Chintamani asked:


Gluten intolerance gives rise to many physical and mental complications and ‘Glutenated Depression’ is one of them. It can affect to both categories of people – those who follow strict gluten-free diet and those who occasionally don’t mind taking food containing gluten. There are some simple definite techniques to treat such depression attacks.

Many times depression is related to gluten intolerance or celiac disease. Lets call it ‘glutenated’ depression. If you have untreated celiac disease and if you go on to consume large quantities of gluten through your normal intake, the disease starts damaging your body. Gluten is present in abundance in wheat. All food items made from wheat (including bread, pizza, cakes) contain gluten. Consumption of gluten irrespective of celiac disease will gradually damage your villi (lining of your small intestine) and consequently lead to mal-absorption of essential nutrients.

This follows with a lot of brain disorders, mainly depression.

Even people, who know about their gluten intolerance status, are sometimes tempted to taste ‘glutenated’ products. This immediately reflects in deterioration of their health. They become normal again on excluding glutenated diet. These jerks in their health will be followed by glutenated depression. If you have celiac disease you have to live rest of their life without consuming gluten. While accepting this reality, you should always be prepared to absorb mental ups and downs connected with that. With simple and easy techniques, majority of the people can do that.

Here are some of them:

1. Physical techniques – Exercise is the best bet. When you concentrate on it, you get distracted from thoughts of depression. Actually it slowly changes the entire perspective of life. Of course, before planning heavy exercise schedule on your own, you should consult your doctor! You should improve your diet with inclusion of vitamin-rich foods. Improving your sleeping hygiene is another important aspect.

You should not take alcohol before going to bed. Going to bed and waking up at consistent times improves drastically your physical and mental health.

2. Recreational techniques – You should always set some time apart for recreational activities. Going to a movie, playing a ballgame or any other pleasure giving activity must be part of your daily routine. You may also join a support group in order to listen to other people caring for you.

3. Medical treatments – You should carefully select your doctor or care-giver for treating your depression. Before taking any treatment, you should have a discussion with your doctor and you should check with him the goal and time frame of any treatment. If you are planning to take a therapy, then you should get immediate help to lower your depression level. If any antidepressants are suggested, then you should be aware of the side effects of these antidepressants. And don’t confuse between confuse between antidepressants and tranquilizers. Tranquilizers numb your body, mind or emotions. But antidepressants make you more perceptive and sensible of your feelings.

In addition to these techniques, there are some precautionary steps like postponing important decisions in your life like getting married or divorced or switching jobs. Yoga and acupuncture are also important techniques which can help you long term. However, you should take guidance from an expert for these kinds of techniques. Also, they should not be your main strategies, but they should supplement your main treatment plan.

When you apply right strategies, you kick this illness in the **** and start formulating your future. Initially the future may be in terms of only a small number of days, but then eventually you are able to see weeks and months. The depressive sides of your life start easing slowly. Then you start sharing your experiences with others. At that time you realize that the driver of your vehicle is you and only you. No one else drives your vehicle but you.

There is certainly a great life after depression – and a much more meaningful life!

Note: This article is for informational purposes only and is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice. Please consult with your physician on any matters regarding your health.

Abhishek Agarwal asked:


Gluten is a special type of protein that is commonly found in our day-to-day food items. While it is an essential element of our diet, the body of an Autistic child reacts differently than a normal child. Hence, it is essential for the parents to plan gluten free diet for your child suffering with Autism.

Initially, one must understand that gluten free diet is not a cure of Autism. It primarily lessens the symptoms of Autism in the child. Further, one must hold on to this diet for several months rather than a few weeks. While the gluten free diet the child intakes does its job well, it takes a long time to remove the gluten that is already consumed. In certain cases however, people do find immediate results.

It needs a lot of planning to follow gluten free diet. The regularly used cereals like rye, wheat, and barley contain high content of gluten. Therefore, it is also found in most types of bread. Yet, grains such as wild rice, corn, buckwheat, millet, amaranth, quinoa, teff, oats, soybeans, and sunflower seeds contain are surely gluten free.

Certain vinegars and sauces also contain gluten. The artificial flavorings and many other snacks & cookies available in the markets also contain gluten.

To your surprise, gluten can be present in foods that you would never have expected such as the spices. So while following the gluten free diet, be sure to read the labels on each and every food pack.

Gluten free diet can be quite expensive to follow as these items are sold mostly at the specialty or health stores. While this might get too heavy for your pocket, nowadays major grocery stores also deal in these products. Gluten free flour, pancake mix, waffles, cookies, snacks, and many other foods are also now readily available.

Hence, it is advisable that parents make a group and shop in bulk for these products. This makes the costs relatively cheaper and later the families can share the food items.

Planning economically, it is also convenient to cook gluten free food at home. The recipes are available at many common resources like the internet & cook books. A whole lot of information in this regard can also be gathered from the book shop or the library near by.

Children suffering with Autism can consume meat, fruits, fish, vegetables, eggs, nuts, etc. as these are all gluten free. To make this diet interesting for the child, one might plan children’s beloved snacks made out of gluten free ingredients like muffins & cookies made of gluten free flour. Once this practice gets into the system of the household, it gets easier.

The dairy products contain casein that the autistic children are commonly allergic to. So while following this diet, many people minimize or stop the diary products as well. Yet, it is advised that you should get done your child’s allergy testing. Your doctor can guide you more on the same.