Before going gluten free became a fad, I had to find my own way of dealing with gluten intolerance.
I remember the day I found out…it seemed like yesterday.
I visited a holistic physician with a rather unique machine.
This machine, believe it or not, measured energy in the body.
While I was talking with the doctor, this “energy” machine suggested I used stevia.
Funny thing is, I did use stevia! I was an instant believer after seeing the readout.
Shortly after it told me I used stevia, it said I had a possible gluten allergy.
Now, that was a bit far fetched and really hard to believe.
What was gluten anyway?
How the heck could someone who ate vanilla creme cookies and turkey sandwiches have a gluten intolerance?
It just couldn’t be!
I left the office and still wasn’t convinced I was sensitive to gluten.
I had to confirm I was sensitive to gluten, so guess what I did?
I ordered a pizza.
Over the next couple of weeks, I ate as much gluten as I could.
Cookies, pizzas, sandwiches .
The more gluten the better.
Little did i know, the signs of gluten intolerance were right under my nose.
I was just to busy eating to find it. 🙂
It would be several weeks later before I decided to go gluten free and change the course of my life.
Glutenholic
If you said I was a glutenholic, it would be an understatement.
I freakin’ loved gluten and all the foods that contained it.
Cakes, cookies, pizza, and anything breaded were my favs.
It wasn’t uncommon for me to sit down and eat a whole pizza and wash it down with 10 buffalo wings.
The buffalo wings and the sauce probably had gluten in it them too!
It would be much later when I discovered food manufacturers use gluten as a thickening agent.
They also use it to create an addiction.
Gluten can work on the brain just like drugs.
It never occurred to me I had an addiction until I would eat a whole box of vanilla creme cookies in one one sitting.
It also never crossed my mind I’d be a diabetic if I kept my current pace.
The voice of reason finally crept in and I decided to listen.
I heard William Davis, author of “Wheat Belly” speak while listening to a podcast.
Hearing him speak, would change my life!
I decided to go gluten free for 7 days.
Those 7 days turned into 5 years.
I have no desire to ever eat gluten again.
The PhatMan or The Fat Man
I don’t like the word fat, and never have liked it.
Even when it rolled from my own lips I would cringe.
I took the word a bit more serious after I became over weight after being a fit athlete.
When I got heavy, I knew most people would never choose to be this way.
I certainly didn’t choose it, it just happened.
In hindsight, I realized it happened because of the choices I made.
Those choices were to be less active and eat crappy, processed food.
This eventually led my weight to balloon.
In my early attempts to lose weight, I restricted calories.
Eating less never worked, it only caused me to binge.
I mean…what sane human being eats two boxes of pop tarts in one sitting?
I knew this wasn’t the answer.
So what was the answer?
It would turn out gluten intolerance was wreaking havoc on my blood sugar levels.
The “glu” was causing insulin spikes and contributing to my weight gain.
When I eliminated gluten, I received immediate benefits.
What were they?
I noticed my weight began to stabilize and the arthritis in my knees disappeared.
The latter benefit occurred after only 7 days of eliminating gluten.
I was ecstatic but I still had a ways to go on my journey.
Hide And Seek
Eliminating bread from my diet, was easy.
It was even easy to stop eating things I knew had wheat and/or flour in them.
What I didn’t know was gluten is in, or hidden in, almost everything.
Once I discovered this, I meticulously went through every condiment/ sauce in my fridge and tossed it.
I was quite surprised when sauces I bought from Whole Foods contained wheat.
It was a small price to pay to be healthy but I would soon pay a much larger price.
Because I made the choice to go gluten free, I had to be extremely careful about dining out.
IHOP used to be one of my favorite breakfast spots until I found out they put pancake batter in their eggs.
No wonder they tasted so damn good!
IHOP and other restaurants are notorious for adding gluten and other chemical additives to their foods.
To keep from getting “gluttened up” as I call it, I always ask my waiter if what I’m ordering contains gluten.
In some cases they don’t know, but are more than happy to check with the chef.
I’ve even been lucky enough to talk to a few chefs who have prepared a meal especially for me so I could avoid wheat.
You have a right to know what’s in your food and most restaurants are very accommodating…you just have to ask.
When in doubt, always go with a salad but be careful of the dressing.
Yup…salad dressing can have wheat in it.
This gluten thing is real ya’ll !
Wheatology
People think gluten intolerance is a fad.
It isn’t for me.
When I eliminated wheat from my life, it made a huge difference.
I won’t ever eat it again.
That’s my choice.
I’ve heard many stories similar to mine where people went gluten free and lost weight, gained clarity, and healed from autoimmune disease.
It isn’t an uncommon occurrence for this to happen but don’t think of going gluten free as a magic bullet.
Some people have eliminated wheat and still don’t lose a pound or gain any relief for illnesses.
In cases like those, there could be some other underlying issues which need to be examined.
Unfortunately, many people want to touch themselves with a magic wand and have weight melt from their bodies.
It doesn’t always happen this way.
If you’ve been suffering from ill health for some time, eliminating wheat from your diet is a step in the right direction, not a cure all.
Gluten intolerance can show up in different parts of the body and in some cases symptoms won’t appear for years.
When those symptoms do show, they can manifest in the body as arthritis, liver disease, and even cancer.
Gluten intolerance has been implicated in over 200 illnesses.
I would urge you to get yourself tested for gluten sensitivity or celiac disease.
It can only help you, like it did me.
Until next time, my name is Darren “PhatMan” McDuffie and I’m a gluten intolerance survivor.
Peace and Love Ya’ll!
PS- Now..its your turn have you adopted a gluten free diet? What were your results? If you know someone who might be suffering from gluten intolerance share this post with them. Leave your comments below.