I mentioned some of my recent considerations in my original post. But to repeat again here, I have been struggling with weight-loss and some general digestive issues. I did talk to my doctor and saw a nutritionist, but there were no obvious reason for these struggles beyond just age, slower metabolism, and diet. I feel, personally, like I eat healthier than a lot of people, and work out quite a bit - yet nothing is changing. So obviously, I knew I needed to make a more drastic change.
The straw that broke the camel's back actually came in the form of beer.
(Let me make a quick note that, when I refer to beer, typically it is craft beer or some other heavier-style beer....I rarely, if ever, drink "light" beer.)
I love beer. I used to drink only beer. But over the past year, I have noticed less of a tolerance, so-to-speak, for beer. It started with just feeling very full when I drink beer, which is fairly common I believe. Then, this past year at the Austin City Limits music festival, I drank beer the first day we were there. More beer than normal (and maybe more than I should have....but hey! It's a music festival!). By the end of the day I didn't just feel full. I was in pain. My stomach hurt. A lot. The next two days I switched to a delicious pear cider and my stomach problems ceased. I thought this was interesting, but didn't spend too much time thinking about it.
And then it happened again. I researched a little about beer, and what could be causing this issue. It could simply be the beer itself. And there are many causes for "beer allergies;" however, most result in sinus allergy-type symptoms. The only allergen I saw on the list that would result in such extreme stomach distress was the "wheat and gluten" allergy.
This immediately made me think back to my visit with the nutritionist, and her desire to determine if I had any sort of gluten intolerance. Likewise my coach at the gym, when I discussed nutrition with her, also mentioned the reactions our bodies have to gluten. The symptoms I felt after drinking beer seemed to match what I was reading in my literature: severe abdominal pain, extreme bloating, constipation.
At this point I wasn't completely on board the gluten-free thing, but I decided to try out some gluten-free beers and see how I managed with those. After some taste-testing of gluten-free products, I found Omission Beer.
This was, by far, the best gluten-free beer that I had tried. Both the pale ale and IPA are really good - and not just "really good for gluten-free," but actually good beer! Mr. X will even drink one now and then just because he likes them (I won't let him have too many, I like to have them on hand for myself...)
I quickly found that if I stuck with these beers, or wine - none of my symptoms returned. So, without cutting out other gluten I began to drink gluten-free as much as possible. Every now and then I would have a normal beer - especially at bars with no other options - but I really tried to limit that.
On the eve of New Year's eve we were out with my friends in DC at a bar that pretty much (I thought) exclusively had beer. I drank a few, and by the time we made it home my stomach was extremely unhappy. Lesson learned. Obviously there is something in beer that no longer agrees with me.
The bug had already been planted in my mind, but I wasn't ready to take the leap and fully try gluten-free. Once I started researching gluten-free, thinking through the rest of my issues and my overall health for the past four years...it was the logical conclusion. Maybe it was the gluten in the beer that I was sensitive to - and maybe I had this extreme reaction to a few beers because that it is more gluten than I would typically ingest from other sources (such as bread). Then again, it could be totally unrelated - but it sent me down the start of this path of considering going thirty days gluten-free.
So there you have it. Beer is the straw that broke the camel's back. Luckily I really like wine...
Day #8
Tuesday (but feels like a Monday...)
January 21, 2014
Breakfast
Steel cut oatmeal with walnuts, cranberries and almond milk (my stomach was actually a little iffy this morning, I think I may have tried to poison us with the roasted chicken I made last night. Either that, or something we ate just set my stomach off a little...the only thing I could stomach eating was oatmeal...)
Lunch
Salad with hard boiled eggs, avocado, tomatoes and blue cheese crumbles with homemade lime & olive oil dressing
Snack
Pear and a nut & seed mix
Workout
Run around Lady Bird Lake with a friend
Dinner
Honey-lime salmon tostadas
No comments:
Post a Comment