That gluten is ugly, icky stuff!

At least, that’s what we’re finding out personally… the hard way.

(And keep in mind, you can make glue out of flour and water… so it makes sense why they call it gluten, and why it coats our insides in disgusting ways).

We won’t go into the details (yet, anyway). But, over the last several months, Barry had been experiencing more and more progressive drops in energy, along with allergy-like symptoms he’s never had before.

And, of course, we’re not the type to rely strictly on traditional docs to help us figure out a problem. After all, they usually only tread down the narrow path that their particular governing body has laid out for them.

But we’re fortunate to have some incredible alternative holistic health practioners where we live. After consulting with a couple, both suggested a comprehensive blood test.

It turns out that several key indicators — like blood-sugar levels and iron intake, just to name a few — were way out of range.

So Barry was asked to go on a 3-week systematic detoxification program, which required taking herbs for the liver and gallbladder while avoiding a lot of common triggers and allergens such as dairy, gluten, soy, peanuts, red meat, tomatoes, alcohol, etc.

Hey, that kind of regimen isn’t easy… and I’m all too familiar with it, after following the SCD (Specific Carbohydrate Diet) for nearly 10 years to combat an IBD. That one had me avoiding all gluten, grains, lactose, sugar and starch, but it’s designed to heal the body so you can eventually introduce those foods back in, which I did after the long haul.

The good news is, following his detox, Barry ended up with an incredble level of energy, 95% of allergy symptons gone, no more stomach pains, and a more connected feeling to his body and mind.

But to keep that up, it turns out that gluten has to be permanently removed from his diet. This is something I’ve been wanting us to do for some time, but with Barry being what I affectionately call a “carb addict,” he needed a solid reason to do it. 

The kicker came when we discovered through some intensive research, and discussion with a few very reliable health advisors, that our 2-year-old is likely reacting to gluten too.

I had held back on introducting gluten to him for a long time — even his first birthday cake was gluten free — but eventually we decided it would be okay for him to have oats and whole grains.

So we didn’t suspect a thing until it became necessary for him to start speech therapy for probable apraxia, which turns out to be intrinsically linked with gluten intolerance.

See, I always knew about how gluten could affect the digestive system. But I didn’t know how it also impacts the brain, causing memory problems, brain fog, and developmental delays.

Now that we know better, we’re dedicated to following this through. The whole family has made the commitment, and we invite you along on the journey.

So, here’s what what we’ll be doing in the first part of 2011:

Publishing an in-depth guide called Life Without Gluten about our continued research into gluten-free living.

It will provide the quality resources, online tools, vendors, recipes, and up-to-date knowledge we find on the topic.

It will be a “physical” (not digital) guide you can also purchase and pass along to your friends and family.

But, if you have experience with gluten, being gluten intolerant, or just simply some unique knowledge about the subject, you can participate in creating this guide too.

Let us know by calling this special 24-hour private voiceline, which only we have access to:

(512) 827-0044 ext 5351

Leave your name, contact info, an overview of your experiences being gluten-free, your interest level in having your insights included in the guide, and what additional resources you may be able to contribute.

[NOTE: The right person may even be offered the chance to be the co-author / editor of this upcoming LWL-published guidebook. So if you have a yearning interest to get your first health-related information marketing business started, and you’d like to be considered, please let us know.]

Basically, we’re going to allow several of our loyal LWL health-conscious community members to help us create this guide. We’ll tell you what the benefits are, once we select who’d we’d like to contribute.

So, let us know if you’re interested by calling this number:

(512) 827-0044 ext 5351

Your Partner in the Quest for
Living a Life Without Limits,

Filed under: Health & Wellness