Sunday, January 30, 2011

Love and Hate Affair.. With Gluten.

Picture from http://thisiswhatyoudream.blogspot.com
The thought came to me the way fresh baked bread fills the air. If I lived another sinful day of lust and gluttony, I'm afraid the guilt will be too much for me to handle. Seriously, it feels like the weight of every dish I've cooked here has surfaced to weigh me down before I can go on any further. I must stop immediately or else my days may be numbered.
It all began at the end of last week, one ordinary evening I could not sleep, my stomach poofed up feeling so full. What did I eat? The same stuff I've been eating the last ten years. Why was this happening all the sudden? My mind was thinking up of all the possible ailments. Sure I bloat after every meal but this was ridiculous. From my upper abdomen all the way down to the pelvic region was cramping actively. I couldn't sit, walk, and laying down did not make a difference. I had never been in so much pain for as long as I can remember.
Scared stiff, I googled my symptoms and quickly jotted down in my journal the awful sensations in hopes that I will make it through the night to look back upon. The past questions of other bloated people revealed that eating bread and pasta may be the cause, and right then it hit me, I remembered my History 12 teacher who was allergic to gluten and ate rice bread. No!!! I thought this was going to be the end.
I make it through that night rubbing the swell, imagining that it was erupting from the inside. When I awoke I knew I had opened my eyes because the pain was still there. It did not help that my toy sized dog pounced on my belly. As the hours went by, the pain stopped. I felt hungry but knew I could not go on eating the same foods anymore. Noodles. Just noodles, that's what I've eaten for the past week; egg noodles, udon noodles, wheat noodles. And sandwiches, or bread to dip in my curry, potatoes on the side, maybe it was the sugar in my coffee. I don't know exactly, nor have I seen a specialist to deal with it. Just hoping that it was my body's way of giving me a wake up call.
This experience has brought me to make a Lunar New Year's resolution: Live Without Gluten. Not just that slimy stuff that's found in flour, but I'm going to cut back on the potatoes and refined sugar too. I spent the last day unable to make up my mind on what to eat because everything I want to eat has been killing me slowly. I'm eating rice topped with a chicken and vegetable stir fry. I ate a banana for dessert. I drank herbal detox tea. On the even brighter healthier side, I am excited to be putting all my knowledge to work now; going to start recipes with diuretics, high fibre, whole grains, protein, fruit and honey to sweeten. It is never too late or early to redesign your diet.