Why I went Gluten Free

Going gluten free is trendy these days in 2021, but that is NOT why I decided to stop eating it. I was actually very resistant to going GF. But, I had a feeling that one day, something would force my hand...or my mouth rather. I was told by a mentor while in medical school that folks with a predisposition to autoimmune diseases (which I am predisposed for many reasons) should not eat gluten. I distinctly remember them saying something along the lines of, "Well, are you going to wait until you get an autoimmune disease then?". To be fair, they were on to something, but it wasn't the truth I wanted to hear at the time. So I resisted and waited. Until yes, one day recently, I found out that I have my first autoimmune disorder, and not the one I anticipated. So in a round about way, I did wait until I had my first AI disorder to stop eating gluten.

I'll share more about this journey to finding out I have an AI disease in the future, however I will say, the first thing I realized when I knew I might have this AI disease, was that I needed to go gluten free. And you know what...it's not that bad. I do miss bread though. Like fluffy, non frozen, wheat-y, gluten-y soft bread. But, I like my health and my gut and preventing disease progression more. So as a ND, I did what I knew I needed to do and cut it out of my diet, and got myself my own Naturopathic Doctor to work with. Yes, doctors need doctors.

Going gluten free requires you to look at every ingredient list on packaged food. I was doing this already (mostly) but now I was looking for things that are straight-up glutinous like wheat, barley, rye and gluten itself. Then, even when things may not seem like they could have wheat or gluten in them, you have to learn to check. Like soy sauce! But don't worry they make a gf version. What you quickly realize is that you may as well eat more whole foods and less packaged foods. This is better for your health anyway, so win win.

I'll write a blog post soon on my favorite gluten free things in this short journey of mine thus far. Reaching out to gluten free friends is also helpful, and they can point you in the direction of tasty gluten free things.

My takeaway from this experience so far is that sometimes the universe points you in certain directions and you choose whether to listen or not. We have free will. But, if things keep coming up, might be worth some attention. One of those things for me was this nagging thought that I should go gluten free years ago. But, we can't change the past. Another is, before going gluten free, you should always consider testing for Celiac Disease or Non-celiac Gluten sensitivity. I have heard this advice over and over again in my schooling and career thus far. In fact, this is what I tell my patients! Turns out, after some recent testing of my own GI health, I found out I have extremely high levels of anti-gliadin antibodies...so maybe I should've done that testing after all. Now I may need to go back to eating gluten for a few weeks before further testing to see if I have celiac disease. Funny how life works sometimes...

Until next time...