The G-Free Project: Day 17 ~ Encouragement helps!

Thursday, June 16, 2011

Day 17 ~ Encouragement helps!

A friend of mine, (Adam's Aunt Laura) sent me an encouraging email last night. Laura has rheumatoid arthritis, and has gone on a gluten-free diet to reduce inflammation in her body, and to hopefully get off some of her meds. Since my main purpose is to reduce inflammation too (for osteoarthritis) I have been very interested in what Laura says about g-free life. I told her I had hoped for more improvement than I have gotten so far. Laura said it can take up to 3 months for things to get better. Here are her encouraging words, just when I needed them: "Stay with it, pray for God to bring the right info to you, and be encouraged. It just takes a while and IT IS WORTH IT to get our health back. We will find just the right "recipe" for our individual bodies."

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Why I Went Gluten-Free

I have committed to stay gluten free for 6 months, or till after Christmas 2011, and then reevaluate. It feels less restrictive to say that, than to say this will be forever, even though it might very well be. The reason this is an experiment, is that I don't have a disease in which gluten makes me sick. However, I do have many health complaints that I have attributed to advancing age (I am 55--is that old??), menopause, or else to the osteoarthritis that I have had since the early onset age of 40.

This past year or so I have had several people mention to me, almost in passing, that wheat can cause inflammation in the body, which can then cause stiff and achy joints, and stomach and "bathroom" issues. I also have struggled with low energy levels for several years. Going on thyroid medication helped that a lot--but I still feel like my energy level is lower than I would like. So I hear that going gluten free can made a bigger difference than anything else you can do. Finally, I took this advice seriously and decided to go for the diet change.

The day before I planned to make the switch, I ate all the wheat products I could (including 3 slices of lemon buttermilk cake!) that were stored in my freezer and pantry--some things were my favorite things that I had baked, and it was hard to let go of them. I never knew I was so attached to my food!

On the designate day—May 31, 2011, I ate only gluten-free foods. To my surprise that morning, David, my hubby, said he wanted to do the project with me. This was HUGE for him, mainly because he is hamburger fanatic and that passion would have to die a sad and sudden death. My chatting the week before about my research on the advantages of being gluten-free made David think it could improve some of his “aging” issues too. I must admit, going g-free is more motivating, maybe even fun, with a partner to share the pain and successes with. I thank the Lord for my good-hearted hubby! ~ Janice