Gluten-Free Girl.

Hello all!

Once again I have to start off this post by apologising for not writing for a while - summer travels distracted me from my blog, but (un)luckily the sun and warmth are no longer around to tempt me away from my computer...

As I mentioned in a previous post, I have been following a gluten-free diet now for quite a while, as I have heard from multiple sources that it can help with rheumatoid arthritis, and just generally make you feel better. In this post, I thought that I'd cover some of the foods I've been eating and what I think of them!

Cereals
There really isn't a great selection of gluten-free cereals out there, and many of those that I have found are very bland and tasteless. I did, however, go to Whole Foods Market in Piccadilly Circus (http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/stores/piccadilly) and found Rude Health Puffed Oats with Honey, which were surprisingly delicious. Despite the fairly meagre selection available, starting my day gluten-free really makes me feel a lot less full and bloated than I used to after a bowl of cereal, which is definitely a plus.

Pasta 
There is a fantastic and ever-growing range of gluten and wheat free pasta available - just look in the free-from section in your local supermarket. I tell you that once you try a bowl of gluten-free pasta you will feel so much lighter than you normally would after a carb-filled meal. There is no difference in taste to normal pasta, but a massive difference in how I feel within myself, and I really think that I had an intolerance to wheat or gluten because my stomach and digestive system feel a lot happier now!

My favourite pasta is Rizopia brown rice pasta, which is gluten, egg, dairy and wheat free, and still manages to taste good. It's very light and easy to digest, and overall an absolute winner.

Rice & Grains
Rice and grains such as oats, millet and quinoa are gluten-free and a great source of fibre and vitamins. Obviously, being a health blogger, I'm talking about brown rice here - it contains B vitamins, vitamin K and is low in fat, so it's a great thing to incorporate into a gluten-free diet. Quinoa is also one of my favourite grains, and I'll sometimes have it instead of rice, or mixed into a salad.

Bread
I have tried a huge array of gluten and wheat-free breads, with varying degrees of success. Paleo bread, which I tried in California, was absolutely disgusting. It was wheat, dairy, gluten, grain and taste-free, and was horrifically crumbly and clawing when you ate it. Along with that, even when it was toasted it has slightly damp and moist texture which was simply a little disturbing.

Soya bread is rather good - it tastes very wholesome, but again can be slightly clawing in the mouth unless you put some sort of spread on top of it, then it's absolutely fine.

In general I now eat the brown gluten and wheat free sliced bread you can find in your supermarket's free-from section. It tastes pretty much like normal bread, but falls apart rather easily so I try and eat it fairly quickly, or toast it when I eat it. There are so many different types of gluten-free breads, and it all comes down to personal taste, so go and explore your supermarkets and local health stores and find one that suits your tastebuds!

Baking
Baking gluten-free can be a bit tricky, but I now use rice flour instead of regular flour, which is fantastic and better for you. There are also a huge number of websites which are dedicated to gluten-free recipes, and which will help you to enjoy any type of food you want, and still stay gluten-free!

So that's just a quick guide to going gluten-free, and some of the options out there to help you feel like you're not missing out on anything! I hope it's been helpful and I'll be back soon!

Nati xXx

The Healthy Other Half.

As promised, here are numbers 6 through 10 of my top health foods of the moment - Enjoy!

6) Shrimp
- Contains vitamin B12, which aids bone density and can help prevent osteoporosis
- Contains vitamin D, which is important for healthy skin and bones
- High in protein and low in fat

How do I include it in my diet? Add shrimp to stir-fries, salads and wraps


7) Raspberries
- Contain anthocyanins, which help to lower blood sugar levels and increase insulin production, making them great for those suffering with diabetes
- High in antioxidants
- Contain anti-inflammatory phytonutrients

How do I include them in my diet? Great with cauliflower (strange but true), or add to salads and sprinkle on your cereal

8) Flaxseed
- Contains ALA (alpha-linoleic acid), a healthy fat that improves the function of the cerebral cortex
- Can help to reduce cholesterol
- Contains omega 3 and fibre

How do I include it in my diet? Sprinkle it on salads, cereals or mix it into smoothies


9) Curly kale
- High in calcium
- Contains vitamins A and C
- High in antioxidants

How do I include it in my diet? Add it to salads, bake it to make kale chips or eat instead of spinach

10) Grapefruit
- Contains naringin, which can lower the level of cancer-causing enzymes in your body
- Contains vitamins A and C
- Can help to lower cholesterol

How do I include it in my diet? Eat it at breakfast, make into a juice or add to salads

More to come soon!

Nati xXx

The First Fab Five.

Time to bring you the first five of my ten big health-hitters of the moment. These all have great health benefits, and if you can incorporate at least some of them into your diet, you'll definitely be doing your body a favour! Foods that have been paired together contain the same/similar health benefits so have been added to give you a choice of foods to try. Here we go....

1) Walnuts/Almonds
- Packed full of heart-healthy omega 3s
- Anti-inflammatory
- Great source of protein

How do I include it in my diet? Sprinkle on salads or simply eat as a snack

2) Quinoa
- Both contain soluble fibre, great for digestive health
- Great source of protein
- Provides your body with slow-release energy

How do I include it in my diet? Incorporate oats into your breakfast, and cook quinoa and add it to salads. Quinoa can also be used to make porridge.

3) Blueberries
- Packed full of antioxidants
- Great source of fibre
- Contain vitamins A and C

How do I include it in my diet? Add it to your cereal or eat as a healthy snack

4) Sweet potato/Carrots
- Contain carotenoids, which are cancer-fighting compounds
- Anti-inflammatory
- Low calorie

How do I include it in my diet? Make soups/salads, or bake sweet potatos and turn them into delicious wedges!

5) Spinach
- Full of omega 3s
- Contains folate, which has been linked to a reduced risk of heart disease and osteoporosis
- Contains lutein, which helps to prevent muscular degeneration

How do I include it in my diet? Use it in salads and soups.

Hope that was helpful and the next 5 will be coming shortly!
Nati xXx

Goodbye Gluten & Hello California.

Hello all!

I'm back and once again coming to you from California! Sorry for the delay in writing this holiday post - the novelty of actually having sunshine in my life again took me away from the computer, but I'm ready to update you on my health notes!

As you know, back home in England I was first following the Paleo diet, to see if it would help my rheumatoid arthritis, and then simply a gluten-free/low-carb diet. I did have a feeling that it was mildly improving my symptoms, but I didn't know if that was my second set of meds finally kicking in, or my diet. I can now say with utter certainty that it was the latter.

                                          The enemy - carbs!

Here in California I have my aunt cooking for me, and have also been staying with my friends, so I've been unable to eat gluten-free, or to cut down on my carb intake. I've been here for 2 weeks and the effects are just kicking in now - I'm more bloated, my knees ache and swell more, and I'm just feeling generally more lethargic. Although this might get me down, I'm looking at it in a positive way - this month in California will be a good experiment to see the effects of carbs and gluten/wheat on my arthritis, and will give me extra ammo to follow a strict diet when I go back home. It's also good to know that in the future I may not have to rely so heavily on medication, and can instead look to altering my diet to help me.

 
           My knees, quite swollen - not attractive, but just so you get an idea of what I'm describing!

Anyway, this was just a quick update on the effects of being off my gluten-free diet, and I will continue to keep you updated on my eating habits while on holiday, and any other health facts I come across!

Back soon! xXx

Paleo & Pain.

Hello all!

Sorry for the delay - exams and all the celebrating that came after dragged me away from blogging, but I'm back!

As some of you who follow me on Twitter might know, I suffer from rheumatoid arthritis, and despite the steroids and hydrocholorquine I've been put on to ease the pain, nothing is really working. I'm beginning to get to the end of my tether, so decided that the only logical next step was to examine my diet. In general I eat very healthily - lots of fruit, veg, only wholegrain and wholewheat carbs, and no dairy. As I begun to do some research, however, I read many testimonials about how the 'Paleolithic' diet had greatly helped a lot of arthritis sufferers. The idea behind the Paleo diet is to eat as our caveman ancestors would have - only meat, fish, fruit, veg and nuts & seeds. The idea is that our digestive systems cannot handle a lot of the grains, carbs and dairy that we eat nowadays. This inability to properly digest these foods can illicit an inflammatory reaction in the body as our immune and digestive systems struggle to digest these items. Or at least that is the basic version that I understood and am trying to convey to you (you can google the real science behind it).

I decided that it was worth a shot, and for the past 2 weeks I have been living a virtuous paleo lifestyle. And you know something? After such a short time I think it's already working. My knees have definitely ached a lot less, and the swelling has been significantly reduced. This supports the view of certain health experts who claim that a lot of us have mild lactose and gluten intolerances, which causes myriad health problems, but we ignore it as it doesn't make us 'sick' as such, instead looking for another cause of our ailments. I'm not saying that following this diet has been easy - I missed carbs a ridiculous amount, and I realised just how much I ate on a daily basis! To give you an idea, here's an example of the changes that occurred to my diet:

Before Paleo 
Breakfast - Apple, kiwi, bowl of cereal
Lunch - Sandwich and salad
Afternoon snack - Rye cracker and yoghurt
Dinner - Brown rice/pasta with meat and veg

During Paleo 
Breakfast - Apple, kiwi, scrambled eggs and smoked salmon
Lunch - Salad and grilled chicken
Afternoon snack - Yoghurt with fruit and nuts
Dinner - Meat and veg

As you can see, before paleo all my meals contained carbs of some kind, whereas during the diet it was mainly fruit, veg and protein. It's now week 3, and having already got bored of so much veg and fruit (typical 20-something-year-old), I'm trying a different tactic - eating gluten and wheat-free carbs. They are a lot lighter and easy to digest, and I've even found wheat, gluten, egg and dairy free pasta, which is amazing! I know that I should have enough willpower to stick to the paleo diet if it's helping, but if even gluten and wheat-free carbs affect my joints then I will certainly go back onto it. I'm going back to California in 2 weeks for a month and I don't think I'll be able to stick to my paleo diet out there, so it will be interesting to see how going back to carbs will affect my arthritis. It will be good to have the two experiences to compare - paleo and post-paleo! It would be a massive lifestyle change to decide to be forever without carbs, but if it truly turns out to work, it's much better than relying on medication for the rest of my life when I'm still only in my 20s.

I hope you found this interesting, and if you're suffering from arthritis, or are simply interested in the Paleo diet, I urge you to do some research and there is a ton of information out there for you to read and consider. I will of course keep you informed on how my various eating plans are going, and if they're helping me at all! Expect a blog entry from California too, of course :)

Nati xXx

Health Hits: April 2012

Hello! Back again, with a round-up of some health tips and facts that I've gained over the past few weeks and want to share!


1) Metabolism Makers.
- Here's a few quick tips for speeding up your metabolism: firstly, sprinkle cinnamon on anything you can. It changes the way our bodies use fat and sugar, helping us to burn them, rather than storing them as fat! Secondly, drink a glass of water first thing in the morning. This helps to kick-start your metabolism and gets your body going. Cold water is even better, as the body works to warm it up so it is more easily absorbed. 

2) Post-Gym Eating.
- Almonds, soya products and lean protein are great after a work-out, as they will help your body regain energy and repair muscles. However, don't be afraid of some wholegrain carbs! This is the optimal time to eat carbs, as your body needs energy so will burn them rather than storing them as fat - Winning!

3) Glorious and Green.
- Increasing the amount of leafy greens in your diet will do you wonders. They are full of vitamin K, which protects bones and prevents blod clots, B vitamins which help metabolism and protect the health of skin and hair, and phytonutrients which protect our cells from damage. Consider including spinach, kale and swiss chard in your diet!


4) Chia Seeds
- I have recently heard about these seeds, which come from the salvia hispanica plant, and they are apparently an incredible source of omega 3 fatty acids, so could be a great alternative to traditional supplements. I will give them a go and let you know how I get on!


So there are a few quick tips and some health info for you! I will keep you posted on any new discoveries! Back soon!


Nati xXx

Raging Against Rheumatoid Arthritis.

Hello again! Sorry for the absence from the blogosphere, university has been taking up a fair amount of my time. I'm now on break, however, so I'm ready to write some new posts for you all!

A few months ago I was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis in my knees, and it's really affected my life. I used to go to the gym 3 times a week but now it's a push to even do 5 minutes on an exercise bike. I can't walk or stand for long amounts of time, and I live with some pain and swelling in my knees. My consultant has put me on a low dose of steroids, but knowing the potential long-term side effects of this, I've decided to do a little research on how diet and exercise can help to improve the condition, and I thought that I would share it with you!

Diet

1)Fish Oils

There has been some research to show that these can have an anti-inflammatory effect on the joints (as well as being great for skin, hair and nails), and are overall great supplements for joint health.

2) Fruit and vegetables

This may sound obvious, but a diet rich in colourful fruit and veg (colour denotes a high level of antioxidants) can help to prevent, and ease, rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Antioxidants help to aid our immune-system and possibly reduce the inflammatory reaction in our joints, provoked by RA.

3)Calcium

Necessary for overall joint health. If you are lactose-intolerant, or just not a big fan of milk like myself, then make sure that any dairy-replacement you take contains added calcium. I eat and drink soya products, and always make sure to check this.

Exercise

Care should be taken to avoid activities that will put stress and pressure on your joints - for example, running on a concrete pavement. Instead, consider low-impact exercise that will slowly allow you to gain strength in your joints, and keep active. Try swimming, cycling and perhaps yoga. There is research being carried out to assess if yoga and pilates, if practised over a long period of time, can help to alleviate the symptoms of RA.

So there is a very quick introduction to RA and some ways in which the condition may be improved. Unfortunately I will have this for the rest of my life, but I do hope that by introducing some of the above habits now, over time I will see an improvement in my condition. Fingers crossed!

Nati xXx

P.S A big shout-out to my friend Grace, who recently discovered my blog and enjoying all my posts!!