Gluten Free - Happy Me

The Many Heads of Gluten Sensitivity

2011-07-26T11:21:00.000-07:00

http://www.glutenfreesociety.org/gluten-free-society-blog/the-many-heads-of-gluten-sensitivity/

Just as I thought

2011-04-29T13:52:00.000-07:00

It makes me sick to know that people we trust to help us be healthy are hurting us by ingnoring important information that is available. - Deb

April 26, 2011

Arthritis Caused by Gluten and Food Allergies

Most, doctors specializing in the treatment of arthritis, joint pain, and autoimmune diseases affecting the musculoskeletal system never even consider diet as an important factor in the development of these conditions. I was formally trained in rheumatology at the VA hospital in Houston, TX, and I can say that diet and nutritional recommendations to patients were discouraged and in most cases frowned upon by our attending physicians. It was actually this experience that prompted me to dig deeper into the connection between autoimmune disease and food.

Over the past 10 years, I have treated thousands of patients with arthritic conditions. The most single effective therapies have always been diet and exercise. The paradox with exercise… It is harder to stick to if it flares up the arthritis. The problem with food…everyone reacts uniquely based on their own unique chemistry. But it only makes sense that if drugs can target inflammation as a treatment, why can’t food. After all, isn’t food a drug of sorts?

I have found that medical research greatly supports this connection, but more importantly, I have found that patients get better after eliminating inflammatory foods from their diets. What foods should we avoid to help recover from arthritis? Depends on the person. Everyone is unique.

Forms of Arthritis That Benefit With Diet Changes:

Osteoarthritis
Rheumatoid arthritis
Lupus
spondyloarthritis
psoriatic
reactive arthritis
Fibromyalgia
Scleroderma
Myofascitis
Dermatomyositis

Dr. Peter Osborne
http://www.glutenfreesociety.org/gluten-free-society-blog/going-on-a-gluten-free-diet-fox-news-interview-with-dr-osborne/

When this Blog began...

2011-04-26T14:55:00.000-07:00

Five years ago, March 26, 2006 I began posting on this blog and wrote the following.

After 20 years of seriously declining health, I started my new life just a year ago. The life where I don't eat wheat. The life where my bones and muscles don't ache, my stomach and bladder are calm, my skin is clear and I laugh out loud. My new life - where I feel more like 27 than almost 47. This blog will be a series of ramblings, rantings and ravings as I continue to figure out what I can eat and why none of the doctors I saw over the past 20 years ever thought that wheat could be my problem.

At that time information available anywhere about Gluten-Intolerance was sparse but I am so glad to say today that is a different story. I discovered though the years that the wheat was not my only issue and that the gluten contained in many grains was. As each year has passed I have learned more and more from and about my body. It's all a good thing.

Eating Gluten-Free has been a challenge but not impossible. Nothing is impossible when you put your mind to it. You have to decide. Decide what is important.

Eating well and feeling well go hand in hand. For many years I had though I was eating well but my body proved me wrong. Now my body is happy. Happily responding to the choices I am making. It is still a hard pill for me to swallow that I had to suffer for so long and that none of the doctors were of any help to me or my well being and instead of recognising the underlying issue of all my ills the continued to just offer me pills.

The Power of Knowledge

2011-04-14T11:48:00.000-07:00

I'm on the e-mail list for the Arthritis Foundation's news letter. Two years ago I was the local "poster child" for the Arthritis walk. That experience was another awakening to the closed eyes of so many that society counts on for real help.

Thus, I hardly ever bother to even open the regular e-mail newsletters I continue to recieve. After all it's all bad news. But today I decieded to open the link and was just for a minute was inspired by the catchy headline at the top.

The Power of Knowledge.
Relevant.
Reliable.
Resourceful.
Mind Body and Spirit.

This inspiration lasted for less than a minute. It's all a bunch of crap! Knowledge. Bullshit!

What first caught my eye was an article about eating right. I read it. Right for what, I thought? Not me and most likely not you.

Grab-n-Go: Four Quick Breakfast Ideas

I know what saved me and I know it's saved quite a few others. And that is living a life free of the ingestion of Gluten. So I search the site to see how much this organization that suppossedly cares about "it's people"talks about this idea. A search of all the articles on the entire website linked to only 5 articles of these I could only find one article that used the word once. Just one reference. Just a faint whisper. Shit. I'm pissed again. http://www.arthritistoday.org/community/people-profiles/ginamarie-russo.php

Okay, so it feels good to rant a bit but I'm not going to continue to give this negative emotion much energy. I've shifted my energy to thinking positive and thus I am going to again refocus my energy into doing good. Creating good. Good things to eat for people like me that know that life with out Gluten can indeed be a very good one.

I have created something fabulous to share with the world. Something to sweeten your day. Something to bring a smile and healthly fill your tummy as well. The first products I am bringing to market are cookies and scones. Unbelievably good and unbelieveably GLUTEN-FREE. I call my company GLUTEN-FREE GOODNESS. Look for futher information on at http://www.gluten-freegoodness.biz/

I met a nice “Young Man”

2009-08-15T15:23:00.001-07:00

I’m hardly shy, especially when I hear someone utter the phrase “GLUTEN-FREE”. So when I heard a young man inquiring about available GF deli items at The Merc, I couldn’t help but speak up. “You’re GLUTEN-FREE? I asked as if I had just found my long lost nephew. Have you tried these? Oh, my gosh. They’re wonderful.” As I spoke I opened the bakery case to our left and pulled out a package of The Merc’s own GF treat Bumble Bees.

Now you have to understand, when you become a dedicated GF you automatically join a wonderful group of kindred spirits ready to share “what works” for them. We met again at the checkout where I learned that my new friend was more than GLUTEN-FREE. He was following the Paleo diet and boasted of his GRAIN-FREE, DAIRY-FREE Muffin recipe. I asked if he would mind sharing his recipe and handed him my business card with my e-mail info.

Just as I left the store I began questioning myself. Why can’t I just go along and take care of my own business. Why did I have to talk to him?

Within a day I received this e-mail

Hello,

I'm the young man with whom you were discussing gluten-free products yesterday at The Merc.

I forgot to mention that in addition to being gluten-free, I generally try to abide by the "paleo" diet: no grains, no dairy, no legumes, no sugar, no yeast/leavening, etc. With that in mind, here is my current "(mostly) paleo muffin" recipe that you requested. RECIPE FOLLOWS AT END OF THIS POST.

I couldn’t help but wonder what had made this robust, twenty something, guy make a commitment to such restrictive diet. So I when I e-mailed him back, to thank him for the muffin recipe, I sent a link to this blog and asked him if he had a story of his own. When a few days had past with no e-mail response, I gave myself another lecture about minding my own business.

Yet within the week, I received the anticipated e-mail and it blew me away. I was supposed to talk to him. I think he needed to share his story as much as so many others need to hear it. The following is his reply which he has given me permission to share on this blog.

LJW’s Story

I've never been very "hardy"; I was the kid who always arrived home from camping trips sick, I was sensitive, I wasn't athletic, etc. But things started getting particularly bad after I experienced a serious depression in late 2002.

My energy levels started to sink, I had frequent fever-like sensations in my forehead, and was experiencing what I later dubbed "post-exertional malaise" (I felt terrible after exercising). A few months later I saw my family doctor. He took some blood tests and then diagnosed me with Chronic Epstein-Barr Virus. This is the virus that causes mononucleosis, so I had, in a sense, a form of chronic mono. I spent the next few months following my doctor's request to take it easy, but things got worse. My doctor, though, said there was nothing he could do about it.

Since then I have seen practitioners of virtually every brand of mainstream and alternative medicine (infectious disease specialists, allergists, chiropractors, acupuncturists, body workers, energy healers, etc.), tried many forms of exercise/movement (walking, yoga, tai chi, etc.), and tinkered with every lifestyle variable and dietary choice imaginable. There has been no silver bullet.

However, I am MUCH healthier today than I was in 2003, and I don't think it's necessarily because of the body's time to heal itself. Along the way I have accumulated an in-depth knowledge of what helps my health and what detracts from it. This experimentation culminated in the spring in 2008, which, despite being the worst few months of my life (for emotional reasons), was the healthiest I've felt since I was a child. (That experience, for me, put the nail in the coffin of the idea that our minds and bodies have a very simple, direct relationship.)

So here are my biggest health breakthroughs, all of which I was following by the spring of 2008.

1. Cutting down or cutting out dairy. A mainstream doctor actually recommended this to me when I was in junior high school, in response to my complaints of fatigue. Today I find that dairy makes me lethargic and, most interestingly, interferes with my thinking and my speech--almost like I'd had a cocktail. (In fact, I once came across some information on casein [milk protein] causing opiate-like symptoms in some people.) I tend to make verbal mistakes and stumble over my speech more when I have dairy, and my brain becomes less sharp.

2. Cutting down on sugar. Everyone knows that sugar is evil! (But, unfortunately, a necessary evil sometimes.)

3. Avoiding gluten. Over the years I learned through trial-and-error that wheat makes me feel awful. However, according to an MD allergist I saw, I am not allergic to wheat and I don't have celiac disease. (He took a blood test, which I know is not the gold standard of celiac tests, but....) Regardless of the true cause of the symptoms, my experience has shown an undeniable correlation. When I have gluten, I experience sensations of heat in my forehead, malaise, irritability, etc.--but, interestingly, no intestinal issues. ...I went strictly gluten-free in mid-2006.

4. Essential fatty acids (Omega 3's in particular). Helps with my mood, depression, etc. However, after years of taking Udo's Oil (flax oil, basically) on and off, I noticed an inverse relationship between my EFA consumption and my sex drive. I read up on it and discovered that flax contains high levels of phytoestrogens--so does soy. Some seem to think that phytoestrogens are good, but there seems to be a growing consensus that they are bad (at least in high quantities, especially for men) due to their disruption of natural hormonal processes. My dad recently showed me a really scary article in Men's Health magazine that described a man from Texas who started to grow breasts after drinking three quarts of soy milk a day. Yikes! Anyway, my sex drive normalized and my overall health improved slightly when I switched to fish oil supplementation.

5. Avoiding protein powders, especially those made from soy (see above). I don't know what it is, but they just don't make me feel good. Some people say it's because humans didn't evolve eating refined protein. I now use pasteurized egg whites in my shakes instead of protein powders.

6. New Chapter's Berry Green (a grass-less greens powder). This stuff is GOLD. I can cure a headache with a tablespoon of it (I'm serious). However, it's really expensive (about a dollar a tablespoon) and it tastes nasty. But if I were rich, I'd consume a canister of it a day! It's the only commercial product that I'm evangelical about:

http://www.newchapter.com/products/berry-green

7. Paleo diet. This is probably the biggest breakthrough of all, but that's partially due to the fact that it incorporates all the previous breakthroughs! The idea is this: People have been eating grains, dairy, legumes, sugar, lots of salt, etc., for only 10,000 of the roughly 2,000,000 years of human evolution. In other words, for 99% of humanity's time on earth, we ate nothing but meat, vegetables, fruit, and some nuts. This, therefore, is probably the best diet for us and the one most suited to our genetic history. That's the concept, but the proof is in the non-dairy pudding, right? Well, I tried a strict paleo diet for the first time in late 2007, and the changes were more stark than any other dietary change with the exception of avoiding wheat, which was about equivalent. Most notably, I didn't have to sleep as much. I was used to needing nine or ten hours of sleep, but after I started the diet I'd wake up naturally--and unusually refreshed--after seven or eight hours. No other dietary change had affected my sleep that way before. The other change was in evident when I sat down behind my drum kit. At the time I was a drummer in an active rock band, and playing just became easier after I started the diet. My limbs seemed to move quicker and more smoothly, and my stamina increased. It wasn't night and day, but it was immediately palpable to me. ...You asked about gluten-free grains. I still eat them fairly regularly, but in small quantities--especially corn, which messes me up in a variety of subtle ways. Rice is the most neutral grain to me, and that's the one I eat the most. However, I have to emphasize that I while I feel good if I just keep it to some rice and a little bit of corn, I feel best when I don't have any grains at all.

8. Taking a 30-minute walk daily. Call me lazy, but I find it hard to do this on a consistent basis. But when I do, it helps very much!

Runner up: probiotics seem to help with my seasonal allergies and with my immune system, but I'm not totally convinced. I take them nonetheless.

Lastly, I wanted to mention two books have utterly shifted my paradigm when it comes to diet, both of which I read in the last two years. The first is "The Paleo Diet" by Loren Cordain, the one that got me hooked on the idea of paleolithic nutrition (although there are other books on the subject):

http://www.amazon.com/Paleo-Diet-Weight-Healthy-Designed/dp/0471267554

The other is "Good Calories, Bad Calories" by science journalist Gary Taubes. The book tells in almost excruciating detail the fantastic story of how we came to believe that saturated fat causes heart disease (it doesn't), cholesterol is bad for you (it isn't), and that low-fat diets help people lose weight (they almost never do!).

http://www.amazon.com/Good-Calories-Bad-Controversial-Science/dp/1400033462/

Best,
-LJW
Overland Park, KS

LJW’s soon to be famous “mostly” Paleo Muffins

4 eggs

1 tsp coconut flavoring

1 tsp almond flavoring

1 tsp coffee flavoring

4 tsp vanilla

1/4 cup arrowroot

1/4 cup molasses

1/2 cup water

2 T cocoa powder

4 T dark chocolate chunks

6 T coconut oil

a smidge o' salt

1 and 3/4 cups of finely shredded unsweetened coconut (or coconut flour)

2 cups almond flour

Mix all ingredients well, pour into parchment baking cups (no greasing necessary) in a stainless steel muffin pan, and bake for approximately 45 minutes at 325 degrees F. Makes 12 small (or 9 medium-sized) muffins that are MUCH more filling than they look!

NOTE: the recipe can be simplified by ditching the arrowroot, the cocoa, the chocolate chunks, and some of the flavorings (I wouldn't get rid of the coconut flavoring, though), and putting some honey in its place (1/2 a cup, perhaps).

I’M MOVING TO A NEW STATE

2009-08-10T21:36:00.001-07:00

A STATE OF WELLNESS

CARE TO JOIN ME?

Wellness is an active process

of becoming aware of

and making choices toward

a more successful existence.

Process means that improvement is always possible

Aware means that we are continuously seeking more information about how we can improve.

Choices means that we consider a variety of options and select those in our best interest.

Success is determined by each individual to be their collection of life accomplishments.

http://www.definitionofwellness.com/

WORDS CAN HURT

2009-08-04T21:33:00.001-07:00

Lawrence, Kansas August 4, 2009 If anyone needs to watch their words it would be Shelley Case. According to her website Shelley Case is a registered dietitian and a leading international nutrition expert on celiac disease and the gluten-free diet. From the list of her credentials and affiliations it’s that apparent she as well as a few others regard her views on Celiac disease and the true benefits of a Gluten-Free diet as gospel and even pay her quite handsomely for them. Dang, that’s scary to me.

Scary because I believe the lives of millions of people are at stake. Yep, I’m am seriously talking about life and death issues here. I’m sorry, I know you’re lost. I’m just really heated right now. Let me take a deep breath and back up a bit.

I just came upon a May 13, 2009 press release authored by Shelley Case regarding her opinions on Elisabeth Hasselbeck’s new book release "The G-Free Diet: A Gluten Survival Guide". Because of Hasselbeck’s high celebrity profile her book is garnering quite a bit of attention to the possible health benefits of adhering to a Gluten-Free diet. Now, directly quoting the mentioned press release; “Case worries that too many people will look to the diet to solve a multitude of problems such as arthritis, ADHD, elevating energy levels and even weight loss.”

Say what? Now where exactly is the problem here Ms. Case? What I hear you saying is that it could be a problem if too many people living lives of pain and misery from a multitude of health problems such as arthritis, ADHD, poor energy levels and even weight issues would seriously consider the possibility that there lives could actually and truly get better by a change in diet. Now where again is the problem?

I see the problem with you and so very many like you Ms. Shelley Case. You and so many other esteemed health professionals who have all the right initials after your name. Appearing to have the best interest in peoples heath you are actually (intentionally or not) misleading those that gather at your feet. I see it as a matter of mixed messages when one clear message to all is what is important here.

Just one paragraph down you come back to reality with these words. “The disease (Celiac Disease) effects people differently. For some, the symptoms may include bloating, abdominal pain, diarrhea and/or constipation, while for others it might be fatigue, bone or joint pain, mouth ulcers, migraines, irritability or depression. In fact, anemia is one of the most common symptoms in adults according to a study co-authored by Case and published in Digestive Diseases and Sciences.” So what I am I so huffed about? I’m huffed about disclosing the complete facts and making sure that as many people as possible know them.

FACT – It is possible that many people can regain their health and reverse an array of apparently unrelated major health issues by going Gluten-Free. Hear me – many people, not everybody but many people. It’s a possibility. I real proven possibility. Case in point – ME. I lived that life of pain and misery for way to many years. Every moment not spent thinking about my pain I spent trying to find a way out of it. When someone is searching for answers they need to be told of all the options to consider and not to just run along and look the other way. HELL NO! They are hungry and thirsty for any chance to feel better, to be well.

My point in all of this. I had to live through 20 years of pain and many ignorant doctors to come to the self discovery that the ingestion of gluten was killing me. Now I know that a Gluten-Free diet will most probably not save the world but knowing that it could possibly save their own life would mean a world to another.

So watch your words and please spread the word that there is a whole lot more information out there scientifically proving a connection between the ingestion of gluten and autoimmune disorders, arthritis, cancer, type 1 diabetes, thyroid disease, lupus, fibromyalgia, brain, depression, headaches, epilepsy, and IBS to name just a few.

Signed,

Debra Clemente, GFHHM (Gluten Free Healthy Happy Me)

If you'd like more information about this topic or to schedule an interview with Debra Clemente please call 785-218-6028.

###

Thoughts on thoughts

2009-05-14T21:22:00.001-07:00

YOUR THOUGHTS

Create

YOUR LIFE!

What you think about

you bring about.

Life gives you what you expect,

not necessarily what you want.

Expect the best!

Damn Chili

2007-12-14T17:20:00.000-08:00

I'm making some right now. I've tasted it as is has been simmering along on the stove. It's a good batch. I never follow a recipe - I'm a taster cook. You know the creative kind. So it's not this chili I am so mad about. It's chili in general. I had always assumed it was safe until tonight.

Being an adventurous and spontaneous cook I reached into my pantry and found 3 kinds of beans available for my dinner pot; Black beans, Kidney Beans, and Chili Beans. I opened a can of the Chili Beans then took a pause as I as about to dump the contents into my pot. Food Starch modified, dang it. Right there on the damn label. Not Modified Food Starch, but this time Food Starch Modified.

I don't know the how's, what's, when's or where's of the food starch modifying business I just know I have learned through the year of my gluten- free quest to stay away from it. Chances are wheat is in the mix. Why do they have to put it in seemingly everything? It's my biggest menance my -oh I don't know a word big enough for this problem.

MY BODY IS TOXIC

2007-09-02T22:08:00.000-07:00

Here is what I want everyone who complains of misc. body pain - fibromyalgia, arthritis, and restless leg syndrome - YOUR BODY IS TOXIC TOO!
I consider my body a living laboratory. It's taken me years to figure this TOXIC BODY THING OUT and what to do about it but I have found some answers for me which may very well also apply to you.

MOST BODY ACHES AND PAINS ARE FROM A TOXIC AGENT IN OUR SYSTEMS
I've deduced that my body has been gradually poisoned though the years from several sources. The consumption of Wheat and toxic chemicals in my paint studio to be sure. I have been wheat free for a couple of years now to the best of my ability. Several years ago I changed the tools I paint with to avoid toxic paint thinner which I was getting on my skin daily. This last week I dipped back in to the toxic paint thinner to clean my hands (stupid I know -the really do put those warning labels on for good reason) and within two days some of the worst of my old pains were back. My legs ached from my hips to my the ends of my toes as I lay in bed. As I grimaced I tried to recall my recent diet. Had I slipped up on the wheat free thing? Couldn't have - I hadn't eaten away from home for sometime and was confident that my diet wasn't the problem. The thing that really amazed me was that I had been detoxing for the past month - (more on that below) -and had felt that I was getting making a lot of detox progress. Then I remembered how I had been cleaning a paint brush with paint thinner and also wiping my hands with the thinner too. That had to be it - the poison in my system making my body ache now, just as it had when I was diagnosed 10 years ago with fibromyalia. After using a high power pain patch a couple of years ago I came to understand that chemicals really do absorb into our bloodstream from contact with our skin. How I don't know now but that's not my point.

Here's my point. Poision entered my system and my previously clean body now hurt like hell.
Just like it had for years on end and I had been told my doctors that I just had to live with it.
But here to me again was proof that something real - toxic agents- had invaded my body- and my body was responding. I then prayed that I could quickly reverse this and regain my health.
Having the poison and the occasion identified was the first step the second was to hit this hard with my detox plan.

MY DETOX PLAN - PRIMAL DEFENSE
No I don't sell the stuff. I have certainly thought about it but then no one would believe what I say as much because I would be personally profiting - I would rather prophesize for the greater good of all. Look this stuff up- PRIMAL DEFENSE- it's easy to find on the web. After starting back up on it I was all better from this pain attack in a day- two at the most. I have more stories about how this stuff has helped me -which I'll post another time, but you really should research this product for yourself.

IN SUMMARY
It is my belief that most complaints of misc. body pain - fibromyalgia, arthritis, and restless leg syndrome as well as rashes and itching- mean you have a toxins in your system. To get better you need to find out what is getting into your body and harming it. It could be something you ingest, breath or apply topically as I did. But you also need a plan rid your body of the built up toxins that are stored in your muscles, fat, connective tissues. I've read of lots of ways to do this that sound hard and very unappealing a the best, but for me taking PRIMAL DEFENSE in the quantities suggested by the company to detox one's body has been a pretty darn easy and amazing thing.

My Claimer (not disclaimer)
I know this is all true for me and have I figured it out on my own. I do not claim to have been told this by any of the numeral medical professionals that I have seen through the years and you know what? That really pisses me off!

Getting the word OUT

2006-08-15T15:40:00.000-07:00

I have started e-mail correspondence with my health insurance company asking for their help in getting the word out to the greater community. Sadly, as I write this I know that whoever manages to find my posts in this great big sea of the internet won't happen upon it and learn something totally new. They will have at least been searching or surfing in this direction. So I have asked that Blue Cross of Kansas to stand up and speak out. Everyone needs and deserves to know about Celiac Disease
.
I also found and excellent article today supporting my beliefs and personal findings about Celiac.
I just wrote and thanked the author for her work and efforts on all of our behalves.
Here is a link to this newsy piece. It's a good summary.

http://www.palmbeachpost.com/pbcsouth/content/local_news/epaper/2006/08/04/m1a_CELIAC_0804.html

RESTLESS LEG SYNDROME theories

2006-08-14T17:48:00.000-07:00

I found the following information on the internet
which supports some of my personal theories on
RESTLESS LEG SYNDROME http://www.amaluxherbal.com/restless_legs_syndrome.htm

Restless leg syndrome is also known as ekbon syndrome, leg jitters, fidgety legs, restless legs, anxietas tibialis, hereditary acromelagia and by several other names to be sure. Restless legs induced Sleep Disorders/insomnia is a very common complaint among people of all ages. There is also a relationship between restless leg syndrome and anxiety.
There are additional patterns that accompany some afflicted with restless leg syndrome.
Among them are general pallor, feeling cold or heat sensations, general indigestion, bloating, Stress, Stupor, etc. all of which contribute to sleep disorders and insomnia in general.
Interestingly many people have observed that certain foods will aggravate or bring on this very irritable restless leg syndrome problem in them. For some the scenario is as follows: a sizable amount of take out pizza is eaten (which at age over 40 can be almost any amount), this being followed by a lay down on the couch to watch television and the sensations that follows are hard to describe. The feet start to become uncomfortably "itchy-come-irritated" to the point that they cannot just be left resting in place - but must be moved.
It would be misleading to label this an "allergy."Of course pizza itself is not the culprit per se, because homemade pizza made from good ingredients will likely have no such effect - at least not on most people. Clearly if the problem were strictly pizza, places like Italy would have been driven insane by this problem a long time ago.
It is the ingredients however that are suspect and should be examined. The "high gluten wheat" that is often used along with the artificial quick leavening agents used in commercial pizza making are suspect.
(It should also be mentioned that for some people other chemicals and food additives may provoke Restless Leg Syndrome. (One person who visited our site from the UK said that monosodium glutamate provoked it in her.) These type of artificial substances are a little hard to cope with because foods naturally are easier for the body to deal with whereas chemicals are not easily digested by the body. That is why they remain traceable after the fact. Once ingested their effects take their course and until eliminated herbs or anything else may not counteract their effects. Perhaps override their effects but not stop them until they are eliminated from the body. Sometimes they cannot be counteracted.)
For many simply ingesting too much refined wheat has produced restless leg syndrome symptoms. The reason is that in some people the gluten does not break down completely after digestion into something the body can use. It is not the organism that is at fault but the substance that is indigestible (the substance that may trigger restless leg syndrome may vary from person to person). Even though the particle size is minute it still remains only partially digested - something that is out of place in the blood stream in this form. (When something is cleanly and fully digested it first becomes blood and then flesh and is therefore untraceable. This is called assimilation - a concept not accepted by modern science as being plausible. In place of it the concept of absorption is used. These are similar but very different concepts.)
The problem is therefore in the blood and what is coursing in it, or, more to the point, what shouldn't be coursing in it.
Among the young the energy inherent in youth will force wastes out of the body more readily through the normal channels of elimination by the digestive organs. If wastes happen to be in the legs, for instance, it is common that a rash or a boil will be the result in that part of the body because of the "centrifugal" effect of the bodies energies. Among the elderly however, most of whom lack the "heat power" of their youth at the proper intensity, the wastes simply sit (stagnate) and irritate on the inside. This is restless leg syndrome. (Restless leg syndrome can affect younger people as well.)
It is a fact that most of our blood is stored in our legs and the muscle contractions inherent in the simple act of walking help to circulate it. (this is also why a simple stretching of the legs with its contracting of the leg muscles moves the blood and temporarily relieves restless legs) Furthermore, if the organs that filter the blood are not doing their job due to obstruction or lack of adequate function what should have been removed out of the blood remains as undigested particulate in suspension within the bloodstream. It is the nature of these undigested substances to break down through fermentation, which in non-politically correct terms is basically a process of decomposition or rotting.
(It is one of the tasks of the kidneys to eliminate wastes from the blood. The kidneys especially affect the area below the waste. Many people who have kidney problems or kidney failure are also known to suffer more frequently from restless leg syndrome. Even so, restless leg syndrome is not an actual kidney problem per se.)
The fermenting of not completely digested matter in the blood vessels of the legs is by its very nature irritating. If in addition to this there is no physical activity as these subsequent wastes accumulate, the blood flow becomes even more sluggish, very much like a polluted river laden with all manner of toxin and particulate irritating to her surroundings.
Analogy A) Imagine our blood stream being like a river within our body. In this case a river laden with waste is a good analogy to explain restless leg syndrome by. A waste laden river necessarily slows and deposits its particulate burden along banks and sandbars. These murky and fetid deposits have a fowl stench that necessarily affects other life along it's banks and in the river itself. Eventually life becomes impossible along this waterway.
As in a river it can also happen within the bloodstream that the irritating substance can deposit itself out of solution onto the tissue of the vessels itself causing an irritation. It is well documented that fat can deposit within the vessels of the upper body, then logically gravity can surely carry heavier wastes into and onto the vessels of the lower body (legs).
This particulate is one major component of restless leg syndrome but, there is at least one other.
There is an energy associated with life - science can observe it and measure the work it does but there is no mechanical way to quantify it. The ancients simply called it "life force." Life force is more abundant in youth and diminishes in the presence of ailments and with age.
This very fine concept is hard to explain but, Herbalists throughout the millennia have consciously worked with it to attain health.
Although it is everywhere in the body and it concentrates more abundantly in certain organs it is the blood that carries it. Although there are different types of "life force," the "life force" or "vital energy" that pertains to the problem of restless leg syndrome is taken from the air we breathe and the food we eat converted through proper digestion and distributed to all parts of the body though the blood. In the Orient it is called "chi." This very fine life energy for various reasons stops "flowing freely" due to its insufficiency producing a stagnation. With it the movement of the blood in general along with the substances being carried in the blood also become inhibited. This is not a total stoppage of course, but a stagnation.
This "life force" is to our blood what octane is to the fuel we put into our cars. The more octane the more power. Or, it can be compared to wattage in relation to voltage in electricity. The more life force the more capacity/energy to move that which is stagnant.
Analogy B) Another very good analogy to illustrate the above fuel example in relation to restless leg syndrome is the using cheap fuel in a high performance automobile engine. In very short order there would be significant carbon deposits that would noticeably impair the engine performance or even corrode the metal itself. Why? Because there is too much impurity in the fuel and it will not completely or cleanly combust – leaving residue. Higher octane - less residue. More "life force" - less waste in the body. (Believe it or not our bodies can also produce carbon and other post- digestion residues. It does not take the form we would expect being largely invisible as carbon (or other) because it combines with other fluids and tissues in our bodies and because bodily pollution is becoming more the norm it is being considered normal.)
These, of course, are metaphors but, they might create a clearer picture of restless leg syndrome better in principle form than most other explanations illustrating why restless leg syndrome comes into being. Out of this stagnation and the various substances accumulating and fermenting releasing their heat and rarified toxins arise these local leg irritation which can range from mild itching to pain which is now commonly being called restless leg syndrome.
These explanations illustrate a few simple principles that depict what occurs in our digestive and circulatory systems that closely relate to the problem of restless leg syndrome. When the blood carries residues within it that should have been removed, Nature in an attempt to restore order and equilibrium will work without prejudice trying to remove them to the point of causing discomfort.
This is how a knowledgeable herbalist would explain restless leg syndrome.
Some explanations of restless leg syndrome offer very complex neurological explanations that avoid the issue itself. If you stub your big toe it will not be the cause of a head ache. Yet, this is the logic that is trying to be applied in some explanations of restless leg syndrome. But, according to the logic of Paracelsus, expect that if your legs are bothering you that the problem is likely to be found in the vicinity of your legs not in your head!
Although Restless leg syndrome is more prevalent today than ever before it is not a totally new phenomenon. The effects and causes have existed for centuries and the ailment it was associated with was named Podagra (bitter waters) by Paracelsus - himself a Herbalist - who's work is still being mimicked but never duplicated, in the 1500's.
According to the theories of Paracelsus Restless leg syndrome rls can be compared to gout or arthritis (podagra) only less intense, occurring within the vessels instead of in joints or skin. Also, the irritating substance is not so concentrated as to provoke an actual inflammation in one local area but because of its dilution within the liquids of the vessels is being more diffused over a larger area more likely producing an irritation rather than actual pain. This is similar to how a sliver of wood will irritate the flesh or how an irritating substance on our skin may cause irritation, only with restless leg syndrome the substance is much finer and on the inside of the vessel walls. If there are too many irritating substances being carried in the blood it would stand to reason that they can also alter its chemistry. The blood can become too acidic (uric acid, lactic acid, etc.) (Some may define this corrosivity more accurately as being alkaline).
Today restless leg syndrome is far more prevalent than ever largely because of our modern circumstances. A sensitive person will notice that our present day food may be "prettier" to look at but all too often it lacks fragrance, taste, and nutritional value. Many popular foods are in fact synthetic or contain synthetic substances or have been stored or preserved for too long to contain any "energy." These synthetics are not foods and therefore remain as irritating residues in our systems after digestion because they are indigestible.
One can argue that these are not completely scientific explanations, yet restless leg syndrome is not a disease as such, it's a syndrome. There is no scientifically based diagnosable physical problem therefore there is no scientific explanation or solution for restless leg syndrome, although science is looking in the direction of brain and nerve functions as probable causes.
Some associate restless leg syndrome with iron deficiency. Although iron does help carry oxygen which is essential for the flow and conversion of energy in the body, not everyone with iron deficiency alone has restless leg syndrome. The concept that the energy that flows in the blood stream must first be produced and accumulated by the body is ignored. Although this energy is related with iron its effects are finer and entirely separate from it. Healthy iron content (which is not supplied through normal iron supplements) also contributes to normal kidney function which can affect the lower body (below the hips).
In addition stress is commonly associated with and aggravates restless leg syndrome. This is a closely related symptom. Emotional stresses consume our energy (life force). This leaves less to be circulated in our blood stream. With age there is even less life force available, this deficit in life force leaves the blood less vital. This cannot be measured by chemical means like say, anemia or the like. http://www.amaluxherbal.com/restless_legs_syndrome.htm

Search words:
Restless Legs SyndromeCauses, pain, painsrestless leg treatmentannoying restless leg syndrome where your legs begin to ache and tingle and you feel the need to move them,cure, cured, no drugs, DRUGS. Symptoms

Ginger Cookies

2006-08-14T17:44:00.000-07:00

innocent little ginger cookies

“MMMM…. Ginger Cookies, whoa, these are the best cookies. Just right - chewy. Try them. I mean anybody would love these. You wouldn’t think they are wheat-free at all.”
I was going on and on about the cookies as I helped my daughter unpack in her new apartment. We had been busy getting her arranged and had not formally stopped to eat breakfast or lunch. I had purchased the cookies at my home grocery and had brought them as part of my wheat-free safe food stash. I had already consumed about ten of the fabulous little cookies when I was pitching them to my husband and daughter. “Really you have to try them…” I reached in the bag for another cookie (remember I missed breakfast and lunch) put it in my mouth and flipped the cookie sack over to read the ingredients. I had to know what made these cookies so good. It had been a while but I had purchased this brand of Ginger Snaps in the past and had found them to some of the best packaged Gluten-free cookies, but I really had not remembered them being this good. As I bit into the cookie I read the first ingredient and simultaneously spit the cookie out. I was immediately sickened. WHEAT! The first ingredient was wheat! Oh, my gosh! Damn, what have I done? How did this happen. No wonder they tasted so damn good. I was mad and scared that I had messed up my diet. What’s next stomach pain, gas, diarrhea? I had a plane trip later that day. I immediately said a prayer that the alien in my stomach feeling didn’t hit mid-flight. I then became mad and sad that what I had found so satisfying was not to be ever again. Damn, how did this happen?

Okay, I was at the grocery shopping in my special health food department. I remember picking up the package marked “Gluten-free Ginger Snaps” in the cookie aisle and putting them in my cart. Oh yes, there was new packaging that caught my eye. Ginger Snaps, the same brand positioned right next to the bag I had just put in my cart, As a designer I was drawn to the new fresh styling so I picked up a bag and eyed the package. Hmmm, I liked the design. At first I wanted to buy the second bag just because it was prettier but then I noticed the freshness dating and compared it to the date on the bag of cookies in my cart. Ah ha! Boy, am I smart I told myself the new packaging is fresher. So I exchanged the bags of cookies and strolled off with the prettiest bag of cookies in my cart.

Now, sitting on my daughters freshly made bed I was thinking of the bed I had just made for myself. I turned the “pretty package” of cookies over to the front. “Ginger Cookies”, just “Ginger Cookies”, not “Gluten Free” at all. Luckily my digestive system was none the worse for wear, you know ginger in general is said to comfort an upset stomach. But alas, I was not to escape Scot free.

On route home, aboard the plane that night the cramps began. Leg and arm cramps. Restless legs are so bothersome in all ready restricted quarters. The cramps and pains continued for another four days mostly noticeable as I each night as I tried to ignore them and fall asleep. I had plenty of time to think this all over and over. Unless I mess up and consume wheat, I live my life pain free, which is so amazingly wonderful. I am so extremely happy that I have found out what had made me get sicker and sicker for 20 plus years. As another commercial came on the TV tonight telling sufferers of painful cramping legs that there was a name for the condition “Restless Leg Syndrome” I thought “so what”. Actually I thought “so the #$#$#$ what”. What is in a name? Just like I was told I had “fibromyalgia” – unexplained muscle pain, or “irritable bowel syndrome”- a gut that hurts all the time, duh. Just names, not rhymes or reason. Just learn to live with it my doctors would say or maybe “try this new drug’.

So maybe it’s easier to take a drug than avoid the cause but even with all the drugs I took, which each posed new health risks, I never had a totally pain free day. So, it is my mission to inform the world that I am cured. My trigger appears to be wheat. There maybe more but at the current time I am do quite well when I avoid anything with any association with wheat. I’m certain that some of the other millions out in this big world that deal daily with the same health issues that I have dealt with are being affected as well by something they are ingesting on a daily basis. I am not a doctor, and never intend to be. I see a lot of ignorance in our medical community. If there is not a dollar to be made then no one cares. If you are healthy, cured and no complaints where will the next dollar come from. Do doctors really want cures? Do drug companies really want cures? The way I see it, no they don’t they want treatments, therapies, drugs, and x-rays and blood work.

I just want to spread the news that I'm better and maybe you can be too.

Even a little bit is too much

2006-07-29T22:17:00.000-07:00

This wheat free thing – my new way of life is hard stuff but definitely worth all the effort.
The most frustrating thing is eating out as even when I think I have done my best to avoid wheat I hardly ever have a totally wheat free experience.

The awareness that I have somehow consumed the substance that is so offensive to my system may come almost immediately. I’ll find myself having to take deep breaths as the feeling of not getting enough air overtakes me. When I first get this feeling, I try to relax and take a minute to rethink my food choices. I had just assumed that the sauce my sister in law was stirring cornstarch into a few minutes ago was from scratch but as I the heaviness grows in my chest, I excuse myself from the dining room and check the kitchen trash. The detective in me discovers that the sauce mix she used contains flour. So, it’s not all in my head. I am having a reaction. I can hardly get my breath now so I don’t feel like eating. Dinner for me is over. That was dumb. I need to be more assertive about my condition and not be so afraid to make a big deal about my restricted diet and find out exactly is in what I eat.

Sometimes my hands and feet will start to hurt at night and my first thought is one of panic. Pain scares me. I lived for 20 years with some kind of pain every day. Inflammation racking through out my body. Pain I could not escape. Pain my doctors told me I would just have to learn to live with. When pain creeps back into my body my first thought is that the night mare is back and I get panicky. Then I remember that maybe it could just be something that I ate that day. Something wheat related that my body is rejecting. Oh yes, I had Cosmopolitan at a girlfriends earlier that evening. She made it with Grey Goose Vodka, a vodka made with wheat and barley. Gosh, why didn’t I remember that then. I know beer is off limits, the only spirit I feel safe consuming is wine. I do enjoy a glass of red wine. Yea, thank you God for grapes, delightful fermented grapes.

What really makes me mad is after dinner out with my family just as we are winding down the evening and strolling the sidewalk and making our way to the car it hits me. Get me home now. Forget the city Christmas light tour, a stop by the video store or visit to the ice cream parlor. An angry alien is in my bumping around in my gut and wants out so GET ME HOME NOW!

After one of these episodes my stomach hurts for four days. If you have ever suffered from food poisoning you most likely know this kind of pain. I can make that comparison as I’ve unfortunately had food poisoning more than a handful of times too. It's not a stomach ache feeling it’s a pain feeling. A deep hurting that leaves a constant grimace on your face. No, it’s definitely not fun but at least now I now what caused my pain and that in a few days it will subside and I’ll again be better.

In the years before I figured out why my stomach always hurt so, I would be doubled over with what my doctor casually diagnosed with IBS (Irritable Bowel Syndrome) and not feel like eating. I remember reaching for what I thought sounded good and I thought was good for me, a graham cracker or a bowl of cereal even a bowl of chicken noodle soup. Crazy isn’t it. At practically every meal I ate, I was actually putting more poison into my body. I say poison as that is how now see grains such as wheat. As I was first learning about wheat and gluten intolerance I read a response to question posed to an expert about a wheat free diet. The question was: how much gluten can Celiac safely consume. The answer was posed as a question back. How much rat poison can one safely consume? Although I first thought this comparison was quite extreme, I now have personally adopted this view. Even a little bit is too much.

How it started...

2006-03-27T19:58:00.000-08:00

A year ago I stopped eating wheat consciously.

I say it that way because it is easy or at least easy to understand that bread, pasta, and cereals are essentially wheat, but everyday I learn what other foods have wheat lurking within. I stopped eating wheat because I finally made the association that wheat was the cause of my blistering skin rashes and stomach pains. What I didn't know was that giving up wheat would also heal my irritated bladder, all arthritis inflammation, pain and mood. Wow, and none of the many doctors I have seen for a variety of conditions ever brought up the concept of any of my health woes being caused by something I was eating.

Here is a list of all of my previous health problems for which I saw specialists, had tests, major drugs and was very close to surgery.
Irritable Bowel Syndrome
Lactose Intolerance
Hypoglycemia
TMJ (jaw pain and locked jaw)
Fibromyalgia
Rheumatoid Arthritis
Bunions on both big toes
Asthma
Night Sweats
Blistering rashes on face, and arms
Debilitating fatigue
Brain Fog
Bladder Pain
Sciatica
Restless Leg Syndrome
Carpal Tunnel Syndrome

Another time I'll go into my specific symptoms that better descibe my previous health situation outlined above, but what I want all to know is that over a period of 20 years I lived with some sort of pain everyday and today wheat free I don't. Nor to I take any of the medications for my severe arthritis.

A few years ago I stopped taking my Methotrexate for the RA and for 6 months was fine but the pains and inflammation came back as bad as ever and my Rheumatologist told me that I could never go off the meds again. It ends up that the reason I felt better for a while was that I was not eating wheat for many months, but I had put it back into my diet (perfect hindsight tells me this). At the beginning of this first good health period I had vowed to change my diet for 6 months and eliminate process foods hoping by digestive problems would be helped. I had essentially put myself on a low carb diet, but I didn't really intend it to be so. But because I had cut out simple carbohydrates and felt better, I continued to do so.

Along with feeling better, I started looking better and quickly went from a tight 10 to a very loose 6. I didn't want to be rail thin so I begun adding more simple carbs back into my diet and then I felt bad again. Real bad, have to have painkiller bad. Nothing to mess around with bad.

I don't know where I first heard of Celiac disease or a wheat allergy but I do know when it was. It was a year after I had to go back on the arthritis drugs. I immediately Googled : "wheat", "allergy", "IBS" and "Brain Fog" Hmmm. Maybe I'm not such a hypochondriac crazy lady. Giving up wheat sounded nearly impossible but I decided to give it a try.

I gave up wheat. I felt great for 4 months, but "they" say you should really be sure that it is Celiac and get tested. My gastro doctor agreed. I would have to go back to eating wheat for 4 months. It was "really important" for my health to be sure. I told her that even if the tests were negative I was positive that my stomach was better and really enjoyed thinking clearly. But I did it anyway, and felt like crap again for 4 months.

I really over did it last 2 weeks before my intestinal biopsy so they would find lots of horrible sad ville in my gut and be able to clearly announce a definitive title to what was ailing me. But guess what? The tests were negative. "Eat wheat if you want but if you feel better when you don't and choose to avoid it's up to you." I was pissed. Four months lost.

I know my body. When I went back to eating wheat for my "gluten challenge" my face and arms once again became a continual rash of intensely itchy blisters. My face was also stuck in a continual grimace from persistent gnawing stomach pain. Eating, particularity dining out meant having my meal pass through my digestion before the drive home was complete. No fun. Nope no wheat for me. Stupid tests. Stupid doctors.

Since I was in the stupid doctor frame of mind I wasn't in the mood to see my Rheumatologist for a refill of RA medicines. I let it go again and stopped taking those drugs that he had insisted I could never again exist without. I told myself that I wouldn't let it get as bad as it had before and I would make an appointment soon. Now it has been over a year and they only reason I have to see that or any other of these "specialists" that I and and my insurance company have funded through the years, is to tell my story and ask why no one, not a one ever thought of wheat or no wheat.

So do I have Celiac Disease or is it "just" a wheat allergy? That part I really don't care about so much anymore. What interests me now is learning how eat this way for life and sharing my discovery with others.