We recently, through the process of elimination, discovered that Fifi has a gluten intolerance.
She has been struggling with, almost, constant stomach aches for the last few years. We learned, also though a process of elimination, that she cannot eat carrots and corn, though we suspect that this was actually the gluten that was prevalent in our diet. We are going to hide pureed carrots in food to see if she still has the same problem.
But I digress…
The bloating and cramping had persisted and her amazing ballet teacher, Kate, had been keeping a food diary (unbeknown to me) for her own records and discovered that whenever Fifi had bread (or any gluten) during her dancing hours, she would complain of stomach cramps.
We have since cut out all gluten from her diet and the bloating has disappeared! She is sleeping much better and her skin has even cleared. She always wore clothes a size bigger than her age, and has lost so much weight that we’ve had to go shopping for her age group sizes!
Finding affordable gluten free treats and bread has proven very difficult. Paying R55 for a quarter size loaf of bread is simply unreasonable on my budget, so I started baking keto bread for her.
I have found that she prefers the seed loaf from Sunflower Seed Bread. I make her bread in muffins tins. We freeze the bread individually and take two out every other day for her. They are very filling, so one “bun” per meal has been sufficient.
On the advice of a dear friend, we have been keeping a food diary and tracking her reactions to meals. So far, she has had no more adverse reactions.
We will be ordering more baking mixes from MojoMe and using my Low Carb Solution for Diabetics recipe book (AKA my diabetic bible) when making treats for her her.
I always assumed that gluten intolerance was going to make my life extremely hard. But I’m thrilled to tell you that its been a lot easier than I had expected. Many brands now have gluten free options. Baking gluten free isn’t as hard as I had expected, however, the ingredients are, unfortunately, very expensive.
Do you have any favourite gluten free recipes, or a go to website? We’d love to add more recipes to our repertoire.
