Swimmer Dana Vollmer Wins Gold after Going Gluten Free
Another world-class champion athlete is making news for a professional rise after going gluten free.
23 year old, Dana Vollmer of the US finally won her first major international swim event, after 10 years of perseverance. Her 100 meter win in Shanghai last Monday was the USA’s first gold medal in the 2011 World Championships.
“To finally win in my favorite event, and to feel like I did do it individually — it’s so empowering and so exciting. Standing up there, I just couldn’t stop smiling.”(SI.com)
Kelli Anderson from SI.com reports: “A health issue that arose last fall forced her to narrow her focus and drop the 200 free leading up to Shanghai. Vollmer, who has battled back, shoulder and heart issues in the past, had also suffered unexplained stomach aches — three times they were so severe she landed in the hospital — but doctors could never identify a problem. ‘I always thought it was nerves or stress or ‘my stomach’,’ she says. Last fall she started suffering unexplained fatigue as well. ‘I could make it through the first hour of practice and then I fell off a cliff,’ she says. ‘I didn’t have any endurance and we didn’t understand why. I had so many blood tests and saw so many doctors and nobody really knew.’”
After finding no answers, Vollmer turned to holistic nutritionist, Anita Nall-Richesson, who is also a former Olympic breastroker. Vollmer was tested for food allergies and sensitivities and found she was allergic to one of her diet staples, eggs, and had sensitivites to gluten, dairy, tomatoes and walnuts.
In the spring Nall-Richesson took Vollmer to Whole Foods for a crash course in finding and preparing foods she can live with.
“When I’m at home, it’s easy,” Vollmer said. “There are tons of grains that I never heard of before, tons of different ways to cook without eggs. I learned that a fourth cup of apple sauce equals one egg if you want to bake.”
Her new diet combined with new training techniques has finally allowed her to feel more energetic so she could focus on winning her first gold medal and work towards more.
