Advice from ST after my blood tests. Gluten Free folks, nutritionists, etc

Triathlon Forum
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After over a year of trying to figure out a variety of issues (low energy, respiratory/breathing issues, mucus/phlegm production) I stumbled upon what I am hoping is a fix this past week through some blood tests. Original I got blood tests done as I’ve struggled with severe, almost chronic muscle cramping in races. (yes I’ve tried everything, hydration, stretching, salt tablets, you name it). I DNF’d at the Chicago Tri as I started cramping 8 minutes in to the swim in my hamstring, and onto the bike was unable to bend my leg for 5 minutes, therefore unable to get in my cycling shoes. Knowing I can’t go on with this anymore I knew I needed to try to get this figured out. I got a ton of lab blood work done last week: food allergy tests, a basic metabolic panel, CBC, all the electrolytes, magnesium, serum ferritin/iron, Vitamin D, etc.

All electrolytes, iron, Vitamin D, and everything else looked great, though I had several food allergies test positive (***a few level 2’s of 5 - corn, peanuts, soybeans, and a 3 of 5 for wheat, carrots, and celery. ***)
My race day breakfast at Chicago consisted of peanuts, and peanut butter on whole wheat toast. Eating things I tested positive for, naturally got me thinking if there is any way of any correlation to muscle cramping. Obviously muscle cramping is an issue where doctors, nutritionists, and athletes still have their own speculation for the cause (usually 3 things: hydration, electrolytes, and muscle fatigue.) I would love to think this could be tied with cramping, but honestly that seems a bit far fetched. Who knows…

That said, I’ve decided to go 100% wheat, corn, peanut, soybean, carrot, & celery free and give this a shot to see how I feel, mostly for my breathing & energy issues, and hoping there is some correlation to allergy & cramping, though it may be a long shot. I honestly think my breathing issues will decrease, but it will take a month of this to test it out. That’s a TON of foods I cannot eat. I was used to eating probably 75 % breads, pastas, bagels, etc & the rest a bit of dairy, veggies, and fruits, and after a recent meeting with a nutritionist yesterday I am giving his advice a shot - which was to go 90% lean proteins & fruits/veggies. This is a HUGE change from my past eating. I have zero allergy issues with the following, based on the tests:* milk, whey, chocolate/cocoa, beef, pork *& a very small (level 1 of 5) allergy to fish & eggs

Here are my questions for Slowtwitch:
Does anyone have a great resource/food list of what you can eat on the gluten free diet? I’ve found a lot of ingredient lists, but they’re 10 pages long. Any simplified lists with common foods? (I don’t have the funds for the $7 loafs of GF breads & GF specialty foods, and am planning on simply cutting out breads, pastas, etc for the most part)
What specific healthy but calorie-dense foods are there that I can add to my diet in order to not lose weight going off so many carbs (ie. Olive oil, chia seeds…what else?)
What common foods do I need to stay away from (wheat, breads, pastas, oatmeal??)
Thank you!

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you can eat anything without gluten. No need to really have an ingredient list. Just look at the ingredients in the item you want and if there’s wheat (or sometimes it just says flour, and it means wheat flour) stay away from it.

Rice, quinoa, potatoes are good substitutes for carbs.

There’s wheat/gluten hidden in a lot of things. Soup bases, french fries at restaurants, soy sauce, even some meats.

There are a ton of websites/blogs where people post gluten free recipes. You can follow those for a few weeks and you’ll learn what you can/cannot eat.

There are a lot of things people substitute for gluten (different ‘gums’) in cooking, but you can eat gluten free w/o using those. Just think whole foods and you’ll be fine. Some oats are certified gluten free, and that means they are processed in a facility where no wheat is processed. Things won’t be labeled gluten free unless they are from a gluten free processing facility, but if they don’t say gluten free that doesn’t mean you can’t eat them (depending on your tolerance/allergy level).

I DNFd IMLOU after having both hamstrings cramp simultaneously 10 minutes into the swim. I couldn’t kick the rest of the swim and couldn’t really ride in an aero position which caused other problems on the run along with my cramping hamstrings. I’ve also have really bad foot cramps and quad cramps this year that aren’t caused by electrolyte issues (I can usually feel those coming on). My cramps have been instantaneous and major when they happen. I’ve also had major GI issues all year so my doctor did a panel of tests and I’m starting a very extensive food elimination diet next week to see what might help. For the rest of the cramps I’ve had luck with massage and rolling and they seem to stop coming back. I haven’t figured out the hamstring cramps and 2 weeks later they still hurt and feel like they’ll cramp if I stretch my legs out or something.

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You should spend some time on marksdailyapple.com (look for the posts specific to endurance training, which Mark now dislikes in spite of his top 5 finish at Kona 30 years ago). Basically, there is too much information on this topic to put in a response to your thread. Your biggest problem is that when it comes to dietary issues, everybody’s experience is usually a little bit different, and you will probably experience some trial and error.

As a child I was very gluten intolerant but now I do eat bread. However, I try to stick to a diet that includes a breakfast of eggs, veggies, meat, and fruit. Snacks of greek yogurt, almonds, fruit or whey shake. Lunch of meat (usually grilled chicken) on salad greens with other veggies, avocado and vinaigrette. Dinner of lean meat or fish and veggies. I also take a multi vitamin, fish oil, and flaxseed oil as supplements. Potatoes, sweet potatoes, and rice to add carbs when I am doing solid training. Dark chocolate for dessert. I probably don’t eat enough carbs, although wine is added liberally at times.

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"Does anyone have a great resource/food list of what you can eat on the gluten free diet? "

Make your own bread and pasta. Replace conventional flower with buckwheat or rice flower and add guar gum as binding agent. Get a bread maker, you can find them probably used on craigslist since most people buy them without ever using…don’t use the breadmaker to bake the bread, just use it to mix the recipe. Then buy a baquette sheet for the bread and bake it in the oven. There are so many recipes that you can make and you’ll eat better quality and tasting bread than you can buy at the store. I suggest not to use the breadmaker to bake the bread as the “oven” feature is pathetic at best and results in a very dense type of bread that isn’t evenly baked. You can easily make your own pizza dough and use all fresh ingredients to finish the pizza. if you don’t have much time during the week you can make 10 of them at the time, underbake them in the oven cool them off and then freeze them.

You can also make your own pasta. I’d take your condition as an opportunity to improve your cooking. You’ll be amazed how easy it is to prepare delicious meals from scratch.

"What specific healthy but calorie-dense foods are there that I can add to my diet in order to not lose weight going off so many carbs (ie. Olive oil, chia seeds…what else?) "

When you cook from scratch with all fresh ingredients you can always use a healthy amount of olive oil. You can also use a lot of cheese which is very nutrient dense.

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I’m gluten free, and I’ve found that wild rice cooked with salt, cinnamon, and butter makes a fantastic pre-workout breakfast. I do mix egg whites into it – dunno if you want to do that, given your low level allergy to eggs.

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sounds like you’re primed for paleodiet. check out the “paleo diet for athletes”. works for me… lost extra weight, never a digestion issue.