No bread, milk or sugar

    In November, I began seeing a new doctor health care provider nurse practitioner (NP) who specializes in functional medicine. Here is explanation about functional medicine. To become a patient with this clinic I completed approximately 20 pages of health history, including a seven day food record. Then I waited two months for a new patient time slot. The first appointment lasted 2.5 hours. NP had already reviewed my information and prepared a timeline of my medical problems. She verified for me that thoughts and concerns were on target. They drew 5 or 6 vials of blood for tests and sent me home with two additional test kits. I was also instructed to begin eliminating gluten from my diet.

     Gluten is a protein found in wheat. It is responsible for the elasticity allowing breads to rise during baking. I am trying specialty gluten-free foods as I slowly remove gluten containing foods from our home. Thus far I have found satisfactory replacements for favorite foods (goldfish crackers, pizza dough, bread). Our city has a gluten-free grocery store within two miles of our house. Albertson's and Fred Meyer also have a selection of GF foods.

     Some of my readers (if there are indeed readers of this blog) know I've been reading voraciously to figure out what kind of dietary intervention I needed to help my gastro-intestinal system. Last summer, I considered the Specific Carbohydrate Diet developed by Elaine Gottschall. It didn't give me enough information about why certain foods are not allowed. Then I bought the GAPS diet book written by Dr. Natasha Campbell-McBride. The GAPS book arrived around the time I found the new clinic and I have not read it yet. I still plan to read it as a companion to the information from the NP.

     My next appointment (to discuss test results) resulted in eliminating casein from my diet. Casein is a protein found in milk products. If you don't drink milk (I do not), at first glance this might appear a simple change. It has not been simple! Cheese was my go-to protein source. It contains casein. Bye-bye cheese. I will miss you . . . . But, I've been avoiding milk products and it is helping my G.I. symptoms.

     The third appointment with NP took place the day the girls returned to school after Christmas break (Jan 4). We discussed the poop test results. My intestines have dysbiosis. This means the types and quantities of microscopic bacteria is out of whack. In a nutshell, there are too many of the less-desirable guys and too few of the desirable ones. I'm taking probiotics to help change this back to the correct ratios of good to not-as-good. NP has also recommended an yeast-free, anti-candida food plan for a month. Basically, this means eliminating starchy/sugary foods like most fruits, corn, potatoes, rice.

     I'm not doing it yet. It was simply too much for me to handle, given that I cannot have any dairy products, either. I've decided to wait until I am more comfortable with gluten-free and casein-free eating.

     Needless to say, all of this has rocked my world the past two months. I was somewhat prepared for and expected many of these changes but it's still been difficult. That's why y'all haven't heard much from me lately.