Food (Hypo)Critic

I have a confession to make: I’m a converted skeptic.

“Skeptic about what?” you may ask. 

I’m a converted skeptic in the gluten free eating movement.  

Don’t get me wrong–I LOVE bread. And pasta. And cookies. And pretty much everything else that is made with flour.  It just doesn’t like me.  

At this point, readers who know my background are scratching their heads wondering, “I thought she was a wheat farmer’s wife?” And they’d be correct.  My husband’s family has been rooted in wheat farming since before Washington became a state.  While land has been added over the generations, there are fields that the family has literally farmed consistently since the late 1800s.  A picture hangs above the landing of our home’s stairs of us standing in the Harris Place, the house my husband’s great-great grandparents built over 100 years ago.  Furthermore, my husband is the current president of the Washington Association of Wheat Growers and is involved on the national level as well in the National Association of Wheat Growers.  Let’s just say that wheat is entrenched in our family. 

So…you can pretty much guess that the words “gluten free” cause the hair on the back of my husband’s neck to stand up.  And I’ve been there with him.  I’ve been that person rolling my eyes at the boxes of gluten free products at the supermarket.  The person who has known people with Celiac Disease but thought, outside of this condition, the other people who ate gluten free were just following a fad. Fad diets are common place, both in world of human nutrition as well as on my side of the spectrum in pet nutrition.  I saw myself as an individual who would not easily be sucked in by media hype, a person firmly rooted in science and fact.  Then the words Rheumatoid Arthritis and anti-inflammatory diet entered my vocabulary. 

As I write this post a pan of gluten free brownies is baking in our oven. 

 I tip-toed into the gluten free world. Quietly, cautiously–like a teenager trying to sneak in after curfew.  The reading I’d done and health professionals I had talked with said the research was there.  Research that showed certain proteins were known to strengthen the inflammatory response in some individuals.  Just as certain foods (like fish oil containing high levels of omega-3 fatty acids) have anti-inflammatory properties, other foods incite the opposite response.  The science side of me saw how that would make sense: I’ve seen many a dog with food allergies turn into an itchy mess just by getting a bite of something to which they are allergic.  Why not give it a try?  At that point in my life I felt horrible.  My daily nemeses were fatigue and joint pain accompanied by their side-kick painful cystic acne. 

One does not realize how integral wheat is in our modern American diet until you are trying to avoid it.  Take any fast food restaurant that your children would love to visit on that rare occasion that you go to the “big city” and get to eat out for example.  Eating gluten free at those establishments is possible but incredibly difficult.  Or how about the family summer BBQ, a place where hamburgers and pasta salad abound.  Better yet: church potlucks! I had gone from being a person who did not really put much thought into what was in the food I was consuming to being an expert at scanning labels and menu descriptions.  My daily food routine saw a drastic changes, and most were not easy.  Short of having to cook separately for myself I had to find ways to convert my family’s favorites into something my new diet would allow.  Pretty easy on steak and potato night, a little more difficult when your daughter wants you to bake her a birthday cake

Through all these difficult changes I began to notice a change in my health: the swelling in my hands was lessening, my GI signs were dissipating, my skin was getting better.  For the first time in 20 years my cystic acne was gone.  Do keep in mind that during this time I was also in the process of finding the right medical therapy for my condition, but I would notice that when I slipped up and ate something “gluten-full”, as my husband would say, I would regress in my improvements.  I’d wake up stiff and sore again. My intestines would riot against me.  My skin would break out again.  That sealed the deal for me.  I was so tired of not feeling well that I wasn’t going to take any chances about going back into the land of gluten.  

But wheat isn’t the only food that I’ve had to excommunicate from my diet.  Recently some soy products joined this list as well.  This past summer I decided to change my morning blended coffee into something a little more “healthy” by adding a protein shake powder to the blend.  After a few days of drinking this concoction I began to see signs similar to those I would see when wheat snuck into my diet.  Back to the books (or should I say Google) I went.  The ingredient list for the shake mix was a mile long and full of items even I could not pronounce.  I’ve learned that if that is the case then that item shouldn’t be in my diet in the first place.  This mix, well it contained soy lecithin.  My research had identified this as another pro-inflammatory food and, surprise surprise, gluten was also a lecithin.  Modern food science has put soy lecithin in too many foods to count and I’m still learning which foods I need to avoid.  

My food journey hasn’t been just about changing my diet with the goal of better health. Don’t get me wrong, better health is at the top of my list.  I used to run–a lot–and I’m slowly returning to the sport I love. But, I’d love to get feeling well enough to return to running half and full marathons.  Along this journey I’ve found a new sense of independence, a new ability to stand up for myself.  I’ve always been one to just go with the flow, to not be brave enough to say “no” when it comes to personal likes and dislikes.  Not quite a doormat but also not one to step out confidently and let my voice be heard.  I’m standing up for my health now, by well-being, and that has given me a new sense of freedom.  Whether it is just (politely) speaking up when ordering a restaurant to make sure the menu means what it says or being able to request accommodations rather than eat something that upsets the apple cart that is my system as a whole.  I’m stepping out in new ways that are having overarching positive affects on my life as a whole. 

I will never be a food critic–never say that wheat is evil or that everyone should eat gluten free as this lifestyle is not a panacea and wheat is what keeps our family going.  I will be blatantly honest: there is many a day when I wish I could, without concern of another RA flare, return to eating like I once did.  Maybe that day will come. I’ve spoken with individuals whose RA has changed over time such that they were able to add previously “off limits” foods back into their diet.  For now I am doing what my body is telling me is best for it, whether that be as simple as taking a nap on a Saturday afternoon (and NOT feeling guilty, but that’s a story for another day) because the previous week sucked the life out of me, or as drastic as completely changing my diet. Even if it means I look like a hypocrite because I’m a wheat farmer wife that doesn’t eat wheat.    When all is said and done let this truth be told: Don’t let others dictate what is best for you, that is a decision only you can truly make.