Am I that gluten sensitive?


(Philadelphia, PA)

My doctor suggested that I try an elimination diet for two months in which I eliminated dairy, sugar, gluten, corn, soy, and other foods. I had to use products that supported the detoxification because I started getting acne during the diet.


Other than no longer having diarrhea and being more regular I didn't notice the dramatic improvement that I had expected. I'm still tired all the time, don't sleep well, and my stomach takes a long time to digest. In fact I felt the same for the most part during the elimination diet. When I reintroduced gluten and other foods I didn't notice a sudden increase in my symptoms though the sporadic diarrhea did come back but I couldn't trace it to one particular food. Now I only eat gluten once a week, I'm back on the detox products and the diarrhea is gone. I have strong cravings for bread and butter. But I wonder should I still avoid gluten like it's going to kill me?

My doctor thinks I should but if I'm not seeing a dramatic improvement I just feel like I'm torturing myself.

Comments for Am I that gluten sensitive?

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No one can answer that for you..
by: Kerri Knox, RN- The Immune Queen!

Hi Joanne,

No one can answer that question for you. It will have to be a personal choice. Obviously the gluten isn't going to kill you tomorrow- that's not the way it works, so saying that you should avoid it 'like it's killing you' is dramatic and designed to make your brain justify your decision to eat it.



But is it killing you slowly? Maybe, maybe not. Is getting sporadic diarrhea normal? Absolutely not. What's causing that diarrhea? Possibly some inflammation in your digestive tract that gluten is exacerbating- and inflammation DOES kill you slowly.

The other thing to consider is that if you are not feeling better that you may have several to many nutritional deficiencies that have not been addressed. And if you do have nutritional deficiencies, then where did they come from?

Either from not eating well or not absorbing properly- and if you are not absorbing properly, it's likely due to inflammation in your digestive tract. Is that the case with you? Don't know?

You COULD find out by getting an Intestinal Permeability Test and/or a Vitamin Deficiency Test and then you would have a lot more information about whether staying off of gluten would benefit you and/or why you are still fatigued as well.

Personally, I mostly stay away from gluten most of the time even though I'm not gluten sensitive. Gluten AT ALL TIMES IN ALL PEOPLE is an 'inflammatory' food. It only depends upon the degree of inflammation and the individual's ability to counter and recover from the inflammation that is an issue. But eating gluten ALWAYS requires the body to 'defend' from it in some way- and that is just not conducive to excellent overall health.


Kerri Knox RN Immune Health Queen

Kerri Knox, RN- The Immune System Queen
Functional Medicine Practitioner
Immune System

 


PS: If you found this website helpful, please consider using the
Easy Immune Health Product Store the next time you purchase your supplements online. Your support allows me to keep this site running and educating as many people as possible. Thank you!
Re: Am I that gluten sensitive?
by: Joanne

Thanks for the quick response! I actually do have vitamin deficiencies. I?m low on vitamin D, A, B12 and omega 3 fatty acids. Though I believe on my last blood test my B6 was too high but it could have been one of the other B vitamins. My T3 reverse was also too high.

I?ve been taking supplements for months and my levels are slowly rising though my doctor said that he wouldn?t be surprised if they decreased. I also have bacterial overgrowth and I?m experiencing a lot of mental stress.

Sometimes I just wonder whether my body is just broken and I should learn to accept that. Looking for a cure itself and trying to stay on a diet is stressful.
No Other Reason..
by: Kerri Knox, RN- The Immune Queen!

So, I HIGHLY suspect that you are quite gluten sensitive even though you don't seem amazingly better on a gluten free diet.

This could very well be because you have SEVERE damage to your intestinal tract and you simply haven't been on a gluten free diet long enough.

The fact that finding a reason for your problems and trying to eat healthy are stressing you out, probably means that you have Adrenal Gland Fatigue and Magnesium Deficiency- despite whether any of your tests show magnesium deficiency or not.

While this is easier said than done, I'd suggest that making a gluten free healthy diet a LIFESTYLE rather than 'this thing that you have to do otherwise you won't get better' and that relaxing into something by its acceptance often takes a lot of the stress and pressure off of you.

It sounds like you have a lot of healing to do (I highly doubt that you are 'just broken') and being realistic that you are going to need a year or two to fully recover from a lifetime of doing bad things to your body can help you to relax into it and make healthy eating a lifestyle.


Good luck and I hope that this helps...



Kerri Knox RN Immune Health Queen

Kerri Knox, RN- The Immune System Queen
Functional Medicine Practitioner
Immune System

 


PS: If you found this website helpful, please consider using the
Easy Immune Health Product Store the next time you purchase your supplements online. Your support allows me to keep this site running and educating as many people as possible. Thank you!
to help with the cravings
by: Sharon

I dropped gluten, too, after suspecting my husband was suffering in part from gluten damage when he became critically ill

One of the things that helped me was to buy the Food for Life brand of gluten free bread; It actually tasted very good and satisfied my "need" to eat bread and now, some months later, I don't even eat the gluten free bread; It's not a perfect bread but it's gluten free and more healthy than the alternatives; I would enjoy a liberal pat of raw butter with it and feel quite satisfied;

Good luck with your discovery process and thank you, Kerri, for having this website! We ordered and are enjoying taking your supplements; I love how the multiples come in little packets and make it so much easier than the many separate vitamins we were taking; Helps keep us on track;

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