A New Beginning

Hi to all the folks out there. I've been thinking about setting up this blog for quite some time now, but never got around to doing it for a number of reasons (I'm not exactly tech-savvy, and also have a full-time job in the building industry, being the two chief ones).

But really, I just got tired of reading that gluten intolerance doesn't really affect Asians, when the truth of the matter is that it DOES (I'm living proof) and after having suffered for something like eight years from this insidious affliction, and then going blissfully gluten-free for the past two, I felt that it was time I said something about the matter.

Hence this blog. My hope is that I'll be able to share some of the knowledge I've gained in getting out of the time-stealing, style-cramping, inconvenient, uncomfortable, yucky weirdness that is gluten intolerance, from the point of view of an Asian guy living in an Asian city, with a predominantly Asian diet.

This is still a journey, and there is still much to learn, but just knowing what was wrong -- what was causing my digestive system to go haywire the way it did -- is half the battle won, in my opinion.

In case you didn't know it (although if you've stumbled upon this blog from a web search you probably already have some inkling), gluten intolerance is the inability of the body to digest gluten, which is a protein found in wheat, barley, rye and some other related cereals (such as kamut, spelt, and triticale). This digestive inability results in some pretty nasty stuff happening to you, as what you've eaten trundles through its rumbly journey to emerge out the other end. The tough bit about suffering from gluten intolerance is that wheat is such an important grain, and it's in so many things we take for granted as safe to eat: bread, cake, pizza, cookies, biscuits, breakfast cereals, and many types of noodles, both Asian noodles as well as Italian pasta. And did you know it's in soy sauce? And that wheat-based starches are a common thickener in many foods? Oh and it's in some beverages too, like beer and malted drinks? (No more refreshing Tiger beer sorbet! No more comforting Horlicks ice-cream...*sob*. I really do weep for this last one. I love Horlicks ice-cream.)

(Actually, at a molecular level, it's supposedly the component proteins of gluten, not gluten itself, that may be the offending agent, which is why different cereals can affect the digestive system. But for ease of explanation -- and discussion -- I'm going to be using the G word as shorthand.)

Not all grains are bad for us GI folk. Corn and rice (thank heaven) are perfectly acceptable (take note please, people -- I can't believe how many times I've been asked "Oh, this has rice/corn in it -- can you eat it?"). Oats may be on or off the taboo list, depending on who you listen to. Me, I listen to my body, and oats are a no-no for me.

Symptoms of gluten intolerance (GI) are manifold, and my favourite way of describing it to curious non-sufferers is this: "Well, just imagine every possible symptom of gastro-intestinal distress you've ever had -- like cramping, bloatedness, gas, diarrhea and constipation -- and then imagine very often having them ALL AT THE SAME TIME."

I can hear you now, dear reader: diarrhea and constipation at the same time? Well, yes, in a weird way. I'll post more about it later. If you've suffered gluten intolerance, you'll know what I mean.

And if you don't know it already, this blog is paradoxically going to be about two things we don't normally like to discuss together in polite company: food and poo. Although I may post recipes in a separate blog; somehow that just seems more decent (or maybe it's just me at this time). Yeah, well, I make no apologies for anything. I'm naturally a polite person, but there's no going into GI territory without having to do the nasty and talking about bowel habits. So get ready. A lot of GI is not diagnosed because people don't know the symptoms to look out for. Or if you as a sufferer, do realise something's wrong, your doctor may not recognise the symptoms. It's my intention to go where few have gone before, and describe what goes on in all its unpleasant detail. But if you're already a GI sufferer, just reading about it cannot compare in any way with the grossness of the actual experience, so I trust you will be able to handle it.

A few short notes about this blog. English is my first language, but I wasn't raised in a Western country, so you may find certain turns of phrase, or bits of slang and spelling unfamiliar (yeah, I'm talking 'bout you, ya Webster-wieldin Yanks). It's a big wide varied world out there, all brought together by the magic of the Internet, so as long as you can understand the gist of what I'm saying, deal with it, people. And yes, I do hope to post tips and recipes and bits of experience in navigating, nay creating (for myself at least) a wheatless world, in a country where I've yet to meet someone else who has the same problem: Singapore. I know you GI Joes and Janes are out there, maybe you just don't know it yet. I'm hoping this blog will help you find your diagnosis and end your suffering on the porcelain throne. We don't have to trudge through the sludge no more.

Oh and I haven't mentioned that word yet: celiac, as in celiac disease. (Or coeliac for them folks across the pond. On this one I side with the Yanks; you don't pronounce the O so it does seem a bit unnecessary. And it's harder to type.) Mention "celiac" and people automatically think, oh childhood disease, extreme intestinal problems, etc. etc. I've never had the official test done, so I don't have the black and white diagnosis. Though it seems clear to me, from observing what a huge change avoiding gluten has done for my system, that I may have a mild form of the disease. So no, it's not necessarily an affliction that only white kids may be affected by. But I'm not going to call myself a celiac. My symptoms seem relatively milder compared to celiac sufferers I've read about on the Internet, and for now I think gluten intolerance is the term I will use.

I have my own theory about what gluten does to the system. But more about that in a later post. Right now I'm hungry for my gluten-free dinner.