Going Gluten-Free + Supplements

Hi there! Today’s post is a bit more serious than Friday’s fun post, but that’s okay. Today I want to explain some behind the scenes stuff going on with my health. I’ve been seeing a couple alternative medicine providers — Rolfing for my scoliosis (more on that soon) and a functional medicine doctor for digestive issues and overall wellness.

A few weeks ago I mentioned that I’m trying out a gluten-free diet but didn’t really elaborate on any of the details because I wanted to take the time to write a full post to share why. No, I’m not following a fad diet nor would I choose to avoid gluten on my own. I’m not a fan of restricting foods, plus I like bread and beer too much.

So, why go gluten-free?

It was prescribed by my functional medicine doctor after getting blood work done. I tested positive for the DQ2 gene, which on it’s own doesn’t mean that I have celiac disease or that I’m sensitive to gluten, it just increases the likelihood. But the gene combined with a few other factors — my c-reactive protein level was high (a marker of inflammation in the body), the appearance of antibodies, low T3 uptake and low vitamin levels (especially iron). Basically my doctor thinks that a gluten sensitivity may be causing the inflammation and malabsorption of nutrients. He also found that I am sensitive to a few other things (corn, dairy, chocolate and caffeine — ugh!).

Leaving his office I felt really overwhelmed and knew that there was no way I would be able to cut out all the things that I’m sensitive to at once. His advice was to start by avoiding gluten and taking supplements to see how I feel. So… avoiding gluten started about four week ago and I’m not going to lie, it’s been a little challenging. Especially living with my beer loving husband. Have I mentioned that we have a kegerator with home-brewed beer on tap at all times?!? Isaac said he’ll brew a cider for me. I requested a pumpkin cider since I can’t have my favorite pumpkin beers.

Despite it being a bit challenging, I’d say I’ve been doing pretty well with the gluten-free thing. I’ve found that sticking with whole, unprocessed foods makes it much easier but it can be difficult when I’m traveling or eating out.

The first week I did have a few brain fart moments — one just a few days after my doctor’s visit where I ordered a beer and started drinking it without even realizing that duh, beer=gluten… oh and then there was the day I was at a party and proceeded to eat the oyster crackers that were sitting on the table because the fact that they have gluten didn’t even cross my mind. Oops. Like any dietary change, it’s a work in progress and as the days pass it gets easier.

And even with a couple slip-ups, I’ve been feeling really good. I haven’t had any painful stomach issues like I’ve had in the past, I feel less bloated and I don’t have nearly as much gas as I used to have on a daily basis. So those things are all awesome. At this point I don’t know if my doctor will want me to stick with a gluten-free diet forever, but he and I are working together closely to monitor my progress.

Supplements

As far as the supplements go, I feel like a little old lady with how many vitamins I’m now taking at each meal now. I seriously need one of those daily vitamin holders to keep track of them all.

Until recently, I’ve always been on-again-off-again vitamin taker. I knew taking vitamins was a good thing but I wasn’t good about buying more when my bottle of vitamins ran out. I think it’s because I was always under the impression that if you eat a healthy diet, you shouldn’t really need to take many vitamins. After getting my blood work done and doing quite a bit of research, I’ve changed my tune.

Here’s my current lineup:

• Floradix – liquid iron
• Colostrum – to reduce my c-reative protein levels
• Dipan-9 – digestive enzymes
• Vital guard supreme – for gut health
• Meriva-500 – for inflammation
• Multi-vitamin
• Biomega – fish oil vitamin D
• Hepasil dtx – liver detox
• Probiotics

As you can see, I’m taking a bunch of supplements — some that my doctor recommended (most are to decrease inflammation and heal my gut), a liquid iron supplement from Whole Foods (that doesn’t cause constipation!), as well as some of my own supplements from USANA (that my doctor approved). It sounds like a lot (and it kind of is) but I’m trusting that the supplements will help and I know I won’t have to take all of them forever.

A little background on the USANA supplements that I’m taking — around the same time I got my blood work done, I was also doing research about high-quality vitamins. This was inspired by my health coaching clients as many of them ask me what supplements they should be taking and what brands to buy. I usually recommend a multi-vitamin, fish oil and probiotics, but before doing research, I always just suggested going to Whole Foods because I didn’t really have any favorite brands to recommend. I found the company USANA Health Sciences from another health coach and through research realized that their products are highly-rated and known to be some of the best on the market. I decided to give the products a try myself first because I wanted to see how they worked before recommending them to others.

Isaac and I have both been taking the Healthpak (includes the Essentials – a multivitamin/mineral combo, Active Calcium and AO Booster – antioxidants) for about six weeks. I’m also taking the Biomega (fish oil), the probiotics and liver detox vitamins. We both feel really good and Isaac has even said that he thinks he has more energy from taking the vitamins daily.

I feel like for me it’s hard to tell what’s going on with my body right now because I’m making so many changes with the gluten-free diet AND going off birth control pills (which is a whole other can of worms), but I do feel really good so I have to think that the vitamins are doing what they’re supposed to be doing. I have been impressed with the quality of the vitamins so I decided to sign up as a distributor. This gives me the opportunity to offer high quality vitamins as part of my health coaching programs and to individual clients that want to order them. That said, if you’re on the market for supplements, feel free to reach out. I have a website (affiliate link) so you can see what they offer. Iif you’re interested it’s probably best for you to contact me so I can set you up as a preferred customer. This way you’ll get a 10-20% discount off the retail price. Discounts are always good, right?

Okay so this whole post was really wordy and basically just a brain dump about what’s been going on with my health as of late. Hopefully it wasn’t TMI, but I wanted to share what’s going on so you all know the back story behind my gluten-free diet. Of course, I’ll be sure to keep you updated with how it’s going. And yes, there will lots more gluten-free recipes coming your way. Hopefully that’s exciting, at least for some of you!

Question — Have you ever gotten your blood work done? Were you surprised with the results? Do you take any supplements?

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