Are You Absorbing Nutrients with Celiac Disease? Signs and Solutions Ep. 226

Eating gluten free is only part of the puzzle when it comes to healing with celiac disease. If your gut isn’t absorbing nutrients properly, you’ll still deal with fatigue, brain fog, hair loss, brittle nails, and ongoing digestive issues - even if you’re strictly gluten free.

In this episode, I’ll break down:

• Why nutrient absorption is a challenge for people with celiac disease
• The most common deficiencies (iron, B12, folate, vitamin D, calcium, magnesium, zinc)
• How to spot the signs your body isn’t absorbing what it needs
• Smart supplement and food pairing examples for better absorption
• Lifestyle habits that make a difference for digestion and gut healing

You’ll leave with simple, practical steps to check your levels, support absorption, and feel more energized and resilient living gluten free.

🔗 Join the Collective waitlist now: belindawhelan.com/collective

Check out my Daily Health Tracker here
 https://www.belindawhelan.com/dailyhealthtracker

Complete an elimination diet here
https://belindawhelan.teachable.com/p/eliminate

Wish you could get gluten free meals on the table fast that the whole family will love? Check out Meal Plans Made Easy
https://belindawhelantraining.com/gluten-free-meal-plans-made-easy
 
Join my free community and grab your copy of 11 Mistakes People Make Living Gluten Free here https://www.belindawhelan.myflodesk.com/11mistakes

   And I would love to connect with you on Instagram thehealthyceliac
 
If you have a spare moment, please pop over to Apple Podcasts and leave me a review. Thank you!
 
 
Music Credit bensound.com 

Chapters

• 0:48 Nutrient Absorption with Celiac Disease
• 2:06 Common Nutrient Deficiencies to Watch
• 5:27 Taking Supplements Effectively
• 7:51 Lifestyle Habits for Better Absorption
• 9:29 Next Steps for Improving Health

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:24

Now, eating gluten-free is one thing, but absorbing the nutrients from the food that you consume is another, and if your body is not actually absorbing the nutrients from your food, then you are certainly going to feel that. So let's break down how to know if you are absorbing the nutrients from your, from your food correctly and, if not, what to do about it. So why is absorption in the gut an issue for people with celiac disease? Well, the most obvious one is after a celiac disease diagnosis, your gut may still be quite damaged. So when we absorb nutrients from our food and supplements, we absorb them in our small intestine, in the villi, in these tiny, tiny, little finger-like projections our small intestine, in the villi, in these tiny, tiny, little finger-like projections. And often what happens for newly diagnosed celiacs is those villi have flattened, which means the food just passes straight on through and the nutrients are not absorbed where they need to be absorbed. So this can be a problem until the body starts to heal and starts to get back on track. And some people have other issues that can cause problems, such as low digestive enzymes in their gut, they may have acid issues or they may even have inflammation. So there's plenty of signs that your body will show you if you are not absorbing the nutrients that your body needs, and some of these things show up in your everyday life, and these can be things like constant fatigue, things like brain fog, hair loss or thinning hair, brittle nails, cracks at the corner of your mouth, pale skin or even dark under your eyes, or even ongoing digestive issues, despite sticking to a strict gluten-free diet.

Speaker 1: 2:10

Now there's some common deficiencies that we see time and time again in people with celiac disease, and the first one is an iron deficiency. So many people actually share that they get a celiac disease diagnosis after their doctor has discovered that they have an iron deficiency, so that is certainly one to get tested for and to look out for. There's lots of symptoms that can relate back to an iron deficiency. I had an iron deficiency for a while a few years back due to being in perimenopause and just having way too much blood loss, and this caused me to become anemic. So thankfully, I got on top of that and started taking an iron supplement to help with that. But certainly people with celiac disease can find that it is related to having celiac disease, so you may need to take an iron supplement. You may need to adjust your diet, but you will feel so much better once you get on top of your iron deficiency, if that's one that you're struggling with.

Speaker 1: 3:09

B12 is the next one. It can cause things like neurological issues. It can cause tingling and even a low mood. The next one is folate. So if you are low in folate, you will struggle with having new cells regenerate. That's not something that you would probably notice, but that is something that's certainly related to having low folate and even fatigue.

Speaker 1: 3:31

Many people also suffer with low vitamin D. So vitamin D the best place to get it is from the sunshine. But many people are low in vitamin D and they find that it affects their bones, it affects their moods and it certainly makes a huge difference in your immune health. So if you get sick, quite often you know things like colds and flus that could be related to being quite low in vitamin D. If you are low in calcium and magnesium, you might find that you're getting muscle cramps. That can be a big, big symptom of being low in magnesium. Or you might even have sleep issues struggling to get to sleep, struggling to stay asleep. And the next one is zinc. So people find that if you know you get a wound, such as a scratch or an abrasion, something like that, it is quite slow to heal. This can be because you are low in zinc, and it can also affect your taste and your smell. So quite an interesting one. So if you've noticed any changes there, definitely worth looking into and getting tested for. Now I personally recommend that all my students and clients get a yearly blood panel just to keep on top of all of these nutrients and making sure that you are getting enough in your diet, because you know, if you go years and years and years and leave this and don't even kind of give it enough consideration, it can lead to further problems. So if you can keep on top of this each year at your annual checkup, then you can make sure that you're doing the right thing by your body, whether it's through supplementation or tweaking your diet. That way, you can make sure that you're giving your body what it needs, and this helps with your healing and making you thrive living with celiac disease.

Speaker 1: 5:13

Now, when it comes to consuming these nutrients, whether that be through supplements or even with your food, it's important to pair them up correctly. So, for example, iron needs to be taken away from calcium and it absorbs better if you take it with vitamin C. So for me personally, my first supplement that I take for the day is my iron supplement, and I take that with my morning lemon elixir. So I have warm water with some fresh lemon juice squeezed into it and some honey, and I have that for the first thing that I consume for the day, after a glass of water is. I have that with my iron supplement and then that way it absorbs better within my body. I take my other supplements later, after I've had my breakfast. So any fat soluble vitamins need to be taken with a healthy fat, and I do recommend that we are all consuming healthy fats with each of our meals. So, like I said, I take my vitamin after I've had my breakfast in the morning. So I make sure that I have consumed a healthy breakfast and then I take them straight after I've eaten breakfast in the morning. So I make sure that I have consumed a healthy breakfast and then I take them straight after I've eaten and then that way it helps them to be absorbed. And same with the evening. I take my vitamins for the evening after I've eaten my main meal for the day.

Speaker 1: 6:28

And if you are taking supplements, I would recommend that you use a really high quality product. If you struggle with absorption or with taking them, then take a tab. Instead of taking a tablet, take a powder form of supplementation. They can be easier to, you know, enjoy in smoothies or to stir in some juice and make it easier for your body to enjoy and to be able to absorb as well. And I highly recommend digestive enzymes and probiotics, especially in the early days after a celiac disease diagnosis. They can help with healing and they can help with making your gut better for further absorption of other nutrients.

Speaker 1: 7:07

And then, when it comes to lifestyle habits, you know we need to look after our stress levels. We need to eat when we are calm and relaxed, not when we rushed, not when we stress, because that's when our digestion goes into shutdown mode and we don't absorb the nutrients that we need because our digestion is not doing what it needs. So stress is a big, big one for affecting how well we do with our nutrients. So, again, you know, just focusing on how you can eat better and live better, because that is such a huge flow on effect and you may have heard me talk about this before, but chewing your food, digestion is so, so important when it comes to eating our food. It actually starts before we even start chewing. So things like our eyesight and our smell can help our digestion, because what happens is we see food, we smell food and our digestive juices start actually working before we even start eating. And this is so, so important. And this is why many people that eat takeaway food and fast food don't digest their food very well because they haven't had a chance to smell it and look at it before they consume it.

Speaker 1: 8:24

So again, you know, this is another huge benefit of eating real food, cooking for yourself you get a chance to start to get those digestive juices going. And then, when you do chew your food and chew it lots, because, again, more chewing means better digestion, so it has such a beautiful flow and effect inside your gut. And then I also I know a lot of people hate this, but it's limiting distractions when you do eat, because when you are distracted, again it can cause stress to your body. You know, if you're looking at the tv, if you're scrolling on your phone, you're not concentrating on your food and that can affect your digestion as well, believe it or not. So what's your next step?

Speaker 1: 9:05

I would say book an appointment with your doctor, your primary caregiver, get a full blood panel done, look at what you need to make some changes with and then make those changes. There's no point in listening to this and not doing anything about it. So make the changes that you need to make to improve those levels and then go back a few months later maybe three months, if you're able to and get retested and then see how you are going and if you're tracking well. And then, of course, do this every single year at your annual blood test and your annual screening, so that you can keep an eye on your health and keep an eye on what you need to continue doing for your health and your future health. And again I have to mention it's about eating better so that you absorb better as well.

Speaker 1: 9:53

And I also really recommend you grabbing a daily health tracker, because they are fantastic for logging symptoms, keeping an eye on how you're tracking with your food, with your lifestyle, with the way that you feel after eating, and it's a really good way of looking back on things that have happened in the days previously to your symptoms, because sometimes it's hard to remember hey, what have I eaten here? Or you start to see a pattern in some of your symptoms, so that can be really effective as well. And then, obviously, if you need more guidance from me, I highly encourage you to sign up for the Healthy Celiac Collective waitlist for our next round. That is where you get my support and we go deeper into many of these topics and help you thrive with celiac disease. So all you need to do is go to BelindaWhelancom forward slash collective. I will pop a link below that you can go straight to it as well, because I'd love to support you within that program, because it is a game changer and the ladies that have gone through that program have come leaps and bounds and have got some amazing results out of that program. So again, that's BelindaWheelancom forward slash collective.

Speaker 1: 11:05

But otherwise, I hope this episode has inspired you to look at your diet, look at your supplements, look at how you're feeling and make some positive changes moving forward. So thank you so much for tuning in and I look forward to talking with you again on next week's episode. Have a great week. I'll talk to you then. Take care Bye.