Me, I ditched junk food (used to do taco bell drive-thru pretty regularly when coming home from work, stopped cold turkey too!). Doing a lot more salads now, I'm so happy that I'm developing a taste for healthy foods!
* Try a gluten test if you have had exposure recently enough to do it. It’s good to know.
* A sizeable chunk of people who have trouble with gluten may actually have trouble with fodmaps. They’re in everything wheat except sourdough bread.
Why does this matter? In the case of celiac you can’t have a crumb. In the case of fodmap trouble you can’t have a bunch of wheat, but a trace amount won’t hurt you.
I now have found gluten not to be an issue, and was able to identify a bunch of food triggers due to them being in the fodmap family. It’s made life simpler in that I know for sure I don’t have to worry about exposure, and can have moderate fodmaps as well.
Fodmaps are hard to get a handle on. There are good apps where you can quickly look up things you eat. Before that I never managed to try fodmap elimination because it was too complicated.
Note that I am not saying you, OP, don’t have a gluten problem. But there will be many people reading your post, who have digestive discomfort and other issues but nothing life threatening. To those people I would strongly recommend a gluten test before you quit, and check fodmaps if you test negative.
I had a wide variety of digestive symptoms that are similar to some celiac symptoms, but that was not the cause. And gluten being nearly all high fodmap makes for possible confounding.
(Fodmaps are mostly in carbs, so a low carb diet can also be a fodmap reduction diet)
Why is that? The only difference between sourdough bread and non-sourdough bread is yeast vs starter (and some people still use yeast in addition to their starter).
But the difference is a world apart.
The best example is rye bread, which won't develop a crumb without sour dough.
Concerning the fodmaps, it is the usually longer fermentation that reduces those.
True wheat sourdough is hard to find too. Most bakeries put in yeast and label it sourdough.
It has been noticed by many people who think they're gluten intolerant that they digest sourdough bread much better. The likelyhood that this is linked to the changes incurred by the fermentation process is high, since, as you said, that's the only difference.
Sourdough is a mixture of yeasts, lactobacter, and acidophilus in various proportions. The latter two will metabolize the FODMAPS, either while proving the bread or in your gut. One of those choices can cause discomfort and the other a delicious food product.
Commercial yeast vs. starter [naturally occurring yeast, flour, and water]
> The lactic acid produced by the lactobacilli gives it a more sour taste and improved keeping qualities.
I did realise your main point is that it does include yeast, and I agree with that.
Still drink wine every dinner and smoke a cigar everyday :)
I have started to really enjoy cider. There are some good ones from small makers. Golden State Cider makes some nice ones. All the big company ones (American) are crap full of sugar.
I've not much to add other than to say I'm very happy for you - it's hard to comprehend what a torment it is to have deal with conditions like that on a daily basis.
Turns out it was some sort of allergy resulting in Eosinophilic esophagitis. Now that they are medication, most all of the symptoms have dissipated.
If you are experiencing throat issues related to gluten (or other things in the exclusion diet) it may be worth getting checked out.
What were you eating before and what are you eating now?
We used to cook I would say 5/6 dinner meals a week but it’s strictly 7 now. Not too much change there, not intentional anyways. Maybe less snacking too but the only big intentional change has been the eating out.
That applies to food. It applies to reading, watching, and listening. It applies to your environment (e.g., friends).
The pandemic is a wakeup call. Let's hope - in some regards - we never go back to normal. The data is clear, that old normal (i.e., preventable preexisting conditions) played a key role in getting us here.
It doesn't help that the narrative continues to focus on the healthcare system. Yes, it can be improved. But supply is limited. We keep increasing demand. And expect prices to fall? That's not the way it works.
I also noticed that it's important to involve smokers around you so that they don't offer you cigarettes. I also noticed a type of smokers who try to get me back to smoking. I found that doing stuff like destroying their cigarette pack when they try to have you get one with insistance was the best way to stop that.
Smoking is bad, don't even smoke or start vaping young people, you'll always regret it.
I made a conscious choice as Coronavirus was just getting its shoes on to completely stop drinking alcohol. I haven't felt this great in ages and intend to teetotal beyond the crisis.
The occasional dinner out with drinkers since some of the restrictions were eased has not been a problem and - company depending - as enjoyable as usual. I'll probably skip the pub socials when they reopen but dinners, lunches, and sports seem fine. Next stop: more exercise!
From there it can be contagious, with others questioning themselves drinking, or at least drinking less.
What's very annoying is the social pressure: feeling compelled to say something, anything, when somebody say they won't have that drink in a social gathering. Just shut the hell up! (Saying that to myself too!)
One cultural difference between Germany and the states is, that drunk-driving is much more actively shunned so its more acceptable to not drink.
They're annoyed because that would be like asking people to eat raw sugar to stop drinking Coca Cola, but I'm not yet stopping my cigarets :D
Nicotine itself is a mixed bag, it is addictive, but it seems to have some neuroprotective qualities.
I've never lifted weights before but the kettlebell sounds appealing because it's supposed to be "functional strength", not overworking a single muscle like big gym machines can.
You can also make plates out of concrete, although that also requires more room than dumbbells and for you to already have a barbell.
Already had the weights, though.
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