Learn How Gluten is Sneaking into YOUR Diet

You think you're eating clean and staying clear of gluten in your diet.  However, gluten is a sneaky thing and you may be avoiding the obvious gluten containing foods like bread, pasta, and cookies, but have you thought about all the places gluten may be hiding in the food that you do eat?  Did you know that there is gluten in soy sauce?  Have you thought about cross-contamination at restaurants or from another person in your house that is not gluten free? 

It's valuable to learn about all the places that gluten could be sneaking into your diet if you are avoiding gluten or following a lifestyle that includes being gluten free.  This information is particularly valuable for anyone that has Celiac Disease, or is Gluten Intolerant, but I also think that it's worth understanding where gluten is hiding and how you may still be getting exposed to it for anyone that is looking for better health.  Avoiding gluten is one of the things on my top 10 list of things to change to make you healthier - regardless of who you are or how you currently eat.

Check out Jennifer Fugo's FREE teleclass on Wednesday September 14th at 7pm where she will walk you through 5 ways that gluten is still sneaking into you diet. Not sure if you can make the call - no big deal, as long as you sign up you will be able to listen to the recording and you'll be eligible to win some free stuff.  Got 2 minutes, watch this quick video to learn a tip about gluten contamination in your own home, and meet Jennifer.

Why should you sign up for this class?  Why not, I'm signed up - I am always looking for opportunities to learn more about how gluten could be sneaking into my food so that I can avoid it and minimize my exposure to gluten.  If you're following a Paleo/Primal lifestyle you may THINK you are gluten free, but might not realize where you still may be getting exposed to gluten.  I think everyone can benefit from being gluten free, and this call will help you understand all of the place to look for it!

Jennifer Fugo is a certified health coach through the Integrative Institute of Nutrition and has been Named by Philadelphia Magazine as a Gluten Free Guru.  She has successfully overhauled her diet and lifestyle after learning of her own intolerance to gluten, casein, and eggs and works with her clients to help busy, constantly on-the-go individuals a system of eating and living that best suites them. 

Are you sensitive to gluten?

One of the foods that I choose to exclude from my diet are grains, primarily because they contain "anti-nutrients" which your body reacts negatively to when you consume them.  The most well known of the grain anti-nutrients is gluten.  Going gluten free has been pretty trendy lately, and there is a reason why - when people are cutting it out of their food choices generally people feel better.  You don't have to be diagnosed with Celiac Disease to see that your body runs better when it's gluten free.  Each person's gluten sensitivity varies, and some common health ailments that you have: headaches, allergies, stuffiness, bloating, etc could be related to gluten.  The thing is that most people have been eating gluten since they were able to eat solid foods, so its difficult to know how much better you would feel without gluten until you cut it out.  The chart shows 3 levels of gluten intolerance: sensitivity, wheat allergy, and celiac disease.

Gluten Sensitivity: Gluten sensitivity can manifest itself in the form of an "IBS-like stomach problems, headaches, fatigue, numbness and depression, but more than 100 symptoms have been loosely linked to gluten intake."  Diagnosing gluten sensitivity is difficult, since there isn't a targeted set of symptoms, but "some experts think as many as 1 in 20 Americans may have some form of [gluten sensitivity]" so if you experience any of the issues listed above, it may be worth going gluten free to see if you feel better.

Wheat Allergy: If you have a wheat allergy it may be related to the gluten in wheat, but could be realted to something else.  A wheat allergy is rare in adults and children, and most children that do have this allergy outgrow it by the age of 5. 

Celiac Disease: The most extreme reaction to gluten is seen in the diagnosis of Celiac disease, once rarely diagnosed, is now estimated the "1 in 133 Americans" has celiac.  Celiac is a condition where your body attacks gluten, can as a result creates chronic inflammation and can lead to malnutrition in extreme cases.  To read more about celiac, gluten allergies, and gluten sensitivity read this article from the Wall Street Journal, Clues to Gluten Sensitivity. 

The bottom line, many people are sensitive to gluten and although they are hard to diagnose, the symptoms that they experience are real and can be avoided by avoiding gluten.

Whole Gains = Wholesome Goodness?

What we think we know about grains based on everything you've heard and been told by your friends, family, doctors, the food pyramid, your health teacher, and the media is that whole grains are healthy and good for you and should be a staple in your diet.  Whole grains are included "as part of a complete breakfast" and to help fulfill you RDA, Recommended Daily Amount, of vitamins and minerals as well as fiber. Americans regularly eat bagels, donuts, pastries, cereal, muffins, toast - all grain based breakfast foods in addition to sandwiches, pizza, rice and pasta at lunch or dinner.

So why did I change my diet and go from eating a loaf of bread a week as a high carb/low fat believer in whole grains to going Paleo and no longer eating grains at all? I started to learn more about grains and found that grains aren't as much good as 'they' say.

First, lets define what is a grain?

Wheat, Rye, Barley, Flour (made from any grain), Oats, Cereals, Corn...yes corn is a grain, Rice, Quinoa*, Couscous

Why I don't eat Grains:

Grains contain Lectins that cause inflammation and cause auto-immune responses:

Lectins = Proteins found in grains (Gluten is one of them) that cause an inflammatory response and break down and actually attack your intestinal lining because your stomach acid is unable to break them down.  When they attack the lining of your gut, it creates small holes that enable both lectins and other things to 'leak' outside of your digestive system and into your blood stream.  When this happens both harmful and non-harmful particles can enter your body, so your body attacks them causing an inflammatory response often associated with auto-immune diseases (like Multiple Sclerosis, Celiac Disease and Rheumatoid Arthritis).  In addition to the inflammatory response your body is attacking itself and diverting attention away from being able to attack other things.  With constant re-exposure to grains your gut never has time to heal, and therefore the damage persists and gets worse each time you eat more grains.

Celiac Disease = extreme form of reaction to the lectin gluten, so for people that are gluten intolerant the attacking of the gut lining and response is extremely bad. Robb Wolf, a former research biochemist turned Paleolithic Nutrition and Strength & Conditioning coach, states that all people are gluten intolerant to some degree; try taking grains (especially ones containing gluten) out of your diet and see what clears up...allergies, colds, energy spikes and lows, stuffy nose in the morning, headaches and more.