Guest guest Posted March 28, 2008 Report Share Posted March 28, 2008 Hi ,I think you may be right about wanting to convince everyone to go GF...I used to have a lot of skin issues too, including, at times, pretty severe acne. It never started to clear (even though I also had a dermatologist prescribe antibiotics at one point) until, when I was pregnant with my four-year-old, my acupuncturist told me to stop eating sugar, dairy, wheat, oranges, and a few other things. I was already a vegetarian at that point, and that pushed me over into veganism...and it made a huge difference. (Also stopped my PUPP--a rash I used to get while pregnant--kind of like having chicken pox while being pregnant.) Actually, I saw a huge improvement even without giving up gluten -- I initially switched to spelt. But I still had breakouts occasionally until I started transitioning to raw veganism a few months ago. And the thing about raw veganism is, that you end up being gluten-free without necessarily intending to...it's just that most gluten-containing foods are cooked. I'm still not entirely raw and, because of work deadlines, have been eating a lot of cooked food recently. But I find if I stick to at least 50-70% raw food (and my main cooked grains are corn and Ezekiel bread), my skin is fine (fine as in, make-up optional). If I start to have a breakout, or start to get a sore throat or something, I get very strict about the raw food for a couple of days. And whatever it is goes away very fast. On the other hand, if I start eating mostly cooked food, and having any significant amount of gluten again, my skin will break out again (so that proves it's not just the aging process, as some in my family have proposed! --I'm turning 40 this year). I don't think it's just the raw food, or just the avoidance of gluten, though -- I think it also comes from relying heavily on greens. I don't think most people get anywhere near enough greens in their diet. I almost think that greens, even plain old lettuce and spinach, should rightly be classified as superfoods. They are just so tremendously healing for so many conditions. And they're really good for eliminating cravings for foods that are bad for us. I've started to tell people who are skeptical about avoiding grains, that one approach, instead of an elimination diet, is an " addition diet, " in which you simply add in fruits and vegetables (easiest way: add in green smoothies--greens + fruit + water). All those fruits and vegetables are bound to crowd some of the negative influences out... This experience is partly why I don't think that the problem with gluten is an epidemic of undiagnosed celiac disease. I think many of us are not celiacs, but still are sensitive to gluten -- just as many people with high blood pressure are sensitive to salt. Although -- maybe it makes sense to think about gluten as if it were, I don't know, alcohol. I mean, alcohol has a destructive effect on brain cells, right? And gluten destroys the villi (or microvilli?) in the intestines...so, it may be a question of, how much destruction of our body's cells are we willing to tolerate? And I think that having zero tolerance for villi destruction is probably the most sensible approach -- but, at the same time, for those of us who are challenged by the idea of being completely GF, it may still be beneficial to reduce gluten as much as possible. (At least we're destroying fewer villi than before...and, with our GF meals, we're practicing for when we can stop eating gluten altogether.) Or am I being scientifically inaccurate here? I have read that for true celiacs, even trace amounts of gluten are too damaging. Only, there's not much point in replacing gluten-containing grains with GF grains. Ideally, it would be best to replace them with greens...Speaking of diet and nutrition, I'm really curious (as a vegetarian) about whether anyone on this list has noticed whether meat makes a difference or not.... Okay, I'm going to stop rambling now...(must stop answering emails in the middle of the night!).Bonnie Hi ladies, So...the distended belly can (IMO) be an indication of inflammation of the intestines, which can be a result of food intolerances/leaky gut (and/or yeast/gut dysbiosis). These can be associated with constipation and/or diarrhea. And, interestingly, celiac disease (and, again, IMO, non-celiac gluten intolerance) is associated with schizophrenia and ataxia, possible connection to MS, dementia, etc.. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/10/061010022602.htm (and here's the actual research paper to which I believe the above linked article refers http://archneur.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/full/63/10/1440) The more I read about gluten the more I wish I could convince everyone to give it up, or at least take it easy on consumption - eating only soaked and/or fermented (e.g., true sourdough). It's linked to so many problems. Also, for acne, I have struggled with it for most of my adult life. I never was satisfied with topical treatment or oral pharmaceuticals (e.g., antibiotics) and rarely used any prescriptions (except, regrettably, 3 months or so of antibiotics which only made matters worse - for more than just my face...). I *always* believed in my core that it was a reflection of *something* going wrong inside my body, but no physician I saw as a teenager or young adult would address this. Then as my digestive issues and fatigue developed (as a young adult),I was told there was nothing 'physically' wrong with me and that it was all in my head and I was simply too stressed out all the time. Twenty years later, in searching for answers to my son's constipation I have to break out on my own to order proper tests and find out that I am a celiac/gluten intolerant person. Since going gluten free, I can tell you that I went through a brief period (maybe a month) of what I felt was " detox " - I felt lousy and my face was more broken out than EVER, and very " angry " zits, at that. But, a little more than two months into it all, my skin has slowly been clearing up and no signs of new break outs on the horizon. I also feel less bloated (used to feel and look about 6 months pregnant at the end of every day) and more energetic (despite not getting more than about 4-6 hours of interrupted sleep each night). A major thing that happens in the " gluten intolerant " (and celiac) intestines is that the finger-like projections on the surface of the intestines are flattened/destroyed. These projections are full of more projections and it's all for increasing the amount of intestinal surface area available for secreting digestive enzymes and processing foods and ABSORBING the nutrients. With a 'flattened' intestinal wall, the body just cannot properly process foods and cannot properly absorb nutrients. In gluten intolerant (and celiac) persons, once the gluten is removed from the diet, the intestines begin to heal. (any other food intolerances need to be addressed also, I think, for full healing to occur.). If a " leaky gut " is present as well (in which the junctions between intestinal cells are leaky/broken down), then undigested proteins exit the intestines and elicit an even greater immune reaction and cause even more intestinal damage. So the digestive enzymes help the leaky gut because they can help digest foods/proteins that would otherwise have leaked out and heighten the immune reaction and subsequent tissue damage. This, I believe, is thought to help break the cycle and allow the intestines time to 'repair' and recover from the damage. HTH - I have to get going - I hope this hasn't been too rambling/disorganized. best, > > > > > > , > > > Do you know how many enzymes there are? Which ones work for what? In > > the article it says they can heal leaky gut but how do you know which > > ones do what? > > > Jeanie > > > > > > > > > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You are posting as a guest. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.