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When we talk about “wheat”, “celiac disease” immediately comes to mind. However, celiac disease (gluten allergy) can be quite different from a food intolerance to wheat (which contains many other allergens), and only an expert doctor can properly evaluate the relationship between these hypersensitivities and the treatment for celiac disease.
Wheat, its related grains and derivatives contain many potential allergens that can cause highly visible signs such as flakey dermatitis (or dandruff); diarrhea (due to malabsorption); inflammatory headache.
When someone is hypersensitive to fermentations (yeast) he or she lives in a rather odd state. This person experiences fatigue, is prone to certain contagions (candidiasis, mycoses, vaginitis, chronic lung disturbances) but above all, there is a sort of generalized “drunkenness” which dulls reflexes and lucidity (some managers, professionals and students during examinations have learned to abstain from yeast in order to improve their concentration).
The situation is heavier when there's also an excess of salt, which means hypertension, swollen body and ankles, asthma or breathing difficulties. The body is full of liquids and tends to “retain” them - like in the premenstrual syndrome - in an overall state of fatigue.
What does “avoiding salt, wheat and yeast” mean?
The allergens contained in wheat are present in the entire grain; on diet days it's therefore necessary to avoid white flour, whole wheat flour and bran, as well as rye, spelt and kamut due to their similarity to wheat.
Avoiding yeast means that you need to be careful with chemical or natural yeast, but also everything that ferments or is fermented, including mushrooms, wine, and perhaps even the molds in the basement. The list of yeast holds a few surprises: the best thing to do is to always keep an eye to our food profile Salt + Wheat + Yeast: yes and no foods.
Avoiding salt it's not so easy, since (added) salt is present in many manufactured foods. It's important to carefully read the ingredients labels, and be ready to replace many usual products (bread, baked foods, cold cuts, snacks...) with unsalted alternatives. Luckily, it's not difficult, and since salt is a natural component of the body, it's more a matter of keeping its intake under control rather than eliminating it.
How can a person manage the salt, wheat and yeast diet?
This diet is rather demanding, because it means that on diet days many usual foods will have to be replaced, from bread to wine to snacks. The advantage is that in our tradition, flour is usually combined with yeast, so when we learn to control flours, we also solve almost entirely the yeast issue without extra effort.
Following this diet also means learning how to use many other grains and flours: barley, rice, corn, buckwheat, oats, millet, quinoa (no rye, spelt or kamut). You can use pasta (made from rice, corn, buckwheat...), choosing from an ever increasing variety of tasty products that now can be easily found at the supermarket. Bread can also be easily replaced by rice, steamed potatoes, crepes (made with rice or buckwheat flour)...
Concerning salt, you need to foresee a few days of adaptation before your sense of taste becomes attuned to the new taste levels. Better be ready to cook alternative foods at home, and/or buy salt-free products, now quite easy to purchase. There are many ways to cook tasty foods, and sometimes, after having reduced salt for health purposes, people don't go back to using it because food tastes better; you immediately feel more tonic, you breathe and walk better, your shoes fit and your waist bands are looser.
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