Going Gluten Free & Juicing
It was one year ago that I found out that I have a gluten intolerance. I was twenty one and my friends and I shared the same sentiment, "How are they only discovering this now?!". I was at a doctor visit when I was asked about the eczema that was on the inner side of my elbow (what is this part of the body called anyway? It is like the backside of your knee but I guess the front side of your elbow).
Anyway, my fantastic doctor (we will call her Doctor Wonderful) informed me that the eczema was actually reaction to a food allergy--and that allergy was most likely having to do with wheat and gluten products. She suggested that I try going gluten-free for a month and see how my skin does. It couldn't hurt, at the very least I was guaranteed to cut a few pounds from eliminating all that starch and heavy carb-age from my diet.
My entire life I felt like some medical enigma. I experienced monstrous migraines, issues with my immune system and skin as well as the fact that I had what seemed to be a stomach ache that I had had since birth. I was a high school girl carrying Tums and Alka-Seltzer like other kids carried mints.
At the time I was seeing a less-than-fantastic doctor (we will refer to her as Doctor Awful) who insisted I simply had stomach ulcers...my whole life (and without running any viable tests I might add).
So I went for it. At the end of the month, my skin had already begun to clear up dramatically, my mind felt clearer than ever, no migraines and about 10 lbs were missing from the scale that I had weighed in on before. I just felt rejuvenated and clear. It makes so much sense though, it is like putting low-grade fuel in your car continuously--it's just not going to run very well.
Doctor Wonderful then invited me into her office, which looked like the produce section of a grocery store. In the middle of the fruit and odd vegetables and roots stood a silver and transparent tower. She grabbed a few leaves of spinach and kale, a few apples, hand full of blueberries, a small beet and coconut water. The juice that came out of the other end of the tower was a brown-red color and smelled like fresh soil in a garden. She insisted that I try a cup (a large cup) of the concoction. Not wanting to be rude, I accepted and hurriedly drank the whole cup. At first it tasted like I had licked my mother's garden shovel but then it started to taste okay (it needed a banana to sweeten it up).
That day I went home and had a serious headache, so I called Doctor Wonderful to make sure I was fine (honestly, I thought my luck had run out and Doctor Wonderful was more like Doctor Awful than I had suspected). She told me to watch the documentary Sick, Fat and Nearly Dead on Netflix and that I was fine, my body was just not used to flooding my system with that many nutrients (watch this movie!). I experienced the same kind of detoxing woes for the first three days I was juicing as the director of the film did, but it was one of the best decisions I have made in my entire life.
So now it is a year later I am gluten free, healthier than ever, no migraines or major headaches since I first started juicing and my mind is clearer and sharper than ever. I am not as extreme in my juicing as some. I take a multi-vitamin and juice to supplement my diet daily just because I wouldn't get as many fruits and veges otherwise, and because I think it is delicious now!
Gluten intolerances/Celiac Disease has become more prominent in the past couple of years and some attribute it to the fact that much of our common foods are genetically modified (GMOs). Our foods have been exposed to so many different antibiotics and pesticides and such that they simply are just not the natural foods our bodies are used to and can break down. I saw a quote somewhere that reads, "If you don't recognize an ingredient, your body won't either" and I think that couldn't be more true.
If you need a jump, I believe in natural remedies, so it's simple: eat your vegetables. It is the same thing your mom always told you at dinner time. Of course, talk to your physician for any questions you have and to make sure you are safe to begin juicing or going gluten-free (though I don't see how eating more fruits and vegetables and less genetically modified oats could harm--but still check because I am not a health-care professional).
Happy Health & Happy Juicing!!
**My Favorite Juice Recipe**
1 handfull organic red kale
1handfull organic kale
1handfull baby spinach
1banana
1 nectarine
1 handfull of blueberries
medicine cupful of aloe Vera juice
1 c orange juice
1 cup of coconut water
*try to use all organic produce as non-organic produce has been exposed to pesticides and such. I know it can get expensive but Publix has a nicely priced organic section or better yet if you can, try growing your own produce:)
**be very careful when buying Aloe Vera juice, make sure it has not been filtered over coal or by any other unnatural means.
**(below is a really awesome link about a man in Compton who started locally grown gardens because he was tired of not having fresh produce available)
Links:
Pic 1
skinny-vegan-food.com
Pic 2
courtneyoutloud.wordpress.com
Pic 3
rawveganwarrior.com
*All wonderful blogs/sites to follow!!
no copyright infringement intended
