Tuesday, February 12, 2013

Food Follies

TH has been after me to get a physical, and after some whining and whatnot, finally did.  I've suffered from chronic fatigue and muscle pains for a long time.  Also I would have periods of 'brain fog', where it was hard to keep a thought in my head and at its worse would lose the thread of the conversation in the middle of a  sentence. 

Three years ago the acupuncturist thought I might be allergic to eggs, chicken, and dairy.  Dragging my feet, and with a heavy heart I dropped those from my diet, and within a week, began to feel ever so much better!  I cheated here and there, and it wasnt pleasant. 

After loads of blood work, and tons of tests, doc gave me the bad news.......I am allergic to much much more than we had suspected.  I'm gluten intolerant, sigh. 

so, no bread!


no beer! due to the gluten and the brewers yeast.....

no shellfish, and I used to live on shrimp.  Cant afford lobster or crab, but love 'em.

For the last few years I've been eating more and more Asian foods,  especially Thai and Vietnamese, with a smattering of Korean.  It just somehow tasted better to me, and I felt better as well, full of energy rather than feeling heavy and sleepy afterwards, and now I know why, a lack of wheat in most of their cuisines are light in the use of wheat.

I'm spending more time in the kitchen trying to cook my way around all these stupid food allergies.  The one meal that has been a tricky sticking point is breakfast, and have decided to go Japanese for that meal.  Typically they have a bowl of rice, miso soup, a piece of nori and a piece of fish or an egg.  For an egg substitute I slow fry soft tofu in butter with salt and pepper, the texture is right and so far butter doesnt seem to be an issue.  I've made a fish soup for breakfast as well with thick chewy rice noodles, and lots of green veggies.


Gluten free cookbooks arent that much help, as they lean heavily upon dairy and eggs.  I've checked out a gluten free vegan book, and some cookbooks from India, due to the worry that non-stop Asian food will become boring and feel limited.

The cool thing though is I'm remarkably thinner already after just a week, and I cant remember the last time I felt this good.  So, who knows, maybe I'll learn to not miss beer, pizza or toast?

7 comments:

  1. Hi Biki,

    As hard as it is to have some of those allergies, I guess the feeling of being better might be worth it. Glad you got to the doctor and checked things out. Maybe some of the people at your library talks have a few recipes that would fit you. Hope things are going well for you!

    Roger

    ReplyDelete
  2. I am ever so happy that you are feeling so much better. That must be such a relief. I guess you can get used to anything, given the alternative. Look for anti-allergenic cookbooks, too. I'm sure they are out there.

    Peace <3
    Jay

    ReplyDelete
  3. No beer!
    No shrimp!
    Ack.
    But any kind of Asian diet should be amazing. i'm a sucker for 'em, and if you're feeling better that's a huge plus!

    ReplyDelete
  4. ahh damn. That really sucks now because that rules out like.. what? HALF of all foods already?

    im sure there are work arounds though, you'd be surprised at how tasty some foods are. I went to a friends banquet where all the foods were vegetarian, and most of it was tofu. but it was soooo good.

    hopefully now you know what you are allergic to, and know what to avoid, so you wont feel so sick all the time.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Thanks for stopping by my blog and leaving supportive comments!

    ReplyDelete
  6. No Beer :O

    Just end it now!

    I am kidding, but that sucks.

    ReplyDelete