I haven't posted a Dear Dairy in awhile. Mostly because I fell off the wagon. Hard core.
Not only did I fall off the wagon, I rolled down the hill and landed in taco town where I bathed in a tub of sour cream and cheddar cheese. I stayed there a good 72 hours before I came to and moved on over to chocolateville, and commenced to dip my feet and soak my soul for the rest of the week.
Ahh cravings...they are a bitch.
But, here I am, like a warrior in a battle to the death. Ready to conquer my health issues once and for all.
With much research on adrenals, hashimotos, hypoglycemia and candida under my belt, I have a much clearer view of what is going on. I've met a few new friends along the way thanks to blogs, and people who read mine. This internet thing has potential.
I have gone completely dairy, wheat, sugar and caffeine free since Monday and am doing great. I have decided to forego the cheat days until I've been doing this for a month or more. I'm just not strong enough after 6 days to indulge in sweets or cheesy gooey stuff, so better to just not even tempt myself.
I have however found some great recipes and new products that are, quite literally, saving my life.
A few I've really loved lately, besides those tasty tortillas I mentioned, are Earth Balance buttery spread. Thank you Jesus for creating people who could then create this product. It is better than butter, and costs the same. It can be used in any recipe as a substitute for butter. Amen.
Coconut Milk is great for things like mashed potatoes believe it or not, or tea, smoothies, that kind of thing. Kind of a calorie killer though, so don't over do it if you're trying to lose weight.
Nuts. Nuts are little miracles in my opinion. They come in such a great variety and are full of protein for a quick snack on the go. I recently found some at the health food shoppe that have 100% pure maple syrup on them. These are obviously not as healthy, and are higher in calories, but these will totally work as my new "cheat day" in which I eat things that are dairy/wheat/sugar free, but that are higher in calorie, or may be pushing it a bit on the sugar free end of things.
Avocado oil is my very favorite oil of all. It's a little pricey. I get it for about $9 for a little bottle, but you don't use a lot. I sprinkle it on my veggies for a buttery taste.
Herbs like basil, cilantro and dill are a must in my kitchen. I use dried a lot, but nothing beats fresh herbs to liven up any dish.
Lara bars, which I review later this week, are tasty little fruit and nut bars that a friend of mine introduced me to. She said they had pistachios and dates in them. And then I preceded to ask if there was soy, and she again said pistachios and dates. I said, what about dairy, because i can't have dairy. "Christy. There are two ingredients. Pistachios. Dates." Then I passed out and hit my head on the phone. But seriously, these bars come in a gazillion flavors, all with only 4 or 5 ingredients max. Very great for keeping hunger at bay when you're on the road.
Hazelnut rice milk. This is good plain, or added to my herbal tea. My kids are not so thrilled with it yet, but I'm working on it.
Rice dream ice cream, chocolate marble fudge to be exact. I don't know how they do it, and I don't want to know, but sweet bejeesus this stuff is awesome. I have to fight my kids for it, it's that good. Only in emergencies do I indulge in this, but just a spoon full does the trick.
English Toffee Stevia extract. This is delish in my tea with hazelnut rice milk. An all natural sweetener with no calories. Takes a little getting used to, but really helps when you desire something a little sweeter.
The weird thing about this particular time of eliminating the dairy and wheat is that I didn't have the withdrawals. I had a headache the first day, but that's it. Those bumps on my forehead that went away almost immediately before, that came back again as quickly once I added crap back into my diet, have not gone away this time. And this time I'm even giving up sugar and caffeine, which in their own right should have caused some kind of grief. (it should be noted that I also don't do soy because of my thyroid condition)
I also didn't have the energy surge that occurred on day three last time. But, instead, I've had a steady increase in energy and mood. I feel strong enough to get through this weekend. We're even going to a movie Saturday at a place known for it's crazy gourmet popcorn, and I plan to come prepared with my nuts and lara bar.
What are your favorite dairy/wheat/sugar alternatives? Let us know!
Showing posts with label thyroid. Show all posts
Showing posts with label thyroid. Show all posts
Saturday, May 17, 2008
Monday, May 5, 2008
Type A=Adrenal Fatigue
Sorry I haven't posted in a few days. I am surprised at how much time and energy it takes to prep a house for sale, in combination with all the other work involved in securing a loan for the next house to buy.
Since I am a type A, I have taken it upon myself to do pretty much everything. I have made a ton of phone calls and gathered documents for the correct people, and then made follow up phone calls.
We have painted and scraped and sanded and dusted and moved furniture and cleaned every surface possible. If selling/buying a house were my only duties, this would be a piece of cake. But, of course I have the two kids to take care of, as well as DipSticks, and the typical daily activities like cleaning, cooking, spending time with the hubby, etc.
On top of this, I have been dealing with the health issues that I have mostly been noting in my Dear Dairy posts. However, a friend going through similar issues made me aware of a condition called Adrenal Fatigue. I've been reading about it this weekend, and it sounds right up my symptom alley. A type A like me, especially one who deals with many stressors in a row, such as deaths, hospital visits, sick children, etc, can practically guarantee getting this condition.
Basically the body acts like it's under attack all the time, stressing out the adrenal glands, and causing your body to sort of break down and react in ways that can be confusing to both patient and doctor.
If you've been struggling with never ending fatigue, cravings for salty or sweet foods, memory issues, difficulty concentrating, difficulty processing daily activities without feeling overwhelmed, overall lack of hope or increased illness and allergies, then you may want to read up on Adrenal Fatigue. The book I'm reading is simply called "Adrenal Fatigue, the 21st century stress syndrome." I also picked up a book called the Autoimmune Epidemic too, because I have Hashimotos thyroiditis, which is an autoimmune disease, and apparently candida, adrenal fatigue, food allergies (dairy/wheat) and thyroid conditions, specifically autoimmune, are all connected.
I am very excited, and anxious to get to the bottom of all of this. If it sounds like I'm falling apart at the super young age of 36, it's because I think I am. But, the good news is, I am pretty sure it can all be fixed with a simple, but freaking painful, diet plan that will exclude pretty much everything I love. But, hey, if it's food or my life, I think that's a no brainer.
Since I am a type A, I have taken it upon myself to do pretty much everything. I have made a ton of phone calls and gathered documents for the correct people, and then made follow up phone calls.
We have painted and scraped and sanded and dusted and moved furniture and cleaned every surface possible. If selling/buying a house were my only duties, this would be a piece of cake. But, of course I have the two kids to take care of, as well as DipSticks, and the typical daily activities like cleaning, cooking, spending time with the hubby, etc.
On top of this, I have been dealing with the health issues that I have mostly been noting in my Dear Dairy posts. However, a friend going through similar issues made me aware of a condition called Adrenal Fatigue. I've been reading about it this weekend, and it sounds right up my symptom alley. A type A like me, especially one who deals with many stressors in a row, such as deaths, hospital visits, sick children, etc, can practically guarantee getting this condition.
Basically the body acts like it's under attack all the time, stressing out the adrenal glands, and causing your body to sort of break down and react in ways that can be confusing to both patient and doctor.
If you've been struggling with never ending fatigue, cravings for salty or sweet foods, memory issues, difficulty concentrating, difficulty processing daily activities without feeling overwhelmed, overall lack of hope or increased illness and allergies, then you may want to read up on Adrenal Fatigue. The book I'm reading is simply called "Adrenal Fatigue, the 21st century stress syndrome." I also picked up a book called the Autoimmune Epidemic too, because I have Hashimotos thyroiditis, which is an autoimmune disease, and apparently candida, adrenal fatigue, food allergies (dairy/wheat) and thyroid conditions, specifically autoimmune, are all connected.
I am very excited, and anxious to get to the bottom of all of this. If it sounds like I'm falling apart at the super young age of 36, it's because I think I am. But, the good news is, I am pretty sure it can all be fixed with a simple, but freaking painful, diet plan that will exclude pretty much everything I love. But, hey, if it's food or my life, I think that's a no brainer.
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
Dear Dairy
I have a condition called hashimotos thyroiditis, which is basically low thyroid function.
Since deleting the dairy from my daily intake, I have noticed a few things. Mainly, that my neck is kind of tight and achy in the thyroid area. This seems to happen when my antibodies are attacking my thyroid gland, which is what an autoimmune disorder such as hashimotos does.
I started to wonder if dairy and thyroid had any common links, and I found this interesting tidbit online.
"Among the elements or ingredients which the Thyroid uses to make thyroxine is a protein known as casein. The body manufactures its own casein out of the atoms present in our food, in the same manner that the cow generates the casein in her milk from her feed. Casein is one of the important components of milk, but when cow's milk is used by humans of any age, it is not digested properly or completely under any circumstances. That is the reason why the use of milk not only creates a great amount of mucus in the system, but also has the tendency to disrupt the function of the Thyroid gland. The casein in cow's milk is 300% more concentrated than that in mother's milk. When cow's milk is pasteurized or cooked by boiling, the casein is changed still worse than in its raw state."
I am glad to have this blog to keep track of this, it will be fun and interesting to see if I can pin point a link between the two. I started to take out dairy for weight loss, but there just may be even better health consequences!
*There's also some indication and several scientific studies that wheat is linked to hashimotos as well, so I am not entirely leaving out this connection. I would, however, have to change the name of these posts if in fact, the culprit turns out not to be dairy. That would be a big bummer. Dear Wheat just doesn't have the same ring to it.
Since deleting the dairy from my daily intake, I have noticed a few things. Mainly, that my neck is kind of tight and achy in the thyroid area. This seems to happen when my antibodies are attacking my thyroid gland, which is what an autoimmune disorder such as hashimotos does.
I started to wonder if dairy and thyroid had any common links, and I found this interesting tidbit online.
"Among the elements or ingredients which the Thyroid uses to make thyroxine is a protein known as casein. The body manufactures its own casein out of the atoms present in our food, in the same manner that the cow generates the casein in her milk from her feed. Casein is one of the important components of milk, but when cow's milk is used by humans of any age, it is not digested properly or completely under any circumstances. That is the reason why the use of milk not only creates a great amount of mucus in the system, but also has the tendency to disrupt the function of the Thyroid gland. The casein in cow's milk is 300% more concentrated than that in mother's milk. When cow's milk is pasteurized or cooked by boiling, the casein is changed still worse than in its raw state."
I am glad to have this blog to keep track of this, it will be fun and interesting to see if I can pin point a link between the two. I started to take out dairy for weight loss, but there just may be even better health consequences!
*There's also some indication and several scientific studies that wheat is linked to hashimotos as well, so I am not entirely leaving out this connection. I would, however, have to change the name of these posts if in fact, the culprit turns out not to be dairy. That would be a big bummer. Dear Wheat just doesn't have the same ring to it.
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