Going Gluten Free

Have you ever eaten dinner and felt bloated full? Do you wake up in the middle of the night with an upset stomach? Problems staying regular? Heartburn often?

I have had all of these issue for several years.

My health has always been a priority and I have worked to stay active and eat healthy. So to have these issues, really was hard on me physically and mentally.

I have seen more doctors than I care to think about at the moment. Not one of these "professionals" ever really took the time or my concern for my health seriously. I finally dropped the western doctors avenue and talked with a women called Jacqui Slavin. Her business is Functional Wellness. She is young, vibrant and has a broader view of health and healing. She was willing to talk with me and invest as much time as needed to solve my issues.

When I began working with her she took what I said and wrote it down. A complete change from previous experiences. She listened to what was ailing me and did not dismiss it. That alone made me feel better.

Several interviews later, we started with different blood tests to chip away at the cause of specific issues. I was in the works to take another test when she suggested that I try something before we moved forward.

At this moment, what Jacqui did understand about my body was that I had a lot of inflammation. That is an expansive term when talking about the body, but she suggested that one of the quickest ways to clear some of that up is to go Gluten and Dairy Free to see if some of my problems were related to that.

Are you kidding me? I am going to be one of those gluten free bandwagoneers! ugh!

So, I decided after a long process of understanding some specific issues I was having with my health, I would try. It was either this of another blood test. I really didn't have much to lose by trying.

My biggest concerns was that it was going to be a huge pain and inconvenience.

I was wrong. It was much easier than I had realized. I just cut out pasta and pizza along with a little bread. A few things caught me off guard like sauces. Steak sauce in particular has high fructose corn syrup as well as wheat.

The results were noticeable right away. Most of the time when I ate I would have that bloated-full feeling. I was always uncomfortable and felt the need to move and stand after I ate. Often I chose to lie down. It was terrible.

It was not the amount of food I was eating either because I would eat very little and feel full and bloated. When I stopped eating gluten that full-bloated feeling went away! I felt like you are supposed to after eating- good with more energy.

The next thing I noticed was being able to go to the bathroom on a regular basis. Some times I would go for days but now I am consistent.

Waking up in the middle of the night with an upset stomach and having to drink gallons of Pepto to get back to sleep happened often. It was horrible and disturbing. Disrupting your sleep patterns like that is painful and it made me feel terrible on many levels of my health.

Once I cleared the Gluten from my diet I stopped waking up with an upset stomach.

This really has made a difference to my health! The last thing I noticed recently is that I can drink red wine now without getting heart burn and that does make me happy.

I am continuing to work with her on other things and this Gluten Free life so keep checking my blog for more information and personal stories.