The Healthy Chickk

After I had my first child, I began to experience chronic, debilitating fatigue. My thyroid was progressing towards autoimmune Hashimotos, and I was chugging over 4 cups of coffee a day trying to get through my graduate program. I contacted my naturopath at the time and she recommended I stop consuming gluten. This did help tremendously, to the point my thyroid antibodies were no longer present. Over time, I began to gain sensitivity to more and more grains, ESPECIALLY OATS. 

PS. To all those who want to scream glyphosate, trust me, I feel you. Glyphosate is a poison, but that’s not what was going on here. I still was sensitive to glyphosate free certified foods

Consuming OATS made me suicidal with chronic migraines, gluten made me chronically fatigue as if I was drugged (no exaggeration!). Fast forward to today, I’ve always been aware of einkorn. My mother (who’s also a health fanatic like myself), started obsessing over einkorn and how people who can’t tolerate gluten don’t have issues with it. EH, okay mom. I’ve experimented with MANY low gluten, sourdough foods and still have reacted pretty badly. Keep in mind, I’ve been spending a fortune on GF foods (if you’re strictly GF, you know what I mean) that could or could not be the greatest for you (as long as it kind of tastes like bread right?). 

I wanted more validation, I seeked out a Gastroenterologist and they wanted me to do the gluten challenge with a follow up blood draw for a celiac panel. Like MANY of us who have already gone gluten free, the gluten challenge is literally impossible. Anyone who tells you a week or two is enough is lying to you, the literature proves that you need to be committed to the gluten challenge for at least 3 months consuming at least ___ gs of a gluten containing food. I couldn’t make it past 5 days without uncontrollable crying every single night, chronic migraines, debilitating fatigue and metabolic syndrome (all my micronutrients plummeted according to a blood panel I did immediately after). I could not continue the gluten challenge, and my gastroenterologist concluded that they could not give me a celiac diagnosis. I felt defeated and unseen. My naturopath at the time validated my feelings and told me that we would just go with a “Non-Celiac Gluten Sensitivity” (NCGS) diagnosis. This IS a genuine condition that falls under the “gluten intolerance” umbrella. I know MANY people in the GF community that have very similar experiences. If any medical professional is making you feel invalidated, I just want to tell you that your experience is VALID! And you don’t need any test or doctor to tell you how gluten makes YOU feel!

At this point it’s been FOUR years of being gluten free (with exposures and experimenting here and there). I just had my second baby, being hormonally sensitive, I wasn’t sure I wanted to go there and experiment again. The burnout is REAL. But. I did. First thing I did was consume half a loaf of my mother’s Sourdough Einkorn bread drenched in olive oil. The only symptom I experienced was tingling lips (not sure what that was about). But no negative side effects. The next day I made kefir pancakes. NO SYMPTOMS! Flatbreads, pastries, bagels…almost every. Single. Day. No inflammation. No brain fog. No depression or anxiety. No Migraines. No crying. No chronic fatigue. To keep this short, I’m hoping to dig deeper in another blog post on Einkorn and WHY people are not reactive to it. These ancient grains that haven’t been manipulated by man tend to just be less reactive for folks like us. But for now, let me just tell you: So far, 

EINKORN HAS CHANGED MY LIFE!

There are not many Einkorn brands out there, I’ve been using Jovial All-Purpose Flour or Jovial Whole Wheat Flour, and I’m obsessed! *post some images down below* How you want to attempt experimenting with it, is totally up to you! Could attempt with a small amount and see how you feel! Would love to hear about other peoples’ experiences with Einkorn! The next thing I want to make is Einkorn sourdough pizza, will post about how that goes!

Let me know in the comments below about your experience with Einkorn!!

The Healthy Chickk 🤙🏼

Disclosure: I promise  I will and only will recommend products I truly believe in and use myself! If you click on my affiliate links that were linked in this blog, I will receive a tiny commission that supports me and my business!