For me, diet is a four letter word, I doubt you’ll find it very often on this website. I don’t spend a lot of time discussing gluten free around here either. That’s because I take it as a given that the food I eat will be Gluten Free, that’s just part of my life at this point, though it wasn’t always this way.
Lately, a number of people have asked me to share the story of my celiac diagnosis and personal transition to a gluten free eating plan and lifestyle. So here it is.
I was diagnosed with celiac disease in 1998 during my pregnancy (not uncommon since pregnancy is considered an immune event and celiac is an auto-immune disorder) with my older son. I was 30 years old and sick as a dog –I could barely get out of bed –no exaggeration. Things were very, very bad. My father suggested that I get tested for celiac disease. My mother had been sick for most of her adult life with various odd symptoms and had been recently diagnosed. I was tested and low and behold, yes, I had celiac disease.
Unlike the usual process, where it can take people as many as 9 years and numerous doctors to get a diagnosis and find out what’s going on, my diagnosis came only a few months after the onset of acute symptoms. In that way, I was very lucky. However, when I look back, I had been having classic symptoms of celiac disease and malabsorption for most of my life.
What were these symptoms? I was chronically anemic and whenever I was under stress would get angular chelitis, which is when the corners of your mouth crack and get a little rash. This is also a symptom of nutritional deficiency. So, maybe my diagnosis wasn’t so quick after all. I had to get to the point of being severely ill and bedridden to finally get the diagnosis. Still, I think I was lucky to get it so quickly once that did happen.
As many of you know, celiac disease is a genetic disorder –it runs in families and it has hit my family quite hard. Not only do my mother and I have celiac, my sister and older son have it as well. Incidentally, my mother-in-law also has celiac. So, as you can imagine, the work that I do in creating gluten free recipes is very personal for me.
Anyway, when I received my diagnosis I was tremendously relieved. I finally knew what was going on with my body. I had already had a 3 year training in Ayurveda which included yoga asana, herbs and food, so I was fairly comfortable in the kitchen. That doesn’t mean I could actually make tasty food –my husband disliked my Ayurvedic fare with a passion! He was not a big fan of kichidi, or kichari, as some refer to it.
Of course after the diagnosis I went completely gluten free. As I mentioned, the diagnosis wasn’t a big deal for me. I cooked very simple gluten free foods –vegetables, quite a lot of grains and some proteins. A few months later, I spent a lot of my time making baby food too, once my son finished nursing around a year old.
When that same son turned 3, I started to notice some digestive and behavioral issues in him. I fed him a gluten free diet during the week; however, during the weekends, he went to birthday parties, and the food served at those parties was pizza and cake (gluten galore). Let’s just say that Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday were full of tantrums and mal-digestion.
I asked my son’s fabulous pediatrician (Mark Nesselson, he’s still in practice in NYC), to test my son for celiac and the test came back positive.
This diagnosis had quite an impact on me.
I wanted my son to grow up with all of the delicious treats that I had had in my childhood. So, I made it my mission to turn all of my favorite recipes into gluten free classics. For myself, all I really cared about was getting healthy. For my son, this was a social issue and one that I did not want to color his childhood and experience of food. Of course it did, though hopefully not in a bad way.
This site and my book, The Gluten-Free Almond Flour Cookbook, are the result of my passion for providing my son with delicious gluten free food. It’s been quite a journey and one that has really had a positive impact on my family.
It took a long time though, to heal my gut and my son’s as well. Like some of you out there, the standard gluten free diet didn’t really do much for my son or myself. Probably a lot of you are here for that exact reason. Regular, plain old gluten free doesn’t always work. There can be other food allergies (such as dairy) and issues of chronic malabsorption.
My search for better health lead me to research, lots of research, and my son and I ended up on the introductory phase of the Specific Carbohydrate Diet. We stayed on that (the intro phase) for about a year.
If you don’t know what that is, let’s just say that we didn’t eat sweets for quite some time, and when I say sweets, I’m talking about fruit, dessert, etc. This was a huge challenge, though it really worked for us. My son is now merely gluten free, which for him is fairly easy compared to the Specific Carbohydrate Diet introductory phase.
I personally am fairly Paleo, I find that works really well for my body since I cannot digest any grains whatsoever. I’ve been grain free for more than 9 years now.
Is there a one size fits all solution when it comes to diet and healing? I don’t think so. I believe we are all different, in fact, completely different bio-chemical individuals. Given that, what works for you? Do you have a specific eating plan that you follow? Do you eat things that you know will make you feel yucky? I do.
My biggest challenge these days is dairy. As you can see from my Month O’ Cupcakes, I like dairy, a lot! I know that cow dairy probably isn’t the best for me, as when I have some cheese or whipped cream, the next morning when I wake up, my right elbow hurts a bit. That’s an allergic/addiction that I’m dealing with right now. Nobody’s perfect! I also find it challenging to stay on my ideal eating plan when I’m baking tons of desserts for this website or my books. During those times (which seems like all the time) I knowingly take in more sweets than is best for my body.
So there you have it. My perfect fare is protein and greens with a little bit of fruit –make that low glycemic fruit such as berries. When I eat that way, I feel like a million bucks. Although I have great discipline, I’m also like everyone else. If it’s there, I’ll eat it –to a point, I still draw the line at many, many foods such as gluten, grains, etc.
What do you like to eat? How did you find out you had celiac or were gluten intolerant?
I’m certainly going to go into more detail in future posts and provide specific information about how I like to eat and other tools that I have used to help heal myself. And some of that information might work for you, and some, you might just want to toss out the window! Take what works and leave the rest behind. For me, all of life is simply the process of self-discovery and continual refining and adjustment.
ella says
Thanks so much for your honesty Elana! So nice to hear other people continue to have have things they crave but know it isn’t the best decision :)– I was diagnosed with ulcerative colitis 12/2008, but looking back I always had digestive problems-I thought I was just ‘sensitive’, but apparently it went much deeper. I have been doing the Specific Carbohydrate Diet (of course against my doctors advice, but with the help of my homeopath) strictly for 5 months now and have been symptom free for 3 1/2. I plan on getting my GI doc a copy of the book “Breaking the Vicious Cycle” so he can share with other patients ;). It is the best thing that has ever happened to me. Not only did my physical health improve, but my emotional health is better and my skin is clear! I have tried and tried to reintroduce cheese (my weakness) as there are a lot of allowable cheeses on the SCD, but every time I have tried my face breaks out and I am concerned that the skin break outs are what I am seeing on the outside, but worse could be happening on the inside. I have found that I do well with some goat cheeses every once in a while (but when I start I cant stop!). Since I can’t tolerate much in the dairy dept, I found that making homemade yogurt is my new staple breakfast food–I use whole milk and I ferment it for 24 hours at least to get rid of all lactose and my body loves it! I can also make dripped yogurt cheese from it and it is good too and kind of takes care of my cheese fetish. It is amazing the small things I can appreciate when I find something that works. Just thought I would share for those of you with dairy issues, maybe the homemade yogurt would be an idea to try? I am new to the blogging world and am appreciating everyone’s input–SO nice to hear like-minded thoughts. THANKS!!
DeAnna says
Thank you so much for sharing your story with us.
A says
When I was 11 I was tested for allergies. I’m allergic to so many foods. Wheat is one of them, but I never paid much attention to it because I was busy dealing with adjusting my diet to avoid my more serious allergies (milk, seafood, and so on). It’s taken quite a few years to adapt my cooking, especially with sweets (I should avoid beet and cane sugar).
A couple years ago I became interested in wheat-free cooking after my mother discovered that she also had a common wheat allergy (but, like me, she can eat spelt, so it’s much less restrictive than a gluten-free diet). I started trying to prepare dishes for her and at the same time learned some things which I could apply to my own diet. I can’t say that I cook without wheat all the time now, but thanks to your site and others I have been able to reduce the amount of wheat I consume. Your site in particular is useful because you rely on the types of sweeteners I already use: agave, stevia, etc. so I’m able to transition to the wheat-free substitutions without suffering too many baking disasters. I hope to do more of that in the future. Everyone I have given your cinnamon roll muffins to loves them, even if they have no dietary restrictions at all.
Amanda says
Ever since I was a wee little one, I’ve suffered from almost constant sinus. I had asthma as a child and the most horrible eczema breakouts. <= once you get one, its almost impossible to get it to clear.
Sometime around my 21st birthday (last year) my childhood asthma came back. The first doctor I went to told me it was a freak accident and it probably won't happen again. Funny that, because I had another attack shortly after the steroids wore off.
I went along to a new doctor who openly told me that the medical profession treats symptoms and not causes. He made me do a two week food diary. After that phase, he told me it was pretty clear to him I have food issues and that gluten and dairy were the most likely culprits. I then spent a few months on an Elimination diet. He was right, gluten and dairy are problems, but so are refined foods. I eat completely whole grain now. Lots of vegetables. I'm also moving toward a more vegetarian lifestyle. I call myself "half" a vegetarian as I only eat meat every second day.
I'm still learning. Every now and then, I will eat something and wake up the next morning with sinus. I hate sinus. I'm at the point where I refuse to eat things that will do that to me. The mild stomach cramps I can do, the sinus, I cannot.
Valentina says
Dear Elana, just sharing with you that my husband and I were craving dairy very much in the past. But I found amazing recipes on http://www.drbenkim.com based on cashews and macadamia nuts. They helped us to eliminate our dairy cravings completely and naturally. It was a miracle for us! Here they are:
Healthy Cream Cheese Recipe
By Dr. Ben Kim
2 cups raw, organic cashews
3 tablespoons cold pressed, extra-virgin olive oil
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
Water
Green onions or chives (optional)
Combine all ingredients in a food processor and blend into a smooth cream. Add just a few tablespoons of water at first, and add an additional tablespoon at a time as you blend until you reach the consistency that you’re aiming for.
If you enjoy cream cheese with fresh herbs, add a heaping tablespoon of green onions, chives (or any other fresh herbs that are readily available) to the mix before you blend.
This healthy cream cheese can be used as a spread on your favourite bread. I especially enjoy eating it with Fuji apple slices as an evening snack.
Note from V: you may make it thinner and use it as the most delicious dressing (tastes like Alfredo!). Use chives or a little bit of garlic there for sure.
Healthy Sweet Cashew Cream Recipe
By Dr. Ben Kim
If you enjoy adding cream to healthy pies, cakes, berries, cereals, and tea, give this sweet cashew cream recipe a try – it’s rich in healthy monounsaturated fatty acids, which are good for keeping your heart and blood vessels healthy.
Cashew cream is also naturally rich in magnesium, which your body needs to keep your bones, teeth, muscles, and nervous system optimally healthy.
If you don’t need your cream to be too sweet, simply omit the honey, or use less than what’s listed below. Quality cashews have a natural hint of sweetness that makes pure cashew cream quite pleasant on its own.
1 cup raw organic cashews or raw organic cashew butter
1/2 cup water
1/4 cup raw organic honey
1. Combine all ingredients in a strong blender.
2. Blend until smooth. Add more water if needed.
Transfer sweet cashew cream to a glass jar, cap the jar with a lid, and chill in the refrigerator for at least a couple of hours before using. Sweet cashew cream will stay fresh in a sealed jar in the refrigerator for up to one week.
Please note: If you prefer a thick cream, use less water and pause the blender to give the ingredients a good mix/swirl one or more times.
Note from V: you can use any healthy sweetener of your choice instead of honey.
Tai says
I love your cook book, and this site so much! Thank you for sharing your story. I can totally relate when you said that you want your son to enjoy the foods you loved as a child. I can give up things and understand why I have to, but I don’t want my little girl (diagnosed at 22 months with Celiac) to have to miss out on all the fun foods of childhood. Thanks for doing all that you do so I can give my baby that!
Derj says
I am so with you Elana….I SHOULD cut out dairy, but it is so good! I’ve been tested for gluten intolerance, but it came back negative, however I still have cut it out along with any sort of cane sugar. But dairy….oh dairy I love you too much :)
Stacie says
Are you sure you don’t have Candida? It sounds like you might, to me anyway. I have it and eating tasty food is challenging! I am not only gluten free but yeast, sugar, and dairy free too. It is quite a challenge for me!
elana says
I did at one point have severe candida shortly after my pregnancy. Thankfully, not anymore.
Eden says
Elana–I love it. Thank you for a more detailed story of your journey to this website and your great cooking. Your cooking has inspired me in so many ways! Thanks for taking the time to be so personal.
Linda M says
My sister discovered she was gluten-intolerant 20 yrs ago by doing an allergy diet and since she knew I had similar symptoms, she challenged me do give up gluten. It was hard to do but I found amazing relief from pain and digestive issues almost instantly. I have often cheated a bit here and there through the years (not much, but a bite here and there occasionally – not good) until a couple years ago when I developed Ulcerative Colitis. Now I don’t dare cheat and I have also given up dairy (also not easy). This has really helped my UC so I know I’m on the right track with both of these food issues. But I also made the mistake of substituting soy products for dairy ones and that caused issues with my thyroid (which was already an issue, but eating lots of soy suddenly messed up my thyroid levels), so now I am giving up soy too.
Since diabetes is a big issue in my family and I have a tendency to gain weight easily, I have to really watch my sugar and starch intake, so I really appreciate your almond flour recipes which help me stay lower on carbs (I do use some artificial sweeteners since Agave is too high glycemic for me). Thanks so much for your recipes. I would never have thought of using almond flour on my own. I know I need to follow a Paleo style diet and I am mostly grain-free at this point and am striving to become totally grain free (I do eat some rice and some corn but very occasionally at this point). So I am continuing to change my eating. It’s been a long learning process but I am learning.