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Gluten Free Spectacular
12 years ago
Gluten Free Special Edition brought to you by Orion of HeathyFurs.
If this information resonates with you, please repost this on your journal. All I ask is that you reply with a link to your journal so if any questions arise I can be of assistance.
1.1 Intro
2.2 What is gluten sensitivity/intolerance?
3.3 Signs and symptoms it may affect you.
4.4 Testing for gluten intolerance.
5.5 Gluten Free Lifestyle.
6.6 Helpful Resources
1.1 Intro
Gluten intolerance affects a lot more people than you think. And the reason I am posting this is because it affects my wife. Starting with accidentally stumbling onto the topic, to it revolutionizing our lives, going gluten-free has been an amazing journey for my family.
The estimated amount of people who are gluten intolerant ranges from the low-end of 13% to the high of 70%. Of all people. The wide range is there because of which test you look at, and the fact that a good portion of those who are slightly intolerant don't show up on any test. This is a LOT of people, and expect to see more and more products and companies appealing to the gluten-free movement in the years to come.
The story starts with me stumbling across a very interesting article that was talking about disbiosis (imbalance of bacteria in the gut) and linking it to eczema and psoriasis. In the article was a reference to other factors that contribute and listed was consumption of wheat/gluten. My wife (fiancée at the time) had lifelong eczema to the point where her scalp may bleed from cracking.
Going home I brought up the information with her and we thought it would be a fun experiment to try going gluten-free during summer/fall when all the fresh produce was in the local farmers markets. So in preparation we stopped buying all gluten containing products on our weekly shopping expeditions and were just going to use up what we had at the house. A couple of months later we had our last 'gluten' meal, to commemorate our starting the experiment. But what we had not realized is during the past month, by not buying anything new, we had actually already been gluten-free for several weeks. During the meal my wife became very ill astonishingly quickly. It took us a little while to figure out that we had already started our new diet and that was the reason for her sudden GI upset. We've had several accidents and slip-ups since starting gluten-free, and each time is a reminder to be vigilant, because my wife has some of the more serious symptoms.
2.2 What is gluten sensitivity/intolerance?
Gluten intolerance and Celiac disease are similar with Celiac actually being an allergy and intolerance having a wide range of effects.
The deeper technicalities of the issue can span the length of several books, so I'll just breeze over some of the major points.
To put it simply, gluten intolerance is the inability to properly digest the proteins of wheat, barley, and rye. And the gluten protein has the ability to wreak havoc throughout the body. One of the primary mechanisms of action for degrading your health is through the ability of gluten to open the tight junctions between the cells of your intestines, allowing undigested food particles to enter the blood. Aka leaky gut syndrome. Causing inflammation and reactions throughout the body.
The reason WHY this happens comes down to the natural defensive mechanisms built into plants to allow them to reach the next generation. Lets take a comparison of fruits vs grains to illustrate the point.
Fruits have a fleshy outer part that has evolved to entice animals to eat the fruit and spread the non-digestable seeds far and wide to ensure the next generations growth(in a convenient fertilizer rich dropping). Think an apricot, if you were to break open the inner pit, you would see an almond-shaped seed that grows into the next tree, but if you were to eat it you would die of cyanide poisoning. This is how the fruit tree ensures that the next generation survives, by killing any animals who would stop that next generation.
Grains on the other hand, are the next generation. They have a host of chemicals which if eaten raw would do grevious harm to your body, but are mostly destroyed by the cooking process. The key is mostly, because not all are neutralized. If you look back at archeological records when man went from hunter/gatherer to grain based agriculture, health took a plummet. It is in the grains best interest of grains to hurt/kill/make you sick.
3.3 Signs and symptoms you may be effected.
Celiac disease and gluten sensitivity share some of the same symptoms. Although the actual damage occurs in the gastrointestinal tract, specifically in the small intestine, the symptoms manifest in many different ways and often show up throughout your entire body.
Gluten sensitivity and celiac disease have hundreds of symptoms; the following lists don’t contain them all, but are a good sampling:
Gastrointestinal symptoms: These are some of the “classic” — although not the most common — symptoms of celiac disease:
Abdominal pain and distension
Acid reflux
Bloating
Constipation
Diarrhea
Gas and flatulence
Greasy, foul-smelling, floating stools
Nausea
Vomiting
Weight loss or weight gain
Non-gastrointestinal symptoms: Interestingly, although gluten sensitivity and celiac disease affect the gut, most people’s symptoms are not gastrointestinal in nature. This partial list includes just some of the more than 250 symptoms not centered in the digestive tract.
Fatigue and weakness (due to iron-deficiency anemia)
Vitamin and/or mineral deficiencies
Headaches (including migraines)
Joint/bone pain
Depression, irritability, listlessness, and mood disorders
“Fuzzy brain” or an inability to concentrate
Infertility
Abnormal menstrual cycles
Dental enamel deficiencies and irregularities
Seizures
Clumsiness (ataxia)
Nerve damage (peripheral neuropathy)
Respiratory problems
Canker sores (apthus ulcers)
Lactose intolerance
Eczema/psoriasis
Rosacia (a skin disorder)
Acne
Hashimoto’s disease, Sjögren’s syndrome, lupus erythematosus, and other autoimmune disorders
Early onset osteoporosis
Hair loss (alopecia)
Bruising easily
Low blood sugar (hypoglycemia)
Muscle cramping
Nosebleeds
Swelling and inflammation
Night blindness
4.4 Testing for gluten intolerance.
There are several tests that could be run to test if you are intolerant, but they are not 100% accurate, and cost money. My prefered method is called an elimination diet. Basically just take the wheat and gluten out of your diet for 4-6 weeks, and then have a large helping(bowl of pasta, several pieces of bread, slices of pizza). See if any symptoms you had been experiencing before the diet, come back.
An elimination of all wheat and gluten from the diet can be a very daunting thought for many people. It was especially for my wife who loved bread and pasta more than any other food. The easiest way to go about it is to simply not buy anything new that contains wheat, and ask for a gluten-free menu when you eat out. It can take several weeks to go completely gluten-free with this method, but is easier to work in. Make sure to mark the date of your starting gluten-free so you know your 4-6 week-end date.
5.5 Gluten Free Lifestyle.
A common misconception is that going gluten-free is a ticket to bland foods and no variety. I have found that if you go into gluten-free eating looking for what new things you can eat, instead of trying to eat exactly as you had in the past, it helps tremendously. But you don't have to give up your favorites, you just have to be willing to improve.
A short list of my favorite gluten-free foods: Bacon, Eggs, Steak, Broccoli, Bacon, Cheese, toast, sandwiches, pizza, tacos, sushi, Bi Bim Bap(korean dish)... Bacon.
A very nice thing I have noticed recently is a lot of companies, both the stores and the manufacturers are making an effort to label foods that are gluten-free. Avoiding processed foods helps, but when you do buy food in a box, read the ingredients. Gluten can hide in a lot of places so if the item is not labeled gluten-free be weary.
6.6 Helpful Resources
Book: The Gluten Connection (banned from my house by my wife, because it showed her just how much damage she had done to her body by eating gluten)
www.glutenfreegodess.com
www.celiac.org/
and of course, www.google.com and type in "gluten-free ____"
Thank you all for reading, and as always your questions and comments are appreciated.
Orion~
If this information resonates with you, please repost this on your journal. All I ask is that you reply with a link to your journal so if any questions arise I can be of assistance.
1.1 Intro
2.2 What is gluten sensitivity/intolerance?
3.3 Signs and symptoms it may affect you.
4.4 Testing for gluten intolerance.
5.5 Gluten Free Lifestyle.
6.6 Helpful Resources
1.1 Intro
Gluten intolerance affects a lot more people than you think. And the reason I am posting this is because it affects my wife. Starting with accidentally stumbling onto the topic, to it revolutionizing our lives, going gluten-free has been an amazing journey for my family.
The estimated amount of people who are gluten intolerant ranges from the low-end of 13% to the high of 70%. Of all people. The wide range is there because of which test you look at, and the fact that a good portion of those who are slightly intolerant don't show up on any test. This is a LOT of people, and expect to see more and more products and companies appealing to the gluten-free movement in the years to come.
The story starts with me stumbling across a very interesting article that was talking about disbiosis (imbalance of bacteria in the gut) and linking it to eczema and psoriasis. In the article was a reference to other factors that contribute and listed was consumption of wheat/gluten. My wife (fiancée at the time) had lifelong eczema to the point where her scalp may bleed from cracking.
Going home I brought up the information with her and we thought it would be a fun experiment to try going gluten-free during summer/fall when all the fresh produce was in the local farmers markets. So in preparation we stopped buying all gluten containing products on our weekly shopping expeditions and were just going to use up what we had at the house. A couple of months later we had our last 'gluten' meal, to commemorate our starting the experiment. But what we had not realized is during the past month, by not buying anything new, we had actually already been gluten-free for several weeks. During the meal my wife became very ill astonishingly quickly. It took us a little while to figure out that we had already started our new diet and that was the reason for her sudden GI upset. We've had several accidents and slip-ups since starting gluten-free, and each time is a reminder to be vigilant, because my wife has some of the more serious symptoms.
2.2 What is gluten sensitivity/intolerance?
Gluten intolerance and Celiac disease are similar with Celiac actually being an allergy and intolerance having a wide range of effects.
The deeper technicalities of the issue can span the length of several books, so I'll just breeze over some of the major points.
To put it simply, gluten intolerance is the inability to properly digest the proteins of wheat, barley, and rye. And the gluten protein has the ability to wreak havoc throughout the body. One of the primary mechanisms of action for degrading your health is through the ability of gluten to open the tight junctions between the cells of your intestines, allowing undigested food particles to enter the blood. Aka leaky gut syndrome. Causing inflammation and reactions throughout the body.
The reason WHY this happens comes down to the natural defensive mechanisms built into plants to allow them to reach the next generation. Lets take a comparison of fruits vs grains to illustrate the point.
Fruits have a fleshy outer part that has evolved to entice animals to eat the fruit and spread the non-digestable seeds far and wide to ensure the next generations growth(in a convenient fertilizer rich dropping). Think an apricot, if you were to break open the inner pit, you would see an almond-shaped seed that grows into the next tree, but if you were to eat it you would die of cyanide poisoning. This is how the fruit tree ensures that the next generation survives, by killing any animals who would stop that next generation.
Grains on the other hand, are the next generation. They have a host of chemicals which if eaten raw would do grevious harm to your body, but are mostly destroyed by the cooking process. The key is mostly, because not all are neutralized. If you look back at archeological records when man went from hunter/gatherer to grain based agriculture, health took a plummet. It is in the grains best interest of grains to hurt/kill/make you sick.
3.3 Signs and symptoms you may be effected.
Celiac disease and gluten sensitivity share some of the same symptoms. Although the actual damage occurs in the gastrointestinal tract, specifically in the small intestine, the symptoms manifest in many different ways and often show up throughout your entire body.
Gluten sensitivity and celiac disease have hundreds of symptoms; the following lists don’t contain them all, but are a good sampling:
Gastrointestinal symptoms: These are some of the “classic” — although not the most common — symptoms of celiac disease:
Abdominal pain and distension
Acid reflux
Bloating
Constipation
Diarrhea
Gas and flatulence
Greasy, foul-smelling, floating stools
Nausea
Vomiting
Weight loss or weight gain
Non-gastrointestinal symptoms: Interestingly, although gluten sensitivity and celiac disease affect the gut, most people’s symptoms are not gastrointestinal in nature. This partial list includes just some of the more than 250 symptoms not centered in the digestive tract.
Fatigue and weakness (due to iron-deficiency anemia)
Vitamin and/or mineral deficiencies
Headaches (including migraines)
Joint/bone pain
Depression, irritability, listlessness, and mood disorders
“Fuzzy brain” or an inability to concentrate
Infertility
Abnormal menstrual cycles
Dental enamel deficiencies and irregularities
Seizures
Clumsiness (ataxia)
Nerve damage (peripheral neuropathy)
Respiratory problems
Canker sores (apthus ulcers)
Lactose intolerance
Eczema/psoriasis
Rosacia (a skin disorder)
Acne
Hashimoto’s disease, Sjögren’s syndrome, lupus erythematosus, and other autoimmune disorders
Early onset osteoporosis
Hair loss (alopecia)
Bruising easily
Low blood sugar (hypoglycemia)
Muscle cramping
Nosebleeds
Swelling and inflammation
Night blindness
4.4 Testing for gluten intolerance.
There are several tests that could be run to test if you are intolerant, but they are not 100% accurate, and cost money. My prefered method is called an elimination diet. Basically just take the wheat and gluten out of your diet for 4-6 weeks, and then have a large helping(bowl of pasta, several pieces of bread, slices of pizza). See if any symptoms you had been experiencing before the diet, come back.
An elimination of all wheat and gluten from the diet can be a very daunting thought for many people. It was especially for my wife who loved bread and pasta more than any other food. The easiest way to go about it is to simply not buy anything new that contains wheat, and ask for a gluten-free menu when you eat out. It can take several weeks to go completely gluten-free with this method, but is easier to work in. Make sure to mark the date of your starting gluten-free so you know your 4-6 week-end date.
5.5 Gluten Free Lifestyle.
A common misconception is that going gluten-free is a ticket to bland foods and no variety. I have found that if you go into gluten-free eating looking for what new things you can eat, instead of trying to eat exactly as you had in the past, it helps tremendously. But you don't have to give up your favorites, you just have to be willing to improve.
A short list of my favorite gluten-free foods: Bacon, Eggs, Steak, Broccoli, Bacon, Cheese, toast, sandwiches, pizza, tacos, sushi, Bi Bim Bap(korean dish)... Bacon.
A very nice thing I have noticed recently is a lot of companies, both the stores and the manufacturers are making an effort to label foods that are gluten-free. Avoiding processed foods helps, but when you do buy food in a box, read the ingredients. Gluten can hide in a lot of places so if the item is not labeled gluten-free be weary.
6.6 Helpful Resources
Book: The Gluten Connection (banned from my house by my wife, because it showed her just how much damage she had done to her body by eating gluten)
www.glutenfreegodess.com
www.celiac.org/
and of course, www.google.com and type in "gluten-free ____"
Thank you all for reading, and as always your questions and comments are appreciated.
Orion~
One way to think about it is doing the 4 week gluten free test is a win win scenario. Either you find out definitively you can eat wheat and gluten, or you avert potential health problems down the road.
Vitamin and/or mineral deficiencies
Headaches (including migraines)
Depression, irritability, listlessness, and mood disorders
“Fuzzy brain” or an inability to concentrate
Dental enamel deficiencies and irregularities
Clumsiness (ataxia)
Rosacia (a skin disorder)
Acne
Bruising easily
Low blood sugar (hypoglycemia)
Muscle cramping
Night blindness"
Is all the crap I go through if I even come in contact with the smallest amount of sugar.
Sucrose (table, beet, cane sugar)
Dextrose (corn sugar, pure glucose)
Xylitol (sugar alcohol)
Do artificial sweeteners trigger anything?
Does pure sugar with no other ingredients trigger the reactions?
How little sugar in foods is enough to trigger?
Do you get the reaction from sugars locked in cellular structures? (fruits and such)
Thanks for your explanation on all of this, as it's starting to make more sense to me. However, I notice that you have several grain based foods listed in your gluten free section... I take it that you aren't necessarily against grains, just the gluten components of them?
I don;t really suffer from any of the symptoms, aside form a very mild form of eczema... I may be in the 30% of lucky people here... however if there isn't any benefits to gluten in a diet, then it wouldn't hurt to cut it all for a month or so. May make it a bit difficult since I am trying to build some muscle, and at present I rely on it for just about every frequent easy meal I have through the day, particularly when I'm at work... but I'm sure it's possible.
Any ideas on a replacement for rolled oats in a home-made protein bar would be appreciated though :p
My view on grains on a whole are that they have a neutral to negative effect on the body, but a phenomenally positive effect on economies and societies. What is bad for the individual may be a boon for civilization. I keep grains to a minimum, eating them infrequently in my own diet.
The purpose of this journal was more to help people take a first step. One change to help improve their lives. If from the first step they decide to take additional steps toward healthier diets that would be amazing. For most people, myself included, just the idea of taking wheat out of the diet was daunting. Trying to contemplate removing all grains from the diet is more likely to turn someone away from even thinking about giving change a try.
I didn't think I suffered from any of the symptoms myself, I just went gluten free to support my wife. But when I had a large serving one evening at a friends house, my occasional brain fog came back in full force. Unbeknownst to me it had disappeared completely and with the revelation provided by that one experience, I was able to look back on times in my life and correlate my mental health to the amount of wheat in the diet.
Try a mixture of ground Chia seeds and Millet as a protein source. Tapioca starch works as a binder aid as well.
You are an exceptional reader of this blog, and I greatly admire the intelligence and thought you put into your replies. In my posts I generally try to keep the knowledge depth friendly to all and that limits some of the information I would like to put in for desire to not push people away. You help keep my brain nice and active and offer thought provoking information that can help me reshape how I think on some issues. I am not immune to the confirmation bias.
And yeah, I think you are right re: grains benefiting humanity but not necessarily the individual. Actually that could probably be applied to a number of things.
And thanks a lot for investing the time to make this blog (and fostering this community). FWIW, it has already had a dramatic effect on my lifestyle and what I spend my time 'looking into' (I think research is probably too strong a term for what I do :p). I also completely understand the nature of your posts, and sincerely hope you don't mind my 'occasional' follow up question/attempts to dig a little deeper.
Please feel free to keep it up XD.
For building muscles definitely avoid most grains. The omega 6 content is not very friendly to post exercise inflammation responses. Up the fat content specifically with intent to add omega-3. I know athletes that have 500+ calories a day from flax oil and their bodies respond phenomenally.
She uses a lot of the authors advice and suggestions, and the food (aka desserts) are amazing.
Also, do you have any good 'car food snack' suggestions for a celiac? I do a ton of car travelling and often pack tons of snacks for long voyages, so it would be good to have a bucket list on hand in case I travel with a friend with celiac's. (Also I think I'm going to try that 4 week celiac challenge since my mother has it and I suffer from mild eczema so the two could be related. We will find out! Although I sure will miss my oats + maple syrup in the mornings).
I personally hate them, but you may not.
There are a lot of different things you can do. One idea is to throw out your idea of 'breakfast' and just eat food as you would any other time of the day. I commonly have leftovers from dinner to start my day.
As far as good car food, my absolute favorite has to be nuts. A bag of un-roasted cashews, almonds and walnuts can be quite satisfying and tasty. As well there are quite a few snack bar manufacturers that are gluten free and amazingly tasty. Larabar would be my favorite of those.
If you would like any other suggestions ask away and I'll do my best to help with you lasting the month to find out your answer. :D
Yea, it is all about experimentation. A simple way is to go gluten free for 3-4 weeks and then have a large gluten meal. Weight yourself before you eat the gluten and then the next day. Also note any GI or body symptoms that suddenly occur in the days after. You can get your answer from your body if you listen. :)
Alot. of these symptoms are rampant on my mother’s side.
I’m 22 but only now are the gastro problems showing up, but i’ve experienced
numerous of the non-gastro problems. :c
im finally getting my intestinal tract checked for damage and doing diet
change, i really wish i knew more so much sooner. i was hurting for a long
time
i almost want to cry because i wish i knew sooner. ;; i have my whole life ahead of me and part of it suddenly feels like a blur, just from a diet?
I knew i was feeling better once i started gluten free, but i didnt realize gluten problems caused all of this, i will need to talk to my gastro surgeon when i meet him next week.