Where's the Gluten?

1.22
Have you noticed the common dialog on diet-related issue in recent years? Prior to 5 or 6 years ago, almost no one talked about gluten or peanut allergies or the concerns that went with them. Now these are in regular usage and becoming topics for general discussion. I've shared in previous posts that it was in 2012 that Jennifer and I became aware of gluten and dairy as triggers for joint and muscle pain, and eliminating these from both of our diets has been an incredible relief and blessing. Literally, dairy and gluten free equals pain free; add these back in and back come the aches and pains.

While dairy is fairly easy to understand and control or eliminate in our food choices, gluten may be more difficult. So what is gluten, where does it come from, and if I limit or stop gluten-containing foods altogether, what can I eat?

Gluten is "a protein composite found in wheat and related grains, including barley, rye and spelt..." according to Wikipedia; and 'gluten' is from the Latin root that literally means glue. The proteins in gluten are what bind together in strands in dough to give bread its shape and texture. With air pockets created by yeast activity in dough, the dough rises, takes shape, and through baking, becomes bread. To avoid gluten, then, you need to avoid anything which has wheat, rye, barley, spelt, or any of their by-products or derivatives... and that can be a tall order.

Here is a comprehensive listing of sources of gluten from the Celiac Disease Foundation:

sources of gluten

It is reported that 1 in 133 people in developed nations has a sensitivity to gluten (and it should be noted that gluten issues are defined as a sensitivity, or intolerance to the proteins that form gluten, not an allergy.

If you decide to avoid gluten, you may be wondering what you will be able to eat, because it seems like wheat and gluten-containing foods are everywhere. Here are some grains you can eat which don't contain gluten proteins: corn, soy, millet, rice (white, brown, wild), some oats (there are trace amounts of gluten in plain rolled oats, so gluten-free oats must be sought to totally avoid gluten). Note well, though, that many multi-grain products contain wheat and/ or wheat derivatives, so you need to read labels carefully and be ready for corn, oat or rice products to also contain forms of wheat gluten.

Limiting or eliminating gluten from our diets may seem like a difficult process and a tall order. It is very doable, though, and when the creation of pain or elimination of pain is on the line, it is much easier to invest the effort in going gluten-free.

By the Way

If you're going to take on this challenge, I'd suggest doing it with a buddy. Have an interested friend or family member track progress with you, and go through the gluten-reduction or elimination as well. You'll have accountability to the process, and who knows, maybe you'll both find relief from joint pain and aches.

Feelin' Groovy

1.21
This past week I was on a 5 day business trip to Las Vegas (hence missing a couple of Power Pantry posts…) It was a whirlwind travel and conference excursion which peaked with a 19 hour day last Sunday (7am to midnight) as we participated with 33,000 other conventioneers. Our investment of time and effort turned out to be quite successful, and we are really pleased with the results of the whole trip.

Before we left I had already settled on the theme and content for this post, born out of the 1966 tune from Simon & Garfunkel. I was a kid in the 70’s and 80’s and one of my favorite albums growing up was the ‘Concert in Central Park’ by Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel (1982). What a classic.

The 59^th Street Bridge Song has always been one of those happy, jaunty tunes to re-center me on keeping it simple: “Slow down, you move too fast… you got to make the mornin’ last, just kickin’ down the cobblestones, lookin’ for fun and feelin’ groovy…” Ahhh… I feel more relaxed already.

One of our ‘after hours’ receptions in Las Vegas was at “The Bank”, a nightclub at The Bellagio – what an experience. It encompassed everything a stereotypical stays-in-Vegas night club experience could include (though we didn't participate in any of them). No further details need to be shared here…

Needless to say, we lasted about 30 minutes at The Bank and excused ourselves to return to the (insane) sanity of the Bellagio casino floor. One of my coworkers, who hails from Williamsport, joked that it would take him a week sitting in the woods of northern PA to detox from the whole nightclub thing.

Pursuing a lifestyle of wellness has a lot to do with our food choices and what’s in our pantry, and it also has a lot to do with the experiences we surround ourselves with. Are our lives more like the blur of a Las Vegas nightclub, or the serenity of the PA woods? I live in Lancaster County and love it. There’s a lot that Lancaster County isn’t, but I’m regularly taken by the romance of the bucolic and pastoral surroundings, and I know our family's life is better because of it.

So what can you do this Memorial Day weekend to slow down, find a little romance in the moment and feel groovy for a while? The opportunity is right in front of each of us… there for the taking. We have to be looking for some peace and peace of mind though, if we ever hope to find it.

By the Way

I have Simon & Garfunkel's 'Concert in Central Park' on LP (those are large vinyl records which play at 33 1/3 RPMs on a turntable... they are now basically antiques). It was the special edition, two record set. The concert was actually a benefit event held in September of 1981, with the proceeds going to Central Park, which had fallen into disrepair. The crowd for the concert was reported at over a half million, so it was quite a success.

The 59th Street Bridge Song is a feel-good kind of song. Paul Simon, being from New York City, wrote it because of a walk across the 59th Street Bridge after an especially down time in his life, which he was coming out of. The song marked his turning a corner to a happier season - good lesson there...

The Magic Number

1.20
Trying to control your weight, or know someone who is? Have I got a secret for you.... this is a simple, practical way to feel more satisfied by the food you eat while at the same time eating less.

I came across this guidance a few years ago while doing a wellness program at work. It made sense to me right away, and I've made the concept a regular part of my meals since. Here's the trick: slow down... specifically, the magic number is 20 minutes. Let me explain.

There is a clinically recognized delay between when we chew and swallow food, and when our stomach and mind feel satiated or satisfied that we've eaten enough. The delay is just about 20 minutes. Unfortunately, that can leave us eating and eating in those first 10 plus minutes with no relief of our hunger, only to get past the 20 minutes, after we've significantly indulged in our meal, and realize we're stuffed well beyond capacity or need.

How can we apply this timing? The key is to put a simple plan in place with each meal to space out our eating so we eat just the portions and calories we need in the 20 minute time frame. That way when we get to 20 minutes and feel satiated, we've consumed only the calories and portions that we need at that meal.

One corollary to this is to plan for seconds, or eat in courses. For instance, if you're planning to have a 500 calorie breakfast of oatmeal with nuts, some yogurt, and a piece of fruit, simply linger over the oatmeal the first ten minutes, and then have the yogurt and fruit in the second ten minutes. It takes some discipline and getting used to, but it really is effective at controlling calorie intake and amount of food eaten.



At suppertime, planning for seconds works well. Serve a first plate of intentionally smaller portions. Take your time. Remember the tip I shared a few posts ago about putting down your fork between bites. (And do it every time! This one is a huge contributor to success in lingering). Have some good conversation with your meal... in short, slow down. Then ten minutes or so into the meal, you can serve a second small portion, again taking your time, and land at 20 minutes with completing your meal and feeling satisfied with what you ate.

So give it a try... slow down, turn off the TV and put away the smartphone while eating. Linger, and stretch out your meals to the 20 minute time frame and see how truly satisfied you can feel on less food, just by taking your time.

By the Way

I've come to learn the great value there is in savoring the food we are blessed with, and lingering over every meal, sometimes over every bite. I try to enjoy the smells and textures much more than I ever used to. And I'm more intentional about conversation over a meal - we eat about 4 to 5 meals together as a family every week. That's quality time, and a great time to linger. Just simple dialog about events of the day and plans for tomorrow can make the meal more enjoyable and the experience of lingering valuable.

I think there is a lost art in eating well - not just in the types and quality of food from a power pantry, but in how we eat it. Commit to slowing down and you can eat less, enjoy it more, and likely control your weight in the process.

A Sensitive Issue

1.19
I first came across food sensitivity issues a couple of years ago when Jen was dealing with reactive arthritis. Before then, I hadn't thought there could be a link between food and health issues or reactions. Boy was I uninformed. As I've written in previous posts, Jen's joint and bone pains are caused by two main culprits: dairy and gluten. When she gets rid of those two foods, she is 99+% pain free. It is an amazing blessing that it has been that simple for her to get relief.

And the interesting part of that reality is that most arthritis sufferers world-wide could have the same beneficial results if they would just get rid of dairy and wheat. The proteins in those two foods (casein in dairy and gluten in wheat, barley and rye) are notorious for causing inflammation in various parts of the body, leading to pain. Eliminate the proteins (by eliminating or significantly limiting these foods) and you eliminate the pain.




It turns out that dairy and wheat are the top two of the most common food sensitivity triggers. Millions of Americans unwittingly bring pain and discomfort on themselves with every meal by consuming these two proteins. And they have four other close cousins, all of which are known as common triggers of inflammation and pain. Here's the whole list of top six food sensitivity causes:

1. Dairy
2. Wheat
3. Corn
4. Soy
5. Peanuts
6. Eggs

If you have unexplained joint and muscle pains, sluggishness, foggy thinking and poor memory, and pain and discomfort in your gut, there's a good chance you would benefit by limiting or eliminating some of all of these foods. The top two are the worst offenders, and all six together are wreaking havoc on western society.


So what do you do if you suspect you may be sensitive to these pain-triggering foods? Try a simple elimination diet: take the food out of your diet for a two week time frame, and see how you feel. Between day 8 and 10 you may feel the worst, but at about two weeks you'll have detoxed much or all of the pain-causing elements from the trigger food, and you'll emerge from the pain and sluggishness. If the food(s) in question are the cause, you'll notice improvement and relief in a day or two. Sometimes improvement is within hours.


If after two weeks of eliminating the food(s) you don't feel any better or different, then the food(s) in question obviously isn't the trigger of the pain. You can move further down the list until you've tested out all six as possible pain-initiators. 

If you suffer from regular aches and joint or muscle pains, maybe it's time to try a simple elimination diet for the top six food triggers. If you're like millions of other Americans, you are susceptible to one or more of the six food triggers, and you'll benefit by not eating that food any longer. Just like Jennifer continues to live pain-free by keeping away from dairy and wheat, you'll get relief. Happy eating!

By the Way

The pain-triggering foods I'm describing in this post are actually the cause of food sensitivities, not food allergies. Here's the difference. An allergy is an immediate bodily response due to contact with the offending food. The response is basically an anaphylactic reaction where our bodies seek to protect us from the irritant by an immediate, dramatic, whole-body response (causing swelling, fainting, vomiting, etc.). A sensitivity on the other hand produces its effect more slowly and subtly as a gradual reaction to the food trigger. So when you think food allergy, think immediate (acute), and when you think food sensitivity think gradual (chronic) in timing.

Go 80/20 for Healthier Choices

1.18
I started getting into a wellness lifestyle in 2010, and it was a couple of years until I ran across the idea of eating proportionally healthier in my diet. Including whole foods and healthier pantry choices in our lives isn't an all-or-nothing proposition. It's not a valve we can turn on 100% whenever we want; it takes time to incorporate a wellness lifestyle, and to build up to eating more of our foods from healthier choices.

Here's a simple idea I first came across in 2011 about proportionality in our food choices:
If you're maintaining your health, then 60% of your diet should come from whole, plant-based foods, and 40% of your diet can be basically anything you like. So that's a 60/40 split.
If you're trying to regain health (overcome a cold, lose a specific amount of weight, get past joint pain from inflammation, etc.) then 80% of your diet should come from whole, plant-based foods and 20% can be conventional American fare.

Here's how that 80/20 split would look over a week. Let's assume you eat 3 meals a day for a week; that's 21 meals (let's round to 20 to make the math simple). If 80% of your meals come from the healthier choices, that's 16 meals in the course of a week. If 20% of your meals can be standard fare, that's 4 meals in a week. At 4 meals a week, that's less than one conventional meal a day. Hmmmm... I think if you're eating that much healthy food in a week, you're bound to improve your health.

Can you see how this would influence your pantry? Stocking up on lots of greens, beans, fruits, seeds, legumes, healthy seasonings... just to generate 16 meals a week. That's quite a commitment, but what a great commitment! No doubt you will heal your body and regain or achieve great health by living out this kind of diet-style.

By the Way

I have written that I really appreciate Dr. Joel Furhman's 'nutritarian' approach to healthy food choices. He emphasizes a whole-foods, plant-based diet, and goes so far as to suggest a 90/10 split for our health food choices compared to conventional foods. With all that good food in our pantries and fridges, there isn't much room for Lucky Charms and bacon... just sayin'.