Living Gluten Free

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I have for quite some time now been gluten free. I became gluten free in a bid to help ease the symptoms of endometriosis that I have suffered with for many years.  Now however, having been deprived of gluten for so long, my body has become defenceless in protecting itself against gluten and any intake now can cause severe problems.

People go gluten free for different reasons.This can range from medical, weight loss or simply as a lifestyle choice.Gluten is not necessarily bad for you unless you have a specific condition such as coeliac disease in which case,an intake of gluten will cause the body to overact to it and result in serious intestinal damage. This is a condition that can sometimes go undiagnosed. 

photo credit:Edgar castrejon- unsplash 

If you suffer regularly from gut pains,headaches,diarrhoea,constipation it may be worth checking with a doctor to see whether gluten is the culprit. 

If you don't have a specific issue with gluten and you make the decision to go gluten free, bear in mind that you need to be prepared to stick with this decision as going back and forth can have real detrimental consequences. I found that out the hard way!

Removing gluten from your diet without a valid reason can actually cause you harm as foods containing gluten are usually rich sources of essential vitamins/ minerals. So, unless you are making sure to replace these, going gluten free may not be a wise choice.

I have gotten good at keeping away from foods containing gluten so those muffins in the supermarket don’t tempt me anymore, but I’m still having a bit of a wobble when it comes to carrot cakes 😉

The choice to go gluten free worried me for a while. I had to give up too many things at once. The bulk of my diet relied heavily on wheat by-products! How could I possibly live without my fried dumplings, toast, cookies, etc and my absolute favourite carrot cake! yes, there are alternative but initially these were so horrible tasting that I actually couldn’t imagine getting used to them. The first product I tasted was the bread. This to me was just reconstructed cardboard! not to mention the biscuits. 

I have to say though that now, they are really not so bad at all. Either they are making them a lot better or , I have just  gotten used to the taste. On a whole though, I have noticed that the shelves are filling up with a lot of better quality alternatives. I have however gotten to a point where I rely so little on processed foods that I really don't care for much of them and I am not missing gluten at all.

I will occasionally get the gluten free bread, gluten free flour for my dumplings and home baking (another hobby I am developing) but mostly I go for foods that don’t use flour at all.

The gluten protein found  mostly in wheat, barley and rye, is what gives flour its ‘hold’ and ability to rise, so gluten free flour is difficult to manipulate. I have found though, that by adding a small amount of cornmeal (polenta) it makes fantastic dumplings both for frying and cooking. I picked up a little trick (bbcgoodfood)  combining mashed potatoes with ground almond as a flour alternative for baking gluten free cakes and that has worked out a treat (pic below). So now I also try to combine the potatoes with the gluten free flour to give fantastic hold. 

                    

Other suggestions I have taken on board to alleviate my symptoms include avoiding citric fruits, fried foods, red meat, caffeine and alcohol while increasing intake of fruits ,vegetables and whole grains.

For the time being my biggest pet peeve is going home to Jamaica and not have a patty or a festival ☹


                                                                                                                         homemade lemon drizzle cake (GF) recipe @ bbcgoodfood 

                             


Comments

  1. Ukulele Mark4 August 2020 at 16:22

    Mash potato with ground almonds or Ackee dumpling n Red Stripe.... tricky. I didn't realise you had to be so diet mindful being GF. And also be very imaginative in the kitchen.....

    ReplyDelete
  2. whispersandteardrops4 August 2020 at 20:35

    Ukulele Mark, not sure about the ackee , dumpling and Red Stripe bit :) but, yeah it can be tricky to keep tabs on all the things you have to check.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Unknown5 August 2020 at 15:03

    I too have become quite health conscious recently after developing IBS. It hurts not to be able to eat what I enjoy but the flare ups are no joke. A gluten free diet helps but I do miss my Caribbean food as well.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. whispersandteardrops5 August 2020 at 22:44

      IBS can be quite challenging , yes.The good thing is there are many options and alternatives.Perhaps it's time we learn to make our own versions of the foods we miss ;)

      Delete

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