In this week's show, we are talking about what you need to know if you're still feeling crap after cutting out gluten.
The following transcript is taken from The Healthy Celiac Podcast, Episode 6. If you would prefer to listen in, you can do so here, or on your fave Podcast App.
So I get asked all the time, why am I still feeling like rubbish when I've cut out the gluten? I thought I was meant to feel better, but I'm still feeling tired and bloated. And I just am not feeling like I thought I would feel after cutting out gluten.
That's why in this week's episode, we're going to cover off some basics that you can trial and see if it's going to make a difference in your health, because it could be something that you've not even thought of.
So obviously the first thing that I have to say is you need to make sure that you've completely 100% without a doubt, cut out all gluten from your life. And this could be sneaking in through cross-contamination. If you're not being careful enough in your kitchen, or if you're eating out or eating at friend's houses and there's cross-contamination happening there. So you need to be very, very certain that that's not sneaking in, in any way. So that's the first thing that I recommend. I'd really scrutinize all the food that you're eating, everything like right down to the very last thing.
Then I want you to look at some other foods that could be causing issues for you, because if you're still feeling the same way, and it seems like it's from gluten, it could be another food intolerance, or it could also be which I've mentioned in a previous episode, a dairy intolerance. So you could be struggling with lactose intolerance, which could be temporary, or it could be just the way your body is. You may have become lactose intolerant permanently, which unfortunately is me. So I can't have any gluten or any dairy. Also in the early days when I first got diagnosed with celiac disease, I couldn't tolerate Brown rice. Now there's no gluten in Brown rice, but my body just did not like it. When I ate Brown rice, it just made me feel absolutely dreadful. So I cut out Brown rice and that made a big, big difference to my health.
Another thing could be, you may not be eating enough. We cut out a heap of foods, but what if we're not actually eating enough? So if you're still tired, you still sluggish. You know, you've got brain fog. It could actually be that you're not eating enough. So have a look at your diet and see if you're eating enough nutrient dense food. And also, while I think of it, water , water is another one. So when we are dehydrated, it actually makes us feel many of those symptoms that I just mentioned, the brain fog, the tiredness, the sluggishness.... water can make a big impact on your health. It's probably the number one tip that I would give to my clients in my health coaching practice is to increase your water intake because it just improves your health dramatically overall. So definitely make sure you're drinking enough water because yeah, that will certainly make you feel a lot better.
Now you could simply just be still healing. If it's only been a couple months, if it's been less than a year since diagnosis, it could just be that your body is still healing. Now, if you haven't listened to my previous episode, which was episode three, where I talk about what your doctor never told you, when you got celiac disease, I've got some great tips in there for you, for what you need to know when you are healing your body. So you might not be doing enough of those things to fast-track the healing of your villi. And as you may know, if your villi isn't healed, then you're not going to absorb the nutrients from your food, right? So if you're not getting, the nutrient dense food into your diet, then your body's not going to heal...well, not as fast, I should say it is going to heal because you've cut out the gluten, but it's not going to heal as fast if you're not doing all of the recommendations that I mentioned in that episode.
Now let's talk about eating the right food. So I shouldn't really call it right food because there's really no right or wrong as such. We all eat very differently. We all have different customs and different family lifestyles. However, I think it's very important to eat as well as possible. So you might've heard me talk about the 80 20 rule, which is 80% of the time ate as much good, healthy food as you possibly can, 20% of the time, you know, let your hair down, have the treats, have the foods that you know are basically the sometimes foods, because I do not believe in, you know, 1 hundred percent diet restrictions. I don't ever believe that that's a long-term goal. I don't believe that that's something that's sustainable. So yeah. Focus on adding in more of the healthy foods. So if you can imagine the healthy foods versus the not so healthy foods, that's what I want you to focus more on because you know, you might even be having a reaction to too many preservatives MSG, all of these things that are in your food that you wouldn't be consuming, if you were eating healthier options. So that's worth looking at as well.
Perhaps you've got low iron. So it's definitely worth going along to your doctor or your primary caregiver and checking that your iron levels are where they are supposed to be, because that can make a big difference to the way you're feeling and also get your thyroid checked because thyroidism can actually affect your metabolism and the way that you feel. So it can actually be something that can cause some similar symptoms. So definitely worth getting your thyroid and your iron levels checked while you're there.
Stress is another one. So I know for myself, when I'm stressed, I get very fatigued and I get severe stomach pains and bloating. And sometimes it can even cause me to go to the toilet more often than I normally would. So, you know, if you're stressed about something, perhaps there's something else going on in your life. And this is what I do work on with my clients is we look at everything. What is the underlying factor that's going on for you in your life? It may not be food. Sometimes we forget that we are this being that's made up of so much more than what we realize. So our thoughts and our feelings and everything that goes on around us actually changes us as a person, whether it's outside or inside. Let's give you an example. Perhaps maybe your work has changed recently or maybe your moving house, or maybe there's a relationship issue going on for you...these things cause our bodies to react in a different way.
What is actually causing you stress, what is causing you anxiety, if you are sleep deprived, you know, why are you sleep deprived? What's causing that issue because that leads to more stress and more problems and then environmental impacts around you as well. What are the things that are causing stress and anxiety in your life? You know, maybe you're exposed in your work environment to some major negativity and that's causing stress on your body. So your environment impacts the way that you feel as well. So you may need to assess that situation as well, because it's not always just about food.
I hope that these ideas have got you thinking and are going to help you look at some other areas in your life that could be causing these issues. If you can't get to the bottom of some of those issues that I mentioned, and you haven't checked the thyroidism or the low iron, I do suggest that you go and see your doctor and get that checked out because that will make a really big difference to how you feel.
And just a reminder, I am a certified health coach. I'm not a doctor and this is not medical advice. This is just purely my opinion and my support for you in getting extra support.
Thank you so much for tuning in. And also why you're here I'll quickly mention to you. If you are thinking of trying to work out, which foods may be causing issues for you, I suggest that you do what's called an elimination diet. So it's basically where you cut out some of those foods for a period of time that could be causing an impact on your health. And then you slowly reintroduce them back into your life. When my clients have done these, they've learned so much about themselves. I had one client in the past that didn't realize that she was suffering from IBS and she was able to pinpoint that and she was able to work out what worked for her and what didn't food wise, and worked out what was causing inflammation. So I'll pop a link to the program that I recommend here. And if you have any questions or you'd like to know anything further, please just send me a DM on Instagram and I'll pop that link here for you as well.
And I will talk to you guys next week. Thanks for tuning in bye.
