3 Days In

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Permalink Reply by Robert Kunz on February 9, 2009 at 2:10pm

Ryan,
I think you are the first to post about the Gluten diet. Please do let us all know how it worked for you and more importantly if you noticed anything. I too don't believe I have a gluten intolerance, but have been told that even so digestion and lack of any small gastric distress may go away with a gluten free diet. I plan on starting my program next week.

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Permalink Reply by Ryan Ignatz on February 10, 2009 at 9:27am

Now that I've been a little over a week into my gluten free diet, thought I'd share some of the experience. I don't feel that I have a gluten intolerance, but I have noticed a couple little things. I feel like the food choices are much easier to digest and don't leave me feeling as heavy after meals. I also don't seem to crash as hard after meals. My energy level tends to stay a little more consistent. Some of my subtle gastric stress and even gas has dissipated some (I think I'm finding out that dairy may be a slight issue).

The one issue I have not quite overcome yet is the planning aspect of the diet. Because you can't just snack on whatever is around the office or quickly go grab all food choices, you really need to plan ahead more on meals and pack everything to make sure you will have enough of the proper food to eat. I have found I need to go to the store more to find specific foods to make it easier, which is kind of costly. My one question I will answer soon is how does a mostly gluten free diet feel like. Is gluten one of those nutrition things (like the Atkins diet) where adding just a small amount ruins it, or can you have just small amounts and still feel the positive effects. If anyone has some ideas on this (especially those with an actual gluten intolerance) please let me know your thoughts.

I'm going to keep it up a little longer and then maybe go back to my old diet and see what harm that causes my body. I'll let you know.

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Permalink Reply by Robert Kunz on February 10, 2009 at 2:05pm

Ryan,
Thanks for the input this is great. I am wondering, and maybe you need a bit more time to make this decision, but you think it would be beneficial for you to go 'gluten free' the week leading up to an 'A' race? Or will you attempt to remain gluten free all the time? Do you notice it within a couple days and think that the small benefit may be a large benefit come race day? I know you mostly race Xterra, Olympic and maybe a 70.3, but what about for an Ironman where gastric distress and digestion can play a huge role?

Ryan Ignatz said:

Now that I've been a little over a week into my gluten free diet, thought I'd share some of the experience. I don't feel that I have a gluten intolerance, but I have noticed a couple little things. I feel like the food choices are much easier to digest and don't leave me feeling as heavy after meals. I also don't seem to crash as hard after meals. My energy level tends to stay a little more consistent. Some of my subtle gastric stress and even gas has dissipated some (I think I'm finding out that dairy may be a slight issue).

The one issue I have not quite overcome yet is the planning aspect of the diet. Because you can't just snack on whatever is around the office or quickly go grab all food choices, you really need to plan ahead more on meals and pack everything to make sure you will have enough of the proper food to eat. I have found I need to go to the store more to find specific foods to make it easier, which is kind of costly. My one question I will answer soon is how does a mostly gluten free diet feel like. Is gluten one of those nutrition things (like the Atkins diet) where adding just a small amount ruins it, or can you have just small amounts and still feel the positive effects. If anyone has some ideas on this (especially those with an actual gluten intolerance) please let me know your thoughts.

I'm going to keep it up a little longer and then maybe go back to my old diet and see what harm that causes my body. I'll let you know.

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Permalink Reply by Ryan Ignatz on February 15, 2009 at 8:51am

Robert,
Those are great questions. I'll start with the idea of just staying gluten free. It's one of those things where I do feel like I do have less issues with digestion of gluten free foods, and it's hard to now mentally go back to my old diet after the effort I've put in to see if this would work. I'm not fully certain exactly how it has affected my overall mood and energy through the day and for workouts, but I'm sure it has. I will need to go back to my old diet to really decide that since I am just building up my milage right now and that does affect my overall energy level (so I'm not sure how much is diet and how much is training related). Once I go back to my old diet, I think I will have more answers.

To answer the racing questions, I do feel everyone is different and everyone should go through this exercise to see how it benefits them. For me, I will probably do a bit more gluten free eating going into an event. I can recall that some of my best races have been on gluten free meals the night before the events (rice dish and tuna). My stomach seemed to be more more calm and had no cramping issues after those meals and I was able to push my body and not be held up by issues like bonking or cramping. So there may be something to the diet. I think it really only took about 2-3 days to really get most of the benefit of the gluten free diet, so that would be my thought for someone going into any race distance.

After I go back to my old diet, I'll post a bit more on any changes with energy levels during the day and in training along with how my body seems to break down the food.

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Permalink Reply by Ryan Ignatz on March 17, 2009 at 10:09pm

I wanted to add more info in since I last posted anything about a Gluten Free diet. I have since been back on my old diet containing gluten and at first, it was a little rough digesting foods, but not that it has been a couple weeks, things seem to be better again. My overall energy level is hard to pinpoint, as I'm training a lot more and tired from that. However, my girlfriend recently had a test done to see if she had a gluten intolerance and it turns out she does. So I am probably going to take the test as well to see if I have the issues or not. She is a great athlete and seems to have a really good immune system, yet, the sensitivity could be bringing her down. She is only going to be better after the diet switch.

Anyway, through the last couple weeks, we have found a great site that really explains a lot about gluten allergies and the issues associated with them. I recommend you check it out and see how damaging even a simple sensitivity can be without actually having full blown Ciliacs disease.

http://www.enterolab.com/StaticPages/Frame_Faq.htm#Top


I hope you find some useful information and maybe even get tested yourself. I'll let everyone know what my outcome is after I get my test done. I will probably switch my diet again soon to have more info to add in the discussion.

Peace Out

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Permalink Reply by Ryan Ignatz on July 13, 2009 at 1:05pm

So I have actually received my test results back to see if I have a gluten allergy. It turns out I do have a sensitivity to gluten. Glad I started playing around with this program, as I never really had the symptoms to any great degree, so assumed I was in the clear. However, now that I have been on a gluten free diet, I feel more confident that I can train and race much better. I am learning how easy it is to make the change and feel much better about how well my body digests everything I eat. If you even have a doubt, you should definitely get a test done. This is not only for your performance in sport, but for your overall long term health.

Ryan

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