Several years ago, I had a patient who was struggling with her moods. She would often talk about her bouts with depression, anger, and anxiety.

While we were working together, I took part in a seminar on gluten intolerance, and learned that gluten could cause emotional upset. Shortly after that seminar, she came to see me again.

“Oh God, Cari,” she exclaimed, tears threatening to spill from her eyes. “I’m out of control. I don’t know what is going on with me!”

“Tell me what’s happening,” I said, moving in to comfort her.

“I think I’m going crazy! I was so insane yesterday; I actually threw my cell phone across the room and broke it.”

“What happened to upset you so much?” I asked.

“Nothing. Really. Nothing. That’s the thing that has me so freaked out!”

She suddenly went very quiet and I knew there was more to come.

“There’s this thing. This thing that happened when I was a kid and I…I can’t seem to get a handle on it. Now my husband is threatening to leave if I don’t get on medication. Even my therapist thinks I should be taking meds. But I just don’t want to go down that road. I just don’t want to.”

It was a plaintive cry for help and knowing she had been on anxiety medication before and that it had negative side effects for her, I understood her desire to avoid them. My heart was breaking for her.

Then, remembering what I had just learned about gluten and moods, and that she had tested sensitive to gluten but had yet to take it out of her diet 100%, I decided to bring it up again.

“Listen,” I said. “I think it might be helpful for you to get off gluten. Remember, we talked about it before and I just learned how much it can affect your mood. Why don’t you go off it completely and let’s see if we can get to the bottom of your emotional upset.”

At that point, she was willing to try anything, so she completely removed gluten from her diet. About three months later, she came into my office wearing a huge smile.

“Wow!” I said, jokingly shielding my eyes from the glow of her aura, “What’s up?”

“I retired my therapist,” she responded. “His services are no longer needed.”

Since ridding her diet of gluten, the unresolved emotional issues ceased bothering her.

Her moods became stable and her husband stopped insisting she take medication. Her anger had subsided and she felt balanced and calm again. Now, all the years of work she had done with her therapist could take effect.

I often see stories like this in my practice. In fact, when I work with a woman who has been experiencing depression and anxiety for a long time, I often find that she has a gluten sensitivity or another food sensitivity that’s causing her body stress.

If you are experiencing mood issues, there may be a hidden source of stress that is aggravating your body and contributing to the problem.

If you’d like support in figuring out the source of your your mood or health issue, you can call or text our office at (310) 319-1122 to make an appointment. We’re currently offering a $100 discount off your initial visit, so it’s a great time to start! I’d love to serve you along your healing journey.