Life Without Wheat

For three weeks now I have been eating wheat/gluten free. It has been a bit of a challenge, but nothing too overwhelming until today when I went to the Cocoa Bean Cupcake Cafe to get a treat for the sisters I visit teach. (Yes, I did drop off a treat and a card on the last day of the month.) Seriously, I have never wanted any food item more. I didn't cave in though. Now I'm just wondering if their upcoming gluten-free cupcake will taste anything like the real things. But even if it ends up tasting awful, my gluten-free lifestyle is totally worth feeling better. After my grandma discovered that wheat was exacerbating her pulmonary fibrosis, several of my family members decided to be tested for Celiac disease. My grandma, my mom, and I all tested negative for Celiac disease, but my grandma has seen significant improvements in her pulmonary fibrosis since becoming gluten-free. About six months ago my mom decided to be gluten-free, too, and has been amazed by how much better she feels. So three weeks ago I decided to try it. I felt absolutely awful for 10 days, and am convinced now that my body was in detox mode. For the last 12 days, I have felt really great! The headaches I have suffered from almost every day of my life are gone. My IBS symptoms are gone. My neck and shoulder pain has subsided significantly. And I am now realizing that my body has been in a constant state of inflammation, which seems to have disappeared. After I started looking into it a little bit, I was amazed by how many diseases and conditions are associated with Celiac disease and gluten intolerance: Asthma, ADD, Autism, Colitis, Diabetes, Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, Infertility/Miscarriage, Irritable Bowel Syndrome, Liver Disease, Osteoporosis, and certain types of cancer, just to name a few. Because several of those conditions run in my family, I decided it would be well worth it to just see for myself if going gluten-free would make a difference for me. If you or your loved ones have mysterious symptoms that doctors cannot seem to properly diagnose, I would highly recommend cutting out gluten for a while to see if it helps. Just be willing to suffer through the first couple of weeks and don't go into any cupcake cafes.

As for my previous reference to not signing checks, here is a slightly more detailed explanation. Basically, a typical check is what is called order paper, which means that it is intended for a specific person (i.e. "Pay to the Order of"). However, when that person indorses (I hate that it's spelled that way!) the back of the check with a signature, it becomes what is called bearer paper, meaning that the bearer/possessor is entitled to the value. Therefore, if I sign the back of my check and then it flies out my car window on the way to the bank, the person who picks it up is entitled to the amount as if that person had picked up cash. Furthermore, if you lose the check and then try to correct it by clearing out your account, you might be required to reimburse any other bank that cashes the check for the full amount. So, it is better not to sign the check until you actually get to the bank. Or to just write For Deposit Only and your account number on the signature line. Just make sure you don't write the wrong account number! :-) Hope that helps! And I hope my explanation is at least somewhat accurate. Seriously, I will be lucky to pass the bar. :-)