Sunday, December 2, 2012

Letter to a newly gluten free eater...

A few weeks back I received an email from a young man who had recently become gluten free but was having difficulty knowing how/where/what to eat... someone referred him to talk to me and this was my response:

So happy to hear its making a difference in your life. I'm happy to help you with this, I know, and am myself gluten free and my life has been transformed by it. You will also find the longer you stay gluten free the times that a bit of wheat does sneak its way into your diet how harshly it effects you. I also know a lot of people including myself who test negative for celiacs. I think that this area of medicine is just now being understood. I tested negative twice, I get sick for weeks just from a teeny bit of wheat. I also know people who have gotten rid of their acid reflex with elimination of wheat from their diet. 

I think the key problem with antacids is that is does not allow your body to properly regulate so once you are off them your body goes full force in its acid production, which is counter productive. 

now as far as the "produced in a factory that also produces wheat" labeling. I personally have not had problems with products that are gluten free and produced in a place that is not a "gluten free facility" you will find most products fall into this category and so you should be fairly safe. I eat a lot of mexican food and Mediterranean food in my daily diet, both are diets easy to avoid wheat, corn tortillas, etc. Be careful because asian food can me misleading, soy sauce is made from wheat, so while the rest of the food is wheat free most of the time its cooked with soy sauce so thats a no-no too. 

It will probably take about 3 months before you will see the full effect of going gluten free. Because it effects your digestive system it can effect your intestines and your ability to properly absorb nutrition so you will find overall your health will improve as you stay away from wheat. 

READ labels very carefully though, some things contain wheat that will really surprise you. For example i once ate potato salad, got really sick and then after discovered it had wheat in the ingredients. Also be careful about alcohol like rum and beer... those are both wheat based. Also read the ingredients in salad dressings too, some vinegar is wheat based.

Luckily trader joes has a lot of options, I like the Udi's bread and their corn pasta. It will take a little while but eventually you will find your way. In the meanwhile I hope you enjoy tacos. :)Mexican food is always my fall back food. 

Feel free to msg me if you ever have any questions. I'm happy you on a road to feeling better and I know how hard it can be to find all the information you need out there. :)

cheers, Iris

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