Gluten-Free Living: Making Macro-Dense Nutrition Choices

Have you ever noticed how tired caregiving makes you feel? Of course caregiving calls on all your physical resources, especially if you care for someone with mobility problems. It’s emotionally draining too, as you strive to understand and empathize with the person you care for.  

However, your fatigue might have another less well-known source: your diet. 

That’s why I want to help you make the right choices in your nutrition. As I’ve experienced myself, the right choices can have a positive effect on how energized we feel - and enhance our abilities as caregivers. Just as making the wrong choices can leave us feeling drained.

Finding The Energy To Live Your Best Life Requires The Best Fuel

It makes sense that energy you have access to expend depends on the quality - and qualities - of the food you put in. So choosing the right foods can make a real difference.

I look for foods that are ‘Macro-Dense’. Now, I know that terminology doesn’t sound too appetizing, so let me explain what it really is.

What Are Macros In Food And Nutrition?

Macro is a shorthand for ‘macronutrient’, and the five main types of macronutrients are simply carbohydrates, fats, proteins, fiber and water. These particular five are essential to the cellular processes like your metabolism, growth and repair.

Macro-dense foods are nutritionally sound foods that have an especially high concentration of one macro category. They may also contribute to other macros, too.

Macro ‘density’ is measured per 100 grams. Of course, 100 grams may be useful in making a scientific assessment, but we humans don’t eat in scientifically measured amounts! Take rice for example. It’s a good source of carbohydrates, but a 100 gram serving would be pretty meager. 150 to 200 grams would be a more normal one person portion. You should have a normal size portion, to satisfy your appetite.

Just look for foods that contain around 20 grams of a particular macro per 100 grams, using those quantities as a measure of the macro density rather than a portion guide.

How Your Body Uses Macros

Carbohydrates are your body’s favorite source of energy. They’re best because they are foods that we can break down easiest and that process starts from the moment we begin to chew. Because of that, the human body will seek energy from carbohydrates first - even if other sources of nutrients are present.

Fats are used to store energy and to transfer energy in skeletal muscle and other tissues. They also help the body transfer fat-soluble vitamins A, D, E and K, and provide us with two fatty acids that the body can’t make for itself, Omega 3 and Omega 6. 

Proteins are made of amino acids, and at the heart of cellular processes involved in rebuilding muscles and bones, making hormones, enzymes and fortifying your immune system. 

Fiber helps regulate the body’s use of sugars, helping to keep hunger at bay and blood sugar at healthy levels. Fiber isn’t digested, but its presence in the digestive system affects the rate at which other nutrients are absorbed as well as the movement of waste products through the colon. 

Water helps keep every part of the body working properly. Some of the essential functions are to carry nutrients and oxygen to your cells, to aid digestion, to help regulate blood pressure and body temperature, and to maintain your electrolyte balance.

You can see how important macros are to your body and why you need them to ensure you have the energy for living a full and vital life - both in your caregiving and your personal life. 

Free Yourself From Fatigue. Avoid Gluten.

There are some foods that can do the opposite of Macros. And one of the foods that can rob your body of energy is gluten.

Extreme tiredness is one of the most common symptoms of an intolerance to gluten. 

There are two types of intolerance to gluten. The most intense intolerance is called Celiac Disease, a lifelong, genetically-based autoimmune disease which affects as many as 1% of the global population.

The other is Non-Celiac Gluten Sensitivity. Although the symptoms of both are similar - and often the same - the difference is the role of the immune system and how it is triggered by gluten.

Even if your gluten sensitivity isn’t celiac disease, your energy levels can be impaired. 

A 2014 study showed that 27.5% of the Non-Celiac Gluten Sensitive participants who followed a strictly controlled gluten-free diet experienced a marked improvement in their energy levels.

Of course extreme tiredness can have a devastating effect on anyone’s life. For caregivers, the problems double. Not only do you lack the energy to give your care, but you lose the energy to maintain yourself, too. 

So if you’re asking yourself if the tiredness you experience is caused, at least in part, by gluten, the answer is: it could well be.

So What Is Gluten?

Gluten is a naturally occurring protein that’s found in wheat and some other grains like rye, barley and triticale (a hybrid of rye and barley). 

It’s often extracted and concentrated, then added to food to enhance texture and flavor. When used this way, like an additive, it acts as a binding agent to hold processed foods together and to give them shape.

So what is essentially a natural product is being used less like an ingredient in a recipe and more like a building block in a chemical process.

How Can Gluten Affect My Body?

In our digestive systems, we all have chemicals called digestive enzymes that help us break down the foods we eat. Some of them, Proteases, are the enzymes our bodies use to process proteins. But Proteases can’t fully digest gluten, leaving some to continue its journey through the small intestine undigested. 

While most people can handle this undigested gluten, it can trigger unpleasant or uncomfortable symptoms in other, and serious autoimmune responses in a few.

Common Symptoms Of Gluten Intolerance

* Severe or occasional diarrhea

* Excessive wind and/or constipation

* Persistent or unexplained nausea and vomiting

* Recurrent stomach pain, cramping or bloating

* Tiredness

* Sudden unexplained weight loss (not in all cases)

* Mouth Ulcers

Make The Right Nutrition Choices And Feel The Benefit.

Cutting gluten out of your diet will help you feel better. You may experience clearer skin, more energy and less brain fog. Choosing macro-dense foods can enhance these feel-good effects by giving your body high quality fuel. A win-win if ever there was one!

So let’s look at some specific foods that balance Macro-density with a Gluten-free life.

Healthy Plant Sources For Protein And Fiber

• Beans

• Lentils

• Nuts

• Seeds

Healthy Non-plant Sources For Protein

• Poultry

• Fish

• Seafood

• Eggs

• Yogurt

Healthy Sources of Carbohydrates

• Rice

• Oats

• Quinoa

• Potatoes

• Corn

Healthy Sources Of Fats

• Olives and Olive Oil

• Avocados

• Corn Oil

• Sunflower Oil

Healthy Non-plant Sources For Fats

These foods should be eaten in moderation and shouldn’t make up more than 7 - 10% of your diet as they can be associated with high cholesterol.

• Beef

• Pork

• Lamb

• Veal

Variety Really Is The Spice Of Life

As you can see, there’s plenty of choice in the above lists - and (for reasons of space) they’re not comprehensive lists or the only sources of specific macros. But the variety within each section means that choosing macro-dense foods and ingredients isn’t limiting. It’s all about finding what works for you, and what you enjoy eating, within the framework. So choosing wisely also means choosing widely.

What’s important is that you can take this awareness of the principles of macro-dense foods with you every time you shop for food. 

Choosing fresh foods will always be a good decision. You can check the labels of other foods you’re considering for the five macros (protein, carbohydrates, fats, fiber and water). 

You’ll also find that many gluten-free foods and recipes are clearly marked as such. Finding and choosing them has become much, much easier now that we’re all more aware of the problems that gluten intolerance and gluten sensitivity can cause.

Of course, if you have any worries about your symptoms - or if you experience anything that concerns you after you move away from gluten - you should talk to your doctor as soon as possible. 

Changing your consumption of fats and proteins suddenly can affect your hormonal balance for a time. That’s because fats and proteins are the fundamental ingredients your body uses to make hormones. If your diet was particularly rich in gluten, cutting out those foods suddenly and completely could also cause some temporary side effects. 

It’s always better to be safe than sorry, and moving in a more gradual way is easily achieved.

I’ve experienced the energy-sapping effects of being a caregiver, first hand. But I’ve also found that balance is key to coping with it. Balance in my diet became a key insight. I needed extra energy to rise to the daily challenges of caregiving for both my parents, my husband and my child. But living my own life to the fullest demanded intense energy input too. That’s why I chose to go gluten free and to ensure that macro-dense foods formed the bedrock of my diet. 

I also made the conscious decision to find my own equilibrium between my caregiving and my personal life. That’s something I share in detail in my book Break Free From Caregiver Fatigue (Buy your copy here), so you can benefit too! 

I’m going to post more insights, tips, and maybe even some recipes on my instagram. So if you don’t want to miss any of them, why not follow me there?