Why I'm Not Gluten Free Anymore

For roughly eight years, I was a wheat grinding, bread making, whole grain berry eating, machine.  When I was first diagnosed with thyroid disease, I had a difficult time adjusting to medications and eventually turned to real and organic foods.  Which included whole wheat berries and homemade bread.  The results were astounding to my health.

Fast forward a few years, to when I had my second set of twins, my mother was sick, my in-laws had moved in with us, and I had 4 children 3 and under.  I admit, in all of my stress, I was in survival mode, which introduced store bought breads, snacks, and and many other no-no's to my diet.  I started back on the downward spiral to poor health, weight gain, migraine headaches, fatigue, and frequent illness.  I knew better, I just couldn't get back on track.

Once I decided to make the necessary changes to get back to good health,......my grinder broke.  So, for a year, I tried my best to eat healthy.  And no matter what I did to change, I still felt horrible.  Which then led me to believe I had a gluten intolerance.  Because that's the popular thing to have right now, right?  More expensive specialty food.  Ezekiel bread, sprouted grains, gluten free everything.  It was getting pricey and annoying.

Then I had a light bulb moment.  For the many years I was grinding my wheat and making bread, I never felt bad when I ate wheat products.  EVER.  Yeah, I know, I'm a little slow sometimes.  So, I saved up and bought a new grinder, started over again, and I feel great.

Did you know that store bought bread is depleted of all it's natural vitamins?  The berries are ground and bleached and stripped of all vital nutritional value until it's left with nothing?  Vitamins and nutrients that are important to our everyday health.  Especially for women.  And then, back in the 40s, the government decided that synthetic vitamins needed be placed back in the flour after destroying it's original design.  So now we have "enriched" bread.  Meaning nothing really.

All of which makes it difficult for our bodies to process.  Mine especially.  So, I really didn't have an allergy to gluten.  Just an allergy to junk or processed foods.

I do believe that there are people who have a true allergy to gluten, but a gluten free lifestyle was not the best option for me.  My body needs the whole grains and all of the amazing health benefits they provide.

Next time, I'll share my basic bread recipe and how I grind my grains!