Anyway, today I finally put two and two together, and worked out that it's wheat. And I had this realization while naughtily snacking on a Chinese fried dough snack.
| (Source) It's like these, only flaky. I didn't even think to take a photo and now it's been devoured |
How shall I describe the experience?
First, I was happily enjoying some munch-time, and then about half an hour or so later, I felt really, really, really sick. Think of indigestion, bloating, and nausea all rolled into one. And then it hit me, this happens every time I have too much of anything with flour, including cakes, pasta, and bread.
As a child, I remembered absolutely detesting having bread for breakfast. Bread was really difficult to stomach, but growing up in an Asian household, you learnt to eat whatever was put in front of you... or else!
So, I grew up with a tolerance for being intolerant. Honestly! I thought it was perfectly normal to feel sick after meals all the time, which was why it also took me ages to work out that I had a lactose intolerance.
There are many ways (most that have yet to be 100% foolproof) on how to test for food intolerance. The easiest way is to keep a food diary. This way, you can work out what foods trigger your intolerance, and hopefully see a pattern from that point onwards. You can also do Food Intolerance Tests, but these have yet to be proven to work.
I did work out that I can have wheat in small amounts, just like I can have cow's milk in small amounts too. My symptoms only trigger when I've gone past my threshold.
While I'm feeling a little peeved about this, hopefully this will help me curb my snacking. Ideally, I'd love to be able to munch on carrot sticks like some people do, but I love that feeling of fullness that gluten gives me (or in my case.... overly full when I've had too much!). Here's to a new gluten-less diet.
