Going grainless

45 days and counting.

After having continuous ups and downs, I decided to take inventory of what I was eating and how it was affecting me. My body is extremely good at giving clues about what worked and what didn't. I found that within a half hour or so of eating, my emotional, mental, and/or physical state would be profoundly affected.

In fact, almost every time I ate, I would feel physically sluggish, mentally in a fog, emotionally cranky, and even stranger - I felt unbelievably lonely and depressed. This was very odd for me, as I generally lean more towards the hopeful, people oriented, the sun is shining kind of mentality. What was the common denominator in all meals?

Grains.

Bread. Rice. Flour. Pasta. Quinoa. Tortillas. Barley. Millet. Muffins. Pancakes. Occasionally pizza. Salad dressings (yes, some even have grain flours in them). The list goes on.

It wasn't all that I was eating. In fact, it was generally a pretty small portion. There was fruit, vegetables, a variety of protein sources. But...always paired with a grain.

For a week, I ate a different grain each day. It was an attempt to isolate the main culprit, to determine if it was a gluten issue, or a food combining issue. I found out, it was a grain issue. Didn't matter what kind or what it was eaten with. Grains had to go.

And so they did.

As a result, my head feels clear, I feel more creative, my emotions are back in balance, and I am no longer puffy. Yes, I got puffy. It was odd, to not weigh more than I usually do, but to look like a helium ballon.

Turns out, I am not freakishly sensitive. There are many, many people that experience a reaction to grains. The reasons for this are multiple. Some include:

• Grains are no longer being fermented, which was common practice back in the non refrigeration days. The fermentation helps provide beneficial bacteria, thus making the grain easier to digest. Click here and here to learn more.
• Some have a food intolerance to grains while others are allergic. Yes, there is a difference, learn more about it here.  
• There has been an increase of corn syrup (a grain and gmo derivative) in everyday food products. Please read the labels, and see the eye opening movie, King Corn. 
• The animals we consume are largely fed grains. This is not what they naturally evolved to eat. Cows normally eat grass and chicken eat grubs - not corn. The grains in their diet have an effect on us too. We'll ignore the pump the animals full of hormones and antibiotics issue for now. I won't go on organic overload on you just yet. But do check this site out to learn more about what animals are eating and why it matters.

If you want more energy, clarity, and improved health, start by paying attention to what you eat. I guarantee you, with a few basic changes, you'll feel an amazing difference.

Share your food success story.

Comments

[Blah]

Scientists isolated a protein (?) in wheat that promotes diabetes by irritating the pancreatic islet cells which release insulin. Wheat (and other grains if you're really intolerant) can cause almost celiac-like irritation to the digestive tract, inflaming it and making it very difficult to absorb nutrients. I ended up going grainless, too. I ramped up my vegetables and pretty much cleaned up my diet. I always had some adverse reactions to wheat (foggy headed, no energy, etc after eating it), but it really struck home when I ate some veggie burritos using low-carb tortillas. Those are made primarily with wheat gluten, and it hit me like a ton of bricks. But, I would even have reactions if I ate oatmeal. Not so much with rice, but I'd still gain weight pretty easy with rice. So, I went grain free. Now, it's a real pain in the butt trying to find ways to turn bean paste into bread-like items. I've come across some interesting garbanzo bean cakes, but I'm still experimenting with potato & tapioca starch as a flour substitute. I try to steer clear of soy products (flour, beans, tofu, etc), because the lecithins in it tend to mess with estrogen production in both men & women. It's also been linked to liver problems in some folks (while helping others with liver problems...) I guess it just comes down to everyone's own, personal bio-individuality.

[Robin]

Is it true that quinoa, millet, buckwheat and amaranth aren't actually grains? Do grain-sensitive people tend to have problems with these?

[Vanessa Smith, MA, CLC]

Thanks for the comments. Interesting what Blah said. You might check out http://www.LydiasOrganics.com

As for Robin's question- The grains you mentioned don't have gluten in them so some people can tolerate them. I believe Amaranth is considered a weed and a seed. My decision to go grainless was based more on direct experience of how I felt after I ate it. I recently did a hair analysis which showed that I was too low in certain vitamins and minerals and too high in others which had a direct impact on my ability to digest carbohydrates & grains.