# Gluten free?



## croydongirl

Just been reading about the connection between gluten and recurrent miscarriage if you have an allergy to it.
I have had 4 early m/c and a few stomach issues mostly gas and bloating so I thought I may have some food intolerance but if we were not trying to figure out what is going on with our babies but I will try anything at this point. I am going to try and go gluten free...it probably will not help this cycle because I just ovulated, and it takes 6 weeks to gt out of your system but even if we get a bfp this month and it doesn't end good I hope that by next month we would know if it makes a difference. 

Just wondered if anyone else out there had heard about this connection or if there were any others going gluten free who could give me any tips - it is a little overwhelming!


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## SMFirst

That's an interesting question.

I myself am not allergic to gluten, but my husband visited a naturopath a while back for stomach issues and he was recommended a gluten free diet. He followed it faithfully for a year (it worked miracles for his problems but he lost a lot of weight because the diet itself is so limiting)

He gradually got back into eating regular foods again (before we conceived) and is now starting to experience the same stomach problems again. I wonder if gluten allergy can affect sperm quality?

Anyway, the things I learned for the gluten free diet:

- Rice and potatoes become your starch.
- Rice bread and pasta are not very tasty, but with effort it could work.
- Bragg's soy sauce is helpful for flavoring many things.
- Nuts are great to snack on.
- You can make great gluten free chili's and stews.
- It's really hard to eat out at restaurants.
- There are a lot of good gluten free cereals.
- Buckwheat flour actually makes decent pancakes.
- If you avoid cow's milk, don't just use soy milk (and espcially limit it when TTC as it contains estrogen) - try almond milk or even rice milk.
- My husband used to make himself a smoothie each morning using coconut milk, juice and protein powder (I think the brand was Vega but not positive) - that was key to maintaining vitamins/ minerals/ calories/ protein.

If I think of more things I'll post again. But it is a difficult diet to say the least.


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## SMFirst

Sorry I thought of another thing - the naturopath said that gluten is often hidden as another ingredient, so I found a list online:


Ingredients which are actually "gluten" in disguise include: 
Bulgur, Bran, Brown rice syrup, Durum, Farina, Graham, Hydrolyzed vegetable protein, Kaska, Kamut, Kasha, Malt extract or flavorings, Malt vinegar, Matzo meal, Oat gum, Semolina, Spelt, Teff, Triticale.


This is the site I got that info from:

The Gluten-Free Diet That Can Help You Get Pregnant Fast!
https://www.articlesbase.com/pregna...-get-pregnant-fast-2830530.html#ixzz1CvmzSPXE


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## KateC

I haven't heard about a relationship between food allergy and miscarriage, but in a way it makes sense. An allergy is basically your immune system being way too revved up and attacking things that aren't threats (like gluten or other dietary things, or your embryo!!)

A very important part of early pregnancy is suppressing your immune system, and if skipping this step is what's causing your miscarriages, then I think it's a great idea to take steps to get that immune system in check.

I have been reading about inflammatory agents (things that rev up the immune system -- that's an oversimplification, but it works here), and their relationship to depression. If a gluten allergy has something to do with your miscarriages, then I think you should try to reduce all inflammatory agents in your diet and also increase anti-inflammatory agents. Here's my recommendation. It's going to make you healthier mentally and physically, so you might as well try it.

1) Reduce inflammatory agents in your diet, for instance, refined carbs (like white flour), refined sugar (in almost everything that's processed), and omega-6 fatty acids (which are found in seed and nut oils like corn, canola, and soy oil). To reduce omega-6s you need to eat less restaurant food, less processed food, and change your home cooking oil to olive oil or some other fruit oil. Omega-6s will take a few months to drop in your system, but it's worth the effort!

2) Increase Omega-3 fatty acids. These are anti-inflammatory agents, and they are supposed to act in harmony with Omega-6s, but we need to work to get enough Omega-3 in our modern diet. The best way to do this is to take a fish oil supplement. Make sure to chose one that's molecularly distilled so that you know it's free of mercury. You can take the oil (as I do) or the pills. Take twice whatever the recommended dosage is. Don't worry about side effects. Even if you're pregnant, this is very good for baby brain development. Omega-3 fatty acids are anti-inflammatory. They come from leaves and algae, but the best way for us to get them is from meat that eats leaves and algae. Wild caught fish is a GREAT source, and grass fed meat isn't bad. Wild game is even better. Avoid grain-fed meat The human diet used to have a 1:1 ratio of omega 6: omega 3, but the modern, Western diet has a 16:1 ratio! No wonder we have such overactive immune systems and so many allergies!

3) Introduce some probiotics into your diet. Live culture yogurt, kombucha, or even pills. This is supposed to be good for reducing allergies. I've never read this anywhere, but I think it's probably because your body needs something to attack, and harmless bacteria is a better choice than gluten or your baby. I don't know for a fact that probiotics will help, but it's another thing that certainly couldn't hurt. 



Anyway, I'm not a doctor or anything, but I am a metabolic engineer (which is tangentially related to all this) and I do a lot of reading about it. If you're interested in the book I mentioned, it's called The Depression Cure, and it goes into much more detail about Omega 3 and Omega 6 and their relationship.


Good luck! Search the web for gluten free recipe blogs. You're not alone in this dietary restriction. It's not so hard, really, once you get used to cooking with rice instead of with pasta and bread. 

I think this is a really great thing to try. As I've mentioned already, it certainly won't hurt your chances of getting pregnant, as it is a very healthy lifestyle change. It will only help you to feel better and live healthier. Give it a few months. You can do it!

Fingers crossed that it helps!


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## Deethehippy

croydongirl said:


> Just been reading about the connection between gluten and recurrent miscarriage if you have an allergy to it.
> I have had 4 early m/c and a few stomach issues mostly gas and bloating so I thought I may have some food intolerance but if we were not trying to figure out what is going on with our babies but I will try anything at this point. I am going to try and go gluten free...it probably will not help this cycle because I just ovulated, and it takes 6 weeks to gt out of your system but even if we get a bfp this month and it doesn't end good I hope that by next month we would know if it makes a difference.
> 
> Just wondered if anyone else out there had heard about this connection or if there were any others going gluten free who could give me any tips - it is a little overwhelming!

Thank you for posting this thread. I have IBS d and i have experimented before and found that cutting back on wholewheat seems to really help. I have had 2 miscarriages, 1 years ago and one last xmas. I wonder if i am gluten intolerant as when i reduce or stop wheat it seems to help me (though i never stick to it properly!) 
This makes me wonder if i should cut out wheat completely whilst we TTC and whilst i am pregnant (if i can get another BFP)


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## Dragonfly

I am a coalic and for years I didnt conceive then when I stopped gluten when i found out then after gluten free for a few years bit then i was on pill and my insides repaired I got pregnant twice. I think it stopped me for years.


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## KateC

Dee, I think you should try it! It's a big pain at first, but once you're in the habit, it's not so bad, really, so long as you cook for yourself. Just difficult to eat out. 

Have you tried kombucha? I have IBS (it comes in waves), and this helps me. It also helps my daycare provider. She said that it stopped her diarrhea cold turkey when I gave it to her. Now she brews her own, too.


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## acetoact

It was recommended I go gluten free after my first loss. That was almost a year ago. I have since had another loss, and am now pg again. I can't say it has helped, but I know it sure hasn't hurt. I do feel better. It was very hard in the beginning, because gluten it seems is in everything! Once you get the hang of it, its not too bad. My mom has celiac disease, so she helped me a lot in the beginning. There are other things that were recommended. Avoid plastics, esp if they have to be heated. Take fish oil supplements. I take them, and eat a lot of salmon also.


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## SMFirst

Thanks KateC and acetoact - you've renewed my belief in taking the fishoil supplements :)

One more thing I wanted to add- I'm not sure how true this is or not, but we were lead to believe that the gluten free diet has to be all or none - you can't just eliminate most of the gluten (or just have a little of your favorite things) - as any gluten in your system will still cause an inflammatory response. So you have to be strict and cut out all gluten :)


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## KateC

SM, Fish oil is the best! I'm convinced it makes everything better.

I think that's totally true, what you say, (all or nothing) if you have an allergy. 

I'm not allergic to gluten, but I do find that reducing the gluten in my diet helps reduce my IBS symptoms almost completely, so... sensitivity maybe? I probably would be even better if I cut it all out, but I'm quite comfortable these days, so I think I just need to watch all inflammatory agents in my diet to stay this way.


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## croydongirl

Ladies I cannot thank you enough. I am struggling to change habits, but luckily I cook a lot while whole foods,, fruits veggies and grains, so it won't be too much of a stretch to keep out the bad grains and up the good ones! Ii don't eat out a ton and I was really happy to see that Panera Bread where I love to go for lunch when i am out and about has gluten free options marked clearly on their menu as well as other items that you can order and ask the to leave out certain things. 

I too have heard it is an all or nothing thing too because it is an autoimmunity thing. 

I like the probiotics thought. It certainly can't hurt to try.

Thanks again. 

I just bought a gluten free pizza crust to make tomorrow because we are having a Super bowl Party and I was starting to feel sad that I wouldn't be able to eat pizza. Now I can!!


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