If you read my post last week, you’ll have heard me raving about my new love for the traditional America breakfast of pancakes, bacon and maple syrup. For Sunday lunch (and because it was our two year anniversary- ahhhhhhh) I decided to experiment and make my own pancakes and maple syrup- but a healthier version. The bacon isn’t exactly salad, but a little lean bacon now and then won’t kill you. Maple syrup is a natural sugar so gets the thumbs up. Also, pancake batter contains no white sugar (THE ENEMY)- it is simply milk, eggs and flour. For this recipe, I swapped refined, white flour for whole meal which is a healthier carb. It keeps you fuller for longer and your blood sugars stable, meaning you won’t get sweaty and shaky when you’re feeling a bit peckish later on.
Sadly, these pancakes aren’t gluten free but they are lactose free. I’m not sure if I’ve mentioned it elsewhere in my blog, but I am lactose intolerant. I haven’t had an official test to diagnose it, but my GP recommended eliminating dairy back in 2010 when I went to see him with wheeziness and a strange sensation under my left ribs (turned out the lining of my stomach was inflamed, though I thought the heart condition I once had had flared up again- more on that to follow). As soon as I cut out lactose, I was cured. Whenever I reintroduce some, I have to do so carefully and in small doses. When the symptoms return, it’s time to cut out dairy again. I generally tend to be fine so long as I have either lactose free or soya milk (I use the Arla milk below for EVERYTHING).
I do use regular
butter and normal cheese in my recipes and seem to be ok with these products in
small amounts, but I make sure that if I have a cheese pizza one night, I lay
off dairy for the rest of the week. Arla also do a lactose free cheese too and
goat cheese is a lot easier for lactose intolerance sufferers to digest.
My sudden lactose intolerance is a mystery to me and I have
two theories about why I suddenly developed it.
Firstly, back in August 2007, I was travelling in Canada and suffered
from an insect bite which I slathered in antiseptic and covered with a
plaster. Two months later in October, I
went to my local walk-in centre feeling wheezy and suffering chest pain, but
had put it down to something muscular as I was still running and attending the
gym regularly. Half an hour after
arriving, I was in the back of an emergency ambulance being rushed straight to
resuscitation in A&E (or the ER for my lovely American readers!) An ECG at the walk-in centre had found my
heart was firing signals in the wrong direction and I had to see a doctor
immediately. I was referred to a
cardiologist after a doctor discovered a heart murmur that I’d never had
before. The next couple of months were a
blur and in the middle of persistent fevers, tremors, headaches, glandular
fever and feeling unwell, and a gazillion blood tests, my cardiologist
diagnosed a dose of pericarditis (an inflammation of the heart wall due to a
bacterial infection, meaning the sack your ticker lives in was doing a nice job
of crushing mine). My dose of
pericarditis was the final, late symptom of something called Lyme Disease. a tic borne disease that is common in the US
and Canada and becoming increasingly common in the UK too (more here on the NHS
website- spread the word people because
knowledge is power with this nasty little disease).
The treatment was simple: massive doses of
antibiotics to blast the infection (I was roughly on 3000mg of penicillin a
day, after I’d been blasted with Doxycycline, which is powerful enough to be
used as an anti-malarial) and huge quantities of anti-inflammatory drugs (both
prescription and ibuprofen). I am now
fit and well I’m pleased to say, though I do have a harmless, soft heart murmur
left after the infection. I was finally
discharged from the cardiologist in 2012, 5 years after contracting Lyme
Disease. Big high five to the NHS who
covered thousands of pounds worth of Lyme Disease tests, other tests,
echo-cardiograms and nights in hospital!
How does all of this relate to my lactose intolerance though? Well, I do wonder if the high quantities of
anti-inflammatory drugs I was taking affected my stomach lining, as they can cause
a reduction in prostaglandins (chemicals in your body that promote
inflammation) which are important in protecting your stomach lining from acid
and generally keeping it in good health.
However, bearing in mind how ill the Lyme Disease had made me, having a
lactose intolerance now seems a very small price to pay. The Lyme Disease also reminds me every day
how precious and important my body and my health is. Believe me, anything going wrong with your
heart is the MOST frightening (and potentially deadly) thing you will ever encounter-
so don’t let obesity and a poor diet get you there when heart trouble stemming
from this can be so easily avoided.
My second theory though about what caused my lactose
intolerance is far more alarming. I
think it’s down the shitty, unhealthy additives that manufacturers put into our
food. Have you noticed now how many foods
that pregnant women aren’t allowed to eat?
Have you noticed how many more people, especially children, suffer from
allergies requiring them to carry an epipen?
Have you noticed how many more people can’t digest dairy of gluten and
have to cut it from their diets? Food
allergies are everywhere but 30 years ago, there was virtually no such
thing. Yes, food allergies can happen
suddenly (my neighbour became gluten intolerant after she had her gall bladder
removed!) but I just don’t get how I can have dairy every day for 30 years of
my life and then suddenly have my body turn against me when I eat it. Also, whenever I was backpacking and eating
the local dairy in South America, India, Asia, I never once suffered with my
lactose intolerance- probably because in these developing countries, they don’t
mess with their food as much as we do!
Admittedly, I did have the shits but that was down to Delhi belly rather
than lactose intolerance...
Anyway, if dairy and gluten are disagreeing with us, I’ll
make sure that my recipes try to embrace this and as a lactose intolerance
sufferer, my recipes are usually kind to my tummy. The whole meal pancakes were amazing and
hopefully if you do suffer from coeliac disease, you’ll be able to adapt this
to suit your tummy too!
Ingredients (serves 2):
6 rashers of
lean, smoked bacon
Maple syrup
(the Aldi one is amazing)
100g whole
meal flour
½ a teaspoon
of bicarbonate of soda
A pinch of
salt
One egg
250ml of
lactose free milk
Method:
1.
Mix the
egg into the flour, salt and baking powder.
Then, slowly add the milk, whisking well after each addition until you
have a batter. Set to one side so it can stand before cooking.
2.
Grill your bacon and begin fry your
pancakes when it is almost done.
3.
To fry the pancakes, add a little oil to a hot
frying pan and then wipe around the pan with kitchen paper to absorb the
excess. Pour in half the batter to make
your first pancake. Once it starts to
bubble on top, slide a spatula underneath it to prevent it burning. Once most
of the batter on top has cooked, flip it over and give it another minute or so
on the other side.
4.
Top the pancakes with your bacon and drizzle
with the maple syrup. Serve and enjoy!
 |
| I need to work on giving my pancakes neater edges- don't touch them until the batter is bubbling on top! |
Believe me when I say you don’t ever want to suffer from a
food intolerance. The general symptoms of bloating, stomach aches and cramps,
lethargy and a lack of energy are no fun and these are the exact symptoms you
will suffer from anyway if you eat a poor diet that is loaded with sugar, junk
food, white carbs and general gluttony. Putting
the right stuff inside your body is the most life-changing and life-saving
thing you can do for yourself.
On a final note, because I love some food porn, here's some for you! It was my friend's birthday yesterday and I took her to Sugar Junction for lunch (link here). She is a fully fledged and diagnosed coeliac but luckily, there was plenty on offer for her at Sugar Junction.
 |
| Sugar Junction's gluten-free orange and almond cake |
I had the eggs royale for lunch and we shared a piece of orange and almond gluten free cake to celebrate her birthday. The cake was delicious- moist and light- and if you are gluten intolerant, the gluten free cake from Sugar Junction is just like the real thing. It was delicious!
 |
| Eggs Royale- the perfect amount of protein and carbs- so yummy! |
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