I tend to spend a fair amount of time reading other Aspie blogs, scanning the internet for Aspie articles and lately, reading a book all about Aspergers. Geez, one would think I had it..or at least a well-formed obsession with the subject.
Anyway, one of those reoccurring themes has been diet. I read about intestinal rumblings and grumblings and autism and I tend to agree...there is disharmony. So, in my ever striving to become a healthier alien, I have decided to go lactose, dairy free. I had done this rather half-heartily a few times before but what I was lacking was a decent, palatable milk substitute. I had even gone so far as to try a bit of Edensoy, until I realized that I have a rather quick and altogether unpleasant allergic reaction to soy, which startled and surprized me as I am most allergic, in the same sense of symptoms to sulfates. I never would have thought that soy had any of those offensive qualities in quantities enough to make me so ill. I have to avoid all soy.
I even purchased some other milk substitute a few months back, but never even got around to opening it before the expiration date. So that went in the garbage.
My latest venture to the local health food store found me picking up some Rice Milk. Hmm, sounds strange but I am feeling willing to actually try new things these days so I gave it a go. I most carefully read the entire outer package for ingredients and insight...looks doable. I picked out the smallest of our drinking glasses and poured a bit in. Hmmm, not bad and most importantly, no bad reaction. I can do this.
Later on, I went so far as to drink a whole small glass along with my pop tarts (ok, Pop T's probably aren't the healthiest of choices but, hey, I'm not perfect :) It has a very non-offensive taste, slightly sweet..there is an absence of..thickness and something else I can't quite catch. It is really a very good substitute for milk.
I have also given up the cheese thing. While not a huge cheese fan, I do tend to put a little bit on salads and ham sandwiches...I can let that go. Now pizza...hmmm, tough one there because that is in my favorite food group. I may still indulge once in a while, just with much less frequency. You have got to have cheese on pizza, c'mon...I Am Part Human you know...LOL
So, I'll be blogging about how this latest endeavour goes.
Gluten is another area that I want to try diminishing. I say diminish because I have less confidence in my ability to find suitable substitutes in that arena. I have a piece of toast with peanut butter every morning and that will be a challenge to alter.
I will work around the edges though as I picked up some gluten-free oatmeal to replace my nightly ritual. I tried it last night for the first time and it works. Omg, I made corn muffins with half gluten free flour and it was really quite horrid. I'll keep looking.
Its time to make some potential positive attempts at a healthier lifestyle...thus I stumble and roll...Later
I've often wondered if diet does tie in with Aspergers, that many Aspies have either strict likes and dislikes - is this more due to a subconscious biological trait or some of the routine OCD kicking in?
ReplyDeleteFor example, I'm about sixty to eighty pounds.... underweight. After seeing a doctor about this to limit the possibilities, you know, making sure there aren't any five foot long tape worms lodged in my small intestine, blood work to determine whether or not it's thyroids..... Nothing. Of course, my whole "eat when I'm hungry" mentality is rather close to anorexia - Coffee is not a food substitute, regardless of how much I try to delude myself.
So, after really looking at my diet (or lack of) it appears that I avoid any serious amounts of possibly allergetic substances. I don't drink milk, although I'm not sure the difference between milk and half and half. Which isn't really that important since I only liberally splash enough to mix my caffeine. Cheese and meat, it's the same - not too much. I'm pretty much wholly depended on carbohydrates from pasta and rice.