Are you where you want to be on your Gluten-free journey?
Are you just beginning or have you been living gluten-free for a while now?
If you are just beginning and it took a long time to figure out – don’t beat yourself up! Overall, it takes nearly 10 years for the average person to be diagnosed with Celiac or gluten intolerance. Although, the latter, I believe depends on who you talk to.
As far back as I can remember I had extreme issues with my intestines. As a teenager I remember recurrent intense abdominal pains, some landing me curled up on the bathroom floor. In college, I was rushed to the hospital, bent over in extreme pain, with the doctors finding nothing.
I have been given so many tests to TRY to find out what is wrong with me.
*WHY was I so exhausted, while I was an overall healthy person?
*Why did I almost just collapse bringing laundry up a flight of stairs?
*Why did the ER think I was having a heart attack – then came back to tell me
that my heart was very healthy!
*Why am I having trouble breathing when NO test shows issues with my lungs?
I have had so many tests, hospital ER visits, doctor visits – all to determine that I am a healthy woman. Really . . . so a healthy woman feels run down, cannot sleep, is exhausted, tired, bloated, gassy, having pain and just plain sick all over – and I am healthy? That is what the doctors told me, for years!
You may just say I was seeing the wrong doctors – these were good qualified doctors. But, I was finding that there was one hidden fact underlying all of them. Whenever I explained that foods made me feel a certain way – they all brushed it off with a “oh no, you are doing too much.”
When giving a doctor a list of foods and how they affected me, I was given the statement of – “oh, eat and be happy, do not stress over food so much”. This statement was actually from a gastroenterologist!
Then it hit me – none of these doctors were on the same page of HOW FOOD affects the body. They just wanted the test to prove something scientifically right or wrong, then give me an antibiotic to make it all go away. Nothing against doctors as they are very important, necessary people. But, many of them have not had ANY nutritional education, which once understood, changes everything!
I knew that food was definitely causing MY issues.
“Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food” Hippocrates
Once I learned about Celiac Disease, everything changed. As I read the books explaining this condition, I felt as though I was reading about myself. People with testimonies of what they had been through, all had discovered that gluten was the culprit – of their exhaustion, their fatigue, their sudden memory impairment, of many other gastrointestinal conditions already mentioned, so many different symptoms. Today, new studies are being published more than ever. New findings are happening every day. Good news for those of us who need answers!
After living in six different states and seeing countless doctors, I finally found SOME answers. In Boston, I was finally told, everything you eat affects you! I wanted to hug this doctor. Then, he sent me to a dietician, who quickly assessed – no gluten, no dairy! Unfortunately, she pushed me out of her office with very little advice on how to start living on a gluten-free, dairy-free diet.
After diving into my own research, I was on my way. It was quite overwhelming. I realized the few dinners I made for my family that never seemed to bother me were actually gluten-free! Imagine that! To me that was an eye-opener. Unfortunately, my health took a nose dive. Cutting out gluten, I turned to corn, to which I quickly found I had a huge intolerance.
With the Food Intolerance IgG test, a blood test looking at 96 foods for intolerances, I found gluten, dairy and CORN topped my list! That explained why I was feeling worse than when I started (eating all that corn!). Yet, understand that when you do first cut gluten for good, your body will go through a detox of gluten and you may feel pretty terrible for a bit before feeling better. Just be mindful of which foods you change over to eating.
Fast forward now almost eight years later – through much research and determination, I found that my children have Celiac Disease. All are thriving following a gluten-free and allergy friendly lifestyle. Now we have all of grandma’s recipes, as well as our own figured out, while we keep on trying new things each day.
For our family, going gluten-free was a must due to our health. It changed our lives. Think about how you are feeling, especially how your body feels and responds when you consume gluten. Then, make the decision to set yourself up to be your healthiest possible.
***Just remember to ALWAYS get tested and talk with your doctor before starting on a gluten-free diet. You do not get correct results with your testing if you have already been living gluten-free.
Please come back and visit as we have so much to share with you!
Need some help on your gluten-free journey?
Join me for the 21 Day Gluten Free Challenge starting on January 22nd!
I will be sharing important information to get you on the right track for your gluten-free journey with action steps
to put you on your road to healthy gluten-free living!
