For those who have removed wheat from your diet, what benefits did you notice right away? I've been avoiding wheat to see if it is the culprit of some of my digestive issues. Also, a conversation with my cousin (who is not LC and naturally very thin), we discovered that we have almost the exact same issues. She mentioned to me that she finds anything made with bread/yeast makes her feel miserable (bloated, gassy, distended belly, and constipation). She said she noticed when she doesn't eat the bread, she doesn't have the problems, so I started making sure to avoid wheat, even though I didn't eat much to begin with. Just curious to what other benefits some of you found by completely removing wheat from your diet?

not eaten a wheat product for 19 weeks, after week one felt the benefit... no bloat, no constipation, no hunger pangs, can't think of anything else at the moment... but happy to be without wheat...

The Gluten File covers almost every symptom possibly linked to wheat (aka celiac, or gluten intolerance). They're very wide ranging.

Some of the most common are IBS and joint pain. But depression, migraines, skin rashes and even neurological disturbances are not uncommon either.

Usually the cause is gluten, not just wheat, which is found in wheat, oats (cross-contaminated), rye and barley.

Benefits? Boy oh boy, I could write a book! For starters, heartburn went away, bloated/gassiness went away, stomach aches went away, getting sick from eating went away, joint aches went away, nasal congestion went away, asthma-like symptoms went away, many of my other food sensitivities disappeared.

Read up on the subject of celiac disease/gluten sensitivity. Nancy has good links in the post above.

You ever got a splinter in a real sensitive area, like under a nail, and it got infected, and it was tough getting it out but you finally did and doused it in hydrogen peroxide and bandaged it and it started feeling so much better, like it was healing?

When I stay away from gluten, my whole digestive tract feels like that.

Just before I got back on LC, I did an experiment in which I cut out all wheat/gluten for a month, then ate it again at the end of the month to see what would happen.

While I was off it, my skin cleared up, I wasn't so tired in the afternoons, my joints (especially my knees) weren't so stiff in the mornings, my allergy symptoms were much less severe, and I was a lot less gassy.

The day I ate it again after a month without, I was at my weekly volunteer gig. I had a big piece of homemade coffee cake someone brought in just before I left at noon, and by 1:30 I was so tired and brain-fogged I had to lie down and take a nap. The next morning, my knees were stiff as a board, my fingers were puffy, and my seasonal allergies had returned with a vengeance. Plus, I spent the day feeling mentally and physically sluggish, and craving sugar like mad.

Even if I hadn't gone back to LC, that experiment was enough to convince me that wheat was absolutely not something I should be eating.

ETA: I ate a very small piece of wedding cake on Saturday evening, and while it wasn't much, I still puffed up and felt kind of gross the next day. It's now Tuesday, and while I feel better I'm still trying to knock off the water-retention bloat. At least I can see my ankle bones again...

Wheat-free for a year and a half now.

Pros-
- No more every-other-day migraines
- skin cleared up (no more strange rash on the back of my arms)
- happy digestive system
- reduction in swelling / bloating
- more energy all day long
- a serious reduction in eating binges
- no more cravings
- best of all, it started my weight loss - lost over 60 lbs since then.

Anne

I have been back to lc (and off of wheat)since Jan. 1.

No more anger
No more depression
No more wild mood swings
Greatly reduced tom symptoms (making it bearable)
More energy
Can actually grow nice nails

I know there are MANY more that I'm not thinking of, but most of these are the biggies - and what brought me back to lc before I gained ALL my weight back.

Thanks everyone. Staying away from the wheat are definitely helping things. Is gluten also found in corn products? I know it's found in anything made with wheat but I'm a little confused as to what else I should be avoiding.

I went off wheat for a couple years before starting back to LC and I can vouch that my mood swings disappeared except for TOM, I lost a few pounds and my IBS was cut in 1/2. I now have found all grains (including corn) to be a culprit for many things for me, so now I've been grain free since the beginning of April and everything has cleared up.

The Gluten File has some advice for starting a gluten free diet: https://sites.google.com/site/jccgl...aglutenfreediet

Grain products can suffer cross-contamination. I know oats are particularly bad, but oats also have a protein similar to gluten, called avenin, which many people are also sensitive to. So corn, per se, isn't ruled out, but it might cause issues. Best to eliminate all grains for awhile and test them separately, IMHO.

The cross-contamination can happen when they're harvested, stored in silos, transported in railroad cars, milled, processed or even in the factory where they are finally processed and used in a food. I don't usually spend too much time worry about it, but most of my food is single item food and not processed.

Rice and corn do contain gluten, but it is completely different from the sort in wheat.

Anyway, I can't improve on Cara's advice in the link I provided.

I tolerate rice; but it doesn't matter. I don't like it as a food, and gluten-free things are still high-starch/high-carb things.

But it does point up that there are some differences, and it's well worth testing things to find out. This is where the Atkins Carb Ladder concept is so valuable; I do fine with nuts & fruit, but I get into the starches & grains and I it doesn't matter what the carb count might be; they don't agree with me.

I can't tolerate rice (it gives me a HUGE sugar rush and sends me on an eating binge) or wheat (migraines, bloating, and tummy issues)...and have very limited tolerance of corn (I can eat a small portion of corn right off the cob but corn products give me tummy issues).

Oats don't bother me at all, so the few times a year I want a baked good, I use ground oatmeal and a teaspoon of xanthum gum as a replacement for flour.

Otherwise, I stick to potatoes, fruits, and vegetables for my carbs. My body is MUCH happier this way.

Anne

Eliminating wheat ended most of my joint pain and IBS.

Actually, I find that all grains are problematic for me. Rice is especially bad for bloating and water retention. Potatoes digest more easily, but they always seem to lead to binges.

In fact, it was the reliance on "safe starches" that was the dealbreaker for me on the Perfect Health Diet. I found Paul Guyenet's writing so persuasive that I gave it a try. I am still trying to get the weight off!

Turned around my not-a-morning person thing. Used to wake up pale, intensely grouchy and sickly.

Dizzy feelings I had attributed to sugar turned out to be a reaction to gluten.

Been glutened a few times from: asian flavored salad dressings, ice cream, a lot of sauces, soups, once from a can of tuna.