My whole body has just felt out of whack for a long time and I think it's just time to try something different. I'm not expecting it to help my IF, but I am just hoping to feel less depressed.

Day 1 is really hard already! Gluten is in EVERYTHING!!! Anyone here have advice???

Here is what I have learned in my going back and forth. When I do it, I also cut out Dairy which makes it tougher. Might explain why I go back and forth:) The first couple days are the hardest!

Chips and Salsa or Hummus are great Gluten Free Snacks!
Quinoa is Delish!
Trader Joes has a great selection of "Fast/Prepared" Gluten Free Foods
Enchilada's! (No Cheese for me unfortunately)
Brown Rice is OK!
Pad Thai! (Almost ALL Thai food actually)
Lots of Fruit
Lot's of Chicken/Fish and Filets for me with Roasted Veggies
BE CAREFULL with the "Gluten Free" Sweets. They are good, but high cal and high fat and they did a number on my TMI Warning bowels last time. (They are super binding...)
Make sure to drink lots of water
Amy's has some good quick meals too.

Good Luck and I bet you WILL feel better and find it easier soon.

Kelly

I never did, but I really think it could help a subset of people, if you can stick with it. It's much easier than it used to be. There are lots of websites and many restaurants offer gluten free options as well. Let us know how you feel.

And it feels great! Once you get the hang of it, it's pretty easy. But, my shock was like yours, gluten is in evertyhing. I do now eat gluten, but I really limit it. Gluten can cause inflammation, even if you don't have antibodies/food sensitivities to it. The wheat they grow now is NOT the same wheat as before (or even in most other countries). It's very gluten dense to accommodate processed foods and breads, so overall we are getting more gluten than our bodies had ever been prepared for.

I know several people who have children with celiac disease, and they say their kids seem to have a stronger immune system because they avoid gluten (well of course before they were diagnosed, they were getting many colds on top of the stomach ailments). I don't know if this is just a fluke, but it goes with the the claim that gluten helps cause inflammation. I don't know of any specific studies, just passing along what others have told me and what I have read in books/articles over the years. And in my own personal experience, I don't get sick as often either. I used to get colds 6-7 times/year, now it's just 1-2, if that. It also helps reduce water retention for me (I get this really bad in my legs/ankles).

I got a headache the first few times I cut it out. That doesn't happen anymore. I go off/on gluten from time to time, more often than not I avoid or minimize it.


Good luck!

Nancy

How seriously do I need to take the warnings, like: "made on shared equipment with wheat"? I haven't been diagnosed with celiac's, nor do I believe that I have it, but I do have a friend who is gluten-intolerant and she says she only buys stuff made in a gluten-free facility. However, that is going to get really expensive, really fast, so I'm hoping that the small traces from cross-contaminants won't completely destroy my efforts.

Hi! Unless you have a problem, I don't think you need to get that strict long-term. But this is my own personal experience based on the fact taht I tested negeative for celiac and also negative for wheat/gluten allergies and antibodies. That said, I did see dramatic improvements in reducing gluten, but i don't avoid stuff that says "process in facility that processes wheat/gluten". Everyone is a bit different in their tolerance levels, and some are not affected at all, so you could try to be super strict right away, then gradually try the foods that say processed in facility with wheat/gluten. I recommend you try to be strict for at least a month, or at least as strict as possible. In fact, based on some allergy testing I had, I would say that some pelple might find it takes longer, even if you are not truly allergic/insensitive (which is my case). I did the skin prick test at the allergist for molds, and I had a delayed reaction. 2 days afterwards, the pricked area was about 3" across and a huge welt/bump! And it left a mark/agitation that gradually decreased over 3 months. Which means it affected me in some way for that long...I was shocked! Especially since my husband is super allergic to cats, and where they pricked him for cats went away in like 5 days.

Nancy, you mentioned you tested negative for celiac and also negative for wheat/gluten allergies and antibodies. Would you please kindly tell me what kind of doctor I should visit to have these tests done?

Should I ask my RE, family doctor, or find a specialist?

Many thanks!

Hi! These days I think most GPs will test you for celiac disease and wheat allergy (IGA testing) if you ask. As for food sensitivies (IGG testing), a naturopath will probably do it, and possibly some allergists. Your RE might do celiac/wheat panel too. To cover your bases, maybe it's best to start with an allergist and see what they are willing to do, if you are able to go straight to a specialist. I am lucky because there is a good allergy clinic near me that is one of the believers in food sensitivities and they were willing to do all sorts of testing (although not everything). They also are one of a few clincis in the US that will give you allergy drops instead of allergy shots-drops are still controversial in the US apparently although this clinic has tons of evidence/studies showing they do and they are used in Europe.

There are some tests that you can order online (google ALCAT testing) that will pinpoint food sensitivies (I believe they give you an order to take to Quest/Labcorp), which in the end I will end up doing since my clinic didn't do all the testing I wanted (although I think they would if I went back, it's just that they are OOT for me). The area of food sensitivities is kind of grey/controversial and I found many doctors won't do it or don't really believe in it. My allergist did tell me that he has had several IF patients swear that after fixing their allergies/sensitivities got PG. It hasn't worked for me though (at least not yet! ) He also mentioned that it is a very new field of study (allergy and IF) and they are actually looking more into it.

This has just been my experience, others may have had different experience. I honestly don't understand the difference between IGA allergies and IGG allergies/sensitivities