How To Go Gluten Free!

Digestive Discomfort After Going Gluten Free

Initially my body felt better when I went gluten-free, and I wasn’t even 100% gluten free initially.  But going gluten-free doesn’t mean the end of digestive discomfort, sometimes it means that it is beginning a new phase in understanding our bodies and helping to repair the damage that has been done by all that gluten.

If someone is gluten-free or has Celiac and they are exposed to gluten, they will likely experience some discomfort, sometimes pretty severe discomfort.  That isn’t what I am talking about in this post.  Certainly if a person has gone gluten-free and they have discomfort, the first thing they should look for is if gluten slipped into their diet somehow.  After a thorough investigation, there remain several possibilities.  I will focus on three today:

Sugar.  Most people who have been diagnosed with a gluten-intolerance and all people who have Celiac have damage in their intestines.  Sugar seems to really cause problems with an already-sensitive digestive system.  I have noticed for myself that I can no longer tolerate eating sweets by themselves.  If they are part of a meal or have some more substantial food incorporated into them I am usually okay.

This varies from person to person with some people finding they are fine with honey and agave but not with regular sugar or corn syrup in any form.  Other people find that honey affects them as well.  I am not going to get into the science behind how sugar is produced and how it interacts in our bodies.  Just consider that if you are still having digestive discomfort that it may be related to sugar consumption.  Experiment, keep a food journal, and see if you see a link.

Besides, our bodies do not need the level of sugar consumption that is encouraged in these modern days.  You will likely be healthier overall if you reduce your sugar consumption, whether you are having digestive problems or not.

Artificial Sweeteners.  Even before I went gluten-free I noticed that if I had a diet pop (soda for you outside the midwest) I would get stomach cramping within an hour or two.  I didn’t drink diet pop very often and after I noticed the link I stopped drinking it completely. 

I am not comfortable with all the processing and chemical modification that takes place to create artificial sweeteners, it just doesn’t seem like a good idea for our bodies.  That being said, each person needs to make their own choice and I certainly have enough of my own quirks that I am not going to judge you for drinking aspartame or splenda.  Just consider that if you are having digestive problems and you are consuming artificial sweeteners they may be a cause.

Another Food Intolerance.  Some folks have challenges with lactose, corn, soy, or eggs, to name a few.  There is always the possibility that your body is reacting to another ingredient.  See your medical professional to determine if this might be the case.

There are many other causes of digestive discomfort including food poisoning, gallbladder issues, and viruses.  Always listen to your body, look for patterns, and seek medical attention, especially if the symptoms are severe or last for an extended period of time.  When you aren’t feeling well it is difficult to be at your best.  Take care of yourself so you can participate in life the way you would like to!

Technorati Tags: digestive discomfort, other causes of stomach pain

Gluten Free Living

I often am asked “so what can you eat”? or “what does it mean to be gluten-free”?  I admit that I was a bit intimidated when I was first diagnosed.  My doctor’s instructions were to “experiment” and when I asked him what would happen if I ate gluten, he said “you will probably feel uncomfortable.  If you choose to have gluten from time to time you may end up feeling the consequences.”

By this time I had already learned that I was negative for Celiac.  If I had been diagnosed with Celiac I would not have had such an option.  From what I understand about what is understood for people with Celiac is that they are at a much higher risk of developing digestive cancers.  Because gluten actually stays in our bodies for at least two weeks once it is consumed, if you cheat a couple times a month you are never fully ridding your body of the gluten response.

One of the gluten responses is inflammation.  Not like the swelling of the neck that some people get when they eat peanuts or are stung by a bee.  It causes inflammation of the digestive track and joints.  My fingers used to ache pretty frequently and because arthritis runs in my family I thought that was what the problem was.  When I went gluten-free my achy joints went away.

It was quite a learning process to figure out all the things I needed to avoid.  There are still some that sneak up and surprise me.  It is the most concerning eating out or at someone’s house.  The more gluten has been removed from my diet, the stronger my bodies response has become.  Gluten is not welcome here anymore.

For example, initially I continued to eat at Chinese restaurants.  You may not know it but gluten is in soy sauce.  I always had that “not quite full, odd feeling in my stomach” when I ate Chinese food but I didn’t think anything of it.  When I eliminated breads and other obvious gluten foods I found that my response to Chinese food became stronger.   I would feel like maybe I was getting a stomach bug with some cramping and discomfort and then usually diarrhea within 12-24 hours and then my joints would be achy again.  When you make the association like that, you find the cravings become easier and easier to resist.

So what do I avoid?  ALL wheat products including breads, flour tortillas, pastas (Semolina and Durum are types of wheat).  Other grains I avoid are: barley, rye, graham, oats (they are cross-contaminated with wheat unless specifically listed as “gluten-free” and I found over time I developed a reaction to them as I got other gluten foods out of diet), spelt (some gluten-free people eat this but it gives me a reaction and it is a type of wheat).  Standard foods I avoid: noodles, cornbread (because it is almost always cooked with a portion of wheat flour), breaded foods (like deep-fried veggies), soy sauce (unless wheat is not an ingredient), and licorice (yes, it has wheat in it about 98% of the time), gravies, sauces that are thickened, beer (Red Bridge is my favorite gluten-free beer).

What do I read the labels on or ask the person who cooked it?  Soups, salad dressings, casseroles, cheese spreads, sauces, vegetarian meat substitutes, supplements, protein or meal bars, snack chips (Doritoes have wheat in them as do Pringles), pretty much any processed food.  You would be surprised where wheat shows up.

That said, there are lots of things I eat.  I will cover that in a new post.

Technorati Tags: gluten free foods, gluten sources

Gluten-Free Diagnosis

One of the most common questions I get is, “How did you know you were gluten-free?” or a variation, “Are you gluten-free by choice or necessity?” There are a few different ways to discover if you are gluten-intolerant.  Many people do a self-diagnosis by simply eliminating gluten from their diets for a couple weeks to see if they notice a difference.  You can do that but I also suggest that before you go off gluten completely that you get tested for Celiac, an autoimmune disease that needs more serious treatment than “gluten-intolerance” (which you can listen to your own body and decide how much gluten to consume based on your comfort level).

I do not have Celiac, for which I am profoundly grateful. People with Celiac have a much higher incidence of digestive cancers and need to be EXTREMELY careful about not allowing ANY gluten to get into their diets. If I had Celiac, I would rarely eat out or eat foods that I was “pretty sure” are okay.

Celiac can be tested with a blood test as long as you are still consuming gluten (there is also an endoscopy test and a genetic test, all of which have their advantages and drawbacks – consult with your doctor). My Celiac test was negative. The way we discovered my gluten-intolerance was through an elimination diet which was monitored by my doctor, Dr. Ed Linkner, in Ann Arbor.

If you are going to do an elimination diet I strongly suggest that you be monitored by a professional.  You are eliminating many necessary nutritients from your diet and it is important that you not be putting your body through unnecessary harm from the process, it is supposed to be healing, not hurting your body.

Let me back up to look at how we even started looking at gluten. Keith and I went on a vacation/conference to California and I experienced some discomfort in my stomach area. I would move toward bland foods hoping they would help the tightness to go away (you know, things like potatoes or crackers or bread). The feeling persisted and one night the pain became so bad we went to the ER where they kept me for observation. They thought my gallbladder was acting up (I have a strong family history of gallbladder disease). My pain subsided and after an ultrasound they said I should see my doctor as soon as I get back into town.

I saw Dr. Linkner and described my symptoms to him and he also looked over the records from California. He said he suspected it was my stomach, not my gallbladder that was giving me trouble and set out to determine if there was something going on there.

We went through several tests looking at everything from stomach acid, blood work, and how my food was digesting (by looking at the remains…not overly pleasant!). The results came back that I had an infestation of candida (a yeast) and inflammation in my digestive tract. The inflammation was a concern because that means my nutrients are not being absorbed properly plus over time that inflammation can turn into chronic disease (and discomfort).

Dr. Linkner put me on an “elimination” diet that removed all common allergens from my diet for six weeks. We also wanted to finish off the candida so I removed all fruits and any other form of sugar (because that is what they live on) and I took an herbal supplement to assist in restoring balance. Because my diet was so restrictive, I also took a rice-based shake supplement two or three times per day. NOT tasty. Here is what I removed: caffeine, sugar, eggs, milk, wheat, soy, alcohol, fruit, and more that I can’t remember. Oh yeah…corn too.

My wonderful husband went on the diet with me. What a guy! It was a tough six weeks. We ate a lot of rice, chicken (not a vegetarian at that time), beans, veggies, and potatoes. It was VERY hard with the sugar cravings to get rid of those candida. As they are in their death throes they get very demanding for their sugar. It took a lot of will power and I was grateful I had cleaned out my cupboards ahead of time to get tempting foods out of the house.

After the six weeks I was able to start adding back in foods, one at a time, three days apart. I was to add in a large quantity of the food and look for any reaction (headache, joint aches, runny nose or congestion, stomach upset, cramping, anything out of the ordinary). We were very strategic in adding back foods. I went with the foods first that are commonly found in other foods. I half-feared a milk reaction and was very pleased when I didn’t have one. Corn was early too and it sailed right through.

Wheat though gave me a runny nose almost immediately and a headache shortly after. I tried a couple times in the same day with the same results and had some achy joints the following day.

I let it clear from my system then added back another food then tried wheat again. Same results. Then I knew…life would not be the same in my kitchen.

It has been an interesting trip, learning which foods I can consume and how to find substitutes for my favs. Let me know if this post has been helpful to you. If you would like more information or recipes, just ask and I’ll be happy to include more.