Did I tell you I was gluten free...?

Gluten and Hashimoto's don't mix.

I didn't believe the hype at first. I mean, if you have this disease and have googled it at least once, you're going to see something about going gluten free. I have heard people say that they feel sooooo much better and that their energy levels have improved so much.  I decided to give it try and it didn't do any of that for me; however, the porcelain king and I are no longer friends because of the gluten.  I noticed after going on Levothyroxine that every single time I ate I would have stomach cramps and later on in the night I would have diarrhea.  Initially, I thought it must be attributed to eating something bad, but I noticed that rest of my family never got sick. I thought to myself that it must have been the medication and went off of it for about a week or two.  I just got sicker and broke out into hives. Let me just say that hives suck. It is an intense feeling to have your skin betray you.  Your skin feels hot and it burns.  It itches and you look like the elephant man. After that attack, I went back on my medication and decided to go gluten free.

Here is the science according to Sarah Marshall from freefromgluten.com:

Gluten disrupts immune function and causes inflammation in the gastrointestinal tract, which can then cause leaky gut syndrome. Leaky gut occurs when small fragments of gluten pass through the lining of the small intestine and into the bloodstream. These indigested fragments of protein can lead to autoimmunity and go on to harm body organs and tissues.

When someone is sensitive to gluten, his or her immune system treats gluten as a foreign object and attacks it. This causes inflammation within the body, which in turn leads the body to attack the thyroid. In this case, many people find that after removing gluten from their diet, their symptoms decrease significantly

Reference:  S. Marshall, Gluten Sensitivity and Hashimoto's Autoimmune Disease, from http://www.freefromgluten.com/blogs/health-and-welness/286712-gluten-sensitivity-and-hashimoto-s-autoimmune-disease

Going gluten free isn't that bad, but it leads to other stuff.  I've never been one to eat out of a box, so I literally have had to educate myself on how to make gluten free meals that my family will eat. Gluten homemade food is awesome and it feels good to not have a tummy ache all of the time, but like I said it leads to other stuff.  When you eat this way, a bell goes off in your head and you realize how you feel is directly tied into how you eat. Interesting...right!?! I started to notice that gluten free flours (coconut, almond, millet, sorghum to name a few) are extremely low in preservatives. They don't last forever like the regular old unbleached flour, which in turn means they don't last forever in your body. That's not a hard concept to comprehend, so if I help my body out by putting things in it that it can break down better, then I may just feel better.  Eureka! 

Well, that's what I'm trying and have been doing for about 2 months now and I must say that I don't have ANY extra energy, but for once I feel confident and proud of what I put in my body and my children's bodies. We do not eat "naughty" vegetables or fruits, we do eat meat that is grass fed and that does not have hormones or antibiotics, we are gluten free, and soon to be sugar free.  We eat food that will actually spoil one day. I like to say that we are Paleoish. I still eat rice, beans, and an occasionally piece of cheese, but I am a work in progress.  

How do I do it? I will put that all in this blog in the coming days and even show my crazy meal plan calendar, grocery list, and how much we spend.  We surprisingly don't spend a whole lot of money, but we have cut out a lot too. I'm doing this so I can hold myself accountable for my choices too. Wish me luck.