Why I Do Not Eat Gluten

Why I eat gluten free? Because it sounds cool? Because I like to be difficult? Because I am trying to lose weight? NO, NO, NO!!! As someone that has struggled with food issues and overcome so much by focusing on eating real food without worry or stress gluten is something that my body simply will not tolerate.

I have been sans gluten for over 10 years and have seen so many faucets of my health dramatically improve. I struggled with so much pain before uncovering my gluten allergy. I suffered daily with heartburn, constipation, gas, bloating, and the scariest - the inability to absorb iron or nutrients. I had zero energy, I literally couldn’t stay awake long enough to drive my car home from work each day. I would have to pull over and park in a McDonald’s parking lot to take a nap before finishing my last 15 minutes home. I would fall asleep every night on the coach around 8pm uncontrollably (I was young then and it was a real buzz kill in my relationship. Imagine how fun of a date I was when I was passing out by 8/9pm every night.) I seriously thought I had narcolepsy but it was simply that my body wasn’t absorbing any nutrients because it was busy creating antibodies to fight off the intrusive gluten proteins.

My mental health suffered too! I always felt tired and sluggish. I was in constant anguish. Everyday felt as if someone had stuck a sword in my abdomen and just kept slowly turning it throughout the day.  I would feel so bloated by the end of the day that my pants would no longer button. Yeap, the same ones that had plenty of room just that morning. I would look in the mirror and see myself as a 300 lb. girl even though I was always between 120-130 lbs.

I spent 25+ years of my life struggling with this disease. I saw the best of the best doctors at Cedars Sanai and UCLA. I went through every test and every recommended Rx drug they could give me yet NONE of it helped. I had so many ultrasounds, blood work, stool samples, colonoscopy, endoscope, the testing went on and on. I took RXs for heartburn, IBS, constipation, etc. and none of it helped. Unfortunately, this was over 10 years ago before the medical industry really took gluten allergies as a serious and common ailment as they are now. Not once in all of that testing was I ever tested for Celiacs. It wasn’t until I spent a lot of money to see a holistic doctor did he put it all together.

I rid my system of gluten for 2 weeks and then slowly tried to incorporate it back in, I found myself curled up in the fetial position in massive pain about 2 hours after. I knew right then all I needed to know. When you rid yourself of what is poisoning you completely and then inject it back in, the reaction is even more intense. From that day on, it has been easy to avoid gluten. It literally felt like I gained my life back.

#vivbuzz