Grain-free Thanksgiving!

This year I prepared my Thanksgiving dinner over the course of several days. I wasn't home to eat it on Thanksgiving day, but I wanted all my favorite dishes, and experimented with a new one. My Thanksgiving feast included a free-range, organic roast turkey, Brussel sprouts in cheese sauce, Danish red cabbage, Guy Fieri's whiskey glazed sweet potato and apple casserole, and a crustless pumpkin pie. I also had Trader Joe's cranberry-orange relish, which I buy every year.

I made the Danish red cabbage on Monday after school as well as the pumpkin pie without a crust. After school on Tuesday I baked the turkey and made the Brussel sprouts with cheese sauce. On Wednesday morning I made Guy Fieri's recipe for the bourbon glazed sweet potato and apple casserole. Each individual dish came out perfectly! On Thanksgiving I had a feast at a friend's house and didn't eat any of the food I'd prepared. Today I ate a complete meal, and the plate was very colorful!

This morning I cooked the carcass of the turkey and made a nice soup, adding carrots, onions and celery to the broth once it was made. I enjoyed that for lunch.

I don't recall what I made last year for Thanksgiving, but I had just started going grain-free at the time and a lot of it was a struggle. Now, I have many favorite foods which are grain-free, so it's not very much of a struggle. Visiting family or friends for Thanksgiving dinner can be a bit of a challenge since there are a number of traditional dishes that I cannot eat. However, as I have said to many of my friends over the year, I haven't starved yet! There's always food I can eat.

Making/Using Blanched Almond Flour

Several months ago I blanched a lot of whole almonds and put them into the freezer. Today I turned them into flour. It took very little time, in fact, it took less time than it did to turn the blanched almond slices I bought at Trader Joe's into flour. It is counter-intuitive! I fully expected that it would take longer (more seconds) to turn the whole almonds into flour than the almond slices. Wrong!

Now I have more blanched almond flour to use in making delicious banana-nut muffins and other goodies.

An interesting discovery in all of this is that muffins and other baked goods made with blanched almond flour heat up perfectly in the microwave. The texture doesn't change and isn't ruined the way baked goods made from wheat flour is.

I did order a whole case of almond paste from the American Almond Products company. I didn't trust myself to make it correctly, and I have many recipes that call for almond paste. I made a batch of "kransekage" cookies the other day. These are amongst my favorite treats. I want to make a almond paste chocolate torte again for the holidays. I tried it last year and it was delicious. There are also recipes for frangipane that requires almond paste.

The adventure continues!

Catch up time!

So, I just published my latest recipe fine, but now I want to share what's been going on lately. First of all, I saw my doctor last week, and she's still very pleased with how I'm doing. My bloodwork is OK, my blood pressure is perfect, and so is my weight. She's going to keep me at the lower dose of the diabetes medication, which is good.

My A1c was up a bit from what it was in May, but I told her I've been enjoying a lot of the summer fruits--peaches, nectarines, grapes, strawberries, and the like--as well as some fruit juices, so she attributes that small increase to that.

My iron count has improved a bit, but was still low. I confessed that I hadn't been taking the iron pills like I was supposed to all the time (hardly ever, if truth be known), so now I'm to take two pills a day for three months... I hope it works!

In terms of cooking and eating, I keep figuring out new things to do and have found a new place to eat.

In May my doctor wanted to try out the grain free spice cake I make, and last week she told me how delicious it was and thanked me for the recipe.

In August a friend introduced me to a wonderful tri-tip salad that a local barbecue place makes. It's addictive, and I've been back several times since!

I've been mixing cottage cheese with a couple eggs and scrambling that for breakfast. That mixture along with a grain-free banana nut muffin will keep me filled for hours!

I've also been making what I call a meat pizza. I make a mixture of ground beef (grass fed and finished), with chopped onions, bell peppers, oregano, basil, thyme, tomato paste etc., pat that into a pyrex pie plate, sprinkle smoky grated cheeses on top, and bake it at 350 for 35 minutes or so. It tastes great along with a salad or veggie of your choice, and it's totally grain-free.

Besides fruit for dessert, or spice cake or grain-free chocolate chip cookies, I have found that Trader Joe's has some good grain free ice cream. (Imagine ice cream having to be labeled gluten or grain free!) Santa Cruz Organics makes a fabulous chocolate-mint sauce that's grain/gluten free. Many gelatos are grain-free, as are many sorbets, but be careful to check the labels.

That's it for today!

Holy Cow, it's been more than a month since my last post!

I've just finished making grain-free cheese crackers. They are delicious, and I'll make them again and again!

I used the smoky cheese blend of grated cheeses from Trader Joe's rather than just shredded cheddar cheese. I love the flavor of the smoky cheeses. The one thing I didn't do correctly was roll the dough thin enough. The recipe said to roll it until it was 1/16 of an inch thin, but I didn't manage that except on the edges. Next time I'll be sure to do that because it's necessary.

One thing I did add to the recipe was a light sprinkle of salt on the crackers before they were baked. It makes them a little more Cheez-Its like.

In order to correct my mistake of not rolling the dough thin enough, after I cut the crackers apart, I baked them again for ten minutes at 310 F in order to crisp them up. (The parts that were thin enough baked up nice and crisp to begin with.)

Here's the recipe:

2 1/2 C blanched almond flour
1 C grated smoky cheeses (cheddar or a cheddar blend)
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. baking soda
2 eggs
3 tbsp. grapeseed oil

Preheat oven to 350 F

Whisk together eggs and grapeseed oil, then pour that into the already combined dry ingredients. Work it to make a nice dough. (It's not sticky.)

Take out two baking sheets. Then cut three pieces of parchment paper the same size as the baking sheets.

Divide the dough in half.

Roll out one piece of the dough between two pieces of parchment paper. Roll it until it is only 1/16 of an inch thin.Remove top piece of parchment paper. Score the dough into the size crackers you want (1"x1", or 2" x 2"), then slide the parchment paper onto a baking sheet and bake the crackers until golden in color. (12-15 minutes or so)

Repeat with second piece of dough.

You can lightly sprinkle the dough with salt before baking if you like.

Not exactly reinventing the wheel...

Last night I decided I wanted to recreate an almond tartlet kind of thing that I used to buy at Deluxe Foods. It was sort of like a muffin, but not exactly. It had almond paste in it, but of course it was made of flour.

I have two different recipes that I thought of combining to make what I wanted, but then I wondered what I would find if I entered the words: "moist", "dense" "almond" and "tartlet" on google. What came up were lots of different recipes for moist, dense tartlets, most made with lemon or chocolate. Then I saw one for an almond cake. I checked the recipe and thought, "Aha! I can alter this recipe and perhaps it'll come out the way I want it."

This morning I made the experiment. I changed the recipe from using regular flour to almond flour, and from using sugar to using agave nectar. Instead of baking it as a cake in a springform pan I baked them in a muffin pan. Instead of sprinkling the tops with sliced almonds and sugar, I just used sliced almonds. I also cut down the baking time.

I like the results. They are nice and moist, and the flavor is good. Here's the recipe:
Ruth's Almond Tartlets
Preheat oven to 350 F
In one bowl combine
3/4 C melted butter
3/4 C agave nectar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/2 tsp almond extract
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 C blanched almond flour

Depending upon the size of the muffin cups, fill 10 of them with the batter, then sprinkle the tops with sliced almonds.
Bake for about 30 minutes until golden brown.
Let cool in muffin pan for about ten minutes, then turn out onto cooling rack to completely cool.

I may continue to experiment. This is the one for today!

Making Blanched Almond Flour

Blanched almond flour is my flour of choice for making chocolate chip cookies, spice cakes, banana muffins, breading chicken etc.

Several months ago I bought 5 pounds of it from American Almond Products in New York, but I've also bought the blanched sliced almonds from Trader Joe's and the 3 pound bags of whole almonds from Costco with the intention of making my own blanched almond flour.

Somewhere I read that the only blender good enough to make ones own almond flour was the Vita Mix, so I bought the top of the line set. However, after buying it, I couldn't find the reference for making blanched almond flour with it, so I went online and hunted for directions. The only good directions said to use a clean coffee grinder and to only put in enough blanched almonds to just cover the blades.

Yesterday morning I checked the Vita Mix booklets and found where it gave directions on how to grind ones own coffee in the "Dry Container". Ah ha! I'll follow those directions for the blanched sliced almonds in the freezer. (Somewhere I read that it's better to grind frozen almonds because the oil doesn't get in the way.) Several articles warned about not over processing the almonds because they can quickly turn into almond butter.

I just barely covered the blades with blanched sliced almonds from one package of Trader Joe's sliced blanched almonds. I turned on the Vita Mix and turned the speed up to a 10 for less than a minute and had perfect almond flour!!!! It took three times to "do" the little package of sliced blanched almonds from Trader Joe's, but the result was perfect, and it didn't take much time. I ended up using all three bags of those almonds that I'd had in the freezer.

After doing that, I decided to attack one of the 3 pound bags of almonds from Costco. Blanching almonds is something I've never done myself. Once or twice I helped my mother when I was a child, and I remember how the blanched almonds will pop/fly out of their skins once they've been emerged in boiling water and how the water smells sort of like black tea.

I'd found two sets of directions on how to blanch almonds. The first one I tried was to pour boiling water over the almonds and let them sit for a minute, drain them, let them cool, and then start popping them out of their skins. I think that method works, but I had poured all 3 pounds of almonds into a bowl at once, and that was too many to do. So I tried the second method: boil water in a medium sized pot, add almonds, bring back to a boil for a minute, remove almonds, rinse and cool almonds, and then pop the skins off; then dry them on a large towel.

It took a long time to process the three pounds of almonds. I don't think I'll ever do that many at once again. I did use the same water for each batch, and I removed the almonds from the water with my Chinese strainer with the bamboo handle. It just took a long time.

Once the blanched almonds were cool and dry, I placed them in a ziploc bag and into the freezer.

Today I'm going to do a lot of baking. I don't think I'll need to use the blanched almonds I did yesterday, but if I do, they're in the freezer ready to go!

"Low-carb diet trumps low-fat on cholesterol"

That was the headline in an article in today's paper. People were followed for two years; the average weight loss for both groups was the same: 15 lbs. The difference was the improved good cholesterol level for the low-carb dieters. This study was done led by Gary Foster, director of Temple University's Center for Obesity Research and Education; this study was funded by the federal government.

This study shows the same results that the grain-free people have been talking about! In the newspaper article it said : "Why the low-carb diet had a bigger effect on good cholesterol isn't known, the researcher said." It's interesting that no one seems to do research on separating grain free diets from other low carb diets. I think there's a correlation between eating grain-free and better health, including blood glucose levels, cholesterol levels, and iron levels.

I wish I could get federal money and have people study the results I've been getting on the way I've been eating...

Temptations abound!

This summer I've had time to watch more tv than usual. As a result, I've been exposed to so many commercials! Many commercials feature foods made from grains: popcorn, poptarts, cereals, and other "healthy" whole grain foods. I think about how satisfying it would be to dig into a bowl of cheddar cheese flavored popcorn, or a strawberry poptart, and then I remember the pain that ensues for two or three days after I eat anything like that.

How does one maintain a healthy, for me, diet? Our whole society conspires against what's healthy for me. Everywhere there are ads encouraging us to eat peanut butter, whole grain breads, cereals, and other grains. Then there are the legumes! Bush's baked beans, green bean casseroles, roasted ears of corn, and so many delicious Mexican dishes that feature beans and corn.

Each and every day I have to remind myself that for me, these foods conspire against my good health. I end up in pain; I end up having high glucose readings; I end up having low iron levels. What's a person to do?

Thank goodness for fresh fruits and veggies, and for 100% grass-fed meats, and free range poultry. I've learned about the dangers inherent in eating farmed fish and sea-foods, although when the concept was introduced many years ago, it sounded like a great idea.

Grapes, peaches, avocados, tomatoes, squashes, spinach, etc. are so good at this time of year. They are my go to foods at the moment. I also enjoy smoothies made from yoghurt, bananas, and frozen organic strawberries.

On Facebook I "like" the Live Gluten Freely page, but it's sponsored by companies that are based on grains. Even though several of these companies make gluten-free alternative products, they are not grain-free, and many of them also contain high fructose corn syrup and other stuff I don't want to consume.

I haven't read Pollan's The Omnivore's Dilemma, and perhaps I should. Perhaps it addresses the issues I'm wrestling with. I'm not sure. I am sure that I need to avoid grains and legumes, and I know that these foods are widely advertised on tv and in magazines.

Oh, yes, temptations abound. My daily challenge is avoiding the temptations and the resulting pain and suffering.

It isn't easy.

So many wonderful summer vegetables!

The other day I finished my binder of recipes that are all grain-free, unless I think I can substitute something like almond flour, coconut flour, or tapioca flour for what's in the given recipe. After finishing that job, I've gone through the binder and yesterday selected an interesting looking chicken recipe. There was no flour of any kind in it, but lots of onion and bell peppers and herbs. It was delicious! (The chicken was one of the organic Smart Chickens.)

I went to New Leaf Market in Capitola and bought grass-fed/finished ground round. You're supposed to cook it at a lower temperature and be careful to not overcook grass-fed/finished beef. (I learned that from reading a number of websites written by the ranchers who raise the 100% grass fed/finished beef.) I also bought a lot of organic local vegetables. Now I can make the mock mashed potatoes that use cauliflower and zucchini "hash browns". It's good to find healthy substitutes for potatoes which don't drive my blood glucose up!

Last night dessert was sliced local organic strawberries with organic cream. What could be better than that! So much that is healthy (and safe) for me to eat isn't that difficult.

Tomorrow I'll go to the local farmers' market to see what other wonderful organic summer foods I can find. Peaches or apricots would be nice! I have some good recipes for tarts with almond flour crusts that would be great filled with fresh peaches or apricots!

More later!

It's been awhile since I've posted...

Yesterday and today I worked on my recipe binder while watching the World Cup Semi-finals. (One truth is that one needs to really WATCH the World Cup, because soccer has a lot more action than American football.) Now the whole stack of loose recipes that I saved from magazines, newspapers, and the internet are in plastic sheet protectors and ensconced in a 3 inch binder. The recipes are now categorized into divisions: salads, main dishes, soups,vegetables, breakfast foods, appetizers, and desserts. Most of the recipes are grain-free, OR they have a little regular flour or other thickeners which I think I can substitute with blanched almond flour, coconut flour, or tapioca flour. When I make those substitutions and the recipe doesn't work, I'll toss it.

A few weeks ago I went to Whole Foods and asked about their grass-fed beef. I learned that it is grass-fed until the last 60 days, then it's grain-fed. I went to our local New Leaf Grocery store and found out that they do carry 100% grass fed/finished beef from Pacific Pastures in Humboldt County in Northern California. They also carry 100% organic/truly free range chickens. (We really have to read the labels and figure out what it means when they say things like "all vegetarian fed", as though chickens shouldn't eat bugs and worms, which they would do naturally.)

I bought some of their 100% grass fed/finished beef, and it really wasn't a whole lot more expensive than what one can find other places for the feed-lot beef we've become accustomed to buying. I also bought one of the chickens. The difference in flavor is remarkable! I used the carcass of the chicken to make soup, and it was delicious.

I've been making Waldorf chicken salads lately. I love using organic grapes, apples, celery, walnuts, and the organic/free range chicken in this salad. Sometimes it makes a great meal at lunch, but other times I'll have it for dinner.

The main thing I've learned over the past few years is the importance of making sure to have protein at every meal (and snack), and to include one or two vegetables and/or fruits as well. However, I've also learned about some things to avoid--usually because they are too good/addictive. One of those things is the Cashew Clusters that are sold at Costco. This delicious combination of cashews, almonds, pumpkin seed kernels, with sugar, rice syrup, sea salt, and honey are low in sugar (4 g/serving) and have zero cholesterol. BUT they are sweet and crunchy, and I can't eat just one--the label says that five is a serving. I confess that I've never eaten just five.

So, just because something is grain-free does not mean it's something that one should eat with abandon. Sad, isn't it.

More later...

I'm not a rabbit!

Over the last several days I've eaten a couple meals that were vegetarian, and even though the food was good, I discovered that my body needs eggs, meat or fish; somehow I need to make sure to eat a good source of protein at every meal.

If I make an egg scramble for breakfast, I'm OK until lunch time. If I eat something without eggs or meat, I'm starving by mid-morning. I make two different egg scramble variations on most days. If I'm more lazy, I'll just take 2 eggs and add some cottage cheese, mix it together and cook it in a little butter or oil. (You got to be careful because the whey separates from the cottage cheese, and I don't like it watery, so one must cook it enough or separate the mixture from the whey.) Another favorite scramble has 2 eggs, 2 slices Canadian bacon cut into small pieces, mushrooms, and chopped bell peppers scrambled together. (I usually use the Pepper Medley from Trader Joe's; I cut the frozen pieces into smaller pieces.)

Sometimes, however, I'll make an "egg bake", the leftovers I refrigerate and reheat during the week. For an egg bake I use about 8 eggs, spinach, shredded cheddar cheese, onions, mushrooms, chopped ham or Canadian bacon, and chopped bell peppers. I mix it all together, pour it into a Pyrex baking dish, and bake for about 30 minutes or so at 350F. (Bake until it's set although it can be a little soft in the middle, and it should firm up as it cools a little. You don't want it runny and you don't want it dry.)

There are a lot of web sites and blogs on the internet that have lots and lots of recipes for grain-free foods. I'm trying out a lot of them; some I alter a little, others I try as written.

More later.

This isn't going to go away!

On Saturday mornings I enjoy going to the local farmers' market and buying fresh produce. This morning I went, and as I walked by the bakery stands and the roasted corn and potato stand, it hit me: This isn't going to go away! It's not like poison oak that will clear up and be forgotten, this need to eat grain and legume free is with me forever, and it's not "just a lifestyle" change.

Last night I finished reading yet another book about this way of eating, this was called The Paleo Diet by Loren Cordain, Ph.D. It's interesting that Mark Sisson quotes Dr. Cordain in his book Primal Blueprint, and Dr. Cordain quotes Melissa Smith, who wrote Going Against the Grain. Their three books all say that humans shouldn't eat grain or legumes because of the phytates and lectins they contain. They also emphasize how grains and legumes increase our insulin production. (Then there's gluten, which they also all address as being problematic for people.)

Even though the books emphasize these things in common, they also diverge. Dairy and coffee are not allowed by Dr. Cordain, but are by Mark Sisson, for example. Almond flour is frowned upon by Dr. Cordain, but is OK with Mark Sisson.

I've come to the conclusion that it's difficult to get people to agree on everything! So, what am I doing?

I'm avoiding all grains and legumes. I decided to switch to lactose free milk, since lactose is a sugar. However, I do eat regular cottage and other cheeses. I also enjoy fat free yoghurt. (I make wonderful smoothies with yoghurt, frozen strawberries, and banana.)

I do drink several juices that are 100% juice with no added sugars of any kind, but I dilute them with the Crystal Geyser flavored waters; the taste remains, but the calories are cut in half.

I do use almond flour and almond paste when baking, and I have accumulated a number of excellent recipes for tarts, cookies, and cakes based on almond flour. (The protein level is up,and there's zero gluten.) I've learned to use agave nectar instead of sugar, which has been something I avoided for awhile (for no reason that I can think of), but which has worked perfectly in the recipes.

Adapting recipes, something I've done for years, but never with this purpose in mind, has been great. I now make a wonderful strawberry sauce that I put on the cheesecake I make, or ice cream, or tapioca pudding (which is gluten free). The original recipe had a couple more ingredients--including additional sugar--from what I now do. (Why is it that so many recipes call for so much more sugar than necessary? One can easily cut back on the sugar in many recipes and they'll still take OK.)

Perhaps my doctor will take me off medication for diabetes one day--I hope so! However, I now know that no matter what, I can't eat grains and legumes any more, but I'm also learning how to adapt recipes I've had for years to being grain free, legume free, and lower in sugar.

My next task is to put all the recipes I've collected over the years, which are "usable", and all the new recipes I've downloaded from gluten/grain free web sites, into a binder. I'm also going to organize them into sections such as desserts, main dishes, salads etc.

More later...

"Gluten free" and "grain free" are not the same thing!

One of the challenges of eating grain free is being a detective. There are a lot of grains in foods that I, at least, had never thought about. Bread, cookies, cakes, and cereals are no brainers, but soy sauce wasn't.

Knowing that all grains--whether they have gluten in then or not--convert into sugars when digested, caused me to take the step of avoiding all grains, and not just those with gluten. Therefore, I'm not eating anything with rice, barley, corn, rye, wildrice or grainlike seeds such as amaranth, buckwheat, and quinoa. It makes little difference where they fall on the glycemic index.

I decided to try to not substitute one grain for another, such as corn based crackers for those made with wheat or rice etc. (The same is true for pastas. There are now some gluten free pastas available, but I avoid them as well.)

The good thing is there are plenty of things to eat without having to rely on the old standbys provided by grains. Eating lots of fruits, non-starchy vegetables, and lean meats, poultry, and fish fills my stomach every day.

I have learned to make some healthier substitutions, and I'll tell about them

The next doctor's visit...

Everything I've written so far happened between October/November and January. After the doctor's visit in January I continued to eat grain and legume free. I decided there were no good reasons to reintroduce any grains or legumes to my diet.

I had my next blood test followed by the requisite doctor's visit in May. I was a little concerned about what the results of the blood test would be because I'd failed to take the iron pills every day like I was supposed to, and I had been under a lot of stress for several weeks. (I'd taken on a challenging sub job at school.)

When I saw my doctor the first thing she said was that I'd lost more weight. I told her I didn't think I had--maybe only a pound. (I got myself a doctor's scale last December because the scale I had could read three different weights if I stepped on it three times within a few minutes, so I knew it wasn't accurate.)

Well, surprise surprise, I had lost eleven pounds since October, AND the scale showed I weighed one pound less than I had at home the last time I'd weighed myself there, AND this was in the afternoon with clothes on and everything! The doctor told me to not lose any more weight, and that if I did I was to call her.

That was interesting, particularly since I wasn't really trying to lose weight. At school I was getting more exercise than usual because my classroom was the furthest away from the playground and the library, so I was doing more walking than I normally do. I decided that was the reason for the additional weight loss.

The biggest thing about the blood test was that my A1c was even better than it had been in January! My calcium level was normal! My blood pressure was also perfect. The doctor calculated my BMI and said it was 23.8, which was great. The only thing she was concerned about was my hematocrit. It was a bit lower than it had been in January. I must take my iron pills! The best news was she reduced the amount of diabetes medication! So, from a threat of increasing it when she saw me in October to actually reducing it in May makes this worthwhile.

In general, the doctor was very happy with me, and said that I was ten years younger than when she first met me.

Who knew that by eliminating grains and legumes from one's diet, there could be such positive changes? For me it was an experiment to see if I could avoid taking more medication for diabetes. However, it also revealed that I apparently have celiac disease, which I hadn't known before.

I'm still learning how to do this...

Celiac disease????

I forgot to mention that when I saw my doctor in January, I told her about my stomach ache after eating the chicken fried steak in November and wondered if I might have celiac disease. Her response was: That would explain it! I realized she wasn't talking about the stomach ache but the anemia I had been dealing with for years.

In 2006 when I had my first hip replaced, I had difficulty donating enough blood for myself because my hematocrits were too low. I was told to take supplements, eat beef, broccoli, and liver in order to build up my iron. I did so, and finally was able to donate a second pint. However, after having the procedure--where they used both pints of blood--the doctor was concerned that my hematocrits were still too low, so they gave me a third pint from an unknown donor.

Over the past several years my doctor has been convinced that I was having some kind of internal bleeding, and that was the cause of my anemia. She had me undergo endoscopic examination of my alimentary canal from both ends, and submit fecal samples for further tests. Everything came back negative for any internal bleeding.

I took iron supplements, ate beef, liver, broccoli, and still tested as being anemic.

When I had my second hip replaced two years ago, the standard for what is an acceptable hematocrit level had been raised. It took three attempts to donate blood over the course of three weeks before they could take any. I was only able to donate one pint,so the second pint had to come from an unknown donor.

This whole thing has been very stressful: what was causing the anemia? Why wasn't my iron level rising after eating well and taking supplements?

When I read that phytates hinder the absorption of iron, I started thinking that there was a connection between eating grains and my anemia; perhaps I had celiac disease because one of the symptoms of celiac disease is anemia.

My doctor told me there is a test that can confirm this diagnosis, but that I would have to eat gluten before taking the test. I thought to myself, no thank you, I'll just continue to avoid grains and legumes in my diet.

That's what I have been doing.

The Experiment Began...

For several years now, after being diagnosed as being diabetic, I've had blood tests to measure my fasting blood glucose and A1c every three months. In October 2009 my doctor said that if my A1c didn't improve by the next blood test in January, she was going to increase my medications for diabetes. I decided I didn't want that.

After reading Going Against the Grain I decided to do an experiment on myself. For three months I wouldn't eat any grains or legumes, AND I wouldn't take any iron pills--even though my doctor had told me to increase the amount of iron I was taking from one tablet a day to additional 2-3 pills a week in order to increase my hemoglobin and hematocrits. I didn't ask or tell my doctor about my experiment. I decided that if it worked, that would be great, but if it didn't make a difference I'd be taking more meds.

Starting in November the experiment began. At first it was rather daunting because like so many people, I was used to eating oatmeal, toast, pastries, and so many other foods that were made from wheat flour. I'd been indoctrinated with the philosophy that eating whole grains in breads, cookies, etc. was good for me and my health, and I was careful to be sure to do so. Brown rice, barley, organic whole oats were all part of my daily regular diet. Figuring out how to eat without all those staples in my diet gave me pause.

The good news is I love eggs, fish, meats of most kinds, fruits and vegetables. I also love potatoes in all their forms: hash browns, baked, mashed, French fries, scalloped etc. However, I know that as a diabetic I need to avoid potatoes. I confess that I did a "test" and ate potatoes several times during November and then measured my blood sugar. Sure enough, the results showed that potatoes created a spike in my blood sugar that I did not want. No more potatoes...

One day during this time frame I had a hankering for one of my favorite breakfasts: chicken fried steak with gravy. I went to my favorite restaurant for breakfast and enjoyed it for about 15 minutes! Suddenly I got a stomach ache, and that stomach ache lasted for a couple days. Wow! It was a wake up call that something is going on with my body when I eat gluten.

So, what did I eat during my experiment??? Meats, vegetables, fruits--fresh and dried apricots--fish, nuts (no peanuts since they're legumes), and dairy. I made one of my old favorite desserts for the first time as an adult, Danish almond cookies which are made of almond paste, sugar, and egg whites. They are sweet and go great with a cup of coffee. They didn't raise my blood sugar! I also found a great recipe for cheesecake that had no flour in the cheesecake itself, and I didn't make any kind of crust for it so it was totally gluten free. I totally enjoyed these treats and shared them with others. In addition, I dug out an old recipe for an almond tart that I'd made many times, but it contained a little flour. I decided to make it and substitute almond flour for the wheat flour and see how it turned out. It was great!

After three months of eating this way: meats, fish, fruits, vegetables, nuts, and dairy, I went for another blood test and the subsequent doctor's visit. My first question was about my A1c: it was within the normal range for the first time in years!
I then asked about my iron levels (remember I wasn't taking any iron supplements), and it, too, was within the normal range!

The only thing the doctor was concerned about was my calcium level. It was 0.1 higher than it should have been. I then realized that what I had learned about phytates hindering the absorption of iron, calcium, zinc, and magnesium, was really, REALLY true. I've been taking calcium supplements for years as per my doctor's recommendation, and I hadn't cut back on the amount I was taking. She asked me how much I was taking, and I told her that I was taking as much as she'd told me to take: 2 tablets a day. She said to not take any for one week, and then just take one tablet a day after that.That's what I've done.

I was ecstatic when I left the doctor's office that day. I resolved to continue to eat grain and legume free. It is working for me, and my experiment seemed to prove that what the writers of the books I read said is true.

More about this journey later...

What inspired me...

After hearing Mark Sisson's statement about humans not being designed to eat grains, I decided to do some research. The first book I ordered was Mr. Sisson's The Primal Blueprint. However, I also found some books I could download immediately onto my Kindle, and the first book I got was Melissa Smith's Going Against the Grain. I started reading that book straight away.

From Ms. Smith's book I learned a couple of key things: grains and legumes contain phytates that hinder the absorption of iron, calcium, magnesium, and zinc; I also learned that many people have hidden celiac disease. Another book I downloaded at the same time was The UltraMind Solution: Fix Your Broken Brain by Healing Your Body First by Mark Hyman M.D. I read part of this book, but then switched to a different one, Good Calories, Bad Calories by science writer Gary Taubes.

These books, all four mentioned, were very interesting and very informative. In each one several ideas were repeated: grains cause health problems of all sorts. (Different writers identify different ones with various studies to back them up.) From reading these books I got the idea to do my own personal research project on myself.

That is the next part of the story.

Eating Grain-free and thriving...

It started in November when I heard Mark Sisson say on a television show something about humans not being designed to digest grains. That statement struck me forcefully, and made me think: Where have I heard THAT before?

I realized it was when my veterinarian told me in 2003 or 2004 that cats can't digest grains, and that my cats should not eat any kibble or other food with grains. I went to my local pet supply store and found some grain free foods to try. The amazing thing was within 24 hours my male cat, who'd suffered from chronic runny stools and diarrhea from the time I'd gotten him, had that problem stop never to return again! (In those days there were few choices for grain free cat foods, however, now there are many!)

That made me think about my dogs. I'd known for years that the three biggest allergens for dogs are soy, wheat and corn. I started thinking that I couldn't think of any dogs going out and eating rice, oats, barley or any other grains in the fields. Yes, dogs do eat fruits and vegetables as well as grass, but not grains. So, that brought me to myself: should I be eating grains?

That's the beginning of this adventure.