My Life As a Gluten-Free Wife

We decided to make the switch to a gluten-free lifestyle almost 6 months ago, after a doctor suggested that eliminating gluten might alleviate Mary's fibromyalgia and joint pain. Within two weeks of removing gluten from her diet the joint pain stopped (and only flares up with the weather). I got on board a few days later to see if I noticed any health benefits, but mostly to support my wife.

I've read that going gluten-free can help with depression and mood swings.

In the past few months I can honestly say I've been a lot happier, but I left my old job right before altering my diet, so I can't be too sure what caused this change. In addition, I've lost some weight, but mostly because I can't pig out on cakes, cookies and other desserts as easily as I did in the past (we have found some amazing gluten-free recipes, which we will be sharing), and it definitely helps that I'm no longer surrounded by junk food at work.

Going gluten-free forces you to take a closer look at everything you consume.

You MUST read every label, as we've found out the hard way, and ask others what ingredients are used in the food they offer you. Since a vast majority of food has wheat or soy as an ingredient it limits what you can eat when you go out, which means you always have to be prepared.

Unlike most diets, where if you "cheat" you'll feel guilty and be disappointed when you step on the scale, if you "cheat" and eat products with gluten in it your body may punish you, literally. This may not happen to everyone, but Mary and I have both found that since a week or so after eliminating gluten from our diet, that whenever we reintroduced it, our bodies did not like it. Side effects ranged from mild headaches, fogginess, and mild stomach aches, to really bad stomach cramps and other not so fun stuff.

Even with all the restrictions, it is a lot easier to maintain a gluten-free lifestyle today than a few years ago.

There are so many gluten-free options available in grocery stores and many chain restaurants.  Yet, I still find that its best to prepare our own food.  In the last few months I've started cooking and baking more, which is something I usually avoided in the past. 

I cook most of our meals, which means we eat healthier and save more money.  I also bake desserts whenever we go to a party, so I know there is at least one thing I can eat when I am there.

Do I still want to eat food with gluten? Sometimes.  But I have made a commitment to this lifestyle and my wife, and I almost enjoy being a guinea pig to see what the long-term health benefits are. 

We'll keep you posted.

~Hayley

I Won't Tolerate Gluten

 "I have exorcised the Demons!" and by demons I mean Gluten.

For years I struggled with debilitating Fibromyalgia along with a plethora of other health issues that made life rather difficult. When discussing my symptoms with my therapist and how it left me incapable of doing some of the most mundane tasks like getting out of bed, she posed a really great question, "Did you ever think that maybe what your eating is restricting you?" I honestly never thought about it. I always ate healthy and then after my weight loss (80lbs in total) I eat extremely healthy. My therapist presented me with a variety of diet options that may aid to feeling more like myself and a little less like I wanted to jump out of my skin. Some of her suggestions went on the extreme like GAPS and Paleo diets, but she mentioned starting small and eliminating gluten from my food intake. 

Going Gluten Free is NOT a fad, and there is no need to jump blindly on the bandwagon.  Inform yourself and make the decision that is best for you. Like most decisions I make in life I researched all the diets and the Gluten Free diet seemed to strike a chord. I noticed that a lot of the symptoms that are associated with being intolerant to gluten matched the symptoms I grappled with each day, such as;

• Neurological issues, including dizziness, difficulty balancing, and peripheral neuropathy affecting nerves outside the central nervous system and resulting in pain, weakness, tingling or numbness in the extremities
• Headaches or migraines
• Fatigue, foggy thinking or feeling tired especially after a meal heavy in gluten
• Mood imbalances or sudden changes, irritability, anxiety, depression, ADD, PMS
• Inflammation, swelling or pain in your joints such as fingers, knees or hips
• Diagnosis of chronic fatigue or fibromyalgia

Really?!?!?! There is no way that my love for beer and really delicious rye bread was harming my body. But hey, at that point there was only so much Ibuprofen a person can ingest daily; it was worth a shot. Like I said before, I educated myself on the ins and outs of freeing my life of gluten. 

First things first, I needed to figure out what exactly constitutes gluten. Gluten refers to the proteins found in wheat endosperm (a type of tissue produced in seeds that's ground to make flour). Gluten both nourishes plant embryos during germination and later affects the elasticity of dough, which in turn affects the chewy goodness of baked wheat products. What does this even mean??? The answer is simple NO WHEAT (What?), NO BARLEY (Why?), NO RYE (You've got to be kidding me!!!) You must avoid eating any foods and ingredients that contain gluten, including bread, beer (nooooo not my beer), pasta, salad dressing, soy sauce, and even some soups (learned that the hard way, how is wheat the third ingredient in tomato soup?) unless otherwise marked as "gluten-free". What is worse and extremely important to note is that gluten is like a spy, it disguises itself and hides where you least expect it (refer back to my comment about the tomato soup.)

Free Gluten to a good home!

Now that I identified the enemy, I needed to exterminate our apartment. I am sure there are many families who find ways to work around someone in the house that can't eat gluten but I knew that would be nearly impossible when there is only two people living together. Plus, there would be too much temptation around the kitchen, not to mention I have a terrible habit of sleep eating (it's a real thing.) My wife jumped on board the gluten free train and we set out to rid our cabinets and lives of wheat. This meant we had to replace many of our everyday essentials that were not gluten free.  One of the most important things to do is to read your labels, sometimes there is a handy, dandy GF stamp on the product. But if you are unsure, take the time to look up the item on the internet or even call the company and ask. Trust me it is better to be safe than sorry (re: tomato soup.) The world of gluten free products can be a confusing one.  Instead, focus on fresh, whole foods like vegetables, fruits, meats, nuts, seeds, whole grains like brown rice and quinoa.  

Ok, so I pinpointed the antagonist, I purged it from my body, and modified my eating habits. Did it work? Was giving up gluten worth all the time, money, and energy? The answer is yes. (I'm not sure I would blog about it if the outcome was different.) Within two weeks of cutting out wheat, I noticed I wasn't hitting my massive bottle of pain relievers. I didn't feel like I was walking in a foggy haze. After a month I had virtually no symptoms of fibromyalgia. In fact, only when it is extremely humid/rainy out do I experience any joint pain (which has more to due with the fact that my body is just getting old.) Has my wife felt any different since the switch? No, not really, but you will have to read her blog posts about her experiences. 

As I pointed out earlier, you should not just hop on the GF bandwagon for poops and giggles or because it is the latest craze. Like any lifestyle change, it is extremely important to learn about it, educate yourself, before jumping in the deep end of the pool. I will be posting blogs every so often about my trials and tribulations as I journey through my life free of gluten. Please feel free to use my thoughts and experiences as a guide to whether or not this diet is for you.

~Maryalice