The Feels And A Recipe

Someone shared this tweet recently and I felt it. I think it really sums up living with an autoimmune disease. So I decided to screenshot it and share it here. I don't know anything about the person who tweeted it or what their state of health is. I just wanted to share the tweet.

The other thing I had in mind for today before I saw the tweet was to share a recipe. My presentation in the picture might not be great so I was debating with myself whether to include it or not. In the end I decided I might as well since I took the photo. Nectarines were on special offer in my local grocery shop recently and when I saw that I knew I had the perfect dish to use them with for dinner. The photo shows a single serving. I also heaped vegetables on the plate to have a full dinner.

Salmon Fillet With Nectarine Infusion

Serves 4

Ingredients:

2 tbsp minced fresh coriander leaves (cilantro)

2 tbsp minced red onion

2 tbsp freshly squeezed lime juice

4 wild salmon fillets*

2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

1 large nectarine cut into very thin wedges

Method:

Preheat oven to 220C (425F).

Combine coriander (cilantro), onion and lime juice in a small bowl. Brush skin side of the salmon with one tablespoon of the oil.

Place salmon, skin side down, on a wire rack. Press nectarine wedges evenly on to the salmon flesh and cover with the lime mixture.

Drizzle with the remaining tablespoon of olive oil and bake for 15 minutes.

*Note: My local fishmonger didn't have wild salmon when I made this recently so I used farmed salmon, which would have a higher mercury content.

Credit: The Paleo Diet Cookbook by Loren Cordain, Ph.D.

Approximate Nutritional Values per Serving:

Energy: 688kcal

Fat: 42.6g (Saturates: 7.3g, Trans: 0g)

Cholesterol: 143mg

Sodium: 142.4mg

Potassium: 1,335.9mg

Carbohydrates: 24.6g (Sugar: 14.9g)

Dietary Fibre: 3.7g

Protein: 52.7g

Vitamin A: 29.4%

Vitamin C: 56%

Calcium: 7.3%

Iron: 8%

Coeliac Disease And Oats

Today for coeliac awareness week I'm going to talk about oats. Oats are a bit of a grey area when it comes to coeliac disease. Technically, they are not a gluten grain but the environment in which they are kept for food production means they get cross contaminated with wheat, barley and rye. The protein in oats is similar to gluten which means it can be cross reactive and not every coeliac can tolerate them. I've read in some places that most coeliacs cannot tolerate oats but official coeliac societies say different. Maybe the ones that say most aren't allowing for the difference between regular oat foods and ones that contain pure oats, which are labelled gluten free. Here's a quote from the Coeliac UK website: "Oats contain avenin, which is a similar protein to gluten. Research has shown that most people with coeliac disease can tolerate oats with no problems. The issue is that sometimes oats are produced in the same place as wheat, barley and rye, and then become contaminated with these other grains". Australia, on the other hand, has stricter rules regarding what is gluten free. I've been told food has to be less than five parts per million to be declared gluten free and that any food with oats, even pure oats, is not allowed to carry a gluten free label.
When I was first diagnosed the dietitian told me to avoid oats for up to a year to allow my gut to heal, as oats can only be tolerated on a fully healed gut. When I was doing a bit of research for this post, I saw that the Coeliac Society of Ireland also say you have to allow time for the coeliac antibody production to go down to normal otherwise you will still react to oats. This can take up to 2 years. It also says that some people will still not tolerate oats. Sensitive people will experience symptoms while some will react but not be sensitive to symptoms and the lining of the gut lining can still get damaged without them knowing. The advice there is to receive regular follow ups with their medical team to monitor tolerance. It says do not use oats if you have raised tTG antibodies and do not use oats if you have gastroenteritis.
There was also a thread on the site relating to someone who asked about being sensitive to oats. In it, the moderator said that the symptoms described were similar to the reaction of someone introducing a large amount of fibre into their diet when they are not used to it. That is something to also consider when trying oats.
I don't tolerate oats. Anything labelled gluten free with oats, I avoid eating. My gut is sensitive and delicate so oats are tough on it. Maybe I could try gradually reintroducing them again as it's been years since I had any but it's easier to avoid them. What prompted me to do a post on oats today was what you see in the photo. I was in Aldi the other day looking at what gluten free special buys they had on offer for coeliac awareness week. Every product you see has oat flour in the ingredients so I can't have any. In a way I'm glad because if I could tolerate oats I'd buy them and eat a whole packet in one sitting. That would mean a number of things - an oats overload possibly triggering a reaction, a sugar overload definitely triggering a reaction and I'm diabetic so my blood sugar would spike and I might not take enough insulin for it if I had it just after a meal or maybe none at all snacking between meals. Inflamed gut and hyperglycemia, not a good combination.
So the message is if you are newly diagnosed with coeliac disease avoid oats for at least a year then gradually reintroduce them in small amounts to see if they're tolerated. Whether you do or don't, you do what works for you when it comes to oats.

Coeliac Awareness Week

Coeliac awareness week begins today and that's why I'll post more this week than just the normal one post on a Wednesday. I'll keep this post simple today. I wrote a post a couple of months ago on adapting to coeliac disease and I think it's the best way to start off. Let me redirect you to the post here: https://myautoimmuneblog.blogspot.com/2020/02/adapting-to-coeliac-disease.html?m=1

A Brief Post This Week

I'm lacking inspiration for what to write about so this might be short. I don't know if it's the alteration I made to my insulin dosing or if, somehow, insulin is taking longer to get in my system from certain sites but I've gone low or been close to going low at supper a couple of times in the last week. I'll try lowering my dinner insulin first and see how that goes. If that doesn't work I'll adjust back to 3mmol/l for one unit of insulin and see if that works.
Next week is coeliac awareness week here in Ireland. I'll have to come up with something for that. I can't guarantee it'll be anything special but I'll definitely do something on the blog.
I'll leave it there for today. Feeling a bit drowsy after dinner so I'll try and have a nap.