Food Intolerances are hereditary

First off, Happy Holidays
I'm up this morning with extreme gas and gas pains. I have been having a little bit of unbalance in my gut since last Friday I think. It could have began after eating black eye peas for dinner. I have not got back into strictly recording all food and drinks I consume. I stoped doing that a while ago. My food diary has been taken out of my purse and put somewhere. It looks like I need to start recording again. Something has definetely got my gut all out of whack. Excess gas and fatigue everyday since sometime last week is a good enough warning that whatever one or few foods I am consuming is not digesting properly even with me taking my probiotics.

After talking with my dad yesterday, I found out he and I were going through stomach trouble on the same day. He is having a hard time changing his diet to fit his digestion needs. He also can not eat corn, wheat, and dairy without having digestion problems. Other foods we both have trouble digesting are salads, cucumbers and processed foods. He knows which foods are connected to his digestion problems yet he keeps consuming them. This is the mindset I have been in all my life and finally changed this year. So I will continue to encourage him, with the same words he encourage me with. " Eat what you can digest." We also talked about how my grandmother, his mom, had a very sensitive stomach. So I am sure this thing is hereditary and like my gastroentiologist said to me, I have to learn to live with it. I am doing just that with a few set backs. I need to become more disciplined and start recorded in my food diary again. It really helps when you need to pinpoint or narrow down a problem causing food.

I encourage those of you who have food intolerances to learn as much about food intolerances as you can. Doctors only pay attention to food allergies. You have to be your own food intolerance advocate. Talk with your relatives about you food intolerances because it is hereditary. I thought I was alone in this, but now I know its just how I was designed. I was designed to eat as close to earth as possible. A whole food diet. I feel my best and keep a healthy steady weight when I eat high amount of vegetables, especially greens. My second high intake is gluten free grains such as brown rice, sorghum and quinoa. I like organic eggs as my protein. A low meat consumption is best for me. I eat meats like chicken, salmon and some beef. I try to buy organic foods as much as possible.

Its been a challenge, but its gotten easier

Its been awhile since my last post. I have been busy with family and new business ventures. I must admit, I have slacked big time when it comes to my dream of writing my book and gathering up recipes for the site. I want to do so much sometimes that I don't know where to start. I love blogging, food and fashion. I am enjoying foods without so much digestion problems as long as I take care to avoid the foods my body can not digest. After doing an elimination diet of certain foods, I explored introducing some of them in small amounts. The results were surprising. I can no longer at this point eat chocolate. It makes me feel ill after eating it almost immediately. I can eat tomato based products in small amounts so far which is great because I love the taste of tomatoes and tomato base foods such as pasta sauce and barbecue sauce. Yum. I have become aware, of how exactly my body reacts to what I eat and drink. I know if experience certain symptoms with my digestion I am not consuming the right amounts of fiber, water and greens. I can now eat out at certain places without fear, but caution. I have learned how my body reacts in general to soy, dairy, wheat and corn. I thank God for that. I do need to work on drinking enough water.

After my recent visit with the doctor, I found out that she did not know that restaurants offered allergy free menus or options. I was happy when she said she would pass on this info to her other patients who have or maybe suffering from food intolerance.

Some of the restaurants who have allergy free menus/options are; The Fish House, Chilli's, Mimi's, In N out burger, and Denny's to name few.

My favorite place to eat out is Yummy Pho in Oceanside.

Pho is a vietemese soup dish. It can be made with meat or just veggies.

Rice noodles, broth, basil leaves, bean sprouts, lime, green onions, veggies and/or meat. No corn, wheat/gluten, soy or dairy in this dish.

Food Intolerance Facts

What is a food intolarence?

A food intolerance is a digestive system response. It is not an immune system response. It occurs when something in a food irritates a person's digestive system or when a person is unable to properly digest or breakdown the food.


What are some food intolerance symptoms?

Symptoms of food intolerance include:

• Nausea
• Stomach pain
• Gas, cramps, or bloating
• Vomiting
• Heartburn
• Diarrhea
• Headaches
• Irritability or nervousness
• Itching skin
• mild diarhea
• stiff joints
• backache
• tiredness
• mouth ulcers

Food Intolerances are delayed and can take days to appear

Bad reactions to foods can take up to 48 hours to appear after eating. So it is difficult to make a connection between the symptom and the food which caused it. Most people keep buying symptom relief (over-the-counter medications) for years without ever realising they have food intolerance.

Food intolerances are genetic

Food sensitivity is built into your genes, therefore it 'runs in the family'. You got it from your parents and grandparents. In turn - if you have children - you have already passed it on to them. Celiac Disease (or Gluten sensitivity) for instance occurs in 10% of all first degree relatives of Celiacs - sisters, brothers, parents and children. The same food sensitivities can appear within the same family - but with entirely different symptoms.

Am I really sensitive to chocolate now.... Nooooooo!

Two nights ago, I decided to cook some chocolate walnut cookies. Boy were they good. The tasted just like walnut fudge brownies. Even though I was trying to avoid chocolate, I still took my chances. Well those chances resulted in a rough morning. I always find out if a food was not good for me the next morning. I wake up with pretty much the same symptoms of weakness, nausea, bloating, sharp pains from trapped gas, and dreadful heart palps.

 I know what chocolate does to me but I still want to eat it. I have to be careful with it because in the past, if I ate too much of it, I would get heart palps. This was my warning sign in the past to let me know when I was over doing it. Heart palps are scary when they just happen out of the blue after eating chocolate.This would cause anxiety sometimes but I still ate chocolate. I ate a lot of it whenever I wanted because I liked chocolate, especially milk chocolate. Now when I eat chocolate, I get acid reflux later and major trapped gas. Oh and that is not it. I also get weakness, nausea and heart palps on top of that. So now, I am more sensitive to chocolate than I was last year and beyond. What happen to my stomach? Well a fact I learned is that if you have any type of food intolerance, it will get worse with age. You think you will out grow it, but not likely. It makes sense if you think about it. If you pay close attention to your body, you will learn to recognize when its telling you that a certain type of food is like poison to YOUR body. I am still getting used to the fact that what I am experiencing is likely hereditary. To my surprise, a couple of months ago, my dad listed foods to me over the phone that he could not tolerate. They are the exact same foods I can't tolerate. Even my new sensitivites to foods such as corn, salads, and wheat. 

Yes, I have a new favorite ice cream!

I have been avoiding soy for about 9 months now. One of my favorite cold treats was So Delicious Purely Decadent Praline flavored soy ice cream. It tasted just like real whole milk ice cream or yogurt. It was soooo gooood. After doing my elimination diet, I stopped eating soy completely. I have not really test to see if I could eat soy again. I don't really care to since I ate very large amounts of it as a vegan before I became ill. Anyway, I had been buying the So Delicious Vanilla Coconut ice cream. Tasted eh ok, but I'm not a huge fan of the coconut taste. I like coconut in macaroons, coconut milk in smoothies and coconut breaded shrimp. I don't know why I overlooked the Rice Dream ice cream. I tried it a couple times before and I liked it. I just like the soy ice cream so much better before. Rice Dream Neapolitan flavor ice cream is the best tasting rice ice cream I ever tasted. Well second to the soy ice cream i used to love. Neapolitan Rice Dream is definitely worth the money. I pick mine up from Sprouts. Today was the first time I tried it and if I wake tomorrow with a happy stomach this flavored rice dream ice cream is a keeper. If you can no longer tolerate dairy and you miss ice cream, Fro yo, or whatever give this non-dairy gluten free frozen dessert a try. It does contain soy lecithin however but its located almost at the end of the list of ingredients which may mean there's not that much in it. I wish there was an ice cream parlor that carried only non-frozen desserts for people like me who can not tolerate dairy or just want to do away with dairy all together. Maybe one day I will open one. It will have rice ice cream, coconut ice cream, sorbet, soy ice cream (i guess), gluten free rice cream sandwiches, bars and other yummy desserts. That would be soooo awesome. Why not throw in some paleo desserts, raw food desserts like apple pie, and some vegan pastries? Make it a dessert shop. That would be an awesome place!

Gluten Free Pound Cake (also corn and soy free)

Since I have been on my very strict whole food diet, I have been missing some baked goods. Pound cake is one of them. Pound cake is great with ice cream. Its just a good southern comfort dessert. I remember grandma making this and man was it good. There is also a cake called sprite cake, just like pound cake but yummier. Those of you from the south may know what I am talking about. I think sprite has corn syrup in it so that's out for me. I can find a way around that somehow. When I do, I will blog about it. So here is the recipe for a delicious pound cake.

Ingredients:

1 cup sweet rice flour ( I used brown rice)
1/2 cup sorghum flour
1/4 cup tapioca starch
2 tsp baking powder ( I used the brand without cornstarch)
1 tsp guar gum (xanthan gum is fine too) 
1 cup vegan butter softened ( I used 1/2 cup earth balance coconut spread and 1/2 cup vegetable shortening)
1 cup organic pure cane sugar
2 tbs raw organic honey
4 eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract

Directions:

In a mixing bowl, blend flours, starch, gum, and baking powder. In another bowl, beat butter and sugar until fluffy. Add and blend in one egg at a time. Then add vanilla extract and honey. Blend some more. Pour dry ingredients into wet ingredients slowly. Blend well. Pour batter into loaf pan and bake at 350 for 60 minutes. Let cool a bit and enjoy.

Coconut Carrot Cookie Balls (dairy,soy,corn,and gluten free)

I was at Jimbo's Natural foods grocer the other day and I had never tried anything from their bakery. After standing there asking questions about the ingredients, making sure I don't eat anything that I am allergic/intolerant to, I decided to try the vegan coconut cookie ball. I was surprised when I saw that it had carrots in it. As a matter of fact, I think the tag may have read vegan macaroon. Anyhow, I bought a couple. It tasted.....well not as good as it looked. It was not sweet or moist. It was dry and pretty much lacked flavor. So I decided to try my hand at it. I must say it took a few tries to get it to taste how I like it, sweet and coco nutty. So here is my version of the coconut macaroon:

 

Preparation: Preheat oven to 350 degrees
Ingredients:

1 cup Unsweetened coconut shreds
1cup Brown Rice Flour
1 cup of shredded organic carrot (I shredded one large carrot)
1/2 cup powdered sugar (I used the corn starch free powdered sugar it has tapioca starch instead)
1/2 cup vegan butter/margarine ( I used half coconut spread by earth balance and half vegetable shortening)
Optional: extra coconut shreds for coating


Directions: Mix all ingredients in a ball until well combine. Make balls. Roll balls in coconut shreds and bake. Bake cookies on parchment paper on cookie sheet at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes.

Gluten and Soy free fried rice

OMG, Soy free, Corn free, and wheat/gluten free stir fry!

I am just floored by how good this recipe turned out. It tasted better that regular soy sauce based stir frys. I thought my days of eating this favorite dish was in the past, over. I love Thai and Chinese dishes. I was so happy when I found this recipe for soy and wheat free chicken stir fry. The first time I made it, I chose to omit the chicken, change an ingredient and add an ingredient that was not in the original recipe i found online. Which makes this my recipe for a Soy free "Soy sauce."So here we go. If you are not able to consume soy or wheat, this may be an option.

You will need:
For the sauce
1 cup low sodium beef broth
1 tsp rice vinegar
2 tsp full flavor molasses
1 tsp minced garlic (I used the kind already minced fresh in a jar)
1/2 tsp minced fresh ginger
a couple turns of black pepper
a couple of dashes of fish sauce
Sea salt (eyeball and taste)

For the stir fry
1 1/2 cup brown rice (I take strict precaution and get the bag that say gluten free)
2 to 3 stems of green onions chopped
1 tsp minced garlic
3 eggs
1 cup frozen peas (or veggie of your choice)
1/2 cup of shredded carrots (or veggie of your choice)
salt and pepper
3 tbs olive oil and 1 tbs coconut oil or spread (for stir frying veggies in)

Combine ingredients for sauce in a sauce pan and bring to a boil. Bring down heat and let simmer on low heat for 20 to 30 minutes. Meanwhile, cook rice as directed on box or bag. Make sure to add a little salt to rice. This is optional. Omit if you are watching salt intake. While rice is cooking and sauce is simmering, heat coconut oil or spread and olive oil in pan or wok. Add garlic, green onions, and veggies. Season with salt and pepper. Push veggies to one side of pan or wok, add a little more oil if needed to scramble eggs. After eggs are scrambled, combine veggies with scrambled egg and remove from heat. Put stir fried veggies and rice into a serving dish. Pour soy free "soy sauce" over the rice and veggie mixture and combine well. Serve.

Gluten free waffles

The best Gluten, Dairy, Soy and Corn free waffles I ever tasted!

One my all time favorite breakfast meals is pancakes. I love pancakes!!! Oh how I miss IHOP pancakes but absolutely can not digest milk products. So I found a great pancake recipe and tweeked it. The batter makes great waffles!

You will need:
1 cup brown rice flour        3tbs tapioca flour/starch
1/3 cup potatoe starch        1 tbs brown sugar (I add a couple spoons of agave for more sweetness)
1 1/2 tsp baking powder     1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp guar gum                 2 eggs (use egg replacer if Vegan or egg allergy)
3tbs canola oil                     1.5 to 2 cups of non-dairy milk
1 tsp pure vanilla extract     Couple dashes of cinnamon (as much as you like, I do 3 or 4 dashes)

Topping: Fruit of choice, maple syrup, cinnamon and nuts

In a bowl mix or sift dry ingredients. In a separate bowl, mix the wet ingredients. Combine the two and mix till smooth/creamy texture. Mix until you see a good combined pancake batter mixture. Then take it to the waffle iron. Yum. You smell that? When waffle is done, top with fruit of choice, cinnamon, nuts and maple or agave syrup. I love maple and agave because they do not contain corn syrup. Enjoy!

Quinoa Pasta

My Favorite Pasta Brand

I fell in love with this pasta the first time I tried it. It was so good and tasted just as good as regular wheat pasta. Its made with whole brown rice and quinoa. Both more wholesome and packs more nutrients than wheat. All the great taste without the gluten is definitely a plus for me. Oh and its high in fiber and protein as well. You could pick this up at your local specialty or whole foods grocer. If that does not work out try www.glutenfreemall.com. Its price is a little steep, about $5 a box, but its worth it.

Life without Corn,Dairy,Soy and Wheat/Gluten

Hello all! I decided to create a blog to share with the world that I am Corn, Dairy, Soy and Wheat/Gluten free and proud. Not only that, but my stomach problems have improved 100%. I have heard many people say "wow that's hard, so what can you eat?"Truth be told, a couple of months ago, I asked myself the same question. I finally took the advice of my doctor and father. They both said keep a food diary, stay away from foods that cause problems and eat what I can digest. After going through years of stomach issues and more than two trips to the hospital this year, I finally said Uncle. Like most people, I was stubborn when it came to food. My relationship with food was so unhealthy that i was willing to go through pain and suffering just to eat it. I used food as comfort, entertainment, and did not care if what I was eating was an allergy/intolerance. I surprisingly had some sort of addiction to these foods.

Here is a little history; Since I was a child, I have dealt with constant stomach problems, anxiety issues, and low weight. I was diagnosed with food allergies, a sensitive stomach, panic disorder, IBS, Acid Reflux, and Gerd. I ignored pretty much all of the above. I ate what I wanted and suffered consequences. I love love love to eat. If you saw me, you would not be able to tell because I have small frame. I believe I am the smallest  person in my family. Growing up in the South, I ate so much soul food. My grandmother would cook every Sunday. I ate very large amounts in one sitting because that is how she fixed the plates. Anyhow, I was told to stay away from dairy, spicy, oil/greasy/fatty foods, when I was of elementary age, by my doctor. My symptoms were constant stomach aches, queasiness, and hyperventilation. I was told to use the brown bag method for my hyperventilation. Back then I did not know why I  had anxiety but now I know exactly why that would happen. You'd be surprised at the connection between food and your ailments. Food allergies, intolerance and sensitivities causes a whole host of ailments and diseases. I will talk about these connections in a later blog.

As I got older, my stomach problems got worse. I went to the doctor many times for the same reasons. Each time I went, it was the same story. The doctor would say "don't eat this or that,you have "this" disease and here is some medication." I continued to eat this and that, somewhat claimed the disease and took the medication. Did this help or cure me? No. I continued to do the same thing over and over again looking for a different result. I believe that's called insanity. So this year was my breaking point. I was either going to have to continue my deadly habits or heal myself. No more trying to eat the foods that cause discomfort. No more trying to eat foods to gain weight. Its crazy but I ate to try to gain weight so that i could look a certain way. Always thought I was too skinny but now I embrace it. No more ignoring my body and health. I seeked God in helping me deal with this like never before. I read books, blogs and watched videos on how the digestive system works. I studied food allergies and food intolerance to gain further insight to how they affect the body. I studied other subjects about food that tie into our relationship to it and why diets fail.

Wow, I did not mean for this blog to be this long. I have so much more to say but I'll save that for my book. In conclusion, I feel great, energized, and my diet is full of wholesome foods that I enjoy eating. I have come up with and found many delicious recipes that do not include corn, soy, milk/dairy, or wheat/gluten. Some  recipes were not so good, but rest assured I will only share the yummy ones.