Please Help!

[Mrs. Smith]

Ive been gluten-free for 6 mos now, and while most of my symptoms have resolved, there is still some digestion issues. I still struggle with spicy foods, fat and sugar. My D has decreased signifigantly, but now a lot of mornings my stool is small and thin, kind of like cat poop. My dr says I have no other signs of any masses or anything like that. I do take alot of vitamins. Im wondering if this will resolve. I want to have a normal bm for more than a week! Do I need more fiber? Im trying everything and I get so excited when its normal then so defeated when its not. I eat mostly rice/ veggies/ meat/ and fruit/ quinoa/ nuts thats pretty much it. All organic! Please some suggestions!

[Crayons574]

What I have found that is the most helpful is taking flax seeds for fiber (you can mix it in with your quinoa), probiotics, and digestive enzymes. Probiotics and digestive enzymes will help with the D, but if you need to have more BM's, then try magnesium glycinate. Hope that helps!

[teacherkd]

If you can handle dairy then yogurt and kefir are a good source of probiotics. I'd stick to organic sources-- Horizon or Stonyfield yogurt, Lifeway kefir are all national and relatively good. Those should help speed along your gut recovery.

As for fiber, you can probably add some grain sources-- flax seed would be okay-- but don't forget about fruit and vegetable sources, especially berries.

Jordan Rubin's books [<I>The Maker's Diet</I>, etc.] and Dr. Rex Russell's books are excellent starting points when it comes to diet and gut healing.

[gabby]

Can you tolerate corn? If you can, then maybe try making homemade popcorn, drizzled with olive oil and some salt. And eat a few handfuls a few times a day to bulk out your diet. It'll give your digestive system something to chew on and to digest.

Hope that helps!

[LDJofDenver]

You need to keep in mind that healing is a process, and you most likely are not all healed and back to normal in 6 months time (from all I've read, it would be highly unusual if you were). And have you scrutinized everything you ingest or use for hidden glutens - - like vitamins, lipstick, etc.? - - and other places where cross contamination may occur.

Do not despair! You are on the road to recovery.

[LDJofDenver]

I forgot to mention...I have not been gluten free for quite a year yet, and I still have a tough time digesting nuts of any kind. I've kind of backed off on eating them for now, as a result.

[Rachelmoon]

Lipstick has gluten?!?!

[Mrs. Smith]

Lipstick has gluten?!?!

Totally! You have to read all cosmetics ingredients or call and ask the manufacturer!

[Takala]

Lipstick has gluten?!?!

__________

Yup. Some of it does, from the vitamin E derived from wheat germ oil. And I felt like such a **** when I read that here, because I thought I was so amazingly clever and it never even occurred to me.