Here’s a quick article I picked up from the Eating Rules Facebook feed today, positing explanations for the rise in gluten intolerance, which make a lot of sense.

I often feel like the science around gluten tolerance is SO not up-to-speed that it is often difficult to read articles such as these. The old medical definition of gluten was based on observations, not science, and so only includes barley, wheat and rye, instead of all “true grains” which contain gluten.

How do I make sense of all of this information (or lack of it) for my own personal use? Well, I followed the standard definition of a gluten free diet like it was the law for 10 years, and I got better for awhile, but not all the way, and then started to get worse again – allergies, food intolerances, feeling run down, and abdominal pain and bloating creeping back in. I had to decide to become my own authority on the subject and stop letting anyone else’s opinion be more important than the feedback I was getting from my own body.

Then I found Peter Osborne’s info about gluten being in all grains including corn and rice, and about dairy cross-reactions, tried to exclude them, became overwhelmed, and went back to rice, corn, and dairy. Found some more information from Dr. Aukerman, added magnesium, b complex, and enough fish oil to balance omega 6 intake 1-1. Found info on arsenic content of rice, and backed the hell off rice intake. Got the hot-off-the-press article last month from Aukerman citing clear gluten reactions to corn and finally stopped eating corn (mostly), even though I already knew it was causing me problems. Found the info on metabolism and fluid intake from Matt Stone, and here I am.

It’s not all fixed, but a lot of it is heading in the right direction, and I know it won’t be fixed overnight. The waiting is the hardest part – how long to do something before deciding it isn’t working – I don’t really have an answer for that. The periodic blood tests are a big help there because it seems you can often see numbers heading in the right direction before you feel them.

In the meantime, I use British WWII propaganda to get me through the day 🙂

Image from Wikimedia Commons http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Scan-of-original-poster-1939-300px.jpg

When that isn’t working well enough, I try one or more of these things:

• EFT
• Meditation
• Tonglen
• Go for a walk
• Make a list of all the things I CAN eat
• Make a gratitude list
• Do something kind for someone else

If you have suggestions for others who might be struggling with food intolerances or allergies, please share below.