Have you recently been diagnosed with a gluten intolerance? Or do you find yourself feeling excessively tired, no matter how much sleep you get? Do you go from feeling bloated to having stomach pains? Are headaches a part of your daily life? If you’ve answered yes to these questions, you may need to cut back on your gluten intake.
Many people suffering from gluten intolerance often resort to having the home cooked meals delivered Melbourne locals love so much. This is an effective way to ensure that your daily meals don’t contain any gluten. What is the problem with gluten and how will you benefit from cutting it out of your diet?
Understanding the Gluten Issue
If you’re one of those people who can eat anything without any adverse effects then you may not understand why the fuss over gluten. Let’s clarify this. Essentially, gluten is a structural protein found in many grains, including wheat, rye, and barley.
This protein can be hard to digest by certain people. So, when they eat a product made of wheat, they experience a series of uncomfortable symptoms since the gluten protein doesn’t break down in the intestines. In severe cases, this can lead to Celiac disease. The most common of these include the following:
- Bloating
- Unexplained abdominal pain (especially when eating small meals)
- Indigestion
- Diarrhea or vomiting
- Unexplained fatigue
- Constant nausea
- Headaches
Switching to Gluten-Free Provides Comfort
People with gluten intolerances can experience their symptoms at varying degrees. For some, it may only be mild irritation, while others experience severe pain that leaves them not wanting to eat for days. Not having your condition diagnosed can result in long-term digestive issues.
If you suspect you have a gluten intolerance, we recommend that you speak to your physician about your symptoms. It’s also a good idea to decrease and eventually eliminate the gluten in your diet. Many benefits go along with a gluten-free diet. We’ve shared a few of the more common.
1. Can Eliminate Bloating
While it’s true that we all experience bloating at some point or another, it doesn’t mean you have a gluten intolerance. The difference comes in by assessing exactly when you experience the bloating. People with a gluten intolerance will experience bloating immediately after eating a food item that contains gluten.
So, if your symptoms occur after you’ve eaten bread, cereal, or other wheat products, it may be the gluten. Switching to gluten-free breads, cereals, and pasta will reduce the bloating you experience after each meal. If you make your own bread and baked goods, you will need to switch to gluten-free flour.
2. Increases Your Energy Levels
Do you routinely find your energy levels waning, leaving you feeling tired all the time? As with the bloating, make a mental note of when this happens. If you’re feeling groggy soon after eating something with gluten in it, the two could be related.
Eating gluten when you’re intolerant to it can cause abdominal inflammation. This in turn affects the way your body absorbs nutrients which include iron and other essential minerals needed to keep your energy levels up. When you switch to a gluten-free diet, you will give make it easier for your digestive tract to absorb the nutrients needed to maintain your energy levels.
3. Reduces Headaches
Another common symptom experienced by people suffering from Celiac disease or gluten intolerance is those dreadful headaches that never seem to let up. These headaches stem from the ongoing inflammation in your body caused by the gluten.
Gluten triggers the inflammation which in turn activates the trigeminovascular pathway and this leads to your migraine or cluster headache. Simply put, gluten inflammation restricts your blood vessels and nerves which trigger your headache.
It’s important to point out that this headache may last long after you’ve eaten the wheat because the inflammation hasn’t cleared up. Cutting gluten from your diet will go a long way toward easing your headaches. You can also cut back on other food types that may aggravate your headaches, such as too much sugar.
4. Can Ease Joint Pain
The inflammation caused by gluten doesn’t only affect your digestive system. As with the headaches, gluten-causing inflammation can also cause significant pain in your knees, wrists, and joints. This can lead to your body feeling more achy, similar to the way you may feel during a bad bout of flu.
Adopting a gluten-free diet will eventually cause a decrease in inflammation throughout your body. This will ease up the joint pain and clear up any feelings of grogginess and overall weakness.
Final Thoughts
Many people may regard a gluten-free lifestyle as simply another dietary fad that will eventually run its course. However, for many people who suffer from gluten intolerance, the discomfort isn’t something that will simply go away.
Changing to a gluten-free diet is often the only solution to painful symptoms. Gluten-free alternatives make it easy to enjoy your favourite foods without feeling sick afterwards. Not only will you see a decrease in negative symptoms, but you’ll be able to eat a full meal without any discomfort!
