The benefits of a gluten free diet depend very much on your genetic makeup, and the state of your health.
For some, eliminating gluten from their diet is a matter of life and death. That’s not an exaggeration.
Others notice little change, if any. For many people, the benefits are somewhere in between: more energy, better health.
Why the variation? And is a gluten free diet right for you?
Why are My Results from a Gluten Free Diet Different From Yours?
You may be wondering why some people notice a profound difference when they go on a gluten free diet, while others notice very little difference. We’ll look at that first, then look at how a gluten-free diet might affect you.
Celiac Disease
The worst reactions to gluten are for those with celiac disease. Some have severe symptoms in childhood, other’s have no noticeable symptoms until well into adulthood.
Celiac disease is a combination of genetic disposition, exposure to gluten and other factors that research has yet to uncover.
A strong genetic disposition, meaning both of your parents carry the celiac disease gene, usually results in severe symptoms early in life.
If only one parent carries the gene, you are likely to have much milder symptoms, and may not notice any problems until later in life.
Celiac disease is most noted for its attack on the gut. It can effect all the organs in the body. Celiac disease is very serious, and can completely destroy your health. If you have the more serious form, this will happen faster.
Gluten Allergy
A gluten allergy is quite different from celiac disease, although many of the symptoms are similar.
Most people with a gluten allergy have delayed symptoms, meaning they may notice nothing right after eating gluten, but a few hours, even a few days later, they are sick.
The challenge with noticing that you might have a gluten allergy is that most people, and I bet its the same for you, have gluten in their diet several times every day.
So if you feel sick right now from gluten, its more likely to be from yesterday’s meals and before than what you just had for your last meal.
It is quite common to feel poorly after each meal, but this is because your health has generally been compromised by eating gluten rather than a direct effect of just the last meal.
Gluten Sensitivity
Many people have what can not quite be described as an allergy, but certainly gluten effects them.
If you feel tired all the time, you may be one of these people.
Benefits of Eliminating Gluten From Your Diet
Now that you know a bit about how gluten might effect you, you can see how eliminating gluten from your diet may improve your health and energy, but only if you react to gluten in the first place.
If you have severe symptoms, you must see your doctor and get tested for celiac disease. That way you will know how serious gluten is for you.
The most reliable way to see if you have a gluten allergy is to cut gluten out completely from your diet. There is plenty of information on this website about going gluten free.
If you notice a difference (it might take up to 8 weeks, but usually you’ll notice an improvement within a few weeks), you still need to get tested. A mild form of celiac disease can really destroy your health if you continue to eat gluten.
Gluten problems are much more common than most people realize. Even most doctors don’t really understand how much of a problem gluten really is for their patients.
I encourage you to try a gluten free diet for a couple of months. See what it does for you.
I’d love to hear what you find out after a few weeks or a couple of months. Please come back and leave your comments after you’ve been gluten free for a while.