Over the summer I had some health issues happening in which I was checked out by a few doctors to diagnose what I was experiencing. The symptoms were awful: headaches, nausea, fatigue, muscle tenderness, joint pain, dizzy spells, eye pressure and even mild hallucinations in a few particularly terrifying episodes. Thankfully I was around my very sweet and kind nurse friend who helped me out.
I decided to go to the doctors, something I do once a year as a standard checkup but very rarely go for anything else. The first doctor I went to tested my iron and B12 levels since it was common for vegans to be low in those essential vitamins and minerals. Nope everything was good in that department. The next time I had a dizzy/hallucination episode I went to the emergency room since I couldn’t stand up without assistance. Samples were taken and this doctor told me that nothing was wrong with me but gave me gout medication and referred me to a neurologist. I said I had no symptoms of gout since I am not an alcoholic nor eat a lot of meat but he was insistent since the lining of my stomach was inflamed. (At the time I knew very little about inflammation.)
Next up, neurologist.
He referred me to get two tests done: an EEG and an MRI. The EEG was strange since they flash an insanely bright light repeatedly in your face for an hour. Felt like a PG-rated Clockwork Orange experience. The MRI was just boring since you have to lay there absolutely perfectly still for 2 hours encased in a noisy dark tube. The nurse placed a towel over my face and immediately upon beginning the test I needed to scratch my nose.
Thankfully both tests came back negative but the symptoms still persisted. I was telling my Herbalist friend about my frustrations and he recommended me to his Naturopathic doctor. I felt a hit of panic of turning into a hippy (I could envision all my friends rolling their eyes at me) but I had done everything else without success so I made an appointment.
I am so glad I did. My N.D. made me fill out an 11-page diagnostic profile prior to my appointment checking off boxes of all the symptoms I was experiencing. The appointment was two hours long, much more time than I had ever been with a regular physician and we reviewed every ache and pain. After some testing, it turns out my body is on fire and my adrenal glands aren’t working as much as they could be.
Inflammation is the cause of my current dilemmas. My blood is too acidic and my gut floral had been ruined by my former addictions of diet drinks, smoking and caffeine pills. When I eat almost anything my stomach goes from normal to 6 months pregnant. Because of this symptom, my N.D. suggested I might have an ongoing food allergy that is causing my organs (brain included) to become inflamed. She suggested an elimination diet so I can determine if I had a food allergy.
Common food allergies include: gluten, eggs, dairy, soy and sulphites. Thankfully I don’t eat half of those things so they were easy to cross off the list but the others were a hard hit. After reading my food journal she decided I should eliminate gluten first since I seem to eat a lot more of it than I thought. One particularly embarrassing entry was a day where I ate nothing but a bagel with peanut butter and a slice of vegan pizza.
This was tragic news to me since gluten is my favourite food! Ok not really but I love things made with gluten, crusty bread especially. So for the next 6 weeks (including Christmas) Sprouts & Chocolate will be going gluten-free! If I turn into a raging monster please forgive me.
I thought I would start with dessert since I was worried about not being able to enjoy some of my favs but this crisp is just as delicious as any that uses regular flour or butter in their topping. Lucky for me, my favourite ice cream is also gluten-free which is a perfect topping for this Chai-spiced Fall favourite, though now it is looking like Winter here is Toronto.
Have any readers had symptoms that were unexplained by a normal physician to find out later that it was a food allergy?
- 1 cup gluten-free rolled oats
- 1/3 cup almond meal
- ¼ cup sorghum flour (Bob Mill’s is certified gluten-free)
- ¼ cup slivered almonds
- ¼ cup coconut oil, melted + more for greasing the pan
- 3 tablespoons organic granulated cane sugar
- 1 tablespoon organic corn meal (optional)*
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon ground ginger
- Pinch of ground cloves
- Pinch of ground cardamom
- Pinch of fine grain sea salt
- 2 medium green apples
- 2 ripe (not overly ripe) D'anjou pears **
- 1 tablespoon arrowroot powder
- 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
- ¼ cup organic granulated cane sugar
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon ground ginger
- Pinch of ground cloves
- Pinch of ground cardamom
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees and lightly grease a 9x9-baking dish (I used my Pyrex baking dish). Set aside.
- Peel and core the apples and pears. Quarter the fruit and cut into large chunks. Toss the fruit in a large bowl with the arrowroot powder until all the fruit is covered. Stir in the rest of the filling ingredients. Transfer the spiced fruit to the prepared baking dish.
- In the now empty large bowl, stir together all the ingredients except for the oil. Stir until combined. Add the oil and coat the mixture. Evenly pour the topping mixture onto the filling.
- Cover the baking dish with foil and poke a few holes into the foil for steam to escape. Bake for 30-40 minutes until the fruit is tender (test with a fork, not a knife).
- Uncover the crumble and bake for 10 more minutes until the topping is golden brown.
- Serve with Luna & Larry’s Organic Coconut Bliss: Vanilla Island*** and a cup of chai tea.
- *The corn meal is optional but adds a mega-crunch factor to the topping
- ** The pears should be greener because as they ripen they turn more greenish-yellow. They will turn mushy in the crisp if they are too ripe.
- *** The ice cream is gluten-free too.
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