Thank you, thank you <img alt="" class="inlineimg" src="http://www.mothering.com/discussions/images/smilies/smile.gif" style="border:0px solid;" title="smile"><br>
I was recently on an elimination diet -- no dairy for two months and also no wheat for the second month. For a girl who loves a bowl of bread and milk with molasses or a good cookie with milk it was a really hard two months! I have eosinophilic esophagitis, a rare disease where certain white blood cells build up in my esophagus in response to some unknown allergen causing strictures, pain, inflammation, food impactions, etc. I tried eliminations of some of the common allergens and had food allergy testing done and just ended up hungry and frustrated. It was good in that it introduced change to me. I tested a very mild positive to allergens to both soy and wheat. I noticed no difference during my wheat-free month, though. I am avoiding major soy. I tried some soy milk while off dairy and wasn't surprised when that allergy came back positive. I still have some in soy sauce and that sort of thing, but no tofu or edamame. The more I've looked into them the less I'm worried about avoiding them.<br><br>
I did break out my grinder for the first time during the elimination period. I ground white beans to thicken soups, rice and oat flours for baking, and I don't know what all else. It's really fun, LOL. I haven't noticed any uptick in allergies since trying the sourdough wheat bread so perhaps I just need to focus on the proper treatment of grains. I've been doing my own kefir for a month or so and I love it. I am using it for my sourdough -- I call it "my pet that does tricks" <img alt="" class="inlineimg" src="http://www.mothering.com/discussions/images/smilies/winky.gif" style="border:0px solid;" title="Wink"> I'm all about better digestibility of grains. I also either have eosinophilic disease all through my digestive system or Irritable Bowel. My gastroenterologist watches me really closely since I have a brother he also treats who has severe chrones disease. I've also had two major surgeries in the last two months. I'm 30 years old and I have had worse health than my mother who is retiring this year! We've been working really hard to crack the code to making me healthy. We're spending thousands of dollars a year on my medical bills. I'm on 4 prescriptions daily plus a number of supplements. I've started working with an alternative health care specialist because my several doctors were out of ideas. Oh, I also have interstitial cystitis -- frequent irritation of the lining of the bladder -- and frequent kidney stones and UTIs. I'm falling apart!<br><br>
Sorry, you got a really long explanation there, lol. That's what I'm up to though. I've got to get healthy. DH really needs to lose a lot of weight and we have one of our three daughters who has his build and will likely have a tendency towards being heavy her whole life. We'd like to build healthy habits now to make it easier as she grows. It will likely be harder that her two sisters have a very thin build like my family. I think the sourdough (YAY!!! I'm so glad I was doing that right!!!) will be a good little step. The girls were all really disappointed when we ran out. DH bought some white store bread yesterday but the girls aren't interested in it <img alt="" class="inlineimg" src="/img/vbsmilies/smilies/joy.gif" style="border:0px solid;" title="joy"> He's going to be the hard one to bring around. His mother isn't a good cook. And she'd force them to eat what she made and I'm sure you all realize how very bad poorly prepared vegetables are. So I'm very gradually bringing him around on vegis. We've been married nearly 10 years and we're making a little progress. He loves the kefir which I count as a major coup. I've been slipping in coconut oil and yesterday I slipped in some raw ACV and pretended it was lemon juice >tee hee< so he didn't complain. I hope having it mixed in with the kefir doesn't negate the goodness of either one <img alt="" class="inlineimg" src="http://www.mothering.com/discussions/images/smilies/irked.gif" style="border:0px solid;" title="irked"><br><br>
Thank you all again for the help! I'm trying to take part on the forum here instead of just lurking and I"m learning SO much! I never realized how very TF I lived while growing up! When I married DH I moved mostly to his way of eating (because he didn't like my food and I didn't care) and I gained a lot of weight and started having lots of health problems. I'm planning to order from a food co-op next week and I'm excited to see what fruit / vegi offerings we get! He'll never be able to trust what's in his food again LOL. But what he doesn't know just might be good for him <img alt="" class="inlineimg" src="/img/vbsmilies/smilies/eat.gif" style="border:0px solid;" title="Eat">
