Going Gluten-free Reduced My Daughter's Toxic Load but wasn't panacea

It’s a powerful feeling to hit a nerve - albeit a little shocking - and that seems to be what happened in my last column.  I am grateful for your positive feedback, your comments, stories, suggestions and willingness to revisit your own circumstances. My family was overwhelmed by your responses.  However, I have an uneasy feeling that my article led many to conclude that discovering the gluten issue was a "happy ending" to our family tale.

The truth is, we see it more like a "Happy Middle."  This is important:  removing gluten did a lot to improve my daughter's life but it was not a panacea for all of her challenges.   

 

My theory: going Gluten-Free reduced our daughter’s “toxic load.”  It enabled us to begin to address some of her other health challenges with less interference.

 

I am a woman of words, not science, and am the first to acknowledge that my theory is simply a laywoman’s explanation for the significant health changes we are seeing in our children, our peers and our parents.  I try to present it without getting on my soap box (or at least, I keep it brief). But I must add, also for the record, that I have found many medical doctors who concur with this theory.

 

So here it is, the Toxic Load theory: 

 

Each of us has an immune system that is designed to protect our bodies from enemy fire.  Generally speaking, this incredible system does a really great job, picking off the assassins one by one.  But in recent decades, the relative poisons of our chemically modified world have joined forces to wage an all-out war against our immune systems.  And the immune systems are beginning to buckle under the constant state of siege.

 

In other words, there is only so much load each body can handle before it becomes too much to bear.  That load limit is different for each of us.  And sometimes, the straw that breaks the camels back is not toxic, at all – it is simply an irritant, a fly that tickles your nose while you are carrying heavy bags of groceries.

 

When you remove one irritant to your system, your immune system is relieved to do its job with less trouble.  The hot spots will be different for each of us – mold, pollens, chlorine, foods, etc. – but the mechanism is the same.  In my opinion, we have so poisoned our food, water and air –gradually, and over a number a decades – that we are seeing our bodies react to friendly items – like milk and bread – as if they are inhospitable parasites.  And it is happening in increasingly alarming numbers.

 

Suffice it to say that extreme sensitivities – chemical and otherwise - continue to show up in our daughter’s life (just wait until we do a piece on mold allergies!).  We don’t know enough to tell, as Paul Harvey would say, “the rest of the story.”  We do know that, whatever it is, the next chapter is hers to write, when she is ready.

 

If you believe there is something going on in your body that is not readily explained by traditional medical examinations, here are some tips and guidelines for exploring whether foods (gluten or otherwise) or nutrition might be an underlying concern.

 

What I know now….

 

The information below is What I Know, gleaned from years as a parent advocate.  The following is not medical advice:

 

• Check in with your doctor and let her know that you’d like to look at whether unidentified food sensitivities might be aggravating your system (Note:  avoid using the word allergy)
• Ask to be tested for Celiac Disease BEFORE you remove gluten from the diet
• Ask your doctor if they are able to order an IGG blood allergy test.  This does not measure the histamine reaction that traditional allergists are looking for, but how the blood reacts to a substance over time.  Allergists still tend to discredit this test, though ENTs are using it more frequently.
• Remember that you have to be an advocate in this matter.  Many physicians will make you feel like you are crazy, and you are not.  YOU are looking at the big picture, while most medical folks tend to come from a more narrow perspective.
• Do some reading about your symptoms to determine what major food allergen you think might be the culprit.
• A great resource, besides the internet, is Doris Rapp, M.D.’s “Is This Your Child? Discovering and Treating Unrecognized Allergies in Children and Adults.”  It is a thorough reference guide, Best Seller, 1991.
• If you plan to remove a food from your diet, try to do it for a solid 4-5 weeks.  Two weeks may not be long enough.
• Keep a food journal!
• The top 8 food allergens are: milk, wheat, soy, egg, tree nut, peanut, fish and shellfish.  As of this year, all of these are required by law to be listed on food labels in the U.S.
• Gluten is not listed directly on many labels because it is not a specific food.  Gluten is the protein in wheat, barley, rye (and some think Oats). It is actually hidden in MANY foods.  Soy sauce, for example, is generally made from wheat. Watch out for words like “food starch” and “flavorings,” because that tells you nothing about what is in the food. Read about gluten if you plan to try to eliminate it – there are fabulous resources on line these days.
• Removing foods from your diet is much easier these days than you might think.
• Google “Gluten Free Restaurants” in your City (or Dairy Free, Peanut Free, etc), and you'll find restaurants that cater to your needs.

 

A few Gluten-Free specific tips: 

• Tortilla chips are almost always GF, and Amy's GF Pizza and Mac 'n Cheese are good and easy. At your local Health Food store you can usually get crackers, pretzels, frozen breads, etc. 
• The mainstream groceries now carry a lot, too, but be cautious because the staff is not generally knowledgeable and will often put gluten-filled foods on the GF shelf.  Chex Cereal is now GF, and Betty Crocker now has a GF line, as well.
• I could go on for days with all of our favorites, but I'll just mention two brands of mixes that I find great. You can't go wrong with ANYTHING by Breads from Anna or 1-2-3 Gluten Free (the best brownies EVER).
• For anyone in the Atlanta area, Return to Eden - a healthy grocery - has the best GF program I've ever seen, with a dedicated staff member for GF issues. Atlantis in Dunwoody does a good job, too. 

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This blog also appears as part of my regular column on ShareWiK.com.