<<Disclaimer: Verify this information before applying it to your situation.>>

I used to tan really good, I have dark hair and used to tan really easy
until a few years ago and I just couldn't get as tan as I used too and then
when I went gluten free I started tanning again like I used too. I wonder if
it has something to do with being anemic. I really noticed my face way more
pale than it used to be. I am so glad it is back to normal because with dark
hair the pale look just doesn't look so good.
---
I too experienced this but wasn't sure if it was due to my celiac ds. or my
thyroid ds which were both diagnosed at similar times.
---
Were you anemic before being diagnosed with celiac?  My celiac daughter went
through a bout of anemia 2 years ago...one of the symptoms was that she was
absolutely unable to tan (she has a fairly dark complexion to begin with,
but the anemia made her very pale and she was unable to gain any color from
the sun).
Just a thought...
---
When I was a kid, I noticed that I only tanned on certain parts of my body,
like the knees but not the legs and more heavily on knuckles or elbows.  I
saw that my friends had even tans.  I am now in my sixties and have adrenal
problems, which I believe I had most of my life.  Gluten caused me to be
extremely anxious all the time, and I think that it caused me to use too
much adrenaline and finally my adrenals gave up.  I am now on florinef (for
adrenals)and the specific carbohydrate diet as prescribed by my physician,
because I seem to have refractory celiac.  I seem to be getting better, but
I am not there yet.  Blessings, Carol in NJ
---
Actually the opposite happened to me in that perhaps because I didn't find
out I had celiac disease for a long time, and by the time of diagnosis, I
had already developed vitiligo (an autoimmune disease).  This means that I
have lost almost completely all my skin pigment and am completely white
except for a few spots.  At first it looked very strange with many leopard
spots, but now in visible places, its all basically gone.  Yes, I look quite
washed out.  My son has recently married a woman from Ethiopia with
wonderful brown skin, so we are always laughing at the contrasts in our
family.
Enjoy your tan - but keep using sun protection.  You will be happy you did
later.
---
I do also, but I just it assumed it was happening with aging, not going
gluten-free.
Interesting hypothesis!
---
I have been gluten free for a little less than a year.  I have definitely
noticed a slightly darker skin color.  I was VERY anemic a year ago, and now
have it under control, so I was attributing it to that.  It's nice not being
so pastey white!
--
I noticed this too.  I think it's better nutrition after going gluten free.
---
     Well, how very interesting!!!  I am sure your adrenals were low when
you were still on gluten, mine were, and I don't think anyone who reacts to
gluten over and over each day can have happy adrenals.  But unless you know
a connection between tanning and adrenal function, that makes no difference.
    Pyroluria, which ties up B6 and zinc, is said to cause an inability to
tan properly.  So if your absorption of those nutrients to go up, or your
krypto-pyrrole production to go down, you could be tanning better as a
result.   Pyroluria is said to affect about 10% of the population, and the
more you are stressed, the more pyrroles you produce.  Gluten is a stressor
to those who react to it.
    And another possibility:  Low iron causes pale skin.  High makes one
look like they have a great tan.  My husband has hemochromatosis, and
Mexicans used to speak Spanish to him in the summer.  Now that he has his
iron down, his summer tan is not nearly as impressive. The first area
damaged by gluten is the duodenum, where iron is absorbed.
    As for freckles... well now we get really interesting.  I got a dog, a
mostly white rat terrier that had been tied in a barn for 2 years with fleas
and tapeworms.  She might have been fed on table scraps, at the very vest
she'd have been fed cheap dogfood.  She had a couple of pale brown markings,
and a pink nose.  We got rid of the fleas (iron deficiency) and tapeworms
(many deficiencies, esp B12) and gave her good food and B vitamins.  She
developed a black nose and soulful black eyeliners, and her skin became
freckled.  Her pale brown markings darkened and developed black shadings.
All this happened in 3 weeks.  I can't tell you which nutrients did it, as
you can see we affected very many nutrients.  So would quitting gluten if
your villi damage wasn't too bad.  Your villi might have been too inflamed
to do much good, and suddenly they weren't anymore, so they could get the
food solution inbetween them and do their absorbing.
    I would be very curious to hear what others say.  If you post a summary,
you could put my name and address on mine, in case anyone would like to
respond.  I personally find that observation of animals can teach a lot
about nutrition.
---
Yes, I am more sun sensitive, but I thought it was from my blood pressure
medication.
---

Christine in NH

* Please remember some posters may be WHEAT-FREE, but not GLUTEN-FREE *