Just Say No to Man's Modifications

"Every act of human brilliance contains the seeds of its own stupidity", Garrison Keillor.

Food allergies and sensitivities are on the rise.  A greater and greater percentage of people are suffering or will suffer from problems related to food allergies (especially gluten, corn and dairy) and won't even know it.  Just google it, google "gluten allergies".  There are some fascinating studies being done by neurologists on gluten sensitivities in particular.
So, why the rise in allergies and the depletion of snacking options?  A lot of fingers point to our very own acts of genius, GMO's (with some pesticides thrown into the mix).  By our handy-dandy tweaks here and there we've made our food grow bigger (because we NEED bigger portion sizes, right?), grow stronger, grow more resistant to aggressors, and we're even looking into making our food DO MORE (how about a vaccine in a banana?).  The problem is, what if these tweaks have tweaked more than we wanted to tweak?  What if, in wheat, and other grains containing gluten, the pesticides and genetic modifications have altered the gluten protein in such a way that our bodies are less and less able to tolerate it?  What if all of the pasteurization  and homogenization we do to our milk alters the casein proteins and kills the enzymes already in the milk that help our bodies to process the casein.  We won't even start with corn and all the genetic modifications there.
It's funny, in the Old Testament Law God basically tells his people not to mess with nature, don't alter things from the way He's made them.  Don't sow your fields with two types of seed, don't cross breed animals.  Do you think there's a reason He told the Israelites this?  Maybe the way He made it is the way He meant it and we can't really improve on God, not without doing a lot of damage on the side anyway, which disqualifies anything as an "improvement".  Does this mean that everything man does is dumb?  No, the opening quote is an exaggeration, God made us creative, inquisitive beings, but He also gave us limits, He gave us rules.  Just like a train needs its tracks to go full speed ahead, we need God's rules to keep our lives, spiritually, physically, mentally, emotionally, relationally on track and moving forward.  He knows what's best, lets trust Him for it.

Mysterious Reality

My husband and I, albeit five steps behind everyone else, recently finished watching the entire Lost series. I must say we weren't completely satisfied with the last episode.  We felt like we were just left hanging on a plethora of fraying loose ends with no hope of reaching the solid ground of firm answers.  After this experience we decided we'd make our own TV show called, Found, in which everything going on in the show is painfully obvious, explained in triplicate with flannel board illustrations and flow charts, leaving no room for questions on what the next turn of the plot would be.  I'm not sure such a show would be much of a hit, but at least it would leave people with a strong sense of security in knowing exactly what is happening in the show instead of leaving them in agonizing suspense.  The only problem with writing such a show is, reality, with all its complications.
I've been pondering on reality a lot lately.  Its an intriguing subject for me, especially since my struggle with mental illness lead me out of the realm of reality several times.  Talk about a blow, when coming back to yourself you realize you've totally been living in your own little world, totally out of touch with what was really happening.  It was devastating to have to face that truth the first time it happened and it lead to a lot of confusion.  I felt like I could no longer trust myself to fully grasp reality so I began to always question my thoughts and perceptions on things.  The most serious area of my life this affected was my relationship with God, I would question Him, "Are You really showing me this or telling me this, God, or am I just losing it again"?  Satan really used this to perpetrate doubt in my mind and lead me out of obedience to God.
When you think about it though, reality isn't that easy of a thing to fully understand.  There are so many intricacies that we are wont to look into but can't.  We can't look into other people's hearts or minds when evaluating a situation.  We can't know every detail leading up to an event or what the consequences will be of every action.  Let's face it, sometimes, often times even, how we perceive reality isn't exactly spot on.  That's not to say that we can't have a general idea of what's going on, but really, if we want to be honest, we're more often way out in left field than we are in the game.  That's because, due to our own choices, we suffer frequent disconnect with the only True Reality, i.e., God.  Jesus is the Way, the TRUTH, and the Life.  What can be more real than the Truth.  What can be more insane than living without Him.  Of course, if you're a believer you're always in touch just perfectly, no willful, defiant behavior there.  If only.  The clue phone is ringing, pick it up.

The Custom Muffin

Here's one of my favorite gluten-free, other allergen free recipes. I like this recipe because its healthy, easy, and very versatile.  You can customize it to fit the mood of your taste buds, AND you can make a bunch of them at once, freeze them and just thaw one  out quickly when you have a hankering for such a thing.

Here's what you need:

- 2 cups gluten-free all-purpose flour* or baking mix (I like Pamela's Baking and Pancake mix because it gives a great texture and you don't have to add anything extra like xanthan gum or baking powder).
           *add xantham gum per directions on the package and 1 tsp baking powder.
- 1/2 cup freshly milled flaxseed or gluten free oats or rice bran
- 1/3 cup sugar (you can substitute honey, just make sure you add it to the wet ingredients before you blend)
- dash of salt
- 15oz can of beans (butter beans and great northern beans seem to work best but you can also use kidney, black, pinto, or navy beans)
- 1 cup almond milk (or a liquidy puree such as applesauce, sweet potatoe, pumpkin, pears, berries, etc)
- optional additives: chocolate chips, blueberries, chopped dried apricot, coconut, sunflower seeds, etc.

Preheat oven to 400 F.  Combine dry ingredients in large mixing bowl, along with whatever optional additives your heart desires and set aside.  Drain and rinse beans and place in blender with almond milk (and honey if you're using it).  Blend till creamy (2-3 minutes).  Add blended ingredients all at once to the dry ingredients and stir just until moistened.
Divide mixture into a well greased twelve cup muffin pan and bake for 18 min.  Remove and let muffins cool in pan on wire rack for 10 mins.  Remove muffins from pan and allow to cool on wire rack an additional 10 minutes.  Enjoy.

Much thanks to Edith Dingle, whose Funnin recipe gave me the idea for creating these muffins.
      

Making the Change

I have to admit that making such a drastic change in my diet has not been easy, in fact, I'm still in the process of making the change.  One would think that with all the problems these food sensitivities have caused me I would ban such foods from my life forever.  Not so, I have a hard time being strong and saying no, especially after I've been denying myself some of the things I love for so long, I just get tired of it.  Dairy has been the hardest to avoid, CHEESE!  Here's the worst of it, when I do "cheat" a little, I figure, "might as well go all the way", go big or go home.
Other times I "cheat", not because I want to, but because I want to avoid the whole, "you don't have anything I want" food snobbery, as it can come across when I'm enjoying the hospitality of others.  I just don't want to burden other people and force them to go out of their way for me.  I'm slowly starting to get over this hang up though, and am starting to learn to either bring my own food (which still feels like snobbery) or let people know what I CAN eat.
So, besides cheating, which is part of making the change, learning your own weaknesses, my biggest tool for success has been family.  By family, I especially mean my mom.  She has food allergies too, and has waded through all the changes.  She's been a very big support helping find the best flour blends, bringing food we can eat to different functions we attend together, letting other people know my "special needs" when she knows I'm not going to say anything.  She has definitely been my biggest support and encouragement.
Other things that have helped:  Writing down, everyday, what I want to avoid and why I want to avoid it (daily reminders like this help bolster my will-power). Making sure I have alternatives on hand when I start craving something in the "forbidden" category.  Coming up with my own tasty recipes (some of which I will be sharing on this blog) that are healthy and satisfying.  Doing the research and figuring out the best and most cost-effective way to buy allergen free foods.  Learning to just do without certain things.  Trying to keep a positive attitude and enjoy the good health that is a result of making these sacrifices, these changes.

Consequences Part II

So, food allergies were a key factor of my bipolar I disorder?  That's crazy!!  (Cheesy pun is fully intended).  They also caused fatigue, joint pain, slight swelling in my face, skin problems, thyroid problems and sleeping problems.  Other people I know of have suffered from fibromyalgia, migraines, MS, and arthritis (and probably a whole slew of other things) all due to food allergies, their testimonies are most welcome on this blog.

Since I've cut out gluten, corn and dairy from my diet I haven't been on any medication for bipolar, NONE, and I haven't felt better or been more stable in my life!  This means I've been able to be at my best in caring for my daughter, I've even been able to nurse her, which I couldn't do if I was on medication.  I feel like my life has been given back to me and I praise God because I know He has been my healer and has used my doctor and others to help bring me into the wellness I'm experiencing.

The bad news, there are a lot of people out there who are suffering severely from food allergies and they don't even know it.  Their symptoms are being treated by well meaning doctors, but the root problem has yet to be unearthed and dealt with.  Some of them have digressed into such a critical state that their lives are being sucked away from them.  I'm talking about people with severe mental illnesses and crippling diseases.  I know that not all of these disorders are caused by food allergies, but I think it would be surprising to find out how many actually are.

When I first started professional treatment for my bipolar not one doctor looked beyond the symptoms.  They just hammered away at the symptoms and forgot that there might be a cause behind them.  Yes, they considered a chemical imbalance, but what was behind the chemical unbalance?  None of them seemed to ask that question.  Unfortunately a lot of patients are treated this way.  I thank God that I was finally able to seek help from an excellent doctor who was willing to look beyond the surface and "get down to the nitty gritty" (more Nacho Libre).

Consequences of The Daily Home-Baked Goods

I am amazed at what my sneaky, hidden food sensitivities put me through.  Though there were other contributing factors to my challenges, I've found that what I was eating was a major cause.  So what did my daily dose of whole grains do to me?  Well, the worst of it would have to be suffering from Bipolar I disorder.  Gluten sensitivities don't just cause swelling in the intestines (celiac's disease) but also in the brain, which spells "mental illness" among other things.
Although I wasn't officially diagnosed with Bipolar I disorder until I was 23, I most definitely was suffering from it even at the age of 13.  For those that don't know, Bipolar I disorder is the most severe form of bipolar consisting of severe and prolonged mania and severe depression.  At the age of 13 I swung between both extremes, though there were long periods of relative normal balance.  Both my parents and I chalked it all up to the precarious hormonal changes happening in a young teenager, thus, nothing was done.
At the age of 16 I began to talk about and try to work through some major childhood trauma that I'd experienced and had begun to think was the cause of my depression.  Though I do think that suffering this trauma was a contributing factor, I'm sure now that it wasn't the main culprit.  In college, I sought counseling to work through these issues and I made a lot of progress and, honestly, became a totally different, more confident and secure person.  However, the bipolar was getting worse, not better.  I was beginning to suffer from psychosis (delusions, hallucinations) during my manic phases and eventually, during my last semester of my senior year, landed in the hospital.
Ending up in the psych ward was devastating and finally forced me to face the possibility of a mental illness, a possibility that I didn't think I could live with.  I became seriously suicidal at this point, especially after my parents came to get me and take me home.  The most forward thought in my mind was how useless I now must be, I could not comprehend how God could use me with my horrific mental illness and if I wasn't to be useful, if I was only to be a burden to everyone, then why should I live.  These were dark days, not only did I not get to graduate college when I had intended, I was facing what was to me the end of my life, the destruction of all the hopes and dreams I had.  Even if I didn't take my own life, even if I lived to be a hundred, my life was over.
Thus began my saga into the psychotropic drug world, I was put on this and then that and then taken off (per my request) and then suffered more major episodes and put on something else.  I hated the drugs almost more than I hated bipolar and sometimes I'd take myself off of my medication because I couldn't stand them.  Nothing helped me feel normal, most of the medications only made me feel like a zombie, completely dead inside.  On top of that, these medications were causing some serious weight gain.  I was miserable, nothing was working the way I needed it to.
The good news in all this, I went back to school to finish my last semester and get my degree and just guess who was now attending my school for his first semester.  Yep, I met the man who would, a few years later, be my husband.  Had I not had to leave school half-way through my last semester and come back to finish the next year, I never would've met Jeremy, we never would've fallen in love. God has a funny way of working things out, and I'm thankful.
Let me take a rabbit trail here and brag on my husband, we'll finish looking at the rest of the "consequences" in a part two post.  When I first told Jeremy about my mental illness he responded in way that no one else had and it blew me over, knocked my socks off.  We were just friends at the time and had only known each other for about 8 or 9 months.  When I told him about having bipolar, he just looked at me for a while, and then  said, "I can't pretend to understand what you're going through, how painful it must be, but I know it must be hard.  You know I'm here for you".  You have to understand, the responses I'd been getting up to this point were not at all that compassionate and sympathetic.  The best responses had been acceptance when no real acknowledgement of what I must be going through personally.  Other people's responses were more focused on how my illness would effect them, "is she gonna blow-up any moment now"?, "better keep my distance".  I was floored  that he would even consider that  I might not like having bipolar, that I might be experiencing a lot of pain from the fact.  Ever since he has been one of my biggest supporters.  Thank you, my wonderful husband!

"Are You Fer Stinkin' Serious"!

I'll begin my story in the middle at what we might call the climax.  It was the moment I got what I consider to be some of the worst, though not THE worst, news in my life.  Yep, bad news, fun's over, life will be different, more challenges ahead.  At least, that's how it seemed, but, as you will see in some blog posts to come, it was actually some of the best, most helpful news of my life.
I was having a nutritional done, part of which included being tested for food sensitivities and allergies.  My doctor was using a muscle-strength based test to see what foods weakened me, what didn't weaken me, and what foods make me stronger.  Our bodies are electro-chemical and are very sensitive to whatever we put in our system, the things we eat, or even just touch, can either sap our energy or support our energy and stamina.  He was testing all kinds of foods on me, including eggs, soy, corn - -ZAP!  All muscle strength gone with the corn.  Oh no!  There goes my healthy home-made popcorn meals where I pop it myself on the stove, spray it with canola or olive oil and sprinkle with a little salt, nutritional yeast, onion powder, chili powder, whatever suits my fancy.  There goes my cornbread (I'm a southern girl), corn muffins, corn on the cob, and not to mention anything that has corn syrup or high-fructose corn syrup (which I was already trying to avoid).
Next up, testing dairy, POW, energy knocked out, no more dairy.  I'm a Sasscer by birth and that goes hand in hand with being an "ice cream-o-holic", done!  Bye-bye cheese, yogurt and the new experimentation with making my own kiefer.  Ouch!  Alright, then we have the gluten testing, you can probably guess the results of that one, GEEZ LOU-EEZ!  No more. . .ummm, okay, what doesn't have gluten in it?  The good news is, I was good to go on chocolate, in fact, I'm pretty sure it made me ten times stronger, that's great nutrients for strength.  Had I failed that one I think I would've croaked.
The real kicker with all this is that I was three months pregnant, that's a huge diet change to make in the middle of a pregnancy.  I took to eating a lot of brown rice and sweet potatoes (it turns out that my daughter, who I was pregnant with at the time, absolutely loves sweet potatoes, funny).  I started experimenting with gluten free flours (can you say expensive) and I discovered almond milk, which has made me really dislike the taste of regular milk on the occasions that I do cheat on my new restritions.  Now guess what!  Cutting these foods from my diet has turned out to be the good old "one-two" total knock-out for my health challenges, including a mental-illness (more to be written on this later, when we go to the beginning of my story).  Also, I a had very healthy pregnancy and labor and delivery went very well and very quickly (we're talking under three hours) and it resulted in a very healthy, happy baby girl (she came out a 10 on the APGAR).
You know what else!  I've learned a lot through it all and I've begun creating my own, cost effective and delicious recipes, which I will be sharing on this blog.