Gluten Intolerance
I think I might have problems digesting gluten. I have been eating pretty high raw for a month so of course no grains really. I had some spaghetti like a few weeks ago and I got real sweaty for no reason and when I worked out at the gym the next day I felt a lot of lag. Last night I was real hungry so I grabbed a bowl of multigrain cheerios and I woke up kind of sweaty and it smelled and usually my sweat doesn't smell even when I work out. I haven't felt "right" last few times I had gluten so I think I might have some digestion issues.
The thing is I used to be a breaditarian like a year ago when I was trying to follow a vegetarian Mediterranean diet and I don't remember having much side effects from all that gluten. I would like have a few pieces of bread/a bagel for breakfast then at lunch have pasta and sometimes bread then more grain for dinner. I might had some fatigue but I probably wouldn't of noticed too much because I wasn't active.
SO I was wondering from other gluten intolerant people what symptoms did you have that lead you to the diagnosis? I have read about it a little but nothing does it better than hearing what people felt that lead them to some to such a conclusion. I would try to get a blood test to find out if I was truly sensitive but I don't have insurance at the moment and it is out of the budget as far as I am concerned.
The main thing that tipped me off was that my intestines went wonk. Gas, cramps, constipation and/or diarrhea, and a really manky foaming-rotting-eggs stomach. It was digestive stuff. But when I got the gluten out of my system, I did have some inflammatory stuff clear up - my joints feel a bit better.
"Breaditarian"? What does this mean? This word in conjunction with "Mediterranean diet" has me wondering.
I live on the Mediterranean and bread can be, but is not necessarily, a key element of the "Mediterranean diet." (Which over here is just called "food", I guess.) You can substitute other things for it. I have and do. I have thyroid disease and have been told to avoid wheat, so I eat mostly rice, chick peas, etc.
I've been off gluten for so long that I can't remember too many specifics, however one main thing is the horrific eczema I had has gone away. That was my main reason for trying "wheat free," and it's worked so well that I've just kept it up.
I also have more energy, and I'm emotionally better than I was while eating wheat. My last exposure to gluten was in December when I ate a non-labled "candy" that turned out to be a rum ball. Immediate bloating and nausea and, uh, "urgency." I have a doctor's appointment in a couple weeks, and I plan on talking to them about the possibility of celiac's.
Honestly, it sounds like you just tried to jump too fast from your raw diet into cooked foods once more.
I've been off gluten for so long that I can't remember too many specifics, however one main thing is the horrific eczema I had has gone away. That was my main reason for trying "wheat free," and it's worked so well that I've just kept it up.
I also have more energy, and I'm emotionally better than I was while eating wheat. My last exposure to gluten was in December when I ate a non-labled "candy" that turned out to be a rum ball. Immediate bloating and nausea and, uh, "urgency." I have a doctor's appointment in a couple weeks, and I plan on talking to them about the possibility of celiac's.
A rum ball? Like a chocolate? I've never seen any of those containing gluten...
I forgot to mention I had some weird well bowel movement like painful and messy and I had slight intestinal pain but not as bad as my lactose pains were. I am not sure if it is related because I don't get it every time I have gluten is rotten egg smelling burps I have had them before with gluten but never was too sure about what really caused them.
yabbitgirl,
basically by breaditarian I meant I ate a lot of bread and most of my caloric intake came from it. I had never been much of a bread eater but after I started buying food for myself I thought hey bread is cheap I'll eat a lot! I was eating a lot of grains at every meal. I still eat a lot Mediterranean foods because I was first interested in said diet because I am 1/4 Middle Eastern (half and half Lebanese/Syrian) so I wanted to eat "my native diet". If I have cooked food I eat rice or hummus and I love making raw versions of the Middle Eastern/Indian foods like Chana Masala (love Chickpeas and Lentils).
I also strayed away from that diet and others like the Vegan Pyramid because I wanted to create for myself what worked for me and not follow guidelines or try for X servings of this and worry about serving size which I was doing.
Narcissus,
with the "really manky foaming-rotting-eggs stomach" did you burp a lot. I remember I had some soaked 5 grain cereal once and I had rotten egg smelling burps it was so embarrassing because I spent the day with my family at an Amusement park and had to keep walking away to burp.
lolkrys,
I was thinking this also. I am continuing to experiment around and see what happens with this and that. I am trying to figure out how my body works and I am going to find out all I can digest and can't.
I've been off gluten for so long that I can't remember too many specifics, however one main thing is the horrific eczema I had has gone away. That was my main reason for trying "wheat free," and it's worked so well that I've just kept it up.
I also have more energy, and I'm emotionally better than I was while eating wheat. My last exposure to gluten was in December when I ate a non-labled "candy" that turned out to be a rum ball. Immediate bloating and nausea and, uh, "urgency." I have a doctor's appointment in a couple weeks, and I plan on talking to them about the possibility of celiac's.
A rum ball? Like a chocolate? I've never seen any of those containing gluten...
A girl in my high school class said she had some of those candy sweet heart things that are so common during Valentine's day and she is very Celiac and in small print they put that it was processed on equipment with wheat/gluten and she didn't see that and had a really bad reaction. If you are really sensitive and if it processed on the same equipment then you will get a reaction.
Narcissus,
with the "really manky foaming-rotting-eggs stomach" did you burp a lot. I remember I had some soaked 5 grain cereal once and I had rotten egg smelling burps it was so embarrassing because I spent the day with my family at an Amusement park and had to keep walking away to burp.
Yep. Basically, everything you'd expect if you drank a bottle of dish soap and chased it with naga jolokias.
I've been off gluten for so long that I can't remember too many specifics, however one main thing is the horrific eczema I had has gone away. That was my main reason for trying "wheat free," and it's worked so well that I've just kept it up.
I also have more energy, and I'm emotionally better than I was while eating wheat. My last exposure to gluten was in December when I ate a non-labled "candy" that turned out to be a rum ball. Immediate bloating and nausea and, uh, "urgency." I have a doctor's appointment in a couple weeks, and I plan on talking to them about the possibility of celiac's.
A rum ball? Like a chocolate? I've never seen any of those containing gluten...
This one was made with flour, kind of like a cookie dough ball with lots of booze in it. It was really tasty, but man did I pay.
There are really no common symptoms of CELIAC. You can have intestinal GI issues, and may or may not notice them. If you are not absorbing nutrients right, you can have any number of symptoms relating to malnutrition, even if you are overweight. I had joint pain, fatigue, fertility problems, bad enamel on my teeth, migraines, all things you see with malnutrition, but very few GI problems. But I also agree with another poster that if you eat high raw, and then eat a huge bowl of pasta, your stomach may just not be used to that type of diet. Try smaller portions, and do a food diary, write down everything you eat/drink, and chart symptoms. That is very helpful to a doc if you end up seeing one.
You sound like youre experiencing a lot of the symptoms my daughter was when she was diagnosed 6 months ago. I wish I knew now what I didnt then and tried to test for her gluten intolerence, it would have made things easier on all of us!
My sister in law is also a coeliac and she swears by this recipe book
www.GlutenGourmet.info
We also bought it ( its not expensive and has a heap of recipes in there)and I must say we havent looked back! I think the hardest thing for us was thinking now we are all going to be missing out on something simply because she had this intolerance, but really our meals are just as tasty as before and in some cases, better!
theres also dairy and preservative free recipes in there which we have also adopted since then too.
I wish you best of health and good luck with the recipe book.
Cheers
Sarah
I was just recently diagnosed, and I had some SERIOUS pain that no doctors could figure out. After FIVE ER visits I got an emergency visit to a GI specialist and he diagnosed the celiac as a far reach. The severe pain (that took a double dose of narcotics to even dull) and a small rash on my calf were the only two symptoms. I didn't even connect those two until after the diagnosis.
If you have or think you have gluten intolerance keep in mind the eating organic will most likely increase your gluten intake. The protriens the bind (gluten) in flours are in direct correlation with growing conditions, weather, fertility of soil, sun light. Organic gardens often find poorer soil conditions and competing weeds for ground nutrients causing lower levels of protien in the grain. As a result, organic bakers are often forced to add gluten to products to aid in strength and structure. Some of this can be fixed by playing with water content and mix time, but high production facilities usually just add gluten, up to 50% at times just to make sure they aren't throwing away thousands of dollars on something that can't sell due to looks. A collapsed loaf bread still tastes the same unless the ingrients are wrong.
Those of use who eat GF know enough to avoid breads with any wheat in them. Yes, many wheat based good have additional gluten to them, but GF baked products do not.
Organic has nothing to do with it.
I'm not sure about the symptoms. But my grandma is supposed to be intolerant. She eats my spelt bread and doen't appear to have any issues. I was just bringing this up incase you want some type of grain in your diet. :)
Spelt IS a grain, so if you have a true intolerance/allergy/Celiac you would definitely could not eat it :(
I was just recently diagnosed, and I had some SERIOUS pain that no doctors could figure out. After FIVE ER visits I got an emergency visit to a GI specialist and he diagnosed the celiac as a far reach. The severe pain (that took a double dose of narcotics to even dull) and a small rash on my calf were the only two symptoms. I didn't even connect those two until after the diagnosis.
A small rash on my left calf was one of my symptoms, too. I also get achy joints and terrible GI problems when I eat it. The weird thing is that I went for a long time after being pregnant and not having a reaction if I got it accidentally, but all of the sudden I got some accidentally recently and had a violent reaction. If something in my body could tolerate it when I was pregnant, it's gone now.
Luckily, there are more and more GF substitutes, but my biggest problem in Holland is eating out as a Celiac vegan. Even going to friends is a pain. I tend to eat before I go or bring my own food.
For some, celiac presents primarily as a bad rash, rather than with GI issues, some people have both.