Gluten Free Marathoning?

[lilgooberluvsya]

i am concerned I may have problems with gluten.. ( that post is on the whole pre diagnosis thread)

however i have a marathon in less than a month and am wondering how to eat gluten free.. where it still tastes delicious and train and run my marathon.

My thought goes I should train better if I feel better. But any advice on how to keep the heart burn down for now, or even waht foods are good gluten free foods that work well with training.

Thanks a bunch

[JAMR]

This is tricky to answer if you do not have a confirmed diagnosis of celiac disease, and how much you know how it works, however this is my perspective. Celiac disease damages the small intestine, making absorption of other foods a possible complication. If your gut wall has been damaged by gluten, its possible that candida can get a foothold and possible future reactions to other problematic foods , like sugars, yeast, milk, corn etc. There are plenty of substitute products to give you the required carbs etc

[cassP]

if you're not interested right now in an accurate celiac test... but you just wanna feel better & lessen your reflux before your run- then go gluten free for now-

and probably dairy free, at least till you're done.

i dont know all the running rules- but if you have to "Carb Up" for your training.... there are tons of other grains out there besides wheat, oats, barley, and rye...

you could do brown rice, or quinoa, or buckwheat, etc, etc,

??? maybe also take some L-Glutamine, helps heal your gut, and your muscles... 2 birds with one stone

[tictax707]

The good news is that there are now good gluten free substitutes for both bread and pasta for your carbs. Udi's bread is great and tinkiyada is a good pasta. But ultimately you don't need to worry about the carbs so much for training - you just want to eat well balanced and without a lot of processed stuff anyway. This is both for gluten free and for training. Foods without labels are a good start - fresh fruits & veggies, meats, rice, corn, potatoes... You don't have to eat these plain though - there is plenty out there in the world of spices to make things yummy. As for fueling on your long runs - gatorade & powerade are gluten free, as are gu gels. Hope this helps set you on the right track!! (oh, and for context, I know it's possible to eat gluten freely and train well for endurance events, I finished a full ironman last year and am in training for my next one now. I know there is at least one other gluten free iron-woman on this forum and several other marathoners. you can do it!)