Does Wheat Consumption Aggravate Menopause Symptoms?

I admit that I have long held a grudge against the Gluten-Free Gang…. It always seemed so affected and MeToo when skinny girls (it’s always skinny girls!) make a big deal in restaurants about how their meal MUST be gluten-free.  Gag. 

Then, as it does, Life happened.  A major emergency surgery followed by a long recovery period prompted me to search for a new way to eat and think about food.  I have always been what I would consider “healthy” or “health-conscious,” though to be honest, I never really had to think too much about what I ate.  I exercised a lot, and I naturally favor fruits and vegetables over other types of foods, so I haven’t struggled with my weight or worried much about food intake.  I assumed that the bloated, gassy feeling I had every afternoon and evening was totally normal, and I blamed my achy joints and random breakouts on stress and/or genes.    

I stumbled (literally, at Barnes & Noble) upon Wheat Belly Total Health by Dr. William Davis, and it is not an exaggeration to say that it changed my life.  The elimination of wheat totally transformed my health, and it got me thinking… could there be a connection to wheat/grain consumption and the severity of menopause symptoms? 

Just looking at a few of the symptoms that I personally had the most trouble with: achy joints, low energy, brain fog, and inappropriate feelings of coldness – one can see that these are also some of the most common physiological responses to grain consumption.  I am going to WAY oversimplify for the sake of brevity in this post, but in a nutshell: grains, especially wheat, trigger inflammation in the brain and body, kicking off a whole host of destructive effects on our health, including appetite stimulation, blocking the absorption of key nutrients, disrupting concentration, depression, sleep disruption, autoimmune skin reactions, disruption of hormones, and the list goes on and on.  My theory was that in eliminating wheat and supplementing key nutrients that I might be missing, I could correct these symptoms without hormone replacement therapy.

Visiting my doctor for a blood test to get a baseline, I began the long road of trial and error with various supplements, which I will cover in greater detail in subsequent posts, but bottom line, it WORKS.  I’ll share the complete protocol – diet + supplementation plan – in these pages, in the hopes that others will be able to find relief and get back to living.

In the meantime, do yourself a huge favor and check out Dr. Davis’ book, Wheat Belly Total Health for an eye-opening look at how modern diets are damaging our health!