Is gluten wreaking havoc on your life?
Wait, what is gluten?Let's talk about the notorious GLUTEN and how it could be causing some serious damage in your life, making you fat, and keeping you in a foggy state of confusion (even if you don't have an "allergy" to it).
Chances are high that you have recently noticed the "gluten free" label on certain products while at the grocery store and wondered what the hell gluten is. Well, gluten is a term that refers to a specific protein found in the following grains:
1) Wheat
2) Barley
3) Rye
It can also be found in wheat, barley, and rye based products like flour, wheat germ, spelt, and graham flour. For a more comprehensive list of gluten containing foods and products check out this guide on the American Diabetes Association's website.
Essentially, any food made from the above products will most certainly contain gluten. Everything from noodles and breads to certain salad dressings and even beverages.
What's so bad about eating these foods?
Is it the carbohydrates they contain? No.
Is it because of calories or fat? No.
The interesting thing about gluten is that it causes a serious inflammatory reaction in many people (not just those with celiac disease).
If someone has an undiscovered gluten sensitivity or allergy, eating gluten may:
- Decrease their cognitive function.
- Cause their stomach to become bloated and distended.
- Give them dermatitis and irritation of the skin.
- Make them gain fat around the midsection.
- Literally shut off their deep core muscles rendering them weak and puffy looking.
- Cause digestive distress ranging from chronic stomach aches and heartburn to constipation.
10 Signs of Gluten Sensitivity
Inflamed intestines shut off certain core muscles
Perhaps the most interesting thing from my fitness perspective is that eating gluten, if you are sensitive to it, will shut off your deep abdominal wall muscles (specifically the transversus abdominis) by a mechanism called visceral somatic inhibition.
Essentially, when the organs (viscera) are inflamed because they are unhappy with the food you are supplying them with, they will shut off the muscles that are nearest to them.
I have seen this countless times where I have worked with a client who desperately needs to strengthen their deep core muscles. After targeted strengthening of those muscles for weeks, the client is still in the same boat that they were in when they first came to see me.
Essentially, it did not matter how hard or how intensely we focused on training those muscles because they had an underlying condition that was literally preventing them from making progress and getting those muscles to activate. So, are you gluten sensitive?
I encourage many of my clients to go on a "food rotation" to discover first hand whether or not they are sensitive to gluten. Basically, all you have to do is eliminate 100% of gluten from your diet from about two week's time (it is actually easy to do this now). After the two weeks have elapsed, reintroduce gluten back into your system and see how it fits with you.
If you felt great while being gluten free, and then became bloated and felt terrible after reintroducing it back into your diet then you are sensitive to it!
3 Tips for eliminating gluten from your diet
1) Read the ingredient labels on everything you buy from the grocery store. If it contains wheat, barley, or rye then don't buy it.
2) Stick with buying whole foods with one ingredient (like broccoli, chicken breast, or plain brown rice). The more processed and mixed a food is, the greater the chances are of it having gluten.
3) Buy the gluten-free version at the grocery store. Luckily, because the gluten free trend is in full swing, there are now gluten free alternatives to everything. There is gluten free flour, bread, cake, cookies, noodles, and more!
Be sure to give me a call so that we can get working on your fitness needs. I will work with you on a one-on-one basis to develop the most comprehensive plan for you out there!
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