Just Ask Terry

Terry is happy to provide his opinion on diet and nutrition, supplements and lifestyle choices. This information is for educational purposes only. It is not meant to replace the advice of your physician and is not to be considered medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Should you have any concerns please contact your physician directly.

Q. Dear Terry, “I’m a 58 year old male, 165 lbs. I suffer from gluten intolerance and I try to stick with a gluten free diet. I’m wondering if there is something I can take so I don’t have to stick to a gluten free diet as often as I do today. Can you make any suggestions?” —Alex R., Tucson, AZ Dear Alex, Different people have differing levels of tolerance to gluten. For some, an occasional exposure to gluten is fairly well tolerated, but for others, it can be a major health set-back. You may want to discuss with your healthcare practitioner his or her opinion of your level of gluten sensitivity. If you are highly sensitive, I’d advise you to not go off your gluten-free diet if at all possible. If you are in the low to moderate sensitivity range, and if your doctor approves, you may experiment with some exposure if it is very important to you to do so. But I’d still try to limit these occasions to the barest minimum. I cannot guarantee that using supplements will compensate for cheating your gluten free diet. However, there are several supplements that I would consider very important to ensure you do as well as possible. Your gluten intolerance problem is the inability to digest the gluten in grains, so I would highly recommend you use supplemental digestive enzymes specific to gluten. There are a few products on the market that have good levels of these specific enzymes, so you should be able to find them easily at your local health food store or integrative pharmacy. I would also recommend a very potent probiotic which can assist your digestive process. Lastly, I would suggest adding a high bioavailability curcumin and boswellia blend to reduce any inflammation in the digestive tract. Make sure the curcumin is blended with natural turmeric oils and phospholipids for absorption as much as 10X plain curcumin. All three of these dietary supplements would be a great program to get you started in the right direction. But be sure to use moderation in your eating habits! And remember, if you are really missing certain types of foods, check out your local natural food store for gluten-free breads, pastas, pizzas, and cereals. These alternatives may help you avoid the desire to cheat!