I don’t know about you, but I have heard Gluten Free this and Gluten Free that for months now. I hear the pro triathletes on twitter talking about being Gluten Free and several years back when I ran the Colorado Relay on Susan Williams team, I found out that she eats Gluten Free. I kept thinking to myself, what is the big deal? Either tons of athletes have extremely irritable GI tracts, or they have celiac disease (a permanent intolerance to gluten), or maybe they find that eating Gluten Free enhances their performance?
The FDA is still having trouble defining “Gluten Free” but as of now, this is the proposed definition;
The proposed FDA definition specifies that a food labeled “gluten-free” does not contain any of the following:
- An ingredient that is any species of the grains wheat, rye, barley, or a crossbred hybrid of these grains (collectively referred to as “prohibited grains”)
- An ingredient that is derived from a prohibited grain and that has NOT been processed to remove gluten (e.g. wheat flour)
- An ingredient that is derived from a prohibited grain and that has been processed to remove gluten (e.g. wheat starch) if the use of that ingredient results in the presence of 20 parts per million (ppm or mg/kg) or more gluten in the food
- 20 ppm or more gluten
I was rereading Chuckie V’s post on What to Eat. It’s a fantastic post, and one I recommend bookmarking. There really aren’t a lot of the traditional carbs mentioned…bread, tortillas, english muffins, pizza dough. Humm, where am I supposed to put my Justins Almond Butter? I asked Chuckie and his answer was absolutley hilarious (what a shock) but basically entailed…apples, jicama, sprouted grain breads and tortillas (which can barely even be called “bread”). He also included LaraBars, but I just can’t get up the guts to smear Justin’s on a lemon LaraBar.
It dawned on me that the Team First Endurance site had some stuff about Gluten Free, so I went delving over there. I ran into an interesting Q&A with Jordan Rapp. If you are following triathlon even a little you will remember that Jordan won both IM Canada and IM Arizona this year. AND he has yet to make an appearance in Kona… a fact which is extremely exciting to me. I saw him hanging out at the farmers market in Penticton a couple days before IM Canada this year. And, as we see here, despite Jordan not having a Gluten sensitivity, he refrains from Gluten during much of the year.
Humm, okay, for me that’s enough evidence that the Gluten free way was worthy of a try, an experiment if you will. Gotta love the Team First Endurance site. Anyone can get a membership (kinda facebooky looking) and you can delve into their programs (Caffeine, Gluten, Sodium Loading, Anti-Inflammatory Foods, Low Carbo Training, Ph Foods). They walk you through the information and outline a test that you can do with yourself. For Gluten, the test involves going Gluten Free for 3 days, then your normal diet for 7 days, and then Gluten Free for three more days. At the end of the second set of three days they suggest that you race (just a C race, nothing super important). So, off I went.
Oh yes, that’s a sprouted grain tortilla. And it was mighty tasty too!
I am blogging on the Team First Endurance website about my experiences. Today is my third day and it’s pretty interesting. Especially how I feel about hunger. When I eat, my hunger slowly goes away rather than disapearing the minute I get food into my mouth. Also, you pretty much can’t have any junk on a Gluten Free diet. Apparently there is some Gluten Free junk food out there, but really, um, no thanks. I am trying to maintain my normal calorie load so that weight loss doesn’t become a factor in the experiment, but I’ll admit, it’s tough. the way I have gone about it…it’s a lot of chewing!
So, feel free to skip on over to the blogs section of the Team First Endurace site and read up on my Gluten Free Program Test. Here is Day 1, and here is Day 2. Also, if any of you out there have any experiences with going Gluten Free please comment. I am kinda on my own here, and would love some feedback. Thanks!
Tim Litzinger (Jumper) says:
My daughter has celiac and my wife was having lots of joint pain, swelling and lethargy when she quit all gluten as well. The pain, the swelling and even the positive blood results for lupus all went away!
Gluten is actually pretty tough on the gut! For most people this isn’t a problem but for others it can cause a range of issues. I find that many people can even use a 3-6 month break from gluten. Why? Obviously I can’t scientifically verify this but it appears that some people can get gut damage via a virus, etc. The gluten continues to keep the gut from fully healing and voila, problems.
My wife teaches how to cook and bake here in the Twin Cities and was in Denver this past fall as well to attend the Gluten Free Culinary Institute summit.
If you need any ideas, even for “naughtier” foods like chocolate chip cookies or pumpkin pancakes (a favorite for many people) check out her website at http://www.angelaskitchen.com
Keep in mind that her blog is not fitness eating focused. Yet, there are lots of very nutritious meals and ideas there.
She’s working on getting everything organized so that it’s easier to search so if you have any questions always feel free to drop an email.
January 1st, 2010 at 3:42 pm
Megan says:
I have not been diagnosed with Celiac but I have been gluten free for over a year now. I hear all these folks complaining (usually my training partners) about how wrecked their stomach is after racing and how they just ‘couldn’t keep from having GI problems’ during their IM experiences. I have not had any issues (knock on wood) since I have started racing tri, and I can’t help but feel like being g-free is responsible for that
It is a harder way to eat, but it is essentially healthier because you have to be more conscious of the foodie decisions you make. I have also learned to loooove packing a lunch.
January 1st, 2010 at 6:33 pm
Jamie says:
I’ve been hearing a ton about athletes going gluten free too!
I know Megan and Coach Kati>/a> both are on gluten-free diets. I’m sure they’ll have some tips.
I’ve changed around my diet a lot in the last year, but not sure if I could make the jump to going without gluten. Sounds like a very big (and scary) step. But, I am glad you are trying it so that I can see how it goes without working doing it myself. haha
January 1st, 2010 at 6:41 pm
Sonja says:
Jamie,
The first Endurance program is really not a very big leap. You eat that way for three days, then go back to normal for 7, then back on for three. If almost feels like you barely got started when you go back to normal eating. Heh Heh.
January 1st, 2010 at 7:44 pm
Kim Nixon says:
I have not been tested for Gluten intolerance yet. But here is a tiny bit of my expereience at: http://runningmarquette.com/2010/01/02/gluten-free-morning/. Thanks for this very informative article, your wonderful photos and great links!!
January 2nd, 2010 at 7:18 am
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January 2nd, 2010 at 1:06 pm
Laura says:
100% gluten and dairy free and loving it!
January 3rd, 2010 at 11:31 am
Kati says:
You learn to get creative with your food choices on a GF diet! I have been known to (sheepish grin) put my almond butter straight on my finger and eat it up : ) I tell myself there are worse things that I could be eating!!
January 4th, 2010 at 4:36 pm
arthritisinfo says:
im always on a Gluten Free diet. i really hate my allergy to gluten because i love the taste of wheat bread. oh well, you just got to live with it.
January 11th, 2010 at 2:44 am