Breaking A Habit

Have been eating grains and grain products -- anything made with flour -- my whole life. Bread was also part of the recommended wisdom of the food conglomerates and abetted by their compatriots in the US government. I liked bread -- especially when it was loaded with butter.

After reviewing Gary Taubes book in Mainlining Butter, a follow up read was The Primal Blueprint by Mark Sisson. Both books spoke to me. Just made sense. That was early last summer. Bad time to start new eating habits when I would be dining with friends and relatives during my summer in Colorado.

Both books said to eliminate grain products from the diet. My diet changed. The result was Wandrin Lloyd's variation of a paleo diet. I ate mostly salads, vegetables, some legumes and meats (grass feed beef) or chicken (dirty feet free range) or fish (wild). However, the grain products still had a very small place in the diet along with the occasional sweets.

Two months ago, it was time to get serious and eliminate the grain products (breads, pasta, sweet rolls) from my diet. After about two weeks, I no longer was gobbling antacid pills after every meal. Hmmm. Interesting. Costco was going to be in trouble economically. For many years, a large economy size container of antacids had a place in my larder. I ate them like candy after almost every meal.

No indigestion. Took a while to figure that out. Then I also noted that I hadn't had an attack of GERD (acid reflux) in the last month. Could these body reactions actually be attributable to grain products.

Then there was the time when the indigestion lingered for two days regardless of my antacid ingestion. So I headed to the hospital emergency room with what appeared to be a heart problem. Appears I had a "gluten attack". I am embarrassed to recall that experience. Seems there might be some new questions the doctors might want to ask the patients after discovering there really is no heart problem. Perhaps it might be a gluten problem.

Time to search the internet. Yes. Gluten can cause acid indigestion and GERD flare ups. And I had been living this way for seventy years. As a child, my parents correctly recognized that I had a food allergy to whole wheat products. My gut ached within an hour of eating whole wheat products. So while everyone else ate whole wheat, I ate white bread and white flour products. That didn't bother me. At least I didn't think it did. That was the end of the issue and life goes on.

As I thought about gluten and grain issue, I recalled the chest pains I had 40 years ago as a result of drinking beer. Another aha moment. Beer is made from grains. Further research on the internet. Turns out there are traces of gluten in beer. Guess I had found the trace. Pain is an incentive. Quit drinking beer at that time and switched to hard liquors.

Drinking beer was an easy habit to break. The bread habit is harder. Each time I go through the grocery bakery section, I have to move quickly through the breads and cookies. Gosh that loaf of Kalamata olive bread would be great. How about a chocolate chip cookie. Note to self -- NOT. Indigestion and pain are good incentives to change a habit. Seems to be working.

The yearning (or habit) for the bread remains, but at this point I am a "recovering bread eater".