Connecting The Dots: Food Cravings, Anemia & Celiac Disease.
I tested positive for anemia (the most common sign of celiac disease that can be detected by basic laboratory tests) when I was a 8 or 9 years old and so my doctor had me start taking iron supplements. It was this awful liquid medicine that tasted like bad rust. I don’t think she purposely prescribed me the grossest medicine that she could find, I just was too young and didn’t know how to swallow pills yet, so I’m assuming that the rust stuff was the only option available. And ever since then, the diagnosis of anemia has been a constant for me in every blood test that I’ve taken. I have a blood test done and surprise! I’m still anemic.
There are other causes of anemia, but iron-deficiency anemia is what I’m talking about here. The symptoms of iron-deficiency anemia that I experienced (which are all verrry similar to the symptoms for hypothyroidism, which I also have) are essentially fatigue, weakness, moodiness, and dizziness.
I never really thought about why I was anemic. I just was. So, this diagnosis, unfortunately, did not lead me to investigate anemia, nutrient malabsorption and ultimately discover my celiac disease or any of my other food allergies. But that’s not to mean that I didn’t learn a lot from growing up anemic. I did. And what I learned is this:
My food *cravings are a sign of something and I should pay attention to them.
If that’s a vague lesson, that’s because it has to be. I don’t know always know what my cravings are a sign of. I just know that they are a sign of something and it would behoove me to pay attention to them so that I can try to figure it out.
Growing up, I treated my cravings as something to be suspicious of instead of landmarks on a path meant to help me find my way. And it’s not a huge surprise to me that I was suspicious. Food cravings are complicated. They are about our desires, which we must be comfortable with. It’s difficult not to judge ourselves for wanting something that maybe we think that we shouldn’t. But they often are a sign that we need something for our health (in this case, for me, iron-rich foods). Or a maybe they are a sign that we need to eat less of something (again, in this case, anemia was one of the first signs for me of celiac disease, even though I didn’t know it at the time. And the anemia and cravings meant that I should stop eating gluten and grains). Ignoring our cravings in these cases will do more harm than good.
This was all really confusing. And without a wealth of other people’s experiences and holistic doctors who write articles and put them on the internet, I would never, even after I was diagnosed with food allergies as well as anemia, have put all of this together.
Even though it’s not perfect, cravings are a part of the language that our bodies have to communicate with us. So, even though we may not quickly make the connection between what is what being communicated and why, it’s important to pay attention so that we can learn and begin, in a very practical and not at all “woo woo” sense, to know ourselves.
Up until this year, I have craved sweet potatoes and red meat, which are iron-rich foods, pretty constantly. I didn’t think there was anything wrong with it. It didn’t bother me. But I noticed it and I figured that I was just one of those people who needed to eat a lot of meat. Full stop. And then this year I noticed (about 4 months ago, which is about 2 1/2 years into eating grain-free as well as gluten-free, dairy-free, sugar-free, and soy-free) that I don’t crave red meat the way that I used to. I can now, for the first time in memory, have a meal without meat and feel satisfied and full when I am done.
I am assuming that is a positive sign. I don’t know how to test my “positive sign” theory since the only test I know of for leaky gut is one that I can’t take because it’s partially made of lactose, but I’m assuming that this change in craving means that I am healing. My gut is healing. After being fully grain-free (going just gluten-free didn’t cut it) dairy-free, sugar-free, and soy-free for almost 3 years, I am finally absorbing the nutrients that I am taking in. I can’t even tell you how good it feels to even think that the health issues that I have had since childhood, that I thought I would continue to struggle with for the rest of my life, are starting to heal. I am so, so grateful.
Melissa over at Gluten Free For Good wrote a fantastic post that explains very clearly from the cellular level why and how iron-deficiency anemia affects you. If you’re interested, you should read it.
Also, if anyone knows of a test for leaky gut that doesn’t involve drinking lactose, I would love to know!
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Filed in: Lifestyle
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Lillian makes other people's allergy friendly (grain-free, gluten-free, dairy-free, cane sugar-free, & soy-free (at the very least)) recipes for the very first time on camera.Subscribe
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Wow thanks this post has really helped me to connect some dots!
Awesome! I’m so glad!
Now that you mention it, I haven’t eaten kippers/sardines in weeks. I had been eating 2-3 tins a day. I look at them now and am just not interested.
Maybe I’m getting over my anemia also.
THAT WOULD BE AMAZING!!!
brilliant ideas on cravings. a must read!
Thank you so much Kate! I really appreciate that.
Ha, my 5 yr old celiac son, is anemic and has been gluten-free basically his whole life’s but his iron stores are dropping. He takes liquid iron supplement. He recently became lactose intolerant. He craves sweet potatoes, sardines, and muscles, and seaweed. I just had him tested for other food sensitivities thru igG testing and he reacted badly to eggs, soy, kidney and Lima beans, and cane sugar, and somewhat reactive to peas, pecans, cranberry, and millet. I was surprised that it didn’t have rice or quinoa on the test list. His diet seems so restricted already. Trying to figure out I if I need to eliminate grains for him to heal. What would I give him for breakfast? Send him to school with what or lunch?
I would eliminate grains if it were me, but you should definitely talk to a holistic doctor and/or a holistic nutritionist. It sounds like he has leaky gut, and might benefit from trying the SCD or GAPS diet, but I don’t know how you decide which to do and I’m not qualified to make a suggestion. If you need ideas for grain-free meals, I can help there. But other than that, I’m afraid I’m beyond my depth. Where are you in the world? I can ask if anyone knows a good holistic doctor/nutritionist in your area.
Hi Lillian,
I think you can do a Leaky Gut test – by a stool sample. Have you come across it before? Here is some info I borrowed from a brochure:
INTRODUCTION
The human intestines have different, partly contrary functions. The intestinal lining has to be permeable for digested food molecules. On the other hand it is an important barrier for antigens. These can be viruses, bacteria, fungi or certain foods. The mucous membranes should only absorb molecules in a controlled way through the cells with the help of transport proteins and in specific situations through the tight junctions. Changes of the mucous membranes, however, caused by inflammation, Coeliacs disease, Candida overgrowth, environmental stress or bad diet lead to a loss of that barrier function. The permeability of the mucous tissues is increased. This is called leaky gut syndrome.
This causes an increased antigen confrontation and absorption, which can lead to new food allergies. These can in turn cause more damage to the mucous lining once again. A vicious circle!
HOW DOES THE TEST WORK
Alpha-1-Antitrypsin is synthesised in the liver. It is an unspecific protease inhibitor in the serum,which inhibits trypsin and other enzymes released from leucocytes and macrophages; and therefore controls the inflammation response. Alpha-1-antitrypsin is not broken down or reabsorbed in the gut, therefore a rise in its concentrations in stool correlates with the increased permeability of the gut membrane.
THE PATIENT/PRACTITIONER BENEFIT
- Safe diagnosis
- Motivation for the patient to sustain a therapy
- important for the treatment of food allergies
- low cost
CLINICAL APPLICATIONS
The test is applicable for all patients who present the following symptoms
- suspicion of enteral protein loss syndrome
- inflammatory bowel disease
- intestinal infections
- Coeliacs disease
- food allergies
- disturbed intestinal flora
SAMPLE REQUIREMENTS Single stool sample
Thanks so much for the information! I have heard about this test, but I haven’t looked into actually taking it because it’s crazy expensive for some reason (like $700, I think). But you’ve inspired me to look into it more. I’ll ask my doctor about it and see what he has to say about it. Thanks!
Hi Lillian,
In Ireland, you can go to the testing company directly. They are only charging €48 (+courier) for the test so it’s really cheap over here. They take a stool sample and send it to a German Lab for testing. You might be able to find a lab that you can work with directly because if you go to your Doc they will charge a fortune for everything!
Hope that helps,
Karina
ooh! That does help! I’ll check around and see if it works that way here too! Thanks, Karina!