Common Health Questions Women Ask Me About Celiac Disease as a Health Coach Ep. 211

If you’ve ever Googled something like “Why do I still feel sick with celiac disease?” or “Do I need to take supplements?”—this episode is for you.
 Today I’m answering some of the most common questions I get as a health coach working with women who have celiac disease.
 We’re diving into:

• The nutrients you might be low in (and why blood tests matter)
• Whether supplements are worth it
• What’s going on if you’re still feeling rubbish on a gluten free diet
• The connection between celiac disease and lactose intolerance
• Why your bones could be at risk

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Music Credit bensound.com 

Chapters

• 0:00 Common Celiac Questions Explained
• 2:40 Nutrient Deficiencies and Supplements
• 4:11 Post-Diagnosis Lactose Intolerance
• 5:23 Celiac Impact on Bone Health
• 7:12 Why Symptoms Persist Despite Gluten-Free Diet
• 11:25 Tracking Health and Closing Thoughts

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:25

Now, as a health coach, I get so many people sending me messages and emails and asking me health related questions to do with celiac disease, so I thought I'd put together a few of those questions today and answer them in one episode.

Speaker 1: 0:40

The first question is what nutrients could I be low in? This is a really hard question to answer because we are all unique and we are all very different. So my easy answer to this is I don't know. I can't answer that for you, but you need to go and get a blood test done. So go to your doctor, ask them to run a blood panel on you and get them to check what you are low on. If you are low in iron, then obviously you would need to up your iron levels, but it can be dangerous to take iron when you like, say iron supplements, if you are not low in iron. So the safest thing to do is to go and get a blood test and find out exactly what you are low in. Now, having said that, many people with celiac disease that are newly diagnosed, many people with celiac disease that are newly diagnosed iron is probably the top one that I hear from people the most that they are low in, but a lot of the other vitamins they can be low in and it can affect your energy. So it's kind of a catch-22. You do need to find out what you are low in before you can kind of fix that problem. So although it's a great question, it is something that I personally cannot answer without you having a blood test. So I hope that clears that up, because it is something that I get asked all the time, which is very surprising. So you know, in my program, ultimate Celiac System, I have a whole list of things that I say go to your doctor and ask for these tests every year. And the next one kind of ties into the first question Do I need to take supplements with celiac disease? Again, it completely depends. I personally take supplements. I feel that they boost any sort of deficiencies that I might have in any areas whatsoever. I would rather play it safe than sorry. So I figure you know the more benefits that I can make from my body through supplementation, the more I'm happy to do that. You know, unless you're eating a ton of fruit and vegetables a day and they're all organic, you probably are low in some vitamins. But again, going to your doctor finding out what you are low in and then supplementing those areas. But, having said that, it can actually make you feel better to be on supplements because they can help boost your energy. And you know, the recommended daily intake of vegetables and fruits and the amount of nutrients that we need into our body are the bare minimum. So they're the bare minimum so that we don't get sick. So I figure the optimum is better than the minimum, because then, obviously, you're at your peak performance. You're at your peak level of health and when it comes to supplements, it's about getting something that's really high quality, something that you know is going to actually work, because some supplements are not worth the money that you pay for them, they are a waste of your time and I would say, don't even bother with them. So make sure you're looking for a really high quality product and get the one, the best one, that you can afford. All right, the next one. This is an easy one for me.

Speaker 1: 3:44

Can I develop a lactose intolerance after my diagnosis? Yes, 100%. That is exactly what happened to me and so many people that I work with and talk to. So yes, unfortunately, you can become lactose intolerant after your celiac diagnosis. For some people, this is temporary and for some people it becomes permanent. So I always get my students to cut out dairy initially. So if you've just been diagnosed with celiac disease, cut dairy out completely, let your body heal, start to get your gut sorted, start to feel better, and then slowly introduce it and if it doesn't affect you, you will probably be okay. Some people cannot tolerate lactose initially because their body is still healing. So it can be confusing because a lot of people think they've accidentally been gluten, when in fact they're just reacting to, say, some yogurt or some milk, something like that. So yes, you can definitely become lactose intolerant after a celiac disease diagnosis. But again, cut it out for a little bit, see how you feel, get your body back on track and then slowly reintroduce it and see how you go All right.

Speaker 1: 4:56

The next one is are my bones affected by celiac disease? 100%, absolutely 100%. I would go as far as to say the majority of our body is affected by celiac disease, particularly if we continue to eat gluten. Now the problem is with our bone health. The nutrients that our bones need they are not getting when we are eating gluten and we have celiac disease. So some people they do unfortunately have the start of osteoporosis because they have been living with celiac disease for such a long time before they get a diagnosis and go gluten-free. For some people, such as myself, I only had symptoms for around about a year. So when I went and got my bone density test, I had perfect bones. I was very, very lucky that I was able to get a diagnosis very quickly.

Speaker 1: 5:49

But what can happen is the longer you go on and continue to eat gluten yes, the worse your bones can, unfortunately, become. Now there are ways to strengthen our bones. I've done episodes about this. But there are ways that you can make sure that your bones are going to strengthen our bones. I've done episodes about this, but there are ways that you can make sure that your bones are going to be strong and healthy for your future. But if you have been, you know, living with celiac disease and you've been eating gluten-free and you've had a bone density test, bone mineral density test, you should be fine if you're doing all the right things and looking after your health. But if you're still eating gluten or you know you continue to not look after your health, then 100% your bones will suffer from that. So, making sure that you are eating a complete gluten-free diet and eating foods that will benefit your bones. Doing the right exercises and looking after your health will make a big difference to your bone health.

Speaker 1: 6:41

All right, the next one is why am I still suffering from symptoms even though I'm on a gluten-free diet? This is the question I get asked all the time. Like I'm not even joking, all the time people message me this I've gone gluten-free, I've been living with celiac disease, I've been cutting this out, cutting that out, and I still feel like rubbish. This is so, so common. The problem with this is it is like could be anything. It could be absolutely anything that is affecting you. The number one thing that I always say to people is cutting out the lactose, but, sure, cutting back on the dairy, cutting back on lactose and seeing how they feel, because that is usually the most obvious one. But stress plays a huge part in the way that we feel as well. So many, many people share with me that they are stressed out of their mind, they're constantly anxious, they're constantly worried, and the problem is, when we feel this worry, it shows up in our gut. So that could be a very easy one to look at that you could be feeling so stressed and anxious and worried about your food and your diet and getting gluten. That could be one, but there are so many other reasons why you can still feel rubbish on a gluten-free diet. So it's about delving deeper and figuring out hey, is there a particular food that I'm eating and it's affecting me?

Speaker 1: 8:07

I've helped so many women discover that oats don't work for them. Now, if you're in Australia or New Zealand, this is not relevant for you, but for the countries where oats are allowed and we're talking about purity protocol and we're talking about non-contaminated oats rather, if you are eating oats, you may be reacting to them. Lots of people react to oats, even though they're so-called the gluten-free versions. Like I said, this is not relevant for my Australian and New Zealand audience, because we're told not to eat gluten-free oats. If you've come across gluten-free oats, we are told not to eat them unless we've done an oat challenge. So that's another whole topic. But for those of you that live in countries where oats are allowed, this is very important to look at as well, because oats can play a big part in the way that you feel. Around 10% of people with celiac disease react to oats. So that is another thing that I say cut out, totally cut them out of your diet and see how you feel.

Speaker 1: 9:09

For me, I struggled with brown rice. Brown rice makes me feel like absolute rubbish. So I do my very best to try and avoid products that have got brown rice in them. You wouldn't believe how many things have like brown rice flour or, you know, puffed rice. Things like that. They affect me. Sometimes I will have something, knowing all very well that it has brown rice in it, and then I regret it because it just doesn't make me feel good. So there's lots and lots of different areas that could be playing a part in the way that you feel.

Speaker 1: 9:39

So, like I said, it's about figuring out what is not working for you. Track what you're eating. I bang on about this. I know I talk about my health tracker a lot, but I know how much of a difference it made to my health and it makes to my client's health.

Speaker 1: 9:54

So if you've never tracked what you are eating and the way that you feel, this can be a game changer.

Speaker 1: 10:01

You can do it in a diary. You can do it a game changer. You can do it in a diary, you can do it on your phone, you can do it in a journal wherever, or grab a daily health tracker from my shop I will pop a link below to that and that gives you everything that you need to know where to fill out, what to tip, what to circle everything so that you can see what's going on for you. And that way you can look back at the day before or a couple of days before and see if there's a pattern in the way that you're eating and the way that you're feeling, because sometimes it's just staring us in the face and we don't even see it, but once it's written down on paper it becomes very, very obvious.

Speaker 1: 10:37

But there's so much more to delve into on that topic. If that's something that you want guidance on and you want my tailored support, please go check out BelindaWheelancom forward slash collective and find out about my coaching program, where you'll get personal support from me. But otherwise, I hope that this episode has answered some of your common questions, because I know that these are so, so common and get asked a lot. But otherwise, I hope that these questions have answered some things for you and helped you along your journey. Have a fantastic week and I look forward to talking with you again on next week's show. Take care Bye.