To gluten or not to gluten? That's the question on everyone's mind these days. Wheat is the most commonly eaten grain in America. Consumption seems to cause problems for many - ranging from digestive problems to candida outbreaks, headaches and food allergies. Your body's relationship with gluten doesn't have to be mysterious. By following these simple guidelines, Ayurveda can help you determine whether or not to eliminate gluten from your diet.

Step 1: Listen to your own body for wisdom

Before jumping on the gluten-free bandwagon, consider the physical and emotional effects you experience after a thick slice of bread or a bowl of pasta. How does it make you feel? Do you feel hot or cold after eating gluten? Tired or hyperactive? Do you experience any discomfort anywhere? Some people are allergic, others simply can't digest wheat (an intolerance only) because it is too heavy and gooey. If you have a...

• Wheat intolerance: you will suffer from gas, bloating, constipation, or other digestive symptoms when you eat wheat. Ayurveda translates this to simply having a weak digestive fire, resulting in stagnation, indigestion, and fermentation in the digestive tract. This effect overtime can lead to general inflammation.
• Aggravated Kapha Dosha: you will experience mucus, congestion, or a candida outbreak after eating wheat. You also may feel heavy, tired, and lethargic after eating wheat.
• Wheat allergy: Your immune system reacts, with rashes, hives, diarrhea, and other intense allergic symptoms. Even one bite causes a reaction!

Step 2: Experiment with eliminating wheat from your diet

If you're still unsure how your body reacts to wheat, try a wheat-free diet for 2 weeks. See if you feel a difference. Then, add it back, a little at a time. Sometimes, it seems that life without wheat is nearly impossible. When you start to wonder how you could possibly survive without wheat, keep in mind that 2/3's of the world subsists on rice, corn & potatoes.

Ayurveda is not against wheat or gluten. Traditional Indian Ayurvedic diet includes Rotis - whole wheat flour flatbread. However, like most foods in Ayurveda, a little bit can be medicine and a lot is often poison. Ayurveda favors a diet that includes a wide variety of grains, fruits and vegetables. A nice rule of thumb is to eat wheat at no more than one meal a day in order to keep variety in your diet. Variety is the spice of life! And and a secret to happy digestion! For more tips on figuring out your food intolerances, click here:

• Find Gluten Free Recipes
• Learn More About Elimination Diets

Conclusion

By following these steps, you can easily determine whether or not you need to remove gluten from your diet. Sometimes, you may be allergic to 2 or more foods in your diet. In that case you won't notice an improvement in your health by removing wheat alone.

What To Do If You Have an Allergy or Intolerance to Wheat

If you have an allergy to wheat, you must remove wheat and products containing gluten from your diet. Gluten appears as an additive in many popular foods, sauces and condiments, so do your research.

You may purchase one of these guidelines for reducing allergy symptoms:

• Gluten Free Diet for Those with Celiac Disease
• Food Allergies - Reducing Your Reactions

However, those with intolerances only will find many gluten free bread products just as problematic as regular wheat, because they are just as difficult to digest. Bread, whether wheat or gluten free, is always gooey after you chew it. That's because in the manufacturing process the dough must be gooey enough to trap air for the dough to rise. Often a wheat intolerance is simply an intolerance to anything gooey. As a result, gluten free options fail to deliver relief. Spelt, an ancient strain of wheat, contains much less gluten than modern wheat. It is often the healthiest substitute for those with intolerances only.

Sometimes gluten free alternatives are worse than wheat itself, especially when manufacturers try to make bread using highly processed ingredients to compensate for the absence of gluten. Examples include additives like xantham gum. If you have trouble digesting wheat, try the natural approach by simply eating a corn tortilla, or homefries instead. Here are some gluten free options:

• Potatoes, sweet potatoes, corn, rice, and oatmeal are hearty enough to fill you up.
• Explore corn tortillas, rice, millet, barley, and amaranth, & quinoa
• Try Sami's or Udi's gluten free brands - these are light and easy to digest.

Other Tips to Improve Your Tolerance to Wheat

• Eat organic, non-GMO wheat only.
• Diversify your Grains: Have wheat once a day or a few times a week only.
• Improve your digestion of wheat with warm spices
• Use whole wheat flour instead of refined flour. Use spelt instead of regular wheat where possible. Sourdoughs are easier to digest, as well as sprouted wheat grains.
• Follow proper food combining rules- If you are eating a sandwich have meat OR cheese, not both. Otherwise the combination will be too difficult to digest.

For more information, click here

• Ayurvedic Perspective on Wheat
• Listen to this interview with John about Gluten.
• A Gluten Free Diet

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