A New Diet

We are currently living in the beautiful city of St Louis.  Not downtown, of course, but slightly West in a little two bedroom house.  We've made our house a home, but as we're prone to the nomadic lifestyle, it's hard to say how long we'll be here.

I'm on medical leave.  I've had some medical issues that I've been dealing with for over 18 months now that brought us back from our life in Tanzania.  I currently have a team of 3 amazing doctors and I'm very happy with them all.  That's huge, considering how picky I am!

One of the things that two of my doctors have suggested is trying a gluten-free diet.  My naturopathic doctor also recommended that I go sugar-free.  10 days ago, Tim and I embarked on a sugar-free, gluten-free trial.  We've made it 10 days so far and are still going strong!  I have put this off for as long as I thought was possible... it's not easy for a midwestern girl to give up her carbs and sugar!  Plus, I'm really not a fan of fad diets and gluten-free is super trendy.  But I want to be eating in a way that will facilitate my healing.  The other thing is that I've known so many people who have gone off gluten without a doctor's supervision or recommendation, and I don't actually like that approach.  So this trial is after allergy testing (E95 plus saliva gluten testing) and under two doctors' supervision.  What do you think, is a gluten-free diet something you can safely try without a doctor? 

First impressions... well, it's much more do-able than I expected.  We started October 30 and it was difficult to look at our daughter's Halloween candy without eating it!  Reeses, snickers, butterfinger... it was a major test of will power!  But I'm glad we made it through that phase.  We also made it through the headaches, the sweats/fevers, and the crankiness without killing anyone, so that's a plus.  I also notice that I'm not as hungry.  I can actually taste food better and enjoy the different flavors.  I've read that that is because of the sugar-free aspect.  Sugar (including splenda, stevia, and aspartame) can reduce your taste buds to "sweet or salty" when there are much more complex flavors to enjoy.

Anyway, the diet is the real reason I decided to pick up again with the blog.  I'd love to look back and see just how it did (or did not?) help. 

-JLR