“When was your last period?” she asked her daughter, seeing how her belly protruded.
“Mum, I just ate some bread, give me a break.”
Is one story.
Or there’s me, and I accidentally had some soy sauce in a salad dressing at a restaurant, and only a couple hours later, was sure I was about to give birth.
Yes, gluten, guys.
During my year off from school, I’ve really taken the time to look after myself. My initial motivator was due to my trouble skin. I’ve almost always had unpredictable skin, and as I am nearing 30 (*eep*), I’ve decided enough is enough. No topical creams or fancy face washes have cut it. The problem is obviously on the inside of my body, not on the outside.
Western medicine had no idea what I was after. The doctor put me on an antibiotic (which was exactly what I told her I didn’t want) and sold me an expensive wash. To be fair, the wash is actually really nice, but I wasn’t seeing any results with the combination of treatments. It was time to look for alternative forms of healing. Several people in Winnipeg raved about the results they saw from a naturopath, and it sounded exactly like what I was looking for.
Because this is not a lifestyle or wellbeing blog, I will not go into the treatments and solutions, but I will tell you that one of the first things I did was go off of gluten by her recommendation.
A lot of people hear I went to a naturopath and their initial remarks are almost always, “Oh, yeah, they take everyone off gluten and dairy,” as if that’s a reason naturopaths are quacks, or something. In fact, the opposite is true: it speaks to how many people could benefit from taking these things out of their diet. In fact, there are loads of tweaks people can make in their diet and they will instantly feel better. I believe many individuals just don’t realize how great they can feel, having grown so accustomed to a general state of shittiness. That is the new neutral.
When I went to Arizona,the days were centred around what we were going to eat and where. Thankfully, my friend is a self-proclaimed “eater” – she was the one who was most upset by the fact that we didn’t take the free limo for a ride to get grub after drinking $22,000 champagne in Scottsdale… yeah just read the story. Thankfully also, my friend, her roommate, and all their friends are students of naturopathic medicine. Everything I put in my body that weekend (mezcal and booze aside, ha ha) was organic, gluten free, good for the body and soul. It was so easy, and almost funny, to be surrounded by women who were all ordering gluten free.
So, with that in mind, let’s take a look at all the grub we devoured.
This was a very tasty introduction to the area. Good food, a couple cocktails. Bienvenue. We even slurped back a couple of the anchovies (for the health benefits!).
“Voodoo penne” – gluten free pasta, blackened chicken breast, bell peppers, tomatoes, red onions and Cajun cream
“Salmone nicoise” – haricot vert, white anchovies, Nicoise olives, wild arugula, grape tomatoes, egg, new potatoes, salmon
My friend had me sold on this place because of the twinkly lights. We made a special trip to Phoenix so we could eat the gluten free pizza and sit outside by those twinkly lights. We were so carried away chit-chatting, we almost forgot to say “gluten free” with our order. That could have been disastrous.
The twinkly lights and the wine! What’s not to love?
“Diavola” – tomato sauce, mozzarella and spicy salami & “Capricciosa” – tomato sauce, mozzarella, prosciutto, mushrooms, artichokes and black olives
Saltrock Southwest Kitchen (at the Amara Resort, Sedona)
We stopped for a snack and a couple craft margaritas. Two cute little words – craft and margarita. Together, a world shatteringly delicious combination.
What’ll it be?
“Arugula” – with bacon, boiled egg, avocado, cotija, and peppercorn ranch & “Roasted mini bell pepper” – with chipotle aioli, scallion and sesame… we may or may not have taken the sauce off the plate when the server cleared that dish away so we could dip other things into it
Distrito
We went a little nuts… the food just kept coming.
“Guacamole” – avocado, roasted jalapeno and cotija cheese and warm corn chips
“Mezcal mule” – sombra mezcal, ginger infused agave nectar, lime juice, ginger beer & “Pollo tacos” – chicken ropa vieja, queso fresco, crema, radish… We also shared plantain crusted Mahi Mahi tacos.
Not pictured here – the hangover breakfast at Chompies – and this place has a section in its menu JUST for us gluten free peeps. Made finding and ordering my pancakes pretty straightforward.
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Taking gluten out of my diet has been pretty easy. I haven’t felt like I am missing anything, and it just takes an extra step to think about what I eat – if I’m hungry, I can’t just grab anything; I have to make sure those crackers are gluten free. And it’s always important to read the label because it’s surprising what contains wheat! Also, just because something is gluten free doesn’t mean it is healthy. REALLY make sure you read the label, or you might just be ingesting a bunch of sugar and fat.
I think it goes without saying that going gluten free isn’t for everyone. Talk to a doc if you think this is a change you want to make.
Thankfully, I’m not celiac so I don’t have to watch everything that carefully, and so far, (potential) cross contamination hasn’t bothered me. I have noticed a huge difference with my skin (and gut!) after being gluten free since sometime in September, conveniently after my trip to Washington State where I ate all the gluten, and I really think that glow shows in the photos from Arizona.
Or maybe that’s just the mezcal.
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Have you ever made any changes to your diet for health reasons? How did it affect you while traveling?
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