Gluten. The secret?

 I have a couple of dietary intolerances. They aren't serious, I won't be landing in hospital anytime soon (although one night when I was younger, the pains were so bad my Dad did take me to the emergency room...). I have cut out the offending foods and for the most part, the problems (cramps, gas, and poor digestion) have abated.  The foods I avoid are:

• Artificial Sweeteners (these are by far the worst, doubling me over for hours)
• High citrus foods like tomatoes, oranges and lemons (these are ok in small does spread out over a number of days)
• Juice of any kind.  I was addicted, and it was hard, but I have cut. it. out. of my life! 

While the cramping has improved, I still have times where it occurs, and cutting out these things has done nothing to help the bloating, which is after most meals and can get quite painful.  Sometimes I have been asked when I am expecting after a meal. I'm serious. I am an expert bloater...!

A couple of years ago, a family member developed adult-onset gluten intolerance. Recently I was talking with them about my diet and problems I have with digestion, and it seemed as though there were a lot of similarities. Don't worry, it wasn't a Dr. Google moment, with my pronouncing myself gluten-intolerant!

I simply started to watch my intake of gluten based foods (which for me includes breads, sauces, cakes and confectionery for the main part) and recording when I experienced bloating. And guess what? When I ate foods containing gluten, I had the symptoms. When I didn't eat the food, I didn't have the symptoms.

After a couple of weeks experimentation, I have concluded that I can handle tiny amounts of gluten (eg. a sauce or cake) if it is spread out and I am willing to put up with mild discomfort. This is helpful in situations where someone else is providing the food.   At home now, I just limit my gluten intake as much as possible.

I feel a lot better and I have started to research the information on the link between gluten and infertility. So far, I can see that individuals with coeliac disease often suffer infertility, but as for gluten intolerance, there is very little hard evidence on the ground. Most fertility specialising dietitians recommend a good intake of grains, so there is little to suggest to cut them out.  For me, the next step is to find some grains that I can tolerate well symptomatically.

In the mean time I feel a lot better, and I don't have to worry about elasticised clothing to accommodate my self-inflating tummy after meals - so Homer Simpson!