I love that phrase, but I can’t take credit for it. Darn!

Eat food, not too much, mostly plants is a brilliantly simple, health-enhancing proposal by Michael Pollan, author of In Defense of Food: An Eater’s Manifesto. Although, as a nutrition therapist, I tend to over-analyze food to the point of neurotically detailing out everything from macronutrients (carbs, protein, fat) to dietary trace minerals (iron, zinc, selenium, copper), I first and foremost believe in the simplicity of eating fresh, whole foods. Preferably organic.

This back-to-basics approach also makes living gluten-free much easier. You won’t find a complicated and hard-to-decipher ingredient label stuck to an apple or tied around a bunch of carrots. By eating real food, you pretty much eat gluten-free by default. Plus, you end up consuming foods that are nutrient-rich and full of health-promoting properties. We all need more of that, especially those of us with celiac and other autoimmune diseases.

So, what is real food? That may seem obvious, but there’s stuff on grocery store shelves that I can’t identify and I’m a food person. Plus, there are those mysterious food-like-substances. Seriously, there are things in food called food-like-substances. Cheese-like-substances. Meat-like-substances.

Sounds a bit creepy to me. I suppose that’s where the term Franken-foods came from. Well, steer clear of fake food. Stick with the real thing.

Which brings up my next point – I recently joined a local CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) farm and am anxiously awaiting my first box of locally grown, organic fruits, veggies, and farm fresh eggs. Twenty-six weeks worth starting next month. Real food – picked one day, delivered the next. That’s about as fresh as you can get it without growing the food yourself. And get this, a few days after I completed my online sign-up and bought my share, I got a thank you note from the farmer! Hand written. How cool is that?!

If you live in Colorado, check out Grant Family Farms in Wellington, just north of Denver. If not, consider joining a CSA in your area. Not only will you be purchasing food directly from the farm, you’ll be supporting the local economy, the farmers in your area, and your health.

Now on to my last point – Naomi at milkforthemorningcake tagged me for a 6 word meme. Six words that characterize who I am. Six words, that’s all. Hmmm? Easy for her to say, she’s never at a loss for engaging word choices. Go read her posts – they are wonderfully written accounts of life, love, food, and deranged bowels (hey, she’s a Brit, with a dry sense of humor).

Cheers, Naomi – here are the words that “communicate my essence.”

Willing
Natural
Playful
Steady
Inquisitive
Zesty

And/Or

Willful
Stubborn
Cranky
Testy
Crabcake
Distracted

Now I tag –
theaccidentalscientist
thegoodeatah
cindalouskitchenblues

If you girls are too busy (moving, getting married, finishing PhDs – stuff like that), you’re excused from doing this.

In good health,
Melissa

Moooo . . . isn’t she cute? Big smooch!

A couple of years ago, I decided I had a problem with the protein in milk (casein), which sometimes occurs when you have celiac disease. Casein is molecularly similar to gluten, so the autoimmune response can be similar as well. I went totally dairy free (none, zip, zilch) for over a year. Then I decided to ease back into it and before I even had time to reintroduce words like fromage back into my vocabulary, I was eating chunks of camembert with pecans, grating a nice parmigiano reggiano on salads, or topping beefsteak tomatoes with buffalo mozzarella and fresh basil. Not to mention daily doses of my all-time favorite treat, vanilla goat yogurt. I slid right back into eating dairy like there was no tomorrow.

Darn it – it’s not working so well for me now so I’m back on the dairy-free bandwagon.

What’s the deal with dairy, anyway?

If you want some answers, grab a cup of green tea, because my friend, Daisy, is going to clear a few things up for you. We’ll start with the basics.

Lactose is the sugar in milk. It’s a disaccharide (double sugar) composed of glucose and galactose linked together. Lactase is the enzyme that breaks this double sugar bond and if we don’t produce enough lactase to break the bond, we can’t absorb the sugars. Single sugars we can deal with, double sugars are too big to be absorbed. If these disaccharides aren’t absorbed, they end up as tasty treats for the bacteria housed in the digestive tract – and this bacterial frenzy causes all kinds of intestinal discomfort. After about the age of 4 or 5 our production of the sugar splitting enzyme (lactase) declines dramatically – for most of us anyway. And if you have celiac, it makes breaking down sugars even harder (there’s a reason for that but I’ll save it for another post). So, although gluten, casein, and lactose are all different substances, there are reasons each can cause problems for people with celiac or gluten-intolerance.

In addition to lactose, cow’s milk also contains several different kinds of proteins that can cause reactions in people sensitive to them. These proteins register in the system as “foreign” substances and can cause an immune response. If you already have an immune mediated response to gluten – these proteins may be bothersome as well.

Here are some dairy-related definitions that will help you understand this big milky picture.

Lactose intolerance: a condition that results from an inability to digest the milk sugar lactose; characterized by bloating, gas, abdominal discomfort, and diarrhea.

Casein: a protein found in milk. It has a molecular structure that is similar to gluten and can cause an autoimmune response in people sensitive to it. Casein is the curd portion of curds and whey. Casein intolerance is different from lactose intolerance.

Whey: the liquid protein portion remaining after milk has been curdled and is used in the production of ricotta and brown cheeses. Whey is thought to be a migraine trigger in certain people.

Rennet: enzymes produced to digest mother’s milk (all mammals produce this enzyme). Rennet is used in the production of cheese and is extracted from the stomachs of calves (a by-product of veal production). Argh!

Another concern is the potential connection between ovarian cancer and high lactose intake. A November 2004 article in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition suggests a possible relationship between high intakes of milk products and a specific type of ovarian cancer. More studies are needed to quantify this relationship, but it’s certainly something to think about if you have a strong family history of ovarian cancer.

Consumer’s have been conditioned to believe we “need” to eat dairy products to maintain strong bones and enjoy optimal health. The Dairy Council is hard at work trying to convince us that we need several servings per day of dairy products to obtain the necessary calcium and nutrients for overall health. You know – the whole “Got Milk” campaign.

Well, that’s not necessarily true. With a little effort and a lot of knowledge, we can get plenty of calcium from other food sources. And if absolutely necessary, calcium supplements are also an option.

I have to say, I feel more vitality and a decrease in joint and muscle aches and pains when I exclude dairy from my diet. In my case, I believe it’s the casein that causes an immune response in my system. We each have to figure out what works best for us – for health and for ethical reasons.

In the meantime, here’s a list of calcium-rich food sources for those of you who don’t eat dairy for whatever reasons. Many of these foods also contain other nutrients that play a role in bone health (magnesium, phosphorus, zinc, copper, boron), so add them to your shopping cart to boost overall health!

spinach
collard greens
teff (a wonderfully healthy GF grain)
amaranth (another great GF grain)
basil
cinnamon
Swiss chard
kale
rosemary
romaine lettuce
celery
sesame seeds
broccoli
cabbage
green beans
summer squash
garlic
mustard seeds
Brussels sprouts
oranges
asparagus
crimini mushrooms

In good health,
Melissa

Disclaimer: All material on this website is provided for informational and educational use only and should not be used for diagnostic purposes. Consult with your physician regarding any health or medical concerns you may have.