Hi, it’s me and a gazillion letters of text!
You may have noticed that I’ve been making a lot more gluten-free recipes over the past couple of weeks and I thought I would talk about why I’ve been doing this.
It’s sort of a long story!
Luckily, I’m jacked up on caffeine right now.
I’ve been experiencing some strange health symptoms over the past 4-6 weeks. For example, I’ve had bad stomach bloating to the point where I look 6 months pregnant (I’m not). I’ve always had bloating on and off all my life, but this is much worse than the normal bloating I’ve experienced in the past. I’m also experiencing bad stomach pains in my abdomen area, round-the-clock lower back pain, fatigue, and pressure in my pelvic area, among other things. The pain in my abdomen and lower pelvic area gets much worse after eating and I often feel really full after eating a normal-sized meal. Lately, I’ve been waking up with mild stomach pain too.
Several years ago, I was diagnosed with Irritable Bowel Syndrome (which I’ve mentioned on the blog a while back) and for most of my life I’ve struggled with stomach pain, headaches, and GI discomfort on and off. My stomach is very sensitive to certain foods like dairy, nuts, soy, and beans. I never really know how it is going to react. Sometimes a handful of raw almonds can set it off with pains, while other times it’s fine. IBS is also strongly associated with our emotions, so it’s not surprising that my anxiety manifests itself through my stomach and digestive system.
Since I’m divulging my life story, another thing I’ve struggled with health-wise is my reproductive system. Specifically, my ovaries.
In 2009, a pelvic and transvaginal ultrasound revealed that I have multiple cysts on my ovaries as well as an enlarged (they called it ‘bulky’) right ovary. In addition to my regular yearly pap test and physical, I also go for a yearly ultrasound to monitor the cysts and make sure that they aren’t getting larger. Keepin’ an eye on things. Basically, I’m on watch for Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS).
I had another ultrasound in March 2011 and it revealed that my right ovary decreased in size from 17.7 ml to 10 ml. My left ovary is also smaller in size. Apparently, this is encouraging news, but I’ll be the first to admit that I haven’t really received a proper explanation. I’m thinking about asking for a referral to a specialist soon.
Fast forward to the symptoms I’m experiencing today. They could be the result of a mild or more severe illness, like most symptoms. And trust me when I say that I’ve Googled them all! I think Google has told me I’m going to die of a horrible illness about 654 times during my life, so I’m trying not to self-diagnose or draw any conclusions until I have the proper tests done. It could be something as minor as an ulcer or as major as Ovarian cancer. That’s why I always say it’s important to listen to your body and be your own health advocate if you think something is abnormal for you.
This brings me to tomorrow, my next ultrasound appointment. I pretty much had to beg my doctor for this ultrasound since my last one was only 6 months ago, but I’d rather ruffle a few feathers than to have a health issue go undetected for months. Bring on the 5 large glasses of water and bladder-bursting hour wait time!
The results of my ultrasound will determine my doctor’s next steps. I had blood work done in May which all came back normal, but I will probably have to get my blood checked again.
So, this brings me to the gluten-free recipes.
My doctor suggested that I try eating gluten-free for a while to see if I have any relief in my symptoms. I really do not think it’s gluten causing the issues, but I’m willing to try anything at this point. I’m also going to see a naturopath on Tuesday for a general consultation and food-sensitivity testing the following week. I’ve heard from many people who have had great relief from their digestive issues when seeing a naturopath, so I figure it’s worth trying out.
At this point, I just want to get to the bottom of this as quickly as possible, but in all likelihood, it could take a while to figure out. I will try to post an update or two on the blog as I get more information.
PIZZA makes everything better.
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Gluten-Free Almond & Buckwheat Flour Pizza with Roasted Tomato Basil Pesto
A thin, crispy, flatbread-like crust filled with a nutty and lightly sweet flavour that will keep you coming back for more and more. Top it with Roasted Tomato Basil Pesto, some fresh herbs, Daiya cheese, and roasted tomatoes for a pizza that will be gone before you know it.
Yield: 3-4 servings
Inspired by Roost.
Pizza Crust:
- 1.5 cups almond meal (155 grams)*, made from ground raw almonds
- 1.5 cups raw buckwheat flour (205 grams)*, made from ground raw buckwheat groats
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp kosher salt
- 2-3 tbsp chopped fresh herbs (I used oregano, thyme, parsley)
- 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 2 flax eggs (2 tbsp ground flax + 6 tbsp water, mixed)
- 2-3 tbsp water, as needed
- 2 cloves roasted garlic, optional
Notes: I ground raw almonds in my blender to make the almond meal. You can also use a food processor. To make the buckwheat flour, I ground raw buckwheat groats in my blender. I strongly prefer the taste of freshly ground buckwheat flour to the store-bought kasha flour.
1. Preheat oven to 350F. Mix flax eggs and set aside for 5 mins. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a non-stick mat.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together dry ingredients. Add wet ingredients and mix well with hands until you can form a ball.
3. Place ball of dough on a non-stick mat or on parchment paper. Place another mat or more parchment paper over top. With a rolling pin, roll out the dough until it is as thin as you can get it. Transfer to baking sheet (dough may rip a bit and that is ok). Gently patch rips of dough with fingers and spread on a couple cloves of roasted garlic (optional). I left the crust looking very rustic, so don’t worry it’s not supposed to look perfect!
4. Bake in the oven at 350F for 15-17 minutes until golden along the edges. Remove to cool slightly. Set oven to broil on medium heat setting.
Pizza:
- Pre-baked crust (above)
- 1.5 cups Roasted Tomato Basil Pesto
- Daiya cheese, as much as you want
- 1/4 cup fresh finely chopped herbs
- 3-4 leftover roasted tomatoes
1. Spread the pesto onto pre-baked crust. Sprinkle on cheese, fresh herbs, and chopped roasted tomatoes.
2. Broil for 2-3 minutes over medium heat (3), watching very closely so you don’t burn it. Slice and serve immediately. I served this with a big salad to round out the meal.
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This crust turned out much better than I expected. The dough tasted amazing!
I spread on a couple cloves of leftover roasted garlic before baking.
After pre-baking, I spread on the mouth-watering pesto.
Followed by Daiya cheese, chopped roasted tomatoes, and fresh herbs.
Then I broiled it for 3 minutes over medium heat.
Crispy, ultra-thin, packed with nutrients, and oh so good.
This pizza did not last long!
If you are a thin-crust fan, you will love this pizza.
The crust is one of the most flavourful crusts I have tasted and the toppings went really well with it, but of course you can top it with whatever you see fit.
p.s.- See my new Fall header image? Hold down Control + F5 to refresh the page if you can’t see it.
p.p.s.- I have an exciting mushroom challenge & recipe post coming up Monday! If you love pesto, you will go crazy for this recipe.
We’re off for a day of hiking on this gorgeous Fall day…have a good one!
Hi Angela! I adore your blog and am always recommending it to everyone I know. Just recently I turned my coworker on to it and she said she spent all day reading through your recipes and stories, and had her first overnight oats this AM! I have had similar stomach issues–mine turned out to be uterine fibroid tumors, which an ultrasound revealed. I look about 6 months pregnant too–not so fun!! I hope that you get your health issues figured out, I thought my issue was gluten too! I notice I tend to digest gluten free things better anyway, so it’s fun to include them in your diet :) Sending positivity and well wishes your way!!
Hope all goes well; unresolved health issues are the worst. I just called my doctor about upper back pain that I’ve been having near constantly, along with pins and needles up and down my arms. I’ve been putting it off because I feel like a hypochondriac, but I’d rather get it checked out than just sit around and worry!
Hope your ultrasound helps to resolve some issues, and hope that it’s nothing serious. :)
Angela! Just the other week I posted the following on my own struggle with “IBS”. Would love if you would read it. I have struggled with this for 20 years…but I am almost completely symptom free these days. It’s taken a lot to get there but it’s like living a whole new life!
http://cueyourlife.com/2011/09/10/out-of-the-fog-part-one/
http://cueyourlife.com/2011/09/11/out-of-the-fog-part-two/
I just started having the very same symptoms in the last 4-6weeks! My doctor told me the same thing about gluten. It helped but I don’t think its the realy issue either. Please let me know what you find!
I also read in a glutenfree article that in order for the tests to reveal if there are antibodies in the blood from gluten, one must keep eating gluten to reveal it.
Hi Angela,
My name is Whitney. I have a suggestion: You might want to cut out all nightshades (tomoatos, corn, eggplant, all peppers, and potatoes) then sugar as well. I don’t know if you have tried that, but it’s worth a shot.
It is unbelievably comforting to hear that someone else has the same strange belly issues as I do. I have had a whole battery of tests but no conclusive results…just frustration and a bloated belly 24/7. I ultimately got tired of trying new things – but maybe it’s time to get back on the horse. It’s a rough way to live always feeling like you have an extra 5-10 pounds around your midsection no matter how healthy your lifestyle. I hope you are able to get to the bottom of what is going on with you as soon as possible!
Sending good vibes your way :)
PS. Thanks for sharing so much of your life with us readers.
Awh T^T
Hwaiting, Mrs. Angela! ^^
[google hwaiting :)]
I am a faithful reader and silent follower. Thanks for always being so open and honest about your life and health. Sometimes, reading glossy blogs with perfect pictures can make one feel less than perfect. However, I have learned that it is easy to post a picture perfect life, outfit, how-to, etc., but it doesn’t mean that the depiction is necessarily true. I appreciate the honesty and sincerity that you infuse into your writings–sharing things that are inspiring, relatable, very real and difficult, and perhaps at times, even embarrassing.
I’m sorry to hear about your recent health concerns. I recently had some digestive issues earlier this year and it was a frustrating time. I am sorry to admit that it all began when I started to make a few of your recipes–Tomato Barley Risotto was a fast favorite–and had similar bloating, digestive issues, and overall sense of fatigue. I couldn’t figure it out and racked my mind about it. In addition, whatever I was eating caused my skin to become extremely congested. This was all new to me since I have never had digestive or skin issues. I, too, was worried I had a gluten intolerance, but didn’t have any reactions to anything else. Long story short, I finally figured it out (well, my husband did!) — nutritional yeast. I have never been able to handle/process MSG and figured out the hard way that nutritional yeast has high levels of MSG. I am happy to report that said digestive and skin issues disappeared once I stopped eating it and I have also been drinking liver cleanse tea to encourage this process. I love your recipes and have incorporated many into my repertoire, however, nutritional yeast and I are not pals. Hope you find some answers and reprieve soon! Thinking of you.
Wow! You are SO lucky to have a doctor that not only knows that there’s a connection to food and heatlh but fully believes in it and actually shares that knowledge with his patients instead of just prescribing you some meds and telling you to get on your way. I actually believe you will find relief by going GF!
Remember all the symptoms your body sends out are just messages for you to take action and make changes in your diet and lifestyle, and they do get louder the more you ignore them (so it’s great that you’re not anymore!). They’re always connected to the same thing though. Just reduce toxins and inflammation in the body! It really is that simple. Find the food allergens that are bothering you and eliminate them (namely gluten, casein, soy, and nightshade veggies are often a problem). Take a good quality probiotic everyday. You will also need to take fish oil daily (DHA and EPA), but I know that may not be an option for you. These are just the main things, but there are many many other things you can do too.
I’ve healed my own and my son’s autoimmune disease, along with all my millions of other crazy symptoms, so I have a bit of experience with this! Also, my health coaching practice focuses on autoimmune diseases and digestive disorders, so I’m learning more and more every day. Will gladly share more info with you if interested! :) Good luck Angela!!
Here I go with yet another comment on this post :) I made the pizza dough for dinner tonight and it was delicious. My husband and I are both thin crust fans and I was thrilled with how thin I could roll the dough and still have it hold together. I was a little nervous to make this after my last frustrating experience making pizza dough. I actually split the dough into 2 portions and cooked both on the silpat mat and then transferred to parchment to broil the toppings. This will definitely be made again soon! I keep thinking about all of the delicious toppings I can add next time. Thanks!!
i am sure you have heard this
800 times, but def. get
tested for celiac – if for no
other reason, than to rule it out.
it’s just a blood test (though make sure
you are still ingesting gluten
before you get tested.)
celiac could be related to
all the symptoms you described.
i was diagnosed 4 years ago
after spending years feeling exhausted,
crampy and nauseas.
after several months gluten free,
i felt like a normal person again!
twas GRAND!
anyhoo…LOVE LOVING THE GLU_FRU)NESS!
of your blog.
big BIG fan.
FEEL BETTZ!
x
Agree wtih getting tested but there are a ton of false negatives for celiac – blood tests and biopsy’s come back negative all the time and are wrong – the best cheapest thing to do is an elimination diet. Include nuts dairy eggs nightshades GLUTEN (of course) soy, etc and slowly reintroduce them one at a time. It has helped a TON
Angela:
I hope that you get some real answers concerning your illness soon. I suffer from PCOS, I’ve had it since 2004 (probably earlier). It’s livable but a heck of a struggle at times. If you ever wanted to chat about it, I’m open to that.
The pizza, like everything else you cook, looks sublime. Thanks for sharing your talents and your struggles with us.
Blessings!
I can say i have been where you are right now. I was put through every test known to man about 2 years ago. I had all the same things happening to me but add the fact that i always felt like i had the flu. I dropped weight simply because everytime i ate I felt so sick. It got to the point where i would rather be starving then be in pain. After every test coming back normal (nothing is more madening) the Health system basically said ” well nothing we can say, it must just be IBS” I felt like they failed me, that i must be losing my mind because they say everything is normal, when every part of my body and mind were screaming that something was so very wrong. That is when I switched to eatting a Vegan diet. It helped so much. I was still having issues after eatting certin meals and started really watching for connections. Thats when i noticed everytime I got sick I had eatten onions and or garlic. I advoid both like the pleauge now. i have been med free for over a year now and although I still have minor issues sometimes ( around that time of the month) all is fairly “normal” . So i wish you all the best in your war. But try and see if it helps you to remove the sulfer foods from your diet.
Goodness girl, that is a lot to go through, and my thoughts and prayers are with you. I had been experiencing extreme bloating and gas lately, so I recently made an appointment with a naturopath. He did a food allergy/intolerance test and it the results were that I’m severely intolerant to eggs and peanuts! I would have never thought those foods. I love them, and I eat them everyday. But since eliminating them from my diet, I feel much better. A lot less bloating and gas (which my family thanks me for!) I really hope you find some answers :)
Cysts, tumours, cancer, whatever – it’s all the same. Acids damage cells. Toxins in the air we breathe, the water we drink, and the foods we eat create acids in the body. Hell, even some of the foods we eat (animal products, grains, beans, alcohol, smoking anything) are acidifying. Fruits and veggies are alkalizing. Fruits and herbs can heal this and literally any other “disease.” Google Dr. Morse if you don’t believe me and call his clinic. It’s free.
Oh my gosh – the timing of this post couldn’t have been more appropriate for me! I’ve spent the past month dealing with terrible abdominal pains and had nearly every scan, test, even a laporoscopic surgery. I’ve lost 10 pounds and can barely eat a thing without dealing with pain. At the moment, they think it might be IBS, but they just don’t know. I’ve never had digestion issues before and now I’m on the hunt for any and all information, food ideas, etc.
I’ve read your blog for a while now, and for whatever reason, I never caught on to those issues you had. I mostly used your recipes just to be healthy and interesting (I am slow cooking your Canadian Maple baked beans right now). . . but now I actually think I’ll NEED your recipes to deal! Thanks!
chickpeas/beans make me feel bloated sometimes…
Another vote for primal/paleo eating offering relief for all of these symptoms. I have been doing it for less than a month and feel better than I have ever felt.
Hi Angela, I’m a reader that doesn’t usually comment, but this post really struck me. I also have a cyst on one ovary, about 6 cm big. I have to get an ultrasound every 6 months. I’ve had it at least five years (it was discovered during my first pregnancy). It’s scary.
I look forward to hearing about your naturopath visit as I have been thinking about visiting one for a few years now :)
Hope you are feeling better soon!