Wednesday

Source: Flickr

Seven rounds for time of:
185 pound Front squat, 3 reps
7 L-pull-ups

 
 
"Could bread be the cause of your infertility?"
--via naturallyknockedup.com
Did you know that about 40% of all Americans are sensitive or allergic to the gluten found in wheat products? Many don’t even know it yet. 1 out of 133 are severe enough to be labeled as celiac. And if you’ve been trying to get pregnant for some time and have yet to conceive, or have had multiple unexplained miscarriages, you may want to pay attention.

You know what? Pay attention anyways.

What is it?

Gluten is a protein found in wheat, spelt, kamut, barley, and rye. It helps bread dough to be elastic and causes it to rise. But one of the problems with gluten now is that it’s in everything! And to much of a good thing is well….not a good thing. We eat more wheat products now than ever in history because breads are so convenient. And food manufacturers place wheat and/or wheat gluten in a large majority of processed foods. Another one of the other issues with our modern wheat breads is that it has changed over the last century, as we’ve become a society that loves nice fluffy breads and baked goods. To achieve this we’ve hybridized the actual wheat berry so that it now contains more of this gluten protein and we also add more in later while baking to give it that extra rise. The fact that the USDA food pyramid claims we need more wheat and grains than any other food group is also of great concern. (One of the other reasons that a lot of people do better off of wheat is that they are no longer experiencing the blood sugar issues associated with digesting breads, plus they are now eating more whole foods and not relying on packaged, processed stuff!)

In people who are sensitive to gluten, the body actually attacks the lining of the intestine, damaging the gut wall and causing pain, diarrhea, constipation, and mal absorption of nutrients. The main problem with gluten intolerance or gluten allergies is that their can be a very long list of very different things – and not all of them are specific to the gut.

* Anemia
* Abdominal pain
* Headaches
* Ear Infections (especially chronic infections in small children)
* Eczema or chronic skin irritation
* Bloating and Gas
* Depression and Anxiety
* Diarrhea and constipation
* Fatigue and weakness
* Infertility and multiple miscarriage
* Aching joints or overall body soreness
* Inflammation
* Weight Loss (unexplained)

People with celiac disease, a wheat allergy, on average suffer for about 7 years before a diagnosis is made. And their intestinal wall is constantly being damaged during that time.

Our Story with Gluten

Last February, while doing some research for a blog post, I stumbled across an article about gluten that made me think my husbands health may change for the better if he went gluten free. After convincing him to give it a try I started cooking completely gluten free for him while retaining just a small amount of wheat products in my and my sons diet.

The first week or so was tough as not only did we have to get used to eating completely different, he started to experience withdrawal/detox symptoms and some pretty bad headaches. A couple weeks went by and he started to notice he felt better. And not just the things we thought would get better! He started sleeping better through the night and he wasn’t as sore and tired as he had been previously. After about 3 months he decided to try a bit of bread to see what happened. And boy did he find out! He got headaches for 3 days, muscle pains and aches, and stomach upset. It was clear he was sensitive to gluten.

A year later his body has healed enough where he can tolerate a small amount of wheat and normally only in the form of spelt. I have also noticed that not only do I feel much better when I don’t eat a lot of wheat, and my son’s behavior is better as well. So I currently limit our consumption of wheat/gluten products to one serving or less per day, and I may look to limiting it further.

To read the entire article visit HERE