Beaufort Personal Trainer Asks: Could You Be Gluten Intolerant?

With more and more people starting to look after their health and fitness, one thing that they’re starting to do is take note of what their eating each day and how the various foods that they consume influence how their body functions and reacts.

It’s incredibly important that you pay attention to the foods that you put into your diet because not only will these influence your body weight, but your health as well. One issue that is starting to be discussed more and more as people notice the symptoms associated with it is gluten intolerance.

While there are those who cannot tolerate gluten at all, having an ailment known as Celiac’s Disease, other people simply just don’t feel their best when eating gluten-rich foods.

Let’s take a closer look at what gluten intolerance is so that you can see whether this might be something that’s impacting you.

What Is Gluten Intolerance?

Gluten is a particular type of protein that’s found in wheat and all wheat related foods that many of us people struggle to digest properly. When it’s not fully broken down by the body, that’s when it starts to cause discomfort in the body. And those of us who have health and fitness goals know that having bodily discomfort doesn’t bode well for achieving those goals.

What Are The Symptoms Associated With Gluten Intolerance?

Some of the most common signs that present themselves if your body is struggling to break down gluten include:

• Abdominal distention (bloating or swelling of the intestine)
• Abdominal pain and cramping
• Diarrhea and/or constipation
• Depression, irritability, and anxiety
• Fatigue
• Joint pain
• Lactose intolerance
• Teeth and gum problems
• Vomiting

It’s important to note that the signs and symptoms do tend to vary from individual to individual so you don’t necessarily have to have them all present in order for a problem to be at play.  If you even notice just a few of the symptoms presenting themselves, it may be time to get checked out by a physician to see whether this could be causing issues in your body.

What Do I Do?

So what do you do if you think you are suffering from gluten intolerance?  The first step is to cut out all gluten rich foods from your diet.  This includes all wheat and related products such as corn and corn-based foods, pastas, breads, cereals, beer, peanuts and peanut butter, even lactose.

Also make sure that you’re reading ingredient labels on all foods that you consume as many will contain wheat even though you wouldn’t ever think it.  Some sauces, condiments, as well as meats will contain gluten, so you’ll want to stay away from these. Soy sauce is one example. Also stick with grass-fed meats instead of grain-fed.

Instead, focus your carbohydrate intake around fresh fruits and vegetables, quinoa, and potatoes, all of which are safe for those with gluten intolerance to eat.

So if you are always suffering from stomach problems and gas or bloating, you may want to consider whether this could be an option for your Beaufort health and fitness. If it is, it would be a good idea to take steps to control and manage it so that you can look and feel your best.