Monday Surprise . . . . #1

It's official. . . The weekly surprise feature is moving to Mondays (shhhh. . . don't tell me - as long as I think of it as the Sunday Surprise, I'll surely be able to get one posted by Monday!).

I hope all the mommies and "like-a-mom" women out there had a lovely weekend and Mother's Day!  I am sure a lot of moms out there are receiving lovely gifts from their children and spouses.  My guess is that some of these gifts are for pampering Mom - day at the spa/salon, lotion/shower gel gift baskets, and other beauty products.  This was my inspiration for today's Sunday Surprise - skin care and beauty products.

When I first found I was responding to being gluten-free, I was surprised and a bit disappointed, but it was also serendipitous because I was beginning to feel differently than I had felt in at least my adult life.  And it was wonderful!  It was as if I found out what it was like to feel "good" - what "normal" must feel like for others.  

Though I was enjoying this new aspect of my life, I was not looking forward to the burden that I thought adding GF to our already CF/SF/EF (and at that time corn-free) diet would impose.  That said, I was willing to do whatever I needed to do to comply with the diet, because the return was so great on my investment.

The one thing I chose to not believe in the beginning of this journey was that gluten (or our other problematic foods) in topical products like shampoos, soaps, and cosmetics could actually be a problem.  I had read both sides of the story.  The "Mother warriors" and devout adult GF'ers were saying that gluten in ANY thing that comes in contact with the body (via ingestion or topically) was a problem.  The mainstream medical sources were saying that gluten was only a problem in items that are ingested and the only concern for topical gluten exposure was for small children who might stick fingers in their mouths after topical exposure, or perhaps, ingest enough by putting their mouth on mom or dad who had used a topical gluten-containing product.

In the beginning, I sided with the mainstream medical viewpoint, probably mostly because I wanted/needed to in order to not feel overwhelmed with the process of eliminating gluten from my life. Now I know that those who wrote the mainstream medical viewpoints I had come across were not, in fact, themselves gluten-intolerant.  Otherwise, they'd have known that using a topical product that contains gluten does cause problems for a gluten-intolerant person.

I saw my hairstylist shortly after having gone gluten-free and I did not even think twice about the products she would use.  I only indulge in a hair cut once in a while and I was just really looking forward to escaping into a different world for a little while and emerging transformed and feeling glamorous - if only for a few hours before returning to the mommy zone.  I distinctly remember feeling dazed and overly exhausted for a couple days after that visit.  

After that visit, I decided to take a look at my own products at home.  I wondered if it were possible that some of my topical products were the culprit of my being "glutened" rather than my food.  My shampoo, conditioner, and shower gel were all free of our irritating foods (gluten, milk/casein, soy, and egg) already.  That was good! But, a couple of the hand soaps in our house were not free of our allergens and some of my cosmetics seemed to have questionable ingredients.  After phasing these things out, I did notice a difference - I was feeling "glutened" less! 

A few months later, I went back for a hair cut, this time armed with the list of allergen-containing products from Aveda. (Kudos! to Aveda, by the way. I emailed with my query about gluten in their products and they quickly responded with a list that detailed a variety of allergens present in their products.)  My fabulous stylist used only "safe" products and, well, wouldn't you know it, not only did I feel glamorous when I left, but I did not experience the "down" I'd felt after the last haircut.  

Every once in a while, after being out and washing my hands in public bathrooms using whatever soap is made available, I start to feel junkie again.  Sure, it could be something sneaky in the food at the restaurant rather than the soap in their bathroom, but I will never know.  So, for me, when it comes to getting glutened (or "caseined," "egged," or "soyed"), I say better safe than sorry!  I'll tend to believe the non-mainstream medical view and live without gluten, milk/casein, soy, or egg in ny topical health and beauty products!