Brain Fog?

I had an interesting conversation with a client today. Her 23 year old has been gluten free for a year and a half after being diagnosed with celiac disease but is still tired, no energy and has "brain fog" all the time.

I asked if he takes vitamins and she said that when he was first diagnosed a doctor put him on a course of vitamin D, 2,000mg a day. The doctor assured them that there could be no bad side effects of taking vitamin D. Untrue, as we know, and he ended up with kidney stones. Horrible!

Unfortunately, due to this episode, her son now refuses to take any vitamins. A celiac diet does not supply us with all the vitamins and minerals that we need at a sufficient level. We are prone to anemia and a lack of B vitamins (the happy vitamins) can leave us feeling down, tired and unable to concentrate (brain fog).

However, curious to see if it is this tiredness and brain fog is a very common occurance (my son experiences it when he doesn't take his vitamins on a regular basis) I decided to research it on the internet. It turns out that many people experience these symptoms regularly and assume it means that they have been "glutenised" in some way. One post said that when she took out all processed food, removed Listerine from her daily hygiene ritual and and shopped in the farmers market and made all her own food, her symptoms disappeared!

The question is however, is she eating better, thereby providing herself with more of the nutrients that she needs or was she really being contaminated with trace amounts of gluten in all processed foods? I don't know and as with most of the questions about celiac disease, there is no right answer for everybody.

All I can suggest to my client's son is that if you won't take vitamins then you need to check what you are eating and try to ensure that your food intake includes lots of green vegetables, fruit, and iron and B vitamin rich foods.

I recommend green smoothies if you find it difficult to eat all the greens you need. They retain all the nutrients of the vegetables and fruit you use and still leave you hungry enough to be able to eat the meats and dairy that you need for your iron and other Bs.

I know I gave you a black bean smoothie recipe in the last blog. But I do find that with my teenager, it is easy to get him to drink smoothies a couple of times a day and that way I know he is getting all the nutrients he needs. We' ll try for a solid recipe next time out!

How to make a green smoothie. (this is from 10 dollar dinners cook book)
There are endless possibilities as to what fruits and vegetables can make a green smoothie. Just remember to keep the proportion of fruits to vegetable in check for a sweet flavor that everybody will love.

Base of Smoothie
3/4 cup of milk (rice, almond, soy, cow, whatever you use)
2 cups of any of the fruits
1 cup of any of the vegetables
1 tablespoon of liquid extras
1 tsp of dry extas
Just a touch of ginger

Fruits Green Vegetables Extras
Apples Celery Flax seed
Avocados Kale Fresh Ginger
Bananas Spinach Honey
Grapefruit Kale Maple Syrup
Green Grapes SwissChard Almond butter
Kiwis Parsley Gluten Free Oats
Nectarines (free, frozen) Carrots (not green) Vanilla Extract
Oranges Cucumbers White Beans
Peaches (fresh or frozen)
Pears
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