I stopped eating gluten over 6 years ago after my youngest daughter was born. I was exhausted all day, always felt like my brain was in a haze, and my stomach was covered with eczema. I just had a baby so I initially thought it was from being overwhelmed taking care of a second child and breastfeeding the baby every 3 hours. But after months of feeling like this, I knew something was wrong. After seeing many doctors and going the multiple tests and procedures, I was diagnosed with Hashimoto’s thyroid disease, a thyroid autoimmune disease where my immune system produces antibodies that attack my thyroid. If you have a gluten sensitivity or celiac disease, your body will launch an autoimmune response, or attack, on the gluten protein in your body. The gluten protein and thyroid tissue are structurally similar, so when your immune system is attacking, antibodies could accidentally go after the thyroid tissue. Eliminating gluten from your diet can remove this autoimmune response. My road to recovery started the day I stopped eating gluten.
What is gluten?
Gluten is a type of protein found in wheat, rye, and barley. This protein acts like a binder, acting as the glue for baked goods, breads, pastas, and giving them spongy elasticity.
Why does gluten make some people sick?
Contrary to what people believe, GMO white flour has not been approved for sale anywhere in the world. Wheat has been crossbread over the years to withstand pesticides which some experts believe is the cause of increased inflammation, not the wheat itself. Factories also develop bread and processed baked goods with a higher percentage of gluten using a stabilizing ingredient called, vital wheat gluten, to develop elasticity much faster, reducing the time from 24 hours to 20 minutes. People with a gluten sensitivity have been able to digest bread from farmer’s markets and Europe because they were made with traditional methods and high quality, less-processed wheat.
Hope this was helpful, C xo