Quote Originally Posted by CorsairMac
I had never heard that but switching to gluten-free foods has made a HUGE difference in my life! ....
CMac, it's great to hear that this is working for you. I have a few friends who do have Celiac's disease, and it's a pretty serious health issue for them. Before Jenny was diagnosed, she pretty much metabolized NOTHING that she ate. Couldn't keep weight on, at all. On a gluten-free diet she does quite well.

It doesn't sound like your gluten problem is so severe, but it does certainly affect your well-being. Have you ever read about the blood-type diet? Heck, you may even be following it, unknowingly. Here's the website:
http://www.dadamo.com/
...but the book, Eat Right for Your Type by Peter D'Adamo, is far better reading. I'm pretty sure that, per this diet, for most blood types, wheat gluten ranks as a non-beneficial nutrient, or as an even harmful "nutrient".

I had a massage therapist recommend that I try it (something about my joints just not loosening up the way they should, over several months?) a few years ago. I tried it for 2 weeks, lost a few pounds and generally felt a bit more alert than before, perhaps even a bit more limber. Aside from cutting corn, wheat, oats, and a few dairy items from my diet, it wasn't too hard of a diet to try. I started taking a mineral supplement, to get the calcium I wasn't getting in milk, but aside from that, I was pretty sure that I was still getting my needed nutrients.

Meanwhile I sent the book to my dad the cardiologist, who found huge gaps in D'Adamo's research & so advised me to toss the diet as bunk (thus we witness the western vs. non-western medicine battlefield). I'm a doctor's kid, one not schooled in medicine or nutrition, and didn't see a huge benefit, so I dropped it. [And, well, beer is hard to totally give up]. However, I continue to take the multi-mineral supplement, which really does seem to help my muscles relax and recover.

Honestly, though, even if the research is hinky, D'Adamo's argument that each of us needs a slightly (or largely) different set of nutrients, seems quite sound, and worth a shot. Western medicine needs to play nicer with nutrition. I may give the diet another shot, just to see what happens. These joints aren't getting any younger...

Anyway... just my few-cents worth on a gluten-free diet. Good luck!