“I finally feel like myself again!”

Zen Honeycutt, 46, was told by her doctor that gluten intolerance was causing her fatigue and brain fog. But she dug deeper and found another surprising culprit— and the natural strategies that restored her energy!

Why am I always so tired?” Zen Honeycutt asked herself after waking up from another long afternoon snooze and finding that her husband and kids had once again gone off to have fun without her while she power-napped. “My heart sank as I thought, There’s something wrong with me. None of the other women I knew needed daily naps. I loved being a mom, but I hated who I was being as a mom. I felt isolated— and guilty and angry with myself for being so tired and irritable all the time.

Mysterious fatigue

“That afternoon, I realized I had to get to the bottom of my fatigue, so I finally went to my internist. He said I might have seasonal allergies and wanted to put me on medication, but I didn’t want to do that because I worried the medicine might make me even more sleepy. I also knew there was something else going on, so when a friend suggested I see a naturopath, I figured it couldn’t hurt to try something different. After I told this doctor about my symptoms—fatigue, irritability, brain fog, anxiety and constipation— she examined me and diagnosed me with a gluten intolerance. It was my worst nightmare! I loved croissants, pasta and cake.

“The naturopath told me to go cold turkey: no gluten for six weeks. It takes time to cleanse the system, but I felt better after two weeks. And by the end of six, I felt like I was getting my life back.

“I adjusted and resigned myself to a gluten-free life. I still had bouts of anxiety and irritability, but wrote them off to other causes since I wasn’t eating gluten. All was well for six years, when my son developed severe food allergies. I wondered, What could have prompted this? It made me question my own situation. Why had I developed a sudden intolerance to gluten when I’d been able to eat it all my life? I thought my sensitivity and my son’s allergies couldn’t just be a coincidence.

“Research led me to look at our food supplies, and I found that the herbicide glyphosate is pervasive in wheat, oats, chickpeas, corn and all kinds of beans and legumes we regularly ate. I read a report by EcoWatch.com, an environmental news site, that said if these crops aren’t raised organically, glyphosate is sprayed on them at some point in their life cycle. And it gets into the cells of the plant, as well as animals who eat the plant—so we end

up consuming glyphosate even when we eat meat.

“I read more studies and found one explaining that glyphosate destroys good gut bacteria, which allows harmful bacteria to grow. This imbalance, I thought, was likely what triggered my fatigue and anxiety. A light bulb went off: My symptoms may not have been caused by gluten, but by the glyphosate that goes hand in hand with many foods containing gluten.

A total turnaround

“I decided to have my whole family go organic, eating fruit, vegetables and legumes that aren’t sprayed with herbicides or pesticides. I wanted to try to add gluten back into my diet, so we started with ancient grains, which have a different type of gluten protein that doesn’t cause a sensitivity. I bought kamut, ancient grain flours and ancient grain breads like Ezekiel, which many grocery stores carry. Since I was choosing only organic foods, I was confident we weren’t eating anything that contained glyphosate residue.

“When that experiment didn’t bring back any of my symptoms, I decided to try organic modern wheat. I found that I could enjoy small amounts without the tiredness, fog and irritability I had before being diagnosed with the gluten intolerance. I felt great and could enjoy a bigger variety of food!

“The health of everyone in my family improved on our new diet— allergies, fatigue and irritability all disappeared. We became leaner and healthier and don’t go to the doctor beyond a well visit. We’ve saved thousands on medical bills!

“By figuring out how specific foods, and the chemicals they’re grown with, were making me feel, I freed myself from decades of physical symptoms, as well as psychological issues that affected my self-esteem, ability to function and relationships. I even had the energy to start and run Moms Across America and Mothers Across the World, a nonprofit organization to educate others about this issue. Now I get more done in a day than I used to in a week!”