Answer To The Question

During my sharing session at the I Ho Chuan meeting, I mentioned that my shoulder clicked. Sifu Brinker immediately asked me about inflammation in my shoulder. I was bewildered as I was quite unaware of any (excess) inflammation other than from what occurred during the injuring of the ac joint itself.

It's rhubarb season and one of my favorites is rhubarb/apple crisp made with crab apples made from my tree. I make the crisp with a combination of almond flour (can also use cashew and other nut) and oatmeal with maple syrup as the sweetener for the topping and a couple of tablespoons of  coconut sugar for the fruit to give a caramel tone. So good (especially with my vanilla dairy-free ice cream) and makes a yummy breakfast. Since the rhubarb is fresh and I have lots of it: chow down!

Well yesterday with the rainy weather I had a low grade headache (first in a while), was dragged out, and my stomach not the top of its game. Blah! Talk about a sloth day. Today my shoulder is REALLY giving me grief!!! Best friends with an ice pack and I didn't work it like I have in the past. What gives??!!

Enter the SHA-ZAM lightning bolt of clarity!! When did the symptoms start/increase? Uh-huh, and what did I insert into the diet to see if I could tolerate it and so far I "did"? OATMEAL!! Here I am having an inflammatory reaction to oatmeal with the symptoms being headache, upset stomach, dragginess, and increased pain in my shoulder. By the way, there quite a remarkable difference in pain. There would be the answer to Sifu Brinker's question of where the inflammation was coming from: my diet. So glad that Sifu Brinker asked the question.

I have been totally gluten free and I do know that wheat is a no-go, but I wanted to see if I could tolerate other grains. I guess not. So back to 100% gluten free. Does that mean no more rhubarb/apple crisp? Actually no as there are a couple of options: the topping made with all nut flours or substitute in quinoa flakes for oatmeal as quinoa is gluten free (actually a seed). It's worth a try.
Sherri Donohue
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