“Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food.” Hippocrates

 

 

If I’m talking about food as medicine, then why the picture of chocolate cupcakes? What kind of “medicine” is that? They’re not even healthy! Well, even in a healthy diet there’s room for an occasional treat. Of course, there are many, many healthy foods to eat, but there’s also a reason for these cupcakes! Keep reading…

 

Recently I’ve been working with my four year old on her eczema. She developed it first when she was 18 months old, and it’s worsened over the past year or two, mostly around her knees, elbows and ankles. When the weather cooled off this fall, the eczema got more inflamed and itchy. It’s a sad thing to take your baby to the potty in the middle of the night and watch her scratch in her sleep when you put her back in the bed. At first, I thought it was the weather, but so far the season has been very warm for winter (global warming even in Georgia). Shea butter, warm baths, olive oil soaps all seemed to have been helpful in the past, but when I had to resort to bleach baths and steroid creams, I knew I had to get radical to get her some relief.

 

Bleach and steroids…Not what I want on my four year old!

 

This is not a one-size-fits-all kind of post. What I’m doing may not work for everyone, but I want to talk about the effect of diet on our individual selves. We are all different and our genetic makeup plays a role in what our bodies express, but our diet can help (or harm!) our bodies tremendously. My baby girl is a good example of this. Out of the four kids, she’s the only one with severe nut allergies and eczema. I have a severe allergy to brazil nuts, but nothing else. Apparently, this tendency toward nut allergies is in other members of my family too. So, she just was the one who got the genes for the nut allergy. The eczema is different, because while it isn’t an allergy, it’s definitely related and common in people with allergies. While it may not be caused by a food allergy, something she was eating was causing it to flare up. And I was going to figure it out!

 

My cutie pie!

The most common foods that cause sensitivity reactions are wheat, eggs, dairy, and soy. Next comes corn, peanuts, shellfish, tree nuts, fish, artificial dyes, preservatives, and artificial sugars. Regular sugars can also foster inflammation in the body, though rarely an allergy. Since my munchkin was already off of nuts and eggs and doesn’t do much dairy, wheat/gluten was next. I’d been avoiding putting her on a gluten free diet for a while – thinking about replacing bread, crackers, snacks and more was enough to make me put it off. But when the skin around her ankles started cracking and her skin pigment was fading because of the inflammation, I decided to go for it.

 

This is improved, but the pigment hasn’t returned yet…

 

Lo and behold, her skin improved dramatically! While the bleach baths were minimally helpful and the steroids did their job, the gluten free diet was as effective or more than the steroids. She doesn’t complain about being itchy except occasionally. And she’s not scratching in her sleep!  Let’s be clear: I am not saying she has a gluten allergy. A true gluten allergy is celiac disease, which is very rare. But I do think she has a gluten sensitivity, which she may or may not grow out of in the coming years. And now I can modify her diet to help her to be more comfortable. And as a mom, that’s comforting to me.

 

So as we wrap up birthday season, we have been making gluten free cupcakes so that everyone can participate in the festivities. See, we don’t always eat healthy in this family! The kids like them better than the regular cupcakes I used to order from Whole Foods (which were super cute!), and they preferred to decorate them the way they wanted. This recipe is super easy, so don’t be afraid to make these as cupcakes or a cake for your next party or event!

 

Dark Chocolate Cupcakes (adapted from a cake recipe at addapinch.com “The Best Chocolate Cake {Ever}”)

Makes 12 cupcakes (half the cake recipe)

 

Ready to bake!

 

Ingredients

  • 1 cup gluten free all purpose flour
  • 1 cup coconut sugar (you can use granulated)
  • scant 1/2 cup cocoa powder
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 3/4 tsp baking soda
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1/2 tsp cinnamon (optional)
  • 1/2 cup milk
  • 1/4 cup coconut oil (can use vegetable oil)
  • 1 egg
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1/2 cup hot brewed coffee

 

The batter – looks thin, but makes very moist cupcakes!

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line cupcake tin with paper liners (or butter and flour the cups)
  2. Add flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt to your mixer and blend well.
  3. Add milk, oil, vanilla, and egg to the mixer and mix on medium speed until well combined. Reduce the speed of the mixer and add the hot coffee. Then beat on high speed to add air to the batter. It will be a thin batter.
  4. Distribute the batter evenly between the cups and bake 14-17 minutes, until a toothpick or cake tester comes out clean from the center of the cupcake.
  5. Remove from the oven and allow to cool 10-15 minutes, then cool completely on a baking rack.

 

Batter in the cups!

 

Frost and decorate however you like! My oldest requested whipped cream for frosting for her birthday and the twins want powdered sugar and some sort of decoration in the top. Whatever you choose, it’ll be fun!

 

The finished cakes. Aren’t they beautiful?

 

Have you ever made diet changes to improve or cure a medical condition? Please share in the comments below!