Day Three Hundred and Eleven!!!!

The Emotionally Focussed Diet


The easiest way to start working on having a new gluten free lifestyle is to start by increasing your protein consumption, and to start to follow a high protein diet. So after about a week or so, after withdrawing from eating gluten, then your physiological cravings for both gluten and carbohydrates will diminish. 


There are many gluten free, and carbohydrate substitutes and by including these substitute foods, they will satisfy both the need for fibre and the need to eat something sweet. These substitute foods are vegetables such as sweet potatoes, parsnips, carrots, and squash. These foods raise blood sugar levels slowly and as well contain vitamins and minerals, that provide a sensation of fulness. If you find that you have a need for additional fibre intake, there is a gluten free psyllium that you can add to drinks. 


Your increased protein intake will stabilize any type of mood dis-regulation. It is important to start to pay attention to differences that you are experiencing in your mood as well as differences that you may be experiencing in your body. It takes about three months for the intestinal inflammation that is associated with your gluten sensitivity to begin to heal. Changes in mood and reduction in body pain will be apparent almost right away! The goal of the elimination diet is to eliminate what is causing the inflammation in the body. At a certain point it is important to start to re-enter your gluten products as well as carbohydrates, back into the diet. This is called a harm reduction approach; reducing harm to your mood and body. 


But, just like an addiction to alcohol, some people do very well with harm reduction, being able to entertain moderate amounts of alcohol consumption, but for others they cannot manage even small amounts of alcohol and therefore it becomes about abstinence. As such, some people are able to handle small amounts of gluten as well as carbohydrates, and based upon the monitoring of your weight as well as your body and mood feelings/sensations you will be able to determine what that amount needs to be for you. The rules are;


#1. Become a really good food label reader as well as a good carbohydrate Googler.


#2. Alcohol
Beer is made from grain and therefore should be avoided, although there are some low carb beers, that if necessary you can still consume.Once you have gone through the elimination process these beers can be reentered into the diet. Other alcohols such as liquor, vodka, rum, etc. are distilled, which removes the gluten. Dry white or red wine also contains no gluten and is low in carbohydrates. When consuming alcohol as well as gluten in food, for those that are sensitive to gluten there is a magnified reaction of inflammation. 


#3. Corn and oats
There is a increasing prevalence of corn products in food production. Corn products are composed of corn starch and dextrose. There is a growing increase of allergic reactions to corn in the diet and that reaction is similar to that of gluten and carbohydrates, because corn is high in carbohydrates. Oats are contaminated with gluten as well, however you can obtain gluten free oats. So if you like your oatmeal, you can still continue to eat your oats. 
#4. Nightshade foods
Nightshade foods are known to cause intestinal inflammation and also need to be apart of the elimination diet in order to be able to know if you are intolerant to nightshade sensitivity. These foods are known to cause symptoms such as; muscle pain, a feeling of tightness, arthritis, joint stiffness and pain, gallbladder problems, heart burn, gastro intestinal reflex. Nightshade foods include tomatoes, potatoes, eggplant, peppers, chilies, cayenne, paprika, Goje berries, cherries, and goose berries. 
The elimination diet is based upon all of these different foods, which create inflammation.