Years ago at a seminar I got some really good health advice. It was information that I knew but I really didn’t want to hear. Don’t you hate that?

We were doing bioimpedence analsysis which looks at energy quality, muscle mass, fat mass and inflammation. I was sitting in a group of what seemed like really amazingly healthy naturopaths and chiropractors who were all happily showing off their high energy quality and low fat mass percentages and looking at my own numbers which were not that impressive (and the fat mass percentage is still not great).

What the presenter said was basically “Christine I have never seen anyone with thyroid problems who isn’t better, off gluten.” Now I knew that and I also knew there was coeliac in our family history but this finally motivated me to change my eating habits and it was the best thing I could have done.

First up I stopped feeling like I needed an afternoon nap if I had a sandwhich at lunch time. Secondly I felt like my brain was clearer and better still initially I lost a few kilos which had been hard to shift.

Now I can’t promise the same sort of results if you come off wheat or gluten but it does give you a good picture of the type of problems that wheat or gluten could be creating for you. Fatigue, fuzzy thinking and difficulty losing weight.  What other types of symptoms suggest a problem with wheat? Bloating after eating – the so called wheat belly!

What alternatives are there to wheat? Do you have to give up your cereal for breakfast, sandwhich for lunch and pasta for dinner?  I hope so because its really way too much grain anyway and it is generally not a good source of nutrition. Alternatives to wheat are many and varied but include quinoa, rice, buckwheat and flours made from almond, tapioca and coconut. Many of these alternatives provide much broader nutrition but again focus on variety and make sure you are eating at least six serves of vegetables a day as well.

Christine Pope is a nutritionist and homeopath based at Elemental Health , St Ives.  She is also Head of Nutrition at Nature Care College at St Leonards.  If you need help with identifying food intolerances make an appointment with her on 8084 0081.