La Vie Gluten-Free

We had a segment on “PIX News at 6:30” tonight about the increasing number of foods designated as “gluten-free,” and what it means to be on a gluten-free diet. I wanted to cover this for our audience, because I’ve become interested in this kind of diet, and have been following it for the last three or four months. How that got started for me in a moment, but first, some definitions:

“FDA is proposing to define the term "gluten" to mean the proteins that naturally occur in a prohibited grain and that may cause adverse health effects in persons with celiac disease. FDA is proposing to define the term "prohibited grain" to mean any one of the following grains:

• Wheat
• Rye
• Barley
• Crossbred hybrids of wheat, rye or barley

That’s from the FDA website, and believe me, it gets lots more complicated than that. I try and keep it very simple trying to avoid food with wheat; in my case, that means no pizza, pasta, and bread.

I was actually the second person in my family to go gluten-free. My oldest son, Liam, who has autism, was put on a strict gluten- and dairy-free diet by his caregiver when he was very young, maybe two or three. A little Google research will show you that there is no agreement whatsoever among autism experts about whether wheat is harmful to people with autism. I can only give you our experience: we have no doubt our Liam has better digestive habits (people with autism have notoriously troubled GI systems) and more calmness because of his diet. Our experience with Liam is all anecdotal—ALL knowledge about a gluten/autism connection is anecdotal, there’s been no definitive research—but we believe avoiding all wheat-based food has been vital for his body and brain.

So a few months ago, Kathleen, Liam’s caregiver suggested I try it, and I thought, “why not?” I exercise a lot, and I’m interested in diet and nutrition, and I’d get more insight into how Liam lives. It’s turned out to be a big success in three areas:

• My mind and moods are much steadier. I focus on things better.

• My energy level is much more consistent throughout the day; very few of those physical “sinking spells” when I used to feel tired and rundown.

• My sinuses and upper respiratory system, usually well on their way toward pain, congestion, and infections by this time of the year, are utterly healthy and trouble-free.

A few other points: I haven’t lost any weight (I didn’t want to.. so I don’t know what role going gluten-free might play in a weight loss diet), and I don’t miss those foods listed above at all (and I used to eat a LOT of pizza and pasta… anyway, there are lots of gluten-free pastas and pizzas now available in stores).

Again, there’s no definitive research on any of this, so, as they say, consult your doctor before you try anything too radical. You can do lots of online research, so if you look into it, drop me a line and let me know what you think.