giving up wheat?

[annekh23]

I've been reading a book about something called the Gentle Birth Method. It's a method pioneered by an obstetrician in the UK and is one followed by celebrities and the like who are not part of the too posh to push brigade. One of it's fundamentals is diet, including going wheat free. I've been thinking through this and I'm wondering about trying this as now I know a bit more about it, I do have some of the symptoms that would have some people suggesting wheat free even when not pregnant.

I've never cut out a food or food group, so I'm a bit unsure how to go about this but still maintain a balanced diet. I also don't know what kind of things I should be watching out for to determine sucess.

Cheers
Anne

[Jojo F.]

I'm am mostly wheat free (actually gluten free-barley and rye too), sometimes I just can't help myslef, and have been for almost a year. It takes a while getting used to reading ALL of the labels and learning to use alternative grains/seed/nuts for baking and such but, I have enjoyed the adventure, even if something turns out horrible, and have learned a lot about other foods and ways of cooking.

Do some searching on the web, there are a TON of sites out there dedicated to a gluten free life- celiac disease will turn up a lot of info. Some sites also have an area dedicated to gluten free products. I think "they" say that 1 in 33 Americans has a problem with gluten being it an intolerance or true celiac disease.

Also, there is a grain free (all grains) thread in the Traditional Foods forum and those ladies always have good recipes to share. And last but not least check out the Allergies forum, those ladies really know their stuff

Personally, I don't think wheat is really all *that* healthy for us. Humans did not evolve eating wheat. Plus, our society eats entirely too many grains, namely wheat, and not the right ones, a double whammy. The portions should be MUCH smaller and the selection needs to be larger. And then there is something else I think we all should take into account and that's what our ancestors ate. Mine didn't eat wheat, no wonder I can't tolerate it!! Other people ay be able to tolerate it better because their ancestors ate it but, this can also get confusing because most of us are a mix.

This is just along the lines of allergies and such but, if you *know* you have a problem with wheat/gluten (thes best way to tell is to cut it out of your diet completely and see how you feel. Even try to introduce it and see if you have any adverse reactions, then you will know for sure) it is best for you to not feed your child ANY solids for at least 1 year so their gut has time to fully mature/close up. I have a theory about all the allergies that are showing up now days and it has a little something to do with breastfeeding and fedding solids

OK, I'm done

[annekh23]

Thanks for all those suggestions of other areas of this site, I'm still finding it hard to navigate around.

I'm coming to the conclusion that so much surrounding birth and pregnancy is belief, not fact and when it comes to the crunch do I believe that if I invest a lot of energy into diet changes, lifestyle changes, altering my exercise program etc. it will actually make a difference in how the birth goes and right now I'm not entirely convinced it will, or at least not enough of a difference.

My last birth (2nd) was a bit of a disaster area because the baby was posterior, it turned out that she had an anterior placenta, so was facing that and although we didn't know until my waters broke, there was very little amniotic fluid, so she didn't really have much chance of turning.

However if I focus on how it makes me feel and potential impact on birth being a bonus side effect, I might manage to get my head around it!

Thanks
Anne

[cottonwood]

I think it's ridiculous to insist that all people will be better off not eating a certain food. I mean, I'm allergic to oatmeal, so I guess nobody should eat oatmeal?

That rant out of the way I do think as a society we are WAY over-dependent on grains in general, and wheat certainly isn't an important part of a balanced diet!