Do you think that gluten, lactose, or {insert supposed food intolerance here} is really just a fad?

PWRLFTR1

After doing some research on inflammation, I decided to try reducing gluten from my diet, was already eating so-called inflammation reducing foods (lots of green veggies), so I didn't put much credence that it would actually help, but thought it couldn't hurt. Other than whole wheat pasta and tortillas and my love of donuts, my Friday after workout treat, I didn't really eat a lot of gluten. So I didn't go out and buy a bunch of gluten-free foods except for instant oatmeal, which I find I like better anyway because it doesn't have all the sugar regular (even organic) instant oatmeal has, but for the most part I just eat naturally gluten-free foods.

Its only been a few weeks, but I do feel better, my arthritic knees feel better, even my skin looked better and my pants fit better. I'm not usually one to jump on a band wagon, I lost over a 100lbs basically eating mostly non-processed food, counting calories and lots of cardio, but as I've gotten older (currently in the throes of menopause), changed my focus from cardio to powerlifting and struggling to balance having to eat for strength while trying to maintain my weight isn't as easy.

julieb47

My brother and I are living proof that you most definitely CAN be fat and have coeliac disease.

SarahLascelles1

You can only be diagnosed coeliac by eating gluten and then having the tests, meaning that if you already know it makes you ill, you have to knowingly eat something that makes you ill, just to get an official stamp saying "yes you're coeliac". I can entirely understand why people don't want to do that.

5Months2fit

Of course not lol. I've lived with people with lactose intolerance and you always know when they had dairy after using the restroom I don't do well with gluten (wheat) myself. If someone says they have a food intolerance, I always take it seriously. I know people allergic to the most bizarre things (avocado, watermelon, tomatoes, seafood). I wouldn't be surprised if some foods more frequently don't interact well with the body.

Fuzzipeg

Histamine intolerance can cover the seafood and may be the Avacado that could be cross matched with salicylate intolerance which probably accounts for the watermellon and tomatoes though there could be ascorbic acid sentitivity in the mix. Its complexed. I'm coming to the conclusion these possibly are a consequence of issues in the Krebs Cycle, only it so much chemistry and things beyond me. Any good chemists on here?

gymprincess1234

My blood tests show that I have wheat, egg white and dairy intolerance.
I can definitely tell that my body does not tolerate anything that contains these products, because I get super bloated, tired and my eyes swell up.

For 1 year I almost 100% cut out these products and did the blood test again, the charts fell almost 50%. Now I just try to avoid them, but sometimes, when I don't have to go anywhere the next day, I will eat an ice cream and have puffy eyes the next day

Fuzzipeg

It is possible, were you to supplement with the enzymes needed to digest these specific proteins all could be well.

I can't remember the one for egg white but there is at least one supplement made by different companies. Likewise, for the dairy, it would be helpful for you to know it is the milk sugar, lactose or the protein - casein. One could try lactase enzyme for the lactose, I can't bring to mind the casein one. Again there are supplements available. I read somewhere, the proportion of our population over the age of 8 who become naturally intolerant of dairy is extremely high, this is the natural position. As a species we started to retain these enzymes because we started to store diary as cheeses, and other diary products for lean times.

As mentioned above you may be able to take goat and sheep diary better, the dominant casein is different which in many aids digestion of the lactose.

Its natural to resist the idea of relying on capsules or pills to cover one for these digestive issues when you have strong reactions in the first place, it seems too simple.

brasseur48

Celiac disease is real and harsh for those who have it but I suspect that most who claim it are more likely lactose intolerant as are bodies stop producing the enzyme to digest milk in early childhood as we are supposed to be weaned by then. Only humans drink milk of another mammal and we shouldn't. Strongly linked to breast cancers

mph323

brasseur48 wrote: »

Celiac disease is real and harsh for those who have it but I suspect that most who claim it are more likely lactose intolerant as are bodies stop producing the enzyme to digest milk in early childhood as we are supposed to be weaned by then. Only humans drink milk of another mammal and we shouldn't. Strongly linked to breast cancers

How on earth would anybody with a milk allergy mistake it for a gluten (grain-based) sensitivity?? That's a ridiculous stretch blatantly constructed to throw in your anti-milk bias. BTW, there's no time we're "supposed" to be weaned, a good proportion of the world's population retains the milk digesting enzyme as adults, and other animals will happily drink milk from any source when they can get it.

edited for clarity

nvmomketo

mph323 wrote: »

brasseur48 wrote: »

Celiac disease is real and harsh for those who have it but I suspect that most who claim it are more likely lactose intolerant as are bodies stop producing the enzyme to digest milk in early childhood as we are supposed to be weaned by then. Only humans drink milk of another mammal and we shouldn't. Strongly linked to breast cancers

How on earth would anybody with a milk allergy mistake it for a gluten (grain-based) sensitivity?? That's a ridiculous stretch blatantly constructed to throw in your anti-milk bias. BTW, there's no time we're "supposed" to be weaned, a good proportion of the world's population retains the milk digesting enzyme as adults, and other animals will happily drink milk from any source when they can get it.

edited for clarity

They could be talking about (in a round about way) how many celiacs become lactose intolerant due to their intestinal damage. Lactase, the enzyme to digest lactose, is created in the microvilli of the small intestine which can be quite damaged in a celiac. Once a celiac is GF for some time (6 months to years) they may regain at better ability to digest dairy.

For me, it took about 2 years GF but I can now eat (low lactose) dairy, like cheese or sour cream, again.

lili200

I have lactose intolerance (like people wrote here: all your friends know that you have it even if you are in denial

jenilla1

Do I "think" it's just a fad? Do I even care?
Whatever. I could give a crap what anybody else "thinks" about my personal medical quirks and/or dietary choices. And I don't spend any time at all trying to analyze other people's issues. Why should I?

lemurcat12

nvmomketo wrote: »

mph323 wrote: »

brasseur48 wrote: »

Celiac disease is real and harsh for those who have it but I suspect that most who claim it are more likely lactose intolerant as are bodies stop producing the enzyme to digest milk in early childhood as we are supposed to be weaned by then. Only humans drink milk of another mammal and we shouldn't. Strongly linked to breast cancers

How on earth would anybody with a milk allergy mistake it for a gluten (grain-based) sensitivity?? That's a ridiculous stretch blatantly constructed to throw in your anti-milk bias. BTW, there's no time we're "supposed" to be weaned, a good proportion of the world's population retains the milk digesting enzyme as adults, and other animals will happily drink milk from any source when they can get it.

edited for clarity

They could be talking about (in a round about way) how many celiacs become lactose intolerant due to their intestinal damage. Lactase, the enzyme to digest lactose, is created in the microvilli of the small intestine which can be quite damaged in a celiac. Once a celiac is GF for some time (6 months to years) they may regain at better ability to digest dairy.

For me, it took about 2 years GF but I can now eat (low lactose) dairy, like cheese or sour cream, again.

That person seemed to be saying that people who THINK they are celiac but aren't really are lactose intolerant, not that celiac can make you lactose intolerant. Maybe he/she thinks people mostly eat grains with dairy? It doesn't make sense to me -- I think both celiac and lactose intolerance are real (of course!), but not that they would be confused for each other, although I think what you are saying makes sense.

imaginemary

There is annoyance and resentment and anger around gluten free as a fad. As the op said that they don’t resent people who go off gluten due to medically diagnosed food allergies, I felt moved (pun) to chime in that doctors miss nutrition-based illness sometimes. I spent years having chronic gastro intestinal and dermatological issues that my doctors didn’t catch as food sensitivity. My symptoms: pooping 5+ times every day accompanied by severe abdominal pain and bloody stools that came back negative for whatever doctors look for in that mess, resultant inability to participate in normal daily life, and painful hives on my palms and nights in bed feeling as if I was crawling with insects. I finally found a nutrition doctor’s book and read about my symptoms and discovered how to self-diagnose for food sensitivities, and WOW all my symptoms disappeared when I stopped eating gluten and dairy. Some folks will engage me about my food restrictions by asking why I don’t eat gluten “What happens if you eat gluten?” - and I can hear the suspicion in their tone sometimes. I usually say “You don’t want to know.” I don’t know why other people stop eating gluten - maybe some don’t say it is because they suffered like hell. Thank goodness for gluten free food companies and dairy free too!

JASONDEANGELOX

Both are real, but Gluten only affects a very tiny percentage of the population, the rest just jumped on the bandwagon. Southpark did an awesome episode on it. Season 18 Ep 2 - Gluten Free Ebola

heybales

I've known several that never brought it up until a reason for it came up - food at a gathering or meal and they were pressed to try this or that by who ever made it.
They explained what they don't eat and why, (some tested, some self-tested), and that was it.
They may have gotten in to their swaps, or difficulties originally, or mistakes.

I've known others that look for opportunities to bring it up in a poorly related manner of sounding like this is really going to benefit me if I'd only try it, all those were self-tested IIRC, and from listening not very scientifically minded to do a good test either. Playing frogger with nothing but conclusion to jump to.

Almost as if they needed to justify to me or sell me on why they are eating the way they do, perhaps because many had doubted them before, and they were just thrilled to be free of the problems they had. And thinking back, I don't recall food even being eaten at the time to be the reason for it coming up.

dragthewaters1991

I think more people are becoming aware of the concept which is why more people are discovering they might have these intolerances.

Personally just a few weeks ago I discovered that I most likely have mild dairy intolerance (not sure if it's lactose or some other aspect of dairy). I never thought it would be a possibility for me. My ancestry on both sides is from ethnic groups that have historically eaten a lot of dairy products. My mom was obsessed about us not getting enough calcium for some reason and we would have a large glass of milk with both breakfast and dinner and often cheese for lunch and/or dinner as well.

However, when I was a kid I had gas all the time. My abusive mother would mock me for it and even escalate to the point of yelling at me about it, as if it was something I could control or as if I was doing it on purpose. I always felt horrible about myself and that I was a disgusting and inherently defective person. Never was it ever suggested that this was not a normal thing and could be the result of a food intolerance. I only learned as an adult that it wasn't normal and was probably due to a digestive issue. I don't know if that's because people didn't really know about food intolerances back then, or if my mom just preferred to have yet another thing to shame me about rather than actually doing something to fix it.

Anyway, I always hated the taste of milk and so into my teenage years I stopped drinking it and would have cheese and yogurt instead, and fewer servings of dairy per day in general. My mom was not happy about this and would tell me that I was going to get osteoporosis. Eventually she started buying soymilk as well which I really enjoy. During this period of time my gas issues also reduced. I still had some issues, but not as much as when I was a kid. I thought maybe it was just something I was "growing out" of.

My husband and I became vegetarian a couple of years ago and I got more into researching nutrition in general. One thing I realized was that my husband was lactose intolerant. He didn't even realize he was, but I realized that after he ate a lot of dairy products (he's the kind of person who will binge and have half a quart of milk or something like that at one time) he would get very bad gas. He is from an ethnic group where lactose intolerance is somewhat prevalent. I later learned that a lot of people are mildly dairy intolerant without realizing it, and that a lot of people only learn they are after reducing dairy consumption for other reasons. At that point I began to wonder whether I was dairy intolerant without realizing it, considering my lifelong digestive issues. As I began monitoring it more, I did realize that I would get gas and digestive discomfort after eating dairy products.

Therefore, I have now greatly reduced my consumption of dairy products. I used to have 1-2 servings of dairy per day after going vegetarian and now I have it maybe once or twice a week. I have definitely noticed a difference. I haven't been formally diagnosed with a doctor because honestly it hasn't really been a priority, but I do know that this is the response my body has had to these dietary changes.

Keto_N_Iron

saw this and wanted to comment.. but it is not even worth my time.

Keto_N_Iron

@JASONDEANGELOX wrote: »

Both are real, but Gluten only affects a very tiny percentage of the population, the rest just jumped on the bandwagon. Southpark did an awesome episode on it. Season 18 Ep 2 - Gluten Free Ebola

wow I'm glad we are getting our news from SouthPark.

lois1231

Don't know much about gluten intolerance but I know lactose intolerance is real. I love my dairy and milk products but if I drink too much I get seriously bad stomach issues. I didn't have this problem until I got older. I would probably drink a gallon of milk every 2 to 3 days. Now that I am not drinking as much milk or if I drink lactaid free milk I don't have these problems so much anymore. I have a gastroenterologist I see on a regular basis for stomach and esophagus issues.