As I approached Atlanta on I-20 Thursday, about 4:45 p.m., on my way home from vacation, traffic suddenly came to a complete stop -- I know you're quite surprised -- traffic? in Atlanta? -- but yes, it's true. As I sat idle, in the Georgia heat -- here's another surprise -- that is hotter than 900 hells, my car started to over heat and the air conditioning started blowing warm air. So I pulled off the road, rolled down my windows and turned off the engine to let it cool off -- as impossible as that might be with a heat index of what they say was 108 degrees, but I think was actually much hotter.
After a few minutes, I noticed that my face was beet red. This has been a cause for concern most of my life, as it was the first indication that I was over heated and needed to be in a cool, air-conditioned place, if not a cold shower, as soon as possible. Very soon after my face turned red, I would get very sick and lethargic, I would throw up violently and then I would sometimes pass out, depending on how quickly I was able to cool off. This would happen in conditions that others found tolerable. I would get so hot so quickly that I am surprised I never died of heat stroke, but I usually got myself out of the heat as soon as I realized I was getting over heated.
This time, as I sat on the side of the road with traffic beside me standing still, I saw no way out of the heat. People were pulled over and blocking the shoulder, so there was no possibility of moving the car along the shoulder to the next exit. There was no where to go to get out of the heat either by foot or vehicle. Even if I called 911, an ambulance wouldn't be able to get through the traffic in time. But then I realized I didn't feel sick -- I just felt hot. Thank God I'm on a gluten-free diet. I have not had, what we used to call "sun sickness" since before I went on this diet over 5 years ago. And as I got hotter and hotter waiting for traffic to clear, I continued to not feel sick.
Serbian tennis champ Novak Djokorvic, who went on a gluten-free diet in January 2011, after his nutritionist discovered he was intolerant, suffered for years with heat exhaustion and trouble breathing during practices and games. His teammates thought he was (and called him) a big baby. But after going gluten free, he no longer gets over heated, and has since defeated Rafael Nadal four times, and had a 43-match winning streak, the third longest in Open history. Roger Federer even lost two matches against Djokovic in the last year. Who would have expected that in a million years? I wonder how Novak Djokovic was able to get as far as he did while still eating gluten. He was a Grand Slam champion and No. 3 in the world before going gluten free. He's obviously an amazing athlete despite the handicap gluten created until he gave it up.
Djokorvic and I can't be the only ones who suffered from heat exhaustion in conditions others found tolerable. I would love to hear from (or about) anyone who had similar experiences before going gluten free. Please share your comments below.
