OK, at first I did! Truth be told, I gave up all gluten products to speed up my weight loss in February. Bread, cookies, pasta, sauces made with flour, crab cakes with Panko bread filling….everything! However, to my amazement I discovered something much, much better! A lot of my symptoms were disappearing.

I am one of those people who acknowledges, but ignores problems. And I do so with my body as well. I think, “Oh it will just go away”, or “It’s not THAT bad”. I make excuses. And soon my symptoms just become a part of my everyday life.

Some of the symptoms I was experiencing: Chronic Fatigue,  Bouts of extreme depression,  Skin problems like insatiable itchy elbows, knees, and lower legs that came and went (this was actually the worst of them all!),  Bloating,  Digestive problems,  Inflammation in my wrists and hands that were so bad at one point I had to wear a wrist band….I’m only 29!!

Sounds so sexy, huh? So since going gluten-free in February I actually slipped up the beginning of March, ate something I shouldn’t have and I remember it clearly. Dan and I went to his moms, and Dan did the honors of making Sue and I dinner for once. Her and I just sat back, watched the Bachelor and drank wine. What did he decide to make? A huge pot of Pasta with Meat Sauce. Because I love him so much and was thankful for the nice gesture, I downed the serving of pasta he gave me with a smile on my face. It’s not often that someone makes ME dinner!

That early morning at 3 am I was wide awake. The itching of my lower legs was so horrible I couldn’t sleep. I went in the shower thinking it might make it better, but nope, I now just had wet itchy legs. A light bulb went off in my head. My skin has not been like this for a while. I hadn’t even noticed. Hummm, I wonder what made it start……the pasta!! I got out of the shower, into my towel and straight to my computer to start researching Gluten Intolerance, Gluten Sensitivity, and Celiac Disease. And soon I realized a lot of my main symptoms were absent throughout my gluten-free period. In my head, I rolled through the list of what was happening in the last couple months:

• I was actually waking up with energy. Energy like, bouncy, full of life and happy to be alive energy!
• I not only was losing weight, but wasn’t bloated anymore.
• I felt happier:) No extreme sadness, cloudiness in the mind feeling or that sense of BLAH about everything.  Even when stupid little things went wrong like when my dog tore open the trash and scattered it around the living room floor I replied,”Well, that’s my fault for leaving it there my little muffin!” Where as before, I would have said, “Could anything else go wrong in my life?? Uggghh”
• My stomach was not upset all the time, and stopped making noises like an alien lived in it every time I ate.
• The pain in my wrist wasn’t there anymore.

So now I am delving into a gluten-free life. Trying to at least. And along the way, I’m trying to come up with some awesome recipes that are deceptively delicious! I’ll of course have the occasional burger like I did this weekend in the Meatpacking District at Bill’s Bar + Burger when I devoured one of their perfectly juicy burgers with extra pickles! But, the price will be paid unfortunately:(

I’m not a doctor. And I’m not saying that if you have depression or rheumatoid arthritis, thyroid problems, or any of the many symptoms caused by a gluten intolerance is caused from Gluten. What I am saying is, be aware of your diet. Gluten may or may not be the culprit.

Bottom line is…I’m not Dr. Quinn Medicine Woman, but I wish I were! A Gluten-Free diet has made my life more enjoyable and healthier, and I just wanted to share that it might do the same for you!

Here are a couple of great informative articles if you want to read more about Gluten Intolerance:

Eatocracy / “Gluten-Free and Well-Fed: When did G-Free get all…Sexy”

Dr. Mark Hyman /”What You Don’t Know Might Kill You”

Wikipedia: Gluten Sensitivity

Kelly