Please don’t go gluten-free yet! That must sound strange coming from someone who just finished an 8 part series on how to go truly gluten-free! But I am quite serious for those of you who have not yet taken the plunge. I say this because if you skip some steps before going on your gluten-free journey, you may regret it later. Take it from me! I have a regret or two. Not because I ignored the information I was given, but because some of these important steps were not yet offered and understood just a few short years ago.
So what could be the problem with just “biting the bullet” and finally just doing it? Well, over the last few weeks/months, it has become one of the main concerns in my head as I hear of people (especially on my Facebook Support Group) who decide one day to finally “just do it” without thinking through the details as to why they are doing it exactly. What my gluten-free series didn’t cover was the pre-gluten-free steps to consider. For this, I decided to do this very short post but with very important information. I will outline these thoughts below.
Why are you going gluten free?
This is important. Because if you are just trying to lose weight or eat healthy, you may be able to just “dig in” and go for it. But IF you happen to have an autoimmune condition (which most do who are reading this post) and you have a feeling gluten is connected to the autoimmune attack going on in your body, or worse yet, you don’t even know if you have an autoimmune disease, going gluten-free and then slipping back into a diet full of gluten can be devastating for your health. There are reasons for this but it’s best to let the experts explain this and they will! Starting November 11, 2013, Dr. Thomas O’Bryan has put together a never done before “Gluten Summit” where experts in gluten sensitivity will speak on all aspects of gluten from years of experience! You can sign up for this extremely important summit here or click the banner on the side of my blog where you can register for this incredible opportunity for FREE!
During the summit, you will:
- Learn about the latest research on gluten-related disorders;
- Understand why we MUST call more attention to them;
- Gain improved knowledge of proper diagnosis/treatment methods;
- The very important question, “Could this health issue be due to gluten?”
I wish I had a full understanding about these things during my transition to truly gluten-free. I didn’t understand how strict I needed to be when embarking on my gluten-free journey. It would have been easier if I had started out completely informed.
Have you been tested for Gluten Sensitivity?
Some of us are convinced gluten is not good for us. But others may need that “proof” that a test can provide. I needed to see the reaction in my body through lab testing.
There are different ways you can be tested for gluten but the most highly recommended are the Cyrex Labs Array testing which must be ordered by your doctor. These tests cover important aspects of gluten sensitivity. The main ones are:
- Basic gluten sensitivity – including the many different types of gluten your body might be reacting to instead of the one type normally tested by conventional medicine. If you missed the video I posted recently by Sean Croxton describing these different types of Gliadin, you can find it here.
- Gluten Cross-Reactive Foods – this one is extremely important because IF your body sees another food as gluten in your body (like rice, tapioca, dairy, chocolate, eggs, etc), going gluten-free will not help you without also eliminating these foods also for a time while the gut is healing. Sometimes these foods can be added back in after healing. There is a test for this too at Cyrex Labs so you can also eliminate these foods at the same time.
- Predictive antibody testing – this one was the one I missed and I so wish I would have had it done. It was not yet available until after I was gluten-free. But this test can detect early warning signs (antibody activity) to different organs in the body which can predict future autoimmune conditions. This is important because going truly gluten-free can drastically decrease your likelihood of being diagnosed and having the symptoms of other autoimmune diseases. I think it would have been very motivating for me to know what I was attempting to prevent.
All these important subjects will be covered during the upcoming Gluten Summit on November 11-17, 2013. I wanted to make sure you knew you had the chance to learn as much as possible about going truly gluten-free before you embark of this very important journey. Of course, if you are already on the journey, this information will help you fine tune your approach to make sure you are doing everything possible to stay truly gluten-free.
And once you have made your decision and have collected your test results (if necessary), you can read through my FREE 8 part “Let’s Go Gluten Free Series” with everything you need to know to get started on the right path instead of making the common mistakes I did.
This journey can be intimidating but the good news is that many of us have gone before you and are here to offer support!
Here’s to continued healing!
Disclaimer: All posts are describing my personal journey through health issues and are in no way meant to guide anyone towards any method in particular. I am not a medical practitioner or have a dietary or medical license, and this blog is not intended to be taken as authoritative advice. Please see your doctor, or health professional before making any drastic diet changes! Also, occasionally I find others to partner with whom I have had tremendous help from and therefore, there may be paid advertisements and links to support them and help me financially run this website.
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