Gluten-Free has certainly entered the mainstream. Even your local conventional grocery store carries gluten-free food options. I’m committed to a gluten-free lifestyle, no matter what. If you’re gluten-free then you likely understand how gluten is goo food, indigestible, inflammatory, autoimmune triggering, gut damaging and therefore also horrible for your brain (hence that foggy thinking and distractibility). I understand that changing your diet and lifestyle can be scary, challenging, and even frustrating. However, if you’re committed to your health, the information below may change your life and health picture forever, so please keep reading.
One thing you may NOT know is that being gluten-free isn’t always enough. No one really talks about this, so I believe it’s time, because you deserve to know the truth.
First of all, let’s define gluten-free (GF). Gluten-free means you are truly “gluten-free.” If you’re eating gluten once a week or once a month, technically this isn’t gluten-free. It takes about 1/8 of the size of your pinky nail amount of gluten to cause an inflammatory cascade of imbalances and tissue damage that can last 9 or more months. So, having gluten once a month may still be causing inflammation and health problems that you aren’t aware of yet. I believe in strictly following a gluten-free diet – no cheating. There is no moderation when it comes to a poison to your body. This may seem extreme, but you’ll understand if you keep reading. Of course, consuming less gluten is always ideal, but please consider really going entirely gluten-free. It just may help you alleviate future suffering.
I was having severe but random gut pain, constipation, and brain fog on a gluten-free diet. Going gluten-free did help reduce my abdominal bloat but it still occurred, just less frequently. It also reduced the razor blades in my gut, but not completely. I couldn’t figure out what was causing these seemingly random symptoms. I thought maybe I’d just have to live with it. I had tried everything, even a “gut-repair program” without much change. And then I learned about cross-reactivity. I learned that my body was acting as if millet, quinoa, sesame, corn, eggs, and coffee (I never drank it but I had been doing coffee enemas with disastrous effects) were like gluten in my system. It was as if I was taking one step forward with gut repair and then one stop back by creating more damage with gluten-free cross-reactive foods.
The valuable, life changing information I’m speaking about has to do with cross-reactivity, which I will discuss more in-depth in my next blog. Read it here: Gluten-Free Isn’t Enough, Here’s What’s Missing (Part 2)
Blessings of Vibrant Health,
Kristin Grayce McGary
Health and Lifestyle Alchemist