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gluten elimination

Figure out if gluten is making you anxious or depressed and win a book

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Even wholegrain bread may be a problem
Even wholegrain bread may be a problem

Wouldn’t you like to know if gluten is making you anxious or depressed (or causing other health issues). I teamed up with Richard and C.R. Zwolinksi on their Therapy Soup blog on Psychcentral.com to show you how to do a gluten elimination and challenge.

And you have a chance to win one of two copies of my book The Antianxiety Food Solution: How the Foods You Eat Can Help You Calm Your Anxious Mind, Improve Your Mood and End Cravings – keep reading and I’ll share the link below. The deadline is December 3, 2012.

Here is the series of very informative blogs with everything you’ll need.

#1 Introducing the Gluten-free Challenge

“Although sugar and junk and fast foods cause health problems for many, one major dietary culprit that has been getting a lot of attention is gluten. For the next few weeks, Trudy, C.R. and I are going to talk about the importance of diet, and specifically gluten, as it affects your mental health. Many people don’t realize that they might have gluten a intolerance, or even an allergy to gluten….” More about Introducing the Gluten-free Challenge

#2 Getting Rid of Gluten

“A list of foods that contain gluten so you can avoid them”…”Several gluten-free menu suggestions”… “Suggestions for how you can keep track of what you’re eating and what kinds of symptoms might be present or lessened” More about Getting Rid of Gluten

#3 The Gluten-Mood Connection

“There are many studies supporting the gluten-mood connection – anxiety, social phobia, depression and even schizophrenia”… “Dr. Fasano is one of the leading researchers in this field and states that gluten sensitivity is undertreated and underrecognized as a contributing factor to psychiatric & neurologic manifestations.” You’ll see from some of the comments that many people are not yet ready to accept the research based evidence! More about The Gluten-Mood Connection

#4 Your Gluten-Free Shopping List

“Buckwheat is acceptable, as are the wonderful ancient grains like quinoa and amaranth. Starchy vegetables like sweet potato and squashes are a wonderfully nutritious source of carbohydrates. Rather than simply replacing the problem grain with another grain, consider incorporating more vegetables like these into your diet.” More about Your Gluten-Free Shopping List

# 5 Your Gluten-free Food and Mood Log

#6 Gluten-free Menus to Improve Your Mood.

C.R posted some lovely menu ideas and some recipes from her food blog, healthyjewishcooking.com, “(her blog is not completely gluten-free but many individual recipes are), followed by some links to gluten-free resources” More about Gluten-free Menus to Improve Your Mood

#7 I want my turkey and stuffing.

“We got an email from a reader who says she doesn’t want to miss the traditional turkey and stuffing during Thanksgiving. And she doesn’t want to “experiment” with gluten-free stuffing. So, we asked nutritionist Trudy Scott whether or not it’s okay to add back in the gluten a bit early.” More on I want my turkey and stuffing

#8 Win a free copy of The Antianxiety Food Solution

Read this blog to find out how to win one of two copies of the book. “We’d love to hear your gluten-free story if you want to include it in your email entry. If you like, please briefly describe your gluten-free experience.” Deadline for entries is Monday, December 3rd.

It’s been a lot of fun (and a real pleasure working with the Zwolinkis) and I hope you get as much out of it as we have! We will be sharing more in the coming week, talking about some testing options and how the amazing amino acids can help if you have quit but feel deprived and are using will-power.

Gluten Elimination Challenge: An Easy Way to Figure Out If It Affects You! (part 2)

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The easiest and most affordable way to figure out if gluten affects you is to do a 2-week gluten elimination trial (and see how you feel) and then provoke or challenge with gluten (and see how you feel). The 2 week trial will mean zero consumption of food containing wheat, rye, barley, spelt, kamut, triticale or oats. Oats must also be excluded as they are frequently contaminated with gluten during processing. It really is best that you eat home-made, real, whole foods (always, but especially during the trial) as gluten is so often “hidden” in many processed foods. Watch for ingredients like hydrolyzed protein, textured vegetable protein and all derivatives of wheat, oats, rye and barley (including barley malt, modified starch, most soy sauces and natural flavoring).

Other wonderful grains and nutritious starchy vegetables

Rice, corn and buckwheat are acceptable, as are the wonderful ancient grains like quinoa and amaranth. You can find gluten-free-everything – pasta, crackers, you-name-it – made from rice, bean, potato, coconut and corn flour. There are also many wonderful recipes books but some call for margarine, soy milk and excessive sugar – so make substitutions as needed. Rather than simply replacing the problem grain with another grain, consider incorporating more vegetables into your diet. Starchy vegetables like sweet potato and squashes are a wonderfully nutritious source of carbohydrates.

Adding back the gluten

Once you have removed the gluten from your diet and seen improvements in your mood and other symptoms (digestive, pain, skin etc), add it back after 2 weeks and see if it affects you adversely. This test is often more powerful for my clients than any lab test. I’ve seen symptoms ranging from severe mood swings to terrible anxiety to stomach aches to general aches and pains to fatigue and brain fog (and all of the above in some very sensitive individuals). If you experience any of the above, then it’s important that you remove gluten from your diet and work with someone to do additional testing. I’ll cover additional testing in a future blog post.

See here for part 1 (Gluten, your mood and your health) and read more about this and other food intolerances in my forthcoming book The Antianxiety Food Solution – How the Foods you eat can calm your anxious mind, improve mood and end cravings. Find out more at www.antianxietyfoodsolution.com