Okay, I am going to get real in this post. I know many people don't think gluten intolerance is a real thing. Well if you don't have celiac then it is all in your head. This is really just a fad, right? How do you know if you were not tested? And really I could go on and on about the insensitive ignorant remarks I have heard over the years. I'll digress for a moment- when I was told once that it was all in my head, I said you are right, it was but now it is gone! Let me share one of my symptoms. I use to tell Bumpa all the time that it felt like I had static in my head. You know the kind when back in the dinosaur era when a tv did not broadcast 24/7 and there was, I call it snowy static, that is what it felt like was in my head all the time. When it was put very clear to me by a 6 ft dietitian that if I knew I should not eat wheat and I was, I was being selfish not changing my diet to those that may need to care for me in my aging years. Put like this and me being the queen of modesty I went gluten-free. Back to the static, when I quit eating wheat it took 8 months and I still remember it clear as a bell the morning I woke up and my world was quiet for the first time in years. All in my head yes it was! Not only that but I started to get very large boils along my jawline, those have never come back.
Now let's talk about mental health. Now I am not a doctor, I don't have any sort of a medical degree, but I do have experience. I lived this and I know what worked. Before I went gluten-free, which by the way I was told by my Chiropractor ( think what you like but she saved my life) I was very emotionally unstable. I could not stand any noise-hello I have 5 kids and 4 are boys- I would become angry in a millisecond, I hate to even share but I said I would be real, but my oldest son many times cared for his siblings because his mom was having a meltdown. Those memories are scary to me, my darkest moment when I started to look for answers was when I was so upset at my kids-for being kids- that a picture of my face floated before me and all I saw was a monster. I went to the doctor he put me on meds, didn't really help maybe took the edge off but the day I went gluten-free shortly after the meds went away and I was a mom, my kids, husband and I could start to trust and love. After my husband had a stable wife and my kids had a more patient mom, one of my children told me they use to hate me. I answered I use to hate myself too. My relationship with my family is so different now and I can't take back all that happened but I am thankful I have a forgiving family. I can't tell you that whatever your suffering will be cured by changing your diet but there sure is research to support it. I have written many papers on food, mood, and health through my undergrad and while completing my masters. Is changing how we eat in this society easy- no it is not. Am I perfect with my diet - no I am not, but I do feel confident that all my mental, physical and emotional trials came from the food I ate. If you connect to what I just shared subscribe to this blog so you get all the latest recipes and info.
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