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If you don't eat wheat by choice...


StaceyinLA
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(as in you don't have celiac, but maybe mild symptoms when consuming gluten or you just don't want to eat it), do you ever have any, or do you stay away from it completely? And if you do have a small amount here and there, do you find it affects you, or makes it difficult for you to resist it?

 

I'm struggling. I want to give up wheat just for overall health reasons (reading Wheat Belly and I know I'm affected, especially when I eat it often). I've done Whole 30s and given up wheat before, but here is my dilemma, and I know this is gonna seem ridiculous to some, so don't judge me about it. I don't have a lot of vices.

 

We have been waiting on a particular doughnut shop to open fairly close to us. I'm not a doughnut fan per se, but these aren't your typical doughnuts; they are very unique, handmade, and just flipping amazing. Vietnamese Iced Coffee doughnut anyone? I think I will TYVM. This place just does some cool stuff with doughnuts!

 

Anyway, I really need to cut out wheat, but am wondering if treating myself to a doughnut once/week (and this is with me eating very clean the rest of the time), is just gonna be torture, is gonna totally defeat the purpose, or is gonna make me unable to really give up wheat because it's gonna keep me craving it. The sugar really isn't an issue in the situation because the dough isn't really sweet and a lot of the toppings aren't either (and they don't put actual glaze on the different flavored ones).

 

I guess I wouldn't be so ridiculous about it except I've been waiting for this for months and now it has opened and I just can't imagine being unable to ever enjoy the dang doughnuts. At the same time, I realize my overall health is what matters and I don't want to totally undermine my efforts.

 

WWYD?

Edited by StaceyinLA
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We all went GF for 6 months when we discovered that youngest DD has non-celiac gluten intolerance. It didn't make any difference for anyone in the family aside from youngest DD. So after 6 months (how long it takes to get gluten completely out of one's system), the rest of us started consuming gluten again. We eat less than we did before since I still cook GF.

 

If you know you are sensitive to gluten, I would have the donut at the opening and then go GF. I wouldn't eat it once per week because that would take too much of a toll on your body.

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I am sort of in your shoes except that I also can't eat dairy (no doughnuts for me) or eggs.

 

I can have wheat in moderation which means a couple of slices of bread every four days. This does NOT. Mean 1/2 slice of bread every other day. The spacing matters. My body can deal with it in four days.

 

The rule is this: I don't have wheat in the house. When I go out to eat , IF the restaurant have fantastic bread, I eat the whole loaf with olive oil and balsamic vinegar. I don't share. And then I take the enzymes that help with digestion. I also eat really yummy tortillas if I am eating pork chili.

 

Just don't bring it home.

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Okay well the place has opened, and so far we've been about 9 times in 2 weeks. Yeah, I know, AWFUL (some of the times were for their amazing sliders though, and they have GF options for those). They have different doughnut flavors daily and there have just been so many I wanted to try!

 

Anyway, obviously it has to stop. I don't want to have all those cravings, and I do feel crummy overall just because I've eaten there a LOT, and eating a lot of gluten makes me have joint pain. IDK if just a single doughnut (or even a half because they're pretty big) would cause a problem with that, but I just wonder if it would defeat the purpose.

Edited by StaceyinLA
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Before I was diagnosed I voluntarily gave up wheat... read wheat belly and really appreciated the perspective. 😜

 

I have Celiac and wheat allergy and I'm not judging you at all!!!!!

 

I have several friends who just feel so much better off of gluten and try to strictly adhere to a GF diet- and they feel terrible when they do eat it.

 

Frankly, I would eat the donut and see how you feel and go from there. If your body throws a fit and you feel terrible, that gives you more information on how often to go off plan and how much it's worth to you....

 

Cravings are a completely different thing...so If wheat is a trigger food for you which causes a host of other not so good food cravings, is consider that maybe 1 donut a week is too often. Maybe 1x a month?

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I think I am a little worried about the cravings, but I'm gonna cut wheat for now and maybe go in a week and see how that goes. I'm planning to empty my house of anything having or containing wheat. At least if I come home, I won't be able to indulge in anything else even if I DO have a craving.

 

I know I won't let it go too far because I do feel crummy and have joint pain when I overdo (like now), so it makes me cut it off, but I just haven't ever really tried to figure an amount that might be okay; I've either done all or nothing.

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I'm guessing that sugar hit is making you feel just as crummy as the gluten.

 

I think it's ok to go once in a blue moon, just not once a week, if eating that kind of thing truly bothers you.

I'm sure it does. I do try to eat some protein before (I will have a couple boiled eggs on the way if we are going mid-morning), just so it won't be as much of a hit.

 

I'm just gonna have to figure out what I can get by with I suppose. That sounds so desperate! ;-p

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Well, I'm not in your situation, but DH is.  He eats gluten free frequently enough at home that he knows he feels better if he doesn't eat it, but he doesn't want to cause trouble when at a work function or sometimes he just wants something bad.  He tends towards pizza or gas station junk food more than sweets, but I think it's the same. He just eats the junk when he wants it, then whines about how crappy he feels afterwards and gets a raised eyebrow from me.  If it's really bad I sometimes hand him a bottle of tums, but that's about it.  It's really probably no different than how I sometimes want simple carbs - even though I know I shouldn't eat them.  Health is the tradeoff.

 

 

ETA: DH has to be gluten free for 6 weeks before he stops craving it. Maybe have one trip to the donut shop then stop eating wheat for 2 months and see.  It's possible the donuts won't taste half as good as you think.

Edited by Katy
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I don't know.  I eat low carb so I rarely eat wheat.  I sometimes have some major rumbly in the tumbly when I do.  I don't assume that is because I have some sort of intolerance, just that it's a food my body isn't used to regularly.  So I don't see the big deal if you eat the occasional doughnut, but I wonder if it'll cause you issues. 

 

 

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7 or 8 years ago I went gluten-free to see if it would help my migraines. I went from having 2-3 per week to 2-3 per year. I went GF before springtime allergy season that year, and everyone around me was complaining about the unusually nasty allergy season, but for the first time in forever, I was 100% unaffected. Same for DH, although he was only GF at home.

 

I kept it up for a few years and slowly discovered that allowing a little into my diet triggered migraines, but if I kept a small amount of gluten in my system, I wouldn't get migraines from accidentally eating it, if that makes sense. Kind of like being inoculated against a virus by getting a vaccine. So now I eat gluten-containing things several times a week, mostly sourdough. I'm nowhere near wheat free or gluten free, but I'm sure it's less than your average person eats. My migraines are still under control, and I still don't get seasonal allergies except maybe a sneeze here and there and slightly itchy eyes. DH is a lot more free with gluten and has slightly more seasonal allergy symptoms, but still nowhere near where he was before. It's easily controlled with Claritin. It's like the big gluten experiment several years ago re-set my body, and I'm still in that re-set state even though I'm regularly eating small amounts again.

 

So in our case, gluten/wheat doesn't have to be an all-or-nothing endeavor after the re-set, but I say that with a gigantic YMMV.

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Life is short.  Eat the doughnut.  But in moderation.

 

I pretty much live the Whole 30 lifestyle 24/7 (want to lose more weight) but when I go off of it is for my vice, beer.  I always feel disgusting the next day (not hangover disgusting, stomach disgusting).  I find it is not as bad if I drink enough water to sort of flush it out of my system. 

 

My problem with the doughnut wouldn't be the wheat it would be the sugar.  I am not a sweets person at all but I find that once I have something sugary I find myself craving it more and more and I don't have great willpower.

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I have a friend in your shoes who does occasionally give in and have a burger bun or something. She always "pays" for it for a couple of days later, but is very sparing about it.

This is me. My "give-ins" or "just give it a trys" get further and further apart with each episode of "paying for it" because it's really just not worth it. I've been doing this long enough now that the doughnuts would not even tempt me in the slightest way. It was much harder at first.

Edited by fraidycat
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