Is it wrong to eat gluten/dairy? Plus answers to some homeschooling questions.
Every other Monday, I answer reader questions. Want me to answer one of your questions? Email me and put "Q&A" in the subject line.
Two things before we get to questions:
Free Pizza
By the way, the Penny Hoarder emailed me this weekend to let me know that you can do some mystery shopping and get a free pizza plus $5 for reviewing Papa John's. I have not personally tried out this company, but I know some of you are interested in mystery shopping/doing surveys for moola. Let me know if it works out for you!
DIY Bundle Notecards
If you bought the Ultimate DIY Bundle and you haven't redeemed your $15 Fawnsberg credit yet, I just got word that their six-pack notecards are back in stock. This is definitely the best deal and works almost perfectly with your $15 credit (the sets of six are $16.50). Your bonus offers expire on February 26th, so don't forget to redeem them now!
Alllrighty....on to some questions.
Hi Frugal Girl!
I have a dilemma I am hoping you can share some wisdom on. When I came to your blog I was not a Christian, nor did I have any issues eating gluten or sugar - especially when said items are organic. However, fast forward these 5 or 6 years, and I am Christian and now I have been examining this gluten free idea. I have had a lot of headaches and other things that people keep telling me would be resolved by nixing gluten in my life.
Now, I have read lots of things - and I mean LOTS - about gluten free, not being gluten free, what it implies for Christians in the Bible about wheat.... I honestly don't know what to think. I am coming to you because you love breads, and you use sugar and dairy and all of those other things that food purists say never to eat...and yet you said that your girls had their first ever antibiotic this year! I was floored!! I have put a lot of stock in eating "perfectly" and we are sick fairly often.
So, to sum it all up - I was wondering if you had some insight on this gluten free thing when it comes to the Bible and wheat and just the whole mess.
Thanks!
Hmm. Well, I think the decision about whether or not to eat gluten and sugar is more a matter of what your own body can handle than it is about what the Bible says. I don't think the Bible either prescribes or prohibits gluten or sugar, and so it's a matter of applying wisdom.
The Bible does say we should take care of our bodies, but everyone's body has slightly different needs, so I don't think you can find a blanket solution for every person.
I say if you want to try eating gluten-free to see if it helps your headaches, then go for it! If going gluten-free has no positive effects in your life, then go back to eating gluten with a clear conscience.
It is true that my girls had never had antibiotics until December, but that's not necessarily due to what we eat or don't eat. I mean, I try to feed my family reasonably well, and we don't eat much in the way of processed foods, but some of my kids' healthiness could just be due to genetics.
I do think eating healthfully is important (I'm not gonna start keeping Ho-Ho's in my cabinet!), but the fact of the matter is that we live in a broken world with sickness and disease and sometimes we are going to get sick no matter how hard we try to eat well.
So.
I buy some local food, I buy some organic food, I try to make sure we eat a lot of produce, I make most of our food at home, and it's not a sugar free-for-all here (we eat sugar in moderation).
But gluten and dairy do not seem to negatively affect our health, so I've not felt it necessary to cut those out.
Basically, I think you should just try to figure out what works best for your family's bodies and be confident in that.
In other words, don't be discouraged by the fact that other people eat differently, and don't assume that you're failing at eating healthfully just because you get sick sometimes.
In my country (Germany), we do not have homeschooling, so this has always been fascinating to me. I wonder, you do look over your children's work, when they are finished and discuss it with them, answer questions and whatever comes up?
Do you give your children the topics they are to do (I mean the two older kids/teens) on the end of schooltime or in the morning? Some you will, like repeating topics, that proved difficult, but in general?
Do you say: tomorrow you look into Algorithms for math, photosynthesis for science, tenses for Grammar? Or do you tell them in the morning, before they start?
Oh, another question, do you do history? And is it world history or "just" American history?
You've got a lot of questions there, so I'll just answer them in little separate sections below.
First, yes, every day I look over my children's independent work, mark what's wrong, and they correct it (sometimes with me if they can't figure out how to fix it themselves).
I have teacher's manuals and answer keys to make this process faster and easier, though for the younger two, when I correct things like grammar and vocabulary, I don't usually need an answer key.
I do some subjects with my younger two girls (history and botany), so since I'm sitting right with them as we do those studies, there's no need for me to look over and correct their work.
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Rather than assigning specific pages each day for each subject for each kid, we kind of figure out at the beginning of the year exactly how much work we need to do in each subject in order to finish by the time summer arrives. So, for example, they do one lesson of math per day, two pages of grammar, and so on.
This means I don't have to give out daily assignments...rather, the kids all know how much work they'll do each day.
_______________
We do indeed do history, and not just American history. America is such a young nation by world standards, we'd be missing out on a lot if we only covered our own history. Plus, when we do get to American history, it's important to see our own country's history in the context of what else was happening in the world at the time.
I hope that helps to give you a better idea of how things work as we do school at home!
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Whoa. I'm over 1100 words right now, which means I'd probably better wrap up this Q&A post and save some other questions for next time.
So, it's your turn to be wordy now!
What are you thoughts on gluten/dairy? Evil for all? Evil for some?
Does your homeschool operate like mine? (I'm sure my German reader would love to hear from a bunch of you!)
I was diagnosed with Celiac Disease about 20 years ago. Going gluten free solved a lot of health problems for me. However, it is an expensive and difficult way of life. I would not do it unless medically necessary. There are simple blood tests that will diagnose the problem. I don't know what the Bible has to do with making a decision about being gluten free.
Huh. I've never seen the gluten-free issue discussed in relation to religion before. Bread does feature heavily in the Bible, but then, that kind of bread was a lot different than your average loaf of Pepperidge Farms--different varieties of wheat, different methods of rising (more like sourdough), different methods of baking.
Not that I think religous affilitation should effect consumption of bread, it's just interesting to think about. My husband made a sourdough starter that we've been using now for about four months. Neither he nor my MiL can eat regular bread, but he can eat this sourdough. They're not Celiacs or anything, so it's an option for them.
Eek, two whole mistakes: I meant "religious" and "affect." Shameful for a former copy editor . . .
My only concern about cutting out gluten as an experiment is "rebound." Whenever you cut something out of your diet, your body will often have a harder time digesting that thing once you introduce it. I have a nurse friend who told me that many people end up thinking they are gluten intolerant when they are not, because they cut out gluten and then, when they reintroduce it, feel poorly. But, they feel poorly because they made themselves temporarily intolerant to gluten by not eating it for a while, not because they are actually gluten intolerant. I think it's probably best to talk to a doctor about recurrent health problems, like headaches. I have friends who make the same claims about various things--you'll never have a headache/cold/stomach problem again if you follow this diet/use these essential oils/take these supplements--and I just don't personally put much stock in it and thing there's potential problems caused by those things, as well.
The only one of my kids actually doing school is my oldest, who is 10. We do a lot of history, right now because we use Bookshark, which is a history-centered literature-based curriculum. Right now we're on the first year of a two-year American history sequence, but other years are devoted to world history. Right now our school day is based around the baby's naps (which I'm sure will change, probably before this school year is over). She takes a two-hour nap in the morning, and during that time we do all the work that we do together--a lot of my reading aloud to him (usually some history, some fiction, and some poetry), writing (which I give a lot of feedback on), Latin (which I check when he's done), then he reads independently for a while. During the baby's second nap, he does math and science independently, although I help him if there's an experiment to do. During that time I do stuff with the other kids and/or do work for the online class I teach. I usually tell him what he needs to do right before he does it, but he's kind of scatter-brained, and I do hope that in the next few years we can transition to his taking more responsibility for knowing what he has to do and when he needs to do it.
Agree re: gluten! To add to that, I do think it's easy for one to get swept up in the marketing of it all, ie "This one easy diet trick will change your whole life!". Every day there's a new trend and supposed reason why you're sick and your life is miserable, you know? One's health is such a complex thing, like Kristen alludes to. It could be genetics, it could be environmental, it could be a whole combination of things. Just because her kids are just now getting antibiotics can also be because Kristen knows that most minor illnesses/colds are viral and antibiotics totally unnecessary. I'd definitely see a doctor and maybe try like massage or yoga or something (ie for tension headaches) before changing your whole diet.
I only have a dog, so I've got nothing on the topic of homeschooling. 🙂
Yeah, I think there's so many factors. A good diet is great, but lots of people have great diets and still get sick and others eat terribly and are healthy. Obviously a good diet will never hurt you, but so much does seem to be out of out control.
I think only two of my kids have ever taken antibiotics, and just once each, when toddlers (one for an ear infection, the other for pneumonia, poor kid). I know for sure it's not because we eat so healthfully, because we don't. I imagine it's mostly because, since we homeschool, the kids aren't exposed to as many things (like strep) as they would if they were in school, and because I tend to not take them to the doctor unless I feel like it's really, really necessary. I'm sure they've had things that a doctor would have potentially prescribed an antibiotic for that they've recovered from on their own. I mean, I don't let them get deathly ill or anything, but if they aren't really sick or really suffering, I'm okay with letting them hang around with a fever or sore throat or illness for a few days to wait and see if it passes on its own, which thankfully it nearly always has so far.
I was diagnosed with Celiac Disease 9 years ago after suffering with what my doctors believed was irritable bowel disease - meaning, they didn't know to test for Celiac until 9 years ago.
It's not too difficult to live this way, once you get the hang of it but it can be incredibly isolating. For that reason, I do not believe that making the decision to go GF should be made lightly. My GI doc says a GF diet helps many people, not just Celiacs, such as people with Crones Disease and other GI issues so I am not one of those, 'If you don't have Celiac then you don't need a GF diet', believers. But, do think long and hard if you don't have a diagnosis that suggests you need to embark on this path. Especially for the sake of us Celiacs who have to go out to eat in restaurants and need to be taken seriously (but that's a whole 'nother matter).
As for isolation and how it relates to organized religion... I am Catholic and the archdiocese that governs my area has made it quite clear that they do not intend to offer a GF host for communion. Ever. They say that Canon Law dictates that there *must* be wheat in the host in order to be considered a proper host. And as a Celiac, even 'a little' wheat is disastrous to my intestines so I can no longer have communion at church. Not even the wine! They actually place a small amount of the Priest's host into the wine during its blessing (never mind the people getting communion before me who actually like to dunk their host as opposed to drinking from the chalice).
My point, it makes me feel sad every time I go to a Catholic church for mass because I feel like this disease, one given to me by God, is being ignored by the very faith I embraced from birth. So, I usually attend an Episcopal church these days since they DO offer a GF host and are good enough to keep it separated from the non GF hosts.
Great post!
I was just thinking about the communion issue, because I remembered that the church I attend (Presbyterian) notes in the bulletin that gluten-free bread is available upon request. I didn't realize that wheat was considered essential in some churches. Interesting!
I know we have a gluten-free option at our church. I eat gluten, but our pastor's wife (and some other people too perhaps) can't eat gluten.
Thank you for sharing your experience. As a Eucharistic Minister myself, I know our parish offers a low gluten host, which I assume you wouldn't be able to consume. I also know the priest's host is added to his chalice, but I'm not sure if it's added to the others. I agree - it does seem unfair that you shouldn't be able to receive the Eucharist because of your disease. With our food technology, it seems hard to believe that we can't find a way to remove all the gluten from wheat. Barring that, why does the Church mandate that the host be made of wheat?
A (lengthy) explaination of why wheat and wheat only: http://www.catholic.com/magazine/articles/why-wheat-bread
Our previous Catholic church always had a note in the weekly bulletin that gluten-free hosts were available on request. Just give them advance notice. We moved and I haven't noticed any mention of it yet at our new church.
Our parish has a chalice that does not have a host dipped into it - I would recommend you look for another Catholic parish if you can - that practice can vary. Also, if you can't find one in your area, then to use the Act of Spiritual Communion Prayer and talk with a priest about the particular cross you bear about not being able to receive the sacrament and how you can turn the situation into spiritual fruit. Have you checked out the Catholic Celiac Society?
Interesting- we have a very traditional, strict diocese here and we still have a GF host option. There's never been a mention of wheat being "required".
I would approach the pastor at several of the area Catholic churches and explain your predicament. I have never seen the priest tincture the host into the wine (Precious Blood) in my area. If the priest/Eucharistic Ministers know your situation, they are more likely to accommodate you with receiving under one species. There is an extremely low gluten host that can be used, but some people can not tolerate that either. Some can take just a tiny piece of the host. If you are Catholic, you are NOT receiving Jesus in the Episcopalian Church. There was a split and they don't have the true priesthood when they decided to change how their priests were ordained. Orthodox and Byzantine still have the same sacraments. I encourage you to look it up and come back home! We miss you!
This makes me so sad, Maggi. I know that most RCs do not believe that you are receiving the body of Christ if you take communion in the Episcopal church, but I also know that you would be so welcome to receive it in mine. We do have a gluten-free host option, and as our priests say every week, ALL baptized Christians are welcome.
I would like to comment from a frugal perspective about the whole gluten/dairy free trend. Yes, indeed there are some who cannot tolerate gluten and or dairy but the vast majority of us can and should enjoy these without concern. What a shame that there are so many people that are confused about this because someone decided it is trendy to make it seem healthier to be labeled gluten/dairy free. We can create so many economical and healthy meals with flour and milk and the gluten/dairy free products tend to be so expensive. I just made apple lemon muffins with lots of milk, eggs, and flour. I think they will be a nutritious breakfast treat. I made 3 loaves of ww bread yesterday that will make lots of wonderful sandwiches and French toast. Yes, I do think it is worth trying this diet if it might solve health issues but not because we have been brainwashed into thinking it is a superior way of eating.
Yes, those food marketing machines are smart and really know what they're doing.
In response to the wheat/sugar question: I am not familiar with the contemporary discussion of biblical consumption of wheat. I think of offerings and firstfruits. I think also of the entire book of Ruth, predicated on Boaz allowing Ruth to glean for herself and Naomi. To me, these don't indicate any concern over wheat. 🙂 If the reader's concern is ethical modern production, the resource I recommend is Ask the Farmers, which is available on facebook and at askthefarmers.com. Feel free to read or ask. We love to talk agriculture because we love agriculture — all agriculture — organic or conventional and everything in between.
Thank you for your comments on home schooling. I know it isn't a good fit for our family, but I am fascinated by the whole process. It is such a different answer to "how to educate" that I think the traditional school process could learn a lot by studying home school families.
I think it is wise to experiment to see if going gluten-free or dairy-free would help your unresolved health problems. All of a sudden almost 4 years ago I was in extreme pain with absolutely no energy (I spent most of my days on the couch which was not cool in any case, but I had a 2-yr-old I was taking care of). I cut out gluten and things got better, but six months later I had to cut out dairy and meat and oats and peanuts. Since then I've gotten steadily better and I've been able to reintroduce butter and kefir (but not other milk products) and some small amounts of meat. I doubt I will ever be able to drink milk again or eat gluten again and when I remember how I felt when I was eating it I'm okay with that. My daughter has been another case--her behavior was horrible, but the longer she's gluten free the better her behavior gets. It doesn't hurt to try, but remember it can take up to 3 months before all the gluten entirely leaves your system (including your brain).
For those with sensitivities to gluten and dairy (or any food, really) often reducing it is helpful even if you don't go to the expense and hassle of eliminating it completely. As for the rebound effect mentioned above, I can only speak for myself but I go by how I feel while I'm NOT eating something, not be how I feel when it's reintroduced. Gluten and dairy-free are definitely 'in' right now, but that doesn't mean it isn't beneficial to some people. Make a decision based on your own body's reaction.
Yes, this exactly. You should decide based on how you feel.
A few years ago (6 or 7 I think) I had a lot of chronic joint pain, digestive issues, seemingly caught every cold and flu going around, felt listless, headachy, etc. celiac/gluten-free was definitely a going concern even then and so I decided to try and resolve things by going GF.
And it did... Nothing. Caused me a lot of frustration though!
In the end, it turns out that I have rheumatoid arthritis. All of the above symptoms cleared up once I got that under control.
I can't help you with the religious aspects of going gluten-free, but I. Would suggest that, if you're really concerned, you make the effort to get tested for both celiac and a whole range of other autoimmune diseases.
I've had digestive problems for 20 odd years that I'd only linked to my women's health problems, but a couple of years ago I realized that some of them had a more specific cause - milk.
I stopped drinking milk that week, and stopped eating yoghurt as well when I realized it was giving me the same symptoms, and I haven't felt as well for ages.
I want to point out a different aspect to the whole GF thing---wheat is actually one of the eight major allergens and is mandated by the FDA to be posted on a label as "contains/may contain." I'm 27 and only a year ago I found out that I had a wheat allergy (so I can still have barley and rye and such) and it developed probably when I was 25, otherwise I had no issues when I was younger. My real point is that: yes, I agree with everyone else to do what feels best for YOU, but also don't discount how your body feels. I'm a great believer that your body knows what it does/does not need, and it will send you the signals if only you can figure out what it's telling you. I knew in my heart that I was having regular allergic reactions when I was eating, but it was difficult and confusing to figure it out. Talk to a professional and they can help 😀
Also! Gluten is one of those strange things that our bodies can be severely addicted to and can go through withdrawal symptoms when you cut it completely out. Some people don't experience this, but some people can have intense reactions while their body is detoxifying. Just a note in case you do decide to cut it out and start having sudden mood swings lol.
I'm wondering how much of the sensitivity to gluten is actually caused by the intersection of wheat pre-harvested with Roundup. So many people who do not test positive for celiac desease still find that their health improves if they cut out gluten. And the percentage of people keeps rising. The following article explores the issue:
http://www.thehealthyhomeeconomist.com/real-reason-for-toxic-wheat-its-not-gluten/
Other articles claim that most farms do not practice roundup preharvesting. I don't know what the answer is, but I've decided to look for some organic flour and start making my own bread of all kinds to see if that helps my health issues.
Interesting. I also have wondered if part of the reason some people feel better when they cut out gluten is that when you go gluten-free, you end up eating a lot less in the way of processed foods (it's hard to find junk food that has no gluten!) So at least for some people, it could just be a result of eating a healthier, less-processed diet.
Yes! While I do think that there are people with a true sensitivity to gluten (as well as celiac disease), I oftentimes wonder if the health benefits that some feel are just related to eating better!
It's getting easier and easier to find junk food that is GF, as agribusiness figures out how to take advantage of this latest fad.
This is true. Kind of like when the low-carb craze happened...you could buy a low-carb donut from Krispy Kreme, I remember!
Yes, that is very interesting. Although, to be honest, I just don't trust much of the the healthy home economist says. She's also a super anti-vaxxer too. :/
Did I miss a reference to the healthy home economist somewhere?
Well, the above link that Diann mentions. But, I'll take back my snarky comment for the sake of staying on topic and not starting a whole thing. 🙂
Oh, oh! Somehow I didn't notice that that was the name of the site the article came from. Duh.
Here's what Snopes said about the article: http://www.snopes.com/food/tainted/roundupwheat.asp
I wish that a lot of the health sites were a little less alarmist and more fact-based. Sometimes they're kind of like, "You want to know a dark, dirty secret? The industry dips your pillow in CYANIDE before they sell it to you. Unless you make your own pillow from things you grow in your backyard, you will DIE."
(I made that up. It is not a direct quote from any blog. 😉 )
Oh, jeez, I didn't know that about pillows! Great, one more thing I need to stress about!!! ha, jk.
The internet can be a dangerous place for that. Every voice - even the "off the deep end" ones - has an equal platform, you know. Point being I guess - I'm not against the GF movement, but you're right in that you really need to decide for yourself, with the help of medical professionals when needed, what's best.
There's no drenching. I promise.
Reference (with real references, listed at the end): http://www.askthefarmers.com/wheat-farmers-response-to-toxic-wheat/
thanks for the link! This Sarah Pope lady sounds dangerous. 🙁
I am a registered dietitian and I had just had to comment. I LOVE your response to the gluten and dairy free question. The more I practice (going on my 11th year), the more I know that there isn't a right diet that works for everyone. What diet works best is an individual one based on many factors: health conditions, family disease history, food sensitivities, budget, etc.
It's a shame that more people don't see registered dieticians for guidance on their diets. Going to a physician is a good first step, and I think it would be wise of this person with gluten concerns to schedule a doctor appointment instead of relying on "internet wisdom". If the physician can rule out other factors causing the headaches, then it seems to me that seeing a dietician would be a good step to take. As a health professional, I have listened to many conversations from people who take advice from an unqualified person (either a friend or via internet) instead of going to someone who has the educational background as well as experience to give them guidance. There is a lot of misinformation out there--the professional can save you time, energy, and money in figuring out your problem. There, now I'll get off my soapbox!
I miss your homeschooling posts! Keep them coming!
My sister is a doctor and she believes many people feel better when avoiding gluten not because of the gluten but because of the kinds of foods gluten is usually found in. For instance, you go gluten free and stop eating cereal and pop tarts and pancakes for breakfast, you don't have bread and pasta for lunch and dinner, and you avoid a lot of deserts. You don't eat fast food a lot, because most of it is full of gluten products.
In other words, going gluten free really ends up being more reducing your intake of carbs and sugar, which will help anyway feel healthier. If avoiding gluten products helps you do that, go for it!
If your insurance will cover it, asking the doctor to perform some routine blood work on you can really help you figure out what you're missing from your diet. I suffered from painful headaches for years but it was only when I was pregnant (and got bloodwork done) that I found I have low hemoglobin levels, low B vitamin levels, and highish blood sugar. I now eat a lot more meat, avoid sweets, and take a B vitamin supplement and I feel so so SO much better.
Side note, headaches can also be caused by sinus pressure, even if you don't have any other symptoms of allergies.
Great answer to the dairy/ wheat question. We moderate our dairy because we feel better with less. We do nut, soy and coconut milk but still do cheeses. I can't handle ice cream very well. I think it is all a matter of what works best for your body!
We homeschool much like you (son is in 10th grade). We look at what we need to cover for the year and then divide that into quarters and know what we have to finish each 9 weeks. This is fluid in that if he is struggling with something in Geometry, we may go back and revisit 2 or 3 lessons...then start again where we left off. His history is broken down into a daily lesson (weekly topics) in the curriculum we use. So, he knows each day that he must do a math lesson, a history lesson, and his reading/language arts is written out as part of his history lessons (reading a novel that lines up with what he is studying in history or writing a paper based on that week's history). He also has a Bible class that is written in as part of his History lessons in the curriculum that tells him what to cover each day. Chemistry chapters are allowed 2 weeks each. We still do grammar/writing so that is something that I do write out each week of what he needs to complete in a daily planner. I also write out his other stuff (chemistry lab experiments/home ec stuff, etc).
I'm mostly agreeing with what everyone else has said WRT gluten, but it's important enough that I'm going to risk the repetition!
I've been GF for almost 6 years, and while it's been a godsend health-wise, I really wish I'd talked with a doctor first. You can't get tested for Celiac disease unless you're currently eating gluten (and have been eating it regularly for at least 3+ weeks), so it's a really good idea to explore that now. Plus, there are often different health issues that are affected by things like gluten and dairy that are improved when you go off of them, but which don't get fully resolved - things like certain thyroid conditions, for example.
Diet can have a huge impact on how you feel, and I hope that you find an approach that works well for you! But before you take on the headache of going fully gluten- or dairy- free, I'd definitely recommend checking more things out on the medical front ahead of time.
I'm curious to know how much time you spend with homeschooling four children (or others out there!) I know I have read that starting out in kindergarten it only takes a couple of hours to homeschool, but once you've got four, and they're older? How much time do you need to devote to your day? Thanks in advance, anyone who would care to respond!
Well, it's a little hard to say for sure, because it mixes in with other life stuff. I mean, I could say we start school at 9:00 and are usually done by early afternoon, but lunch is mixed in there, and I did laundry, and some dinner prep, made some phone calls, responded to blog comments, and so on.
And then there are days with more interruptions or appointments too.
Another variable is how hard a math lesson is. If Joshua gets stuck on something in algebra (he's in Algebra II), then it might take me a while to figure it out and help him understand it, whereas if he understands everything in a day's lesson, algebra could require very little of my time.
It would be interesting to keep a time diary of exactly how many hours I spend on school!
I had chronic gut and female problems for many years, and cutting out gluten helped improve the situation (I do not have celiac disease). As many people have stated, it depends on your body and what it needs. I actually went a lot farther than just cutting out gluten - I went on the GAPS diet for two years, and now follow a modified version of that. I can tolerate a small amount of gluten occasionally, but if I eat it too frequently, I have persistent joint pain.
I have one sister who has had problems with wheat/gluten for years, and has cut it out and feels better (her husband, coincidentally, has celiac disease). My other sister (her twin) has no problems with wheat. I think it has to do with your individual constitution, and possibly genetics to some extent as well.
I try to be gluten and dairy free and to limit sugar. My doctors have said if it makes me feel better, then they aren't about to tell me to change. I think food sensitivities and intolerances can be hard to diagnose with testing, but I could be wrong. I agree with everyone that everyone's body is different and many factors are involved in one's health.
As for homeschooling, ours seems similar to Kristen's, though we don't use curriculum for half of our subjects. I try to cover world history in addition to U.S. history. My child usually doesn't know what we will be covering ahead of time. If he asks I will tell him. It is usually just whatever is covered next in the curriculum we are using.
With the poor quality of our schools in this community, homeschooling is becoming more and more popular here, as are private religious schools. I would have been a terrible homeschooler full-time because I'm not patient, but I spent time in evenings and on weekends supplementing public school for my kids as they were growing up. I made sure they saw things, read things, heard things, learned things and experienced things that the public schools were not giving the kids. I realized this would be necessary when I discovered I was the only woman at my work place who had ever seen the Mississippi River or could correctly identify any of the states it bordered. Geography as a subject was barely scratched at our public schools, it turned out. We hung maps at home, started playing games featuring geography, and took road trips. That's just one of the several subjects I supplemented at home.
As for gluten and dairy free, I see some real benefits to it -- when it's needed. That said, I have a relative who went gluten and dairy free because of an internet site which says everyone should avoid gluten and dairy in their diets. She promptly lost the weight she'd been trying in vain to lose and declared it was the way for her to go. Unfortunately, she is now thin to the point of frail looking, has no stamina, has dry, thinning hair, and looks ten years older than her actual age. She refuses to try a different diet or consult a nutritionists, natural or otherwise, and insists it's her hormones that are causing the issues. I can't pretend to diagnose her, but this started when she changed her diet, so I wish she would at least check it out.
On the other hand, I have heard that modern wheat is bred to be higher in gluten than ancient wheat, so it may be causing more sensitivities. That may or may not be true, but I've heard from people who say the ancient wheat types don't upset their systems. My advice is to get reliable information before one goes gluten and dairy free. I don't see a Biblical issue with it; just be sure to use common sense.
I made the choice to go grain free (not just gluten free) 3 years ago and I have had enormous health benefits from doing so. For me, it was absolutely the right choice. And while rebound can be uncomfortable (e.g. when I inadvertently ingest grains), I was VERY sick before eliminating grains and have been very well since doing so. I never want to feel that bad again. The rebound is a good reminder of how great I feel without grains and how terrible with them.
I want to comment on the poster who said it is "expensive" to go gluten free. It's only expensive if you find you need to buy or make substitutes for bread, pasta, and other things made with flour in your diet. Gluten-Free products are very expensive, even if you buy ingredients (e.g. almond, tapioca and rice flours, arrowroot in large quantities, xanthum gum, etc.) to make things from scratch.
I simply don't eat fake bread, pasta, or pastries. Instead of a sandwich, I take a reusable non-plastic container and a fork with things that would have been sandwich fillings for my lunch. I put sauces over steamed zucchini or shredded cabbage, I puree vegetables (a good way to use up scraps) to use in place of breadcrumbs in meatballs or meatloaf, finely chopped cauliflower stands in for rice, eggplant is a great base for tomato sauce and cheese dishes.
While I saved money by making all of the family breads in the years before going grain free, it is far less expensive not to buy bread ingredients or loaves of bread, pasta, cereal, cookies, cakes, and snacky foods. We put the money we save into better quality vegetables, meat and eggs--pastured and organic--and we still come out ahead.
Among other things, grains were causing me to crave foods and be hungry constantly. I have a much smaller appetite without them. I often skip breakfast because I'm not hungry, I eat hearty meals and almost never snack now. In my grain eating days I had to eat nearly every 2 hours because of blood sugar issues which disappeared when I eliminated grains from my diet.
A person with celiac has tighter constraints on where they can eat because ANY gluten exposure can be harmful. I can see how that might become socially isolating because there are so many places a person with celiac can't eat--including other people's homes, the church, etc. That must be very hard.
But that's not the case for every grain-free or gluten-free person. While I prefer to eat at home for economic reasons and because I know what goes into the food I eat at home, I am not socially isolated at all. You can get a salad almost anywhere, and plain meat and veggies many places. I check restaurant menus ahead of time to find what I can eat, or I will call a restaurant to make sure that they will have something for me. I attend a monthly professional meeting with a catered lunch, but that lunch is inevitably pasta or sandwiches. I take the filling out of the sandwich and eat what salad is available, or wait until after the meeting to eat my pre-packed lunch. I always have "emergency rations" for occasions like that.
I take food I know I can eat to potlucks, and I'll eat before a social event if I think they won't serve food I can have. I can always walk around with something on my plate as though I plan to eat it. When we are invited for a meal at someone's home I explain that I don't eat grains and offer to bring a dish to share that compliments the hostess' menu.
I'm not tempted by
I'd like to mention that not all gluten intolerances can be tested. Not only are there gut/intestinal gluten intolerances that act just like celiac (and yet the person can test negative, like a young girl I know), but some people have neurological reactions, like my daughter has. These tests don't necessarily pick up on gluten as the culprit, yet elimination of gluten has worked wonders for her. We never did eat a lot of junk or processed food, but we did eat some, and there is a lot of gluten free (both intentional and coincidental) junk food out there.
Have you looked at Crash Course on YouTube now that you're getting into high school territory?
I was especially thinking about US history in the context of world history, and how they go about covering that in their US History course.
Did we / can we get a citation on what the Bible says about wheat? So we know what "rules" we're talking about? Thanks.
I'm thinking she may just be referring to the casual references in the Bible to people eating wheat. At least, that's my assumption.
Thanks, Kristen. I was wondering what major wheat-related point I might have missed!
I was advised by my doctor NOT to eat gluten free unless told to by a doctor. Gluten free foods are frequently higher and calories and lacking in nutrients. As far as them giving you more energy etc. it's nothing but a myth. Do not eat gluten free if you don't have to and do not feed a gluten free diet to your children.
I don't know that this is necessarily true. There are an awful lot of gluten-containing foods that are high in calories and low in nutrients (doughnuts, cake, cookies, etc.) while many gluten-free foods are low in calories and high in nutrients (produce, for example).
I think one could eat a healthy diet either with or without gluten, but an advantage of going gluten-free is that it immediately takes a lot of junk food off the table.
Yes--there's a big difference between reducing/eliminating gluten grains by eating more produce, fruit, meat, eggs, and dairy, and replacing gluten grains with other grains and not changing anything else about one's diet.