Been struggling with my health amid a busy season lately, but I finally found the reason: I have a gluten intolerance.
Basically, I can’t eat grain products anymore. It’s a genetic condition called (among other things) celiac disease. My sister was diagnosed with this a few years ago, so I’ve been on a semi-cautious lookout since then. Gluten is a protein found in grains that has basically gotten way out of hand since farmers invented cross-breeding to increase harvest yields. Over the past couple hundred years the gluten content of grains has gone nuts. We’re talking multipliers in the hundreds. The human digestive system isn’t designed to handle that much gluten, so an autoimmune disorder has arisen that basically destroys your small intestine – making you unable to absorb nutrients and and generally turning you into a sickly person.
A few days ago I was attempting to go to sleep after a rough day when the thought occurred to me that I was exhibiting a lot of the symptoms for celiac. In the morning I cut the grain products out of my diet and almost immediately noticed a difference.
I hadn’t realized how bad I had been feeling until today. When I woke up, feeling great, I thought to myself “Gee, I like feeling this good. Sure beats being sickly.” Then I ate a protein bar I thought was gluten-free. I was incorrect. Within a few minutes I started feeling the ‘sickly’ symptoms coming back and double-checked the label. Yup, trace amounts of wheat involved in the manufacturing process.
So now I’m embarking on the new diet. It’s a big lifestyle change, especially for a bachelor “starving” artist. The hope is that by switching over, I’ll regain a lot of the energy that I haven’t had for a few months now. Even in the few days I’ve been testing the gluten-free diet I’ve felt more alert and energetic. The improved mental state is awesome. We’ll just have to wait and see what sort of long-term effects the change has in store as well.
In conclusion: Big life change, but don’t bake me a cake to celebrate 
Nice – it is very cool that you figured out what the problem is and can actually do something about it that is as simple as changing your diet! Hope all (gluten aside) is well, man; let’s talk soon.
Hi Chad,
One caveat about going gluten free “on your own.”
IF you have celiac disease, the only current solution is “100% gluten free for life” – or you risk other long term health and possibly life threatening consequences.
100% gluten free is NOT an easy way to live, and without a diagnosis that shows you MUST do so, in time, it’s easy for many people to “cheat” when they think, “Well, a little bit didn’t seem to bother me too much today.” Well, with celiac disease, a little bit DOES hurt, even when you don’t feel it.
So, it’s really always best to rule-out celiac disease with PROPER (big emphasis on proper – many docs don’t know what that is) diagnostic testing. Even if negative for celiac, you may need to be gluten free, but at least, if you’re positive, you know that “cheating, even a bit” could be life threatening.
On another note, many people that go gluten free feel a lot better, but maybe they are only wheat intolerant, or even yeast intolerant, or maybe just barley reactive (since most “all purpose wheat flour” contains barley) – and then there’s the entire cross-contamination issue.
Anyway, best wishes – but don’t overlook the entire aspect of what you’re getting yourself into – and once off gluten for 1 month, it may be too late to get any accurate testing, unless you go BACK ON IT AGAIN for a month or more. .. and not something you’re likely to do if it makes you miserable . . .
Sincerely,
Jan Patenaude, RD, CLT
Hi Chad,
One caveat about going gluten free “on your own.”
IF you have celiac disease, the only current solution is “100% gluten free for life” – or you risk other long term health and possibly life threatening consequences.
100% gluten free is NOT an easy way to live, and without a diagnosis that shows you MUST do so, in time, it’s easy for many people to “cheat” when they think, “Well, a little bit didn’t seem to bother me too much today.” Well, with celiac disease, a little bit DOES hurt, even when you don’t feel it.
So, it’s really always best to rule-out celiac disease with PROPER (big emphasis on proper – many docs don’t know what that is) diagnostic testing. Even if negative for celiac, you may need to be gluten free, but at least, if you’re positive, you know that “cheating, even a bit” could be life threatening.
On another note, many people that go gluten free feel a lot better, but maybe they are only wheat intolerant, or even yeast intolerant, or maybe just barley reactive (since most “all purpose wheat flour” contains barley) – and then there’s the entire cross-contamination issue.
Anyway, best wishes – but don’t overlook the entire aspect of what you’re getting yourself into – and once off gluten for 1 month, it may be too late to get any accurate testing, unless you go BACK ON IT AGAIN for a month or more. .. and not something you’re likely to do if it makes you miserable . . .
Sincerely,
Jan Patenaude, RD, CLT
I don’t know who/what wrote that last comment, but I find it amusing on multiple levels.