Gluten, Dairy & Sugar

Cutting gluten out of your diet may seem difficult and restrictive. Fortunately, there are many healthy and delicious foods that are naturally gluten-free. These include fruits, vegetables, meat and poultry, fish and seafood, dairy products, beans, legumes, and nuts.

Did you know that Gluten, Dairy and Sugar could be making your pain worse?

First off, what is pain? Pain is an uncomfortable sensation felt in the presence of inflammation, and inflammation is our body’s natural defense system to tissue injury. All of our inflammatory processes are driven by our immune system and approximately 70% of our immune system is in our gut. This means anything that affects our gut health directly affects our immunity, and therefore our inflammation levels and pain.

Our immune system is in charge of the healing and recovery of our body meaning a healthy and well-functioning immune system is paramount to our general well-being and decreasing our pain levels. This is Why Food has a Massive Impact on our Pain One thing that has a drastic impact on the health of our gut is the food we eat. Good foods will encourage optimal gut function and hence good immune function. ‘Bad’ foods could cause poor gut function and even physical damage to our gut lining, significantly affecting immune function. The three foods that cause the most inflammations are foods that include gluten, dairy and sugar!

Gluten

Being Gluten free is the new trendy thing to do. However, be gluten free will also have a massive impact on improving your quality of life and decrease your pain. Gluten is a sticky protein found in grains. Gluten creates holes in the tight junctions in the gut lining triggering an immune response which creates inflammation all over the body- hence increased pain! Here is a list of gluten containing foods that you want to try and avoid:

Faro, soy sauce, pasta, cakes, imitation meat, bread, muffins, non-dairy creamer, condiments, egg substitute, most noodles, beer, alcohol, durum, wheat, graham flour, commercial bouillon, rye, breads, packet soups, barley, crackers, malt flavouring, bulgur, semolina, seasoning and spice mix, spelt, couscous, salad dressings.

Sugar

Our gut houses what is estimated to be close to 100 trillion bacteria. These living organisms/bacteria are called the ‘microbiome’. Think about a healthy microbiome as a lawn and garden. You don’t want the lawn to overgrow or the garden to be ridden with weeds. A good balance of good to bad bacteria is currently believed to be 85% good, 15% bad. The health of the gut microbiome has been linked with conditions such as cancer, autoimmunity and diabetes. Consuming a lot of added or hidden sugar has been found to negatively affect the balance of the gut microbiome and also create holes in the gut lining hence causing body-wide inflammation.

Watch out for sugar in:

Custard, creamed foods, frosting, chocolate, lunch meats, mayonnaise, marshmallows, meringues, pancakes/waffles, ice cream, fruit punch, regular soft drinks/soda, energy drinks, candy/lollies, desserts, cakes, cookies, pies, cobblers, pastries, doughnuts, iced tea.

Dairy Products

The 2 proteins most commonly found in dairy are casein and whey. Lactose is a sugar present in dairy products. Many people struggle to digest the proteins and don’t have enough of the enzyme lactase to breakdown the sugar lactose. This causes a strain on the gut and affects the balance of the gut bacteria. Symptoms to look out for that could possibly indicate that your body struggles to digest these proteins and lactose are: bloating, diarrhoea, gas, indigestion, abdominal pain and nausea in some cases.

There are a few other things in cow’s milk that could be bad for humans to ingest as well. These include growth hormones meant for baby cows, antibiotics used to treat the cows if they have infection (which is common) and other hormones meant for cows not humans. These substances are toxins to our bodies, and can cause holes in the gut lining as well, causing body wise-inflammation.

Look out for milk/dairy in these foods:

Custard/pudding, gravies, hot dogs, ice cream, Bavarian cream, breads/biscuits/crackers, butter, buttermilk, cakes/cookies/doughnuts, candy/lollies, cheeses, sour cream, yoghurt, pancakes/waffles, salad dressing, soups (creamed), whey.

So, considering all the above, here are 5 simple changes you can make to your diet include:

1.Eating a diet made up of whole foods with minimal processing are less likely to have added sugar or gluten. A way to think of this is ‘How close to its natural form does this food look?’ There are no cakes/muffins growing naturally.

2.Use natural spices instead of sauces. Most sauces are very high in sugar and contain gluten to thicken them.

3.There are so many great Paleo recipes online. Google Paleo (insert your favorite food) and it will give you a recipe that is gluten free, dairy free and refined sugar free. It should have reduced natural forms of sugar. Please make sure that the natural forms of sugar are reduced as well as any sweeter still acts as sugar.

4.Best natural sugar options are: stevia, real maple syrup, honey, coconut sugar. Still please keep these to a minimum.

5.Instead of drinking lots of soda/carbonated drinks, try herbal teas cold and hot brew, low sugar Kombucha or sparkling water with a squeeze of lemon.

Gluten, Dairy & Sugar

Did you know that Gluten, Dairy and Sugar could be making your pain worse?

Gluten

Sugar

Dairy Products

So, considering all the above, here are 5 simple changes you can make to your diet include:

Other Blogs

What to Expect During Your Massage Appointment

Benefits of massage therapy

Benefits of infant Osteopathy

What to expect during a baby Osteopathy session

How can Osteopathy help my baby

What is cranial Osteopathy for babies?

Gluten, Dairy & Sugar

Did you know that Gluten, Dairy and Sugar could be making your pain worse?

Gluten

Sugar

Dairy Products

So, considering all the above, here are 5 simple changes you can make to your diet include:

Other Blogs

What to Expect During Your Massage Appointment

Benefits of massage therapy

Benefits of infant Osteopathy

What to expect during a baby Osteopathy session

How can Osteopathy help my baby

What is cranial Osteopathy for babies?

First Massage Special