Does Gluten Make You More Athletic?

[kellynolan82]

My friend is Coeliac. He has made the following statement:

When I was in grade 1 in 2000, I was the second-fastest runner in a 100 metre race. I got second place and have my ribbon from it to this day. Later that year, I went on a gluten free diet. I was never the most sensitive individual to gluten, though I did get sick with unbearable stomach cramps from time to time and wasn't gaining any weight.

Ever since being gluten free, I seemed to not be placing well as far as my athletics went. I was the third-fastest runner in a 100 metre race in grade 2 (I was on and off gluten for a little while) but in grade 3, I just didn't run very quickly at all and came second-last for most of the years after that!

Would this be due to the fact that I've been gluten free do you think? I was doing a lot more training in these years, but it doesn't seem to have completely resolved how quickly I run in proportion to other students.

What do you have to say. Do you think he's just making an excuse or that there may be some validity in his statement? I've kind of given up knowing how this all relates to health and fitness so I'd appreciate a response as I'm just rather

[Jestgar]

umm, in the US grade 1 means you're five years old.... I'm guessing that's not what you mean......?

[Jestgar]

My friend is Coeliac. He has made the following statement:

I'm guessing the answer is in the last part of the statement, however old he is.

[tictax707]

grades 1-3? come on...! You aren't even done developing at this point. Places also are highly dependent on who is in the field that day. Likely it IS related to diet and/or hydration, but you don't need gluten do be fast. You need to eat an appropriate balance of carbohydrates, fats, & protein as well as fruits and veggies. There may also be something in the training plan itself - overtraining or maybe not training appropriately to the goals of his particular race... Hope this helps some!!

Julia

[kellynolan82]

umm, in the US grade 1 means you're five years old.... I'm guessing that's not what you mean......?

Here, 'Down Under', it means you're normally 6-7 years old.

I'm guessing the answer is in the last part of the statement, however old he is.

I think he started training a lot because after year 3 he was really disappointed. He never thought about it being his gluten free diet though

[kellynolan82]

Also how do you get that "pink" quote box inside the other green one?

[Jestgar]

Here, 'Down Under', it means you're normally 6-7 years old.

Seriously? You posed this as a serious question? Do you really think a ten year old has a true concept of the difference in absolute personal speed?

I thought you were somehow talking about an adult with a concept of perception and some way to evaluate athletic ability.

[kareng]

Seriously, Kelly! What's with posting stuff from "friends"? It really makes no difference what we say, the people aren't here to answer questions or clarify something.

On the chance that this is serious - Kids grow. One year they are the tallest or the fastest, the next year, someone else grew more. I know a girl that was the second best long distance runner in the state. The next year, she grew 5 inches and had to slog along until she could get re- coordinated. Boys in grade school have feet that grow 2 sizes in a week. Sometimes it takes awhile to figure out where their feet are and they trip over them a lot.

[psawyer]

I agree with Karen. For your friends to get maximum benefit, they should come join the board and ask the questions themselves. Questions about celiac disease are not usually ones with a simple yes or no answer. Please suggest to your young athletic friend, your obviously older one who works in the pizza place, and all the others you have, that they come join us. We will all gain from the discussions that result.

[kellynolan82]

Seriously, Kelly! What's with posting stuff from "friends"? It really makes no difference what we say, the people aren't here to answer questions or clarify something.

On the chance that this is serious - Kids grow. One year they are the tallest or the fastest, the next year, someone else grew more. I know a girl that was the second best long distance runner in the state. The next year, she grew 5 inches and had to slog along until she could get re- coordinated. Boys in grade school have feet that grow 2 sizes in a week. Sometimes it takes awhile to figure out where their feet are and they trip over them a lot.

I agree with Karen. For your friends to get maximum benefit, they should come join the board and ask the questions themselves. Questions about celiac disease are not usually ones with a simple yes or no answer. Please suggest to your young athletic friend, your obviously older one who works in the pizza place, and all the others you have, that they come join us. We will all gain from the discussions that result.

I will suggest this to them. Generally, I get questions through my site, email and other social accounts. Some of these questions are asked at college during mealtimes and other social events when people find out I'm coeliac too. I then tend to ask around on various sites to see what others have to say about these issues, as I'm quite personally interested in what you all have to say too! The athletic guy asked this question quite some time back, so I'll have to see if I can chase him up at our next gluten free gathering up in Queensland. I'll also draw each one's attention to these respective posts about them as well.

I was introduced here via various people. Unfortunately I wasn't so sure of joining this community as I didn't know if I could really relate to anything here. My issues have been more on the topic of gluten free 'labeling' issues and matters related to that in particular but then I decided it might be useful to see what people thought about various other aspects of the gluten free diet. I ended up getting pretty tired of it.

Perhaps this is just my opinion, but maybe there's something to do with Vitamin B deficiency or lack of whole grains that may present a contributing factor to this possibility. Just a thought.

Sorry if I've been too intrusive. I'll try and recruit some more Aussies over to the forum.

[kellynolan82]

Seriously? You posed this as a serious question? Do you really think a ten year old has a true concept of the difference in absolute personal speed?

I thought you were somehow talking about an adult with a concept of perception and some way to evaluate athletic ability.

I took the question very seriously. I thought it would make a rather interesting discussion. Many of us know that individuals prone to coeliac disease who follow a strict gluten free diet are at risk of nutritional deficiency and I thought some may be able to relate.

Perhaps I worded it inefficiently. What I meant to say was that he believes he was a far more competitive athlete before he went on a gluten free diet. I wouldn't dismiss this too overly. Some of us out there sure do have fairly good memories even of those days.

[GlutenFreeManna]

I will suggest this to them. Generally, I get questions through my site, email and other social accounts. Some of these questions are asked at college during mealtimes and other social events when people find out I'm coeliac too. I then tend to ask around on various sites to see what others have to say about these issues, as I'm quite personally interested in what you all have to say too! The athletic guy asked this question quite some time back, so I'll have to see if I can chase him up at our next gluten free gathering up in Queensland. I'll also draw each one's attention to these respective posts about them as well.

I was introduced here via various people. Unfortunately I wasn't so sure of joining this community as I didn't know if I could really relate to anything here. My issues have been more on the topic of gluten free 'labeling' issues and matters related to that in particular but then I decided it might be useful to see what people thought about various other aspects of the gluten free diet. I ended up getting pretty tired of it.

Perhaps this is just my opinion, but maybe there's something to do with Vitamin B deficiency or lack of whole grains that may present a contributing factor to this possibility. Just a thought.

Sorry if I've been too intrusive. I'll try and recruit some more Australian's over to this forum.

I also think it's odd that you keep asking all these questions for your "friends". It's even stranger to me now that you have shared you are posting these questions without even telling them you are doing so. I thought perhaps they were asking you these questions and asking you to post them to the board for feedback. If you were my friend, I would not call you a friend anymore if I knew you were posting my doubts, struggles and questions to you on a public board without my permission or without my requesting that your do so. Don't you have any struggles of your own? If not, then please at least contribute by sharing all your awesome gluten-free recipes and success stories.

[GlutenFreeManna]

I took the question very seriously. I thought it would make a rather interesting discussion. Many of us know that individuals prone to coeliac disease who follow a strict gluten free diet are at risk of nutritional deficiency and I thought some may be able to relate.

Perhaps I worded it inefficiently. What I meant to say was that he believes he was a far more competitive athlete before he went on a gluten free diet. I wouldn't dismiss this too overly. Some of us out there sure do have fairly good memories even of those days.

Sorry, but I have to disagree with you. I believe most people that go gluten free end up having BETTER nutrition. For one thing they ABSORB their nutrion better once their bodies heal. ANd also I think many become more aware of what exactly goes into their foods and make healthier choices. There may be a few that go the all processed gluten-free junk food route but most will find that catches up with them rather quickly either in their waistline or the way they feel. There is nothing nutrionally in wheat, barely, and rye that cannot be gained from other foods. I eat plenty of whole grains, just not gluten-containing grains.

[kellynolan82]

I also think it's odd that you keep asking all these questions for your "friends". It's even stranger to me now that you have shared you are posting these questions without even telling them you are doing so. I thought perhaps they were asking you these questions and asking you to post them to the board for feedback. If you were my friend, I would not call you a friend anymore if I knew you were posting my doubts, struggles and questions to you on a public board without my permission or without my requesting that your do so. Don't you have any struggles of your own? If not, then please at least contribute by sharing all your awesome gluten-free recipes and success stories.

All the feedback that has been given from these forums has been passed on to the others in some way or other. Who they are shall remain a mystery. But don't get me wrong, many on these forums (yourself included) have been very helpful overall and I really appreciate getting feedback from all who have something to contribute Their identity cannot be traced, and I don't think they'd have a problem with how I've gone about any of this. These questions I believe are similar to those that many I'm sure may be asking in their own minds (they may just not want to share their feelings with anyone and may not know where to do so). As for a potential gluten free success story, you might be interested in an earlier post today on Sun Flour Mills's chocolate cake mix in Idaho (it won first prize amongst a variety or regular versions of it in two local competitions). Quite impressive, really - might even order some for myself just to assuage my curiosity.

Sorry, but I have to disagree with you. I believe most people that go gluten free end up having BETTER nutrition. For one thing they ABSORB their nutrion better once their bodies heal. ANd also I think many become more aware of what exactly goes into their foods and make healthier choices. There may be a few that go the all processed gluten-free junk food route but most will find that catches up with them rather quickly either in their waistline or the way they feel. There is nothing nutrionally in wheat, barely, and rye that cannot be gained from other foods. I eat plenty of whole grains, just not gluten-containing grains.

The same could be said for a variety of special diets. Wheat, barley and rye all have qualities that simply cannot be replaced without compromise. Whether it be that a replacement is high in salicylates (natural preservatives which are continuing to become highly problematic for a number of individuals), fructose (i.e. esp. brown rice), raffinose (lentils, soybeans, chick peas), nightshades and others; I believe we need to eat these foods in moderation if we can consume them without adverse effects. Vitamin B supplements have greatly improved my ability to function normally. Generally, the gluten free diet is not normally considered a diet that people go on to be healthy. In fact, the opposite may likely be true.

It also seems as though many of the natural and organic produce can also cause problems for individuals. These are often ignored in today's society, as we often tend to blame the 'artificial flavours' as a source of our problems. I know my mother did, until she found out that it was (in fact) nightshades and fructose (foods including apples, onions and honey just to name a few) that were the sources of almost all her food problems. These have, and continue to, affect her far worse than gluten.

I think it's good to focus on whole grains and try and get some gluten free ones in on a daily basis. I also believe vitamin supplements can also be useful for some individuals with celiac disease. We order supplements from over your way, as it's nearly impossible to get any without some natural ingredient that's out for at least one of our family. I think, at the end of the day; it's all a matter of balance, and it seems as though many here on this board are really good at keeping us well informed on such matters.

[kareng]

All the feedback that has been given from these forums has been passed on to the others in some way or other. Who they are shall remain a mystery. But don't get me wrong, many on these forums (yourself included) have been very helpful overall and I really appreciate getting feedback from all who have something to contribute Their identity cannot be traced, and I don't think they'd have a problem with how I've gone about any of this. These questions I believe are similar to those that many I'm sure may be asking in their own minds (they may just not want to share their feelings with anyone and may not know where to do so).

I won't be answering any questions from you any longer. I do not appreciate that you are taking our replies and appear to be re-posting them as your own on your website.

I realize that this is a public forum and anyone can read our replies. I realize others could be copying our answers and re-posting them as thier own. However, I will not be a willing participant in something that borders on plagerism.

[Jestgar]

I won't be answering any questions from you any longer. I do not appreciate that you are taking our replies and appear to be re-posting them as your own on your website.

I realize that this is a public forum and anyone can read our replies. I realize others could be copying our answers and re-posting them as thier own. However, I will not be a willing participant in something that borders on plagerism.

I agree. You're welcome to send your "friends" to this board and have them post their own questions.