Tag: gluten

Posted by Christine Pope on in Allergies, Nutrition

Is wheat a problem for me (or even worse gluten)?

Bakery Bread on a Wooden Table. Various Bread and Sheaf of WheatYears 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!

Gluten Free Grains Food - Brown Rice, Millet, Lsa, Buckwheat Fla

 

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.

Posted by Christine Pope on in Nutrition

Do you have the right bugs in your gut?

Bacteria

Does everyone you know seem to have a food intolerance, allergy or asthma?  Why is this so much more common than  20 years ago? I remember at school only one child having an asthma puffer but now it seems that schools need to keep a spare in the first aid kit as so many children have asthma.

One of the reasons there are so many allergies is that our “microbiome” or the bacteria in our intestine has changed a lot due to the food we are eating. Candida for example thrives on sugar and the highly refined diet that many people eat feeds it beautifully. Not only does it feed it but candida is smart and basically causes you to crave sugar as well making it harder to treat.

Some recent research on rats found that a common bacteria, E. coli , increased inflammation to gluten (the protein in wheat, barley and rye) , prompting what’s sometimes called a “leaky gut”. However a beneficial bacteria called bifidobacteria protected the intestinal barrier.  Your gut bacteria may influence the immune response to gluten.  How many other intolerances to food are being created by the balance of “good” and “bad” bacteria ? Certainly significant research is being directed at understanding the roles of these bacteria and how they can support your health or undermine it.

An easy way to support good gut health is to include small amounts of fermented food or drinks in your diet. Ideally you need a range of good bacteria as they all seem to have different functions.

Traditional diets always included a form of fermented food to support good gut health as well as ensuring you could extract the maximum in nutrients from your food.  Have a look at keffir, kombucha and other forms of ferments with vegetables such as sauerkraut and kim chi.  Sites such as Pinkfarm and Kitsa’s kitchen on facebook have lots of information about how you can easily incorporate these foods into your diet.