One of the most mocked dietary restrictions on the internet, in my humble opinion. A lot of people will associate cutting gluten, with cutting carbs. The reasons why they are not the same, are plenty to spare. Let’s dive in.
Carbohydrates, carbs, have been villainized by the media and even some researches and scholars as the true reason why we gain weight. But it’s more complex that than. Why? Because we have simple and complex carbs, plus how each persons’ body metabolizes it and for what purpose. An example is, I’ve read and heard that when runners are preparing for marathons, they usually load up on carbs days before. I am not a runner, so I can’t tell you my experience. But, I can say, everything has a purpose.
So, why simple vs complex carbs? In the simplest terms, simple turns into sugar, and complex just takes a longer route in your body to turn. We want complex.
Now, to the heart of the matter, gluten.
When it comes down to gluten there are different stories you will hear. How people with celiac disease, or gluten intolerance can eat all gluten food items with no issue. The potential reasons behind this one is how many of us here are actually intolerant to the pesticide chemicals used that are not used in other parts of the world. I haven’t tried that one. But I can say, that here, I cannot eat non organic produce because I do have an allergic reaction to them. What are they sprayed with? Yes, perhaps stronger or more variety of pesticides.
As per gluten specific, the dreaded carbs, it’s a different reaction. In my personal experience and that of others, we’ve found it to be inflammatory. Inflammation is defined as simply the body’s reaction to when you have an injury or infection. Common signs are swelling, redness, heat, and painful. Getting interesting now? So, a few reasons I’ve found could be a cause for this, but needs to be tested for each person individually, is indeed both. I’ll explain.
The first reason I found in my particular case after completion of the autoimmune protocol, was leaky gut. So what happens is, according to the research and in basic terms is that there has been damage to the lining of the intestines, and has as if it was micro tears. When you eat different things, it’s molecules can escape into the bloodstream, and the body attacks it because that’s not supposed to be there. So, what they found was that the gluten molecule and the thyroids’ are very similar. The body confuses it and then attacks all of them. And that’s one reason why you may see some people that suffer from thyroid disease, swollen joints and puffy face. What we call “moon face”. Now this is just one plausible reason. But it is one major one that practitioners of holistic medicine and health coaches will recommend a gluten free diet and to heal the leaky gut. Can you return to gluten after it heals? Well, it can take years depending on the damage, and do you really want to eat something all the time that can cause damage again? I don’t know about you, but I am enjoying wearing my rings again and no joint pain. To each their own. Oh, and it’s not just the carbs food that have gluten, it’s in different foods, with different names and cross contamination like corn.
Another fascinating reason I read years ago, was Ebstein-barr virus. You remember when you got sick after sharing that soda can, or that kiss? Mono. Now, let’s not fret, many of us have several viruses that have become dormant. If you had chicken pox, you have herpes zoster virus in you, and for many people when they get older it manifests as Shingles. Some say, these activate during a time of severe stress. And thus a huge reason why we are told so many times over to manage our stress. Hard in todays’ world though, I get that. But, back to the EBV. They feed off their favorite foods.
And there it is, a brief explanation of several explanations of why going gluten free if you have an autoimmune or thyroid disease, may be for you.
This is something I tell people it’s worth a try. Start slow or jump right in for 1-3 weeks, and see how you feel and what changes you notice in your own body.
If you are curious about how Ebstein-barr virus may be the culprit, one of the sources I read about this was on the Medical Medium Thyroid Healing book.
Everybody is completely different, we go through different experiences. This is why I like to read and explore all different things that could have impacted my thyroid journey, and then relay to you. We all deserve to know what could be our root cause. By knowing, by having the knowledge, it helps empower you to start taking action. Knowing where things “went wrong”, is part of the healing journey.
If you are curious about how to begin going Glute Free, I went cold turkey. And that is a story for another day. But I armed myself with some knowledge and lots of courage and started with the Autoimmune Protocol*. We will talk about this later on, and I’ll present how it worked for me, what research has already been published and what books I used. But if you want to dip your toes or just get started, I started with this book: The Autoimmune Paleo Cookbook by Mickey Trescot, NTP. It was recommended to be my one of my own providers. And it was truly helpful in the beginning of my healing journey.
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*will open a pubmed research article
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