Paleo Diet and Paleolithic Diet Questions & Answers

Question

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Can a supplement that contains wheat starch keep you wheat addicted on a Paleo diet (with no grains and thus no wheat/gluten)?

EDIT: So what I want to know is: can a supplement containing some wheat starch be the reason I still crave wheat products after a whole30 (but with a supplement that I found out contains wheat starch)

I don't crave potato chips or sugary candy. But I do still crave things like pancakes, cake, etc. and it is driving me mad, cause I just indulged on it to succesfully prove what I already knew: it tastes like shit and I shouldn't eat it. (My mind is like a lumberjack at the moment, yelling "incoming")

EDITEDIT: I've been 4 days off the supplement now and every day I had a headache too.

edited Jan 15 2012 at 18:43

asked Jan 15 2012 at 15:12

Sam
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It can still contain small amounts of gluten from the processing, so not safe for celiacs. As far as the addiction goes, if you are trying to recover from that then substituting something that contains wheat-starch is probably not best anyway. – PrimalDanny Jan 15 2012 at 15:20

staceychev · Accepted Answer · 2012-01-15 15:20:50Z UTC

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I think it would depend on your sensitivity to wheat. I looked at celiac.com and it seems there's a variety of wheat starch called Codex that's OK, but some people are still sensitive to it.

answered Jan 15 2012 at 15:20

staceychev
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Christopher Gagnon · Answer 2 · 2012-01-15 16:59:42Z UTC

My suspicion would be this is primarily psychological. I don't mean that in a "you're crazy" way, but rather, you are attempting to change a deeply acculturated, conditioned response to a stimulus/reward process. You intellectually know the right thing to do, but your emotions (perhaps influenced by your gut) just haven't quite caught up yet. I think willpower plays a role, but so does time.

And there may even be a role to play in the type of experimenting you did (eating the pancakes, or whatever). To use your addiction paradigm (which is valid in some respects and dubious in others), many recovering addicts go back out there for more experimenting, and this often results in either total relapse, or more positively, in confirmation that abstinence was the right direction. Sounds like this is where you are. While I wouldn't necessarily suspect the wheat starch in your supplements, why not simply eliminate them just in case--it seems a no-harm approach.

In time, paleo will very likely at least mitigate, if not eliminate, your conditioned response enough that it will fall easily within the range of intellectual and willpower control. At least, that seems to be how it's working for many of us.

Nance · Answer 3 · 2012-01-15 17:38:22Z UTC

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"... I just indulged on it to succesfully prove what I already knew: it tastes like shit and I shouldn't eat it."

Keep reinforcing that thought! With each crappy sensation tell yourself "The wheat did that." It took me a few such lapses as well, but I finally go to where my gut reaction is "not food" when I see neolithic stuff. I wallowed in my negative reactions and now my brain-gut axis says "NO!" rather than begging for the stuff.

When you want something high-reward, try bacon bites or something like that. I defy you to crave wheat when you're inhaling those. :-))

answered Jan 15 2012 at 17:38

Nance
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Yeah well, there aren't many crappy sensations to blame wheat for. Although it doesn't tast so good, my stool is still fine and I have way more energy then when eating Paleo. Sure there is this bloated feeling, but I get that too when I eat more than a kg of Paleo food in 5 minutes – Sam Jan 15 2012 at 18:17

I'm happy for you. And in that case, just chill out. – Nance Jan 15 2012 at 18:20

I can't really chill it out. Feeling better on a crappy non-tasty food ain't right. – Sam Jan 15 2012 at 18:45

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@Alteration, sorry, I meant chill out over life in general might help with emotional cravings. If you had headaches after stopping the supplement, it may mean something in there was bothering you although not necessarily gluten--I had a similar reaction and withdrawal headaches from Stevia. – Nance Jan 15 2012 at 18:55

Thanks for the clarification – Sam Jan 15 2012 at 19:01

Kevin · Answer 4 · 2012-01-15 18:28:46Z UTC

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I'd take it as a sign that your body is really craving something else and is just confused. Try eating 4 ounces of lightly cooked grass fed beef liver and see if your cravings get better? Vegetables of all different colors?

Or make some coconut flour and egg pancakes to satisfy a psychological craving.

answered Jan 15 2012 at 18:28

Kevin
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I tried all of these things but the cravings stay. Even when I'm really full or on the edge of vomiting. I've been 4 days off the supplement now and every day I had a headache too. – Sam Jan 15 2012 at 18:43

Wheat addiction

4 Answers