Bread. It all began with bread. My Doctor of Oriental
Medicine introduced me to a baker that properly ferments bread. Regardless of
the fermentation, it is the best bread I have ever had. I began to introduce
more people to it, and I became a small bread hauler for my town on Saturdays.
We started with two loaves a week. They were mediumish
loaves, and two split between three people isn’t a lot, right? Then we moved to
three loaves a week and kept on for about six weeks when I realized I gained
five pounds! And my back started to ache. And my body odor returned. And Colson’s
nose got stuffier. All from bread. I thought it was the staff of life, right?
Guess again.
Now we are back on the
GAPS Diet. We have been on for a week. It took only three days for my body
odor to go away, and my shorts are fitting better. Colson is still stuffy and I
am still achy, but that could be due to the core exercises I started and have
now quit.
Injuries are tough. I have an old groin injury (which I
received at the height of premenopause four years ago – thank goodness that is reversed!)
That injury is now cranky because I have overdone it with squats and lunges
during my walks. Why was I squatting and lunging? Because walking alone wasn’t
a hard enough workout and I thought I couldn’t run thanks to my fractured back
14 years ago. All those squats and lunges served me well, though, as I
discovered earlier this year that I am a bionic runner with no training and no
pain. No pain until I switched to Vibram shoes and ran too far, straining my
ankles. Who knew that 40 years of atrophied foot muscles would be so hard to
overcome. Now I am back to walking, my groin hurts, my back hurts and I am back
on GAPS.
Given how quickly my body odor cleared, I am thinking
this GAPS experience will be about six weeks. Hopefully I will be pain-free by
the time it is over.
Here is one more thought about grain and bread. Since the
mid-1800s physicians have been able to predict that incidence of cancer based
on grain consumption. Check out this article by Dr. Tom Cowan, MD to learn
more: A
Holistic Approach to Cancer. My family only experiences inflammation, pain
and a stuffy nose thanks to too much bread prepared in the healthiest way
possible. Bread is an easy food, but clearly in my family’s small,
non-scientific but life-based experience, it is hurtful. Put into the larger
context of this article makes me even more grateful for discovering the GAPS
way.