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Gluten Free is Healthy--Myth, Fad, or True?

7/15/2016

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I have been gluten free since 1977, when there were NO commercial foods that were gluten free, except some bread that tasted like cardboard. I also was vegetarian for many years, and this meant I learned how to cook from scratch. Now, the advent of many products that are gluten free  has not made my life much easier. Why?  because so many are loaded with sugar, highly processed (gluten free) flour, unhealthy fat and eggs.
My intention is to show that it is completely possible to eat well on a gluten free diet--without spending hours in the kitchen. 

Should you be eating gluten free?  Please don't, if it is because:
  • You want to lose weight
  • your best friend suggested it
  • It is the latest fad
But, if you are one of the 1% with celiac disease, or the 6-10% with gluten sensitivity, then you NEED to eat gluten free for the rest of your life. And you will want to do so, no matter how much time you spend in the kitchen, because you will feel so much better when you do!  But please get tested
for celiac disease first, if you can, because after you have been eating gluten free, the test will no longer be accurate. 
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My two cents on the Paleo Diet 

4/21/2016

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 It seems that the only folks who are not doing Standard American Diet (SAD) Gluten free are going "Paleo", eating only meats, fruits and vegetables, and avoiding grains altogether.
 I understand the temptation.  I've been there, when I couldn't figure out what to eat. I was hungry all the time. The foods I used to love and resort to no longer "worked"  (eg brown rice.)  Well, I'm friends with brown rice again. I am still in the process of figuring it out, but as I do,  I want to share my journey and hear yours. . .

There are so many myths out there in the Paleo world, among them that we are not adapted to eat grains like wheat  because they have only been in our diet for 10,000 years.  I think 10,0000 years is a plenty long time.  Oh, and anyone know what the average life expectancy was BEFORE the cultivation of grains?  
(By the way, scientists have evidence of humans eating barley as far back as 30,000 years ago.)
My contention is that the problem with eating so much grain now is that in the standard Western diet, those grains are highly processed and cooked/baked with SUGAR. . .
Further, my contention is that most of the people in the world eat gluten-free grains and root vegetables in the form of rice, corn, millet, sorghum, cassava, etc.  
So what is the problem?  The problem is we have forgotten how to cook from scratch, we are completely out of touch with seasonal eating, and we have forgotten the power of fermentation, which is also in all cultures of the world in the form of pickles, sauerkraut, miso, sourdough, yogurt, and more. . ..

Here is one change  I made in the fall of 2013  that has really helped me:  I don't eat after 7:30 pm, usually much earlier,  and I don't snack after dinner.  Especially no grain products like corn chips, rice cakes, etc.
And it's not because I want to lose weight, in fact, quite the opposite.  
 I eat gluten-free grains for breakfast, lunch and dinner, and try to eat the largest meal of the day between noon and 1 pm. Any one or all of these meals may contain some animal products, such as eggs, fish, cheese. So no, I am not vegan, although I do sometimes have vegan meals.  
Food-combining principles, which I learned 40-some years ago, continue to be very useful for me.  The simplified version is: 
Eat fruits on an empty stomach, or at least 30 minutes before a meal.  
Combine proteins with non-starchy vegetables, and oils.
Grains combine well with vegetables and of course beans.  
Eat one kind of protein at a time.
Eat melons alone
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    Gluten Free with a View (Point)

    I have been gluten free since 1977, and most of that time have been vegetarian. Though now I'm a "modified vegetarian" (I eat some fish) I cook almost all of my food from scratch, and want to inspire you to do the same .

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  • Home
  • Yoga
    • Workshops and Sample classes
    • Sign up for session
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    • About Diana
  • GlutenFree
    • Bending toward justice
    • March 23 2020