as a prophylactic medicine
Every time I go to a restaurant, I have to be ‘that’ customer who asks things like, ‘excuse me, the sauce you serve with this steak, is it gluten-free? Are you sure? Please could you check with the chef?’ Most of the time I am met with a waiter rolling their eyeballs (invisibly), and I am immediately labelled as one of ‘those’ women. You know the ones who ask for ‘skinny cappuccinos, or white omelettes’. Often, when I see the waiter is unsure, I have to threaten them with a smile. I say lightly, ‘please check with the chef – its important. I am sure you don’t want to have to call an ambulance for me.’ Okay, okay, so my condition does not ever need anyone to dial 911, but if I do eat gluten, it offsets the entire gain I have managed, and sets me back months – so to me it is very important.
You might think that I should then simply avoid restaurants. No one likes customers like this. I agree. I don’t like customers like myself… so – I try to go to places I know are ‘gluten-safe’. Sometimes though, I can’t avoid going to one I don’t know, and have to be that person. Alas, there is a very good reason behind my annoying questions.
Just over nine years ago, whilst pregnant with my son, I was diagnosed with Hashimoto Thyroiditis. For those that do not know, this is an auto-immune disease where your body sees your thyroid gland as a foreign threat, and your antibodies basically attack it. It’s a condition that can get quite serious and needs to be checked and controlled constantly.
Here is a description of this disease from https://www.webmd.com/women/hashimotos-thyroiditis-symptoms-causes-treatments :
Also called Hashimoto’s disease, Hashimoto’s thyroiditis is an autoimmune disease, a disorder in which the immune system turns against the body’s own tissues. In people with Hashimoto’s, the immune system attacks the thyroid. This can lead to hypothyroidism, a condition in which the thyroid does not make enough hormones for the body’s needs.
How was this discovered during my pregnancy?
Well, first of all by the swelling on my throat – the goiter that becomes visible from the outside, and by the fact that I was constantly weepy, anxious, and borderline depressed. I was losing more hair than one should, and I was gaining more weight than healthy in pregnancy. I had a very rough pregnancy – emotionally and physically. I was not as unlucky as some needing special emergency medical intervention, but I felt lethargic and awful from beginning to end.
Alas, once I had been blessed with a beautiful baby boy, my gynaecologist and functional medicine doctor began addressing the issue I had with my thyroid, and I began researching it myself. I realised that I had this condition well before my pregnancy – albeit mildly – and the pregnancy simply kicked it up a gear, making it more obvious and prominent. I realised that the anxiety attacks I had been having for years before were directly related to this. After giving birth I suffered from acute post-partum depression. My hormones were a mess, and this condition was ever so present. Not for the first time in my life, I was put on an anti-depressant, and once again I rejected the treatment. I could not get through the beginning phase of adaption with anti-depressants – they made me feel even more anxious, heart racy, agitated, and weepy – all the symptoms of an actual panic attack. So… with research I decided to try the diet approach. I made the decision to remove gluten from my diet. I read that this helps enormously, and this is why…
Here is an exert from https://www.redriverhealthandwellness.com/gluten-first-thing-go-hashimotos-low-thyroid-diagnosis/
Studies from several different countries show Hashimoto’s is linked to gluten sensitivity. The protein structure in the gluten protein shares an amino acid sequence resembles that of the thyroid. Therefore, when a gluten sensitive person reacts to gluten, the immune system may begin erroneously reacting to thyroid tissue too. This causes the inflammatory immune cells to attack and destroy thyroid tissue in a case of mistaken identity.
Although many people know this through personal experience, one study showed as many as 71 percent of subjects resolved their low thyroid symptoms after following a strict gluten-free diet for one year.
I can write a lot more about this condition, but this post is about how eliminating gluten from my diet went. At the time of my decision, thankfully the world was beginning to cater for people with real gluten intolerance. Like those who suffer from Celiac Disease. However, the humour here, is that eliminating gluten at that time was also becoming a fad… like others: a fashionable thing to do – having flat whites instead of cappuccinos, asking for almond milk instead of cow’s milk etc… It’s for this reason that my requests about gluten contamination in dishes from restaurants was seen as an annoyance. Murphy’s law that my diagnosis coincided with the latest craze… and my surname is – you guessed – Murphy.
Was it easy to eliminate gluten?
It actually was. Most shops were now carrying gluten free pasta and gluten free bread, so the transition was not too painful. The pasta available was and still is very similar to normal pasta – almost, but the bread is not. There is simply no substitute for wheat bread and nothing gluten free from a bakery will ever taste like a croissant, or sour-dough loaf, or baguette. Sorry!
But did I crave these treats that I was no longer allowed to have?
Not really. I think it took about a month to adapt. It was tricky to not crave toast once the perfume of toasting bread was up my nostrils, but only for a bit. I think that going cold turkey was doing my body so much good that I subconsciously wanted to avoid gluten. I was able to watch someone bite into a sticky bun without any jealousy… most of the time. I did, and still do, have moments of nostalgia, remembering the enjoyment of biting into a fresh baguette filled with real butter and ham. I do sometimes miss a croissant, but it goes no further than that, I think my body remembers the discomfort of a Hashimoto flare-up (even the discomfort of the slight inflammation in my throat), and does not want it. So body memory = no cravings.
The big education though was discovering that SO much on the shelves in the supermarkets contains gluten, and it is absolutely imperative that one becomes a label reader. Gluten is found in almost all pre-made sauces. It is found in spices. It is found in many medications, marinades, stocks, desserts, and pre-cooked meals. Gluten sometimes seems to be everywhere. So the education began, and it was one that slowly transformed my life. I was no longer buying pre-made dishes or sauces. I began making my own. I was no longer using any old spice mix – I was using pure ones and more often that not using fresh herbs instead. This prompted me to get my fridge and pantry into a healthier state – with far less ‘factory manufactured’ goods and instead have far more fresh produce.
I must add here that with this condition, it is not always good to replace glutenous goods for their gluten-free cousins. Some gluten-free products contain other nasties that we have to avoid too. Soya, dairy and sometimes even things like eggs need to be eliminated from a Hashimoto sufferers’ diet. It was trial and error for me – discovering what I could and could not eat. For some, cruciferous vegetables act like gluten in a Hashimoto persons system. I eliminated cruciferous vegetables for a long time, without consulting my doctor and I suffered the consequence. Cruciferous vegetables are appartently very important for liver function, and by banishing them completely, I stuffed up my liver. When my doctor explained this, my liver disfunction repaired slowly, and all I had to do was cook my cruciferous veg very well – almost to death. This allows the structure or sequence of the vegetable to break down so that my body does not see it as a threat, and rather absorbs the goodness one needs. Its all very complicated, but little by little one finds what works best.
Anyway – back to living without gluten. The other ingredients are subjects of their own. Sorry… I got side-tracked…
If you do not want to have any more gluten in your diet for whatever reason, please feel assured that it is not very difficult, and your body will adapt quickly to this positive change. There are just a few tips I can share:
- Read labels on products
- Know a craving will go away fast
- Go further on the journey by making meals with more fresh ingredients than not
- When you buy a gluten free treat – spend more money on it – just buy it less often. The more you pay, the better the quality
- Get creative in your kitchen with healthy gluten free recipes – some fail, others are epic – just try
- If the waiter in a restaurant looks at you sideways for asking questions, either ignore them or educate them
- If you are going on a trip by road, or air etc… or if you know that you are going to have to be away from home for a prolonged period of time, make your own snack or Tupperware meal. Also, keep a gluten-free treat in your car, or bag at all times. I have been caught out too often in the past to ignore this now. I have been in the middle of nowhere and the only snack I can buy is a plain packet of crisps – all flavoured crisps, and candy bars, and buns and pies etc in the only shop available, all contain gluten.
I think that’s it. I feel that people like me who live a gluten-free life are lucky nowadays. There are so many shops now that sell gluten-free alternatives, and unlike in the past, most of them are delicious. I am also particularly lucky to have a husband who converted with me. I did not ask him to, but he says that life is easier this way, and he wants to support me. So we only have gluten free pasta and bread in the house etc. If we buy something that is partially pre-cooked or pre-sauced, I no longer have to ask him if he has read the ingredients. He automatically checks to make sure there is no gluten. Of course, he and my son get to enjoy a glutenous treat from time to time when we are out, and I sometimes buy things for them that contain gluten. For example my son loves garlic bread – and I will buy it for him from time to time. If we order pizza from a restaurant, they will eat the normal yummy kind – and I eat the gluten free option.
So yes, I am very lucky to have their support. Support is not always easy to find – many people in my life poo-poo the idea of me not eating gluten. So often I am teased or mocked. I hear, surely a bit of gluten will not hurt – go on – so often!! I know most people around me think that I am being ridiculous. They say I should just have an operation to remove my thyroid or go onto pharmaceutical drugs to treat it. My answer to them is that I will continue to control my condition with a strict diet for as long as possible, and if one day I need the drugs or op, I will of course then take that route. But until then, why do it the other way round, simply for the enjoyment of eating things like cake? NO!!! I am perfectly happy living with a gluten-free diet – leave me alone!
In the first few years of my gluten free existence, these conversations made me angry. They still irritate me to a degree, but I am weathered by them now. However, when I am with someone who is educated on this, and they respond with complete understanding, I want to hug them and squeeze them, for not shaming me and getting it. Those people are far and few between. So… there is no advise I can give on this point, except, try not punch anyone in the nose for being ignorant and unintentionally cruel.
In conclusion, let me repeat. Living a gluten-free life is easy! It’s an adaption and all humans adapt. It’s a choice too – and even though you will always meet people who are uncomfortable with your personal choices – these moments are fleeting and make no difference to the bigger picture. Sometimes however, making the right dietary choice for yourself – like I did – makes a huge difference to the bigger picture… it makes it more comfortable and far more enjoyable.