I’ve given up wheat. Being overweight and loving food more than exercise, I am obsessed with diet books. Sure I could be satisfied the way I am jsut enjoy life, but like every American woman I want to be model perfect. The fact that I never was nor ever will be, despite reaching the correct weight, model perfect is not a deterrent in my quest. Therefore, I am obsessed with diet books and excerise magazines. At the same time I have been subject to what I call gastronomical distress. A quaint term for diarrhea. I have narrowed the culprit down to dairy or wheat. Obviously being fat, I am not suffering from celiac disease. However, gluten intolerance takes on many forms. So when I came across a book entitled The Wheat belly Diet, I was intrigued. The claim was that wheat has been hybridized so much that we have no idea how current human bodies react to current wheat dna. We’re seeing an increase in autism, obesity and diabetes. Could this possibly be related to our overconsumption of the “new” wheat?
It’s a great book. It makes a great argument for low carb and paleo diets. But I have tired in the past and failed at low carb. The idea of eliminating just wheat (and fresh dairy, as I’m still thinking it causes me problems) was inticing. It didn’t seem quite as restrictive. I could eat corn tortillas, crackers made without wheat, and dessert (providing it was wheat free-no more birthday cake). The thing is, it’s not that easy to entirely eliminate wheat from your diet. It is found in so many foods that it is mindboggling. Of course, that in and of itself should be a red flag. Did you know that most soy sauce contains wheat? So therefore anything with soy sauce has wheat-no more teriyaki chicken unless it’s homemade. You can find wheat-free soy sauce (temari). Puffed rice cereal contains wheat, as does flavored coffee. It begins to seem like anything processed contains wheat. And for the most part, that’s a good rule of thumb. AS a Slow Food proponent, I am supposed to favor real, non-processed food over the Big Macs and Wonder Breads of this world. I even got into an argument with my Mom. She’s probably frustrated with my and my sister’s eating rules. Anyway, we were talking about the tail gate party for this weekend’s football game. Mom is making this wonderful breakfast casserole called sausage fondue. The backbone for this dish is bread. Any kind of sliced bread. Her friend is bringing pigs in a blanket. I have eaten both of these dishes before and they are delicious! They are so good the temptation is great. Then my mom proceeds to tell me that another friend may be bringing donut holes and didn’t I think we could use a bread. My reply was, “Don’t you realize that everything you’re serving contains bread?” Then everything spiralled out of control and she wondered what I could eat and I felt I had to reply that she could bring whatever she wanted and I wouldn’t die if I ate it. But what if I really did have celiac disease? What if my diarrhea was so out of control that I lost weight and became anemic? (This is where, as a horribly programmed American female I say, “wouldn’t that be nice!”) And my only source of nutrition at this event is the fruit salad that she is bringing and the vegetables that I have volunteered to bring. And we wonder why we are all so fat and sick when what we eat all day is a breakfast burrito, a hamburger with fries or maybe apples and macaroni and cheese. Who eats salad, let alone sauteed kale or swiss chard? So that has become a mission in life, to acquaint people with vegetables and show them how delicious they can be. Now I hate to admit that I love vegetables and I eat them regularly but I am still fat. (Hence the obsession with wheat). Personally, I am trying to buy organic produce; free-range, organic chicken; grass-fed, hormone free beef and cooking healthfully. Of course, I know I have to increase my exercise, which I did initially but have fallen away from. So now I am pouring over cookbooks to find another version of boneless, skinless chicken breasts. When you read about what the Hollywood stars eat it is broiled seafood and steamed vegetables. I’m not sure I could eat that every day for the rest of my life. So maybe my goal should be to be 20 pounds lighter. I’ll achieve that by giving up wheat (and most of the processed foods I’ve ever consumed) and by exercising. Not more, just exercising. I could be happy with that!
What would Jane Austen Grow? 