Hermiones Mom's Journal, 30 August 2014

It's so tough to dine outside. You did well though. You're an inspiration. 

Thanks H -- I have to admit, I didn't do as well tonight in the sense that I ate a little more than I should have, and I'm feeling a bit uncomfortable. But I was still very careful - I made two dishes specifically so that I didn't eat the bad stuff like potato salad. I made a very good barley salad and a snap pea and radish salad that was really good. And I made two different flavors of low-fat frozen yogurt for dessert. These were all new recipes for me, and they all need some adjustments. The maple walnut yogurt needs more maple flavor. I cut back on the amount of maple syrup suggested in the recipe because I didn't want it to be too sweet, and it ended up with the right amount of sweetness but not enough maple flavor. I noticed some other recipes include both maple syrup and maple extract, and I think it's because if you put too much maple syrup in it will be too sweet, so you need the extract to get the flavor. Similarly, the barley salad needs more seasoning, but it's tricky, because it has bacon in it, and when I first tasted it, it seemed too salty to me, and I was really worried. But as the salad sat, it absorbed all the salt, and actually the final product wasn't salty enough! It was a good dinner and everyone enjoyed it - with the added benefit that there's plenty of leftovers. Yay. 

Today is another day, Les. Are you okay with the gluten in barley? Dinner sounds great. 

Helewis -- I'm fine with barley gluten. What seems to give me trouble is refined white flour. So I steer clear of that. I only eat pasta that is the 7-whole grain plus flax seed, and that seems to be ok. Something about white flour doesn't agree with me anymore. I was born with what in the olden days was called a "starch allergy" -- and for my first 2 years or so, apparently I could only eat proteins and bananas. The result is I HATE bananas -- can't stand the smell of them. But also, I suspect there's some carry over to adulthood in what I can digest well. Anyway, I'm back on track today... 

Interesting about the barley. I've been making bf's rice with 1/4 barley, 3/4 brown rice. The Koreans call it barley bap. He seems to tolerate it. I never knew you hated bananas. Wow. Glad to see you back on track. 

I've done a lot of reading on the gluten free thing lately, and it appears a) there is no scientific evidence that gluten free is healthier for anyone who is not celiac and b) the head of the celiac program at University of Chicago says if you stop eating wheat gluten and you feel better and you are NOT celiac, you should go to the doctor to find out what's really wrong, because you may be masking some other disease process; and c) you may actually be allergic to wheat, which is the problem for most people who think they should eat gluten free, in which case you can eat barley and faro and other grains that have gluten but are not wheat. Finally, one reason that eating gluten free is not a good idea if you don't need to is that gluten free diets tend to be higher glycemic -- rice flour and corn flour are bad, bad, bad -- so if you are at risk for type 2, it's not good to do gluten free if don't have to. Sorry - this sounds lectury I know, but I'm really concerned about my goddaughter deciding to eat gluten free without consulting a physician. 

That is great information about gluten free vs wheat free. I think for me it is white refined wheat flour the most so i avoid it whenever I can. 

HCB -- I think I have the same problem. Somehow white refined wheat flour is not very digestible for me. But when I eat sprouted grain bread that includes wheat as part of the mix, I seem to do ok. It's strange, but at this point, I can't really afford to go have allergy tests done. It's a fortune! 

As you know, I have a wheat (not gluten) allergy. But I read this article in a doctor's waiting room earlier this year, waiting for my sister. It was eye-opening. It was called '"Gluten Sensitivity" May Be a Misnomer for Distinct Illnesses to Various Wheat Proteins,' Scientific American. Volume 310, Issue 2. It's available online www.scientificamerican.com/article/gluten-sensitivity-may-be-a-misnomer-for-distinct-illnesses-to-various-wheat-proteins/. It says, "A final group of potential culprits belongs to a diverse family of carbohydrates such as fructans that are notorious for being difficult to digest. A failure to absorb these compounds into the blood may draw excess water into the digestive tract and agitate its resident bacteria. Because these resilient carbohydrates occur in all kinds of food—not just grains—a gluten-free or wheat-free diet will not necessarily solve anything if these molecules truly are to blame."  

PM me if you want the link.