no soy, no gluten makes this vegan athlete miserable

[xlibrarygeekx]

about a month and one half ago, i was advised by my naturopath to eliminate soy and gluten from my diet, as bloodwork indicated that i have a slight sensitivity. since then, my performance as a cyclist has been dramatically compromised. to be honest, i hardly have enough energy to ride. and, when i do, i end up feeling incredibly light-headed after a workout.

just the other day, i rode for about an hour (18 miles). i felt great while riding, but as soon as i got off my bike i felt light-headed and shaky. i've spoken with other medical professionals, who've assured my that i am in excellent health -- although, we really didn't discuss my diet. i've tried to integrate some aspects of the thrive diet into my own diet. i feel like i'm running in circles -- and, in doing so, missing out on the riding season.

any advice?

[Rochellita]

I would personally go and see a GP or preferably a dietician to get properly evaluated before completely eliminating soy and gluten indefinitely, a slight sensitivity is really rather vague.

[baldy]

about a month and one half ago, i was advised by my naturopath to eliminate soy and gluten from my diet, as bloodwork indicated that i have a slight sensitivity.

Was there a particular reason that you had blood work done in the first place? With out bashing Naturopathy, maybe get an second opinion from a dietician or GP.

[Talyn]

about a month and one half ago, i was advised by my naturopath to eliminate soy and gluten from my diet, as bloodwork indicated that i have a slight sensitivity.

Apart from the advice of your naturopath, do you have any adverse affects from soy/gluten?

Is he/she recommending you go back to eating animal products?

[xJimx]

With out bashing Naturopathy

.

Please, let me. Naturopathy is for hippies.

Unless these foods are making you feel ill then keep eating them.

[Goob]

With out bashing Naturopathy

.

Please, let me. Naturopathy is for hippies.

Unless these foods are making you feel ill then keep eating them.

Yep, so many guru types have been telling people to stop with the soy and wheat when its only ~1% of people that actually have a problem with it. There is no such thing as a "slight sensitivity." It either does bad things or it doesn't.

Also, you would pretty well know on your own if you shouldn't be eating that stuff because of the terrible pain and cramping it would cause you every time you ate it.

[RorschachSoy]

Echoing what others have said, it's most likely fine for you to be eating gluten and soy. If you're having an allergic reaction, you will know it. If you feel fine after eating those foods, then eat them; listen to your body, not a quack.

[powerlifer]

Eliminating gluten from your diet shouldn't be a problem definitely wouldn't in any compromise your performance.

There are many better gluten free grains such as quiona, brown rice, buckwheat etc.

As for the soy it can make getting your protein intake harder but its not impossible.

What are you eating daily? Are you getting enough calories now that you've eliminated the above?

[V VII Hero]

gluten has made me extremely ill (due to high quantities I ingest), so I had to go gluten free for a couple years, and now I am slowly re-introducing it to my diet.

when i was gluten free
I got a rice cooker, and I ate a lot of brown rice with extra virgin olive oil and sea salt. also lots of nutritious high protein/calories diets from black beans and split pea soup. and greens.

hummus and chickpeas are good too.

rice and beans was my main staple and I made sure to eat a lot of it.

also peanutbutter death shakes for the win

[JonQ]

I’ve eaten low-gluten for years now, and a couple of years I was eating pretty strictly none at all. Had the tests (twice even, as sensitivity or intolerance doesn’t show up if you haven’t eaten the stuff for a while) but nothing showed. Which is good in the sense that I don’t have to worry about destroying villi, but of course, the symptoms that led me to skip gluten persist. So these days I occasionally eat gluten, eg. when traveling, but mostly stick to foods that don’t feel bad. Buckwheat, quinoa, millet, rice etc are all gluten-free. Oats are controversial but seem to be fine also for many coeliacs. You can do a fair bit of baking, if you’re into that, using buckwheat/almond/rice/potato etc flours. Round here I can get all-oats bread in regular grocery shops.

But as some people have said, have it checked up – it might be unnecessary to leave out gluten unless you have any specific problems. Sometimes people get stomach upsets or other problems and pin it down to some foods when in reality it can have more to do with something else – like eating enough fruit and veg, drinking enough water etc. Better not jump to very general conclusions about what to drop before knowing.