Gluten free diet- how long to see benefits?
 

I've been avoiding all grains for about 2 weeks now, although I've been minimizing then since starting LC. I do still have small portions of gluten-free "grains" once or twice a week- specifically brown rice and quinoa.

I don't really feel much better or different than I did before starting this dietary experiment. How long should it take to see results? Should I try having some wheat (like a half cup of wheat germ as hot cereal) to see if it makes me feel worse- so I can know for certain whether or not I need to continue avoiding wheat?

Anybody have any advice for me?

Just saw your posting. It depends probably. First of all, are you truly gluten free? Gluten lurks in lots of things. If something you eat contains barley, rye, kamut, spelt, wheat or anything derived from those (like malt), then you're probably still consuming gluten. Celiac.com has a great listing of forbidden and safe foods and ingredients.

It seems like people who have intestinal symptoms experience improvements quickest. People with joint symptoms or neurological symptoms it takes longer. My autoimmune disease got a lot better long after my intestinal symptoms got better (months later). I had some odd neurological things that started improving about 6 months out, joints were 6+ months, intestines (IBS) improved in 2 days.

Another thing to check on is your Vitamin D3 levels. Especially since you live in NY which is pretty far south of the equator.

After all my research into the topic, I think for "normal" people it might be beneficial to not eat gluten regardless of whether or not you have a noticable reaction. Wheat contains a lot of lectins which bind to vitamins and cause problems.

My vitamin D level is probably fine since I take cod liver oil almost every day. NY is north of the equator BTW.

I've been avoiding anything with any grain (except for rice or quinoa that I've prepared myself), I haven't even used soy sauce in the past two weeks, but I'm not sure about cross-contamination. Is it a problem if my kid eats some cookies and then takes a sip of water from my glass, and then I continue to use that glass? Could a tiny amount of airborne wheat flour gotten from the mixing bowl where the kids are making cake, to the mixing bowl where I'm making almond cupcakes? What if there's a trace of flour left on a measuring spoon?

I anyway blew the whole wheat-free thing today when there was cake on the table staring at me. I didn't eat much, about 1/4 of a normal slice, but from a gluten perspective I definitely messed it up. From a carb perspective the portion size made it OK.

Hi, Ruth.

I don't know if I'm gluten sensitive or not, but when I cut out all grains I noticed a huge difference. I'm afraid the brown rice would have to go also.

Can't say when I noticed no more pain. More than 2 weeks, less than 4.

Why did I type "south". :D Silly me. Well, I was thinking North.

That would be enough to cause a reaction in some people.

So I totally gave up on GF this weekend and right now I feel like crap. Not that I felt "great" last week, but I can definitely feel the difference today. I don't think it's just TOM stuff, as I must have had PMS last week but didn't realize it.

It's just so hard to avoid these foods, especially when money is very very tight and we already have a lot of gluten-containing foods in the house.

I think I might try to just stay wheat-free and see if that helps. It just didn't feel "right" not having bread on Friday nights, and not being able to make the appropriate blessings over the food. We have several holidays coming up in September (Rosh Hashonna, followed by Succos) when we'll be eating challah even more often than once a week. So maybe if I make spelt, oat, rye, or barley challah for the whole family, I'll be able to sucessfully stay wheat-free for several months.

I'm not surprised. I think most people DO feel better off wheat but they've gotten so used to feeling crappy all the time they don't realize it.

I understand the feeling of giving up a food you've eaten all your life. It is a concept that is difficult to come to grips with, especially when the government pushes the food at you with subsidies to the farmers and the continually brainwashing that it is good for you, when in reality it isn't.

Any of those Challah's you're talking about making still contain gluten. Some people react worse to barley gluten than they do wheat gluten.

I'm sure there are other Jews you can ask about gluten free options you might try this web site: http://www.glutenfreeforum.com/

Also this list is very useful: Safe and Forbidden Foods

I got curious, so I did the search. Go here for a challah recipe, and some others.

The only problem with the gluten free recipes are that they are higher carb because leaving out the gluten reduces the protein. But the mitzvah of sharing bread with the community should be worth it.

No, it's not about any emotional connection to the food itself. It's about an emotional connection to doing the Mitzvas. There is a Mitzvah to eat bread on Shabbat, and special prayers that are said over the bread (and after eating as well.) I feel like I'm not keeping Shabbos properly when I can't make the blessing over the bread.

Using only gluten-free flours to make "bread" won't fulfill the Mitzvah. If I truly cannot tolerate gluten, I'll do that, but I'd hate to miss out on the Mitzvah if I'm able to tolerate a different grain.

I know that ideally I should be completely GF for a few months, and then introduce other grains one at a time to check for tolerance, but I don't think I have the patience to do it that way right now. Realistically, I can stay wheat-free for a few months only if I'm able to have at least one other grain in the meantime.

I'm genuinely curious why not? If it is a leven 'bread' made with grain? Rice is a grain, isn't it?

There are 5 species of grain according to Jewish Law: barley, rye, oats, wheat, and spelt. Any other "grains" have a different blessing made over them and can't be used to fulfill "bread" requirements.

Well, of them all, oats are probably the least bad. But try to get special gluten free oats and grind your own flour out of them if you can. Usually oats are heavily cross-polluted with wheat not to mention it has its own protein that most many gluten sensitives react to.

And you might talk to a Rabbi, I'm sure you're not the first person to come along that experiences a food sensitivity or allergic reaction to a traditional food. This happens all the time for devout Christians too, especially the Catholics who believe that their bread under goes some sort of transformation.

Thanks for answering. I forgot about that.

Certainly Tishri probably isn't the best month for trying new diets. Plenty of time afterwards to try things and have the right answers figured out before Passover.