Curing My Gluten Intolerance

When I was sixteen, I had to stop eating gluten. It made me utterly exhausted and caused countless unmentionable digestive issues.  In my first year of college, I realized I could no longer tolerate lactose either. Cutting out mozzarella cheese and ice cream was even more difficult than cutting out gluten. Eating strictly gluten and lactose free, I felt good for a while. College was quite busy…classes, working, unpaid internships, newly married, etc. Once I was a few years out and found a job that didn't keep me up at night, I had time to reevaluate how healthy I was feeling. And finally I realized I wasn't doing all that well. Most days, I'd be bloated and tired for hours after a meal. It’s as if my digestive system was robbing the rest of my body of its’ energy. I’m in my 20’s…shouldn’t I feel better than this? I’d ask myself this almost every day, throwing dozens of pity parties. If I’m avoiding the things I’m intolerant to, in theory I should be well, right?

After months of being totally obstinate to the idea, I decided to take sugar out of my diet, hoping it was the source of my problem.  I read Sally Fallon’s book, Nourishing Traditions, and became totally amused by what was in the food I was eating. The book educates one on the proper way to cook ingredients to get the most nutrients from them, the importance food pairing for optimal digestion, and the necessity for fermented, probiotic-rich foods at every meal. It became so enjoyable to eat yummy things and know what vitamins and minerals I was getting from them. I felt better but still not great.

Then one day, I saw my gluten-intolerant sister, Heather, butter up a wheat roll. It was Easter Sunday and I was all the way on the other end of the table, unable to ask what in the world she was doing to herself. She never cheats! After the meal, I demanded an explanation. We sat at the kitchen island and she explained that after years of not being able to tolerate gluten, she now could! She explained that about a year ago she had begun reading up on something called the GAPS diet. Following GAPS diet protocol, she took out all grains, starches, and refined sugars. I listened with intrigue, but knew it was not going to be something I woke up and started the next day. No corn chips, baked potatoes, hummus, or gluten free bagels? I wasn't so sure it was possible. I had done the no sugar thing for a month at this point, and that was nearly killing me. As awful and hard as it sounded, I couldn’t forget the fact that there could be light at the end of this carb and sugar free tunnel. I ordered the book and read through it over the next week.

The GAPS diet is similar to the Paleo diet, which excludes grains, dairy products, legumes, potatoes, refined sugar, and some others. The GAPS diet excludes grains, starchy vegetables and legumes, refined sugars, and basically anything that comes in a box (processed foods). Although I’m lactose intolerant, I can tolerate raw milk and aged cheese so I was thrilled to hear that the GAPS diet did not exclude dairy products. “GAPS” stands for Gut and Psychology Syndrome, which was created to heal psychological and digestive disorders by nourishing the gut. Dr. Natasha Campbell-McBride, creator of the diet, argues that conditions like autism, schizophrenia, depression, and Celiac disease are a result of a malnourished digestion system.

This diet attempts to heal those all food intolerance if you follow the guidelines fully and I’m incredibly excited to see what happens. I should mention that this is a temporary diet with a focus on healing the digestive system and restoring it to proper functioning.

5 Healing Tools from the GAPS diet:

1)    Fermented Foods and Strong Probiotics (AKA good bacteria): Everybody’s gut has good bacteria and bad. If you’ve ever taken antibiotics to kill off an infection, consequently it killed both the good and bad bacteria. The bad bacteria feeds off refined sugars, starches, and simple carbohydrates. The good feeds off probiotic foods like yogurt and fermented foods (homemade sauerkraut, kimchi, whey, etc.). Why do we need probiotics? These good bacteria help the digestive system break down food and nourish the whole body, including the brain. Without enough good bacteria, our bodies can’t break down food and the undigested stuff becomes food for the bad bacteria.

2)    Homemade Broth: The gelatin and fat (the good kind) in homemade broth soothes and seals the lining of the gut, healing and restoring. Broth is also rich in vitamins and minerals. It has anti-bacterial properties—but does not disturb the beneficial bacteria. Store-bought broth is little more than salty, chicken-flavored water.

3)    Avoiding all grains, starchy vegetables and legumes, and refined sugars: This is the hard one! In order to repopulate the good bacteria in the gut, one mustn’t mobilize the enemy by choice. Eating starchy foods and refined carbs/sugars literally feeds the bad bacteria. Eating entirely grain free is temporary until your body has time to build up a healthy digestive system. Grains also promote inflammation which your gut needs a break from if you're experiencing gluten or another type of intolerance.

4)    Avoiding all processed foods: Go to your pantry and read the ingredients on any given package. Chances are you won't be able to pronounce at least one ingredient listed. Those unpronounceable things shouldn't be entering our bodies. These foods are engineered so that they take forever to rot. Consequently, they're going to be hard to digest and just plain dangerous for consumption. It takes a lot of time and energy to make all your own food. But it’s quite satisfying to lather a juicy burger in your own homemade mayo, topping it with some delicious homemade sauerkraut.

5)    Prayer: You won’t find this one in the book but I definitely would not have survived without God’s reassurance and strength. I firmly believe God designed my body to be able to eat gluten and lactose and that I won't be stuck with this intolerance forever.  I’ve had to pray everyday for self-control. At first, the sugar/ carb cravings were almost unbearable. Not to mention, for the first few weeks I avoided fruit and honey. I thought I would croak before surviving the cravings. But after awhile, they get better. And you learn to praise God for creating weird things that you never thought could be loved like CASHEWS and raisins. 

So here's to the journey! I'll keep you posted on what happens. Let me know if you've had breakthrough on the GAPS diet or another diet. I'd love some encouragement along the way!