Eliminating Wheat

So, at this point I can't really tell if I am a victim of the fad diet craze or if I am really on to something, but the next thing I am going to try is eliminating wheat.

I apologise to those readers who are not interested in what I am having for tea. I thought about setting up another blog as this whole diet thing seems to be taking over a blog that is supposed to be about single motherhood, but the reality is one blog is easier than two.

Anyway, I did briefly mention before that I have been thinking back to what I was eating on the elimination diet when I felt so great - or more to the point what I wasn't eating, and I came to wheat. In the past wheat has been thought to be an issue for me, one GP even had me tested for celiac disease once. I expected wheat might be a problem on the elimination diet, but in terms of weight gain it wasn't. I continued to lose about 100g a day during the 3 days that I ate wheat every day. I did feel it though (see the original blog post). It felt like a brick in my stomach, my eyes were sore, I was very slightly breathless and my energy levels were down. I think this was the point when I stopped feeling so good.

A couple of weeks ago I decided to cut down on my wheat. I haven't had cereal or bread in all that time and I feel much better, though I haven't cut wheat out completely.

The difference I felt from eating much less wheat was enough to convince me to get a copy of the Wheat Belly book. It is very compelling reading so far. Some of the benefits it lists for giving up wheat include improved energy levels, better sleep, diminished joint/arthritic pain, clearer thinking, better breathing, thinner, weight loss... ALL of which I observed myself when I wasn't eating wheat.

It also has some interesting facts on wheat that I didn't know, such as the fact that whole wheat bread has a higher GI than table sugar, and that wheat is addictive, so eating wheat makes you eat more wheat  (on reflection I can see that does happen in my case).

So, as of tomorrow I am going to try and do it properly, with no wheat at all. If I can manage it, I will eliminate wheat for one month, and see what happens.

Image of the cover of Wheat Belly by William Davis (a pile of bagels)
Wheat Belly

Data at start

Weight 81.5kg
Waist 102cm

Hello, and thanks for stopping by. My name is Emma and I am a lifestyle entrepreneur, writer, teacher, coach and mentor. I am passionate about eating real food, learning, travel and health. I get to spend my days with my amazing son who has chosen to learn from the world rather than at school. We write to share the life we love and to help others create a life they love too.

2 comments:

  1. just a thought ... do you think it may be frutose intolerance rather than wheat? most baked goods and wheat products contain fructose which is what might be the issue for you, only suggested it as my mother was diagnosed with this a couple of years ago and it's been a life changer for her - http://www.livestrong.com/article/294277-fructose-intolerance-and-wheat/

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    1. Thanks for that - it probaby isnt though as the elimination diet was very strict in introducing only one new thing at a time, so the wheat products that I ate for the 'wheat challenge' for 3 days were all 100% wheat. Also I did investigate fructose once before, actually in what turned out to be an allergy to prawns. I apparently became allergic to prawns after my pregnancy, but it took me a while to realise it was them as I was fine before.

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