Is bread in Europe healthier? I’m going to Germany to cheer my husband on while he runs the Berlin Marathon. My friend, who also struggles to digest gluten, said “You are going to eat bread and gelato!!”. I know gelato is from Italy, but that is what she said. When it comes to bread, Europeans use less pesticides, less preservatives, and no GMOs. Apparently the U.S. uses hard wheat, whereas Europe uses soft wheat, which contains less gluten.
I’ve read that Germans like their sourdough so I’m thinking between the Euro soft wheat, taking a gluten enzyme, and finding sourdough, I’ll be fine. Plus I’ll only eat a bit. When I sought out a functional medicine doctor (after my gastroenterologist offered little to no advice), she described my digestive issues as “a death by 1000 cuts”. I have been diligently eliminating cuts, and I feel so much better. But maybe a few calculated cuts won’t do any harm. We shall see and I’ll report…
I went to a gastroenterologist originally because my tummy started BUGGING on a regular basis in 2021. I couldn’t identify a trigger, but it felt like an ulcer, toggling between burning and extreme hunger. I would experience this a few times a week. After my gastroenterologist saw my blood results for Gliadin IGG (gluten antibodies), he suggested a stomach biopsy to see if I had Celiacs. (The Gliaden IGG numbers were that high!) He ruled out Celiacs but said my stomach and esophagus were slightly inflamed and noted “slight gastritis“, but he offered no suggestions or changes to my diet. He couldn’t even get himself to say “you should eat less gluten” without that Celiac diagnosis. He suggested I ask my primary doctor. My primary doctor had know idea what to say about the blood test or my stomach issues.
This is where the functional medicine practitioner came in. She was willing to quiz me about my lifestyle, do further testing, discuss nutrition and come up with a game plan. Did my insurance pay for her? Of course not. I’m thankful I could afford her but dang…many people cannot. And many doctors don’t always seem to have the interest or time to dig deep into lifestyle and nutrition. She did further food sensitivity testing which showed sensitivity to a number of foods. She said it looked like “leaky gut”. The testing also showed higher than normal candida levels. So the protocol of cutting gluten, decreasing alcohol and treating fungal overgrowth did wonders. Wonders, I say!
Has my hard work earned me a few pieces of European bread? I’ll know by the end of this month…
