Gluten Freedom
In the last blog where I shared why we named the company Bread Co, I mentioned at the very end that I was gluten-free, but that is a new lifestyle for me. I recently started doing some research to learn what I could do to help my symptoms and slow the progression of the disease, outside of the medication. Ultimately, it led me to meeting with a Naturopath.
It became clear to me during that initial meeting that working with a naturopath was going to help me successfully maintain my health, both in the short term and in the long term. Unlike all of the doctors and specialists I had met with over the previous few months, the naturopath wanted to know more than just how my feet were feeling…she wanted to know more about my overall health. She asked about my energy levels, my exercise training routine, my sleep habits and my diet. As someone who has struggled with being overweight my entire adult life, discussing my diet was very uncomfortable and to be honest, embarrassing.
The first step she suggested for me was: (1) go gluten free, (2) eliminate all processed/refined sugar, and (3) limit things like dairy, nuts and nightshade vegetables. The reasoning behind this was to eliminate inflammatory foods, so my body could manage my symptoms better and ultimately help slow the progression of my MS. If my body continued enduring this chronic inflammation, it would further cause the myelin sheath to break apart, which is what leads to the progression of MS (we can cover this more in another blog!)
The drive home from the naturopath was about 5 minutes, but honestly it felt like an hour. The thought of cutting out all of these foods became so overwhelming. One of my many issues with food is that when I feel overwhelmed and don’t know how to make the right choices, I just don’t eat (which is unhealthy in its own right). Although, I do feel lucky because Katie was not only a great support system for me, but she agreed to do this whole diet overhaul with me too. Not to mention, she also seemingly prepared the world’s greatest gluten-free Pinterest board overnight.
So, here I am two months into a life changing diet and knowing that if I don’t commit, it can have some very serious health repercussions for me. I’d be lying if I said this has been easy (may I remind you how delicious pasta is?) but I do feel like I am starting to hit my stride and the feeling of being overwhelmed is fading away. Also, weird how cutting out inflammatory junk can help with weight loss…who knew!
If you have any recipe ideas or tricks to make healthy food taste good, please share!
- Jesse