Monday, May 26, 2014

Hashimoto's during the postpartum time, and tackling the Autoimmune Paleo Protocol

A few weeks ago it became apparent that I needed to make some big changes. Somewhere around 9 or 10 months after August's birth I started having a major Hashimoto's flare. I was exhausted. Bone-deep exhaustion that just wasn't explainable by having to get up and nurse a couple of times in the night. Foods that had felt fine a couple of months earlier were suddenly not fine at all.

Ian and I were discussing the book "Grain Brain," which makes the case that consuming grains (even "healthy" whole grains) can cause myriad problems like dementia, anxiety, depression and ADHD. I asked Ian if he thought I was depressed.

"Yes, of course you're depressed," he said.

"How long do you think I've been depressed for?" I asked.

"Since you got pregnant," he answered.

Sometimes it takes someone who has known you forever, who is walking the path with you, to see what's right in front of you. I needed to make a change, and I needed to make it yesterday.


Sunday, May 11, 2014

Lemon Ice Cream (Paleo, Vegan, Sugar-Free)

I spent some time this morning making these lemon cups (amaaaazing!) and had the idea for some lemon ice cream. I Googled vegan lemon ice cream and all the recipes I found contained cornstarch, which wouldn't work since I've gone grain-free again. The recipes I found also used a lot more natural sweetener then I can tolerate. So I tweaked the recipes I found and came up with this one. It is SO good!

 I have no idea how to photograph food :)

Ingredients:
  • Zest and juice of two lemons
  • Two cans full-fat coconut milk (I use Native Forest - the cans are BPA-free)
  • 1/3 cup maple syrup
  • 1/4 tsp. vanilla stevia
  • 1/2 tsp. guar gum
The guar gum makes the ice cream creamy. I got this idea from Kelly Brozyna's cookbook Dairy Free Ice Cream, which is wonderful. Her lemon-lime ice cream called for homemade dairy-free yogurt, which I didn't have, so I had to improvise.

Blend in a blender and pour into an ice cream maker. Run until ice cream is frozen and transfer to freezer (or eat right away!)

So yummy.