Gentle Reader,
Are you shopping for Thanksgiving yet? Tell me about your resolve to eat so your joints don’t hurt, the achy knees don’t creak, the back doesn’t twinge when you go from sitting to standing? Have you been eating a dinner plate big on greens with a small portion of meat or fish and the starch in the form of a boiled new potato or rutabaga? I thought I’d better show you one in case you never bought or cooked it. Really tasty, better than turnips.
Most especially, have you tried gluten-free? And I don’t mean picking up those prepared foods that say gluten-free on them. I believe, because I have tried it consistently over time, that a gluten-free diet helps with arthritis. You’ll also lose weight which will help with arthritis pain. At this time of year with your favorite recipes coming out of the box for your traditional offerings, you buy a big sack of white refined flour, white refined sugar and pounds of butter and plan your day of baking. Unless you have greater resolve than I do, you’ll be eating some of those goodies and not just giving them to friends and family. There will be more than one kind of pie on the table and it will be challenging. Right?
Today I am passing on a web site I came across this week. This gal, Christie Bessinger, has a serious celiac problem and has taken the time to research ways to identify hidden gluten. Celiac is a hard condition. Your body reacts with bloating and sometimes even more severe nutrient absorption shut down when you get yeasty things in your stomach. Breads, pasta, lots of canned soups, other prepared foods. Most of us who struggle with achy, congested joints are not severely impacted by gluten grains, at least not in the digestive area. However, getting gluten-free for a few months would tell you a lot about how your body functions in a gluten-free atmosphere. Two things will happen for you:
1. You will lose weight
2. You probably will have less joint pain, even if you have severe osteoarthritis or spinal stenosis. Any of the problems affecting the joints will most probably improve with a gluten-free diet.
Enjoy Christie’s blog. Here’s a nice place to start with her delicious cupcakes made from a company she trusts. http://celiac-scoop.blogspot.com/2011/11/gluten-free-cake-bites.html You can even order their mixes from her web site. How sweet is that? Christie has suggestions for eating out gluten-free in New York City, too.
Live in Seattle? We are lucky. Here’s a web site for people who want to avoid gluten when they eat out. http://www.urbanspoon.com/t/1/1/Seattle/Gluten-Free-Friendly-restaurants and here is a retail store for delicious foods in Seattle http://www.wheatlessinseattle.net/ .
Before I go, dear Reader, a day or two of lovely indulgence never sent us to surgery for a knee replacement. You know that, don’t you? It’s the change we make over the long haul in diet and exercise that makes the difference long-term and keeps us moving.
Fondly, Betsy
Be Well, Do Well and Keep Moving
BetsyBell’s Health4u
206 933 1889 1 888 283 2077
betsy@hihohealth.com
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