Isms in the Kitchen

If you live in the land of isms for any length of time, you discover that it affects EVERY aspect of your life – nothing goes untouched - from the house you live in to the food you eat. One of the biggest “breakthroughs” we have seen in the world of isms is connecting the dots to the food we eat. It is only one piece of an enormous puzzle, but one that I will try to explain as best I can.

Several years ago, the Lord – as many of you will remember – asked me to have the courage to transform not only my heart, but my kitchen as well. Ellie still says to Annie, “You never got to taste Fruit Loops, but they were AMAZING!” And it’s true, sweet little Annie has grown up on organic this and free-range that. I thought I had “given up” all I needed to for my family to be healthy and to keep this ever-aging temple holy. Well, like Gideon and his army, the “reduction” had only just begun. With the introduction of names to our isms, I researched like a crazy woman (all those years watching episodes of "Quincy" have really paid off) and sure enough - there is often a direct correlation to isms and the food we eat. I know I shouldn’t have been shocked, but what I found challenging was that even foods that you buy at organic grocery stores may not be best for your body. In fact they may be just the very gasoline used to ignite a volcanic eruption in your home. That was certainly the case for us.

I will try to make this brief – no snickering – and there is probably no way I can cover everything in one post – so you will just have to keep checking in :)

Where to start – OK – A little “Isms 101” – Two acronyms that if you spend anytime livin’ with isms you will not only come to know, but will be seeing in your sleep. They are IgG’s and IgE’s – they are two responses sent out by the body’s immune system to handle what it “perceives” as an invader – key word here is “perceives” – but I’ll come back to that later.

I am a visual learner, so as soon as I realized these two would consume my life and thought process, I had to find a word picture that made it easier to keep them straight. IgE stands for Immunoglobin isotype. Translation – these are the “soldiers” immediately sent out to fight at the first sign of trouble. They cause an immediate reaction in the body that is EASY to see. They cause the body to itch, sneeze, break out in hives, etc. It is what everyone thinks of when they think of an allergic reaction.

IgG stands for Immunoglobin antibodies, and they are the soldiers that are a little slower on the uptake. They don’t clue in immediately that trouble is on the horizon. They are only sent out in defense mode after something has gone through the GUT. The reaction to these perceived invaders can take hours, or even days to show up and often it may take the form of bowel issues, sleep issues, or more importantly behavioral or cognitive issues. They are most often referred to as food sensitivities or food intolerances. Again, these are only my ways of trying to keep these two straight – I don’t claim to have the technical end of it just right, but you get the idea. IgE – Easy to see – IgG has to go through the Gut before you see it. In our home, we battle both IgE and IgG reactions, and by reactions, I do mean like Chernobyl.

If you are still with me after that – you deserve a medal. OK, moving on... You may have noticed in the grocery store more and more items that are labeled “Gluten Free” – Unlike the days of “fat free” and “sugar free” marketing, “gluten free” is not a way to fit into your high school jeans. It is targeted to people dealing with Celiac’s Disease and families livin’ with isms. Gluten is a protein that is found primarily in wheat, barely, rye and sometimes oats. The reason families with isms buy an inordinate amount of gluten free everything is because gluten can cause some pretty severe IgG reactions. It is just one of the many foods that do so, but it is one of the heavy hitters. I could do a whole post (and probably will) on the affects of gluten.

But for now, what you have all been waiting for – our list of ism-contributing foods: drum roll please....
LOL – I just listed them all and then deleted them, because it would have taken up two entire pages – you heard me right – two pages of reactive foods. So instead, I will give you the categories that I have found (after every kind of testing you can think of, and some I am sure you did not).

We are still waiting to get our IgE testing done, so these are only our IgG categories, but rest assured, we spot those IgEers pretty quickly and therefore stay away.

*We have removed the Gluteney grains - especially wheat. There is an uber-long list of things that contain gluten at the bottom of the post.

*We avoid Cow's milk (all the proteins including lactose and whey - not just casein that many families steer clear of).

*We also stay away from Molds - which include things that get moldy or are fermented like mushrooms, vinegars, soy sauce, ketchup, etc.

*One category that really sends us into Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome is MSG (or more accurately anything containing free glutmaic acid.) I twitch just thinking about it. Even "natural foods" can contain free glutmaic acid under a different name. Much like a KGB secret agent of the Cold War, if you see words like Carrageenan, or Yeast Extract run the other way, comrade. Just know that they affect the body the same way MSG does. Our rule of thumb is if we have to google the word, then we should probably stay away from it. Again, I will tackle the evils of MSG and it’s founding father - free glutamic acid in depth another day.

*Two other categories that send us running for the hills are foods high in Histamines and Phenolic Compounds- I wasn’t the president of the science club for nothing - Some foods naturally produce more histamines than others. For instance shellfish, chicken, turkey and tomatoes love to produce histamines. Any plant-based foods contain some level of phenolic compounds. They just have varying levels. Berries and spices tend to be high in phenolic compounds. We cannot even go to restaurants that serve spicy foods right now – the reaction is just too severe.

*We also boycott Smoked goods (and consequently places that have people who smoke) because of a chemical called Toluene. Is it just me, or is this starting to sound like I am doing an episode of “Good Eats?”

Anyway, when all is said and done – and I’d be happy to explain all this in more detail and am sure I will later, but didn’t want to make your eyes bleed first time around – we end up with about 10 foods that are “safe” in our world right now. That is why our diet looks like we live in Siberia. No offensive to the Siberians, but must livin’ with isms mean I have to be a MacGyver in the kitchen every day? Evidently it must. In all honesty, as difficult as it is to make 98% of all our food from scratch - and as bland as toast – gluten free toast of course, it is SO worth the dividends.

The goal is that as our daughter’s gut heals, we will begin rotating in some formerly frightening foods so that her menu doesn’t look like an episode of “Chopped” with the same mystery ingredients over and over again. And yes, we watch a lot of Food Network – or at least we used to :) I also realized that I have included a lot of Russian references in this post – who knows what that is about.

To give you a visual, here is a sample menu that I left for Rob when I was out of town one week – Yes, I was actually able to leave for a few days and the nuclear meltdowns were minimal – healing is real!

Our SPD Friendly Menu

Remember basic rule of thumb – when in doubt – don’t try it – not worth the fall out.
Every meal should have a large protein, a grain, and something of color (veggie or fruit).

Wednesday night – Roast in grape juice, garlic, garlic salt and salt, onions. Side of broccoli, roasted red potatoes

Thursday
Breakfast – SPD breakfast casserole - egg (scrambled with hemp milk), ground beef, hashbrowns, and onions – start it on the stove and then broil in the oven.

Lunch – Leftover Roast beef sandwiches with Udi bread, fruit – almond butter and apples. *Don’t use deli meats for lunch they have WAY too much MSG in them to be safe for your world – Sorry.

Supper – Fried Quail (again your only seasoning option is salt and garlic salt, garlic or garlic powder), Sautéed cauliflower, green beans

Friday

Breakfast – pancakes – Better batter flour mixture – it has rice flour, tapioca starch, etc.; add oil, baking powder, dash of salt and sugar. There is the maple syrup and a new thing that is supposed to be good for hypoglycemia – the Agave Nectar.

Lunch – Leftovers

Supper – “SPD chili” – Stew meat browned in oil and brown rice flour and then allowed to simmer for a long time *the longer it simmers the easier it is to eat. Organic chili beans (they have NO MSG or pseudo MSG) remember you have to read ALL labels. You really can’t trust anything from a can, package or freezer without reading and rereading it. I brown the meat (that has been marinating in grape juice and garlic salt) with chopped onions and oil, add the beans with their juice, add corn flour to thicken, and a little purified water if needed. Add minced garlic in the last 20 minutes of cooking.

I hope this little jaunt through our “ism-filled kitchen” has been worth getting through all the lingo. And sadly – this is just scratching the surface.

http://www.msgtruth.org/avoid.htm
http://www.gfcfdiet.com/SalicylatesGFCFfood.htm
http://www.celiac.com/articles/182/1/Unsafe-Gluten-Free-Food-List-Unsafe-Ingredients/Page1.html
http://www.godairyfree.org/Food-to-Eat/Food-Label-Info/Dairy-Ingredient-List.html
http://www.allergy-details.com/mold-allergy/mold-free-diet/
http://www.alcat.com/
http://www.greatplainslaboratory.com/home/eng/home.asp