Ahhh Gluten-Free?

If you know me at all, you most likely know that I've been eating gluten free for about 6 years now. I am happy to say I was on the "gluten free band wagon" before it was cool. ;) Over the years I've gotten a lot of strange looks when I tell people I don't eat gluten and that it makes me sick. Back in 2007 people didn't even know what gluten was. There were no gluten free sections at any of your local grocery stores (maybe at a health food store), and there was no chance that you would find gluten free food on a restaurant menu.

When I went off gluten in 2007 I lost 20 pounds. It was great! I was a senior in high school and in the best shape of my life. I had been experiencing exercise induced asthma while playing basketball and would cough up mucous. Just two weeks after taking gluten out of my diet I went from playing a maximum of 8 minutes before having to a rest to being able to play a solid 16 minutes! Needless to say, I was floored. All my asthma and mucous issues were gone, I had a tone of energy and I felt amazing.

Gluten is a protein found in wheat, barley, rye and some oats. Our bodies have a hard time digesting this protein which causes our bodies immune system to attack the lining of our small intestine. This can cause abdominal pain, diarrhea and nausea. Unfortunately, the side effects don't stop there. The graph below from a Mercola article shows the varying types of symptoms. The symptoms can reach past gastrointestinal issues to these listed below:

Osteoporosis or osteopenia	Tooth enamel defects		Vitamin K deficiency
Central and peripheral nervous system disease	Dementia, and impairments in mental functioning that could cause or aggravate autism, Asperger’s syndrome, ADD or schizophrenia		Dermatitis Herpetiformis (DH), a skin condition that causes intense itching and blistering
Anemia of various types	Infertility, and earlier menopause		Organ disorders
Weight loss or gain	Depression		Fatigue

If you don't feel well and can't seem to figure out what the problem is, I would encourage you to try going gluten free for a month. You can also have blood testing done to see if you are gluten intolerant or have celiac disease. There are multiple people in my family who are gluten intolerant and we all have different symptoms from eating it.

There is a lot more I could say about gluten, so I am sure we will revisit this topic, but that is all I'm going to talk about tonight!

Until next time,
Hope
xoxo

References:
http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2009/07/23/Why-is-Wheat-Gluten-Disorder-on-the-Rise.aspx