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gluten free
I ate gluten-free for 2 to 3 weeks. (During the first week I still ate some things which I later realized had gluten in them).
It didn't improve my hand & finger issues.
But I did notice an improvement in my digestion.
To begin with, I have regular bowel movements (usually every morning), and rarely suffer from constipation or diarrhea. But my stools are often soft, and sometimes I have a lot of gas and bloating.
During the weeks of eating gluten-free, my stools were less soft and more well-formed. My butt required less wiping (really!). The stools were lighter in color. I was less likely to have an additional soft & gaseous BM during the day.
Last week, I ate gluten again, as I wanted any tests the doctor did to be based on my normal diet. My BM's went back to how they were before.
Also, I lost about 5 pounds, which I can't explain. It returned me to my previously-normal weight, before I slowly gained these 5 pounds over the last several years. I wasn't hungry and I don't think I ate less than normal. I'm not even sure this was a result of the GF diet, or when exactly the weight was lost. I step on the scale every once in a while, so it happened fairly recently. When I had fasted for that partial day in mid-May, my weight fluctuated less than a pound. So it happened between then and now.
Update: I re-checked my notes; I noticed the weight loss already after the first week of going gluten free. So it happened within one month of the partial day of fasting. Maybe the fasting had more to do with it than the gluten-free, even though it wasn't immediately noticeable after the fast. It's weird, still inexplicable.
..
So maybe I am somewhat sensitive to gluten. Maybe that could somehow be related to my joint issues; maybe I just need to avoid it for a longer period of time.
It wasn't hard to eat gluten-free. There are so many GF products available in the supermarket; I hadn't realized til now how many items are even marked as certified GF. I didn't feel very limited overall.
The biggest problem was that my kitchen and freezer are still stocked with mostly non-GF foods. I hadn't realized how many vegan meat analogs contain wheat gluten. Even the soy-based ones tend to also include wheat gluten.
Now I'm curious to see if I'm sensitive to any other foods. I may try avoiding both soy and gluten for a while, though that would be hard. Or maybe corn.
.
I read a page which explained leaky gut well, and another page on food sensitivities to gluten/gliaden vs FODMAPs. But can't find the page now. Here are some similar ones.
https://www.mygenefood.com/zonulin-leaky-gut/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3384703/
https://draxe.com/7-signs-symptoms-you-have-leaky-gut/
https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2015/12/09/459061317/a-protein-in-the-gut-may-explain-why-some-cant-stomach-gluten
https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2014/05/22/314287321/sensitive-to-gluten-a-carb-in-wheat-may-be-the-real-culprit
Sudden thought: If it's only a FODMAP issue for me, and I'm only sensitive to the carbs in wheat, then maybe I'd only have to avoid wheat flour, but could still eat all those gluten-based meat analogs!
It didn't improve my hand & finger issues.
But I did notice an improvement in my digestion.
To begin with, I have regular bowel movements (usually every morning), and rarely suffer from constipation or diarrhea. But my stools are often soft, and sometimes I have a lot of gas and bloating.
During the weeks of eating gluten-free, my stools were less soft and more well-formed. My butt required less wiping (really!). The stools were lighter in color. I was less likely to have an additional soft & gaseous BM during the day.
Last week, I ate gluten again, as I wanted any tests the doctor did to be based on my normal diet. My BM's went back to how they were before.
Also, I lost about 5 pounds, which I can't explain. It returned me to my previously-normal weight, before I slowly gained these 5 pounds over the last several years. I wasn't hungry and I don't think I ate less than normal. I'm not even sure this was a result of the GF diet, or when exactly the weight was lost. I step on the scale every once in a while, so it happened fairly recently. When I had fasted for that partial day in mid-May, my weight fluctuated less than a pound. So it happened between then and now.
Update: I re-checked my notes; I noticed the weight loss already after the first week of going gluten free. So it happened within one month of the partial day of fasting. Maybe the fasting had more to do with it than the gluten-free, even though it wasn't immediately noticeable after the fast. It's weird, still inexplicable.
..
So maybe I am somewhat sensitive to gluten. Maybe that could somehow be related to my joint issues; maybe I just need to avoid it for a longer period of time.
It wasn't hard to eat gluten-free. There are so many GF products available in the supermarket; I hadn't realized til now how many items are even marked as certified GF. I didn't feel very limited overall.
The biggest problem was that my kitchen and freezer are still stocked with mostly non-GF foods. I hadn't realized how many vegan meat analogs contain wheat gluten. Even the soy-based ones tend to also include wheat gluten.
Now I'm curious to see if I'm sensitive to any other foods. I may try avoiding both soy and gluten for a while, though that would be hard. Or maybe corn.
.
I read a page which explained leaky gut well, and another page on food sensitivities to gluten/gliaden vs FODMAPs. But can't find the page now. Here are some similar ones.
https://www.mygenefood.com/zonulin-leaky-gut/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3384703/
https://draxe.com/7-signs-symptoms-you-have-leaky-gut/
https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2015/12/09/459061317/a-protein-in-the-gut-may-explain-why-some-cant-stomach-gluten
https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2014/05/22/314287321/sensitive-to-gluten-a-carb-in-wheat-may-be-the-real-culprit
Sudden thought: If it's only a FODMAP issue for me, and I'm only sensitive to the carbs in wheat, then maybe I'd only have to avoid wheat flour, but could still eat all those gluten-based meat analogs!