Beyond Gluten-Free
Eliminating gluten can solve some, but often not all, health problems.
Photo by Markus Spiske on Unsplash
When I was in my 60s, my wife yanked me from the jaws of death. That’s a little hyperbolic but true. Simply eating whatever I wanted had put me on the path to chronic diseases (cardiovascular, diabetes) that would have killed me sooner rather than later.
Ironically, Jenny’s severe health problems (migraine and diverticulosis) led us to consider a gluten-free diet to cope with underlying causes of both of our health issues.
In a previous article, I told the story of how Jenny and I entered a gluten-free lifestyle. We’re still in it. But things have become more complicated since the days when we could eat nearly anything that did not contain gluten.
I’m not complaining. I’m truly thankful for feeling better and being heathier than I was 25 years ago. Were it not for my wife, I would not be in this position. I hope that my story can help you and others achieve similar results.
Gluten-Free Was Just the Beginning
I’ve often joked that, between us, Jenny and I have one, somewhat healthy body. She continues to battle health issues, and I continue to struggle with aches and pains that accompany advancing years. Let’s just say that I feel Joe Biden’s pain.
For us, the Covid-19 pandemic was less disruptive than, tragically, it was for all too many. Schools, shops, and restaurants were closed so that our staying isolated at home didn’t seem strange, even to our friends. We could still get food at our farmers’ market or quick, masked trips to the grocery store. But otherwise, we worked from home, cooked at home, and took walks in the Connecticut woods nearby.
Nevertheless, Jenny’s migraines and digestive problems continued to disrupt even our quiet routines. And I began to encounter loss of energy and arthritis pain in my fingers, making typing difficult. All that interfered with work and leisure. Therefore, the search for solutions continued.
During the spring of 2021, Jenny came across information online about the role of lectins (in addition to gluten) in causing inflammation. The more she learned about lectins (proteins that bind to carbohydrates and that act as a defensive mechanism for plants), the more she discovered that they can become highly disruptive to digestion, interfering with absorption of nutrients. For some highly sensitive persons whose intestines have become porous, lectins can produce an autoimmune response and can increase inflammation (including rheumatoid arthritis).
After learning about what comprises a low-lectin diet from the writings of Dr. Steven Gundry[1], she concluded that we should add this approach to our gluten-free regimen.
Here we go again, I thought. But I was eager to try anything that might help her while also helping me gain more control over my blood sugar levels and arthritis.
Low-Lectin Lifestyle
In truth, adopting a low-lectin approach to food merely takes a gluten-free lifestyle one step further. After all, wheat gluten is extremely high in lectins that are difficult to remove. It is quite possible that gluten’s high lectin content is responsible for the deleterious effects that some persons experience.
A major problem with reducing lectins is that they occur in many of our most popular foods: tomatoes, potatoes, beans (nearly all kinds), wheat, other grains, corn, peas, rice, soy, peppers, squash, peanuts, other nuts (including almond skins), spinach, etc.[2]
While it is impossible to eliminate all lectins from food, it is possible to minimize their presence. Pressure-cooking and other techniques remove some lectins, but it is best to simply avoid eating foods high in lectins if you’re sensitive to them.
Fortunately for us both, Jenny is a genius at finding and modifying recipes that mimic popular foods but without lectins.[3] We have learned to use low-lectin ingredients for baked goods and other dishes. But all of this comes at a price.
That price is literally the increased cost of food to support our needs. Unfortunately, we cannot eat most of the food products found in grocery stores. By purchasing fresh produce that is low-lectin, alternative flours and other baking ingredients, low-lectin snacks (which are rare), condiments, and dairy products that we can tolerate (such as A2 milk, goat cheeses), our weekly food budget for two approaches $300. Most families cannot afford that.
Another lifestyle cost is that eating out has become an even more rare event. While we can readily find gluten-free items in restaurants, most cannot accommodate our low-lectin requirements. We cope by reading menus very carefully to see which side dishes sauces accompany main entrees. If menus are vague, we ask our server. If servers don’t know, we ask them to ask the chef. Whenever possible, we might request substitutions. If none of that works, we leave.
And forget about eating meals prepared by friends unless they are following a low-lectin regimen themselves. We wouldn’t dream of asking friends to stick to our list of acceptable foods. Sometimes, we can bring to a dinner party our own food that we’ve prepared in advance. But that can be more trouble than it’s worth, and it implies lack of trust in our hosts.
There is also the social cost of restrictions on travel. When we travel by car, we can take some food with us. We also stay at Airbnb locations so that we can purchase and cook our own meals. This increases both the cost and hassle of excursions.
Long-distance and especially air travel is highly restricted since we cannot take our own food with us. Eating in airports is impossible. Think about how you would cope in case of a major flight delay. Visiting relatives who live far away becomes nearly prohibitive.
Despite all of that, I continue to support, even enjoy, our low-lectin life. Cooking together for the past several years has brought us closer to one another (more on that soon). Do I miss some of the foods that I once ate regularly? Absolutely! But now, I feel better and am in better health than I was 20 years ago.
And I’m pleased that Jenny’s situation is somewhat better. With additional tweaks now and then, her digestive issues are more manageable, although always present to some degree. She now takes a medication that prevents migraines (although it has some questionable side effects). And she would be unable to hold a non-remote job because of her chronic, autoimmune conditions. But for now, she has found work-from-home employment that helps her to cope.
My bottom line is that things are better than they otherwise could have been. Living a low-lectin lifestyle is a continual challenge, and it is complicated. But for those who suffer from chronic conditions, it might be the best alternative. For us, it’s the only alternative.
[1] Disclaimer: citing or discussing the work of Dr. Steven Gundry does not constitute endorsement of his conclusions or recommendation of his methods or products. No revenue is derived from such mention.
[2] For information about foods low or high in lectins and how to avoid them, see https://gundrymd.com/signs-lectin-sensitivity/.
[3] To take but one example, she now makes a tomato-based sauce for pasta or pizza that is better than any commercially available product. She uses a tomato base that is derived from skinned, cooked tomatoes without seeds. Adding traditional spices and other ingredients as desired, she serves the cooked sauce over casava-based (gluten-free) pasta or as a topping for homemade, cassava crust pizza.