Sour Dough- Could This Be IT?

For those new to my blog, I found out in August that I am sensitive to gluten.  I seriously had no idea!  I was also told that I had an incredibly high Candida level, and I was sensitive to milk.  Basically I went off of most grains, all sugar (both processed and natural), and most milk products (except butter & eventually raw milk).

Once I had been off of wheat for a few weeks I could feel a reaction to it when I would have it.  Part of our sacrament at church is eating a small piece of bread (like the size of my thumb-nail), and my throat gets tickly when I eat it (I could have something gluten-free if I wanted, but I haven't thought it was worth the hassle).  This reaction, though, has been enough to make me pretty cautious.  I've been pretty good about not eating gluten (although I've strayed a bit more with the sugar!).

I've heard that some people who are gluten sensitive can handle sour dough or soaked grains with no problem (thanks, Kelsey via comments on THIS entry), so I decided to give it a try.  Kelsey also suggested going to http://www.gnowfglins.com/, which I had never even heard of before.  I LOVE this site!  So much great info. 

Well, one thing led to another, and one of my sweet friends surprised me by bringing over a pint jar with a sour dough start in it on Saturday night.  The timing was perfect, and it made my day!

I quickly started the gnowfglins foundation course, then jumped to the course on sourdough, because I wasn't even sure what to do with it, or how to feed it. 

My friend also gave me a recipe for sour dough pancakes, so I decided to try them on Sunday morning.
[I was going to post the recipe, but my ds cleaned up the counter, and I'm not sure where he put the recipe card!  I hope not in the trash.  I'll post it when it's found]

I ground some wheat and got the dough soaking the night before.

In the morning I added the rest of the ingredients, and the pancakes turned out amazing!  Much better than my standard whole wheat pancakes.

I ate a couple with Greek yogurt (with a bit of cinnamon and stevia).  It was SO yummy!  But soon after.... bummer!  Itchiness!  My throat itched, my skin itched, and I started getting a slight headache.  So, guess I won't be eating sourdough breads, either!  Bummer.  I'm still going to make them for my family, though, because they are really missing bread.

My friend also gave a cute little loaf of bread.  She didn't say it was gluten-free, but said it was made out of a bunch of grains like spelt & millet, and I can't even remember the rest.  I decided that since I had had the pancakes that morning, then I was going to eat the bread, too.  It was SOOOO good.  I need to get the recipe from her.  But of course, more itchiness.  This time I could see a faint read lacy reaction on the undersides of my arms.  It went away pretty quickly, but still.  Oh well.  None of that either.

Oh... and few other things that I noticed after having the pancakes/bread:

*  I get out of church at noon, and eat lunch by about 1:00 pm, and yesterday I was VERY hungry by lunch time.  Much hungrier than I have felt in a long time.  On my low sugar/gluten diet I don't feel those hunger pangs.

*  This morning when I woke up I was HUNGRY.  When I first started this diet in August I was worried I would feel hungry all the time, and thought I would wake up starving.  But I NEVER did.  Not once.  It's kind of comforting to have that full feeling, and not be anxious about eating again.

~This post is linked to Monday Mania at The Healthy Home Economist.com~