Gluten Free & Delicious 1: Bring Your Body Back to Health

By Maya Gavric

Start your gluten-free day the healthy way without depriving yourself of the foods you love. You will find a wealth of suggestions here that can help you get started toward healthy gluten-free eating. Food preparing and consuming should be a source of health, well-being, relaxation, comfort, pride and sociability rather than a hard task and a source of food related maladies like diet related diseases and allergies. It should connect us to other humans and give us skills we can use throughout our lives to live better, healthier life and manage a healthy weight. So, try not to outsource this basic task, especially if you have health issues and outsourcing can be harmful to you.

Nothing is like comfort of home cooking. The best way to start is to find out what you are craving. Browse this book to find a recipe, buy the ingredients you need, and head to the kitchen.

Most of my recipes can be created in bigger batches and frozen. Freezing is the best way to preserve flavor, texture and most of the nutrients. At the same time, cooking in bigger batches and freezing food will save your valuable time and cost. The other important fact is preservatives aren't necessary in frozen foods because freezing does the job of preserving. Keep in mind that the quality of your meal depends mostly on the quality of the food you start with, which is why use of top notch organic ingredients is recommended when possible.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Maya Gavric
• Release date: Nov 2, 2015
• ISBN: 9780994891907

Maya Gavric

Maya Gavric, entrepreneur, consultant, former realtor, freelance writer, web developer, marketing coach and artist has been working, researching and reporting on the Internet for years. Her numerous articles offer valuable insight and tips on wide variety of topics. In recent times she has paid particular attention to health, nutrition, healthy cooking, knowledge management on the Internet, children's education and environmental problems, exploring how our attention to hot issues might best transform current situation into better practice.

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Preface

As a person battling chronic disease, I can tell you that the foundational protective component against any disease is a healthy and strong immune system. If the amount of toxins that we take in daily surpasses the ability of our body to remove them, our immune system starts to deteriorate and changes that promote disease start to happen. Weak immune system is increasingly vulnerable to infection, auto immune disease and cancer. We may want to be vigorous and enjoy a healthy life, but still, day-to-day, many of us make unhealthy choices that could put our future health at risk. Replacing bad health habits with good ones will help your immune system to stay strong and healthy.

"The studious physician of our century will hardly expect to accomplish by force, through some strange drug or other, that which only nature can bring about when assisted by all the rational accessories of hygiene and dietetics. Nature alone can furnish the beneficent means, sufficient for all needs" ~ Professor Oesterlin, in his noted work on the Materia Medica

If you are sick, in pain every day, weak, depressed, or barely functioning, it is time to find some real solutions for restoring your health because your life depend on it. So take charge of your own treatment and your health, don't just blindly hope to be saved by some miracle medical cure. Arm yourself with knowledge, and help your body regain control again.

"Ignorance is the curse of God: Knowledge the wing wherewith we fly to heaven" ~Shakespeare

Consider changing your lifestyle, and reevaluate your priorities because changing these things will change your internal environment. Healthy internal environment means a healthy body. Your plan to change lifestyle has to include changes to diet, sleep, waste elimination, stress levels, emotions and spirituality. It is difficult to predict the time frame in which you will be able to regain control again because every person and every disease is different. But I can say that the people who accept their disease and healing journey and fully embrace the changes they have to make in their lifestyle have the most success. Keep in mind that your body can repair itself from just about anything, if given what it needs.

"Whatever the present moment contains, accept it as you had chosen it. Always work with it, not against it." ~Eckhart Tolle

Your acceptance and full commitment to change will help you make different choices that will bring balance to your life. Acceptance will also help you to clarify your personal values and to take action on them, bringing more vitality and meaning to your life in the process, increasing your psychological flexibility at the same time. Once you are ready to make a change, the difficult part is committing and following through. We all know that making a lifestyle change is a process that is challenging, take time, and require support, especially when you want to transform many things at once. So this time, do careful planning, set small goals, and takes one step at a time. Do your research and make a plan that will guide you as a map on your journey of change and prepare you for full success. Careful planning means setting small, realistic goals and taking things one step at a time.

Health problems usually develop over the course of time, so replacing unhealthy behaviors with healthy ones will require some time. Try to focus on one change or goal at a time. As your new healthy behaviors become a habit, try to add another goal that works toward the overall change you are striving for.

Involve someone else or join a support group to help you on your journey. Having someone else involved will keep you accountable and motivated. It will also make your work easier, less intimidating and will give you the opportunity to talk about what you are doing, share your struggles and enjoy your successes.

You can do it. Just remember to be kind to yourself. When you have minor missteps, don't just give up. Never give up. Minor missteps and small mistakes are part of our life, they are normal and okay. Forgive yourself, recover and get back on track.

To your success,

Maya Gavric

Chapter I: Getting Started

Start your gluten-free day the healthy way without depriving yourself of the foods you love. You will find a wealth of suggestions here that can help you get started toward healthy gluten-free eating. Food preparing and consuming should be a source of health, well-being, relaxation, comfort, pride and sociability rather than a hard task and a source of food related maladies like diet related diseases and allergies. It should connect us to other humans and give us skills we can use throughout our lives to live better, healthier life and manage a healthy weight. So, try not to outsource this basic task, especially if you have health issues and outsourcing can be harmful to you.

Healthier gluten-free eating is not a diet or some unrealistic nutrition philosophy; rather, it is about feeling great, keeping you as healthy as possible and having more energy. These days, we have the opportunity to be better educated and informed about nutrition than our ancestors ever were. We have opted to explore all kinds of food related information available to anyone who has a computer, smartphone, television or free library card. If anything, the information is overwhelming. There are plenty of books, recipes, how-to videos, and numerous cooking classes you can use to educate yourself on the subject. Our supermarkets and health food stores offer great variety of ingredients, and tasty unprocessed foods that will provide original nutrients to prevent deficiencies and keep your body in peak condition to fight disease and age associated cognitive decline.

Foods for human consumption should be as natural as possible. Consumer priorities are food that is healthy, safe, affordable and nutritious. Modern shoppers think more about healthy food, nutrition and food safety. We all expect to live longer, and we want to enjoy good health along the way. Good quality, real foods and complete digestion are the key to disease prevention and taking off pounds. Over the last few years the issue of preservatives has been gaining prominence on the list of consumer concerns. The number of high profile food safety incidents and their frequency over the past several years results in heightened user awareness. Informed consumers today are uncertain about food preservatives and other additives, and at the same time more reluctant to put them into their bodies. Preservative-free choices, let us feel better about what we are eating, which leads to better health, and adds to the food enjoyment factor.

In this book you will find ideas and plenty of information that can help you get started. Choose a change that you can make today, and move toward a healthier you. Learn about nutrition basics and start cooking healthier meals at home. You can use recipes provided in this cookbook to create and maintain a tasty, healthy diet for you and your family. It's easy to expand your range of healthy food choices if you plan ahead.

Nothing is like comfort of home cooking. The best way to start is to find out what you are craving. Browse this book to find a recipe, buy the ingredients you need, and head to the kitchen. Most of my recipes can be created in bigger batches and frozen. Freezing is the best way to preserve flavor, texture and most of the nutrients. At the same time, cooking in bigger batches and freezing food will save your valuable time and cost. The other important fact is preservatives aren't necessary in frozen foods because freezing does the job of preserving. Keep in mind that the quality of your meal depends mostly on the quality of the food you start with, which is why use of top notch organic ingredients is recommended when possible.

Differences between Celiac Disease and Wheat Allergy

A celiac disease should not be confused with wheat allergy or gluten intolerance. There are several differences between autoimmune disorders and allergies. In order to understand these differences, you will need to know a bit about the immune system.

The main job of human immune system is to protect against disease and other potentially damaging foreign bodies such as bacteria and viruses, and also build protection against these invaders if they try to attack again. When functioning properly, the immune system identifies a variety of threats and distinguishes them from the body's own healthy tissue. The process of getting rid of foreign substances and developing immunity is called the immune response.

Disorders of the immune system can result in autoimmune diseases, immunodeficiency, inflammatory diseases and cancer. Autoimmune disorder results from a hyperactive immune system attacking normal tissues as if they were foreign bodies. Immunodeficiency occurs when the immune system is not as strong as normal, resulting in recurring and life-threatening infections.

A food allergy is an overreaction of the immune system to a specific food protein. When the food protein is ingested, in can trigger an allergic reaction that may include a range of symptoms from mild symptoms (rashes, hives, itching, swelling, etc.) to severe symptoms (wheezing, trouble breathing, loss of consciousness, etc.). A food allergy can be potentially fatal.

Another difference between autoimmune conditions and allergies is that autoimmune disorders are never outgrown; they persist for life. Allergies can sometimes be outgrown.

Wheat Allergy

People who are allergic to wheat often may tolerate other grains. Wheat allergy is most common in children, and is usually outgrown before reaching adulthood, often by age three to five. However, about 20 percent of children with wheat allergy also are allergic to other grains. Be sure to ask your doctor whether foods containing barley, rye, or oats are safe for you or your child to eat.

Symptoms of a wheat allergy reaction can range from mild, such as hives, to severe, such as anaphylaxis. Therefore it is advised that people with wheat allergy have quick access to an epinephrine auto-injector (such as an EpiPen®, Auvi-Q® or Adrenaclick®) at all times. To prevent a reaction, strict avoidance of wheat and wheat products is essential. Always read ingredient labels to identify wheat ingredients.

Celiac Disease

Celiac disease (also known as celiac sprue, coeliac disease, gluten enteropathy, and non-tropical sprue), which affects the small intestine, is caused by an abnormal immune reaction to gluten, or in some rare cases any grass grain. Celiac disease is often confused for an allergic illness because (like an allergy) it requires a foreign substance to trigger it.

Usually diagnosed by a gastroenterologist, celiac disease is a digestive disease that can cause serious complications, including malnutrition and intestinal damage, if left untreated. Individuals with celiac disease must avoid gluten, found in wheat, rye, barley and sometimes oats. There seems to be a genetic predisposition to developing celiac disease, however not all people with a family history of celiac disease develop the condition. There is another reason, yet unknown, why the autoimmune response occurs.

The celiac disease symptoms usually involve the digestive system, causing abdominal discomfort, bloating, nausea, loose bowel movements. However, there is a wide spectrum of symptoms that may occur. Because the intestine becomes inflamed, it may also lose its ability to absorb nutrients from the diet (malnutrition), leading to other associated illnesses like anemia, stunted growth in children, dementia, autism, digestive disorders, mood disorders, diabetes, osteoporosis, cancer and other serious health problems that can result in early death. Celiac disease can be diagnosed with a blood test, but an intestinal biopsy is needed to be sure.

Common celiac disease symptoms for adults:

Anemia and iron deficiency

Arthritis

Bone loss or osteoporosis

Bone or joint pain

Depression or anxiety

Dermatitis herpetiformis

Erratic menstrual periods

Infertility and miscarriages

Mouth sores

Seizures

Tingling numbness in hands and feet

The symptoms of celiac disease vary greatly from one person to the next. According to experts, there are about 300 possible symptoms of the disease. Diarrhea, for example, affects only one-third of adults with the disease. Very often, symptoms of celiac disease are confused with other disorders.

Gluten Intolerance or Gluten Sensitivity

Gluten intolerance or gluten sensitivity is one or more of a variety of immunological, morphological or symptomatic manifestations that may also be shared by celiac disease and irritable bowel syndrome (IBS)". In cases where there is reactivity to gluten, yet celiac disease and wheat allergy are eliminated as possibilities, non-celiac gluten sensitivity may be considered. While the general clinical picture for gluten sensitivity is similar to celiac disease in particular, it is usually less severe and neither anti-tissue transglutaminase antibodies nor autoimmune comorbidities are found.

It is believed that gluten sensitivity should have a defined cause, although not apparent always with first examination, affected individuals should eventually fall into gluten-sensitive enteropathy (GSE) or wheat allergy. Only rarely should gluten sensitivity be idiopathic.

Idiopathic gluten sensitivity (IGS) arises spontaneously or from an obscure or unknown cause and may involve neuropathy, myopathy, dermal, or intestinal abnormalities. Anti-gliadin antibodies are the primary link between gluten and idiopathic sensitivity in instances in which enteropathy or allergy are not clearly involved.

Common celiac disease symptoms for children:

Abdominal pain and bloating

Chronic constipation

Chronic diarrhea, which can be bloody

Decreased appetite and failure to gain weight

Delayed puberty

Depression

Dermatitis herpetiformis (itchy skin rash that looks like eczema)

Fatigue

Growth problems

Irritability

Mouth sores

Vomiting

Weight loss and signs of malnourishment

You Are What You Eat

The old saying you are what you eat certainly makes sense when your health is compromised. The battle for healthier food is one worth fighting, because bad nutrition may be doing more than increasing your weight and cramping your style. Bad, unhealthy nutrition boosts your risk of just about every major disease you don't want to even imagine, including high blood pressure, heart disease, stroke, type-two diabetes, cancer, gallstones, IBS, arthritis, obesity and many other diseases.

We know that all living things need nourishment to survive. The human body has specific needs for proteins, certain fats and carbohydrates, as well as vitamins and minerals. The best way to maintain good health is to ensure that you are ingesting the right mix of quality food components your body needs daily. Human body also requires a small quantity of woody fiber or cellulose in food to stimulate intestinal action and prevent constipation. Don't forget water, because water is the solvent and carrier of other substances your body needs. Water also forms an essential part of all the tissues of the human body. A nutritious and balanced diet together with proper water consumption and exercise will help you and your family to stay healthy for your whole life.

Take special care of your intestinal tract, the one part of your body that most determines how fast or slow you'll age and whether you'll enjoy vibrant health until you are old, or be saddled with crippling pain and disease, and on medication. Healthy gut in proper working order will filter out and eliminate pathogens like bacteria, viruses, chemicals, carcinogens from food, poisons, and many other toxins and it will prevent them from being absorbed into your bloodstream.

Healthy gut is vital for your health, because your intestinal lining absorbs vital nutrients from your foods, puts them into the bloodstream and helps distribute them all over your body where and when you need them. Your gut pretty much controls how you feel from head to toe. With unhealthy gut toxins are allowed to get into your bloodstream, and they can literally go anywhere in your body. This can lead to inflammation, pain and diseases, premature aging and death.

It is essential to keep your intestinal tract in top-notch shape and your waste elimination regular. A true recipe for a health disaster is bad waste elimination. The large intestine (also called the colon) is the last part of the digestive system and storage for the unusable remains of your food and waste. Along with the unusable food remains, the colon is the superhighway for harmful bacteria, medication residues, parasites and toxins to leave your body. It's vital that these toxins exit your body quickly. If they don't, they breed disease.

The biggest problem for the majority of people today is standard low fiber diet with highly processed food and slow moving and inefficient bowels, resulting in waste build-up. The wastes become hardened and crusted along the colon wall, causing all kinds of health problems. Many people today retain waste build-up for months and even years! Not only does this make hard for nutrients from foods to be absorbed, it makes them a perfect candidate for polyps, colon cancer, diverticulosis, diverticulitis, Cohn’s disease, IBS, and numerous other diseases. Plus body's beneficial bacteria don’t stand a chance against all the bad stuff swarming around in there.

The battle for healthy eating habits is one worth fighting, because those healthy bites will be doing more for your health than some magic pills with side effects that may be putting your health at risk. Food is chemically very complex and a single meal can contain a thousand of compounds. You don't have to learn everything about food and nutrition, but learning the basics and being informed will ensure that you are ingesting the right mix of food components and will take a lot of confusion out.

Here are some key recommendations:

It is in your own interest to learn more about: proper nutrition, planning and preparing meals, smart shopping, reading labels, food choices, servings, food combinations, etc.

Avoid eating highly processed foods. Highly manufactured food is frequently made with too many preservatives, without enzymes, thus favoring indigestion and decay. Processed foods, from which good nutritious matter has been removed during processing, is often advocated and advertised, generally by those interested in its sale and profits from it.

Keep your water consumption in balance. The human body cannot store water; therefore in order to prevent dehydration, fluid must be replaced and kept in balance daily. Body water turnover rate is estimated to be 4% of total body weight to maintain normal body functions, which include the excretion of body waste and evaporation from the lungs and skin.

Recommendations for adequate water intake by adults are generally based upon several factors: humidity, temperature, altitude, exercise status, and use of diuretic medications. The traditional recommendation for adequate water consumption for adults is at least eight 8 oz. glasses of water a day.

Eat diet rich in natural fiber foods like fruits and vegetables to help move things along. Fresh food with a lot of fiber and food requiring mastication and encouraging insalivation is the best. The lack of natural fiber in your foods is a recipe for constipation.

Since all living things need nourishment to survive, don't forget to feed your beneficial bacteria (probiotics) that live in your intestines and make up 80% of your immune system. They need to be fed the nutrients that make them thrive like: phenols from fresh fruits and vegetables, nuts, seeds, legumes, green tea, fresh herbs and spices, gluten free natural oats, dark chocolate, red wine, and dark berry real juice.

Eat variety of foods. Since no single food can supply all nutrients in the amounts you need, make sure you get all of the nutrients from a variety of foods containing combination of nutrients and other healthful substances your body needs daily.

Have fruits and vegetables more often than juice. Fruits when ripe and in good condition are best eaten raw; cooking destroys their nutrition and spoils the flavor.

Eat a good healthy breakfast or healthy smoothie every morning. People who skip breakfast usually end up consuming unhealthy snacks, make poor food choices, and consume bigger portions because they are so hungry.

Check your vitamin levels and if you have a deficiency, you may need to adjust your diet or take a supplement to compensate for a lack of vitamins.

Maintain healthy weight. Overweight people are at increased risk for many serious diseases and health conditions. To maintain a healthy body weight, balance the amount of calories you consume daily with the amount of calories the body uses each day.

Exercise regularly. Physical activity is an important way to use energy, burn fat and calories, and maintain healthy weight. Try to do 30 minutes or more of moderate physical activity on most days of the week.

Reclaim Your Kitchen & Your Health

We live in the industrialized food system, saturated with a modern culture of over-indulgence, misleading traditions of wholesome food, and without the voices of the end consumer. We eat more because food is always available, nutrition empty, calories and preservatives packed mess and it is not fully satisfying to our basic needs.

Over time our modern society turned down almost all meals prepared at home in exchange for fast food and ready to use boxed and canned meals. Eating is almost completely removed from the sensation of hunger, and we have successfully created a new generation of people who managed to build a lustful relationship with sugar, salt, fat, preservatives and toxins instead. Most of our modern society is disconnected from the basic natural food, real food sources, and proper nutrition. Even memories of food, which I believe much of young generation can identify with, are built less from traditional and more from addiction.

Our acidic lifestyle, rather than creating health and balance in our lives, prevents the possibility of a healthy alkaline body. Uncontrolled acid-generating food, too much soft drinks, coffee, and unhealthy juices, too much stress, not enough exercise and fresh air - these are the main factors in creating bad health and an unhealthy acidic versus a healthy alkaline body.

"We simply can't afford the health care costs incurred by the current system of cheap food—which is why, sooner or later; we will find the political will to change it." ~Michael Pollan

Reclaim your kitchen, your food intake and your health using my tips and steps below:

1. Step I - Make a commitment to change. Changing your diet to more healthy, alkalizing food and beverages can make a huge difference. By making a commitment to change, we can make different choices that will bring health and balance to our lives. For example, learning about nutrition and cooking at home will give you the most control over your nutrition and calorie intake. Preparing meals in your kitchen will give you control over your health; it will also give you the opportunity to engage in something much more than just food on a plate. There is a special satisfaction in having consciousness of work involved in the food that you are eating and sharing it with others, no matter how simple your meal is. When you sit down to enjoy the food you prepared with your family and/or friends, you're thankful for having it on your plate. Food sharing builds stronger connection between people that nowadays most people don't know or just take for granted.

2. Step II - Throw out unhealthy foods (any food with high-fructose corn syrup, hydrogenated fats, refined sugars, packaged food with fat or sugar as the first or second ingredient on the label, processed grains, soda drinks, genetically modified food, and all food with artificial trans fats).

3. Step III - Fill your kitchen with real, fresh, whole, local foods whenever possible. Knowing where your food comes from, and how it was made, has become an increasingly difficult task over the past fifty years. Slowly and almost without any notice, brick by brick, a huge wall has been constructed between the food we consume and the factory or farm that our food comes from. Try to shop at nearby farmers’ markets or join a community-supported agricultural network to get a better supply of fresh vegetables and meat.

4. Step IV - Plan your weekly meals in advance. No matter what your cooking skills are, planning out your meals ahead of time can make the whole process much easier, so I recommend giving it a shot. In a world where screens dominate our daily lives, you can use iPad app Menu Planner, Android app Food Planner, your computer and Meal Planner software or just plain pen and paper to choose recipes and prepare Shopping List. Once you have your ingredients organized, cooking is an easy task. Some meals can be made in advance and frozen ahead of time or half done and refrigerated, so you can finish them the next day. Most foods can be frozen, but not all foods have the same freezer life, and some dishes will not freeze as beautiful as others. Always use labels,