Sensitivity to gluten could be affecting your performance, as David Reavely explains

It might surprise you, but a number of world-class sporting stars believe that gluten has the potential to affect their performances. Through personal discovery, they have concluded that they re better off without gluten in their diet.

This year s Wimbledon tennis champion, Novak Djokovic, discovered that he was being badly affected by a sensitivity to gluten. His performances are said to have improved markedly after he eradicated it from his diet. Nate Brannen, a middle-distance athlete from Canada who competed over 1500m in the 2012 London Olympics, does not have a diagnosis of either coeliac disease or gluten sensitivity. However, his coach seems to be credited for recommending that he try a gluten-free diet as an injury-prevention strategy. He began the diet in 2011 and believes his body is much healthier when he eats that way and he has had minimal injuries.

Great Britain s Andrew Steele, who competed in the 2008 Beijing Olympics over 400m and the 4x400m relay, unfortunately missed the London Games. He struggled with injuries and through a diagnosis with the Epstein-Barr virus until he switched to a gluten-free diet.

Olympic pole vault gold medallist Jenn Suhr was diagnosed with coeliac disease after suffering from non-stop cramping, weakness, dehydration and several injuries. These indications are some of the commonly experienced symptoms associated with the damage that gluten can inflict upon the body when an individual becomes sensitive to it.

US Olympic distance runner Amy Yoder Begley was diagnosed with coeliac disease after living with symptoms that included anaemia, fatigue, bloating and frequent bathroom trips.

What is gluten?

Gluten is the protein component found in certain grains. These include wheat (which contains the highest amount), barley and rye. Most people with gluten sensitivity also avoid oats which can be contaminated with gluten as they re often processed in factories that handle other gluten grains and cross-contamination can occur.

People who are allergic to gluten are referred to as coeliac and suffer from coeliac disease. However, an allergy is very different to intolerance. Someone who suffers from coeliac disease will react very quickly to a small amount of gluten. Conversely, someone who has intolerance to gluten may not even notice any problems until hours or even a day later. In fact, over the years I soon learnt that there are many different shades of gluten intolerance. For instance, some sufferers may be able to eat bread and pasta for, let s say, two days but by day three it begins to adversely affect them. Unfortunately, most medical diagnosis revolves around identifying gluten allergy and not intolerance, so a sufferer may show a negative result to the blood tests designed to identify an allergy, but still be suffering from intolerance.

How can it affect you?

Once an individual becomes sensitive to gluten, the body regards it as a toxin. As already stated, if you are allergic to gluten, the body often reacts to the toxin more quickly compared to gluten intolerance. However, in both cases gluten causes damage to the digestive system. This damage includes inflammation and irritation, particularly to the lining of the small intestine.

Since many nutrients are absorbed through the small intestine, it s easy to see why a gluten allergy or intolerance can result in vitamin and mineral deficiencies. Moreover, my experience in dealing with many gluten-sensitive people over the years has led me to conclude that an inability to lose excess weight is often related to the adverse effects that gluten can have on the body s metabolism. This motivated me to write The Big Fat Mystery (published by Metro, 2008) which focuses upon this and other aspects associated with gluten sensitivity.

In the beginning, I used to think that the effects of gluten were confined to the digestive system. This proved to be very far from the truth. In fact, over the years, I soon realised that the effects of gluten sensitivity can manifest themselves in any part of the body.

Getting diagnosed

Many athletes will look at the list of symptoms and have some suspicion that they could be sensitive to gluten. If you re one of them you might want to investigate getting tested via your GP for an allergy to gluten. However, bear in mind that such tests don t identify possible gluten intolerance, which can have a significant impact on health. In view of this, many people pursue the option of private testing services.

Identifying genuine companies that conduct reliable intolerance tests may be a problem, so do your homework. One suggestion is to contact the British Association for Applied Nutrition and Nutritional Therapy (BANT) for advice about who to approach for reliable testing services. One company is YorkTest Laboratories, who conduct tests on your blood sample sent to them from a home-test kit. An introduction to their work is provided by TV s Dr Hilary Jones on their website: yorktest.com.

Some possible side-effects of gluten

Skin problems
Arthritis
Low energy
Increased susceptibility to injuries (probably due to increased inflammation throughout the body)
Menstrual problems
Weight gain this is very common and usually down to water retention
Depression
Poor attention span
Headaches
Migraines
Drowsiness
Mouth ulcers
Constipation
Irritable bowel syndrome
Flatulence and bloating
Indigestion
Acid reflux
Stomach pain
Recurrent infections
Mucus congestion, including sinus problems

This list is far from exhaustive and I am continuously encountering new health conditions that respond to a diet free of gluten.

Foods that contain gluten

Bread, rye bread and pumpernickel, spelt (wheat), barley, oats, alcoholic beverages beers and some spirits such as grain-based vodka biscuits and cookies, pretzels, muffins, pastry, scones, cous cous, durum wheat, pasta, macaroni, spaghetti, noodles, pizza, foods covered in breadcrumbs chicken nuggets, fish fingers, bulgar wheat, wheat, oat or rye crisp breads, Yorkshire puddings, pancakes, semolina, stuffings such as sage and onion which contains breadcrumbs, rusk, wheat-based breakfast cereals, or cereals that include wheat, malt or malt extract, soy sauce, modified wheat starch, wheat germ, malt vinegar.

Foods that may contain hidden gluten

Liquorice, confectionery some chocolate and sweets, stock-cubes, curry powder, sauce mixes, gravy powder, chips/fries some may have a wheat-coating (look at the ingredients on labels, including those for oven chips/fries), sausages, soups some include the likes of wheat flour as a thickener, crisps some include wheat or modified wheat starch and the latter sometimes contains gluten, mustard powder.

Good news

Having looked at the burgeoning list, you could be forgiven for asking the question, What on earth can I eat?” Well, the good news is that there are gluten-free alternatives for many of the items listed.

For example, you can purchase gluten-free gravy mix, stock-cubes, gluten-free sausages, pasta, biscuits, cereals and flour. Even gluten-free beer is now available in most supermarkets. The range of products is constantly growing, which is good for the gluten-sensitive consumer.

For those who wish to bake their own gluten-free products, there are a number of flour substitutes now available. The all-purpose type is usually made from a combination of potato, rice, maize and buckwheat flours. Some manufacturers offer a choice between brown or white gluten- free flour. The brown version is nutritionally superior because it contains fibre, as well as more vitamins and minerals.

Avoid products that contain excessive sugar and additives and opt for products that use natural ingredients wherever possible just because a product is gluten-free doesn t mean it s healthy.

David Reavely is a nutritional therapist, is the author of several books and is a fully qualified fitness instructor. For more info see fooddetective.co.uk

The post Nutrition: Gluten sensitivity appeared first on Athletics Weekly.