One month grain-free challenge

[cutastrophe]

Today was my first day going grain-free! :grinhappy: I can't believe I survived it, I'm such a carb addict!

I want to keep track of how this diet makes me feel so I'll be trying to post updates everyday for reference. Anyone want to join me in going grain free?? Feel free to post here and share your experiences.

I'm sick right now so I was kind of just snacking all day. Today I ate:


some raw apples
red grapes
crab salad (crab meat, scallions, plain yogurt, red onion, dill, salt, stevia) and carrot chips to scoop it up and eat it with
red grapes
raw swiss cheese
some nitrate-free, organic ham
chamomile tea
a little orange juice
lots of water

and I had to take some painkillers to stave off a caffeine headache from not having my morning coffee. :drool: I'd love to go caffeine and grain free as I think the two are both causing the same problem for me--completely messing up my hormones and blood sugar levels. Consuming too many carbs and too much caffeine results in insulin overload, which in turn results in mood swings, fatigue, depression, skin problems, and intense cravings for more and more carbs and caffeine. Now the carbs from fruits and veggies don't have the same affect on me as grains, which is one reason why I'm doing grain-free and not a strict low carb diet where those would be limited.

So what is NOT allowed for the next month? The following in any and all forms:

wheat
oats
rice
corn
peanuts
beans
lentils
white potatoes
soy
white sugar
brown sugar
chocolate

if you read labels you'll find that corn, wheat, and soy are in EVERYTHING. I went shopping today and discovered 'pure vanilla extract' has corn in it. what the? :evileye:

[cutastrophe]

Day two :whoohoo: No coffee or grains again today.

Today I ate:

bacon
banana
apple slices
lamb stew with carrots, turnips,onions, and peas

still fighting off a cold, but no cravings at all so far :lafhard:

[Pilgrim]

Good for you, cutastrophe! I wish I had the fortitude to try this, because I think it would be good for me, but I'm not up for it right now. We have a book called the No Grain Diet, or something like that, that does a good job of explaining the reasons for decreasing grains in one's diet. It is hard and I wish you well! You seem to be off to a great start and I look forward to hearing how this goes for you.

[cutastrophe]

Thanks Pilgrim!


My foods for today:

watermelon
banana
carrots with sunflower seed butter
goat milk vanilla yogurt
leftover lamb stew
tomato soup w/ grated grana padano Italian cheese
1 tbsp cod liver oil
1 tbsp omega 3-6-9 oil

NO coffee again today! I can't believe I'm still functioning, lol :drool:

I just got my oils in the mail today from iherb.com :whoohoo: I'm hoping they'll help with the same problems I'm trying to resolve with the grain free diet-acne, dry skin & hair, dark eye circles, fatigue, depression.

[cutastrophe]

I'm really wanting some coffee this morning :sleep:

[cutastrophe]

Today's foods:

1 cup coffee with half-half
banana
apple
sunflower seed butter
soup--ground elk, scallions, carrots, tomato, green cabbage, yellow onions, parseley, spices
orange juice
omega oil
cod liver oil
another apple

bedtime finally
:sleep:

I'm thinking I need to cut back on the fruit. I felt very drained and :parp: all day.

[freznow]

Congrats on the progress! I know it can be very hard. I think a helpful resource may be http://www.rawfoodtalk.com/index.php it's not about no grains, but I've noticed most of the food you'll have available to eat and snack on won't be cooked, (and it'll be hard to find stuff in stores that fits your criteria, and most raw people are definitely in the same boat) and the people there are willing to help out with any diet issue.

I'm not grain free, but I try to balance out my diet. It is quite hard because somedays there seems to be nothing to eat besides making myself some pasta, and I don't feel very well on those days. I try to eat raw as often as possible, but it is hard. Diet is so hard to change. But listen to your body, if it's demanding a day where you eat nothing but fruit, go ahead. Just be sure that over the course of a week or two you get what you think your body needs.

Good luck!

Edited for: typo

[squiggyflop]

these types of diets disrupt your metabolism and can cause it to become slower and slower over time.(which causes people to get fat). beleive it or not you need carbs for certain body functions... eating a balanced diet with everything in moderation will speed up your metabolism... what you are doing is really bad for you. there are certain nutrients in grains that your body needs.. how many calories are you taking in?? by the way if you are trying to avoid carbs apples and bananas are full of sugar carbs.
also it kinda sounds to me like you are starving yourself...
just lookin out for ya.. not trying to sound rude, just worried is all

[cutastrophe]

these types of diets disrupt your metabolism and can cause it to become slower and slower over time.(which causes people to get fat). beleive it or not you need carbs for certain body functions... eating a balanced diet with everything in moderation will speed up your metabolism... what you are doing is really bad for you. there are certain nutrients in grains that your body needs.. how many calories are you taking in?? by the way if you are trying to avoid carbs apples and bananas are full of sugar carbs.
also it kinda sounds to me like you are starving yourself...
just lookin out for ya.. not trying to sound rude, just worried is all


oh goodness, i'm not starving at all! and i'm not trying to avoid carbs completely. i know right now it looks like i'm surviving on fruit and soup, but that's because I'm getting over a cold. if I don't eat like that when i'm sick it takes me forever to get over it. i'm still taking in a good amount of calories though.

i sporadically keep track of my calorie/nutrient intake on fitday.com, I'll post some of the numbers I've gotten from there. i don't usually count calories, i already have a fast metabolism and i'm not too concerned about weight gain.

more info on why i feel grain-free will improve my health to come as well. :grinhappy:

[cutastrophe]

Congrats on the progress! I know it can be very hard. I think a helpful resource may be http://www.rawfoodtalk.com/index.php it's not about no grains, but I've noticed most of the food you'll have available to eat and snack on won't be cooked, (and it'll be hard to find stuff in stores that fits your criteria, and most raw people are definitely in the same boat) and the people there are willing to help out with any diet issue.

I'm not grain free, but I try to balance out my diet. It is quite hard because somedays there seems to be nothing to eat besides making myself some pasta, and I don't feel very well on those days. I try to eat raw as often as possible, but it is hard. Diet is so hard to change. But listen to your body, if it's demanding a day where you eat nothing but fruit, go ahead. Just be sure that over the course of a week or two you get what you think your body needs.

Good luck!

Edited for: typo

thanks! yep that's pretty much my mantra, I'm all about paying attention to what your body tells you and how it reacts to certain foods. :lafhard:

[cutastrophe]

http://www.grainfreeliving.com/

lots of people eliminate grains for health reasons, grains are NOT a necessary component of every person's diet. there's general info in the above link.

http://www.chekinstitute.com/articles.cfm?select=45

I found this and this is a good representation of what I've been doing already, minus #1-exclusion of grains.

"I suggest the following CHEK Points to improve your health and vitality:

Before entertaining consumption of grain foods, always exclude all grains except corn, rice, buckwheat and millet for two weeks. If you feel a noticeable improvement in your health and well-being, you are probably gluten intolerant. When you start eating grain foods again after two weeks off, start slowly and eat only one grain food to minimize the possibility of a potentially uncomfortable reaction by the body; diarrhea and stomach pain is common among those that are gluten intolerant!
MINIMIZE all consumption of commercial, processed grains and grain-based products.
If you plan to eat any grains at all, restrict yourself to organic, unprocessed corn, rice, buckwheat or millet, rotating them on a four-day cycle. Only eat them after they have been presoaked for at least 12 hours to break down the phytic acid.
If you enjoy grain based breakfast cereals, purchase only whole organic grains, soak or sprout and make your own breakfast cereals. There are a few companies that make reasonable boxed breakfast cereals, although my suggestion is to stay away from any processed, cooked grain products what so ever!
If you enjoy bread, buy only sprouted whole-grain breads that contain no additives or preservatives. Use the above cereal guidelines to choose your breads and determine if you are gluten intolerant.
Avoid any conventionally prepared pasta. Purchase only organic rice pasta or gluten-free pasta if you are gluten intolerant. Pasta is considered to be one of the foods most heavily laden with pesticide residues!
Apply the soaking principle to all seeds and nuts. Pour the water off the nuts and replace it each day. Keep refrigerated while storing once soaked.
Never eat more grain-based foods than ideal for your metabolic type with regard to how much carbohydrate you should be eating.*** Dr. Swarzbien has info in her books on determing your individual carb need. Mine is very low, so a serving size per meal would amount to 1/3 cup. I've tried this, but the elimination diet is much much easier to do. Grains are addicting and I think I need to just go cold turkey.

http://www.berkeley.edu/news/media/releases/99legacy/6-14-1999a.html

the above talks about meat in the diet of early humans. quote: " It was this new meat diet, full of densely-packed nutrients, that provided the catalyst for human evolution, particularly the growth of the brain, said Katharine Milton, an authority on primate diet." A diet high in minerals is what I'm going for here. Grains contain phytates which can negatively affect mineral absorbtion.


http://www.eatrightforyourmetabolism.com/excerpt.htm

"Most people are either red meat eaters or grain eaters, that is, they either have more enzymes for digesting red meat or more enzymes for digesting grains, chicken, and fish."

"The unfounded advice of so many diets, namely, that red meat and butter should be eaten sparingly, or not at all, doesn’t take into consideration either their high nutrient
value or the fact that the meat of four-legged animals, particularly beef, is the traditional fare of the many people in this country who are descended from the early colonists -- many of whom were from the British Isles."



My ancestor's diet was based on meat and dairy. Some people feel fine on a grain based diet, but not me. I've been eating "healthy" whole grains for a long time now and they still have the same negative effect on me. After 4-6 weeks of a total elimination, I'll be adding foods back in in small amounts and see how I react to each one. Hopefully I'll find a balance that works for me. But getting away from the grain-based diet and towards a more meat/vegetable based diet is my long-term goal.

[cutastrophe]

Breakfast:
two apples, a couple TBSP (ok maybe more than a couple ) sunflower seed butter
1.5 cups coffee w half-half

Lunch:
2 eggs, and 2 cups of stir fry veggies (broccoli, peppers, carrots, mushroom, onions), cooked in 1 Tbsp butter, 1/4 cup tomato-basil feta cheese, and 1/4 cup grana padano cheese mixed in

Supper:
roasted duck
orange juice
Omega oil, cod liver oil

Felt pretty good today. :grinhappy:

[jel]

Your challenge looks quite interesting, Cutastrophe. I also have problems with insulin (PCOS) and have tried low-carb eating before. I wonder if I should try a month-long grain free diet too - not that I eat many natural grains, LOL! It's the baked goods and pasta that are my downfall...

Have you noticed any particular benefits/improvements since you started this?

[cutastrophe]

Have you noticed any particular benefits/improvements since you started this?


I think it's still too early, I've read that you start to see the effects after 4 weeks and more significant results after 6 weeks. But so far I feel good. Digestion is good and skin is good (no new outbreaks). I'm amazed that I'm still not craving/missing grains at all. I feel very satisfied eating this way. :grinhappy: I'm not even hungry in the evenings at all anymore, and that's when I used to eat the most (which isn't a good thing!) One other thing I'll say about this diet is that it's expensive. Especially when you're buying all organic/free range, which I try to do. I'm hoping to stay within my normal monthly food budget but I don't know if that'll happen. :ooh:

Today's foods:

Breakfast:
2 cup plain whole milk yogurt
1 tsp raw honey
1 banana
1 small chai latte (I needed something warm, it was 10 degrees out today! :P)


Lunch:
meatloaf-made from: ground elk, and to sub for bread crumbs I used a bunch of minced veggies-turnips, carrots, onion, green cabbage, parsley, tomato paste, egg, small amount of maple syrup, spices. I fry these 'mini meatloaves' up on the stove ala Rachel Ray in some EVOO because I'm too lazy to cook it in the oven. And my oven is broken right now anyway. :purplex:

roasted duck soup- made from: homemade duck stock, duck meat, minced veggies (leftover from the meatloaf recipe), green beans, spices, topped with small amount of grated raw swiss, raw parsley, and duck "cracklings" (ie crispy fried duck skin)


Evening snack:
apple w/ sunflower seed butter
carrots w/ cultured organic cream cheese
cheddar cheese slices

[cutastrophe]

today's foods:

bacon
1 12 ounce cup decaf coffee with cream... and later because that didn't do it for me....
1 12 ounce cup regular coffee with cream
one cup yogurt w/ honey
1 ounce raisins
carrots w/ 2 tbsp sunflower seed butter
2 ounces cheese
duck soup w/ bacon
banana
orange juice
cod liver oil and omega oil


I need to buy better food containers to make it easier for me to eat at work. I need to make a point of bringing in smoothies and snacks that are high protein/fat because it's hard for me to get a good 'sit down' lunch in at work.
I still need some coffee to feel normal, but I've at least got it way down from what I was drinking before. I'm going to post an example of my old diet for comparison's sake.

[cutastrophe]

So, my typical day used to be:

Morning- wake up, go straight to the coffee maker and make a pot of coffee. Drip coffee has 175 mg of caffeine per 8 ounce. On average I was drinking 48 ounces of coffee per day, on a bad day it was up to 70 ounces. So average caffeine intake was over 1000 mg of caffeine a day. And I would drink this on an empty stomach usually, sometimes I would have a piece of whole grain toast for breakfast, but usually I would just have coffee for breakfast. Now I make sure to drink plenty of water and get some food in me before I let myself even think about having coffee.

Lunch- never seem to have time for it during the week, but really I just needed to force myself to bring food with me everyday. Usually I would get the "healthiest" food I could find from the vending machine, which would be either a bag of SunChips, a Hershey's chocolate bar, or some Snyder's Pretzles, and that would be my lunch. On the weekends I'd usually have toast or a sandwich for lunch. Sometimes leftovers which would usually be either a pasta or rice dish.

Supper- obviously when I got home I'd be starving. The suppers I cooked were usually "healthy" but they were almost always grain-based. LOTS of pasta dishes, because it's quick and my DS loves them.


So, I was very reliant on the caffeine in coffee to wake up and get through the day, and in the evening I craved the sedative effect of carbs/grains.

I'm still craving some coffee but I'm not craving starches/grains at all. This is likely because I'm eating more throughout the day and my insulin levels are at a more stable level.

[cutastrophe]

Still going strong on the no grains, and I was pleasantly surprised when I woke up today to *almost* perfectly clear skin. :whoohoo: It's completely smooth but with just a few red spots from old breakouts that still need to fade out. I've still got some dark circles under my eyes, but I do think those might be getting a little better as well.

I'm still drinking more coffee than I'd like to be, and I really need to watch this because it makes me an insomniac (which doesn't help the dark circles any), but other than that everything's going good. Right now I've got a pork roast with honey mustard and thyme sauce that's almost ready to take out of my slow cooker. mmmmm....

[cutastrophe]

I need to figure out what to eat for breakfast. I've been skipping it because I seem to be at a complete loss without being able to pop bread into the toaster. I don't like cooking in the morning AT ALL, I just don't have the time or motivation for it. I'd still like something warm though, because I'm sick of raw fruit. :purplex: hmmm...no idea what would work.

I'm thinking of adding potatoes back in already, I miss potatoes!

Today I had honey-mustard salmon & scallions, red grapes, and carrots for lunch. Now I'm gonna go have some leftover pork roast and cabbage for supper.

I've been forgetting to take my oils for the last few days, argh. I need to get in the habit of doing it in the morning, they really seem to give me an energy boost.

[cutastrophe]

This is an example of what I would like my diet to look like. Some days it's hard for me to get in all the calories I need, which means I'm not getting the nutrients I need, and that's obviously not good. But if I could get in three meals a day plus at least one snack I would meet/exceed all the nutrient requirements (according to the calculation on fitday.com). So a sample day would look like this:

Breakfast:

2 cup whole milk yogurt w/ 1 tbsp honey
1 banana
1 cup OJ
1 tbsp cod liver oil
1 tbsp omega blend oil

Lunch:

large salad made with 2 cups romaine, 1/4 cup parsely, 3/4 cup cubed turkey, 1/4 cup feta, and homemade salad dressing

Snack:

cheese and salami cubes

Dinner:

2 cups beef stew
1 baked potato w/ 2 tbsp of butter


It seems like so much food! Total calories equal 2438.

[Medievalsilver]

My mom is a Celiac, so my brother have a 50/50 chance of having Celiac without knowing it. So for my mom we have to be really careful about the food and groceries we buy.

[cutastrophe]

I've been doing some reading on how gluten and casein can affect brain chemistry and it's pretty disturbing!

http://depression.about.com/cs/diet/a/foodallergies_2.htm

http://www.corepsychblog.com/2007/09/brain-awareness.html#more


quote:

"In that previous post on opiate withdrawal from gluten and casein (http://www.corepsychblog.com/2007/08/celiac-notes-op.html) I addressed the frequency and challenges of going off wheat and milk after recognizing gluten/casein sensitivity. The culprit: opioid peptides (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opioid_peptide) which appear to mimic the effect of opiates in the brain, and can result in withdrawal symptoms in some sensitive people.

The name of the two peptides with links here for further review [noting that authorities don't yet completely agree on this phenomenon] are casomorphin (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caseomorphin)[a milk peptide] and gliadorphin or gluteomorphine (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gliadorphin) [two names for the opioid peptide arising from partially broken down gliadin portion of the gluten protein in wheat.

While some may not agree, we have regularly seen "withdrawal symptoms (http://www.greatplainslaboratory.com/glutencasein.html)" quite commonly after testing reveals wheat protein or milk protein sensitivity associated with psychiatric problems."




I've been doing surprisingly well eating this way, I mean I expected to have major cravings from day one, but that hasn't been the case. But, I think I've been "making up" for the lack of grains by eating more dairy products. I also think this is why I haven't seen any change in my fatigue/mood problems yet. I'm going to look into getting tested for casein sensitivity. Though the thought of a life without dairy does not sit well with me AT ALL.





For some reason I was starving all day today and ate more than I normally do. Today's foods were:

Breakfast-

granny smith apple slices
banana
hashbrown potatoes (:whoohoo: yum) with butter, onions, and summer sausage
medium (16 oz) coffee w/ cream

Lunch-

romaine, red onion, pork salad with homemade yogurt dressing and shredded raw swiss and italian cheeses
strawberry cheesecake made w/ hazlenut crust (didn't think that crust would work but it turned out great!)

Supper-

cabbage, scallions, pork, cooked in an obscene amount of butter and salt


So, I don't know what the deal was. I wanted to just scarf down cream cheese and butter all day. And so I did!

:innocent:

[cutastrophe]

I went cold turkey off of coffee (hopefully for good this time) a few days ago. I felt like crap on the first day but the next day I felt GREAT. It's like a fog was lifted from my brain. If that makes any sense...

The next week will be the big test to find out if grains have a significant impact on my skin/breakouts, because it's "that time of month" when my skin is guaranteed to look like crap. As of right now, it's still looking great though. :grinhappy:

I sure do miss toast and peanut butter though....:rain:

I've cut back on the dairy consumption. For the last few days, I've had yogurt but no other dairy. Sometimes when I eat dairy I get really drowsy and mucousy (is that a word?). So it basically has the same effect that grains/sugars do. I don't know if it's the lactose, the casein, or both. When I have more money I'm going to buy different kinds of dairy and experiment with how I react to them. Right now, all I know is that milk puts me to sleep and cheese plugs me up. But I think that's true for 99% of the population, lol. In the meantime, I picked up some coconut milk and have been using that for stuff (like in my chai, YUMMO!) Apparently you can buy enzymes that will break down casein and lactose and then all the bad side effects of them become a non-issue. I don't know if enzymes (in pill form) are for real or just a scam though. :purplex: I generally don't think pills/supplements are very beneficial or effective.