I went gluten-free in February of this year.  (2010 for those archeological types reading this from the distant future).

And if you’ve been suffering from long-term constipation, you may want to give the gluten-free lifestyle a try as well.

I went from June 2009 to February 2010 trying every high-fiber supplement, powder, cereal, and granola bar on the market.  It seemed the more wheat bran, wheat germ, whole wheat products I consumed, the worse I got.  I gave up desserts and started running, thinking a better diet and more exercise would help.  They didn’t.

A friend of mine has boys with Celiac disease and she mentioned that lesser gluten sensitivities can present themselves with constipation.   This struck a chord with me as my mother had recently been told to go gluten-free by her doctor because of the same symptom.

I’d also been reading up on Weston A. Price’s studies on grain soaking and how wheat is digested in our bodies.  Turns out it’s NOT being digested in our bodies.  Traditionally, wheat was left on the field in bundles where the dew and sunlight caused the grain to sprout, neutralizing the acid and increasing the vitamin content.  But today’s wheat is preserved too well and our single stomach and short intestinal tracts are insufficient to break it down the way it needs to be beneficial to our bodies.  In fact, it is theorized that attempting to digest wheat in this form could be blamed for the sensitivities and diseases that cause more and more of western civilization to avoid wheat altogether.

So I’m taking a break from gluten.

And it’s working!  It took about six weeks to see the full effect, but I’ve been gluten-free for six months now and let me tell you, it’s a wonderful thing!

After a year, hopefully my body will have healed enough that if I prepare wheat and other gluten-bearing grains properly, we’ll be able to re-introduce it into our diets.  (Olivia has gone gluten-free as well.  The boys seem to be unaffected.  Not fair!)

In the meantime, I plan on sharing some of my favorite gluten free recipes that I’ve been playing with.  Pancakes, pizza crust, and meatloaf – just to name a few!