My #1 change is that gluten makes me crazy in the social-anxiety sense; glutened I am paranoid about and paralyzed by other's reactions and intentions, which is miserable for me and everyone close to me. It was a huge and surprising finding, and unfortunately the return is the first sign I get that I've been inadvertently glutened. But how amazing to be able to live in the quiet headspace of the rest of humanity! It does take 100% adherence; when I was having a piece of sprouted toast every few days, I saw no change at all from my crappy 'normal'.

Physically, my IBS went away, my skin cleared up, and (after a hypothyroid episode when I went VLC and lost a bunch of hair) I have more hair than I ever have, and it's growing crazy fast.

I can cheat with sugar, I can cheat with legumes, I can even gorge on fruit, but never ever ever gluten. Give it two supremely clean weeks, and then see what happens when you have a bit...

For me the change was pretty dramatic, but I had no idea I even had a problem with it until I dropped it from my diet. I always thought is was normal to feel like taking a nap after eating, and that feeling disappeared the very first day without wheat. I would counteract the fatigue from having bagels, toast, or scones for breakfast with a minimum of 4 shots of espresso. The combo resulted in some pretty bad IBS, but at the time I thought that was normal. It is still nice not having to bolt for the bathroom 2 or 3 times after meals.

There have been some exceptions that don't seem to cause stomach problems like naturally soured sourdough bread, cheap ass hot and hamburger buns, beer, and croissants. I'm still trying to figure those out, but they do still make me feel like I need a nap and make me spacy, so I still avoid them for the most part. I also wonder if it is the wheat bran rather than the gluten that causes the most problems for me, or if it is a one two punch where one compounds the problems caused by the other. Whole wheat products seem to cause the most intense misery for me.

Within 3 days of dropping wheat I got my ability to concentrate and my memory back, I just thought I needed to increase my thyroid meds again before that. Within a few weeks I actually had to cut down on my thyroid medication and coffee because I was too amped up. Within a month the neuropathy I had had in my hands and feet for years went away. A few years later I was able to go off of thyroid meds altogether. I also don't turn red randomly the way I used too and my dandruff has gone away.

Until very recently I wasn't able to tolerate most wheat products at all and would get diarrhea within an hour of reintroducing them into my diet, but since adding bone broth on a regular basis I've been able to eat things like pizza with friends occasionally without stomach problems. My theory is that it took years to develop the gut problems in the first place and that the broth has healed my body enough to allow for a little more digestive flexibility.

Edit: I completely forgot to mention the elephant in the room, my main reason for going paleo in the first place, within 8 months of dropping wheat I got my fertility back and was actually able to get pregnant.

Most noticeable changes were in my skin & nails...My acne, which I had had for at least the past 14 years, is almost nonexistent now, unless I slip up and have some gluten and/or dairy..then it comes right back in the next day or two. My nails are growing like crazy and are wicked strong.

The best change, IMO, is that I am no longer bloated/gassy after every meal. My stomach pains are gone & I have a different feeling of "fullness." It took a while to get used to, but now I know how to recognize the feeling of being satiated.

Bone and dental health improved due to reduced exposure to phytic acid.

Afternoon drowsiness after lunch between 1 to 3 pm disappeared.

Much more alert and have more energy due to stable blood sugar levels.

My stomach completely flattened out. My migraines ended. My energy skyrocketed. My PMS improved.

<3

I was honestly skeptical about the whole grain thing. I thought that any improvments I was seeing were just due to a reduction in carbohydrate intake. It took me a few years to totally remove grains, especially wheat, from my diet. When I finally got a little more serious about it and would later backslide I would feel a definite difference. It was like minor symptoms that had always been there were finally noticeable to me in an undeniable way.

There was a time when I realized, almost violently, that my body would simply not tolerate lactose. I remember having to be picked up from school by my mother because I was doubled-over in pain due to abdominal bloating. I was always lucky enough to have parents who cared enough that I was rarely sent off to school with just cereal to eat anyway, it was either fresh baked biscuits with gravy or a stack of pancakes nearly every morning for breakfast. But even after cutting out dairy I would still experience bloating and abdominal discomfort quite regularly. We'd look at the Bisquick label and conclude that it was the powdered milk that was causing it.

I remember often desperately holding in a BM and scanning the environment for a place to relieve myself. These things just happened I rationalized. And even after trying to align the way I ate with the way my ancestors ate, years before I'd heard of Paleo, I still figured if I was to eat carbs that whole-grains had to be the best option. Later after discovering MDA and Paleo I still clung to the idea that complete elimination of grains was more about weight loss than anything else. It wasn't until I read this blog post that I decided for sure that it was the gluten and even got tested myself. Turns out I'm not celiac but the doctor summed it up best for me; "if cutting out the gluten is working for you... why not just keep doing that?" No arguments here, between being strict about the grain/gluten thing and eliminating/minimizing pufas I'm feeling much better than I ever have.

My Rheumatoid Arthritis has gradually disappeared. Don't feel like I have to eat all the time. Feel more connected to my body's hunger signals.

Sinus Allergies - definitely. I used to have allergy headaches that would make me vomit to the point of having dry heaves. When You've already got a headache that makes you feel like the poor guy in "Casino" with his head in a vise, throwing up just makes the pain worse.

My sinuses haven't completely cleared up and they probably won't for as long as live in the Willamette Valley but now if i have headache, a couple Excedrin clear it right up and able to go on with my day.

Nowadays if I eating wheat my stomach goes completely haywire, so i never noticed a problem while I was eating them but I wouldn't go back. No ill effects from corn as far as I can tell.

Gluten is actually the easiest thing for me to avoid; I really feel no craving for wheat products at all (can't say the same about potato chips, ice cream, etc.). I think that's partly because there was one very clear change: the nasty headaches that I used to get every couple weeks just went away. Now I may get one a couple times a year, so it's a stark difference. Those semi-annual ones may be caused by something else (probably stress), or I may inadvertently get glutenized that often. I think it's also helped with sleep, mental fog, energy, heartburn, and a variety of other things, but the headaches were the one clear indicator.

But it's also because it's such a clear poison. When gluten causes problems, it's because it tricks your immune system into attacking your own cells. I damage my cells enough with outside influences; I don't need them killing each other off, thanks. Especially in the brain, which is where we're learning gluten may cause the most havoc.

If I (personally) eat too many carbs, I know my blood sugar will go up, and if I overdo it there could be damage to the pancreas. In the long term, I could end up with full-blown diabetus. But that's treatable; injecting insulin can't be any fun, but people do it and go on living their lives. And it's a relative thing: you have (and require) some blood sugar, and there's a range above that that you can flirt with before causing unusual damage. So it's easy to rationalize to yourself: "Hey, I'll just have a little, and it'll be okay. Hey, I ate this stuff for years, one more time won't kill me. I'll be extra good tomorrow."

But if I eat gluten and my immune system starts attacking my thyroid or hypothalamus, that's not just more of something that was going on normally; that's something different happening. And it's pretty much binary, since gluten acts as a catalyst: either you ate enough gluten to start the auto-immune reaction or you didn't. There's no "oh, it'll just do a little damage" range to play with. Being extra good tomorrow won't necessarily stop the killing.

So that's why I don't find it any harder to pass up the pasta aisle than I would an aisle that said "arsenic and strychnine." Once you see it as a poison for your body, it's much easier to turn down. I wish I could see sugar and vegetable oils the same way (though I'm getting there with the oils).

There are MANY questions/threads on this.

A quick list of my symptoms that went away within 3 weeks:

• stuffy nose and sinuses
• hacking cough
• food-triggered migraines
• GERD
• GI tract unrest, discomfort incl. bloating
• restless, fractured sleep
• tingling, stinging down through shoulders, arms
• joint discomfort, spine/shoulders/hips/knees
• rapid pulse, high-normal blood pressure

I'm actually not sure...I never binged on wheat products but I think without wheat and grains (now about 3,4 years with no major cheats), I have had less incidence of...

-Random mild bloat

-Food coma/crashes

-Mental fog

-Injuries from exercise and dance

-Random mild pains

-Crappy recovery and sleep

I have no cravings for bread or any of that stuff either.

Out of curiosity, what wheat/grains are you still participating in?

Wheat does have some inherently addicting properties...but you care enough to ask for encouragement and wanting to be healthier here...so stay strong!

For me:

• My back-acne disappeared.
• The last remnants of my regular acne disappeared, maybe one zit a week or so previously.
• I attribute both of the above to the healing of my leaky gut, which equated to the fact that I could eat "off-diet" sporadically without much in the way of consequences.
• My brittle, white, "somethings wrong here" looking toe-nails cleared up; to reveal strong, healthy looking nails.
• My perpetual runny nose disappeared.
• The last remnants of my ulcer related symptoms disappeared, these were GERD-esque in nature; heartburn mostly, to the extent that I would sleep on an angled mattress, and pop a Zantac from time to time.
• A general sense of mental clarity became prevalent; as others have said, after-lunch tiredness disappeared. My need for caffeine diminished. Eventually I began to realize this to be true metabolic flexibility. That is to say, whether I was eating fat, carbs, or nothing at all, my body knew how to make energy out of it. I pretty much can't help but feel amazing these days.

My skin looks radiant and I get compliments on it pretty much daily. The metabolic flexibility is the biggest improvement I've noticed, as it allows me the freedom to fast or to eat what I want, without anything but positive ramifications. This is after approximately a year of paleo diet; I feel this was enough time to heal my leaky gut and other related symptoms.

Oh, wow. So many things changed for me, it's increadible. I went gluten-free last year, then started the GAPS diet which is very similar to Paleo but includes more probiotic foods and has a few other differences last february. I didn't think I had any problems - in my mind I was doing it for my kids!

I had a number of improvements that I've outlined here: http://theliberatedkitchenpdx.com/physical-health/changes-on-gaps/

Almost 2 months ago I started a gluten challenge so that I could be tested for celiac disease. I was also hoping to better understand which of my symptoms were due to gluten and which were the other changes we made. I've blogged the whole challenge, and the symptoms have been horrid. http://theliberatedkitchenpdx.com/physical-health/joys-gluten-challenge/

My so-called IBS vanished overnight (genetic testing later revealed it was likely celiac).

I had more energy and my rosacea was noticeably better in a few days.

Over the next few weeks my nails grew out significantly thicker and less brittle and my occasional joint aches became milder and far less frequent.

At my next dentist appointment my dentist noted that my gums looked better than they had since I was a teenager (I didn't change my brushing or flossing habits at all)

So many things have changed for me since dropping grains:

• 90% fewer migraines
• no more gallbladder attacks (the reason I came to paleo in the first place)
• much milder menstrual cramps
• I don't catch colds anymore!!!
• no more afternoon energy lull
• much less of that anxiety that used to hit as I lay in bed at night
• no more gas and heartburn

I still eat too much sugar, but that doesn't have nearly the effect on me that wheat had.

After I ditched grains (the worst being gluten containing -- esp wheat) joint pain ceased including what sports doc claimed was simply "runner's knee" pain; thyroid antibodies normalized; no more weird sneezing attacks and nasal congestion after meals containing wheat (all forms -- whole grain, sprouted, refined) and far less water retention pre-period and in general, and no more gastritis.

Most noticeable for me is my regular headaches STOPPED! Weight loss, muffin top quickly diminished. And appetite came down to a way more normal level. Come to think of it though from others responses, my face is clear of spots too.

I'm only three weeks into a strict paleo diet, and the most dramatic diference for me is the lightening of my severe hyperpimentation that i have has since my pregnancy 5 years ago. It is such a welcome change after years of having ipl laser treatment to help lessen the splotches that only worked for very short periods of time. I still do a little heavy cream in my morning coffee, but no wheat, grains or legumes. I can only imagine that my hormones are just starting to balance out, and i am looking forward to seeing how much more changes as i continue to eat this way! i also have a general better feeling of health all around at this point.

More stable blood sugar. That's about all I've noticed

Never checked my blood . . . however . . . I gave up grains as part of everything I gave up when I switched to Paleo. These are my improvements.

• Lost 30 pounds and going (172 to 142)
• GERD disappeared
• Years-long persistent and mysterious cough (thought to be caused by GERD) disappeared
• Back pain gone
• Snoring no longer (so my wife of 13 years says)
• Flexibility improved (could touch ankles before, but now can touch palms to floor)
• Dry flaky skin mostly normal
• Mental fogginess lifted
• Memory improved
• I used to take head ache pills 2 to 5 times a week, I haven't taken any in 4 months.
• Intestinal, urm, irritability now normalized

I've never had my blood tested recently, though 8 years before I was told I was borderline high blood pressure. I would love an excuse to get a full blood screening done just to know . . .

I recently cut out all wheat and added sugar for five weeks. I lost about two pounds of weight, but otherwise didn't notice any difference in my health status. I wanted to lose some excess fat weight, so I probably cut back on total calories, too.

I'm blessed with good health to start with.

-Steve

I spent the first 27 years of my life popping Claritin and Benadryl for seasonal allergies and sinus infections. I used to get the flu/a cold at least 4x per year. Since I gave up grains (especially gluten-containing grains) 3 years ago I haven't had so much as the sniffles. Also, that little spare tire around my waist that never seemed to go away is now gone with no sign of returning.