The dreaded "Gluten Free" diet

I love food.  Not in a self  indulgent, guilty pleasure way.  More so in a nourishing, fuel for the body and soul way. I also find that food in many relationships is a bonding mechanism.  My husband and almost always have dinner together.  My mom, sister and I are forever reminiscing about what we made for dinner the night before. So imagine my disappointment when I found out that certain "foods" are making me sick and uncomfortable.
I recently found out that I have an intolerance to wheat. This is not Celiac Disease. It is important to note this because they are different beasts. Unfortunately not a great deal of people understand or realize this and therefore when they test negative for Celiac ignore the possibility that wheat could still be affecting them. Celiac is a serious condition that forces your immune system to react to any wheat product consumed.  It debilitates your digestive tract and your body is unable to absorb the nutrients from the food containing the gluten. Celiac needs to be controlled with a STRICT NO WHEAT OR GLUTEN diet.  Once again I do not have Celiac Disease.  My wheat intolerance is purely a comfort issue but a chronic one at that. It was discovered through a blood test.  My doctor recommended 1 month of the strict no wheat diet to assess how I feel and then after a month start adding a little wheat back into my diet.  From there I have control over what items I am willing to "take the pain and discomfort" from or not. 


Gluten Free Crust from Whole Foods



I have been on my gluten free diet for almost two weeks now.  There is good and bad to it.  Did all of my symptoms disappear? YES (and I have more energy).  Is it expensive and overwhelming?  YES.  Is it worth it? YES and NO.  I miss bread! Good ole fashion flour!  A grilled pizza is one of my favorite meals.  It breaks my heart to think that I would never enjoy this again.  Don't get me wrong there are a ton of options out there when it comes to "gluten free" breads and dough but so far the majority of them are a far cry from the yeasty, chewy fluffiness of a loaf of conventional bread.  And so I have decided that I will for the most part maintain the gluten free diet but occasionally indulge in a freshly grilled pizza and take a little bit of discomfort in return.  But for the time being I made my first gluten free pizza with an premade crust of potato flour and cheese.  Yes you read that right...CHEESE!  As if pizza doesn't already have enough cheese but hey, I am not lactose intolerant and in my experience cheese always makes things taste better (this does not include processed cheeses such as Velveeta and American nasty cheese) so why not.

The outcome was favorable though again no comparison to regular pizza crust.  I am okay with that.  It is what it is and for regular consumption it will do.  Truth be told, it could be worse and I am thanking my lucky stars that I will have the option of consuming wheat products.  The more I research though the more I am finding on the benefits of a gluten free diet.  This motivates me to lean toward gluten free for the majority of meals from here on out.  I plan to post regarding the benefits of gluten free living and tips on how to do it on a budget in the near future.