Bee Venom and Gluten Cutter:Updates

A few weeks ago, I got stung six times by yellowjackets. The rest of that day it felt like they continued to sting me. The next day was less painful, but then the itching began. It was like five mosquito's intensity, in patches from about one inch to about two inches in diameter. The itching took most of a week before it began to subside, and though they no longer itch, the patches are still visible.
The week it happened, I wrote about the use of bee venom as a therapy for inflammation, pain, and other issues. At the time, my 30-ish year old hip bursitis and long-standing pain along my IT band in my left leg were gone. On the seventh day, God rested (oh, wait, wrong story). On the seventh day, there were twinges in my bursa, and by the twelfth day, my leg was back to its usual self.
That was wonderful week without one of my main sources of ongoing pain. On the other hand, The itching caused its own form of discomfort. I am still unsure if I would be willing to get bee venom therapy, but I am now thinking of looking into it, whether it is available near home, how much it costs, does insurance cover it, etc. I would not get it on my arms, where the itching was the worst, maybe on my back, where it wasn't as bad. Maybe. Just maybe.
On another topic, I discovered a new product a month ago, Gluten Cutter. I tried it, and it worked, so I used it to pigged out on gluten on a vacation. (Wrote about it here.)  Since being home, I eat less gluten, so I am using it less. Sometimes now, I get a stomach ache/acid reflux either that day or the next, symptoms I used to get from gluten. I have been experimenting with taking two Gluten Cutter capsules, and also with trying other products on the market. I am also limiting myself to 1-2 gluten items per week. Apparently, I can eat some gluten, if I am careful, I just haven't found the magic threshold yet. If you do try Gluten Cutter or another product, leave a comment. I'd like to know how it works for you.      

Gluten Capsules Work for Me

I walked into my local drug store last week and found not one, but TWO brands of capsules to help people with celiac or gluten intolerance digest gluten.They are Gluten Cutter, from Healthy Digestives, and, surprisingly, Glutenaid, which is the store brand (CVS). They were both the same price, $12.99 for 30 pills, to be taken 1-2 as needed when eating gluten. I am not going to get involved with the science of gluten digestion. Basically, gluten is a protein, people with celiac or gluten intolerance are missing or have deficient enzymes needed to digest it. These capsules provide the needed enzymes. These two products have slightly different active ingredients, but are very similar.Gluten Cutter also contains lactase, the enzyme needed to digest dairy products.
I asked the pharmacist what she thought or the two pruducts. She looked at the ingredients, and said, "They both have the enzymes needed to digest gluten, they should both work. Its the same idea as the lactase pills people take to help them digest milk products." I had been skeptical before, but I have been a fan of those lactase pills for years. This put the gluten capsules in a new light for me. Since they were both the same price, I decided to try the brand name, Gluten Cutter.
I don't have celiac, but I generally get a bad stomach ache about an hour after eating gluten.I left the next day for a wedding in California. On the plane, I popped a capsule, and ate a bag of Cheese Nips. NO STOMACH ACHE! During the vacation, I kind of went hog wild (how's that for a description of a good Jewish girl?) I had a hamburger on a bun, bread, and on one day, I had pasta for lunch and pizza for dinner. No stomach ache the whole time!
Now that I am home, I plan to be more sensible. I will go back to eating mostly gluten 'lite' (I eat foods made with regular soy sauce, which has some wheat in it, etc, but I otherwise avoid gluten.) I know I can have some gluten on occasion, without getting sick, as long as I take the capsule with it. Part of me wants to just go back to eating anything, and take the capsules whenever I eat gluten, but I am hesitant. I know that for people with celiac, gluten actually causes damage in their small intestine. I have gluten intolerance, I don't know if gluten causes any damage for me or not, and if it does, I don't know if the capsule stops the damage.Also, a gluten-free diet is supposed to be good for people with auto-immunity. I don't know if these capsules affect that or not.
Most of the reviews I read for these two products, and for a third product,GlutenEase, by Enzymedica, are positive. A few people said the product they tried did not work for them, but it did work for the majority. My suggestion is to give it a try if you are gluten intolerant. Talk to your doctor first if you think that would be the wise thing to do in your situation, especially if you have celiac. I don't know if these capsules control the aspect of gluten that is damaging in celiac.
For those of us who are helped by these capsules,just knowing we can have gluten sometimes makes being gluten free easier.   Do a search online of recent research, and print some out to show your doctor, if you think it would help. Start small, just a snack. Good luck and good eating.
   

Be Happy and Thin- In Moderation

I read recently about a study that showed that people who were happy lived longer than people who were thin.  (Sorry- I can't find the reference right now.) To some people, that may sound like a good excuse to stop the diet and exercise routines, and just have a good time.  My thought was, "Why can't you have both?"  I am sure there are people out there who just naturally have both.  I used to be one of them.
I think I am already a fairly happy person.  I don't let things get to me much.  I want to focus on the getting thin part of the equation.  I have been talking about dieting for a couple of months now, but all kinds of things got in the way of my resolve: vacation, holidays, family gatherings, etc.  Good excuses all, but I could have stuck to my diet better if I had really tried.
So, about that idea of being happy and thin?  My answer is: Moderation.  Many 'How to lose weight ' lists say that cutting out things like soda, fancy coffee drinks, and the like will save you excess calories.  One of my readers posted a comment recently and stated she had lost 10 pounds by cutting out drinking milk.  That is a great way to drop pounds, and fairly easy, especially if you replace whatever it is that you eliminate with something else more healthy.  My problem is, that I already eat healthy, so I don't have much I can cut from my diet.  I recently started to go without my juice in the morning.  I figured that I eat plenty of fruit, so I don't need the nutrients I would get from the juice.  That is a start.

Eating gluten free helps me somewhat, because I can't have cookies, cakes, etc. that always seem to be appearing at work and social events.  Following a gluten free diet does have its hazards, though.  Gluten free bagels, bread, etc., tends to be more calorie rich than the gluten containing equivalents. The answer?  Moderation: eat less of it. That is where the idea of being happy comes into all this.  Instead of depriving yourself of something you really want, eat a smaller portion than you normally would take.  Don't take seconds.  This way, you get to enjoy whatever it is, but you also take in fewer calories than you would have.  Your rate of losing weight will be slower this way than if you were on a strict diet, but most people are more likely to stick to this kind of diet, and be happier than if they were depriving themselves.
This is a situation in which you need to know yourself.  Some people are not able to control how much they eat of something they like, and may need to avoid it altogether.  When I go to a restaurant here in the US, meals are usually huge.  I often take home at least half of my food to eat for another meal.  If you have tried to do this but consistently fail, try asking for a box before you eat, and set aside part of your meal.  If you still can't keep from eating the whole thing, try ordering smaller meals, don't go out to eat so often, or just accept that this is one area you can't control.  Occasional indulgences may be necessary for the 'being happy' part.  Just remember- moderation.
In general, if you take in fewer calories than your body is used to, and/or increase activity, you will ultimately lose weight, though not necessarily rapidly.  (Science is finding that this is not exactly true, but that is a more complex discussion than I can provide here.) Eat what you usually eat, only less of it, especially the unhealthy stuff.  Replace unhealthy foods with more healthy alternatives.
Many people find that having a partner or class makes exercise and dieting easier and more fun.  Take care of your health needs, but don't let this be your main occupation.  Make sure you include ways to enjoy live in your daily routines.  Practice an attitude of gratitude. 
Remember- being thin will not make you a happier person.  You can be overweight and still be both happy and healthy, and you can be thin and be sad and unhealthy.   Weight and happiness are not really related.  The message I am trying to send is that you can work on losing weight without making yourself miserable. Just remember- moderation. 

Its a Learning Experience, Not a Failure

Back in January I started a gluten free diet. I don't have celiac, but this diet has made a big difference in my digestive system. (Read my previous post for details.) There is a small farmer's market on Friday afternoons near where I live. The first time I went there this year, I was thrilled to find a woman there who bakes gluten free baked goods. It was a real treat to get fresh baked goods that I could eat!

My husband and I eat oatmeal for breakfast during the work week, but on weekends, he eats bagels or English muffins. Every week I have been buying things like orange chocolate chip bread and cranberry orange scones from the farmer's market for breakfast. Over the past month or so, I have been trying to cut calories to lose some weight. This baker bakes very healthy for the most part, but I would like to decrease sugars from my diet, and use Xylitol when I do use sugar. 

I decided to try baking my own gluten free goodies.  I found a recipe online that is a gluten free, vegan quick bread base. What I especially like about it is that, instead of needing separate recipes for each kind of bread I want to make, I can make any combination of flavors that I dream/scheme up, using this one recipe.

So I tried it Saturday, with less than spectacular (some might even say disastrous) results. But I am not discouraged. Here is a synopsis: I gathered all the dry ingredients in a bag, and brought along the liquid ingredients and my bread pan, so I could bake my bread at our cabin. I forgot to bring the recipe with me, but I had studied it before we left home, so I remembered it. I put all the ingredients together, poured them into the bread pan, and put them into my toaster oven at the prescribed 330 degrees to bake (that is the only oven we have at our cabin, other than the microwave). I then sat down to impatiently read while it baked for '50-120 minutes, depending on ingredients'.

It was smelling good, and at 50 minutes, I checked my bread. With a wooden matchstick in hand to act as my toothpick, I opened the toaster oven. The top of my bread was black (disaster #1). The matchstick came out clean, so I let the bread cool a bit before taking it out of the pan. The top sunk (disaster #2), and when I turned the bread out of the pan, there was a gooey grayish 'pudding' in the center (disaster #3). I must point out that the grayish coloring was from poppy seeds, not from any alien excrement or subversive processes. I let the bread cool more, then when I tried to put it into a bag, it fell apart into 6-8 chunks (disaster #4).

When I first saw the blackened top, my husband asked me if I had lowered the baking temperature 25 degrees as you are supposed to do when using a toaster oven instead of a regular oven. Oops- I forgot all about that. It is likely that if I had baked the bread at a lower temp for longer, it would have been a success. In that case, I would not have had this topic to write about today. Besides that, the 'pudding' part of the bread is delicious!  Since it is vegan there is no uncooked egg to worry about.

So rather than being discouraged, I am pleased with my cranberry poppy seed pudding bread.  I plan to freeze it in serving size chunks for the next few weekends, meanwhile, I am thinking up new flavors. It may take some experimenting to get this bread right, but it is a learning experience, and one that I gladly take on. 

We have choices of how we view any situation.  I could have looked at the blackened top and gooey insides of my bread, and thrown it out, and vowed never to bake again.  Instead, I looked at what went wrong and how I could fix it next time- turn down the temperature and give it more time to bake.  I can laugh at how wierd my breakfast looks for 2-3 more weekends, then I will try baking another bread.  That one should come out better, but if it isn't perfect, that's okay.  I am learning from my mistakes.