Any Positives With Gluten Intolerance?

[Spruey Stuey]

I have been off gluten about 6 months and am feeling better. Mind is clearer, balance is better, and my stomach is improving.

I am trying to see the silver lining in the cloud that is gluten intolerance/celiac.

Is there one???

Any positives here?

I have always looked younger than my stated age...is it possible that the years of malnutrition could slow aging???

Stuey

[lizard00]

My silver lining is that I know the trigger to what makes me sick. For most other AI diseases, the cause is unknown. And since we know the cause, our treatment doesn't require drugs! HOORAY!

It sucks having this, but honestly, I eat waaaaayyy better than I used to, so I'm a lot healthier in many ways. I've cut back on eating out, way back, which is good for both pocket and health. I've found a huge variety of foods that I'm sure I otherwise wouldn't have found, as well as explored different methods of cooking.

No one wants to have a disease, but this one is a lot easier to manage. A lot of people are sick, and don't know why. At least we know.

I feel like, if I have to have something wrong, it could be something far worse.

[Mother of Jibril]

For me, the silver lining is that my diet is a LOT better without gluten, dairy, and corn. I think about everything that goes into my body before I eat it... how many people can say that? I always liked fruits and vegetables, but these days a lot more of my food dollars are going to local and organic farmers intead of the corporate factories that make processed food. It's good for the planet and GREAT for my cardio-vascular system

It's also a huge relief to have explanations for SO MANY physical and mental health problems I've had over the last 32 years. And... my skin hasn't looked this good since before I hit puberty

[Jenny (AZ via TX)]

The positive for me is that I feel so much better! My headaches/migraines have improved to where I've only had a few since gluten-free. My depression has improved too. I want to go out and do things again. I'm happier than I have been in a while. Also, I'm not as puffy. I used to get horrible sinus infections and had chronic post nasal drip. Now I don't.

There are definitely times when I want gluten, but I don't do it because I don't want to feel like crap again. As Lizard00 mentioned, we don't have to take any drugs.

I think you are lucky on the aging thing. I think malnutrition ages most people. I look better than I did before gluten-free. My skin is healthy looking, etc.

[Amyleigh0007]

My positive is my son has his health back. Getting rid of the gluten saved his life. Another positive is I got my health back too. I feel better than I have since I was a preteen. Now that I have the answer to my health problems my skin is glowing, my belly bloat is gone, I lost 10 pounds, no headaches, no naps, no leg cramps, no crabby mommy, no stomach aches, no running to the bathroom. I think gluten free is the best thing that happened to my family. The positives of the gluten free lifestyle far outweigh any of the negatives.

[Eric-C]

Sure there is.

I would bet that the number of Celiac's, who follow a gluten free diet, have a much much lower rate of diabetes, heart disease, and non-Celiac related cancers.

White flour is the devil

We skip the flours all together except on rare occasions. Anything highly ground causes huge spikes in blood sugar, be it rice flour or any other kind of flour.

Not eating highly milled or ground foods gives your pancreas a huge break.

I make these statements for people who have caught it early on enough....diabetes and its related heart problems are a issue because of the havoc blood sugar levels run your pancreas through.

By default a Celiac's diet should be void of those things.

I eat way better because I'm forced to and I have no other issues except with gluten itself. Since we've switched to a mostly sugar added free diet and no flour both of our blood pressures have equaled out and our cholesterol levels have dropped even though we eat a high fat diet.

We do eat sugar, just not much with sugar added....except for a single drink 3-4 nights per week...

So yes there are 'advantages' if you can stay away from problem items and see my post about that.

[cat3883]

My silver lining is feeling human again. I will never intentionally have that poison in my body again. I am thankful everyday that my doctor ran the tests to get my diagnosis. For 12 long years I felt terrible. Within 2 weeks of going gluten free I started getting my life back. I am thankful this can be controlled by diet. Studies show that 1 in 133 people have Celiac but 97% don't know they have it. We are so fortunate to know we have it.

[dilettantesteph]

Someone in my local support group sent around some study that indicated that the reason for celiac is a super strong immune system, and that if we don't eat gluten we live longer and get sick less. I do seem to hardly ever get sick now that I am gluten free. That would be a big bonus. I used to get everything. Sorry I deleted the link.

[dilettantesteph]

O.K. I found it:

Open Original Shared Link

Old News but worth reading again

Study Finds Celiacs Who Don't Cheat Live Longer

Enjoy a longer, heathier life! A recent study* has found that people with celiac disease who follow a strict gluten-free diet might live longer than non-celiacs, and almost certainly live longer than celiacs who cheat. The study by Dr. Giovanni Corraro and his colleagues followed up on 1,072 Italian adults who were diagnosed with celiac disease between 1962 and 1994 and compared their mortality rates with the general Italian population. The findings were published in the respected British medical journal, The Lancet.

Celiacs in the study were divided into two groups: likely and not likely to be following a strict gluten-free diet. There was good news for celiacs who follow the diet consistently: their mortality rate was below the national average! (Only 5 died, compared with the 10.5 that would have been expected for people in the same age groups). Celiacs who did not consistently follow the gluten-free diet paid a heavy price: their mortality rate was six times the national average. (The most common cause of death was Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma).

When combined with other recent discoveries, the study's findings provide important insights into the nature of the celiac condition. The genes associated with celiac condition give individuals an especially Study Finds Celiacs Who Don't Cheat Live Longer strong immune system. This is an advantage when fighting off illnesses caused by viruses and bacteria. It probably helped our ancestors survive for many thousands of years before the invention of things we now take for granted

[Eric-C]

I wonder what the term is where it makes a difference.

I used to never get sick either, I'd get a light cold once in the spring and once in the fall.

I figure I 'got' Celiacs about 6-7 years ago. I had moved in the building I worked at and got sick all the time. Made no sense because the building we worked in was 130 years old and the area I moved into was completely and utterly renovated.

I always thought it was the move to the new area.

Now that I've been 70-90 percent gluten free for just over a year and a half and totally gluten free for a year I have gone back to not getting sick.

When everyone else gets incredibly sick during the winter I get a light cold and it never really stops me.

I really wonder if there are triggers for Celiac's. I was very sick when this first happened and then for a year and a half period I was totally fine no matter what I did or what I ate.

Then it slowly got worse.

So I had about 5 years of strong reaction and I'm 36, gave up gluten totally at 35 and before that I had really cut it down but as I reduced my intake dramatically I became more sensitive.

Now here is the kicker, longevity runs in my family.

My grandmother died at age 94 and she was born in the 1800's. My mother is in her upper 70's and my dad is 81. You'd never guess she's over 65 and up until about 5 years ago you'd be hard pressed to tell she was into her 60's.

My fathers doctors are always commenting too about his health. He had his first heart attack when he was 43! Had another 10 years later and another one just a few years ago.

Through all the heart problems his overall health never really went down. I can't tell you how many times he has had 'life threatening' problems. He had skin cancer 20 years ago and it just went away and never came back. At his age I've gotten the call plenty of times that he was in the hospital for this or that. Then POOF he gets over it.

His conditions were so unusual that the University of Michigan was tracking my brothers and my blood work for a while, that ended all before the Celiac's popped up but there was a lot of interest in why he has had so many heart problems but continues to survive.

My gastro told me people of Irish decent are most likely to have Celiac's. I'm Irish/Austrian/German. My sister is 57 and again you'd never know. Hell my brother is 56 and I can absolutely bet no one would peg him over 35. ET runs in my family, Essential Tremor. I thought I had it but it was all related to gluten. My sister has it terribly but it went away when she cut down on her gluten intake and started taking flax seed. My brother and other sister do not have it at all.

My 23 year old nephew we think might have Celiac's and my niece has ET.

But now that I read all that no one in my family has gotten cancer except for my Dad and skin cancer, which went away. Heart problems run but no one dies from it so long as they make it through the heart attack. If they make it to the hospital they are usually OK. I read all the statistics about heart problems and compare that to my family and as strange as it sounds for our family it was always looked as a manageable problem. Other than that nothing chronic runs in my entire family so far as I can think.

Now me...well a bit more hair and I'd look more my 36 years old