A "gluten free" me

I recently was trying to educate myself on hypothyroidism (low thyroid hormone disorder) and I ran across some information that sparked my interest greatly. I read that there was a link between autoimmune disorders, which hypothyroidism is, and gluten (gluten is a protein that is found in wheat, rye, and barley. Some peoples small intestines will not digest it and actually attack it as a toxin. This attack wears down the villi that absorb vitamins and nutrients in the small intestines). As I investigated further I found that gluten is also linked to Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) which I have been battling since I was 13 years old. I bought a great book, figured out just how to be gluten free, and started down the path to eating a gluten free diet. There are over 250 symptoms that can exist from your body "attacking" gluten in your body if you have an intolerance or a sensitivity to it. In the extreme cases, some peoples small intestines can be permanently damaged if they have Celiacs Disease and they don't know it. It is amazing to me how many parts of your body can be affected by gluten other than the obvious gastrointestinal parts. Tony is doing this with me and we are on a mission to see if this helps my health improve. I am only on day 3 but I really feel like this is going to be a great thing for us. Yes, I will miss my carbs...I literally had to clean out my cupboards to get rid of the 6 boxes of cereal, most of the crackers, chips, and other yummy wheat filled things that I have always eaten (really about 90% of my diet was bread, wheat, crackers, cereal, etc.) Thankfully, whole foods has a huge gluten free section where I stocked up on gluten free cereal, snacks, and sweets! If you are curious about gluten and want to know more go to www.celiac.com
I will def. post again and let you know how it's going. My body better thank me b/c this isn't wasy...ha!And yes, you knew I was going to say this...Man, I'm getting old:)

Way Back Wednesday

CAROLINE 3 1/3 months old (Jan 2007)


May 2009- Caroline 3 and 1/2 years old, Mags 2 weeks old

A friend of mine always does Way Back Wed. on her blog...it was so cute..thought I'd go back and look at some old pics on my computer...Can you tell I'm getting sappy about this BIG 3-0 approaching...:) My babies are getting older and I'm just getting OLD