Gluten. It’s been my best friend since my early days of swimming – carb loading before swim meets, devouring bagels afterwards, and it stuck around as a tried and true friend for running as well. The thought of not being able to enjoy my beloved gluten always made me thank my lucky stars I didn’t have to worry about it.
As you can guess based on that oh-so-dramatic lead in, I need to try and cut out gluten. When I first went to the doctor back in May he suggested trying a dairy-free diet to see if that made any difference, and it didn’t. After having a boat load of tests (yes, that’s an actual unit of measure), he prescribed me some bile-binding medicine to help with my ‘lazy’ gallbladder. He mentioned I could try a gluten-free diet first, or try the pills, and I opted for the easier solution. Unfortunately the pills haven’t provided me enough relief. While the blood tests I had didn’t pinpoint any dairy or gluten intolerance, I know that there’s something else going on here.
I’ve been jotting down everything I’m eating for the past two months, but haven’t been able to pinpoint anything in particular. So knowing that dairy didn’t make a difference, my only other elimination option is gluten. I have my fingers crossed that this isn’t the issue, but at the same time, part of me just wants to know exactly what it is that’s causing my tummy distress. I’m scheduled for an upper GI Scan and more blood work just to confirm it isn’t Crohn’s, but I just don’t know anymore.
So I’m crossing my fingers that this all gets sorted out sooner rather than later. But in the mean time I’m going to try and eliminate gluten from my diet which is going to be tricky, but may be the answer I’m looking for. And I promise I’m not doing this to be “cool” – I love me some carbs. I’ll keep you posted!
Does anyone have any gluten free resources they’d like to share?
It won’t be that hard, right?!
Foodosaurus Rex 
For me GF is a fit. I’m not celiacs but super sensitive.
That said I stared this 19 years ago so I’m not much help when it comes to replacement foods (GF breads etc). They werent out then so I don’t use them 🙂
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Ahh thanks! It’s always one of those things that you don’t realize just how much of a common ingredient it is until you’re looking for stuff without it!
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If you are doing blood tests for celiac then you need to be eating gluten for the markers to show up.
Having said that… yes, I would be on board with doing a gluten elimination test in your case. It is not as hard as it sounds.
I have been doing gluten-free for weeks now and have mostly avoided the gluten-free subs I am seeing on the store shelves and learning to bake and eat other ingredients.
Get yourself to a celiac website and make a list of things to avoid…. mostly it is grains such as wheat, barley, rye and the like and malts… then start reading labels. Wheat is used in a lot of processed foods as a binder… even in soy sauce, ju jubes and red licorice twists!
There are a lot of blogs out there now that offer gluten free recipes… I have even started blogging some of them myself.
Good luck and I hope you get some relief soon!
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Thanks! I already had the blood test for celiac back in May and it came back okay. But I’m going to give this a try anyway – at this point, it can’t hurt!
Aside from bread (got some Udi’s), and pasta (corn) I haven’t really gotten any alternatives to wheat products – I’d rather just eat whole foods that don’t have gluten. I’ve gotten good at reading labels and started doing research in terms of all the things that gluten can be hidden in and it’s different names. Guess we’ll see if this does the trick!
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Hi Danielle!
Props for taking the plunge to see if gluten is what’s bothering you. For me, I’d had issues that I didn’t realize could be resolved until I stopped eating gluten. (You can read my experience from last winter here: http://dareyouto.blogspot.com/2012/03/ditch-wheat-for-week.html ). It really wasn’t so bad! YES, gluten is hidden in tons of processed foods where it doesn’t belong, so it becomes tricky when buying anything packaged. Check those labels!
“Gluten-free” packaged foods might help with the transition, but the better option is to eliminate the bad and focus on the GOOD: vegetables, proteins, fruits, nuts, etc. Other grains that don’t contain gluten (in their whole form). For resources: celiac.com , balancedbites.com (has a great gluten-detective guide: http://www.balancedbites.com/PDFs/BalancedBites_Gluten.pdf ), Elena’s Pantry is a wonderful recipe website, too. Finding good recipes and nutritious new foods can help turn the focus from the no-bread shock to a whole new set of opportunities.
Good luck!
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Ahh thanks so much!
It’s always when you can’t have something do you realize just how much it’s in! I’m trying to stay away from a lot of the “gluten free” packaged goods just because there are ton of other things in them (usually)… I grabbed some bread and pasta alternatives, but other than that I’m just trying to eat fruits and veggies and other naturally non-gluten things. Thanks for the link too – I’ve been a Googling mad-woman the past few days!
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I am gluten free because I have Celiac and I promise it is not as hard as you might think! The biggest thing for me is aiming to eat the majority of my food from naturally gluten free sources (meats, veggies, fruits, nuts, seeds, sweet potatoes, quinoa, etc..) This way you’re not overdoing on the overly processed gluten free products, plus you’re guaranteed to know that your food is gluten free. My biggest tips are to be aware of cross contamination and to check labels on everything (prescriptions, shampoo, lip gloss, etc…) to make sure they are gluten free! I love the G Free Diet by Elisabeth Hassellbeck! I have a bunch of g free recipes on my website too!
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Awesome, thanks! I’ll be sure to check out your recipes. And it seems like everyone commenting feels the same – try to limit the processed gluten-free stuff, which I’m definitely planning to do!
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Wonderful! I have been looking for this info , thanks for posting, wheat free diet.
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