alternative foods people have mentioned, which may be untapped resources for good health and may taste good, too! It all takes effort, though, and energy that isn't always easy to come by. If I get ahold of a copy of Wheat Belly I'll try to read it, and see what I think....
    Anne, dx'ed April 2011

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    I too am very skeptical of fad diets. No carbs, all protein and fats, no protein, eat dairy, don't eat dairy. On and on. The one thing that I DO believe in is the importance of eating as chemical free as possible , which to me means organic. If you are interested in organic vs. GMO - the book you should read is "This Ain't Normal Folks" by Joel Salitan. It is sensible, funny, and well-researched. I am not sure if it was in his book - or in one of the documentaries I watched. But...a farmer did an "unscientific study". He planted GMO corn and organic corn in a field and let his animals loose in the field. They walked right over the gmo and refused to eat it until the organic corn was completely gone. That really amazed me. Anyway - I have switched to organic and whole foods. I am retired and so I have the time I did not have when I was racing around in the work world. I appreciate that more organic options are available now - even for quick frozen meals. It is great to keep a selection of good quality frozen foods for those nights I am too tired to cook. And I can even pronounce all the ingredients!!

    About my bone density... I had a scan done years ago and my PCP was lukewarm at the time about taking Fosomax - so I didn't take it. The nurse practitioner who works there found out when I came in for something else a year or so later, that I was not taking any bone-building scripts, and had a FIT. After all, I had osteoporosis in the hip and opteopena (pre-osteoporosis) in the shoulders. She wrote me a script for Boniva. Turns out my health care required special directives from the doctor in order to fill it. Much to my surprise - my doctor refused and asked me to come in to see her. She had done more reading on the topic and she felt strongly that the Fosamaxes of the medical world were bad medicine. She told me that "yes - they do build bone. But the bone is inferior and weak and can cause really serious breaks of major bones." She advised me to do weight bearing exercise such as walking, and to take 5000 units of D3 a day and 1500 mg of calcium. I have done that religiously. Including walking 3-5 miles a day at least 3 times a week. Within a year of starting that regimen, I had another bone scan. My osteoporosis in the hips had improved to the osteopena category and the osteopena in the shoulders improved to normal range. About 2 years after she told me about her reading, the big study came out warning people of horrific fractures of the femur in people taking Fosomax or other similar drugs. So...I know she keeps up on the reading. Shortly after that, she was asked by a local hospital to start an integrated medical unit at the hospital. She left the practice she was in and I followed her.

    I do have to weigh her advice carefully. She is not opposed to "traditional" medications. She is just conservative about them. She is actually the doctor who put me on my current ashtma meds and referred me to specialists when things did not improve. I do know that she is against the idea of imunosuppressants. But the more I research, the more I think it is my best chance of avoiding systemic Wegener's. So - ultimately it will be my decision. I will most likely continue my organic lifestyle, eliminate wheat/corn/soy AND take the imuran.

    What a blessing this forum is. So much good advice - and an opportunity to clarify very complicated topics!
    Last edited by BookNut; 03-13-2013 at 09:53 AM.
    Jacquie (aka Lifelong Booknut)

    Updated status: "Honorary Weggie"

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    how funny ya'll are talking about JJ Virgins book. I just came from doing yoga and went to K-mart looking for a book ( the seguel to 50 shades of grey-which they didin't have ) but I turned around and saw this book.I didn't check it out though but maybe I'll go back tomorrow and get it.
    My ruemy wanted me on Fosamax but after reading about it and my kidney doc. said just eat foods that contain calcium and do weight bearing excerisies will build up yr bones. The other dr. in the practice is all about alternative medicine and every thing mentioned is what she said. Go gluten free,non-gmo (which is always organic ). The triggers are sugar,wheat,corn,soy and dairy also meats. She said should just eat fresh or frozen fruit, veggies nuts and seeds.Would love to try it but I know I couldn't. I was wondering about doing a cleanse--Dr. Oz has one his website but I don't know with the meds if it would be a good idea also was thinking about taking a probiotic every other day ???
    Life isn't about how you survive the storm, but how to dance in the rain !

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    I'm not sure that GMO and organic are two sides of the same coin. But I do need some education along those lines. Using pesticides is bad but that doesn't make it GMO (genetically modified), I don't think. I wonder if GMO could even be called organic if it was grown from GMO seed but without any pesticides. A lot of the reason they do GMO, I think, is to be able to patent the seeds and try to have them become the only seeds available. Also to be resistant against certain pests, I guess. But it gets really ugly, small farmers have been put out of business by the politics of it and sued when the patented seed, which they didn't buy, accidentally gets into their fields. I'm not remembering all the ins and outs of it. But there is a really good, fairly old documentary film on the subject called The Future of Food. It tells the story of how a Canadian farmer, who saved and planted his own seeds, really got screwed when sued by Monsanto when their seed got into his field accidentally. The film also talked about the importance of biodiversity and how we don't want all the produce to come from the same seeds, or to rely on too few different crops. The potato famine in Ireland was a result of that. It is all about people saving their own seeds, having lots of strains of them, etc. There is a lot more to it than that, and I need people to correct me if there's anything I'm misunderstanding or omitting. In any case, you are right to eat only organically grown foods, preferably from local farms!

    My PA (PCP) originally prescribed Fosamax, along with Calcium and D3, because I had osteopenia in my spine, and she made sure I understood the risks, though your explanation makes a bit more of an impact on me. This was before I knew I had WG, and had on ly been on occasional prednisone, which robs the bones of calcium. Once on long term high dose pred for WG, my WG doc has always thought I should take it. I have been until just recently when I've been flaking on it and haven't told him. I know people on here have decided on their own to stop with it. Your improvement without it and with lots of walking and other therapy is impressive. Like it's that hard to get out and walk..... lecture to myself!
    Last edited by annekat; 03-13-2013 at 12:33 PM.
    Anne, dx'ed April 2011

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    Debra, non-GMO is always organic? (To be certified organic costs money and some farmers do grow organically but aren't certified organic.) Organic means grown without pesticides or chemical fertilizers, no? If a person uses non-GMO seeds to grow a crop but puts pesticides on it, I would call it non-GMO but not organic. I thought all the genetic modification would take place at the seed production level. I know lots of small farmers who grow organically, certified or otherwise, and I'm sure they know a lot more about all this than I do. I don't think they'd dream of using GMO seeds, but they could if they wanted to, I imagine. Perhaps it IS true that GMO is never considered organic because of the chemical stuff done in the genetic modification of the seeds. But not that non-GMO is always organic.
    Anne, dx'ed April 2011

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    Additional info I failed to mention: A lot of the purpose of genetically modifying seeds is to make the crop plants resistant to pesticides, particularly RoundUp, and Monsanto is the main developer of such seeds. So farmers can use a whole bunch of RoundUp in their fields and it will kill the weeds but not the crop plants. So, do we want to eat crops, or food made from crops, that are grown in fields that are sprayed with RoundUp? I don't. So yes, eating only certified organic foods and those labelled non-GMO will avoid this happening. But I still say that not all non-GMO foods are automatically organic. The nature of the seeds and how the crops are grown, what kind of pest control, are two different things. Realistically, for people who only shop in chain grocery stores, it may be true that only the products labelled organic are non-GMO these days, and all the non-GMO is organic. But in my neck of the woods, where people buy directly from local farmers a lot, it would be possible to buy something that is neither GMO nor organic. However, I think most of them adhere to organic growing principles, whether they are certified or not, and most of them are indeed certified organic.
    Anne, dx'ed April 2011

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