Oops, I did it again.

            So, I have this tendency. To eat the same things. Over and over again. And it turns out, it’s making me sick. Ugh.

            I just got some lab results back from a naturopathic doctor, who I scrimped and saved to see, considering I have no health insurance at the moment and had to pay for the whole thing out of pocket. And basically, the verdict is that the lack of variety in my diet is actually creating some of my food sensitivities. I don’t fully understand how this works, yet, from a medical perspective. But my most basic grasp of it is this: Your body freaks the f*** out when you keep feeding it the same stuff (over and over again).

            And apparently, which I suppose I already suspected, food sensitivities are subject to change depending on eating habits, stress levels, seasonal changes, and hormones. Hmm, maybe that’s why when I’m PMSing, it seems like everything I put in my body triggers a reaction.

            The main way I’ve seen this manifesting in my body over the years is that, like I said, I have a tendency to eat the same things day after variety-lacking day. I know it's not ideal; I’m just a creature of habit, I guess. And sooner or later, the food items I consume on a daily basis begin to—very noticeably and until now, inexplicably—bother me: searing headaches, upset stomach, bloating, and even swelling will occur, seemingly out of nowhere, when I eat the item in question. Oh yeah, and I break out, too.

            For example, when I was working full-time as a production editor, I got in the habit of eating oatmeal every day for breakfast. It tasted good; it satisfied me; it made me feel healthy. Then, all of a sudden, I started reacting to it. I tried a handful more times to continue eating it in the mornings, and every time, the reaction got worse. So, I had to stop. This has happened to me countless times with various foods over the years—bananas, eggs, applesauce, peanut butter, almond butter, maple syrup, waffles (gluten-free), corn, risotto, and even, I must admit, Pamela’s dark chocolate cookies on a few select (and ultimately insignificant) occasions.

            So what’s the answer here? I need to change it up! I guess there’s a reason why they say variety is the spice of life.

I haven’t had my official follow-up appointment with this doctor to discuss the best plan of action here. But he did send me some literature along with my results, and from what I’ve been reading, the healing process begins by eliminating each and every food that your body is in any way sensitive to (based on the test results, which I'll detail in a later post because it turns out my body is freaking out over a lot of foods these days!) for a period of three weeks to six months, depending on the degree of sensitivity. And then, as long as you don’t have an allergy to the food (sorry, dairy), you can reintroduce certain items to your diet, slowly and carefully. If you still react, you stay away. If you don’t, then you’re free to enjoy—just not every single day (duh!).

This makes sense to me, because in each of the aforementioned cases, I'd refrain from eating the reaction-triggering food for a period of time, and then, one day—like magic—I could eat it again, no problem.

I am highly intrigued by this notion of welcoming banned foods back into my dietary rotation, especially considering that I do not have a known allergy to wheat. I have yet to be tested for celiac disease, due once again to my lack of health insurance. Gluten absolutely bothers my body, though, and this recent set of blood tests has officially confirmed that I am wheat intolerant. And yet, could this whole lack-of-variety-triggering-food-sensitivities theory possibly mean that there is a chance I could one day eat wheat again? I don’t know. Better get that whole celiac thing checked out before I let myself dare to dream.

Then again, going gluten-free has dramatically improved my day-to-day life in a number of ways. I eat more healthfully, and I choose foods more consciously, which in turn, has helped me maintain my 40-pound weight loss. And my digestive difficulties have all but disappeared (eliminating dairy had a huge hand in that one, though). But man, life was just plain simpler when I didn’t have to worry about whether or not what was being put in front of me at a restaurant or in a friend’s kitchen contained wheat or gluten. Sorry to be going there, but it’s true.

Sigh. 

We all Scream for... Rice Cream?

     I love my sweets. I always have, and I always will. I long ago embraced my semi-addiction to sugar as an inescapable part of my genetic fabric. Nature and nurture have had a hand in that—one of the key players being none other than my dear, sweet Grandma Joan. 

     From Mike & Ike’s to ice cream cones, Grandma Joan’s house was a treasure trove of carefully concealed goodies. When visitors came over, she would cleverly place a bowl or two of sugar-free hard candies on display in her living room, as a sort of deterrent, I believe, but I knew where she kept the good stuff.

     Not surprisingly, some of my most cherished childhood memories are of spending the night at Grandma Joan’s house. I had trouble falling asleep as a child, so I would lay in her guest room (my room while I was there) and wait until I heard her turn on the television and settle into the living room couch for her own ritualistic bout with insomnia. Then, like clockwork, I would make my way downstairs and slide in next to her, waiting to hear one single string of words from her mouth. Sure enough, within minutes of my arrival, she’d turn to me casually and say, “How about a cone?”

     Happily, I’d follow her into the kitchen to make ice cream cones. She always bought the cheapest brands, and I’d often be mildly disappointed to find only freezer-burned Neapolitan flavors or frozen yogurt in her freezer. But regardless, the sensation of that ice creamy goodness melting over my taste buds and trickling down my throat was pure bliss.

I felt such incredible kinship with my grandmother as we sat on that couch with our ice cream cones in hand, watching Audrey Hepburn and Barbara Streisand movies into the wee hours. And that comforting connection with ice cream most certainly followed me into adulthood.
     So I’m sure you can imagine my dismay when, in the summer of 2006, a routine blood test revealed that I had developed an allergy to milk. In fact, I was so resistant to this result that I didn’t officially stop eating dairy until the summer of 2009. I did stop drinking milk (for the most part) upon receipt of the lab results, but ice cream and cheese? No way.

     Alas, my mind may have been hooked on fresh mozzarella and frappuchinos, but my body revolted. I simply cannot digest dairy products. I won’t go into the details, but the reaction, which involves a lot of swelling and discomfort, has become unpleasant enough to keep me away from all things dairy—for good.

So now, imagine my sheer ecstasy when I came across Living Harvest Tempt—a rich and creamy frozen delight made from hemp milk. It is unbelievably, indescribably delicious. Since the anti-dairy diagnosis, I’ve tried coconut ice cream (I’m not a fan), and soy-based ice cream products, which make my belly blow up like a horribly unattractive balloon. But hemp-based ice cream? Divine. My favorite flavor thus far is Coffee Biscotti. I have yet to try Mint Chip and Chocolate Fudge, but that’s only because my current local grocery stores do not carry them.

Tonight, after another long waitressing shift, I decided to try a new brand: Good Karma Organic Rice Divine. Rice milk typically leaves a bad taste in my mouth, but the folks at Good Karma have managed to whip this non-dairy beverage into a light and refreshing frozen indulgence, sort of like the frozen yogurt of the non-dairy ice cream world.
     Following a brief perusal of the available flavors, I settled on Chocolate Peanut Butter Fudge,  which melted quite satisfyingly in my mouth with its gobs of peanut butter and chewy bits of fudge-like goodness. My only complaint is a slight taste of the carton having been left in the Wegman's freezer for too long.
     Then again, this hint of freezer burn actually enhanced the nostalgia of my frozen treat eating experience. If only I'd had a cone! (They do make gluten-free ones, by the way.)