The Impossible Task of Eating

I feel like I have struggled with food pretty obsessively in my life. As a little background information, I was a vegetarian for around a decade but began eating meat during my first pregnancy. In the eight following years I have gone back and forth between some pretty extreme lifestyle choices. There have been huge periods of time when I have healthfully mastered the Atkins diet and others where I have eaten an entirely plant based vegan diet (and subjected my entire family to it too). I know that food impacts the way you feel, your energy, skin, hair, sleep, emotional health, but for me food seems to entirely construct and dictate the way I feel in pretty much every respect.

Back in 2008 I was diagnosed with hashimotos. My doctor suggested that I go from vegetarianism to a very low carb, high protein diet of meat and green vegetables. I did this and felt a million times better. I lost a tremendous amount of weight, had wonderful energy and felt better than I have ever felt in my life. The problem, of course, is that I really don't like to eat meat. Inevitably, I'd begin skimping down on the chicken and adding a serving of pasta to my plate. The more carbs I ate, the worse I felt and I'd eventually return to Atkins and feel better within a matter of days. The difference is extreme for me. When I do not eat carbs I feel fantastic and when I do I feel horrible. The relationship is undeniable and clear. At one point I was even tested for celiac (which I do not have) because eating bread makes me feel so awful.

Recently I met someone who also has hashimotos but her doctor recommended that she use a vegan, gluten free diet. My interest piqued, I decided to do a bit of research. As it turns out hashimotos and celiac have some sort of relationship that I honestly don't understand (dispute reading several research pieces and patient testimonials). People with hashimotos are not able to process gluten as well and removing gluten from the diet will ease the symptoms of hashimotos.

So, all along, every time I had miraculous improvements after giving up carbs and returning to Atikins, it wasn't the chicken hat was helping me! The culprit was the gluten.

I am pleased to say that I have been able to make a return to vegetarianism while being gluten free and feel fantastic! Because we have casein allergy in our home, we don't' actually have any dairy in the house. I would call myself vegan if it weren't for the fact that I will always happily accept cream in my coffee and cheddar cheese in my black bean soup.

It's a strange world. Eating should be something so simple, and yet tackling it has been the one of the hardest journeys for me.