Bless you for the long thoughtful answer, Heather! I love this group!
Will definitely try aloe. Should have thought of it earlier.
And will look at celiac.com to get more info. I'm thinking that having decided to do this -- I'm not brave enough to start during the holidays. Early January gives me time to prepare.
I talked to someone today about a test for gluten sensitivity. She says it's just a blood test. Will look for that too.
As for the rest, I will re-read your post several times and absorb the advice slowly. It's all good, and I know will help me.
Will be sure to let you know how it goes!
Susan
--- In fast5@yahoogroups.com, Heather Twist <HeatherTwist@...> wrote:
>
> Well you've been through a lot, for sure! Congrats on coming through it all!
>
> I can't say for sure about your skin stuff, obviously. Some people who go
> gluten free do have amazing changes. For myself, I had a nerve cut in my
> jaw, due to some surgery I'd had a decade or more before. It made part of
> my face numb, which wasn't a huge deal and I didn't think about it too
> much. A year or so after I went GF though, the area started tingling and a
> lot of the nerves appear to have come back. I also stopped getting adult
> acne.
>
> As for scars on the skin ... The thing that I know helps me is raw aloe. I
> have a plant (several now: they multiply!) and I pick one leaf, then use
> pieces of that leaf for a week or so. Just slather it on. It's gooey, but
> it just sort of evaporates or soaks in and disappears. I had a 2nd degree
> burn on my wrist that wasn't healing ... I put the aloe on it, and by the
> next day it was partially healed and after a week it was *gone* with no
> scar at all. It seems to promote healing in the skin (and in the gut I
> guess: some people have it in smoothies).
>
> Vitamin K is said to be good too: it comes in a cream.
>
> For other grains: wheat/barley/rye are the "gluten" grains. Spelt and some
> of those "old versions" of wheat are still wheat, and give the same
> reaction. But corn, rice, soy, buckwheat, quinoa, millet, teff, etc ...
> they are ok. Oats are basically ok except that they are usually mixed with
> wheat in the field, so you have to buy special "gluten free oats".
>
> Many of the foods you buy though, have gluten sort of "snuck in" where you
> don't expect it. Like in sushi, surimi is made with wheat usually. Soy
> sauce has wheat. Many or most "chip" foods have wheat. So the good news is:
> if you go gluten-free, you won't eat nearly as much junk food!
>
> A lot of the newer "gluten free" brands of foods are also doing a better
> job of making "healthy snack", since they are aiming for the health-food
> crowd. Mary's Gone Crackers is a nice cracker (and you can take them with
> you to parties). There are a few versions of nut/fruit bars that are good,
> and Mrs. Mays' products are just really tasty (and healthy). There are
> decent gluten-free versions of pasta, bread, and cookies these days though,
> you just have to look for them. General Mills is making a whole line of
> foods gluten free (Gluten-free Bisquick, brownie mix, cakes, rice crispies,
> rice chex). I made an outstanding (if I do say so myself) cornbread stuffed
> goose for Thanksgiving.
>
> There is one caveat about going gluten free though. Some people go "mostly
> gluten free" and they feel better, and do fine, even though they don't
> bother with the little bits of gluten that are in soy sauce or beer. Other
> people have a kind of super-reaction ... after eating sandwiches and pasta
> for decades, suddenly, after they stop eating those foods, they start
> reacting to tiny amounts of the stuff. That hyperreactivity, for me, lasted
> about 3 years. It got so I had my daughter feed the chickens, because I was
> inhaling chicken feed and having a reaction. I don't seem to have that now,
> it went away. But for some people it sticks around. It is a very weird
> thing and made me feel a little crazy back then: no one was talking about
> "gluten" at all, and everyone thought I was just being a bit hypochondriac
> for avoiding it. But if I ate it, even a little bit of it, I got very, very
> sick for a few days.
>
> By husband and daughter though, mostly don't eat gluten (it's not allowed
> in the house, period, even for the cat). Small amounts though don't bother
> them. Large amounts, like, say, a plate of lasagna, make them stick to
> their stomach (my daughter just "tosses her cookies" so to speak :-)
>
> www.celiac.com has a ton of information about all this. The thinking these
> days is that "celiac" is just the tip of the iceberg, and there are a lot
> more people who react badly to wheat, but don't have celiac. They are
> designing tests to check for this. If you can get a celiac test, it's way
> better to get it, before going wheat-free. If you are in the 1% that really
> has classic celiac, it is way important to do stuff to heal the gut, but
> the tests will show negative if you aren't eating wheat.
>
>
> On Wed, Nov 30, 2011 at 6:01 AM, Susan Sloate <susan@...> wrote:
>
> > Hello, all --
> >
> > I'm one of the lurkers on this list, but I read every post and am amazed
> > at the breadth of knowledge here - and your kindness in passing it on!
> >
> > I'm now back on Fast 5 after about 7 months off (my mistake) I gained
> > about 10 pounds! But my divorce had just been finalized, so I cut myself a
> > little slack.) Naturally I feel a million percent better on Fast 5 - and
> > last year got through all the holidays, from Thanksgiving to New Year's,
> > without going off once, and still thoroughly enjoyed the eating (and didn't
> > gain an ounce, which is a real feat during those weeks).
> >
> > I've been really learning from the recent posts about gluten and seriously
> > wondering whether I should go off it myself to see what kind of difference
> > there is. But I have a specific question I'm hoping someone can answer -
> > all your ideas are welcome:
> >
> > I'm 54, in generally excellent health, but 40 pounds overweight and
> > obviously this is my first health concern. I do take Synthroid daily (at
> > low levels – 50 and 75 mcg) and am interested in the recent discussion
> > about switching to natural. What my endocrinologist says usually is that
> > given that I alternate, one day on 50 mcg and one day on 75, it might be
> > trickier for me to switch to a generic brand of Synthroid or another
> > medication altogether. However, will bring it up at my next appointment,
> > now that I hear what's going on with people on the list.
> >
> > What troubles me, though, is that on my arms, legs and torso there are
> > lots of marks left over from rashes or skin issues that cropped up long ago
> > and generally went away, but the marks themselves remain. They don't itch,
> > aren't raised and aren't anything like skin tags; they're right IN my skin,
> > and are really nothing but souvenirs of skin issues I've had in the past.
> > They're not very pretty to look at, and obviously I'd like them to go away.
> >
> > They've had plenty of time to heal but have not disappeared.
> >
> > My question to you is: Could there be some nutrition-related thing that's
> > keeping them from disappearing, as they ordinarily should?
> >
> > The current rash I have is concentrated around my waist and mid-torso. Has
> > been itching for some months now (I forget how long), and though I've tried
> > hydro-cortisone cream applied topically, it lessens the itch but doesn't
> > seem to take it away or end the rash.
> >
> > If anyone has ideas, I'd be grateful to hear them. I am not diabetic or
> > even pre-diabetic (I had the glucose tolerance test early this year - the
> > one that lasts for HOURS - and it showed very clearly that my blood sugar
> > was in the absolutely normal range.) So it shouldn't be that.
> >
> > But if I'm eating something that's perpetuating this - and I eat HORRIBLY,
> > I'll be the first to tell you - I'm the world's worst junk-food junkie - so
> > would really appreciate your suggestions.
> >
> > It's very inspiring to read the stories here of people feeling so much
> > better just by doing Fast 5 and changing things in their diets and
> > supplements. I wonder if you realize how much help you're giving those of
> > us who are usually silent? I know for me, reading these posts is what keeps
> > me doing Fast 5, even if I have yet to get it right in terms of WHAT I eat
> > – at least the WHEN I eat part is being taken care of properly.
> >
> > Also, if we're going to go gluten free - can we eat other grains like rye,
> > or is that also a problem?? (And how about things like corn chips - does
> > that count as gluten free? A friend of mine cut out wheat but continued to
> > eat potatoes, rice and things like Fritos. Felt a million percent better,
> > and she had lots of health issues.)
> >
> > Thanks to everyone for your ideas ... looking forward to hearing from you!
> >
> > Susan
> >
> >
> > ------------------------------------
> >
> > Yahoo! Groups Links
> >
> >
> >
> >
>
>
> --
> Heather Twist
> http://eatingoffthefoodgrid.blogspot.com/
>
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