My Gluten-free Story

This is the story of how a die hard bread lover decided  she had to go gluten free: Does any of this sound familiar to you? I was tired all the time. My brain wouldn't work. My head felt fuzzy, like it wasn't connected to my body. I'm pretty sure that a slug was faster than I was on some days. I felt awful most of the time. I felt better when I didn't eat anything except that I would have to eat some time during the day or I thought I would pass out. I flip flopped between constipation and diarrhea. I had irritable bowel syndrome before it even had a name. My stomach would bloat so much that I couldn't get into the new pants I had just bought that looked great when I tried them on at the store. I didn't eat that much but I couldn't lose a pound no matter what I did. I craved carbs. I had headaches a good bit of the time. I slept too little and crashed after lunch. I had strange muslce and/or joint pains that would come and go.

This is the way I felt for years! If you add in the vomiting at the drop of a hat, severe menstrual issues and vertigo/dizzy spells, you would have my health history in a nutshell.

I had been diagnosed with autoimmune Thyroid problems and PCOS years ago and pretty much blamed everything that went wrong physically on those two problems but recently I read an extraordinary book that opened my eyes to a much bigger problem - gluten!

Before I get to the book, let's look at what gluten is. Precisionnutrition.com says this about gluten:

"Gluten is a sticky protein found in a number of grains that helps bind things together. Basically, it’s the “glue” that helps bread hold its shape, stops sauces from curdling, and gives cheese spreads, canned meats and many condiments their smooth texture. Gluten is ubiquitous in our food supply today and is found in everything from oats, bran and cereal – to the not so obvious – ketchup, soy sauce, chewing gum and salad dressing. Truthfully, if you eat any type of processed food, you’re likely eating gluten."

Now, let me tell you that I love bread. I repeat, I LOVE bread. I baked fresh bread at home. I have made three batches of homemade cinnamon rolls in a day and ate them all with my family. I love bagettes, scones, paninis, toast, biscuits, bruschetta, french rolls, sourdough, garlic rolls swimming in butter. Bread is one of the major components I think about when composing a meal for dinner. What bread will go with - fill in the blank? It goes without saying that I love cake, pies, pound cake, cupcakes, smores, cookies, shortcakes, etc. On the plus side, I don't really care for pasta much so at least that's good!

So back to this amazing book that has fundamentally changed/ruined my life:
I like to keep up with the latest book releases regarding Thyroid disease and fjust recently ound the book "Why Do I Still Have Thyroid Symptoms When My Lab Tests are Normal?" by Datis Kharrazian. Just the title alone, spoke to my heart! (If you have suffered with Thyroid problems, you will know the dreaded lab tests and your doctor proclaiming that everything is in the "normal" range, but you know something is very, very wrong with your body.) I was reading along about autoimmune Thyroid when I stumbled upon this:

One of the main functions of the immune system is to protect the body from foreign invaders. Sometimes it begins to recognize a frequently eaten food as a dangerous invader (often as a result of poor intestinal health), keeping the immune system engaged in constant battle. In time, the beleaguered, overactive immune system can start to behave erratically and begin attacking body tissue. The most common example of this scenario for people with Hashimoto’s involves gluten, the protein found in wheat and wheat-like grains, including spelt, kamut, rye, barley, triticale, and oats.

Numerous studies from several countries show a strong link between gluten intolerance and Hashimoto’s disease. Because the molecular structure of gluten so closely resembles that of the thyroid gland, the problem may be one of mistaken identity.

Every time undigested gluten mistakenly slips into the bloodstream, the immune system responds by destroying it for removal. That’s because gluten doesn’t belong in the bloodstream but gets there through overly permeable intestinal walls, or a “leaky gut.”

Most people think gluten intolerance is a gut issue, but for many it causes other problems, such as in inflammation in the joints, skin, respiratory tract, orbrain. Once these genes are triggered, gluten must be avoided throughout life.

 

I was shocked! Floored! I had never heard this information before and I live in a huge community of vegetarian, all-natural, spread the news of good health via seminars and tracts, heart healthy, diet restricting people! Not to mention, my friends that are nurses AND being surrounded by good doctors with extensive training in their medical fields.

No one - no doctor, nurse practitioner, chiropractor, physical therapist, herbalist, or specialist - had even come close to suggesting that I try going gluten free to see if I would feel better. That's all the nudge I would have needed to research the matter further.

After reading just one page in Dr. K's book, I googled "autoimmune thyroid and gluten" and pulled up this research:

According to research reported on in the medical journal Digestive Diseases and Sciences, a significant number of patients with autoimmune thyroid disease also have celiac disease. Celiac disease is a disorder that causes the intestines to react abnormally to gluten, a protein found in wheat, rye, barley, oats, spelt, kamut, and other related grains.

Of perhaps greatest importance to thyroid patients, the researchers found that the various antibodies that indicate celiac disease - organ-specific autoantibodies (i.e., thyroid antibodies) -- will disappear after 3 to 6 months of a gluten-free diet.

The researchers suggest that patients with autoimmune thyroiditis "may benefit from a screening for celiac disease so as to eliminate symptoms and limit the risk of developing other autoimmune disorders."

You know what's really amazing about this research? It's been available for 11 years! For 11 years, this information was known but not recommended to me by anyone. So sad. It would have been harder to go gluten free eleven years ago, but I bet I would have still tried it. I have always been desperate to feel better.

So that brings me to this blog, I am kissing "gluten goodbye" and I want to document my journey. I want to share what was not shared with me and I want to be help accountable. I want to talk about my struggles, symptoms and hopeful healing of my body. I am sure it will be a bumpy ride but I am excited and encouraged by the changes I have already made. I hope that my journey will inspire others and look forward to hearing from any of you with similar stories.

Here's to sweet success,

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