First, we need McIntyre’s First Law: Under the right circumstances, anything I tell you could be wrong. I'm not a doctor, so this is like having a cuppa and talking it over.
If you read the first posts (and I think you read them way back) you know that I went 95% wheat free for a long time, with very rare bread intake -- this caused the inflammation in my body to drop from critical to moderate. When I decided to cut the last 5% of gluten out of my diet, I decided to spring for the genetic tests and the fecal test, two more ways to examine this problem. I was willing to give up the food, even at the holidays, as it turned out, because I was pretty desperate, plus I'd found out about my friend's child having some of my neuro symptoms.
But -- I had given up so much food, played with diet so much. I decided that knowing, *absolutely knowing* if I had a genetic marker for gluten was crucial, or otherwise, I would never know if it was really making the difference I needed.
Well, in my case, just stopping those tiny doses of gluten I got daily radically changed my life in two weeks. Even without the tests, I would have continued as I have. But the tests told me this was not placebo, not my imagination -- it was very real, if not common. I even dropped cosmetics and other toiletries, since I was still moderate after a year of tiny gluten amounts.
So -- you know there is a good chance that you have inherited some form of gluten intolerance from your Mom. Maybe not celiac -- maybe one of the other forms. Maybe it's recessive, and might bloom, but hasn't yet. And yet -- you could be stressing your system with gluten, playing with fire. I don't know if you give any credibility to gluten tests like this. But here is the lab -- https://www.enterolab.com/. My nutritionist thought they were reputable. Your doc could order tests, or you could do it yourself if it's in budget.
Could you see any change in a month? Possibly. People do all the time. Maybe the better question is, could you be feeling good at the end of the month, start eating gluten again -- and get hammered in a surprising but real way? That's possible, too.
I've met people whose arthritis is caused by wheat -- one piece of bread is a month of pain. I've met people with Celiac family members who test negative -- yet when they stopped gluten, their migraines and occasional brain fog went away. They started losing weight. One woman saw her neuropathy in her feet improve -- her only change, but it was real, so she continued avoiding gluten, just to see what happened.
If you're going to do it, maybe start now, so you don't have to go into the holidays if you don't want to? And I'd not eat any of the processed GF breads/cracker/cookie etc. items. Stick with pure grains like rice, quinoa, some teff if you're curious. Let your system rest for a month from grains unless whole ones. Maybe pay attention to sauces you use a lot at home (like buy a GF soy sauce (tamari) if you like Asian food at home.) Maybe avoid fried food from restaurants, since wheat could be fried in their oil. Don't sweat the gluten at a restaurant, but pick GF when you have it offered. Avid soups at restaurants -- broths have gluten, usually.
Just that little bit might tell you something. I watched one guy do this for two weeks. Then he had some of his Mom's homemade/assembled tomato soup -- and was hammered by a migraine, his first since he gave up gluten. She used canned soups as her base, of course.
To reduce your own stress? Don't tell your Mom you're doing it. Just do it.
Knowing how many serious things can possibly be triggered by gluten, if I were you, I'd try it. But how far to go at first? Only you know what you think you'll really keep to, so yours is the final decision.
Whatever you do, you have my best wishes! I went back after being off sweets, etc. for so long, and found that everything tasted like only sugar, not what I remembered at all. It was easier to give up wheat than I thought -- eating out is when it's a pain, and that so many popular forms of food make it harder to eat out.
I wish I wasn't hyper-sensitive, and hope that eventually fades. But I am so much healthier now -- no way I'd go back to gluten.
Hummmm.....
If you read the first posts (and I think you read them way back) you know that I went 95% wheat free for a long time, with very rare bread intake -- this caused the inflammation in my body to drop from critical to moderate. When I decided to cut the last 5% of gluten out of my diet, I decided to spring for the genetic tests and the fecal test, two more ways to examine this problem. I was willing to give up the food, even at the holidays, as it turned out, because I was pretty desperate, plus I'd found out about my friend's child having some of my neuro symptoms.
But -- I had given up so much food, played with diet so much. I decided that knowing, *absolutely knowing* if I had a genetic marker for gluten was crucial, or otherwise, I would never know if it was really making the difference I needed.
Well, in my case, just stopping those tiny doses of gluten I got daily radically changed my life in two weeks. Even without the tests, I would have continued as I have. But the tests told me this was not placebo, not my imagination -- it was very real, if not common. I even dropped cosmetics and other toiletries, since I was still moderate after a year of tiny gluten amounts.
So -- you know there is a good chance that you have inherited some form of gluten intolerance from your Mom. Maybe not celiac -- maybe one of the other forms. Maybe it's recessive, and might bloom, but hasn't yet. And yet -- you could be stressing your system with gluten, playing with fire. I don't know if you give any credibility to gluten tests like this. But here is the lab -- https://www.enterolab.com/. My nutritionist thought they were reputable. Your doc could order tests, or you could do it yourself if it's in budget.
Could you see any change in a month? Possibly. People do all the time. Maybe the better question is, could you be feeling good at the end of the month, start eating gluten again -- and get hammered in a surprising but real way? That's possible, too.
I've met people whose arthritis is caused by wheat -- one piece of bread is a month of pain. I've met people with Celiac family members who test negative -- yet when they stopped gluten, their migraines and occasional brain fog went away. They started losing weight. One woman saw her neuropathy in her feet improve -- her only change, but it was real, so she continued avoiding gluten, just to see what happened.
If you're going to do it, maybe start now, so you don't have to go into the holidays if you don't want to? And I'd not eat any of the processed GF breads/cracker/cookie etc. items. Stick with pure grains like rice, quinoa, some teff if you're curious. Let your system rest for a month from grains unless whole ones. Maybe pay attention to sauces you use a lot at home (like buy a GF soy sauce (tamari) if you like Asian food at home.) Maybe avoid fried food from restaurants, since wheat could be fried in their oil. Don't sweat the gluten at a restaurant, but pick GF when you have it offered. Avid soups at restaurants -- broths have gluten, usually.
Just that little bit might tell you something. I watched one guy do this for two weeks. Then he had some of his Mom's homemade/assembled tomato soup -- and was hammered by a migraine, his first since he gave up gluten. She used canned soups as her base, of course.
To reduce your own stress? Don't tell your Mom you're doing it. Just do it.
Knowing how many serious things can possibly be triggered by gluten, if I were you, I'd try it. But how far to go at first? Only you know what you think you'll really keep to, so yours is the final decision.
Whatever you do, you have my best wishes! I went back after being off sweets, etc. for so long, and found that everything tasted like only sugar, not what I remembered at all. It was easier to give up wheat than I thought -- eating out is when it's a pain, and that so many popular forms of food make it harder to eat out.
I wish I wasn't hyper-sensitive, and hope that eventually fades. But I am so much healthier now -- no way I'd go back to gluten.