Gluten

[Valarya]

Due to the long posts on Gluten currently over at Robin's newsgroup, and hearing your story Farseer, I thought I'd post a blog from a cardiologist who wrote a really good book on why Gluten is bad for everyone, not just those who are allergic or sensitive to it.

There's a pretty good Recipe list here, too!!!

http://www.wheatbellyblog.com/

[Farseer]

Sorry Valarya...very ignorant of me to not have yet responded but will take a look at the link when I get a chance. I know many who have undertaken a gluten-free diet for reasons other than a true sensitivity or allergy, and they seem to be happier for their choice. Bread and I have been friends for too long for me to want to turn my back on him now!

[Valarya]

I love love love love bread (oh gods do I love bread) but after reading this and many other things, I've decided to try it out. It's been 2 weeks and, I'll tell you, it's hard as hell.

['thul]

These beings had bread today. Self-baked, and filled in the center with a mix of bullion, ground beef, tomato paste and cheese.

[fool-ish]

Bread is too good to be omitted unless there's a medical reason for it...it's meant life for many over the centuries, so it must have some benefits! A good excuse that and I'm sticking to it! To hear the 'experts' talk, everything is bad for you and if you took to heart everything they said, you wouldn't even step outside the house, let alone eat toast! Even the water the authorities are keeping clean and drinkable is full of 'wrong' stuff!

['thul]

That is why one should ignore so-called food experts... Quite a few of them have no idea what they're speaking of.

These beings came across a funny story of a questionnaire run somewhere in the united states several years ago on a door-to-door basis.
They asked each person whether they thought the highly dangerous chemical compound that kills thousands each year called "dihydrogen monoxide" should be forbidden. If 'thul remember correctly, a majority said "yes" when provided with the arguments akin to the one 'thul listed. Those that had opinion and did not say "yes" generally laughed.

[Valarya]

Just because someone is trying something new to better her health doesn't mean she's listens to "everything the food experts say."

If I were to fully go in to it I might even sound like a bit of a conspiracy theorist. All I know is this: The bread and meat and other food we eat today (at least in the states) is completely different from any food stuffs people lived on 100+ years ago and beyond.

All of our food is processed and drowned in chemicals. Evil giants like Monsanto genetically alter the chemical makeup of VEGETABLES, even... so when you think you're eating healthy, you aren't. Farmers have come out and admitted that Roundup (a weed killer) is allowed to be used on fields and ends up being taken up in to the plants. When I say farmers, I'm not talking about your average Joe who has some acres and plants a crop for his own livelihood, per se. I'm talking about the thousands of farmers that are owned by companies like Monsanto and other giant corporations. Genetically altered grains and vegetables. Yum.

I won't even go in to the way animals are mass-produced so that people can have theri 3-4 servings of meat per day. Hundreds of years ago meat was seen as a "treat" and definitely wasn't eaten every day by the general population. I just sit around and think about the chemicals being injected in all our food and it makes me sick wondering what we're doing to ourselves. Well, I don't have to wonder. Diabetes. Heart Disease. Cancer. Three things which have increased GREATLY in the past 60 years and it can all be traced back to the shitty things we put in our bodies. And wait, by 'shitty' I don't mean just High Fructose Corn Syrup that is in EVERYTHING... or sugars, period. I'm talking about hydrogenated oils that aren't cold-pressed and have their genetic makeup altered and are in EVERYTHING. Natural water-ways being polluted by the factories making plastic. And oh gods when I start thinking about those factories it just gets worse.

Then I don't even think about food. I think about those super-toxins we put on everything to make it easier to manufacture. Neuro-toxins like flame-retardents that we freaking dip our pillows in to keep them safe.. then we lay our HEADS on them!

Technology in the medical field might mean we have longer life-spans now than we ever have before... but imagine how much longer they could be if we didn't dump all this horrible shit in our bodies every day. Unfortunately, in the world we have created, you can't get away from them. My computer, monitor, keyboard & mouse all have toxins in them. My clothes. The air I breathe.

So I try not to think about it TOO much.. I try not to panic. I just help my body out in any tiny way I can.. and that's by eating/supporting local farmers & produce. Eating organic as often as I can afford it.. and trying not to put too many chemicals in or around my body. I use natural shampoos and soaps and my pillow hasn't been dipped in flame retardant.

--------- Well. I am laid back and chill IRL and if you met me you would never suspect I felt the way I did about all of the above. I don't preach it or talk about it often at all.. because I like to enjoy this life as much as possible. But I warned you it would sound conspiracy-theory crazy, hahah.

[fool-ish]

In no way was my post meant as a personal attack on those who choose to omit certain foods from their diet. I apologise if that was how it seemed Valarya. I've no right to bother anyone about their choices anyway, seeing as I've chosen not to eat meat for 20 years now! I won't go into my reasons, they're not all that interesting, but it wasn't a 'health' choice. No, my post was more about 'experts' procrastinating and then changing their minds the following week on what is good/bad for you. Take red wine for instance, one week it was really bad for your health, it was gonna pickle your liver! The week after, it's of tremendous benefit to your heart! It goes on and on. We're constantly bombarded with this sort of thing through the media and eventually it begins to grate.

My motto is everything in moderation (mostly ) and a little bit of what you fancy does you good. Each to their own, live and let live and all that.

['thul]

In excessive amounts, anything is bad for health. Be it water, meat or for that matter arsenic. the difference is what is considered excessive, and that is something the so-called experts rarely agree on. (even each "expert" with himself/herself)

[Valarya]

In no way was my post meant as a personal attack on those who choose to omit certain foods from their diet. I apologise if that was how it seemed Valarya. I've no right to bother anyone about their choices anyway, seeing as I've chosen not to eat meat for 20 years now! I won't go into my reasons, they're not all that interesting, but it wasn't a 'health' choice. No, my post was more about 'experts' procrastinating and then changing their minds the following week on what is good/bad for you. Take red wine for instance, one week it was really bad for your health, it was gonna pickle your liver! The week after, it's of tremendous benefit to your heart! It goes on and on. We're constantly bombarded with this sort of thing through the media and eventually it begins to grate.

My motto is everything in moderation (mostly ) and a little bit of what you fancy does you good. Each to their own, live and let live and all that.

I didn't take offense at all.

I also would have to agree with your motto there, hahah. And it is too true that the 'experts' are changing their ideas every week. When it comes to things like Red Wine or Eggs or Smoking (just kidding on that last one, LOL).

Fortunately science & technology keeps improving and they get to keep proving themselves wrong. What, at first, was thought to be the cause of eating so much meat they discovered was wheat, instead (and the animals eating that wheat). I bet next they'll decide it's really in the ground and we're absolutely fucked because there's nothing we can do about the soil.