Trying to be healthy but now gluten intolerant

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jasminedurocher
jasminedurocher Posts: 4
in Food and Nutrition
Started eating less junk food a year ago, replacing the crap with fruit and veg and brown bread too, which was fine until the last few months when I came down with all sorts of tummy aches, mood swings, cravings, constipation....and find out I've suddenly developed gluten intolerance after 21 years of not having it! Can't help but feel like this is a side effect of 'going healthy'....? Anyone else find they now can't eat anything unhealthy without paying for it??

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  • itsbasschick
    itsbasschick Posts: 1,584 Member
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    it has nothing to do with eating unhealthy, honest. i know folks who never ate a healthy bite in their lives who developed gluten intolerance. me, i'm allergic to wheat, but can eat some gluten, like rye and spelt. when i first figured out what was causing my pain - it started when i was 40 and it was BAD - i wasn't eating healthy. things just happen, and they often happen over time.

    you can get gluten free bread, you know. udi's is my current fave, but there are others, although some you can only find at places like whole foods. you can eat a lot of cereals, both healthy (erewhon makes rockin' healthy cereals!) and not as healthy. you can eat potatoes, which also means hash browns. corn is gluten free, and there are lots of gluten free cake mixes, bread mixes and more available in stores or on amazon. my fave gluten free flour is from king arthur, my favorite gluten free pasta is tinkyada (they really are yummy!), and nut thins are lower fat tasty crackers with no gluten.
  • abadvat
    abadvat Posts: 1,241 Member
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    No - can happen to anyone at any given time - Intolerance or Celiac disease?
    Intolerance can be washed out of your system Celiac disease... Bad news!
  • Jodsmission
    Jodsmission Posts: 130 Member
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    WOW! but if you eat all that "gluten free" food( like the brownies which are great) you will gain more weight. Trust me. My Celiac's diagnosis did come after I tried to eat low fat and I think it was because I was eating bagels and cereals and brown bread more often not because I was eating them. My gastro guy said "you knew you couldn't eat those all along."
    So OP if you are intolerant I am sorry . I remember when I was told I had to give up all gluten it was like going into rehab and all I could think was "for forever" but you get used to it really quickly. You learn to read everything you buy . You do find your favorite foods as the previous poster said about Udi's and you adapt. But don't ignore it whatever you do because I did REAL damage to my intestines by playing with my allergy for years.
  • fattybumclaire
    fattybumclaire Posts: 91 Member
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    Pop along to the doctors and talk to him about the possibilty of coeliac disease, assuming it is an intolerance is not a great idea, cd can be triggered at any time during your life - there is a gf group on here to give lots of advice and support.

    Eating healthy doesn't cause intolerance - think of it like a smoker, their body seems to be coping very well with nicotine and tar etc for years but if they give it up and allow their body to heal, a single cigarette can make them feel ill and affect their lungs. Your body may have been struggling with gluten for years but was working overtime to cope, after a break the affects are more noticeable.

    Good luck.
  • shartran
    shartran Posts: 304 Member
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    I thought the following info was interesting....

    Dr. Sanjay Gupta stated that 1.8 million Americans are gluten intolerant (have been diagnosed) and another 1.4 million Americans haven't! (Just because people generally go through life thinking how their body reacts to food., etc., is just normal for them)
  • shartran
    shartran Posts: 304 Member
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    I thought the following info was interesting....

    Dr. Sanjay Gupta stated that 1.8 million Americans are gluten intolerant (have been diagnosed) and another 1.4 million Americans haven't! (Just because people generally go through life thinking how their body reacts to food., etc., is just normal for them)

    sorry, I should be reread before posting. It should have been:
    " ....1.8 million Americans have Celiac Disease (have been diagnosed)and another 1.4 million Americans actually have the disease too, but just have not been diagnosed with it. The reason why so many people have not been diagnosed with it is because the vast majority of people go through their lives thinking it's 'normal' to feel like they feel - they don't even realize that their 'normal' state is anything but normal!
  • QuietBloom
    QuietBloom Posts: 5,413 Member
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    Started eating less junk food a year ago, replacing the crap with fruit and veg and brown bread too, which was fine until the last few months when I came down with all sorts of tummy aches, mood swings, cravings, constipation....and find out I've suddenly developed gluten intolerance after 21 years of not having it! Can't help but feel like this is a side effect of 'going healthy'....? Anyone else find they now can't eat anything unhealthy without paying for it??

    Either you have Celiacs, or you don't. Gluten intolerance is highly theoretical and not backed by any sort of science. At any rate, if you feel better avoiding gluten, by all means do it! There are plenty alternative grains you can eat and plenty of gluten free options these days.

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