Tasty Foods: Zucchini Hummus

I'm tempted to run upstairs and whip up a batch of zucchini hummus just so I can take some photos for this post, but I'm out of avocados and there are no grocery stores open after 10 PM in SOMA (don't get me started on the EBAY Now ads that make ZERO sense to me.  Who goes to the park, thinks they are starting to burn and orders sun screen for delivery in about an hour????? By the time your sun screen arrives you WILL have a sunburn, I'm sorry to say.). 

Rod and Judy were awesome enough to share the recipe they served for zucchini hummus when we went over for dinner at their place the first time. I have to say, I like it more than "standard" hummus, and I really like hummus. 

Zucchini hummus is amazingly light and doesn't have the same heaviness that a bean based hummus has (though I guess you may be okay with that fullness). It's raw, it's vegan and it's delicious.  

I made two batches for our wedding. Originally I was going to make a double batch using the recipe from ibreatheimhungry, which is pretty darn delicious on it's own. It was the morning before the wedding and I had a couple of avocados that needed to be used so I decided to throw them in the mix.  

Zucchini hummus + Avocados = AMAZING!  

The original recipe is as follows.  I made it the first few times using my Ninja and it took a while to really break everything down and get it smooth.  We got a BlendTec (of Will it Blend? fame) and it made short work of the hummus (about 45 seconds).  Play with what you've got to find out how awesome this recipe is.  

It's amazing as a dip but I've also discovered how rad it goes with just about everything. Top a steak with it. Top a chicken breast with it.  Breakfast sausage?  It's delicious. 

ORIGINAL LOW CARB HUMMUS (from ibreatheimhungry.com)

Ingredients:

4 cups peeled & chopped raw zucchini

3/4 cups tahini (sesame paste)

1/2 cup fresh lemon juice

1/4 cup olive oil

4 cloves of garlic, peeled

2 teaspoons kosher salt (or to taste)

1 Tbl ground cumin

Combine all ingredients in a blender and puree until thick and smooth.  Taste and adjust seasonings to your preference.  Pour into a shallow bowl and garnish with parsley, paprika and a drizzle of olive oil if desired.  

My modified version of this recipe swaps out the 1/4 cup of olive oil for 2 avocados.  The remaining ingredients remain the same as do the instructions.  
 
This was one of the first non-AIP foods I tried eating and it appears I can tolerate seeds (sesame paste), which made me really happy.  Cumin is technically not AIP friendly, but I was going a bit nuts and just wanted "regular" food. I haven't had any sort of noticeable reaction to this recipe, so it's in regular rotation. 
 
Speaking of AIP, I think I need to get back to being super serious about it. For days now, my sinuses have been swollen (they feel like they "pop") and I've had terrible headaches. I'm not sure if it's the pressure changes due to the rain or what, but I'm pretty miserable. Loosening up made getting through the wedding a bit easier, but I really need to isolate foods to find out what is tolerable and what is not (the sunbutter cookies I came up with last week were amazing. Hopefully they weren't the issue). 

Back to the Basics

After four months, I thought it was about time to start reintroducing foods. I had pretty successfully ended my runny nose, congestion and sneezing and it had been a while since those symptoms had been present. I also lost 30 pounds since the beginning of the year.  

Also, the wedding is rapidly approaching and I wanted to be able to have a few less restrictions on what I can eat by then.  (No eggs and no nuts makes it hard to make a good cupcake.)

A couple of weeks ago, we had some wonderful fresh eggs (from my aunt's chickens and from Ray and Rebecca's chickens). I didn't really notice any issues after eating those delicious eggs. (I'm not sure if you've ever done a side by side comparison of pastured hen eggs and grocery store eggs, but the difference in color is AMAZING.)

Last weekend, we went to dinner at a friend's house and they were gracious enough to try to accommodate my dietary restrictions (The whole meal was amazing). Rod and Judy bought an assortment of raw goat and cow milk cheeses and raw cream to make whipped cream for dessert.  

That was the first time I had dairy other than butter since November. OMG! It was divine. I did not have any noticeable reaction to the cheese or cream, which gives me hope!  

They also made an amazing hummus from zucchini (I'm still not eating legumes) and tahini.  It was AWESOME. I have some zucchini in the fridge now. I just need a bit of down time to make it! 

I wanted to do some baking to see if I could at least work out some combination of coconut flour/tapioca flour cupcakes since I haven't reintroduced nuts (I usually use almond flour for cupcakes), so I picked up some organic eggs at Costco the other day. 

I was excited at the prospect of bacon and eggs for breakfast.  That did not work out so well.  

I have been sneezy and runny nosed (and have had terrible sinus pressure) for several days now. The only difference in anything has been the eggs.  

Time to reset.  No eggs until my symptoms go away again and then try to get some eggs from Ray (or some other pastured eggs).  

Its amazing how much food effects us. It's also amazing how much food effects our food.  

It's also amazing how long it took for me to realize that the way I felt was not normal, even though it was normal for me (at least adult life normal for me).  I never had allergies as a kid.  I hit my 20's and fell apart.  I was discussing this with my chiropractor and a lot of it started after developing an allergy to latex as an EMT. It was an interesting correlation, but I also look back at several other factors that may have played a part. 

I was on low dose antibiotics for years as a teenager to try to clear up my acne.  It didn't help my acne very much, but that whole time it WAS killing off all of my good bacteria in my gut. Then I was switched to the pill to help with my acne. Again, messing with my gut.  I also have been on and off of NSAIDS and various anti-inflammatory medications since about the age of 20. 

All of those things can destroy your gut, resulting in permeability of the intestines, which allows microscopic food particles into the bloodstream.  Those microscopic particles are seen as invaders and your body tries to fight them off.  The end result - a variety of symptoms that include allergic reactions and inflammation.  

While my diet has been a pain in the ass, I can see marked differences in how I feel.  A big part of healing is to remove the "offending foods" (which may seem like EVERYTHING at first) and getting a good amount of bone broth (which soothes and heals the gut lining) and ferments (living food - kombucha, sauerkraut, fermented veggies) to rebuild.  

Some people say they've reversed their food allergies through these changes and can now enjoy most foods they thought they would never be able to again.  I haven't reached that point, but I have changed how I feel. 

It's a Miracle

I know I had been frustrated with the whole elimination diet thing.  I wanted to give up more than a few times.

Well, I just have to say I'm glad I didn't.

I made it through today without sneezing more than a couple of times.  I made it through today only blowing my nose once or twice (not including my netti pot time, as my nasal passages feel so dry now that they are not running like a faucet).

In fact, after I started thinking about it, I've made it through the last few days without sneezing or a runny/stuffy nose.  After the effects of the miso soup faded (which took about 3 days), I've been pretty allergy symptom free for an entire weekend.

I know that sounds like a weird thing to be excited about, but considering the last 10 years of my life have been filled with nasal misery (at times going through 2-3 boxes of tissues a week and sneezing so uncontrollably that I would have to pull my car off the road), 3 days of minimal sneezing (maybe 3-5 times in a day) and a scant handful of nose blows (maybe 2-3) is a miracle.

I am going to wait a couple of weeks to see how long this lasts (or if it was just a fluke) before I attempt to start adding foods back into my diet.  There are somethings I find I don't really miss as much as I thought I would (nightshades) and others I can't wait to add back (eggs and nuts).

It will be a SLOW process trying to add things back in.  I plan to try a food and wait 72 hours to evaluate how I feel.  If all seems to be good, I will try that food item in small quantities for a week to see if that changes any sort of reaction.  If no reaction is present, I will wait an additional week to add the next food.

Let's use an egg as our example.

I try a single yolk (the least allergenic part of the egg) on 2/25.  I will observe how my body reacts until 2/27.  If all seems good, I will then eat a yolk a day until 3/6.  If that seems to be working for me, I will wait until 3/13 to add a new food while continuing to keep to 1 yolk a day.

It really seems like more work than I really want to do, but I have to say that not sneezing and not having a constantly runny/stuffy nose feels AWESOME!

I still have the feeling of some sinus pressure though and I would love to have my sinuses adjusted sometime in the near future.  I've taken some time away from the adjustment process to know if my diet is really helping my allergies or if the adjustments were a part of  the reduction as well.

Where are you hiding now?

Okay, it's been a few days now since the soy and I am STILL all nasally and gross.  The day after having the miso soup, I swear I felt like I had been hit by a truck.

It's good to know though.

I was aware that unfermented soy was a bad deal, though I bought into the health benefits of soy in all states when I was younger. I've learned the importance of fermenting for any number of foods we eat, be it soy, wheat, veggies, etc. 

Fermenting helps neutralize anti-nutrients that make foods difficult for us to digest.  If you  eat grains, make sure you soak or ferment those grains.  If you're going to eat soy, make sure it is fermented soy such as tempeh, miso, natto or traditionally made soy sauce.  

One of the biggest downfalls of soy (at least here in the US) is that most of our soybeans are GMO.  I personally don't know the long term effects of eating GMO foods, and don't care to be a part of some grand experiment.  

Unfortunately soy is hidden in a great number of processed foods even when they are considered natural or health food using names that may or may not indicate they have soy in them. Especially when switching to gluten free, soy seems to be an additive that is in EVERYTHING.  Here are a few that may contain soy but are entirely ambiguous (I pretty much avoid these due to the possibility of containing wheat as well): 

Artificial flavoring 

Asian foods (e.g. Japanese, Chinese, Thai, etc.)

Hydrolyzed plant protein 
Hydrolyzed vegetable protein (HVP) 
Natural flavoring 
Vegetable broth 
Vegetable gum 
Vegetable starch 

I never really gave much though to the idea that soy was part of my allergy issue.  I had started cutting it out for other reasons but wasn't really diligent about the ambiguous soy sneaking in until I went on an elimination diet.  

After about 7 weeks of no soy at all, I figured trying miso, which is properly fermented wouldn't hurt.  It did and now I know to avoid soy.  It eliminates a lot of things such as chocolates (most commercial chocolates are made with soy lecithin), but hey, not having my face feel like it will explode or my sinuses make a weird popping noise is not a bad trade off.  

Kids with Food Allergies is a pretty comprehensive resource for food allergens and possibly ambiguous allergen additives.  

I honestly think if you don't feel as well as you think you could, AIP (autoimmune paleo) or GAPS (gut and psychology syndrome) or SCD (specific carbohydrate diet) can really help you see how what you eat effects you over all.  

Even though I haven't fully been able to ditch my nasal allergies, I have to say that I feel better than I can really ever remember.  

What the SMELL?

I have to say that doing AIP doesn't seem to be eliminating whatever is causing my sneezing and nasal congestion.  Which is really disappointing.  I miss a LOT of foods.  But I'm sticking it out.  I started on January 6.  It is now January 31.  For the most part I've made it 25 days (I did have a couple slip ups Sushi and Manhattan Chowder).

My sneezing is less than it was when I started (this is a REALLY HARD thing to quantify), but with the deprivation I feel (it's all psychological - I don't like being told I can't have/do something) I had really hoped for better results.

On the up side, I was down close to 10 pounds the last time I weighed myself (almost 2 weeks ago, which was 2 weeks into it).  I pretty much only weigh myself when I go visit my mom, so I have no idea what my current weight is.  I can tell you my jeans are considerably looser than when I started this.

The other night all I could smell was the Dial hand soap from our bathroom after Justin had washed his hands.  There are a lot of smells that once they hit my nose, they don't go away.  I can taste them. Every breath I take is tainted by these smells.  They linger no matter how long it has been since I was exposed to them.  Dial soap happens to be one of them.  (I think the list could go on for days, but one of the worst offenders are the garbage sold by Victoria's Secret as fragrance)

An idea struck me as we were sitting on the couch.  Maybe I could replace that smell with another!?  I ran downstairs to my drawers of essential oils (for my witchery as Justin calls it), grabbed the peppermint oil and started sniffing it.  Never mind that I felt like a junior high kid sniffing markers or glue.  My nose had just started the sneeze tickle as I was in the process of doing this.  After a few strong inhalations, I felt the spasms  that I was on the verge of subside.  While I didn't have a lingering scent of peppermint stuck in my nose, I no longer had the Dial stuck there.

Is it possible to "reset" my sense of smell?   Really, scents have caused me to feel overloaded and overstimulated for years.  I despise most things scented (natural occurring scents tend to be okay in moderation) because the overwhelming smell and resulting taste are unbearable).

I've been testing this "reset" idea for the last few days.  When I can feel the "tickle" or spasms creeping up on me, I inhale a few times with the bottle of peppermint essential oil right below my nose.  It doesn't work 100% of the time, but it seems to cut down on the frequency and severity of my sneezing attacks.  Again, it's super hard to quantify unless I start counting the number of times I sneeze each day.

My next question to resolve in this "reset" idea is the scent itself.  Is there a specific scent that is going to work?  Is it just any scent that is more pure and not artificial?  I started Sunday night with peppermint (it was the first bottle in my drawer).  Would Tangerine work?  Thyme?  Cypress? Clove?

I plan to switch it up to and test other oils.

Another question is will I become dependent upon a scent in order to control my sneezing?  Will I have to "wean" myself off of this method?

Does this all mean that my sneezing is purely psychological in nature?  Perhaps it is a neurological dysfunction?

I don't know.  All I know is that I can't wait to add foods back into my diet.  I really miss eggs, nuts and chocolate.

Apples and Alpine Mail

I woke up this morning stuffed up, sneezing and my nose running (I know it sounds weird to be stuffed up and running like a faucet at the same time, but that's how my nose chooses to behave some days).

I've been doing AIP for 21 days now with 2 set backs (the sushi and Manhattan style GF chowder last weekend and I had a single cocktail on Friday night when Justin and I went to dinner).  For the most part, I've been doing pretty good.  Blowing my nose only once or twice in the mornings or actually even waking up clear headed.

Well this morning was the suck! I had a mound of tissues next to me and my nose didn't stop running until I had been out of bed for 2 hours.  I tried really hard to enjoy a Sunday morning in bed with Pi and Justin (Pi was trying to "help" me read 1984 by turning the page on my Kindle.  Not very helpful.)

I can't think of anything out of the ordinary I had yesterday, other than apples.  I haven't had an apple in a while.  I really wanted something dessert-y.  I had some AMAZING toasted coconut sorbet at LuLu on Friday, which really made me want dessert.  (By the way, the food there is amazing. I had Flat Iron Steak with mashed sweet potatoes and chard with bacon).  I had a couple of granny smith apples in the kitchen and made some tasty baked apples last night.

I totally didn't think to photograph the apples, but the recipe was simple.  
3 Granny Smith Apples, sliced
2 Tablespoons Honey
1 Cup shredded coconut
1 Tablespoon Cinnamon
1 Teaspoon Cloves
1 Teaspoon Nutmeg
1 Tablespoon Melted Nutiva Organic Coconut Oil Extra-Virgin 29 oz. 218566 (Google Affiliate Ad)

Mix all ingredients together.  Bake at 400 until apples are soft and coconut is toasted.

Well, I wasn't really thinking about the fact that Nutmeg isn't AIP (This angers me - I love nutmeg).  If it was nutmeg that made me all sneezy, I might cry.  It could have been dust as well.  We're cleaning and reorganizing the Gnomery and the HEPA filter has apparently been doing it's job.  The back intake was covered with dust bunnies.  Which then got on the bed.  We did our best to brush them off.

One of the more exciting (well, exciting for me anyway) was getting my Brown Bag Company Alpine Mail Bag.

I saw this bag at Cole Fox Hardware and immediately wanted it.  I've been waiting for weeks to see if I still wanted it.  Well, I did.  I have been looking for the perfect messenger style bag for ages.  I had a laptop bag that was cute, but my laptop barely fit in it.  I started looking at canvas/nylon messenger bags (think Timbuk2).  Well, they are $100 + and I've never had anything canvas/nylon last longer than a few years.  Plus, I was sort of disheartened at their "designed in SF, made with pride world wide" spin for "Made In China".

Well, the Alpine Mail Bag is made in Incline Village (Tahoe) from American leather (Milwaukee).  Apparently this company makes made to last tool bags.  This bag appears to be made to last as well!  It's heavy duty leather with quality stitching and brass fittings.  It has two compartments (one zippered and a main compartment divided into 2) with two pen holders and a business card holder.  It does not have a billion places to lose something in (I've had purses with so many pockets I could lose things for years in them.  Wallets too for that matter.).  I have a 17" laptop which barely fit into laptop bags designed for a 17" laptop.  Well, it fits wonderfully in this bag with room to spare.  It's more than enough for my commute to work on train days AND it fits my rain boots in it!

I'm excited to finally have a well made bag!  

Weekend Cheat

I've made it through about 2 weeks of the AIP diet.  I've had a couple of set backs, but I won't let those deter me.

I made it through 12 days without any cheats.  Until I went shopping for my wedding dress.  I went back home to look for a dress with my mom (and found the perfect one at the first store!).  After looking for my dress, my mom and I were starving.  Old Town Grill was the first option (they used to have Emu burgers, which were awesome!), but I was feeling a bit burned out on bunless burgers.

I love sushi a lot, so my mom and I went to Amerikan Ichi.  I was going to go for sashimi to stick to the plan, but I couldn't really pass up all you can eat sushi!  Oh sweet saba! So I ate rice.  Quite a bit of rice.  It was super delicious.  I stuck to only nigiri, not that that makes a huge difference when I'm not supposed to be eating rice.

I was pretty phlegmy the next morning and sneezing more than I have in the last 2 weeks.  I was also achy, but I think that was more due to my spill down the stairs the day before. I was super sore.

We drove to the coast on Sunday to remember my brother.  I made a tasty breakfast of kale and GF sausage before we hit the road.  I stuck to it and had a couple of sausages as a snack, but was still starving.  We stopped in the tiny town of Bodega, where they have crab mac n' cheese.  Justin tried it (and it smelled delicious!).  There weren't a lot of options and I was hungrier than a small piece of smoked salmon would have taken care of.  The store had an amazing number of gluten free items (so surprising), even their chowders were gluten free.  They had several options.  I would have loved to have had a traditional chowder, but sort of figured that dairy and nightshades would have been worse than just the nightshades in the manhattan style.  It was super tasty!

But I've been sort of congested and runny nosed for the last 2 days.

I'm not giving up yet, though.  Several of the real food bloggers out there claim to have reversed food allergies by following an elimination diet.  Hoping it can happen!

On the up side of this diet, I'm down 8 pounds in 2 weeks.  I'm down 24 pounds since moving last August.  Even though I was making tasty treats throughout the fall, the weight was staying off.  I'm not having any treats at the moment though and my starch consumption is way down (no potatoes, which means no fries!).  I do walk more, so I think I'll bust out my pedometer and track it.  I know one or two days a week, I walk to the train and then walk from the train to work (about 2 miles).

Weight loss wasn't really the goal of doing AIP, but I'm almost down to my goal weight.

AIP - Intro/Day 3

Okay, so I found a blog I can't get enough of: The Paleo Mom.  I know I'm not a mom.  I'm not even entirely paleo most of the time.  But if you really want to get down the the how and why of paleo or AIP paleo, this is a good place to go.

I had been toying with the idea of the GAPs diet for a really long time, but couldn't commit.  I hadn't heard of  AIP (auto immune paleo protocol) until a couple of weeks ago.  I don't know why, but the idea of an elimination paleo diet seemed so much easier for me to commit to than GAPS.  I some how stumbled upon an auto immune paleo group on facebook, introducing me to the concept of AIP.

AIP eliminates the following from your diet:
Eggs
Nuts
Seeds
Nightshades
Alcohol
NSAIDS

These are in addition to the already eliminated gluten, grains and dairy.

So what's left you ask?  Good quality meat, fish, veggies, and healthy fats.  Oh and plenty of fermented foods such as sauerkraut and kombucha. Some of my normal seasonings are out (no peppers!) but I've made due so far.  (granted I'm only on day 3)

So to see if this actually works, none of the above for at least 30 days.  I'm also NOT taking my turmeric supplement to see if there is any improvement in the inflammation of my joints if I make additional dietary changes.  Also, no Nasal Specific Technique treatments.  No matter how terrible my sinuses feel during this time.  I need to see if changing my diet really helps.  My nasal allergies are the real reason behind this experiment.

I have to say after three days, my sense of smell seems more acute.  Not sure if the two are connected, but holy crap it seems like every smell is amplified.  I'm not exactly sure when children needed to start reeking of cheap perfume, but they do these days.

I'm keeping my fingers crossed.  Ask anyone who has had a cubicle, desk, office etc., near me in the last 10 years.  Ask my poor Justin.  My nasal allergies aren't just miserable for me, they are miserable for everyone around me.

Oh, I'm also starting a separate blog to share my art and other fun stuff, including 3D printing!!!!!!!

The need for cheese

I have to admit I succumbed to the power of the cheese.

Last night, feeling especially meh and whiney I gave in to the need for cheese.

We ordered a gluten free pizza from Goat Hill Pizza.

I wish I could say the pizza was all I had hoped for and totally worth it, but sadly it wasn't.

Don't get me wrong, the cheese divine.  It was the best part of the pizza.  I don't know if you've had a gluten free pizza (though I make a pretty mean almond flour crust pizza), but the cheese is the best part of a gluten free pizza.  No gluten and no dairy = no more pizza. EVER.

The aftermath of said pizza was a bit of extra nose running, a sinus headache this evening and considerably slower neti pot flow this evening.  Even at the height of my cold over the last 2 weeks (which got me using my neti pot daily), I did not have this much flow reduction.

Which leads me to conclude the no dairy experiment may be permanent.  That thought made the trip down the cheese aisle at Costco this evening terribly sad.  So many cheeses I may never get to know.

I'm not sure what touched my pizza (or if it's my monthly visitor) that caused my intense pain and burning in my left arm today.  It was so bad I WISHED I had ordered a sourdough crust and lived with the pain of eating gluten.

An observation I had made casually over the last few months was that the pain and burning in my left arm seems to increase in the days before my monthly visitor.  I'm going to start keeping notes on pain levels to see if there is any actual connection to the two, but I've noticed that even when I don't eat anything I am not supposed to, I still have an increase in pain symptoms around that time of the month.

Speaking of pain, last week I did not drink enough water after taking my turmeric supplement.  I've been taking turmeric as an anti-inflammatory for most of the year 2012 and it seems to help some and doesn't have the same side effects as Naprosen (which I have been on and off of for almost 15 years now).

Big mistake.  I was heading out the door to take the Pi for a walk and belched.  Unfortunately, the turmeric came back up.  Not just into my mouth, but in my sinuses and out my nose.  Holy crap. So bad.  I ran back in the house and nearly barfed.  After the gagging subsided, I was lucky to have enough time to rinse a large amount of the turmeric out of my sinuses.

Tip of the day: Make sure you take your supplements with at least a full glass of water, if not two.

I'm off to bed to mourn the further loss of cheese.

Still at it

Okay, I'm still at the no dairy thing.  I'm adjusting to it.  I don't have raging cravings for cheese like I thought I would, though there have been a few days that I REALLY wanted a gluten free pizza, but take the cheese away and it's just not worth it.

It has been 23 days since my last sinus adjustment, which was seemingly easier than ever before (I had been dairy free for about 3 weeks prior to that adjustment).  I don't think I'll be able to make it up for another adjustment for at least 2 more weeks though (going to Gunny's 90th (yes, I typed 90th) birthday party.

I hadn't really been using my netti pot with much regularity since I started getting my sinus adjustments (for the sake of science) just to make sure that the effects I was feeling were truly related to the adjustment.  I've used it here and there in the last 6 months (typically after working on a particularly dusty project) and noticed that the drainage was still slow even when I wasn't cruddy.

Well, I accidentally killed my Kombucha Mother (it caught the mold - first time ever in almost 10 years of brewing) so I was without my Kombucha for more than a week and caught whatever nastiness is going around the elementary schools right now.  I've been sickly for a little over a week (super congested, headache, cough, etc), which blew the plans for Thanksgiving crabbing.

Due to the amount of crud building up in my face, I decided to bust out the old netti pot.  Prior to sinus adjustments and dietary changes, it could take 10 minutes just to get the water moving through my sinuses (I know, it's gross) and even then, it was barely a trickle.  And no, that was NOT when I had a cold.  That was just daily, run of the mill netti usage.  Even after I started adjustments, it was still a bit slow going, like everything was swollen.

I have to tell you, even with all the crud built up, the water is flowing freely.  It's moving the crud quickly and easily, which has never been the case before.

As much as I had to admit it, I think my nasal swelling was largely related to dairy.  I still have a bit more "science" to do though.  Raw dairy has different effects on people than pasteurized, homogenized dairy from what I have read.  My next step will be to test to see if there is a difference between the two that I notice.

Cheesy Bacon Goodness

Well, I tested the dairy theory last night.  My mom made some most excellent grilled cheese sandwiches using Tillamook Habanero Jack cheese.

I couldn't pass up spicy cheesy goodness with BACON!  Granted  blowing my nose repeatedly and having it run like a faucet while being so inflamed I can barely move air through my sinus passages sucks, it's not enough to pass something that delicious up.  

Testing the dairy theory is much less awful than testing the gluten theory.  I learned the hard way last week not to eat anything that has been touched by gluten containing products.  We had a Halloween party at work, I was ravenous and decided to try to eat a mummy dog sans mummy wrap (pigs in a blanket with a cute name).  I peeled off that outer layer and ate half a hot dog that had been touched by crescent roll.  Well, with the amount of pain I was in for the next 4 days, I should have just eaten the damn crescent roll too!

I had an appointment with my chiropractor at Gold Country Chiropractic this morning for a sinus adjustment (the first one in 3 weeks!) and it was so much easier and less uncomfortable than any of my treatments before (even when i was going weekly and not letting much time go by between adjustments).  While I can't be entirely certain as yet, I think  that dairy was contributing the swelling of my nasal passages, which made the adjustments very resistant and very painful!  I did eat some dairy last night, so the swelling may have returned slightly, but it did not seem to be nearly as inflamed as usual. 

While my ooey gooey grilled cheese was delicious, I am going to go back to no dairy for another month and see how my next adjustment goes.  I managed to last 3 weeks this time between adjustments, so I'm aiming for 4 weeks for the next one.  

Considering I am often lamenting the lack of readily available treats for me, I tried something new today.  I bought a loaf of Glutino White Sandwich Bread so I could have some grilled cheese (so far the best of the gluten free breads I have tried).  Tonight I wanted something treat like, so I decided upon cinnamon toast.  In place of butter, I used Nutiva Organic Coconut Oil Extra-Virgin 29 oz. 218566 (Google Affiliate Ad), which gave it a slightly coconut-y flavor.  In all, it was a quick and easy treat.  I don't normally have any bread on hand (I mostly gave it up since going gluten free), but it hit the spot tonight.

I plan to test at least one pumpkin custard this week.  I'll share the results.  

Adventures in Allergy Treatments - Days 13 - 21

I am pretty sure people were getting a little bored with all of my snot talk, so I gave it a rest for a bit. :)

Well, today was treatment 4 (and day 21) of the sinus adjustments.  I will say the adjustment itself has become so much easier.  We were done in about 15 minutes today and it would have been even faster if it weren't for me having to sit up and blow my nose.

The adjustment only took a couple of pumps per sinus cavity (it seemed about 3 pumps per cavity, but really it is hard to count while you've got something expanding in your sinuses).  It is far less painful than it was the first time.

I still have some sneezing and runny nose issues (mostly at work - mostly), BUT I can say it is amazing NOT going through a box of tissues or more in a week. I'm not alone with the sneezing and runny nose in the office though. Almost everyone has had some sort of allergy issues and/or headaches since moving into the office.

I have not had a single sinus headache in 21 days.  21 days!  I had experienced some degree of sinus pressure and pain almost daily for quite some time.  No sinus pain in 21 days!

I have also only had 1 migraine in the last 21 days.  While I've been able to reduce the amount of migraines I have had tremendously through diet, I would still have them from time to time. Fat, magnesium and potassium have made a world of difference in my life.

I can't say the same things work for the everyone, but the sinus adjustments seem to be working wonders for me.

Adventures in Allergy Treatments - Day 12

NASAL ALLERGIES

Okay, today has been the worst day since before I started the treatments.  I have been sneezing on and off and had to blow my nose quite a few times today.  I am not alternating between running like a faucet and being so congested I can't breathe though.  Also, no sinus pressure and no sinus pain even though I've been sneezing and my nose has been running.

I have another treatment scheduled for Monday, so hopefully I get back on track. I still maintain that even with the sneezing and nose running today, my symptoms are entirely better than they were. I swore I was allergic to myself because it didn't matter where I was or what I was doing, I had extreme allergy symptoms. I thought when I went to North Carolina last year, that I would get away from whatever I was allergic to.  Not so much, which lead me to think I was allergic to my self.

GLUTEN SENSITIVITY

As far as the whole bee thing goes, I think part of the issue with my arm is hypersensitivity to inflammation.  After getting stung by that darn bee yesterday, my entire arm hurts and I've had some of the burning and tingling in my pinky and up the back side of my arm to my scapula.

While I've been tested for Celiac before and the test was negative, it seems as though I have a sensitivity issue more than an actual allergy.  I have had joint pain as long as I could remember, been lethargic, always cold and had some intense digestive issues over the years.

The pain in my left arm had been so intense that I could not use my arm.  Multiple specialists couldn't figure out anything that could have been wrong, and I had tried so many homeopathic remedies it was ridiculous.  I had even tried cobra venom. COBRA VENOM!!!!!!!!

After being told "just don't use it" about by arm (not that easy when you are a lefty, but I did it. I managed 3 semesters of art school teaching myself to be right handed), I didn't really know what else to try and had resigned myself to becoming a righty and learning to do everything over again.  Until a friend told me how awesome she felt after going gluten free.

I figured it wouldn't hurt to try.  I don't think there is really any one "right" way to live, you have to listen to your body to find the right balance for you.  I had maintained a low fat, high fiber diet for most of my life.  I added fat back into my diet in September 2010 after reading "Eat Fat, Lose Fat" by Mary Enig and Sally Fallon. Just that addition made a world of difference in how I felt.  But I was still eating a lot of grain based foods (though I was at least eating my grains properly soaked/sprouted/fermented).

In January 2012, I made the leap to gluten free.  For a bread addict like myself, it was not super easy, but it was easier this time around than the time I had a trainer put me on a low carb diet (I thought I was going to kill someone for a muffin) because I was also eating low fat as well as low carb.

I can say that after 6 months of gluten free, I have become really good at listening to my body.  I usually tell within 3 hours if something has gluten in it or has been cross contaminated.  I also kept a pretty boring diet for the first few months so I was really able to pinpoint any issues.  For the most part, I'm eating a modified paleo diet (I like my raw dairy) because there aren't a ton of really good gluten free alternatives to bread and baked goods.

Again, I don't think there is any one right way to live, but if what you are doing obviously isn't working (you shouldn't feel like crap all the time - that is NOT normal), it may benefit you to try an alternative to what you are doing.

Adventures in Allergy Treatments - Day 11

Okay, it's day 11.  I woke up slightly congested on the right side, but I was able to get the congestion moving within a few minutes and it is still a thousand times better than it was 12 days ago.

No headache today, which was awesome. Unfortunately, I can't tell if the slight increase in congestion is related to the move into the new office or not. It was only a week at the old office and I felt great and then we moved to the dungeon Monday and have had a slight increase in symptoms.

A few sneezes here and there, definitely better than before.

Even with the slight increase this week, it is still a massive improvement over a box of Kleenex a week and uncontrollable sneezing.

I have another treatment scheduled for Monday.  Perhaps an adjustment and time to get used to the dungeon  and I'll be back on track.

An allergy note, I am NOT allergic to bees.  I had never been stung by a bee until today and my mom is deathly allergic.  I was sitting on the library lawn enjoying my book and lunch.  When it was time to go back to work, I went to get up and smashed a bee.  In his anger, he stung the crap out of my finger. I cursed him and then apologized to him for smashing him.

Adventures in Allergy Treatments - 10

Okay, it's been 10 days.  10 glorious days of breathing. Through my nose. Unlike creepy mouth breathers.

I can say with certainty the headache yesterday was work related.  I couldn't pinpoint a smell yesterday because it was faint but it was enough to get to me. I was able to identify it today (someone's lotion). That coupled with a lack of adequate water equaled a killer headache for the last two days in the afternoon.

I stopped by the store and picked up a couple of gallons of water to last the next few days until we get water delivered at the office on Monday.  (The only sinks are in the bathrooms or in the print shop - the print shop water smells like sewage)

Proper hydration definitely makes a difference. I made sure to take potassium at lunch and between that and the water, the smell didn't get to me QUITE as much.  I still don't know how to broach the subject of overwhelming fragrances in the office, especially in the basement without a lot of ventilation.

I still had a bit of congestion when I woke up this morning, but it resolves itself within minutes instead of one or more hours.  A few nose blows, and I'm good to go these days.  If I sneeze, it's 3 sneezes and I'm done. Usually I will sneeze uncontrollably.

I still haven't used a neti pot, taken any benedryl or used any sort of sinus/nasal remedy in 10 days.

I still think that the air feels rather "cold" coming through my nose.  I love not being a mouth breather any more though!

Adventures in Allergy Treatments - Day 9

Okay, it's been 9 days of being able to breathe.

Unfortunately, I am not sure if it is the air in the new building or if someone is using scented lotion or something in the afternoon, but yesterday and today, after full days in the new office, I have had a wicked headache by 2 p.m..  I haven't missed taking my potassium at lunch, so I don't think that is the issue. I've avoided everything else that may or may not influence the results of the adjustments, but I didn't really figure in the air in the dungeon.

There is a slight smell that I can't place in the afternoon.  I am not the only one who has had this problem (the person who sits next to me is having similar issues with afternoon headaches and not being able to place the smell either).  I'm actually glad I'm tracking all of this so I can try to determine what triggers my allergy symptoms.

Even though I have been getting headaches the last two days, I can still breathe through my nose.  I was a bit on the stuffy side waking up this morning, but still much better than it was.

After leaving the office, my headache started to subside in about an hour.  Coincidence?  Maybe.

Adventures In Allergy Treatments - Day 8

I think adventures in allergy treatments sounds a little better than "Endonasal Balloon Therapy" (really, I just got tired of typing it).  It at least sounds a bit more fun. 

I woke up this morning slightly congested on the right side from sleeping on my side.  While it was more congestion than I have had for the last week, it was still less than my best day previously.  I sat up and things got moving. 

I felt a bit foggy today, but I think that was more desiring to be outside since I got moved to the basement and there are NO WINDOWS!!!!!!!!!!!  Well, there is one in a conference room, but I don't think I want to go in there.  There is a sign on the window warning people to be careful of the snake when opening and closing the window. 

I had a few sneezes here and there throughout the day.  The thing that sucks is the first week I was in a different office building all together, so now I'm not sure if any mid day sneezing is related to overall allergy symptoms or if it is related to the new building's air. They told us they had the HVAC system cleaned and evaluated before moving people in, but you never know how well anything gets cleaned.

It's really hard to do a "controlled" study to see what works and what doesn't. BUT, I have made it through an entire week with no benedryl, no allergy medications of any sort, minimal nose blowing and no neti pot.  For me, that is a pretty big deal.

I'm trying to convince my mom, who can't go a day without a Zyrtec D (can't even get out of bed in the morning without it) to try it. 

Endonasal Balloon Therapy - Day 7

Okay, it's been a full week since starting the nasal adjustments.  Today was the second treatment, which went much faster and more smoothly than last week.  My chiro was happy to hear that I am documenting the results I'm having, both good and bad. 

I did find out that while some call it Endonasal Balloon Therapy, it is also called the Nasal Specific Technique (my chiro's preferred reference). 

I will say that the jaunt through Bloomingdales messed me up seriously.  I was sneezing and nose running pretty much all day from it.  I woke up mostly able to breathe through my nose (it was slightly more congested and I feel it was related to the reaction to the cosmetics/fragrances). 

I got a call from my chiro's office just before lunch, asking if I could come in at lunch or if I could leave work early to come in.  I ran down at lunch (we moved to the new office today, so I'm really close to the chiro's office). 

I had her do the nasal adjustment before my normal adjustment, and it was super fast this time!  She's also getting the feel of using the nitrile (which is less stretchy than latex), so she was able to feel when she hit the right level of inflation. 

This time there was FAR less nasal discharge from the actual adjustment and I even teared up less.  I was back to my office in 1/2 an hour including drive time. 

I had a bit of a headache this afternoon, but I think that was partly due to the fact I didn't get any potassium at lunch (I thought I needed CVT glasses because I was getting a wicked headache every afternoon. I also was seriously craving salt in the afternoons as well. Turns out eating a banana or taking a potassium supplement has helped immensely).  My desk wasn't fully unpacked and once I got it unpacked, I didn't really think about the potassium. 

Overall, I still maintain that letting someone stick "balloons" up my nose is worth it.  I am only blowing my nose a few times a day, only sneezing a few times a day and fewer headaches. 

I know I try weird for weird's sake most of the time. I've tried anything and everything for my allergies (which I never had until AFTER moving back to Northern CA after living in San Diego): bee pollen, local honey, SinuOrega spray, various herbs, Elemental Silver spray, coconut oil up my nose, all with zero to minimal results.  It has been a week and I have greatly reduced symptoms. 

Life is so much more pleasant when you can breathe.  Exercise is almost enjoyable again now that I can breathe through my nose.  I didn't realize how limited my breathing was until after the first adjustment.

Endonasal Balloon Therapy - Days 4-6

I missed a few days of posting, heading down to SF for the A's v. Giants game, seeing Brave and seeing my love.

Day 4 - I had a bit more sneezing and nose blowing, but definitely NOT where I was even Monday before the treatment.  No sinus headache, no sinus pressure, just a bit of sneezing (a handful of times).  No massive feelings of pressure change on the way down to SF.  Still able to lay on my side without completely having my nasal passages blocked off within minutes.

Day 5 - Woke up after sleeping on my side, still no morning congestion.  Had to blow my nose a few times, but definitely not as much as normal.  For the most part, my allergy symptoms were pretty minimal, at least until passing a group of smokers on the way in to the ballpark.  I did have some sneezing and nose running after passing the smell of cigarettes, but still not the way I have in the past.

Day 6 - Definitely found a trigger of allergy symptoms today!  It wasn't too bad this morning, woke up with a clear nose, had to blow my nose a few times but nothing serious.  UNTIL..............  We walked through Bloomingdale's to get into the mall and go to the movies.  Within minutes, my nose was running and I was sneezing, which I really expected considering I always have that reaction going through cosmetics/fragrance areas of any stores.  It's been almost 8 hours and I am just now getting over the sneezing and nose blowing. 

Tomorrow is treatment #2. Overall, I can say that the response I've had so far is worth the slight discomfort experience during the treatment. 

Endonasal Balloon Therapy - Day 1

I underwent my first endonasal balloon therapy session yesterday.

You might ask "what on earth is endonasal balloon therapy?"

Obviously it involves a "balloon" of some sort, right?  Well, not quite.  The process involves finger cots (or in my case nitrile glove fingers) and a bulb from a blood pressure cuff (though I think my chiropractor has a bulb specifically designed for this purpose).  The finger cot (or glove finger) is then placed into the sinus cavities and inflated, expanding the nasal and cranial membranes and joints.

I scoffed when my chiropractor first suggested doing this for my awful allergies and constant congestion.  It was a little more than scoffing really, I thought she was insane. 

Well, after about 5 years of terrible allergy symptoms (though I tested negative for the common allergens locally) and wicked congestion, I reached a point of desperation. I have spent 5 years sneezing, running like a faucet or being so congested I can't get any air through either nostril. Anyone who has sat near me at work, lived with me or spent any time with me in general has witnessed the entire box of Kleenex a week habit and uncontrollable sneezing or nasally voice. 

Last week I asked LaRelle if she was able to get any sort of non-latex finger cots or devise a way to make it work. 

Well, this week we made it work.

It was the weirdest experience I've had in a while (well, probably ever really. I can't think of a lot of things that feel like having balloons inflated in your head!), but once we got going the difference was almost immediate.

LaRelle is used to the tactile sensation using the finger cots, which inflate and stretch more readily than nitrile does, so it was a bit of trial and error finding the point of inflation but once we found it, the opening was amazing.  I can't explain it any other way than my face felt "open".  Sure the nasal discharge increased temporarily, but I felt an openness I haven't felt in years. 

Aside from the aforementioned nasal discharge, my sinuses are still amazingly open 24 hours later.  I had to blow my nose a few times this morning before work (might I add I woke up with neither side of my nose so congested I couldn't breathe) but I made it through an entire day without a Kleenex at work. 

I am going to chronicle my experience with endonasal adjustments with reports each day of how I'm feeling and how the treatment is going.  Right now I'm scheduled for 4 weekly treatments (on Mondays).  After that, I will switch to monthly treatment for 12 months.  After a year, it will be a yearly treatment. 

For the time being, I am going to avoid all of the other things I had been doing for my allergies, such as using my neti pot, SinuOrega spray or benadryl.  I want to be sure the changes are coming from the adjustment, not anything else.