Hi everyone,
Today I am chatting about something very close to my own heart. How to remove gluten from your diet in its entirety and not feel like your life has ended!
This happened to me 19 years ago, I was living in Mount Isa and through the recommendation of my naturopath, I had to remove both wheat and dairy from my diet. I was suffering with eczema and my body in hindsight was very depleted after the birth of our third child and my insistence on breast feeding her for 12 months, as I knew this was my last baby.
Living in a remote mining town with limited access to anything remotely different to food from mainstream supermarkets was hard and for me this was another huge emotional and personal hurdle on many levels. To say I was challenged was an understatement, I felt very alone and sad for myself. Thankfully today there is access to gluten free, dairy free, refined sugar free, vegan and many other food choices.
I learnt a lot from this experience and to this day I remain gluten free and avoid dairy 99% of the time. The changes this has made to my body have been amazing, on all levels.
Now with my expanded knowledge my diet looks a lot more varied than it initially did. I now no longer see this as a burden, but a true blessing and I am so grateful that my body gives me these messages that I am in tune with, before something more sinister happened to my health.
I no longer think of the foods I can’t have; I am so excited for the amazing, nutritional, whole, real foods I can have and that are a mainstay in my daily life. I don’t think I am missing out. I feel sad for people that don’t enjoy or don’t have access to eating an array of colourful, whole foods daily in an assortment of flavours and textures, that literally make it feel like there is a party in your mouth. I love the food that I eat and there is no simpler pleasure for me than making and eating good home cooked meals or eating out at some of my favourite organic whole food cafes.
My advice is if you are advised by your Naturopath to remove gluten from your diet, ideally do this for a period of four weeks, which in the grand scheme of your beautiful life, is such a small fragment. Be grateful that your body has highlighted to you what is making it feel compromised and be extremely proud of yourself for listening. Don’t see this as a diet or a restriction, more a lifestyle and you are not missing out, you are substituting healthier food choices that will serve you better.  Gluten is highly inflammatory to the body.
If you would like more advice or information of removing gluten from your diet or any other health concerns, I would be honoured to work with you.
Blessings
Leigh x