It was with a light heart that we had our next doctor's visit - to report that we had made it through detox and food testing - and had come out with no allergies.

That's when I got hit with my first big blow! In spite of not having any symptoms, Dr. Botts asked me to go gluten free.

"Why?" I asked.

"Because you have symptoms of an inflammation, which means that your body is reacting to something you're eating."

"But I didn't react to the wheat test we did, so I must not need to be gluten free."

"While your body did not react overtly, your blood labs indicate there is inflammation internally. That inflammation is interfering with your body's ability to use the Thyroid enzyme it is producing. That's why you are overweight - not that your thyroid isn't working. It's that even though it's working normally, your body isn't using the thyroid hormone. Therefore, you need to eat a gluten free diet."

He gave me a book to read to better understand the condition and we went home.

Overall, I found that being gluten free wasn't too hard. Yes, I miss the pasta in particular, but not much else. There are so many gluten free foods available now, it's much easier to live a gluten free lifestyle. Likewise, most restaurants have a gluten free menu, if you ask. It does restrict what you can order, but you can still go out and enjoy a meal with your friends and family.

Several things in particular helped almost immediately.

Papa Murphy's has a gluten free pizza. So you can choose your regular toppings, then just ask them to use the GF crust. (By the way, the crust is from Udi's, a source of a lot of GF items.)

Tostitos Tortilla Chips, Original, 13 Oz are made from corn, not wheat. While I looked at other brands, only Tostitos were all corn. Naturally you don't want to eat a lot of chips, but when you need something to dip your salsa or give you a crunch, those work great. (Always read the label! Some brands change their ingredients according to the geographic area they're selling in. And of course, ingredients change over time.)

Snyder's Gluten Free Pretzels are great. You see, some foods say they are gluten free, but when you read the list of ingredients it sounds more like a chemistry experiment than a recipe for health. These were by far, the best!

Comments

comments

3 Responses

  1. Theresa Wagar

    Jeanette, What book about going gluten free did the doctor have you read. My mom’s been gluten free for 30 years so I’ve been aware of the changes needed. Just curious to see the book 🙂

    Hugs,

    Theresa 😎

    Reply
    • Jeanette

      The book was Why Do I Still Have Thyroid Symptoms? When My Lab Tests Are Normal by Datis Kharrazian. Not easy reading, but definitely very thorough. It helped me understand WHY I needed to go gluten-free, even though gluten gives me zero symptoms. In fact, that’s been one of my biggest challenges – I can eat everything on my forbidden list and never know I had it. If it gave me any discomfort, it would be easier to say ‘no.’ But sense I feel nothing, I have to be very strict in following the guidelines.

      Reply

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