Wheat, Gluten and Sugar

I’m a bit too tired to think of a funny title for today so I’ll settle for the three words that encapsulate the whole.  I will tell you at a later date why I’m incredibly tired, but today is not that day.

As I wrote yesterday I have become enthralled with the whole issue of eating and in fact being, gluten free. It all started with seeing an article someone posted on facebook about a link between headaches and gluten.  I have long suffered from headaches. More often than not I would tell people how I knew it was going to be a good day because I didn’t have a headache. I’d tried numerous avenues to rid myself of the beasts but they persisted.  We also have several allergy issues in our family. In fact, I just don’t think people in their 40s should start acquiring new allergies. It’s not right and yet that is what I have done in the past year.

I picked up at the library a book by Dr. William Davis, M.D. entitled “Wheat Belly“. It has been nothing short of fascinating. We have all heard of the Glycemic Index. The Glycemic Index (or GI) is a numerical scale that is used to indicate how high any particular food raises our blood glucose, or blood sugar. The higher the GI the greater the spike in blood sugar. And the greater the spike, the harder the crash. We all know that, right? Right.

What you may not know is that 2 slices of whole wheat bread has a higher GI than 2 tablespoons of pure sugar.

Yeah, go back and read that again to be sure you read it right.  Two slices of whole wheat bread raises your blood glucose higher than that of 2 tablespoons of sugar.

Now let’s pretend you’ve just received a diagnoses of diabetes and you go to a class on how to live with the disease.  You’ll learn to limit your sugar while maintaining a “healthy” diet of  ”healthy whole wheat and whole grains.” So you commence to do just this convinced you’ll be able to control your disease with diet. Only it’s not long and you’re on insulin injections every day.

Why? Because you’re eating “healthy whole wheat and grains.” The cure is slowly killing you. You would be better off, much better off, ditching the healthy whole grains to the curb altogether. Stay off of insulin, possibly reverse your diagnoses by avoiding gluten like the plague.

But wait! It’s not just the gluten. Oh no no no no. If you were to decide to avoid all gluten you’d probably go to the store and purchase a bag of gluten free, all-purpose flour. And think you’re doing a good thing for your body. No gluten. No blood sugar spike. No hard crash. Life is good.

Not so fast, twinkle toes. In that bag of “healthy gluten free” flour you will find potato starch, rice starch and tapioca starch. Guess what they do?

If you guessed skyrocket your blood sugar like wheat bread, you’d be absolutely right.

Now the up and down blood sugar causes, guess what? Oh alright, I’ll tell you. It causes you to eat more. Oh yeah. Your blood sugar spikes at noon, crashes at 2, by 2:15 you’re too sleepy to live so you reach for a “healthy whole grain snack” to perk you up. Which causes your blood sugar to spike and crash which causes you to eat  more.

Which adds more weight. Now where do you suppose all this extra weight likes to hang out?  If you guessed in your mid-section you’d be absolutely brilliant. Not only does it love to hang out on your mid-section (can anyone say beer belly, muffin top or love handles?) it also likes to hang out on your internal organs.

from tsgood.com

No, not like church organs. Like your liver and kidneys. Yeah, those organs. The very organs you need to…oh what is the word I’m looking for??? Oh yeah, I have it…live. You could live very well without a church organ, not so well without your kidneys and liver. Oh yeah and your heart too. You have to have that.

So before you reach for that bagel, think of your innards.  They’ll thank you!

Healthy Living

Do you ever wish you could eat healthier?  I’ve noticed several people will tell me they wish they could eat healthier while shoving a candy bar in their face.  I really want to tell the that isn’t the way to do it. But I usually refrain.

And keep a few friends that way.

I’ve not always been so health conscience. Twenty years ago I was living on Otis Spunkmeyer muffins (chocolate chocolate chip) and diet pepsi. I didn’t cook at all. I ate out twice a day and I didn’t make healthy choices.

I didn’t exercise either. Unless you counted walking to work while eating an Otis Spunkmeyer muffin and drinking diet pepsi exercise.

I have completely changed. I now rarely dine out. I gave up Diet Pepsi about 18 years ago. I cook more and people say it’s good. I don’t eat white refined flour or sugar. I use whole wheat flour and honey.  I exercise. I walk, run, ride a bike.

I have started reading anything I can get my hands on about a healthy lifestyle because I think it is important to take care of God‘s temple.  Annette Reeder and Dr. Richard Couey have written a Bible Study on this subject.

It’s fascinating! I learned so much about health. I learned that while I always knew diet pop/soda/coke was not good for you I learned more about the why in this study.  The authors touch on all the food groups in the food pyramid, which isn’t called the food pyramid anymore.

They talk about exercise and that other bad word….sugar.

If you’re looking for a Bible study for the summer and you’re wanting to join the healthy food bandwagon, get this book and grab some friends. You won’t be sorry at all!

 

I received a free copy of this book from the publisher for the purpose of review.

You are what you eat.

If you are what you eat….I’m not sweet.

I’ve been asked a number of times lately about my foodie choices. People want to know what I eat, what I don’t eat and if I ever eat what I don’t eat.  They want to know what my diet looks like and how it works.

My diet only works because I make it work. A diet will only help you accomplish your goals if you follow it.

I found a number of years ago that I feel better when I do not eat processed and refined sugar and flour. I have somewhat ruthlessly cut these out of my diet (here referred to what I eat not a weight-loss plan).

This does not mean I don’t eat any white food. Hello…I’m Irish. We eat potatoes.  Generally my budget allows me to get russet potatoes sometimes though I’ll grab some red or yukon gold. Knowing none of those are the best for you but I buy what I can.  I also eat rice. My favorite rice is brown but since I’ve started shopping at Sam’s, I’ve branched out and buy other healthy kinds of rice and not just plain white. I really like basmati rice. (However, the basmati rice I buy could very well be adulterated and have almost no actual basmati rice at all.)

I make my own bread using 100% whole wheat. I do not mix in white flour to help  it rise. When we dine out and I have a burger I order it sans bun.  When I order chicken, I order it grilled and not fried.

This means I use honey as a sweetener and not sugar. I do have sugar in the house. I just made some chai tea mix for my church and I have sugar on hand for things like that. My children put a little sugar on their Cheerios in the morning.  I drink my coffee “blacker than a thousand midnights down in a cypress swamp”. (My regards to James Weldon Johnson)

I have also cut out, of course, high fructose corn syrup, corn syrup, organic cane sugar, and fruit juice. It really narrows the playing field when dining out. And I’ll admit dining out isn’t near as much fun anymore. Gone are the days of going out for dessert and ordering a slice of pie, or going for a burger and eating the whole thing.

Since I’ve cut these out of my diet, I can honestly say I’m not at all convinced fast food burgers are real food. When you eat them without the bun, it doesn’t taste at all like anything resembling food. It tastes like a substance and really that is all I can say. It doesn’t taste like anything good.

Now, I am not a Nazi about my dietary choices. I don’t expect others to cater to my choices. If I had a medical reason, I would be a bit more vocal, but since I don’t have that reason, I follow the directive in Luke 10:8 and “eat what is put before me”.  If you invited us over for a meal and served spaghetti or grilled cheese, I would not say “I can’t eat that.” I would instead be silent and thankful.  I might pass on dessert or request a very small piece.

I do have days when I splurge at home. On family birthdays my girls ask if I’ll splurge and have some cake and I do.  This year I was going to celebrate my birthday week with sugar every day. I didn’t even make it to Wednesday before I gave up because the nausea wasn’t worth it.

One of the side effects of eating this way has been I’ve lost about 45 pounds in the past couple of years.  But that isn’t the only thing I’ve done to lose weight. I’ve overall chosen a healthier lifestyle. I have cut down the number of calories I consume every day.  I do some exercises almost every day.

You see, I’ve come to really realize that my body is a temple of the Holy, Living God. I want to take care of it. For me, eating food that isn’t good for me isn’t taking care of His temple.

Bread Making: A Tutorial

I have been a bread making machine lately. I seem to be somewhat addicted to fresh, homemade bread, right out of the oven, slathered with butter. It is like the ultimate comfort food.

I have had people rave over my bread and while I’m still debating posting the recipe I thought I would share some of my tips and tricks. I use 100% whole wheat bread with honey and flax seed.

Most recipes call for 1 tablespoon of yeast, but because I use all whole wheat flour and have trouble getting the bread to rise nicely; I double the amount of yeast.  The water you want warm, but not too warm.  Use water between 90-110 degrees F. I usually just hold my hand in the stream of water until it starts to sting a little.

Two Tablespoons Yeast

Sponging

That is 2 tablespoons yeast, 2.5 cups whole wheat flour, and 2.5 cups of warm water. You will need to mix it well. Make sure there are no lumps of flour. The more you mix/stir the more the yeast mixes in and the more the yeast mixes in the more your bread rises.

The Best flour for bread making!

You will need to cover (I use paper towels) and leave this mixture alone for 20 minutes. While you’re waiting, in a different bowl put 2 teaspoons salt, 3.5 cups whole wheat flour, 1/3 cup oil, 1/4 cup flax seed, and 1/2 cup of honey.  I use melted butter in place of oil and I grind the flax seeds.

Mixing, Mixing

When you have mixed it as much as you can  in the bowl, turn out on to a lightly floured surface and need until it is no longer sticky. (Or knead for at least 5 minutes again the more you knead the more the yeast likes it.)

Next you will invert the bowl over the dough and let sit for 20 minutes.

Lightly floured

Done kneading.

Inverted bowl

While you’re waiting again, butter a large bowl and set aside. When the 20 minutes are up, knead dough for 5 minutes and put in large buttered bowl. Cover with saran wrap (and towel but that is optional).

Clean up is a snap if you clean as you go.

Make sure the bowl is well buttered, You've got honey in the dough.

Covered with saran wrap

Rising in a warm, sunny spot.

You will let it rise for 90 minutes. It should at least double in size.  During this time you can waste time on facebook, twitter, or playing games.

Next you turn it out onto a floured surface, I usually leave the flour on the counter until after this step. Divide in half. I use the dull side of a butter knife.

Ready for dividing

Place divided dough in two well buttered loaf pans and allow to rise for 45 minutes.

Well buttered loaf pan

One done, one ready

I failed to mention you will need to shape it into a loaf.

When it is done rising, bake in a 400 degree oven for 10 minutes. While baking, add ice cubes to bottom of oven or squirt with water. After 10 minutes, reduce the oven to 350 degrees and bake for an additional 25 minutes.

Immediately remove from pans onto wire cooling rack and allow to cool.

All that is left is your enjoyment and pride in a job well done. You might want to not cut into it right away, allow it to cool a little before cutting.