I've been meaning to write about gluten for a while. I gave up gluten a year after I gave up animal based protein, and unfortunately, I hate to tell you, this made the BIGGEST difference in how I feel. Now I didn't have stomach problems or some of the obvious signs of celiac disease. What I did have was a few nagging symptoms typical of peri-menopause and aging, and a host of people in my life who have given up gluten! While doing a musical this summer, several gals were sitting around eating gluten free pretzels and I began to ask questions. Also, when I suffered my standard horrible migraine during a few days of dress rehearsal, one of them piped up and said, "you know that can be a sign of gluten sensitivity." I of course, humored her concern, but knew better. After all, mine were hormonally driven and couldn't possibly have anything to do with gluten! Fast forward six weeks later and I was having yet another flare with my 4 years long plantar fasciatis problem, and I decided to give gluten up. After all, I had read it was linked to inflammation and I certainly had plenty of that!
The first week of no gluten, I experienced flu like symptoms, drippy nose, fever, a heightened sensitivity to being touched. The drippy nose thing lasted a few more weeks. It was weird and unnerving but the internet said this was normal and could last 6 months - oh joy! It didn't, but what did happen was no migraine that month or any month after that. I'd experienced 2-5 days of migraines a month for about 7 years and it was debilitating. Few medications worked and when they did I was edgy from the caffeine. The other thing that happened was that my foot got better, not 100% but noticeably better immediately. The scar tissue inside became softer, my deep tissue guy could actually feel that it was more malleable When I jumped on my bike, my left hip didn't hurt, and when I walked up the stairs my knees didn't hurt, which one of them had since age 14 from injury and chronic poor patellar tracking. My joints felt 20, not closer to 50. It was amazing and it is the gift that keeps on giving as I find other benefits I didn't realize at first.
So this is what I have to share with you. Not all of us have gluten sensitivity but many of us likely do. We are exposed to more gluten than in previous generations because grains are genetically modified to be higher in gluten. Also, it is used in many other unsuspecting products. Foods that cause inflammation (and thus contribute to disease formation) include animal sources of protein, sugar and gluten, so you guessed it, eating a plant-based diet is ideal to curb inflammation.
To go plant based and gluten free in one fall swoop would have been too much for me, but once I was eating plant based, it wasn't that difficult. It just means using rice or polenta instead of bulger wheat. Pasta doesn't provide much nutritional value anyway so intake should be limited, but there are some excellent rice based ones out there, and no one need know the difference. Bread is a little harder, but I wasn't a big sandwich eater. Substitutes exist, but isn't it better to eat something less processed instead? If you are experiencing anything that comes from inflammation (most every disease process does) or any type of symptom that is an allergic reaction, research the anti-inflammation diet. Here are some sources to consider.
http://www.celiact.com/blog/2012/12/04/146-celiac-disease-diagnoses-rising
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0897934865?ie=UTF8&tag=theconlif0d-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creativeASIN=0897934865
