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I had to put a qualifier on the title because in the month of November I have attempted to “cheat” on my gluten, dairy and diet coke free lifestyle. As for gluten I can tell you that I will NEVER do that again! Before I get into the details, let me update you on my physical status at the 77 day mark.
- I have lost 10 pounds (woo hoo!!!)
- Significant increase in energy…no late afternoon slumps
- Much more even keeled in the mood department
- Significant reduction in sinus headaches
- Increased ability to focus for long periods of time
- Most importantly - my digestive system appears to be in harmony with the rest of my body, finally!
Now back to my fall off of the gluten-free wagon. I went out two weeks ago with my boss for pizza at a place in town that we both absolutely love. While it is a super thin crust pizza, it is most certainly full of gluten. Well, it didn’t even take an hour for my stomach to rebel. The swelling, bloating and cramping were back in full force. Let’s just say it was not a pleasant afternoon at all!
What surprised me most was how long the effects of that crust stayed with me. It was a full 7 days before I could honestly say that my stomach had returned to its now normally calm self. That’s why I say I will NEVER do that again. This weekend I attended a wedding and ate 3 crackers with three small slices of cheese and had no problems, but I suspect if I sat down for a serious cheese and cracker festival I’d regret that as well.
I should remind you that I am following the program in the book Eat Right 4 Your Type: The Individualized Diet Solution to Staying Healthy, Living Longer & Achieving Your Ideal Weight
Diet coke free? Pretty much. In Disney I had two glasses of diet coke, both at restaurants. I figured the ice would water it down. I can say they were refreshing and I honestly didn’t notice any ill effects. I also drank about 1/3 of a 20 oz bottle the last day we were there, but the un-diluted soda just tasted too strong for me. Earlier this month at scrapbooking event I drank two cans of diet coke. Those did taste quite good and since my stomach was still recovering from the pizza I couldn’t tell if they had any ill effect.
My overall avoidance of diet coke is based on my concern over the unnatural nature of the product. There is just nothing whole or natural about this beverage. Heck even regular coke is made with high fructose corn syrup instead of real sugar (except during Passover). I believe that my weight gain and inability to shed pounds is very much related to what used to be a large intake of diet coke. I would drink between 2 and 3 20oz. bottles daily. That’s a lot of chemicals, artificial sweetener and sodium to take in each day. The sodium in diet coke has always baffled me. When you read the ingredients for diet coke it never says sodium, so I’m guessing it comes along for the ride with one of the preservatives. Here are the official ingredients:
- Carbonated Water
- Caramel Color
- Aspartame
- Phosphoric Acid
- Potassium Benzoate (protects taste)
- Natural Flavors (this one always concerns me…define “natural”)
- Citric Acid
- Caffeine
See, there’s nothing really good going on in there. I have found so many wonderful all natural sodas in stores like Wegmans, Whole Foods and Target. My favorites are Boylan’s and their Black Cherry Soda is my absolute favorite! Ingredients are carbonated water, back cherry juice and cane sugar. Gotta love that! Bill loves their all natural Root Beer. You can find Boylan’s in Target and I highly recommend them for that occasional carbonated treat.
Overall I would strongly recommend that anyone experiencing digestive issues and weight gain/loss problems give a gluten free lifestyle a try. Do it for three months to see what kind of effect it has on your body. There are so many delicious alternatives that are 100% natural as well. Unlike other diets where you end up having to eat over-processed foods to get something similar to what you used to enjoy, this lifestyle is about increasing your intake of natural, whole foods. You’ve got nothing to lose except some unwanted pounds and a long list of physical complaints!
Here is some great reading material for you to check out:
- Don’t Drink the Diet Coke by John McManamy
- Very eye opening article about the truth behind Aspartame and the FDA.
- How Can Gluten, A Naturally Occurring Foodstuff be Harmful from the FAQ on Enterolab’s Website
- A concise explanation of what gluten protein is and why it may be harmful to some of us.
Looking for Yummy Gluten Free Products? Check out GlutenFree.Com. They’ve got some of my faves like:
- Glutino - Premium Sesame Bagels
- Honest Kids - Berry Berry Good Lemonade
- Gluten-Free Pantry - Decadent Chocolate Cake Mix
- Pamela’s Products - Chocolate Chip Mini Cookies
- I cannot even begin to tell you how good these cookies are!!!!!
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Wow. So do you think you have celiac or some other anti-gluten condition, or do you think it’s just something that does not work well with your body? My friend Sheila can’t have any gluten. She spent MANY years very ill (and raised four kids, the youngest of which is now a junior in high school), and she is much better off after having gone off gluten completely.
Another friend of mine has three boys ages four and under, and at least two of them have major food allergies, including gluten for one of them. The entire family’s diet has undergone a radical change, and Jennie has learned a lot about cooking and shopping for a family with such needs. We don’t have Wegman’s out here, but we do have Whole Foods (which a lot of people call Whole Paycheck) and Trader Joe’s, as well as New Leaf Market up in the mountains and over toward the coast where all the hippies live. California is a good place to live if you have special dietary needs or preferences. But me, I still eat everything, as is evidenced by looking at pictures of me.
I am really impressed with your ability to take into consideration all the many factors that affect our overall health, and the fact that physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual are all intertwined. And yeah, I’m amazed that you have the willpower to cut so much out of your intake. (Me, I’ve never much been into the whole willpower thing.)
Oh, so does this explain the many, many chicken caesar salads at those late nights at the diner?
Hey Bu!
I think I’m among the 60% of Americans who are just sensitive to gluten. It’s not full on allergy or Celiac’s, but it does evoke an immune response in my body that causes inflammation.
Thank you for you kind comments about my willpower, but I think this change has been easy for me because it wasn’t just about weight loss. It was about stopping the pain! I’m really good when I want to avoid pain, LOL. It had just gotten to the point where I couldn’t stand the constant stomach upheavals.
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Wow - 77 days — good for you! I have a friend who gave up wheat products and lost a lot of weight that way. And when I only shop from the outer aisles of the grocery store (produce, meats and dairy), I do a lot better.
Staying away from pizza will be difficult because “going out for pizza” is such a social activity, especially if you’re the only person you know who’s given it up.
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@Rhonda, I know what you mean about social activity and pizza. That’s why I did that with my boss. We actually do pizza every Friday night at my house, but I scrape the cheese and other goodies off and just eat that part and leave the crust behind. The pizza that my boss likes doesn’t have much in the way of toppings so that wouldn’t have worked there.
Even if you just do it most of the time, I’m sure you will see the health benefits.
Thanks for stopping by!
melissas last blog post..77 Days Gluten, Dairy & Diet Coke Free…mostly
It’s interesting reading your article because I’m coming to some very similar conclusions at the moment as well. I’ve known for about 20 years that I have a ‘wheat allergy’. When I discovered it I gave up wheat completely for 2 years. All this time I thought I was ‘managing’ my wheat allergy. When I noticed the physical symptoms flairing up I would cut down or eliminate wheat for a few weeks. But after reading the South Beach Diet book and another book by Dr Joseph Mercola, I think it’s called the No-Grain Diet, I’ve begun to think differently about wheat. Like you, I’m realizing how it influences my mood and energy levels - especially that afternoon slump! Now that I understand it from a glycemic index point of view too it makes perfect sense. It’s just not worth it, and there are so many benefits to not eating wheat.
Good on ya for making 77 days! It’s always nice to hear success stories. I think falling off the wagon sometimes is helpful too. It’s really set your resolve now, you absolutely know it’s not worth it.
By the way, I used to be a pizza spinner (yeah, a pizza spinner with a wheat allergy - good one eh?) and I can tell you that pizza is made with high-gluten flour. Not the normal gluten-levels of household flour, but special flour with extra gluten (as are true boiled bagels). So those two foods are especially bad for people with gluten intolerance.
I’m sure a lot of people have wheat or gluten allergies that they don’t know about, or don’t acknowledge… imagine the job their body has of trying to detox when they are constantly putting wheat into it when it took yours a whole week to get over one incidence. No wonder we get some many terrible age-related diseases.
Thanks for a great article!
I, too, cannot tolerate gluten. But mine is a quantitative type of intolerance. But that is ok. I have a piece of french bread at a restaurant occasionally and a bite of some other type of wheat product, but as long as I don’t try to eat a bagel or three slices of pizza, my stomach does not rebel. And I feel better.
and here i sit, drinking a soda and reading this and wondering why i’m so depressed. when, in reality, i know why, i just haven’t gotten myself motivated to DO anything about it: bad diet, no exercise… and no focus! i will keep reading this blog. you do inspire me, melissa, i guess it’s just a process of me getting fed up enough to take the right actions. its not as if i have no idea what those might be!
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