I make most of our bread homemade. I have for a long time. Occasionally, in the summer, the thought of turning on my oven is enough to drive me to purchase a loaf of store-bought bread, but it's not often. I wanted to give my family a healthy option. Since store-bought bread is full of preservatives, and homemade is just so delicious, I thought making homemade was the best option. I can make many different varieties, from French to potato. When I wanted to kick up the health a bit, I would make a loaf or two of whole wheat. Little did I know that I might be compromising my family's health.
For years my family has been getting sick. My middle sister developed alopecia as an 11 year old girl back in the late 80s. Let me tell ya, kids are cruel to a child losing her hair. She was subjected to painful and expensive steroid injections right into the scalp to try to stimulate her hair to grow. At times, it would improve. Then, it would get drastically worse. She later, with her first child, developed hypothyroidism. A couple of years ago she was diagnosed with celiac disease.
At about that time, our mother began developing severe health issues. She was first diagnosed with hypothyroidism. A couple of years later she was diagnosed as a type 2 diabetic. Within ten years she also added fibromalgia and IBS (irritable bowel syndrome).
Then the baby of the family started getting ill. She had grown up with health issues that the doctors could never diagnose. She would, out of nowhere, get dizzy and faint. She would be rushed to the ER, labs would be run, and nothing would show. She even had expensive neurological tests done, just to ensure there were no seizures. After she married she was diagnosed with hypothyroidism.
At thirteen, my oldest began getting very ill. She lost a tremendous amount of weight. Within weeks, she was rushed to the ER and diagnosed with type 1 diabetes.
Both my baby sister and I were diagnosed with gall bladder disease and had our gall bladders removed with in few months of our having a child. My sister developed severe digestion issues after her gall bladder was removed.
At nineteen, when a foot injury wouldn't heal, my second born daughter was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes. Within weeks of seeing an endocrinologist, she was also diagnosed with hyperthyroidism.
I have struggled for years with weight that seems determined to stay. After my gall bladder disease was diagnosed, I had to eat fat-free until my insurance kicked in. It took months. I ate fat-free for months, and lost nothing. My health began to get worse and worse. I had severe eczema on my arms in the winter that no lotion would treat. I would break out in rashes on my legs that would inflame and be painful. I spent thousands fixing deteriorating teeth, only to have them begin to crumble from within despite giving up all sugary drinks and brushing obsessively. My feet hurt so badly, especially in the mornings or after sitting for awhile, that I cried when I walked. Then my legs began hurting to the point where I thought I might be developing arthritis. I suffered from insomnia so badly that I was only averaging three or for hours of sleep a night. This was all before age 40! Last year I went into my doctor in tears because I couldn't handle it all any longer.
The only thing found was low vitamin D. I realize that vitamin D is vital to health, and links to many things. I have been on supplements for over a year. It is only in the last few months that I discovered articles about the importance of fat consumption for optimal vitamin absorption. What I discovered has been life changing! No longer do we buy processed, man-made vegetable oils that increase inflammation. We use olive oil, coconut oil, and even bacon grease.
The last year has been a year of searching for answers. I discovered in January that I have a moderate dairy allergy. But my quest hasn't stopped there. The answers to my health issues and the health issues of my loved ones almost can be summed up in two words: autoimmune and inflammation.
My family has been dealt a pretty rough blow in our health by all the various diagnosis of autoimmune diseases!
Until you have lived daily dealing with health issues such as this, it's impossible to understand. Doctors have treated us at times like we are insane, like it's all in our heads! Get more exercise (while I was walking several miles daily), eat less (while I was on a no-fat diet) seemed to be their answers. Most thought I was just depressed. One doctor put my step-daughter on anti-depressants and she reacted VERY badly to it. We pulled her off quickly when she began having suicidal thoughts.
My stepdaughter began getting physically sick. Numerous attacks in her stomach led her doctor to send us traveling to Riley Children's Hospital in Indianapolis. She was diagnosed with IBS. A few months later another stomach attack revealed Hashimoto hypothyroidism. Essentially, she was diagnosed with two autoimmune diseases...and she's not even 17 years old!
It's one thing to believe that it's simply a genetic link when it's attacking your blood family members. However, when your step-daughter is also diagnosed with two auto-immune diseases, and she isn't biologically related, then you know there has to be more to the story. Now, we have discovered that there is a small auto-immune link in her family too, but it's much more rare. Certainly there is more going on than she was just unlucky in the genetic gene-pool.
Monday, my thirteen year old daughter had an MRI. She has painful, swollen spots on each foot, and her regular doctor and the podiatrist don't know the cause. The key words that struck me were pain and inflammation. The MRI could possible come up with a diagnosis that has nothing to do with autoimmune or wheat or diet, or it could find answers that might link to any of those things.
Recently my baby sister was sent to a natural doctor by a specialist to attempt to reduce the inflammation in her thyroid. It has gotten so swollen that the doctors want her to have it removed. A natural doctor uses diet and supplements to attempt to natural reduce inflammation. Her suggestions: various supplements, dairy free, and gluten-free.
I have stumbled upon movies such as Fathead, and articles by Dr. Davis, author of the book Wheat Belly. I am on the waiting list at my library for the book Wheat Belly. In the meantime, I keep researching.
I get aggravated at those that get online and give reviews of books like Wheat Belly that state that wheat is not a problem. Seriously? My family is the exception? Then why is there a three month waiting list to get into the endocrinologist? Why are people getting so ill with autoimmune diseases? Why can't the doctors find answers?
My daughters deserve answers. Type 1 diabetes has led to other issues in my older girls. My oldest has developed gastroperisis. She's in the hospital several times every year! Guess what, no one knows how to help her. She has developed ulcers in her esophagus due to all the acid and the throwing up when she gets ill. The answer she has been given is to take strong medications that make her sleep for hours in order to keep her from throwing up incessantly. I want someone to help her, and not treat her like a problem!
I am a Christian. I don't believe in evolution. Many of the carb-reduced diets out there today, such as Paleo, are based on evolutionary theories that man in the caveman days didn't eat wheat and ate lots of meat. Well, I disagree with that foundation. Adam worked the land. It wasn't until after the Flood that man began to eat meat. However, that changes nothing, in my very humble opinion.
Over the years scientists have altered wheat. They have changed it (but don't say genetically modified or people freak) and altered it from how God made it. The bread in the days of Jesus was radically different from what we have today. The bread of the 1950s is also quite different. So, it stands to reason that when you mess with God's Creation, and then eat it, the body won't react the same way to how it would have reacted to the older grains. And once a body begins to have poor reactions to a substance, and even begins attacking itself, it's very difficult to go back in time. My sister with celiac has DAMAGE to her intestines. Eating wheat sends her into pain that rivals labor. It's NOT in her head. It's also not in my head that I have fifty pounds to lose, and walking miles per day has not dropped one ounce. It's a horrible feeling to feel like your body is not your own, that you can't stop the problems that are developing no matter how "healthy" you eat.
The term "healthy", when applied to food, depends on who you ask. The local diabetes educator at the hospital is a wonderful lady, but her information on diet is about ten years out of date. Of course, much of the government's information hasn't changed either. Our food pyramid still puts grains at the bottom as what we should eat in massive amounts. When this very nice lady began educating my daughter while she was in the hospital, I cringed. Her eating plan is not going to help her with her diabetes and thyroid disorder at all. In fact, her thyroid problem will continue to get worse as she eats grain. Her blood sugars will continue to be a struggle as she eats a diet high in carbs, even the whole grains!
I hesitated to blog about this because it reveals private health issues in my family. I also have struggled with putting my thoughts and feelings out there since my thoughts and feelings and opinions have been attacked pretty viciously lately. I'm also not comfortable with the fact that all of this is being data mined. However, so many people are sick. So many people are getting sicker and sicker and don't know if they will ever feel better. If one person can read this and start researching for themselves, it is worth it.
I have noticed that many Christians are getting sicker and sicker. Their faith has taken a hit because they feel that God isn't in the healing business any longer. I see many state that bread is a symbol in the Bible, a symbol of Christ, a symbol of the Word of God, and shouldn't be eliminated from our diets. I see others that feel that because some of the Paleo/Primal diets are evolutionary based, we should not even look into them. But, understand, that we aren't eating Biblical emmer. And, if we did, many might still react poorly because their bodies have already been damaged by the hybridized, altered grain of the last fifty years. Whether I cut wheat or not out of my diet, Christ is the Bread of Life. I have prayed extensively for answers, and was led to this research. Christ could heal me, or heal my daughters or sisters, all supernaturally. I am not discounting His power. But what if, instead of healing one person miraculously, correct information led us to diets that are inline with how God created us to eat... and many are healed of multiple issues that could then go on to help others? It's limiting God to say that healing has to happen only at a prayer meeting or only at a doctor's office or only with medication.
There are a lot of critics to diets that eliminate wheat or cut down on carbohydrates and starchy vegetables. I realize that "everyone has an opinion". Critics of this diet say that it limits vitamins that come from wheat or starchy vegetables. I am taking this a day at a time as I research. I love fruit, and believe it can be very healthy in moderation. I plan to do things slowly with my health, and to use common sense. I have already limited any dairy I consume after an allergy was discovered. Eliminating wheat has been recommended several times, but I have fought doing so. But, after months of no dairy, I still feel horrible and can't lose weight! I have been taking vitamin D supplements for a year, and it had no impact on my health until recently, when I learned about healthy saturated fats and how it helps with absorption. Finally, I am beginning to feel better, but I still feel that I am having issues with my heath. So, if eliminating wheat also improves my health, I will do what I need to do. I want to enjoy my children. When it hurts to walk across the floor, I am not going to be able to play with my six year or go walking with my 16 year old.
I will write again on progress of the research and the elimination of things that could be damaging my body. I pray this blog post helps someone to begin to research for themselves.
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