And after one week of being on the “diet” (no, not THAT kind of diet) I blogged about it. (To read more about my Elimination Diet and why “going on one” can be helpful at times, read my original blog post about it here.)

So though I LOVE wheat (you could say it’s ‘my crack’ as I could easily get addicted to it) I decided to eliminate it from my diet for at least a period of four weeks (but ended up doing it for five).  Then, as elimination diets go, one slowly adds back the food into their diet to see if it really is the “culprit.”

So here’s a lowdown of how it went for me, and what was in my thoughts during the process:

Week One: At first never thought I’d survive (there’s SO MUCH wheat in the American diet, even for someone like me who eats healthy).  First few days were difficult.  You know how you want what you can’t have?  But I knew, at least for a little while, it was only temporary.  But then by the end of the week I was feeling GREAT!  I was sleeping better, less bloated, had more energy, and my often ‘runny nose’ was going away.  Things were really looking up.  And my skin was getting better.

Week Two: Wow, can’t believe how good I feel.  And I’m not missing wheat so much anymore.  Thinking to myself, “why didn’t I do this before?”  Pants started to fit better, and though I did NOT weight myself — I’m guessing I lost a pound or two.  Okay, not much, but I don’t NEED to lose weight, and it wasn’t my goal.  Still sleeping good, got lots of energy, and overall feeling great.

Week Three: Oh my goodness, I miss pasta.  And bread.  And pizza.  And cereal.  And I feel like I’m running out of things to eat.  Energy just okay…..feel like I need to snack (on things like nuts) in order to keep my energy level up.  And missing my breakfast of cereal or whole wheat bread with all-natural peanut butter.  I eat breakfast and 2 hours later I’m hungry!!   Hmmm, what’s going on?  And, my eczema:  though skin looked like it was getting better the first week, is back to normal again. Eczema is still here.  Argh….probably why I feel like I want wheat.  But I keep on the road.

Week Four: (Christmas week)  Cravings (that were in my head in Week Three) are gone.  Don’t really care if I ever have pasta again (okay, who am I kidding??).  But seriously, I know that I can survive on eating a lot less wheat.  And went to Christmas Eve party where there was LOTS of wheat (think pasta, sandwiches on big thick rolls, cookies, more pasta….) I didn’t eat any…..and I was happy with it!  But was still able to eat and enjoy myself at the festivities.  Ditto for Christmas Day.  But my skin hasn’t really improved much.  Eczema is still there.  Same as before.  Runny nose coming back a bit (though less than it was before).

Week Five: (New Year’s week)  Still not seeing improvement in my skin or runny nose.  Though overall I’m feeling good, and my energy level is also pretty good, I’m getting a bit bored.  Yeah, my pants were feeling a bit better but now they’re back to where they were at Week One.  By not eating wheat I’m finding it “easy” to eat too many potatoes, and I even had potato chips at party two weeks ago.  And I’m finding I’m eating these foods (which I normally don’t each much, if at all) because I feel like “I can” and “I’m allowed too, ‘cuz hey, I’m not eating wheat!”  Which is exactly what happens to a lot of first-time vegetarians (but that’s a blog post for another time).

As the New Year rolls around, I decided to slowly let wheat back into my body.  Slowly.  And you know what?  Nothing changed.  Skin didn’t get worse, neither did runny nose.

So here’s my diagnosis (and I’m not a doctor….this is based on my personal and educated knowledge of both food and my body):  it’s not the wheat that is the culprit (or part of the culprit) to my eczema.

So what’s the reason for my increased energy, better sleeping, and what looked like better skin?  And what about my pants fitting slightly better???

Well, that’s simply because by not eating wheat, I WAS eating  TON of vegetables.  On a regular day/week I eat a lot more vegetables than the average American, and I already eat fairly healthy….but I was eating really, really well those first 2 weeks (until I started eating potato chips and other junk to replace the wheat).  I was the “Veggie Queen” and loving it.  And I was eating more fruits than normally this time of year (as it’s not really fruit season here in Boston, if you know what I mean).

So in order to “replace” the wheat, I was eating a lot more vegetables.  And yes, I was eating really healthy things like quinoa (a personal favorite) and lentils (lentils are awesome! I first “discovered” them when I lived in France and a great alternative to animal protein too), and beans.  Oh, and water too.  Don’t ask me why but I found myself drinking a lot of water (which is more difficult to do during the winter months)

So it WAN’T the fact that I “eliminated wheat” from my diet — but rather it WAS the fact that I was “adding in” a lot more really good things for me (that is, until I started eating potato chips….haven’t I mentioned that like 5 times already?)

So what am I doing now?  Well, to get rid of the eczema:  instead of the $50 bucks cream my dermatologist prescribed for me (which irritated my skin even more) —  I bought the generic $3 bucks over-the-counter Hydrocortisone which has done wonders.

And I’m now eating less wheat than before, and I’m feeling really good.  Though I do need to make it a conscious effort sometimes to think “lentils, beans, or quinoa” instead of wheat, I’m amazed how easy it is to still eat SOME wheat, but cut it down a lot (without missing it).  Oh, and now that I “can” eat wheat, I’m not eating things like potato chips to satisfy my “craving.”

AND, during those five weeks of my Elimination Diet I tried a lot of new recipes like lentil soup and different bean soups, chickpeas, edamame…I could go on & on….and ate a lot of variety especially in my veggies.  I had forgotten how much I loved things like butternut squash, sweet potatoes, parsnips, and other winter and root vegetables.  And it got me eating a lot of foods I liked, but hadn’t eaten for a while (like the lentils, chickpeas, edamame, parsnips).

So — moral of the story?  – even for ME, an expert in food & nutrition who has been able to keep her weight in a healthy range for many years and got over emotional eating…..time to time needs to “shake things up” a bit.  And that doesn’t mean you have to (or should) eliminate one food (or food group) from your diet.

The reason I did the elimination diet was to see if I had a SENSITIVITY or ALLERGY to a food — NOT to lose weight.

And I’m a better person for it as I’m eating a lot of foods I had forgotten about.  And it reminded me that nature has given us so many wonderful and good tasting foods that one doesn’t need to go looking for the perfect food or the fat-blasting superfood…..all foods that nature gave us are “super”.  We just need to eat a wide variety and keep (and maybe discover) new things all the time.

©2010 Eat Without Guilt. All Rights Reserved.

Basically, anything made from wheat.  In a sense, you could say wheat is my ‘crack.’  I love it, love it, love it and can’t imagine my life without it. That is, until last week…

For the past year and a half I’ve had eczema on my face. I’m not new to eczema.  I’ve had it at different times during my life since I was a child, and each time I get it in different areas:  my feet, my hands, my legs, my butt (yup!), and most recently my face.  I would get it, visit the dermatologist, get a cream to put on it, and within a couple of months or weeks it would be gone.

But it would always eventually come back.  Either in the same area or a new one.

So why am I talking about eczema on my blog about food and weight-loss?

Because I’m beginning to believe this lifetime of eczema is related to FOOD.

I saw my dermatologist this past summer, and what I thought was just dry skin on my face turned out to be eczema.  And she gave me a cream to get rid of it.  But it didn’t.  Then she put me on another cream which just irritated my face even more.

I got so fed up that I decided to do my own research.  My gut instinct originally told me it was somehow related to food.  But when I asked my dermatologist, she quickly dismissed it.  Though I like my dermatologist, one thing I’ve noticed is that doctors in this country are way too quick to giving you a you pill or prescription.  They’re all about treating the symptoms, instead of finding or treating the cause (same for weight-loss, by the way, but that’s a whole ‘nother post).

So — after doing some research I’ve found that my instinct was right:  my eczema could be related to a food allergy or food sensitivity.  In nutrition school I learned that often when people DO have a food allergy or sensitivity — they crave the exact foods they’re allergic to.  Interesting, huh?  What we crave is often what’s not good for us.  And for me it’s WHEAT.  I love wheat.

In order to find out if I DO have a sensitivity to wheat (gluten), last Monday I decided to do an elimination diet: where you completely eliminate the potential food allergens from your diet, see how you look and feel, and then re-introduce the food back into your diet (to see if your original symptoms come back).

I’ve been thinking about doing it for weeks (okay, months) but just couldn’t imagine my life without wheat. Though I do eat mostly whole wheat, I’ve known to watch my carbs as I can easily eat too much of them.  So I took the big plunge and completely (yes, completely) eliminated wheat from my diet.

For right now, I’m staying away from wheat and all wheat-related products (bye bye bread…) to see how I feel and if this eczema gets better.

Wheat (gluten) intolerance is becoming more and more prevalent.  According to the Center for Celiac Disease at the University of Maryland, one in every 132 people in America has celiac disease (gluten allergy), and nearly 15 times that number—up to 15 percent of the world’s population, or one in seven people—have a non-celiac gluten intolerance.

So how is it going being off wheat (gluten)?

I’ve gotta tell you the first day or two were hard.  Very hard.  Really hard.  And I was at a loss of what to eat (yeah, me, the food expert)!  Though I do watch my carbs, and I am a pretty healthy eater, I had no idea just how much wheat I was eating.

But after the first few days it got easier.  And easier.

And already — after only 7 days — I feel better.  Much better.  It’s amazing!  I must say, even I’ve been shocked.  I’m less bloated, I have more energy, I’m sleeping better, and my skin seems to be getting better.  But the jury isn’t out just yet on the eczema….I’m going to give it a couple more weeks to really see what’s going on.

Oh, and for as long as I can remember, I often have a runny nose — especially when I eat — and even throughout the day.   And that has now diminished a lot.

Do you have any food allergies, sensitivities or intolerances?

©2010 Eat Without Guilt. All Rights Reserved.