Newly Diagnosed 5 min read

How to Track Your Symptoms

A practical guide to food journaling, symptom tracking, and figuring out what's still making you sick.

By Taylor Clark |

You’ve been gluten-free for weeks. You should be feeling better. But you’re not, or not consistently.

Tracking can help you find the culprit.

Why Track

Tracking serves several purposes:

Finding hidden gluten: That recurring symptom might correlate with a specific food, restaurant, or brand you didn’t realize was a problem.

Identifying other sensitivities: Celiac can come with temporary lactose intolerance, sensitivity to other foods, or other issues that tracking can reveal.

Monitoring healing: Over time, tracking shows your progress. Symptoms that used to be daily become weekly, then rare.

Evidence for your doctor: If you’re still having issues, a food log helps your doctor troubleshoot.

What to Track

Food Diary Basics

For each meal/snack, record:

  • What you ate (be specific, brand names, ingredients when known)
  • Time you ate
  • Where you ate (home kitchen, restaurant, friend’s house)
  • How it was prepared (did you make it? Was it potentially cross-contaminated?)

Symptoms

For each symptom occurrence:

  • What (GI issues, headache, fatigue, brain fog, etc.)
  • When (time and duration)
  • Severity (1-10 scale or mild/moderate/severe)
  • Timing relative to meals (2 hours after lunch, etc.)

Other Factors

Also worth noting:

  • Sleep quality
  • Stress levels
  • Medications or supplements taken
  • For women: menstrual cycle (hormones affect celiac symptoms)
  • Exercise
  • Hydration

How to Track

Paper Journal

Pros: Simple, no technology, always accessible Cons: Harder to search patterns, no automatic analysis

Spreadsheet

Pros: Can sort and search, see correlations Cons: Requires setup, may not have with you always

Apps

Several apps designed for food/symptom tracking:

  • mySymptoms (specifically for food sensitivity tracking)
  • Cara Care (digestive health focused)
  • Fig (celiac/allergy specific)
  • Simple notes app (just list what you eat and how you feel)

Choose what you’ll actually use consistently.

Photos

Take photos of your meals. Helps you remember:

  • What you ate
  • How it was prepared
  • Brand names visible in photo
  • Restaurant name

Photos are quick and can supplement written notes.

Duration

Track for at least 2-4 weeks to find patterns. Longer if symptoms are intermittent.

Don’t stop tracking when you feel good, you need the comparison.

Finding Patterns

After collecting data, look for correlations:

Step 1: List Symptom Days

Make a list of days when you had significant symptoms.

Step 2: Look for Common Foods

What did you eat on those days that you didn’t eat on symptom-free days?

  • Same brand repeated?
  • Same restaurant?
  • Same type of food?

Step 3: Consider Timing

Celiac symptoms can appear hours to days after exposure:

  • GI symptoms: often 2-24 hours after
  • Brain fog/fatigue: can be same day or next day
  • Skin issues: may take days

Look at what you ate in the 24-48 hours before symptoms.

Step 4: Test Your Hypothesis

If you suspect a specific food:

  • Eliminate it for 2 weeks
  • See if symptoms improve
  • Reintroduce and see if symptoms return

Be scientific. One variable at a time.

Common Culprits

When tracking reveals patterns, common culprits include:

Hidden Gluten Sources

  • A “safe” product that isn’t actually safe
  • Cross-contamination at a specific restaurant
  • Shared kitchen equipment at home
  • Supplements or medications

Cross-Reactive Foods

  • Oats (even certified GF, some celiacs react)
  • Dairy (temporary lactose intolerance is common)
  • High-FODMAP foods (can cause GI issues unrelated to gluten)

Other Issues

  • Stress correlating with symptoms
  • Sleep deprivation worsening symptoms
  • Eating too fast / not chewing well

What Your Journal Might Reveal

Example 1: Symptoms every Monday. Review: Sunday night you eat at your parents’ house. Their kitchen might be cross-contaminating your food.

Example 2: Symptoms after eating a specific brand of GF bread. Research reveals manufacturing issue, or you’ve developed another sensitivity.

Example 3: Symptoms correlated with high-stress days regardless of food. Stress affects gut function.

Example 4: Symptoms after dairy. Temporary lactose intolerance. Try lactose-free dairy or eliminate temporarily.

When to See Your Doctor

If tracking doesn’t reveal a pattern and symptoms persist:

  • Consult your gastroenterologist
  • Consider whether follow-up testing is needed
  • Discuss possibility of refractory celiac disease
  • Explore other conditions that might coexist

A detailed food journal is extremely helpful for these appointments.

The Discipline Required

Tracking is tedious. You’re already dealing with a lot.

But temporary tracking can:

  • Find the problem
  • Let you stop tracking once it’s solved
  • Give you peace of mind

Think of it as diagnostic work that leads to feeling better.

A Sample Entry

Date: Monday, October 15

Breakfast (7:00 AM, home):

  • Eggs scrambled in butter
  • 2 slices Bob’s Red Mill GF bread, toasted
  • Black coffee
  • Banana

Lunch (12:30 PM, work: packed from home):

  • Leftover chicken and rice
  • Apple
  • Handful almonds

Dinner (6:30 PM, Chipotle):

  • Burrito bowl: chicken, rice, black beans, mild salsa, cheese, lettuce

Symptoms:

  • 3 PM: Mild brain fog (4/10)
  • 9 PM: GI discomfort (5/10)

Notes:

  • Stressful day at work
  • Only slept 6 hours last night
  • First time at this Chipotle location

A few weeks of entries like this can reveal what two days of memory cannot.

Track Now, Freedom Later

The goal of tracking is to stop tracking.

Find the problem, fix it, and move on. The temporary discipline leads to long-term freedom.

Your body is trying to tell you something. Tracking helps you listen.

symptoms tracking food journal troubleshooting