that weird kid that couldnt eat peanut butter growing up.. I'm that.. In the adult version

I figure I should educate you all on what being gluten intolerant actually is. I have had some pretty hilarious questions like "can you eat eggs?" and "OMG Claire the chips were eating, are made in a factory that also manufactures wheat!!!"

1. I do not have an ALLERGY. So no my throat won't close up, break out in hives and need an epi-pen stabbed in my arm.
2. Gluten is anything made with wheat, barely or rye. Hence I can eat eggs.
3. I too thought my life was over and I couldn't eat anything that tasted good ever again. But surprisingly enough my life didn't end and its actually so much better.

For about a month I went from a girl that doesn't EVER get a headache to constant migraines. Nothing made the migraines go away, Excederine only calmed them down. I was exhausted all the time, it didn't matter how much sleep I got, all I wanted to do is lay in bed. I was drinking an entire pot of coffee a day and did nothing for me, energy drinks were the only thing that made me feel like I could at least get out of bed and go to class. I have always been an active person and at this time my boyfriend had been training me for a good couple of months, so I was in pretty good shape. I went from running 5 miles no problem to barely being able to run one. Muscle fatigue was so intense that I had a hard time walking up the 4 flights of stairs to my criminal justice class. So to say the least I was miserable, frustrated and a little scared. Something was obviously wrong.
For a month I was in and out of doctors, they took blood tests and everything was normal. Their conclusion was depression, and wrote me a prescription. This frustrated me even more, I was definitely not depressed nor was I about to take a pill to cover up the problem. I finally went to a nautropath. After explaining my symptoms they asked if I had done anything different in the past month, actually I had, I had stopped drinking alcohol. They then asked if I was craving salt and thirsty more then normal, and I hadn't thought of it, but I was.
I was diagnosed with non-Addison's hypoadrenia (adrenal gland exhaustion). Basically I did such a good job stressing myself out over school and ex-boyfriends in the past year that I maxed my adrenals. If you don't know much about this lovely organ, its responsible for the release and control of cortisol, adrenaline and hormones which are essential to our body's stressors, normal function of the brain, digestion, blood pressure etc. This makes even more sense to me being a science major and the effects on the cell level that cause the side effects. The most important part of our body and its functioning it the sodium potassium pumps of our cells, this is why dehydration can be fatal and where a hang over comes from, to name a few. Apparently having alcohol in my diet was just enough of a stimulant to keep me going, but also acting as a band aid while the problem got worse. As soon as I cut alcohol out of my diet, my body said "game over" and wanted to stay in bed and heal.

The nautropath explained that because my body was at its most vulnerable point, it wouldnt respond to past stressors such as food intolerance's. She suspected gluten to be adding to my symptoms. At first cutting out gluten was really difficult. My favorite breakfast was bagels and cream cheese, subway was my favorite on the go cheap meal and BEER, oh beer, how I LOVE beer. I started noticing a big difference after about 6 weeks. I still drink beer here and there because its just too damn good. I have found a few that are brewed with rice and although they arent gluten free bc of the barely malt, they dont effect me. I had a full on gluten meal while on my roadtrip a few weeks back, I must say that this diet is obnoxious when on the road. After a few meals of fast food restaurant salads made with non-nutrious iceberg lettuce and a few pieces of less then stisfying chicken, I was tried of being hungry. I caved and bought a subway sandwhich.
The next day we were in Vegas and unfortunately muscle fatigue set in to its fullest and I could have slept on the strip I was so tried. I spare a few other side effects, but to say the least, it SUCKED. It's interesting to me the a food can literally be poisionious to some people. Food allergys are usually linked from genetics or parents. We develop antibodies throughout our todler years and being introduced to foods that we dont have the anibodies to yet= a food allergy. As for intolerances, common ones being wheat, soy, diary, corn. Evolutionary we didnt have these foods in abundance, back in the hunter gather days we eat meat, veg, rice and fruit, with the ocasional few eggs. only the past 10,000 years (which is a small amount since we've been around for millions) have not only ate those products, but in abundance.
Life is so much better cutting out the wheat, not to mention healthy, it keeps the weight off for sure. Luckily I dont have an allergy so I'll have a beer here and there. I have way more energy then I've ever had, my bummed knee feels better, no food coma feeling anymore, all around much happier. Thinking about going gluten free? My favorite meals:
-rice bowls with corn,beans, avocado, salsa and sour cream
-hardy salads
-tuna warped in lettuce leafs
-TONS of mexican food, carnitas tacos??
-sushi
-steamed veggies with chicken
-being in lovely Portland we have Bobs Red Mill that makes gluten free pancake mix, brownie, cookie etc
-quinoa, kinda like rice but better AND they make gluten free pasta out of this stuff and its goodddd


I probably explained a bit more then necessary, but there ya go, now youre educated.