[I can hardly believe I’m writing this, but it’s true. We are officially *not* a gluten-free family anymore, as of sometime in July 2014. Here is our story.]
It has been four long years since we first took that plunge into the world of gluten-free for our 23-month-old firstborn (who is now almost six). And now we’re starting all over again in the opposite direction.
How we Decided to Go Gluten-Free Four Years Ago
Believe me when I tell you that we did not initially enter into going GF lightly.
As a toddler, our little one had been experiencing digestive issues, coupled with mood swings and behavioural weirdness (going into meltdown mode with what we dubbed the “crazy eyes”) that we directly connected to gluten consumption again and again.
We didn’t really want to go gluten-free – it sounded hard and scary and restrictive, and I’m generally not a sucker for punishment. I am fiercely protective of my remaining shreds of sanity, and thus not muchly inclined to doing hard crap unless super-duper necessary. It’s just a fact, peeps. A cold hard fact.
We did some trials, some hemming and hawing, and tons of reading and research… and every time we’d stay away from gluten for a few days and then try it again, our suspicions would be proven over and over. Eventually we couldn’t deny it any longer: a gluten-free diet would be best for our little guy.
We went strictly gluten-free for him (with hubs and I and the newborn baby being “sorta” GF), and treated him like he could have celiac disease. We learned about cross-contamination, the right questions to ask at restaurants, and the “safe” food options at the grocery store. I dove into the world of GF baking and cooking (the latter being much easier of the two) and even developed many of my own recipes using gluten-free flours and ingredients.
We saw much improvement in the symptoms – his bowels normalized and he was then able to easily learn to use the toilet. His behaviour calmed down and became more along the lines of regular toddler meltdowns instead of the “crazy-eyes” type. He seemed to be thriving without gluten, and so we settled in for the long haul.
Was it Celiac Disease?
We never got celiac testing done because we learned (too late) that you have to be eating gluten (a lot of it) for a minimum of 6 weeks (some sources say 12!) in order to take the test. Well, if you do have celiac disease, that’s the last thing you want to do. So we decided to hold off.
I have slowly came to the realization over the last couple of years that we were not dealing with celiac disease. The symptoms just didn’t add up to lead me to conclusion. I scrutinized and researched every little detail, but I finally became convinced that we were “only” dealing with a food intolerance/sensitivity.
Over the last four years we have seen a handful of slip-ups in regards to cross-contamination with various degrees of reactions. At first, we saw a reaction every time. Family and friends could tell, we could tell, and it was plain as day.
However, the hubs and I have noticed over the last year or so that the reactions have seemed non-existent. We were pretty good at the GF thing by then, but still – I wondered – was he still sensitive?
Can you grow out of a sensitivity?
Most sources say yes, absolutely. My take on it is to say yes, and that it is actually based on gut health. I think that after abstaining from a certain offending food for a long period of time (years), it is possible to heal the gut to the extent that a person could enjoy that food again, and no longer be sensitive to it.
I think that is exactly what has happened in our story.
How we ended four years of being gluten-free
Last summer when I started thinking about this, I thought that trying a few bites of traditional sourdough bread would be a good place to start. Traditionally made sourdough (made with an actual sourdough starter, and properly prepared for easier digestibility) is recommended by the Weston A. Price Foundation, whose nutritional teachings we loosely follow.
But wouldn’t you know it – the summer farmer’s market where I knew I could get a loaf of genuine sourdough eluded me week after week due to the baby’s naptime schedule, and I missed my opportunity.
This summer, I was prepared. I wanted to know the truth… and I wanted to stop expending so much effort and expense on a gluten-free diet if it was not strictly necessary.
photo credit: surlygirl
So in June I found some sourdough bread and brought it home. We made toast, slathered it in butter, and savoured those bites with exuberance. Mmmm, homemade bread… (Oh ma GAWSH. Nom-nom-nom.)
Then we waited. He was like a ticking time bomb as we waited to see when he would go off.
Except that he didn’t.
You wanna know what happened?
Nothing. Nothing happened. Nothing at all out of the ordinary. I was elated and shocked (and somehow simultaneously not surprised at all).
And so it ended. Four years of being strictly gluten-free. The kids questioned it at first, and were a bit apprehensive (we had spent 4 years “villainizing” gluten so that they could learn to avoid it strictly), but soon revelled in their new freedom.
So was there ever a sensitivity at all?
I definitely think that he was sensitive to gluten at the time we removed it from his diet. I want to emphasize this, because there are many naysayers out there that claim that the need to be gluten-free is a fad or a hoax or just plain overblown. I disagree with this… in fact I think that more people should try a GF diet (hint, hint, family members!) to see how it might effect their health. Modern wheat is very different now, even from 50-75 years ago. It is now less nutritious, and gluten-related health issues are more common than most people realize.
As an advocate for natural living and whole food eating, I am often under a bit of a magnifying glass for my choices. I have defended and explained our decision to keep our kids strictly gluten-free over and over again, and have sighed and rolled my eyes at the articles decrying GF as the latest fad diet with no actual benefit (disclaimer at the end usually given about “except for celiacs”). I don’t agree that it’s simply a fad diet.
The big question: now what??
I have been a bit nervous about sharing this story with the world at large. I do not want to be interpreted as criticizing the gluten-free movement and crossing party lines. I am not a traitor. I am simply a mom trying to do her best to provide healthy eating for her family, day in and day out.
Image credit: Tim VanReenen
As I’ve mentioned, in the last 6 months our family has been on a journey of high-stress and tumultuous family crisis. We are now on the other side (mostly) and things are so much better. However, we’ve made many compromises in our diet over these months as we’ve focused simply on survival and getting though.
We’ve bought lots of convenience foods and even fast food (which we regretted every time – yuck), and when the price tag for these things is 3x more expensive ($6-7 for a small loaf of GF bread at the store!), you start seriously questioning the necessity! (Totally a rip-off, and worse ingredients than the regular wheat bakery bread!)
At the end of the day, each family is so unique and has their own health preferences and needs – it’s a bit of an ebb and flow. As with many things in life: when you realize that you may not be on the right path any longer, it’s best to just stop, admit that it’s not working, and change course. That’s what I’m doing. It may be humbling and a bit nerve-wracking, but on we go.
Next on the agenda is figuring out what the heck sort of role we would like wheat to have in our lives. Will we get into ordering our own ancient grain flour? Will I wind up purchasing a grain grinder to grind my own wheat berries fresh? Will I get into sourdough making, and all that it entails? Will I learn the art of soaking and sprouting? Maybe we’ll start experiencing negative repercussions, and we’ll wind up going GF again. I don’t know.
I’ll be honest with you right now: I have no sweet clue where to go from here. I have spent 4 years not thinking much about wheat, and I don’t really have a firm stance on it. I’m certain that will change soon enough, but for now – I’d love to hear from you. Have you ever made big changes in a health decision for your family? And:
Lori
I have basically just overhauled my whole diet, first I always had a lactose intolerance and drank soy milk and for some reason I switched, to rice which was watery for me then I drank almond for quite awhile, but during the last 9 months I was diagnosed with fibromyalgia after many years of ill health, and read info advising to eliminate nightshade vegetables, goodbye to 2 of my favorite foods which are healthy for most tomatoes and peppers, which I ate almost daily as part of a healthy, (or so I thought diet), eliminating these, and incorporating essential oils, into a pretty healthy diet that also included herbal remedies, I noticed that even though most of my other health problems were getting better, I was still having all kinds of digestive issues (bad ones, some days my stomach hurt so bad i didn’t want to move so I finally gave up and went to see my PCP, thank goodness she was back from maternity leave, and she suggested that I eliminate wheat, and I started researching, because I heard wheat was related to gluten and i’d heard of gluten free diets so I asked her if that’s what she meant and she said try it, also about this time i started to make my own kombucha, (it’s to expensive to buy) and slowly i’ve been feeling better and have now also started making my own WK, and MK, and recently yogurt, also soaking my own grains, I make my own gluten free flour mixes and things, and I don’t think I’ve ever felt better in my life and I’m 53, now once in a great while I do a cheat meal on a special occasion, on my grandsons 4th birthday, and the other day when my grand-daughter and I went out for lunch and I just couldn’t resist the brownies and blueberry muffins, I haven’t really baked anything that’s gluten free as it’s been to hot and I was craving them when I saw them, I did ok but i’m not going to push it, but I know certain other foods like greasy things make me sick faster, so I’m not super obsessed, but I know I feel so much better since I’ve been eating better I’m sure it’s a cumlative action of all, that’s healing my gut, and I do once in awhile allow a cheat, just so I don’t overindulge latter from denying myself totally, if I ever go back to gluten it will belike you slow, just to test the waters, but personally I really don’t mind now that I’ve found so many really good gluten free recieps the only thing I miss is tortiallas there are recipes out there but I had problems making them from scratch when my kids were little, so one day soon I will see what happens as I’m tired of borritos in a bowl without the tortilla.
Pat Ryan
Great read, thank you for the well written account. We travelled this road with my daughter only to make the, at the time, startling discovery that soy was the culprit for her, unfortunately the discovery was not made until she had actually made the Hashimoto syndrome level with her thyroid. But, at least now we know the demon was not in the gluten but in unfermented soy, which is any so many manufactured foods that we basically returned to making most things from scratch. Such is life as a parent, 🙂
Pat
Laura
Thank you so much for sharing your story, that is great news for your family. I have been gluten-free for 18 months and understand the time and expense involved. For me it’s definitely not a fad either, I so get that and have my own frustrations with those that say it is. Or with those that think I do it because it’s “healthier” weight loss program. It’s not. I went off gluten because I was sick and tired of feeling so sluggish and bloated all the time. I would have to have a nap every day at 4:00 pm because I just couldn’t keep my eyes open one second longer, it wouldn’t even matter if I had a great nights sleep the night before. After going off gluten I haven’t needed a nap since. I got my energy back and no longer am fighting the bloat. It’s been amazing. I’ve been wondering though if I should give gluten a try again though but am nervous to do so. It becomes such a way of life but I think I would like to give it a try especially since I don’t eat a lot of carbs of any kind anymore anyway. Glad to hear it all worked out for your family!
Ariel
Thanks for sharing! I just went GF this year, for my own sensitivities and I have moved my family away from wheat as much as possible (but hubby & son are not GF). I hope to be able to introduce sprouted wheat into my own diet, and also keep that up for the family, based on what I’ve learned about wheat. It’s ok for things to change, to try new things, see if things are “better” – I for one appreciate the honesty on the journey! 🙂
Jenine
I buy Einkorn flour from Jovial, my family thinks it’s great but it takes some practice to cook with because of the low amount of gluten. I’ll occasionally buy regular flour to make tortillas that are actually bendable!
Jeannine
My son is 4 (almost 5), and we have just taken him off wheat/gluten for the same reasons and you did with your son. I’m glad to hear he may grow out of it!
CC
I do a healthy diet – I balance out everything. Two days a week I eat veggie for dinner instead of poultry or fish. I do both gluten free and non gluten free. I try to eat mostly organic which cost more – but it’s worth it. I only eat one sausage patty once a week and 2 strips of bacon once a week. I find it doesn’t bother my stomach that way. Then I do fish or poultry for the rest of my meals. I don’t eat beef very often as it doesn’t settle with me. I buy good cheese/dairy instead of anything processed. I make my own yogurt because there is nothing at the store that is good for you. Most of the time I will make my own pasta and things like alfredo sauce,mayo,catsup.
I think everyone’s diet should be a mix of healthy things… not just one way…I find I am much healthier now,have more energy and even my skin looks better about a month after I switched to balancing out everything. I’m 60 and I don’t have any health issues anymore since I switched my diet.
Robin Stephens
Glad you and your family are finding answers for all of you. Food is good!! Yum yum yum!! So thankful for variety! I love your granola bar recipe and the versatility of it. So good!! Our family eats mostly organic foods…and we try to at least go Non-GMO. As for wheat, we eat it….and a LOT of it. I grind our grain and make nearly every bread or treat that I can think of. I make pizza crusts, rolls, baguettes, loaves, muffins, pancakes/waffles, cookies, pie crust, etc…etc….etc…. AND, the most phenomenal cinnamon rolls! Love my wheat/kamut grains!! I do use coconut flour once in a while, but for no other reason than to vary our diet… Hope it all turns out super-well for you and yours….
Denise
Thank you for sharing your story. We are not GF, but also don’t have any issues. My 2 little ones have a mild yeast intolerance, so I limit their yeast intake. But we have gone as natural as we can afford. We hardly ever eat out, or have frozen foods fruit & veggies.
Shannon Brown
Oh Beth this is sooo encouraging! Our 3 year old is VERY sensitive/ allergic to dairy. I pray he too grows out of it too!
Lauralee
I wish you the best on your journey and hope it was just a sensitivity for him. Celiac is tough stuff!. I have been gf since my teens and have 2 kiddos with celiac. They both had serious digestive stuff going on and my son also stopped growing for quite a while. Once you’re eased back into wheat, it might not be a bad idea to have a tTg blood test done for your little guy. If it comes back normal than you’ll know for sure it was just a sensitivity, but if the numbers come back elevated it could mean he does have celiac but is currently asymtomatic. Celiac can go through periods where they don’t show any outward digestive symptoms but are still having an inflamitory response inside. As you ease him back in, Keep an eye out for things like headaches, rashes, anemia or slow growth. Hopefully it was just a sensitivity for him, but it can hurt to be sure :).
On another note, for moms dealing with celiac testing for their little ones, here was our experience: our kids had the blood test and then the biopsy but for us the biopsy wasn’t worth the expense and putting the kids though it. The biopsies both came back normal! Even though our kids were later diagnosed celiac by using the blood test again after going gf to see the change in their numbers, which had gone from being super high when they were eating wheat to becoming completely normal after going gf.
sassygirl
we are GF in our family…for the simple reason that we all feel so GOOD sans gluten.
do we miss wheat? not at all. so many great GF recipes out there…with great GF bloggers
who share them as well. the change/difference in our overall health has been remarkable
and delights our doctor…and us! 😀
best of luck in your new gluten tryout.
irene garner
I have gone mostly wheat free and feel so much better. I know I don’t have a gluten problem but right now I have found that too much wheat has a negative effect on me. I know about outgrowing a sensitivity to a food as my kids had a ‘corn’ sensitivity when little. It created a hyperactive and or behavioral problem with them. We eliminated it ( as best we could in this world of ‘corn’ everything!) and the problems immediately stopped only to return if they had the least little bit. As they grew older and they matured, their bodies could handle it. I do think that eliminating it as best we could allowed them now to indulge.
Abi Craig
We are just now considering the possibility of going completely GF for the sake of our daughter’s behavior and health. We already do almost only spelt and nearly always soaked or sourdough but have started to wonder if completely GF would help her. Thanks for publishing this – I find it very encouraging that it could be a “treatment method” for a time (albeit years) that could heal the issues and not be a longstanding forever problem.
kait
Thank you for sharing your story! My family and I have recently gone back to grains. We were strict paleo for about a year, because we noticed terrible GI symptoms when we ate processed grains and also did it for crossfit. However, I wanted to add more carbs along with veggies, to eat less meat more during the week (since organic grass-fed can be quite expensive, yet well worth it), and we missed the taste of bread, so I looked into “real food” and heard about how sprouted grains are easier to digest. My family and I have not experienced any negative GI symptoms (1 month now), since eating sprouted grains. We buy organic sprouted whole wheat flour (Arrowhead Mills) and love it! And ezekial bread (especially cinnamon raisin…yum). I wish you enough to you and your family!
Sherry
We are gluten free for basically the same reason…our son doesn’t have celiac, but if affects his behavior. I have lyme, so I avoid it because it causes me unnecessary inflammation.
A few months ago, we were doing so great health-wise (after a few years of GF and working on rebuilding the gut with GAPS) that I decided to try real homemade sourdough. Holy cow was it good!
We didn’t have an immediate reaction, but over time, my son and I had a complete relapse in symptoms. Needless to say, we had to give it up…again. I was so bummed.
We don’t do a lot of store-bought GF stuff, because it really does have worse ingredients than real sourdough…but we use it when we need convenience for sure. We end up doing a kot of paleo/primal recipes as well.
Anyhow, thanks for sharing your story! I am so happy for you guys…enjoy that sourdough! I pray that we will get there someday!
Taylor
That’s a big change! But it’s wonderful when allergies/sensitivities are outgrown. It’s a killer on the grocery budget! My second son couldn’t have dairy & soy for the first three years of his life. One slip up and he’d have severe eczema and bloody diarrhea. 🙁 It was rough on me as well because I nursed him for his first year, which meant I had to cut out those foods as well. His allergist said he might outgrow it by age 3. He turned 3 last Christmas so I gave him a little bit of dairy to see what would happen. NOTHING! It was awesome, but felt it to be a little too good to be true, but he managed to handle everything perfectly. I’m a bit less stressed too since I don’t have to make 2 separate dishes & bring his own food to family get-togethers.
I think changing course throughout your food/health journey is totally fine!
Terri
Much the same story as ours. We left strictly GF with our third born after 2-3 years of it, and started using sourdough with no issues. Now, we are mostly grain free, unless we have einkorn berries to grind for fresh bread. Oh my, that is the best tasting bread we have ever eaten!! So good that we just don’t want any other wheat! Our 1 and 2 yr olds have the same sensitivity issues and digestiveproblems and I can make the einkorn bread and it fixes it with the next bowel movement. Totaly awesome! If you try it, look for a recipe titled Suzanne’s Einkorn Bread. I sub in ground flax and chia seeds for the xanthan gum (it’s made from corn, who knew?!).
Sherry
I have wanted to try Einkhorn bread! Maybe I will try that next time we are ready to experiment!
Jennifer
Sour dough all the way! I’ve got two sour dough loaves and two sour dough rye loaves rising right now. It’s really not that hard, and it’s delicious. I’ve used my barm to make pancakes, crepes, hamburger buns, cinnamon rolls, and more. It’s all delicious. I’ll be doing some posts on how I do sour dough soon.
Shea
I’ve also tried going the gluten free thing for my two year old. She has a nasty eczema rash on her legs and arms that bothers her constantly. I tried but couldn’t get over the $6/loaf for GF anything, so I settled for Ezekiel bread, but buying that every week got to be too much. I started getting into sourdough not only for the health benefits but also for the taste. And my daughter loves it. And her skin doesn’t break out as bad as often.
Belenda
I wish you and your family luck! I’ve done the slip and slide back and forth with GFSFLC and consuming gluten foods. It has been disasterous for me. Not at first, but the inflammation in my joints, bloating, lethargic….all comes back. I’ve been trying to permanent eliminate it but the drug in gluten is hard to shake. My body is paying dearly for it too. So, good luck to you….