Posts Tagged ‘gluten free’
The Evils of Candy Corn… and more about HFCS
OK- so I’ve had a terrible stomach all week. It’s been debilitating. I’ve been rushing to the bathroom 4-5 X’s per day and I swear more is coming out then going in. ugh, too much information, I know (but not if you’re a runner, or if you’ve ever spent much time around me). I’ve been in limbo alternating between feeling completely bloated and totally depleted. Sitting here on my big blue ball, I just want to go and lie down. The worst is that today I’m really light-headed. At least I already did most of mileage this morning- (with only 1 emergency bathroom break en route)…
So what does this have to do with candy corn? It’s pretty much the only thing that I can pinpoint that I’ve eaten differently. (Well, I did have a glass of port and three little chocolates at Pix for Ian’s birthday on Tuesday…)
There is an EVIL bowel of candy corn that appeared out of no where this week right outside my office. Candy corn, plus those adorable little pumpkins, were my sweet-fix in college. The whole candy addiction thing was a new thing for me upon starting college cross country. I didn’t realize that people post-elementary school still had such strong connections with non-chocolate candy. Candy corn was the only thing I could get behind… I loved that honey-flavored sugar spike immediately after races. Their borderline obscurity plus the fact that I only see them for three weeks out of the year has continued to up their allure.
My parents didn’t make regular appearances at races in college (though they flew to Illinois last minute for Cross nationals my senior year), but someone else’s parents always brought me a bag of candy corn.
So- to get back to the subject- I’ve been researching whether candy corn could somehow contain gluten… and yes, I know about the cross-contamination issues (I just don’t know what exactly would be contaminating it? twizzlers? those fake-yogurt-covered pretzels? mystery to me)…
In my internet search I came across a blog post that I thought I would link to. The author discusses candy corn’s ingredients (basically different kinds of sugar & wax), as well as the harmful effects of High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS).
Check it out:
http://www.glutenfreeforgood.com/blog/?p=468
I think my gut needs a candy corn detox.
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Rice Yogurt
Ok- one more product idea: RICE YOGURT! Why did it take so long for someone to think of this? I actually found this for the first time down in Ashland, Oregon (home to the best Co-op in the world)! Another one of those: “its about time,” things. And then a few weeks later it came to New Seasons!
This stuff is pretty sweet, so it more of a dessert thing than a lunch thing for me…. but I love the blueberry kind! And I have really missed yogurt since I stopped eating the soy-stuff. One of my favorite foods was the Vanilla soy-yogurt from Wildwood! Ricera isn’t the same, but it is close and lets me pretend.
Now if someone will please come up with a gluten-free, vegan cheese without soy! (I know this would probably take a miracle)
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To Detox…
Today is the first day of my “fall cleaning” detox. Yesterday on my run home from downtown, I decided that I needed to take some action and be proactive about changing how lousy I’ve been feeling. I don’t want to put the entire blame on the iron pills, because it might have been a little before that… but they are an easy scapegoat.
A few weeks ago I purchased a copy of the Raw Food Detox Diet and have been contemplating making some changes to my diet. I eat far too much imitation cheese, tortilla chips, cashews, dried fruit and energy bars. And not enough fresh produce. The ironic thing to me is that I am the OPPOSITE of constipated all the time… and I’m drawn to these foods that are dense, both literally and calorically. And yet, I have NEVER remotely had problems with elimination.
In fact, this last spring I went in for a colonic and the therapist told me that I was probably not a good candidate for colon hydrotherapy because of my “constitution”… saying that I have a tendency toward coldness and watery stools, etc. (sorry to be graphic) I do simply just HATE the idea of old putrid waste lining the walls of my intestines and allowing toxins to absorb back into my tissue. yuck!
Last weekend I purchased a new juicer, the one that the author of the book recommends for its ability to handle a large quantity of greens. I’ve been scared away from so many of the “green” drinks and powders since going gluten-free. You see, wheat grass or barley grass shouldn’t contain gluten, BUT it could. The “could” comes from the fact that once it is processed we have no way of knowing whether the grass sprouted first. If it did- then the juice could contain gluten. ugggh, it is another one of those huge gray areas for me.
So I decided, that I should juice my own green goodness from veggies- hence the new juicer.
I know what you’re thinking: “what about the fiber?” Well, I have three answers for this:
1) I could never handle tough greens like Kale, period.
2) Myself, and most people, would be hard pressed to eat the vast quantity of veggies it takes to make a couple glasses of juice
3) Since our bodies have a difficult time processing much of this hard plant matter, we are probably not absorbing all the vitamins and minerals that are locked inside.
So, I’m going to start juicing again regularly. I’m even going to try to stomach beet juice, it is such a good blood builder.
More on my progress later. Off to the lab to get some blood drawn.
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New Iron Pills…. hmmm
OK- started another iron pill this weekend…. and I think this one will be relegated to the “Ian” pile once again. Although he has his own digestive issues, he seems to have a much easier time with the iron varieties than I do and he’s not gluten intolerant…. (or so he insists).
This one was from Wild Oats- their brand- and it said gluten free on the label. It is seriously the craziest capsule I’ve seen. The outside is clear and it is filled with different brightly colored beads. The nice thing is that it said slow-release, and the capsule contains vitamin C, folic acid and b12 to aid absorption… so I was thinking it would cut down on the amount of pills I take at night. (Although I do enjoy my chewable vitamin Cs!)
I might give these the benefit of the doubt… since it is almost that time of the month and my stomach might be ultra sensitive. I even had to stop doing the mile repeats in the workout yesterday because my tummy was making so much noise… PAINFUL!
So, I’ll give them to till the end of the week…maybe I won’t take any Friday night since I’ve got a tempo Saturday morning. Then it is back to the Gentle Iron for me.
uggh.
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Neurotic Label Reading
Sometimes it seems like I spend an inordinate amount of time and energy food shopping and reading ingredient lists and nutrition facts. Not that this is anything particularly new- I was raised to be a label reader, but since discovering the gluten intolerance, I’ve developed an even stricter criteria for what qualifies as cleanliness. When I stop to think about the hours I spend searching for clean ingredients, it does make me wonder how my time could be better put to use. Do you ever jump for joy when you find the words “gluten free” ACTUALLY printed on the container? I do! Not that this is a sure fire fix, but it does make it much easier.
The fact is that wheat products, soy, or dairy derivatives are added to everything now.
Basically these are the criteria that I use:
- Gluten Free
- Egg Free
- Dairy Free
- Soy Free
- No Transfat (hydrogenated oils)
- No HFC (high-fructose corn syrup)
It definitely helps to have stores like Trader Joes and Whole Foods who, at least, don’t carry products with HFC or transfat. I’ll stop venting now. I’m sure that it will only get better in the future as demand fuels the market.
Peace.
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Fast Recovery… Berry Smoothie
In my brief stint at Oregon, before quitting law school, the athletic department’s nutritionist required us to either down a “Balance Shake” in a can or a bar immediately following a hard workout. She wasn’t entirely fond of me since I refused to ingest these products. Not only did they contain dairy products, but they were loaded with the dreaded HFC (high fructose corn syrup) and coated with hydrogenated oils (trans-fats). GROSS. This wasn’t the stone age either- it was the fall of 2002. And, she was supposed to be a nutritionist! (Never mind that she was overweight herself, probably from snacking on too many of these free bars and shakes that were given to the school as some kind of promotional deal….)
Instead, my compromise was that I would bring along a Clif bar or almond butter and jam sandwich. These wholesome snacks, however, were very hard for me to consume after really exerting myself… especially if it was hot. I have a terribly sensitive stomach! And hard efforts make me nauseous. To be honest, for most of my running life, I have avoided eating anything for quite some time after a strenuous workout. I have also always been known by my coaches for slow recoveries.
And that is something I would like to change.
There is frankly too much evidence available now about muscle breakdown and recovery for me to neglect this aspect of training any longer. I have forced myself to get over my food aversion mostly through liquid forms of energy replacement. Bellow is a recipe for the smoothie that I consumed today after a moderately-paced 16 miler. It was sunny and hot toward the end, and I felt really zapped of fluid.
In a blender:
24 oz filtered water
1/4 C unsweetened cranberry juice
1.5 C of organic frozen mixed berries
2 tsp stevia powder
1 Tbs agave nectar
3 Tbs rice protein powder*
1/4 tsp sea salt
If you like a thicker smoothie, you can add ice.
- Fruit- bananas, melons, pineapple, mango, peaches, nectarines, plums.
- Dried fruit that has been soaked the night before in a little water to plump it up like: apricots, raisins, currants, dates, figs, prunes, etc. Provides fiber, flavor, nutrients.
- Juices (especially high antioxidant juices like unsweetened pomegranate, blueberry, acai, gojiberry- trader joes has some excellent varieties) Make sure they are free of HFC and other added sweeteners.
- Greens: powdered greens, spirulina, chlorophyll, blue-green algae, kelp. If you have a vitamix or K-tec, then add some whole greens like kale or sea-vegetables to the smoothie!
- Bee pollen
- Almond butter, handful of nuts (like walnuts or almonds)
- Flax oil, or flax seeds (preground if you do not have a very powerful blender) for Omega-3′s and fiber from the flax seeds.
- Dash of cinnamon- tastes great and helps regulate blood sugar.
- Powdered vitamin C, Emergen-C packet, liquid trace minerals.
You can be creative and add whatever you like. Sometimes I make “desert” smoothies too… with rice milk, agave, brewed chai tea, cinnamon, and ice. Great ending to a hot summer’s night.
I’d love to hear more ideas for creative smoothie making!
Happy sipping.
