I recently saw a joke that said “I don’t engage in high risk sports like base jumping, or ice climbing, or cave diving, or eating gluten”.

Except, it’s no joke.

You’re probably going to hate hearing this but (don’t shoot the messenger)        research proves gluten serves no nutritional purpose.

None whatsoever. It is purely an irritant to your body.

Humans cannot digest gluten. Every human is gluten intolerant to one degree or another.

We do not make ANY enzymes to break it down. Few people can handle the long term irritation caused from eating gluten on a daily basis.

And this is why gluten has become the new Public Enemy #1.

Signs and Symptoms of Gluten Intolerance

This is just a short list of signs and symptoms associated with gluten intolerance (from www.GlutenFreeNetwork.com ):

• Stomach pain or bloating
• Gas and/or cramps
• Nausea
• Vomiting
• Constipation
• Diarrhea
• Acid Reflux (GERD)
• Heartburn
• Irritable Bowel Syndrome
• Anemia
• Weight Loss or Weight Gain
• Canker sores
• Aching joints
• Depression
• Fatigue
• Itchy skin
• Rash or hives
• Headaches
• Irritability and behavioral changes
• Fat in the stools (due to poor digestion)

Testing for Gluten Intolerance

There is no test yet for gluten intolerance.

Basically if all your gluten tests come back normal, but you feel better when you don’t eat gluten and worse when you do eat gluten, then you have gluten intolerance.

(Note that I am not talking about Celiac disease here. There are specific tests to diagnose Celiac disease.)

Treatment for Gluten Intolerance

Avoid gluten.

Let me repeat that: Avoid gluten.

Start with the major forms of gluten (breads, pastas, cookies, crackers, etc) and work down to the minor forms (soy sauce, malt vinegar, beer, etc).

Here is what worked for me…

Work on one meal at a time, and only one meal at a time. Period.

Start with breakfast. Work on that, and only that.

Do an Internet search on “gluten free breakfast.” There are plenty of ideas and recipes online. Search online for “gluten free smoothies” or “fast gluten free breakfast recipes” to get ideas for those days when you need to make breakfast at lightning speed.

It may take a few weeks to really feel like you’ve mastered that one meal. That’s okay!

Once you get to the point where you’ve mastered gluten free breakfast, then move on to lunch and transition lunch over to gluten free.

And, once you master lunch, then do gluten free snacks, and lastly gluten free dinner. It will take a few months to really master the entire routine of a gluten free diet, and that’s fine!

(Remember, the tortoise won the race!)

Next will be to search for gluten in your medications and supplements (it is a common filler and binder) and in your toiletries (especially natural products use gluten as a common ingredient).

Before you know it, you’ll be gluten free (and I bet you’ll say to yourself “Gee, that wasn’t as hard as I thought it would be!”).

Make a promise to yourself starting today:

Stop feeling lousy…rotten…awful…crummy…miserable…terrible…crappy.

Find a good Functional Medicine doctor to help you get to the root cause of your health problems.

Like I always say:

Find the cause.

Fix the cause.

Feel normal again!

Dr. Carri Drzyzga, DC, ND – The Functional Medicine Doc

Find the Cause. Fix the Cause. Feel Normal Again!