A reader commented that she would like to hear more on the realities of going gluten-free. How does one do it successfully? After a bit of thought, here are some of my ideas. They work for me and my family, but everyone is unique so I make no guarantees. For example, my husband will follow me down every nutritional path I take and just eat the things he misses when he is out or at lunch during his work week. I KNOW that not everybody’s spouses take to change so readily, so I wish you good luck with your families. 🙂
- Stop Snacking! Seriously, that is where the bulk of glutenous foods are found (bread, chips, cookies, crackers, brownies, cake, etc). It may sound crazy, but I challenge you to give up a snack or two a day until you basically don’t need them anymore. How? Make sure that your breakfast and lunch are VERY nutrient dense. Focus on a quality protein, some fat like butter or coconut oil, and ample veggies. This would mean eating a breakfast of eggs fried in butter with fried peppers and zucchini on the side, a lunchtime salad with canned salmon on top or a hearty stew made with lots of veggies and beef or chicken. I really don’t snack. In fact, my kids don’t snack. We eat three meals a day. Then the kitchen is closed (because seriously, all this cooking is a decent amount of work!) 🙂 Sometimes I will have a small snack before bed like a glass or wine or a handful of almonds. PS – This change was a LONG time in coming. When I was first married I would make brownies most weekends and keep refrigerated cookie dough on hand so that I could pop a couple of cookies in the oven on a weeknight. I understand change is daunting!
- Figure out new food “vehicles.” Did you know that tuna, salmon, and egg salad are all awesome served on slices of cucumber, in mini-sweet peppers, or wrapped in romaine lettuce? “Cauliflower rice” is a great base for curries and Chinese inspired dishes, while zucchini and spaghetti squash make very tasty “pastas” for a Bolognese sauce or favorite meatball dish. Sandwiches are a no-go. Instead, look to make wraps of lunch meat and cheese with pickles, cucumbers, avocado, (even sometimes sauerkraut – think pastrami sandwich without the bread!), and a bit of mustard. To be honest, it takes some time to build a new repertoire of easy-to-turn-to meal ideas. Be patient with yourself. I have done this for a year and it is only finally becoming second nature.
- Tap into the reality of what gluten does to you. For those of you currently battling Hashimoto’s, think about your symptoms. Do you want them to continue? Once I truly understood how destructive gluten could be, it was much easier for me to give it up. I don’t give brownies, cookies, cake, or bread a second thought now. It is NOT negotiable. No thanks for extreme fatigue, weight gain, hair loss, depression, or any of the rest of it. I will skip eating it. And, if I am hormonal I will eat chocolate. 🙂 I recommend Trader Joe’s dark chocolate covered almonds with sea salt and turbinado sugar. Awesome.
(My husband has started making fun of my bacon eating habits. Should I request this T-shirt for Christmas?!)
- Don’t buy gluten-free products. They encourage your love for those items and make it hard to say no to the real versions. They are ridiculously expensive. Often, they are pretty bad for your body. I know it sounds crazy, but I don’t think they do anyone any favors. Except on your birthday. Yes, have a gluten-free piece of cake and enjoy. I have included an excerpt of an interview from bodybuilder.com of Dr. William Davis, cardiologist and author of the new book Wheat Belly, to give you more food for thought:
Your book argues that the whole gluten-free craze in food marketing is, well, kind of a crock. Can you elaborate on why you think this?
“People who eliminate wheat will often turn to gluten-free foods. In fact, most doctors who diagnose patients with Celiac Disease will say, “Go eat gluten-free foods.” What they’re telling their patients to do is seek out foods that are not made with wheat gluten but are instead made with corn starch, potato starch, rice starch, brown rice starch or tapioca starch. Well, the only foods that raise blood sugar MORE than whole wheat are corn starch, rice starch, potato starch, and tapioca starch. These are flagrant, rapidly digested carbohydrates when they’re in the powdered form as presented in gluten-free foods.
It’s not uncommon for someone to go on a gluten-free diet and find that their diarrhea and cramps are now gone. Only now, they’re diabetic and fat. While those foods don’t trigger the immune phenomena, they trigger the carbohydrate phenomena worse than table sugar. So “gluten-free, multi-grain bread” sounds for all the world like a great thing. Well, it’s terrible for you.”
We are in an environment that is gluten-saturated. It can feel impossible to avoid at first. Show kindness to yourself. Be patient if it takes awhile to carry out changes. However, love yourself enough to keep pushing forward. Your quality of life is that important!
(photos: organizesimplifyconnect.com, kraftrecipes.com, dessertdarling.com, pdxpaleoproject.com)
marci said:
Hello! I’ve been reading your site for about a month. It’s been really helpful – thank you. I have Hashimoto’s (diagnosed about 8 years ago). I am only on Levoxyl, nothing else. I’ve battled weight for awhile, since diagnosis, it’s been lose 25-30 lbs., gain 25-30 lbs., about 3 times. It’s exhausting. Right now I’m at the 30 lbs. heavier than last year at this time. I tried to go gluten-free and was at it for about 7 weeks. I just felt OK. I didn’t feel different. On Monday, I stopped. I just couldn’t justify doing something that wasn’t making me feel better. I thought maybe if I notice a huge difference when I got back to gluten, I’ll realize that gluten-free was for me. But yet I’m torn, and not sure what to do. I have the Dr. K. book, and I’ve read about others’ successes, yours included. Do you have any thoughts or advice? When was your gluten-free “ah-ha” moment? Thanks for blogging and sharing your experiences…it’s very much appreciated!! –Marci
Crunchy Pickle said:
I understand that it can take a LONG time to feel the full affects of going gluten-free (like up to six months! boo!) So, perhaps you should keep at it a bit longer? Although, I don’t know that gluten is the only answer, there are other doctors besides Dr. K who have found relief for their patients with a gluten-free protocol for Hashi’s as well. Should I try to compile some more online resources of those docs/testimonials?
Perhaps there are more foods that you would need to eliminate to experience symptom relief?
What did you think about Dr. K’s idea that most hypothyroidism cannot be helped with medicine (in fact, according to him, medicine can make it worse)? That part of the book was complex, I wasn’t sure how to figure out if I had the kind of hypothyroidism that would ever benefit from medicine or not.
I haven’t had a huge gluten-free “ah ha” moment other than the symptoms of hypothyroidism are bad and I don’t want to have them! I was already a pretty firm believer in being grain-free for other health benefits so in that sense it was a pretty easy sell.
Feel free to send more questions my way – hope this helps!
Rachey said:
Levoxyl (and synthroid) is an awful, awful drug. I (and many others) suffered for a long time on it and other drugs with the same active ingredients. Basically, these synthetic drugs give our thyroids only one type of hormone (T4) but leave us massively unsupported with T3, which is vital to supplement as well. But because most doctors don’t do full labs, and their labs look okay, raging, classic hypo symptoms are ignored. Doctors blame these symptoms on everything else, but never on uncontrolled hypo.
The solution is medications like Armour, which use natural hormones from desiccated pig thyroid instead of synthetic hormones. These medicines have T3, T4, and other hormones, and are extremely similar to what healthy thyroids make. It has truly and quite literally saved my life. I have my quality of life back. http://www.stopthethyroidmadness.com is a phenomenal website. It’s run by a woman similar to the crunchy pickle, who decided to take her health into her own hands, and became extremely educated about hypo.
Sorry for the rant – I am extremely passionate about how awful synthetic hypo treatments are! The thyroid is so critical to your entire body’s well-being, in virtually every area of functioning. It absolutely must be properly medicated.
Crunchy Pickle said:
Good information – I hope it helps others!
Rachey said:
Sorry, more ranting. 🙂 I have Hashi’s and am gluten-free. Giving up gluten has helped my overall health enormously. I’m sure it’s also helping my Hashi’s, although the Hashi’s antibodies have already destroyed a lot of my thyroid’s functioning. I have no idea if it will, in time, heal from no longer eating gluten. For the time being I still need to be on medication to treat my hypo. And the only type of medication that gives your body what it would naturally produce is desiccated pig thryoid.
I think that if your thyroid isn’t functioning, going gluten-free will prevent your body from making antibodies that attack the thyroid (which is Hashi’s). But you will still need medication until your thyroid goes back to functioning properly, if it can. [I’m not affiliated with either the above website or the medication, just for the record. But they both have given me my life back.]
Artsykatie said:
Mmmm, those dark chocolate covered almonds- a great decision when in need of chocolate…
marci said:
Thanks C P and everyone for the feedback and suggestions! I found some of the other advice in Dr K’s book to be insightful but I would want to work w a naturopathh b/c i’d be afraid to try some stuff on my own. For the last 2 months I’ve been seeing an acupuncturist and its really helped my energy, menses, anxiety. I have been taking some herbs that wont react with any other meds so are “safe” and they seem to be helping increase my body temp and im not as cold. I went back on gluten Monday and I do think I am a little bloated and myy sugar cravings are back a bit. So that feeling is going to help me decide I should stay G free. Your posts are all so encouraging. Thank you. I feel I need to be more aggressivw w/them my endo and ask about T3. I find it frustrating that they say “oh your TSH is in normal range and you are on 100mcgm of Levoxyl so you should be fine, see you in 6 months” meanwhile I can’t drag my butt out of bed and get tired walking to the copier at work and doc makes me feel judged for my weight gain and that’s my only problem. That’s one of the reasons I’m trying acupuncture so I have more energy to exercise. Anyway I know I am preaching to the choir! Thank you for your supportive and inspirational posts. They are helping me go back on the gf train. I look forward to more posts thanks C P !!!
Francie said:
Wow….lots of good info! Thank you! Yes, if you decide to compile a list of resources of documents and testimonials I think it would be great. I did some research into this a bit, and found some info and passed it on to my doctor…..but more info is always great!!! Thanks!
Crunchy Pickle said:
Glad to help! 🙂
Candace said:
Marci, I was like you. I went “gluten-free” and couldn’t really tell a difference. Then found various websites including Crunchy Pickle’s blog and realized 1) I gave up too soon, and 2), I was cheating, eating gluten every few weeks thinking that shouldn’t make a difference. I also read gluten hides! It’s in vinegar, tuna (!) and well, anything unnaturally processed/canned/packaged. Dr. K’s website says you have to be 100% gluten free and I think someone else wrote somewhere that gluten will stay in your system for at least three weeks. I’m sure everyone is different, but bottom line: I needed to be 100% gluten free and for a longer time to have the full effect, like six months. And 3), I think I need to be GRAIN-free not just gluten-free. I’ve been grain/dairy/sugar free for about a week now and feel so much better! Even the muscle pain I think I commented about on another Crunchy Pickle post has nearly disappeared! That’s one week. I have high hopes. But it’s an adjustment. I seem to be eating massive amounts to keep from getting really hungry, but I know in the past I have used grains as “fillers” to make a meal go a long way and cheaper. Reading Crunchy’s insights on this helped me to know I wasn’t alone. Also, all medications (even Armor, although I think it’s from the fillers) were making me very ill so finding an answer, any answer, is a miracle to me. I’ve ordered Dr. K’s book and can’t wait to read it. Thank you again Crunchy for the blog – it has pointed me in the right direction. I check your blog daily for more personal insight and encouragement, especially when it gets tough!
Crunchy Pickle said:
Thanks for the encouragement to both of us Candace!
marci said:
Hi Candace – I just read your post. Thank you! I have been back on GF eating now for a week now, due mostly to this blog and my “gut” telling me I should try again. I think I feel less bloated in the last week, and not craving sugar as much. I just picked up a cookbook over the weekend I’m anxious to start reading – “Cooking for Isaiah” by Silvana Nardone. It’s for gluten-free and dairy-free eating. Like Crunchy says – thank you for the encouragement! I hope we all feel better soon. 🙂 Marci
Candace said:
Hooray Marci! Hey, we are all in this together. I have to admit, yesterday was the first day I felt HUNGRY. Really hungry. I’m not craving anything, it’s just nothing is satisfying me. Not sure what to do about that and I hope it doesn’t start gnawing at my willpower. I am doing the Hashi’s gut repair diet which is a little more restrictive than the regular Hashi grain/dairy/sugar/iodine-free diet because I think healing whatever has been tearing up my digestive tract might help me to digest nutrients properly – as others have said I think that might be the key to a lot of health weirdness. But this makes the regular Hashi’s diet look easy! 🙂 I like Crunchy’s post about her family being hungry and she added eggs and bacon, both of which are not on this diet. I long for eggs and bacon. hahaha I think the added fats would be more satisfying. Anyone with some ideas or encouragement?
marci said:
Hi Candace – can you do hummus? hummus on cukes or with carrots are good for cravings. today I had almond butter on apple slices – also tasty. Good luck – your enthusiasm is inspiring!
Candace said:
Hi Marci, I’m not sure! Are chickpeas legumes? I know I’m not supposed to do nuts, but I do almond butter because I love it. Almond butter on apples sounds delicious. I like it on bananas but I don’t think bananas are allowed because of their sugar content. But it’s not cravings, it’s just an overwhelming sense of being unsatisfied with anything I’m eating. I did get some raisins, which is on the no list, so I am cheating. 🙂
Crunchy Pickle said:
I personally stay clear of legumes because of their potential for gut irritation. It can be tough to find foods that satisfy – has it been getting any easier for you? Do you enjoy coconut milk? Coconut milk makes great, rich ice cream if you really need a sweet treat!
Candace said:
So chickpeas are legumes? I thought so, but I haven’t had time to look that up.
The almond butter on apple slices is really good!
Oh I love coconut milk. I freeze bananas, put frozen bananas and coconut milk in the blender and blend it until it’s smooth. Maybe add some frozen berries…tastes just like ice cream! Banana cream!
But according to the Hashi/Paleo/GAPS diet, I shouldn’t have bananas as their glycemic content is too high so I’m cheating. I also worry about the BPA toxins in the can (I’m not willing to buy coconut milk at $4.00 a can for BPA-free cans!) and I’ve read many react to the guar gum. I don’t but it sounds like something I should avoid.
I’m OK with the treats although I know it’s cheating and my blood sugar is probably loving it. I need a real meal. It’s getting difficult to do the meat/veggie meals because I’m bored with it. I’m running out of ideas for the meat/veggie meals.
When should I start losing weight???????
Thanks you all for the encouragement and ideas!
Jane said:
I have given up gluten and all grains. But I find myself having no energy I eat enough that is for sure.I am thinking about brown rice and eating corn? I find the caveman diet hard I have very little energy. I have been sleeping 8-9 hours a night which is enough sleep.I have been doing the caveman diet for about 4 days now.
I wish I could correspond with someone who doing the caveman diet a short time like me and who has Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis like me
Crunchy Pickle said:
I have two thoughts: 1. If it is a short time since you began you might feel a bit uncomfortable as your body adjusts to a new way of eating. You might not feel great for a couple of weeks. Hang in there! 2. You could have inadvertently gone too low in carbs. Make sure that you still eat fruit. If you were to add a grain back in, I would recommend white rice. Here’s why: http://perfecthealthdiet.com/?p=4383. Let me know if I can be of more help to you. 🙂
Linda Close said:
Hey,
I have Graves (remission) & Hashi’s (new, still euthyroid), AND now Celiac Dz. Am now going 100% GF, fascinated to learn of the Thyroid-Gluten connection!
What seems to be helping me alot right now is that I have also started taking ALOT of EPA-DHA/Omega-3 supplements (I use Metagenics). Since doing so, my stomach pains have gone! Gradually feeling better w/GF diet, working on eliminating Dairy.
Best of Health to you all!
Crunchy Pickle said:
Thanks for sharing! I have been thinking about my need for omega 3 supplementation – thank you for the good reminder! And, glad that you are finally getting some relief. 🙂