Traveling on the GAPS Diet

Eating on the GAPS diet is hard enough when at home, but what about when you are flying? There is rarely food in the airport that is GAPS friendly, and even if it is, I have a serious concern with gluten contamination.

For me, today is day one of starting the GAPS diet again. I vow to make it to six months as the doctor ordered, and to do that I am vowing to avoid traveling by plane! Despite the snacks I bring, I usually end up breaking down and buying something warm or moist, rather than the packaged dry stuff I usually bring. However, I have come up with some ideas that are helpful.  Before I made my vows 0 I already bought a plane ticket to New Orleans for Jazz Fest this year, so I am still going to put these suggestions to good use. I'm not saying these recommendations are the perfect GAPS friendly, but they are better than binging and eating something that is not GAPS friendly at all and which may not be gluten free.


Protein
I have a friend who says she takes a roast chicken on the plane with her! I haven't tried that yet - it sounds messy and smelly. I do eat a lot of jerky, however this is hard to find sugar free. You can make your own jerky, but I have not ventured into that realm. At least you can get gluten free jerky! And when I eat mostly protein with a little bit of sugar, I don't seem to have too much of an issue.

Nutrients
I also bring packages of super food green drinks which add probiotics in addition to many vitamins, minerals and some protein.  You can add it to water or apple juice.

Sweets
One of my weaknesses is fruit snacks and the airport is usually where I break down and buy some. Fortunately, I've learned to make my own! I've adapted a recipe from Butter Believer and I'll write a post about it later.  These are really chewy so they can help relieve ear pressure as well!

Fillers
I also like to make mini muffins, GAPS friendly ones of course! The mini muffins bake through better, and are less crumbly which means they are less messy. Since they are basically bite size, that also reduced the messiness.

Drinks
I've been a soda junky my whole life! When the flight attendants come around with drinks, it is so hard for me to resist. Try packing a tea you are excited about and ask for hot water. Though they don't have honey on the plane usually, I bring a little thing of my own honey and some pure stevia packets. I know stevia is questionable to some people, but my doctor said it was okay for me to have on the GAPS diet. You can also bring tea bags that are made for ice tea and add them to bottled water. However, I prefer not to have caffeine on flights where I want to sleep.

Supplements
Being stressed is usually what gets me craving food.  To avoid that frazzled, stressed experience that going to the airport can be, you can try taking some aminos such as 5HTP (a precursor to serotonin) or L-Theanine, a relaxer and stress reliever which is also found in green tea (bring green tea bags!). I take something called Total Amino Solution on a daily basis which has additive therapeutic benefits, helping me feel happy and sleep easily. Another option is to try Rescue Remedy, a floral based de-stresser.

Ice Cream! Dairy Free and GAPS friendly.

I have desperately missed ice cream. 

Sorbet doesn't do it for me. 

I have enjoyed Coconut Bliss for several years now, but their flavors are a bit limited, and now that I'm on the GAPS diet, I am not supposed to have agave as a sweetener. My boyfriend found a sugar free and lactose free ice cream, but alas, it doesn't say anything about being casein free, and casein is also a problem for many of us with serious GAPS gut issues. I became determined to make my own ice cream, and fantasized about purchasing an ice cream maker for months before finally breaking down and getting one.

These are my first experiments with my ice cream maker. The base ingredients I am using are as follows:


Base ingredients:
1 can light coconut milk
1 can 100% coconut cream (from Trader Joe's)
[you can probably use to cans of normal coconut milk instead of those two above]
1/4-1/2 cup honey
3-5 servings of stevia
1/2 teaspoon sea salt


I've made three different flavors so far:

1. Chai (Banana)
I adapted this recipe from one I found online. It called for cashew butter, which I did not have, so I used bananas. The bananas do impart a moderate flavor, but the chai is so strong that is still a lovely banana-chai recipe.

Additional ingredients:
1/2 cup cashew butter or 1-2 bananas

4 bags of chai tea, or 4 teaspoons of loose chai tea
some fresh ginger
teaspoon vanilla


Instructions:

1. Pour the can of coconut milk into a small sauce pan and heat on medium. Add the chai tea and ginger. Simmer for  a few minutes, whisking frequently.
2. Strain the tea out of the coconut milk, and throw out the tea.
3. Add all remaining ingredients to a blender; mix until creamy. 
4. Place in fridge for 1-2 hours (or overnight) to cool. 
5. Mix in ice cream maker for 20-30 minutes. 
6. Eat immediately or store in freezer.

2. Lemon Basil 

We had some Meyer lemons from my mom's tree and some basil we got for free at the farmer's market.

Additional ingredients:
Juice of 3-6 lemons
Zest of 1-3 lemons
Handful of basil

Instructions:

1. Add a little bit of the lemon juice, lemon zest, and basil at a time. I added the maximum amount listed and it was pretty intense, but good. Some might prefer a more subtle flavor. 
2. Blend everything together. 
3. Place in fridge for 1-2 hours (or overnight) to cool. 
4. Mix in ice cream maker for 20-30 minutes. 
5. Eat immediately or store in freezer.

3. Fruit and Mint

You really can't go wrong with fresh mint and just about any kind of fruit. I had some apricots and strawberries that were on the edge, so I threw them in together. Tastes like a summer day!

Instructions:

1. Combine fruit and mint to taste with base ingredients. 
2. Blend everything together. 
3. Place in fridge for 1-2 hours (or overnight) to cool.  
4. Mix in ice cream maker for 20-30 minutes. 
5. Eat immediately or store in freezer.

I want to make more tea flavors: matcha, earl grey and many more. Different nuts and/or fruits can be used. It's hard to mess it up. The coconut also has a fairly strong flavor, so ingredients that go well with coconut are probably best though. Just add ingredients a little bit at a time in the blender, and get it to the right taste and a nice creamy consistency.  The banana did give the Chai one a better consistency, so I am going to try to think of more banana friendly flavors and also try different flavors with cashew butter, which is more subtle than other nut butters. I also want try it using almond milk with coconut cream, just to mute the coconut a little, but then, it might get weird if there are too many flavors.  Another thing to try - fermented coconut or almond milk. If it's got probiotics, it won't feel so indulgent!

Buen provecho! 

SUGAR!

(I'm a health nut) I've always wanted to get sugar out of my diet, in theory. In reality, it tastes so good! I've never thought of myself as a big sweet tooth, yet I've always had my favorite sweet treats. We've all probably heard that sugar is bad for us - it makes us gain weight, causes blood sugar spikes, feeds bad bacteria, and so on. Trying to quit sugar? Apparantly there are ex-crack addicts who said quitting sugar was harder than quitting crack. Maybe this is urban legend but from my experience trying, I'm inclined to believe it.

If you want to quit sugar, how far do you go? Just refined sugars? Do you allow maple syrup or honey since the former has good minerals and the later has enzymes among other healing properties. What about fruit? Where do you draw the line?

The GAPS diet makes the distinction between two kinds of sugars. The simplest sugars are called monosaccharides in contrast to their counter parts, which are calleddisaccharides because they are made of two monosaccharides. Dr. Natasha Campbell-McBride explains the following information in her book which outlines the GAPS diet, called Gut and Psychology Syndrome.

1. Monosaccharides (mono-sugars)

The most common monosaccharides are glucose, fructose and galactose. "These monosaccharides or monosugars can easily penetrate the gut lining; they do not need digestion," says Natasha. Honey and fruit are primarily made of glucose and fructose, which is why they are allowed on the GAPS diet.
Galactose is found in yogurt or other soured milk products. Natasha states in her book that most of our carbohydrates should come from monosugars.

2. Disaccharides (di-sugars)

The dissaccharides, or double sugars, are found in table sugar (sucrose), milk (lactose),  and maltose (starch). When digestion is compromised, as is the reason why people do the GAPS diet, the enterocytes that live on the villi in the small intestine, whose job it is to break down our foods, cannot break the double sugars down into monosugars. The double sugars "stay becoming major food for pathogenic bacteria, viruses, Candida, and other fungi, getting converted into a river of toxic substances which damage the gut wall even further and poison the whole body.

Grains, potatoes, yams, sweet potatoes, Jerusalem artichokes, and cassava all have a lot of starch in them, and are not allowed the GAPS diet for that reason. Whatever starch does get digested,  breaks down into the double sugar maltose. But a GAPS person cannot break down the malatose, and so these foods are basically poison for GAPS people like myself.

So all fruit sugar is good right?  Fruits actually do contain some sucrose and/or maltose. Natasha explains:
"Most fruit, particulary when unripe, contains some sucrose, which is a double sugar. That is why it is very important to eat ripe fruit. Most vegetables and some fruit contain a little bit of starch. However, the amount of sucrose and starch in fruit and non-starch vegetables are tiny compared to grains, starchy vegetables and table sugar. In the majority of people with digestive disorders, their gut lining can cope with these tiny amounts of sugar and starch from fruit and non-starch vegetables."

To see exactly how much of each kind of sugar different fruits and sweet things have, see this list by Paleo expert Loren Cordain. Below, I'm going to be my mathematician self and crunch some numbers and some of my favor sweets.

The amount of double sugars are measured in grams per 100 grams of food item.

Less than 1 gram: Avocado, blackberries, blueberries, Casaba melon, sour cherries, elderberries, figs, grapes, lemon, lime, pomegranate, star fruit, tomato, dried prunes, raisins (including golden).

[1-5) grams: Apples, sweet cherries, grapefruit, guava, kiwi, orange, papaya, pears, pineapple, plum, raspberries, strawberries, watermelon.

[5-10) grams: Apricots, banana, cantaloupe, mango, nectarine, peach, dried apricots, dried figs, honey (5.7 grams).

Some high hitters are:
Dried peaches: 13.2 grams of double sugars in 100 grams of dried peaches.
Molasses: 34.7 grams of double sugars in 100 grams of molasses. 
Dates: 44.6 grams of double sugars in 100 grams of dates.
Maple syrup: 75 grams of double sugars in 100 grams of maple syrup.
Table sugar: 97 grams of double sugars in 100 grams of table sugar.

While honey and table sugar have almost the same amount of total sugars, 82 grams and 97 grams respectively, table sugar has 17 times the amount of double sugars! And even dates, which are often used as an alternative sweetener in raw and Paleo recipes, have almost 8 times as many double sugars are honey.

I recently found a recipe for grain-free Pineapple Upside-down cake from Home, Health, Happiness which called for dried cherries as the sweetener in cake. It was really yummy! Dried cherries are a great idea for a GAPSer, since cherries are low in double sugars. However, where do you get dried cherries that don't have added table sugar? Certainly not at Trader Joe's!

Does anyone know where to get dried cherries without sugar added? What are your favorite recipes using only the foods with low double sugars? Please comment and let me know!

Picaro, Mission District, San Francisco

I had been to Picaro once before a long time ago. It was someone's birthday and I think we got mostly seafood paella. As I'm not the biggest fan of either, I was not impressed.

I recently took a out of town visitor to Picaro after a revelation that tapas might be a good way to get gluten-free items. At Picaro at least, I was right on - while they have some breaded and/or fried items, most of their dishes are cooked simply with olive oil, garlic, wine and some spices. Lots of garlic, lots of lemon wedges to squeeze on top. It was delightful!

My absolute favorite, which I will be going back for more of soon, was the grilled artichokes. The artichokes flowers were sliced thinly and nicely crispy. With garlic. And a fresh lemon wedge.

Did I mention garlic and lemon? Yes!

Also yummy was their tortilla de...I can't remember what the name was but it was basically like an omelet without the cheese and instead potatoes and onions. On the menu they says it's a popular item, and I can see why. Comes with a dollop of mayonnaise.

What is a tapas restaurant without sangria? Their's was good, but perhaps a tad too sweet.

Also of note was that the waitress was very nice about checking the ingredients on everything for me. And that most of it was indeed gluten-free and dairy free was excellent. I'll definitely be going back often.

If you are following the paleo diet, note that some items come with rice, but mostly the dishes are vegetables, meat and seafood, seasoned without sugar.

Samovar, August 26th 2011

I have been here a handful of times pre-food-restrictions. I've always enjoyed their menu, particularly their tea services, which run in the 20's but come with a nice assortment of odds and ends plus tea. Their cheese and fruit plate, with honey comb, was always one of my favorite things to order there. For your average diner, this place is a wonderful treat, although a bit expensive. But today I will review it from the perspective of someone dining with food allergies or restrictions.



Today, I already had lunch and mostly came in for the delicious soy Matcha shake. At $8 it's a bit expensive, and you don't get that much. But I was in the mood to spoil myself a little, and cheat from the Paleo diet (soy is a bean, not a caveman food item).







The Gluten-Free Nitty Gritty:

As an Asian cuisine spot, this has a lot of potential to be mostly dairy free and gluten free, but potential gluten traps like soy sauce.



I decided to get a snack too and looked over the food items. To my delight, they had a key on the bottom to indicate which items are vegan and gluten free! Scanning through for item marked with that beautiful g next it, I was sad to see there were only a few. Of those few, some had soy sauce. Great! This must mean they have gluten free soy sauce. As a Celiac, you have to be extra cautious, to the extent where I've read advice on calling and talking to the chef in advance, asking tons of questions, and leaving if you aren't satisfied. Being new to this, I'm taking some baby steps. I pretty much settled on the marinated portabello salad, but in case it was marinated in gluten free soy sauce, I wanted to make sure they had gluten free soy sauce. The waitress, however, did not know. She was nice enough to go ask the kitchen, and I overheard the person she asked, ask another person, who did confirm that they have gluten free soy sauce. I got the portabello salad, thinking that I should have asked specially about that. I did ask the waitress if the salad was already gluten free and she made some show of checking the key. Perhaps this is all very new, and she is learning. Ideally, she would know the answers to most of my gluten and allergy related questions already.





The Dairy-Free Deal



While mostly Asian based, there are some salads, sandwiches etc that come with dairy. They also have a v* marking, that shows that items can be made vegan. This wouldn't mostly be by making without adding cheese. There are plenty of exciting asian style items without dairy on the menu though!





The Paleo Low-Down



There are nice salad options, although most menu items are either sandwiches or grain based meals. Many items come with crackers, and probably wouldn't be too fun wit hot the crackers. Also, soy is of course abundant on the menu. The portabello salad was probably the only purely paleo item on the food menu. Of course, with the teas, you could get almost anything except the Genmaicha, which is a brown rice green tea drink. For a Paleo dieter, I would say mostly come here if you want to have tea. In that regards, they have a wide variety of very high quality teas. I recommend their Earl Grey. It is exquisitely Bergamot flavored.



Ratings



Normal Dining Rating: 4/5 stars.

Minus a star for being a little pricey and pretentious without have whatever it takes (flavor, pizazz) to make it seem worth the price.



Food Allergy Dining Rating: 3/5 stars.

Minus a star for the waitress not have thorough knowledge of the gluten free options.





NOTE:

3/5 is high for the food allergy dining these days! There is must room for the restaurant industry to learn and grow with respect to the needs to food allergies. Restaurants are picking up on this; the change is happening now.

K&L Bistro, August 20th 2011

At 7pm, this place was busy, but we were offered a seat a lone table by the front windows. A small cozy joint, with friendly wait staff and a titilating menu with lots of meyer lemon, I was excited to try the place for the first time.





The Gluten-Free Nitty Gritty

As someone with many food restrictions, any conversation with the wait staff begins by spelling out my food allergies and asking about particular items I am interested in. This waitress "got it." I wanted the tuna tartar, which came with crackers. she pointed out that it has Ponzu sauce (has soy sauce in it) and would ask to have it made without, and also suggested susbtituting the crackers with lettuce. This is the kind of service that I would like for every dining experience! My partner and I had picked out 3 entrees and asked her which was gluten free. Out of the 3, 2 were already gluten free, so we ordered those. Even though the waitress was very knowledgeable, when delivering our food, she informed that she has let the kitchen know about my food allergies.





The Paleo Low Down

We had a steak with cumin fries and sword fish with caponata, a Sicilian cooked sweet and sour salad. The later was the most delicious thing we ordered, their version being made of eggplant, peppers and zuccini among other, with a nice tang to it. As being new to eating steaks, I requested for it to be cooked medium, which was probably a mistake since it was overcooked. The fries and sword fish were good, but not amazing. We also had a nice house red wine, a blend of Merlot and Cabernet. These items all fir into the Paleo diet...although, does wine really? Did cavemen have wine? Sure they had grapes, but goodness knows we can't go without some form of alcohol while fine dining. It goes hand in hand. Beer is clearly out of the question for gluten-free and paleo dining since the base ingredients were not part of a caveman's diet.



The Dairy-Free Deal



There were plenty of dairy free options. Many of the salads had dairy on them. This is usually disappointing to have without, since they often only have a few other items on them. My partner is fine ordering salads without the dairy, but it seems like a bummer to me. Our entrees were both originally dairy free and very satisfying.





Rating



Normal Rating: 4/5 stars

Minus 1 for good but not amazing food. The ambiance and service were good.



Allergy Dining Rating: 4/5 stars

Although it's nice to have the menu clearly marked which items are gluten free, or even to have a gluten free menu, the waitress was so knowledgeable and reassuring that it was ok. Preferably, I would like to be able to talk to kitchen staff in advance, tour kitchens etc. As a novice food critic, I am getting there. As a society we are just becoming aware of the needs of Celiac disease family members, friends, and customers. As this is a learning curve for all of us, I am positive they have room to grow to 5/5 stars.