I’ve been gluten-free and dairy-free for several years. My wish is to help others by sharing about my family’s gluten-free lifestyle and experiences, research, and recipes. And, I'm a recipe developer creating delicious eats.
I grew up in Maine during the 1970′s when sprinkling wheat germ on food guaranteed good health for life. We had a beautiful garden, and my mom said our food was “country medicine.” I especially loved her whole wheat bread!
Despite those nutritious meals and ocean air, I had a variety of ailments—brain fog, skin rashes, chronic tonsillitis, aches, intestinal distress, migraine headaches, depression, and more. My parents took me to doctors, but no one had answers.
I followed my interest in cooking and attended culinary school. I studied the science of wheat flour and became a pastry chef and personal chef—all the time feeling sick and not knowing why. The doctors I saw throughout my life missed the root cause of my diverse symptoms: gluten.
The discovery of my gluten problem happened by accident. My friend had healed her daughter’s skin of blistering sores by eliminating gluten from her diet. Being in my own health crisis, I was compelled by her success to get tested. When the test results came back positive for gluten sensitivity (and later gastroenterologists suspected celiac disease without biopsy), I was stunned—not me, a classically trained pastry chef!
I did remove gluten from my diet. Within a few days, I was astonished as I suddenly had a clear nose. Then within a few weeks, my brain fog lifted, and other nagging ailments slowly disappeared. My daughter and my parents were also diagnosed with gluten sensitivity. Without gluten in their diet, they no longer have skin, intestinal, and respiratory problems; sleeplessness; vertigo; body aches; and attention and agitation issues. My dad’s lichen planus disease is in remission (his fingernails are returning!). Our family is a great example of how gluten sensitivity is a serious genetic condition.
Our gluten-free adventure has begun!